Happy Wednesday to you all! Today I thought I would switch things up a little and instead of my normal Wedding Wednesday post I would share about what I am doing with my office today. Growing up I have always loved participating in events that help the community. Whether it be through a food bank fundraiser, raising money through taking part in sporting events, or building a home I find that the community events are some of the most fun to take part in.
Today, I am participating in the United Way Lawrence E. Richardson Day of Caring in Charlottesville. The organizations that need help in the area are giving the opportunity to submit their need to the local United Way. After all those organizations have submitted their needs local organizations can signup and select which project they would like to help with. This is a great way to bring so many local businesses and groups together on this one day. We couldn't participate on the actual date, so we are all venturing out to complete our project today. My office is going out to help out at a local middle school. We will be clearing a hiking path behind the school so that all the kids can go out, safely, and get some exercise while learning about nature.
Want to find an event like this in your area? You can contact your local Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way, Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity or other local organization asking for when they have events or projects that you and your friends could sign up for. One of my friends, and sorority sister, has decided her way to helping the community and giving back is by running the New York Marathon this November. She is running to raise money for the American Caner Society, and to top it off this is her first time running a marathon! (yea Taylor!!!) If you would like to help her accomplish her fundraising goal of $3,600 please go to her personal fundraising page to learn more and give.
No matter if you are helping to build a house for a family in need, clearing a trail for kids or running a raise to raise money for cancer research, don't forget to have some fun!! What kind of events have you taken part in to help others where you live?
xoxo
Megan
On Monday I shared some pictures from last weekend's wedding festivities. However, I saved sharing one of the events, the bridal luncheon, for today. As a gift to the bride, my mother offered to host a bridal luncheon the Friday before the wedding. When her and my sister went to go find invitations for the event she came across the most adorable plates and napkins. We decided that we would take inspiration from those two items to create the decor for the event.
For this luncheon I coordinated with the venue catering director of room setup and menu, created the place cards, centerpieces, and dessert display. Each of the the DIY crafts that I made for this event are so easy to do and can be altered to fit any color options or event theme. The colors that I used for this Pretty in Pink luncheon were pink, blue and yellow.
 I found the idea for these place cards from good old Martha Stewart. I altered her instructions a little bit and created these for the event. With our theme I chose to create all the place cards with pink ribbon and coordinated the color of cards with their lunch choice.
To make these you will need card stock, scissors, an x-acto knife, and ribbon. First I created the place cards on the computer, then printed them onto the card stock. In the design of them I included a very faded line that I would be able to follow to cut the slit that the ribbon would go through. After they were printed I used the scissors to cut out each place card. I then used the x-acto knife to cut two openings for the ribbon. Last, I threaded the ribbon through and cut the edges.
 The second DIY craft that I put together were these tulle centerpieces. The flowers that were going to be used in the wedding were hydrangeas, and became the flower of choice for the luncheon. When it comes to picking out your flowers you don't have to spend a lot on the arrangement. Selecting flowers that have large blooms, like these, allow you to use just one or two stems per arrangement.
To create these arrangements you will need a roll of tulle, a roll of ribbon, scissors, vases, flowers and water. To start I the tulle into approximately 8 foot pieces. Next I rolled the tulle up so that it would fit inside the vase. I then took a piece of ribbon and tied a small bow around the middle of the vase. Once I was at the venue I added water to about the halfway point (water doesn't damage the tulle and actually helps it stick to the sides of the vase) and then added one stem of hydrangeas to each vase. And tada! You now have an amazing centerpiece!
The last item that I made was the display stand for the cupcakes we custom ordered from Pearl's Cupcake Shoppe in Richmond. To start I already had the wire cupcake stand that I bought a few years ago on sale at Target. Once you have a stand all you need to do is to buy sheets of 12x12 inch scrapbook paper. I picked out adorable pink and white stripped sheets for this display to keep with the Pretty in Pink theme. Next I cut out a circle that would fit on the inside of each level. To get it to fit I then found the middle and cut a straight line from the edge to the center point. I also made small cuts perpendicular to the cut from the edge, so that it formed an "x" in the middle. To put it all together I folded up each wing of the center "x," slid the paper onto each level and added the cupcakes to the display stand. You can see the plates and napkins, that inspired the event theme, in the bottom right of the cupcake display picture. Each of these crafts don't cost much, can be easily changed for your next event and took no time at all to make. Overall everyone loved the luncheon and it was a great start to the weekend of wedding festivities. Did you have a bridal luncheon before your wedding?
xoxo
Megan
This past weekend I was a part of the wedding of two of my great friends, Meredith and Scott. It was one crazy weekend with the Bridal Luncheon, Rehearsal, and Rehearsal Dinner on Friday and then Saturday was filled with preparation and wedding day celebrations. Meredith and Scott filled their wedding with so many personal touches that really made their wedding their own.  On Friday the rehearsal dinner was at The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing. This place was one that the bride & groom along with all their friends loved to go to while they attended Law School at the University of Richmond the past 3 years. To go along with the evening they had the most adorable koozies for everyone to use that night and at the wedding if they wanted to. When it comes to selecting favors for your guests koozies are always a hit with all the guests.
After all the fun on Friday evening we were ready for the wedding day on Saturday. For our bridesmaid gift the bride got each of us a button down shirt, with our initials monogrammed on the pocket in our favorite color. That morning I also created this sign that the ring bearer carried down the aisle. This was an easy craft that I put together using a wooden board from the craft store and acrylic paint in the wedding color. Here is the sign with the bride's flower bouquet.  The bride and groom selected an amazing cake for their wedding. They kept it simple with classic white on white decoration for this formal affair. However, they did incorporate their wedding color of navy with a simple wrap around bow and a family heirloom brooch. The bridal bouquet also had a brooch added to it that had belonged to the bride's grandmother. Simple touches like these allow those family members who were not able to be at the wedding to be remembered during a wedding day. Prior to the toasts they also had pictures from each of the bride and groom's parents weddings.
Another creative touch that they decided to add to the wedding was the exit ribbons. They used the wedding colors of navy and green to create the ribbon wands that the guests waved when the bride and groom were exiting. These are a simple craft that you can create with ribbon and dowels. The great thing about these ribbons are they are easy to customize for your our wedding.
This wedding was so much fun and I could not be happier for these two. Tomorrow they will be off to celebrate on their honeymoon and I wish them the best of luck on their marriage!! What personal touch was your favorite in this wedding?
xoxo
Megan
Happy Monday to all of you! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. When putting this post together I did realize that I forgot to take some pictures of what I did to share with you. (oops!) Anyways, it was a pretty fun week.
 Last Monday turned into a day of sports events for me. To start off my evening I participated in the first of three of the Cul-de-Sac 5K races sponsored by the Richmond Road Runners. The organization plans tons of races throughout the year with the majority being 5 & 10K races (that would be 3.1 and 6.2 miles for anyone not familiar with running). Following the race I then went and played some softball with friends for their work team as they were short some girls. I am in no way a softball player, but it was lots of fun! Here is a picture of the team hanging out while we were at bat.
If you are interested in signing up for races in your area you can look up your local running organization by going to the national Road Runners Club's website. You can also contact the county you live in or a local gym to find out about any league teams that you and your friends could sign-up to play in. I know where I live they have kickball, softball, ultimate, and basketball adult leagues to just name a few.
 In August my mother is hosting my friend's bridal luncheon for the wedding that my sister and I are in. Since my family goes to the beach for two weeks in the beginning of August we decided to get a lot of the planning done this past week. We started looking at flower arrangements, table decorations and desserts for the occasion. Let me just say, searching flower arrangements and cupcake centerpieces on Pinterest can get you in trouble. There are so many ideas to get inspiration from that it took us a while to decide. For the luncheon my mom wants to stick with a pink theme. Pearl's Cupcakes Shoppe in Richmond offers over 75 cupcakes to choose from on their menu. It took us a little while to narrow our list down of ones we wanted to try before we placed our order for the luncheon as they all sound so good. Luckily they don't offer all 75+ options in their store everyday. Here is the Strawberry Fields cupcake that they had available in the store on Friday. The strawberry buttercream frosting was to die for!
When it comes to planning an event and using a vendor for the first time it is always a good idea to set-up a meeting with them prior to any contracts being drawn up or orders being placed. If it involves food it is always a smart idea to schedule a tasting, or in our case sample a few cupcakes, before you order anything. Recipes vary from one cook to the next so a tasting is a great way to make sure that you will not get any surprises on the day of your event.
My mom and I are still working on the cupcake selection for the bridal luncheon, but we did enjoy all the cupcakes we brought home last week! Did you have an event coming up that you started planning for? Share about your event in the comments section below!
xoxo
Megan
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. Last week I celebrated the 4th of July by going to the Richmond Squirrels game with the family. The Squirrels won (yea!) and we got to view an amazing fireworks show after the game. When it comes to minor league games, like this one, it is very important that the event staff provides entertainment and guest interaction throughout the game. One of the funniest games that I witnessed at the game was Whack-An-Intern (set up much like whack-a-mole except with interns). | Here is the fam before the game started enjoying the hot weather. To the left you can see some of the fireworks from after the game. Just a little tip: If you attend a Squirrels game with fireworks, the best seats are the ones on the 3rd base side as the fireworks will be directly in front of you. | | On Friday I worked a Wedding with Events by Elizabeth Palmer. This wedding reception was held down at the Jefferson Hotel as that is where the bride's parents had their own reception many years ago. The bride and groom included adorable customized details into the wedding that I just had to share with you. Each of these customizations are easy additions that any bride and groom can add to their special day. The bride and groom had this tree for everyone to sign. They had a sign near the post that asked all guests to sign their name to "leaf" their mark on their wedding tree. This is an adorable idea that give the bride and groom something they can hang up in their new home together from their wedding. Along with their wedding tree the bride and groom created a mad lib that they asked their guests to fill out and leave behind for the couple to read.
The bride and groom had a signature drink at their wedding called Southern Sweetie that all the guests loved! And you can't a a southern preppy drink without adorable stripped straws in the wedding colors.
My favorite customized detail that they had at their wedding was the bride and groom cake pops they had as favors for all the guests. They placed them at each guest's spot to also serve as a table decoration. To include their wedding colors they tied all the grooms pops with blue ribbon and all the brides pops with green. The little customized details like these are always my favorite at weddings. It just shows how the bride and groom incorporated their personalities into their big day of celebration. For more event personalization ideas you can check out my earlier post on Wedding Presonalization that I posted a while back.
Over all I had a fun filled weekend! What did you do this past weekend? Did anyone try to make the ice cream cupcakes? I would love to hear what flavors you tried!Don't forget you can stay connect with all things from The Preppy Planner by signing up for the daily email list. You can sign up by going to the "Follow Me" page or by clicking on the link to sign up on the right hand side.xoxoMegan
Welcome to July! I can't believe how quickly the month of June flew by between bachelorette parties, a wedding, going to baseball games and also celebrating Father's Day there was an event every week. Thank goodness July is going to be a little more laid back for me.
This past weekend I attended another bachelorette party for my BFF Meredith. Her sister, being the MOH, planed an exciting day up in Charlottesville where we did some wine tasting and had lunch at a great brewery in the area. Luckily we had amazing weather and even though the power was out in the area the vineyards were very accommodating and they had generators set up. They also had weddings to get ready for that evening, so they were beyond prepared for groups to come in for wine tasting.
Here are some pictures of our day of wine tasting and celebration. | The bride trying some wine at King Family Vineyards. | The hanging wine cork sign that spelled out "LOVE" in the Veritas tasting room. |
Also, Emily and Nathan stopped in Richmond on Sunday as they just arrived back from their honeymoon Saturday evening. It was exciting to be able to hear about their honeymoon and to also see their newest addition to the family while they opened their presents.
Isn't he just the cutest!!! They just picked him up on Sunday morning. We decided he was also a present and had to add this bow.
What did you do this past weekend? Don't forget you can sign-up to receive daily post notifications by going to my "Follow Me" page and filling out your contact information. I hope you all have a great Monday!
xoxo
Megan
I can't believe it is finally Friday! Last night my friend Lindsey and I went to a fun Girl's Night Cocktail and Jewelry party hosted by my friend Bambi. I always have so much fun when I go over there. The hostess just redid her backyard patio area and it is the perfect outdoor setting for any get together. And of course you can't have a great cocktail hour without some semi-appropriate napkins. I also loved the wine charms that were available. You can find great cocktail napkins, like these and also holiday ones, as well as decorative wine charms at most any boutique store.
And with those great beverage napkins you have to have a great drink. I found some amazing 4th of July Inspired drinks from Real Simple's blog Simply Stated and a patriotic DIY craft that you can make for you mason jars that I can't wait to try out! 1. Fourth of July Cocktail from Guy Fieri; 2. Strawberry Sucker; 3. Watermelon Mint Cooler;
4. Patriotic Margartia; 5. Red, White and HPNOTIQ Blue Martini These drinks from Real Simple are beyond festive for the 4th of July Holiday. When it comes to getting the layered look in your drink it is important for your liquids to be of different densities (middle school science class flashback!). The one with the most sugar will fall to the bottom while the one with the least will stay on top (you also will need to pour them in that order). These DIY drink lids that I found on the blog Two Shades of Pink was another 4th of July inspiration that I could just not pass up sharing. You could even serve your patriotic drinks in them.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! This past weekend my friends Emily and Nathan got married at the lovely Tuckahoe Woman's Club in Richmond, VA. Between the bridal luncheon, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and the wedding we were going non-stop the whole weekend. With the wedding being an amazing success and the bride and groom now happily married and off on their honeymoon I couldn't wait to share some of the pictures from the weekend. A cute chalkboard sign at the bridal luncheon | At the rehearsal for the ceremony | The bride's accessories with a silhouette
of her as a little girl | The bridal party's accessories the morning of the wedding (hangers made by me, flip-flops made by the mother of the bride's friend, purses made by the bride) All the girl's dresses on their hangers (bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal and wedding dress from Bridal Elegance) The bride trying to sneak a peak at everyone before the ceremony The wedding party (and I wish I could tell you what we were all laughing about!) A garden monogram that was on the gate welcoming everyone into the ceremony garden
Everyone made it to the end of the wedding in one piece and Emily and Nathan both said they could not have asked for a better wedding! My mind is still racing as I saw so many great ideas for future bridal luncheon's, gifts and wedding decorations. Have you been to a wedding so far this spring or summer?
xoxoMegan
You might also like these posts: - A Garden Wedding - Tuesday Ten: Wedding Personalization - A Navy and Pink WeddingAnd don't forget, if you have anything you would like me to feature or any ideas on what you would like to see on my blog just email me at thepreppyplanner {at} gmail {dot} com or leave a comment below!
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend celebrating with their dad! I had a busy weekend filled with baseball fun. However, let me just say that I probably will not be going to a baseball game again anytime soon. On Thursday I went with my friend to a Richmond Squirrels baseball game that went for 13 innings and then on Saturday we took my dad to the Nationals game which went 14 innings! They were both fun games, but they just took a little longer than expected.
Did you know that between the top and bottom of the 14th inning that they do another 7th inning stretch? Learned that on Saturday!
Here are some pictures from my weekend for you to enjoy: At the Squirrels game on Thursday evening. My sister, brother and I with our dad on the way into the game. There is always some fun and games when my family ventures out together! The whole family enjoying the game. We stopped at Crumbs after the game for a Father's Day treat. We couldn't resist getting one of these cupcakes for Father's Day! Here is the Father's Day gift that I got for my dad. My dad loves bulldogs and this one will listen quite well!
As you can see we had lots of fun celebrating Father's Day this past weekend. What did you do with your dad this past weekend?
xoxo
Megan
So last night I finally got around to going to an Innsbrook Afterhours concert and had so much fun. Gretchen Wilson, 3 Doors Down and ZZ Top performed and the weather could not have been better. Here is a picture of my BBF Wanda and I with ZZ Top performing in the background.
Now that I have regained my hearing from last night I have something fun to share with you today! As with any occasion the host normally get or makes favors for all those in attendance. Wedding favors can range from the bride and groom donating to a cause that’s important to them, a box of candy, a jar of homemade jam or a personalized favor. Here are some favors that I have from past events:
So as I have been sharing I am planning a bachelorette weekend for my BFF Emily, who is getting married in 2 ½ weeks. (yea!!) Here is a little craft that I have put together for all the girls going on the bachelorette trip this weekend. I found the tumblers from Walmart, bought the ribbon from a craft store and ordered the vinyl decals and stickers from etsy store We Speak Vinyl. Here is the final product. Now I only have 9 more to make! I will share all the finished products next Monday during my weekend recap of the whole weekend. What favors have you made or received from an event? Share a link to your picture below or tag it @PreppyPlanner on Pinterest. I love finding new ideas for favors and you can find some more of my favorites on Pinterest.xoxoMegan
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