REAL WEDDING: Bri + Luke

Today I'm sharing something so incredibly special. These two are some of the most kind-hearted and genuine humans I know. When Bri emailed me about a few acrylic signs for her wedding day, I was so excited to get to contribute to a day that was guaranteed to be one for the books. Bri and Luke had been dating since they were very young, I think I can call them lifetime sweethearts. I met Bri in college, she was one of my sorority sisters, and met Luke when he came and visited her one weekend. She is a gorgeous human with a heart that is just as beautiful and he is one of the most genuine people you'll meet- it's a perfect match. They got married in Vail, CO at the TOP of a mountain. The views were seriously unreal, the day itself was out of storybook. I got in touch with Bri recently and got to chat with her a bit more now that the wedding has passed and they've started to settle in to married life. I always love reconnecting with my girls after their weddings and just seeing how it all went from their perspective. Here are a few of my favorite things from Bri: 

What was your favorite of your wedding day? 

 I have TWO! First, Saying my vows! Every time I thought about our wedding day, I pictures saying my vows to Luke at that location. On the day, I was not nearly as nervous as I thought I would have been, but just excited and so happy to be entering into the next part of our lives.  I also died laughing when both Luke and I said, “I choose you”, which we both said in our vows. Definitely not planned. Second, Jumping onto the gondola with all of the bridesmaids! After a day of getting ready and anticipation, I was so excited the weather was holding. We all jumped onto the gondola. The moment was filled with so much joy and laughter (and some champagne)

What was the BEST part of wedding planning?

Honestly, it gave me any excuse not to study! Wedding planning is so entertaining, but a great outlet when studying for boards... (friend bragging right: Bri is such an incredibly hard working and smart human. She had just passed her boards right before her wedding, became a PA, and was getting ready to kick off her next chapter at Mayo Clinic. Amazing, I know) 

Describe your wedding in 3 words: Laughter, dancing, and (a whole lot of) hugs. 

Do you have any advice for someone who is planning a wedding right now?

 Not to sweat the small stuff. No matter how many times you go through a timeline or speak to your vendors, something is bound to not go as planned. Just remember everyone is there to celebrate a momentous day in your life. Take in all the happiness and excitement around you.

Her last piece of advice is one that I hope all of my brides-to-be out there seriously take to heart because there is so much truth in it! Don't sweat the small stuff, focus on whats important- which is normally the hand your holding and the people surrounding you. If you can do that, the rest will come together perfectly! Thanks again Bri + Luke for letting me be a part of your day and sharing these incredible photos with me! 

These photos are by Teresa Woodhull

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And a few from the gram #lahmanlovebirds

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Bathroom Before/After

We bought a house last December. I haven't shared anything about the house yet besides a few little snaps on my Instagram here and there. This is our first home and it's been so fun and rewarding to get to see the changes we've made in it. I am pretty sure my husband knew going into this house that a lot of the design elements were going to be up to me, he really let me bring my visions to life. I remember drawing each room out on paper first, with measurements and colors all labeled, and room by room and I put down my vision. I got a lot of questionable responses on some of my decisions- like why I would paint perfectly good cabinets, why I would get rid of perfectly good cabinets, wouldn't doing half of the bathroom tile in one color look weird, are you sure you really want to go WHITE everywhere? This was just one of those projects that I have a vision for though so YES, I am sure. LUCKILY, we had A TON of help from both a local contractor and both of our dads who are both incredibly handy when it comes to work in houses (again first time home owners, we had no idea how to do about anything) 

Our home came with some pretty rad purple shag carpet with a theme of pink-ish countertops, bath tub and walls. Everything was well kept though, so aside from removing one wall, for the most part it was cosmetic upgrades. Today I'm sharing our bathroom. It's nothing big or elaborate and if we're both getting ready in the morning it's a bit tight- but I have to say the changes do make the space feel bigger when you're in it. 

We started with painting everything WHITE. Pure white. Like the white that every shade of white starts with. The guy at Home Depot thought I was the most boring human alive. We pulled up all of the tile and had these super cute hexagon tiles installed and grouted. I contrasted the white floor by painting the cabinets black (my father-in-law did most of the painting here and he did a great job!) We replaced the pinkish formica with some granite looking formica, and upgraded our sink head. The shower was an issue but out of everything, my husband was VERY open to removing the pinkish shower walls. We looked into a lot of options here, buying a whole new shower would be the most expensive for us but would ultimately give us a ton of options. My contractor looked into a method of painting the current shower surround and that was an option for us as well but we also weren't 100% sure how it would turn out. We had some left over tile from the bathroom floors as well that we could maybe do something with. We didn't have enough to fully cover the shower in one color but between the two bathrooms we had enough tile in total to cover the walls. My initial thought was to alternate walls, with the two shorter walls in black and the back wall in white, but we weren't sure we had enough of the black to do that. So we used as much white as possible to keep it light and airy in there, and did a few rows along the bottom in black to finish it off.  It turned out incredibly awesome! Our poor contractor though mentioned how hard it was to have to cut the tiles exactly and lay them in place like that, then let them dry without falling off- he had his hands full on that project.

So here we are now almost a year later, and I LOVE being in our bathroom. It seems silly that it's the first room of our house that I'm sharing but it just am beyond happy with how it turned out. I'll work on getting more house update photos for you guys but in the meantime, hopefully this can inspire some of you looking to reno a room or do some upgrades! Thanks for reading! 

Paint: Sherman Wiliams Bathmat: Urban Outfitters  Candle + Matches: Anthropologie (thanks, em!) Toothbrush Holders: Pottery Barn Shower Curtain: Macys Hotel Collection WALL ART: Watercolor Butts: Society 6  Should I Wash My Hair Flow Chart: Chipper Things So Fresh and So Clean: Eleven and West I Like You I Love You: Eleven and West