A Foxy Fête: Dapper Dudes

Oh, to be a man and have it take all of five minutes to get ready for one of the biggest and most photographed days of your life. Must be nice.

All photos by Exclamation Imagery unless otherwise noted.

Groomsmen Matty & Negs

So while it took me literal hours to get all gussied up, it took Foxy and his four groomsmen less than ten minutes. I present to you: the guys getting ready.

Best Man Carkey

Groomsman Matty

Brother Groomsman

Groomsman Negs

Foxy-licious himself

Boom. Done. Eventful, huh?

I asked Foxy if he had any stories to tell from that morning, and the only one I got was that he asked someone who worked at the Vandiver for some Guinness for him and the guys. After having to somehow prove he was the groom, they got a whopping 4-pack about a half hour later for the five of them to share. I guess it pays off to be the bride? Sheesh.

Regardless, I was always adamant in having a second photographer for the primary goal of being able capture those moments, no matter how brief. The whole "guys getting ready" shots are kind of a not-so-secret obsession of mine, and I still totally love looking through all of them over and over (and over)!

Big, puffy-heart love this one.

Now in an effort to not have this be the worlds shortest post ever, I might as well share the moment when Foxy opened the gift I got for him, yes? We didn't do an official exchange (even though I hinted at it), but I still found a last minute, cute and little keepsake that I wanted him to have and thought he would enjoy. And even though I didn't get a gift from him the day of the wedding, he did buy me a pretty smokin' pair of Oakley's the week before.. which I told him could count as my "wedding gift". Fair is fair. ;)

So while I was getting my hair done, I passed Foxy's gift off to Officiant Em to bring over to his room. Thus commenced the presenting of said gift by groomsman Matty..

(personal photo)

..the reading of the card..

(personal photo)

..the opening of the gift..

(personal photo)

..and the utter confusion.

(personal photo)

Fortunately, Em stuck around to encourage him to reread the card, hinting telling him that there was probably a clue to what the gift actually was and what it meant in there somewhere. Despite his protests, Foxy eventually found (the fairly obvious place) where I explained it.

It was nothing fancy, but was just meant to be sentimental. It's simply a keychain (from Etsy shop Pat's Design) with a copper charm and four pennies - one from his birth year, one from mine, one from the year we met/started dating, and one from 2012 that I had imprinted with our actual wedding date. So it's sweet and functional - now he has no excuse not to remember our anniversary, hah!

And so, with the the guys all dressed and the girls all gussied up, it was just about time for our first look..!

It's Wedding Week!

We're Cool People (who had to deal with a slight change of plans)

Practice Makes Perfect.. And Crabs Don't Hurt, Either

Rise and Shine!

Pretty Women

Dressed Up

Boys Like Gifts, Too

Huh. Who knew? ;)

Truth be told, I started writing this post the week before the wedding, and then.. life happened. I even made up a cute little "keep out" icon! (You know, because all of Foxy's groomsmen totally read my wedding blog. Or not.) So.. I'm going to use it anyway.

I'm just kind of obsessed with his little top hat. Anyway. Moving on.

Way back in the day, Foxy and I had the idea to brew some beer and possibly hand it out as favors or have it be served during the reception. Then our DOC told us that Maryland liquor laws were silly and we wouldn't be able to do either of those things (you could drink them on site in the privacy of your room, but they couldn't be consumed in public/where our reception was). However, once again, y'all made my life and came to the rescue with your suggestions of giving it to the bridal party as part of their thank you gift!

Since I already had the ladies' gifts picked out, we decided to just do this for the guys. Foxy planned on giving each groomsman a six pack with four or five different home brewed beers, as well as a personalized beer mug. Here's the totally normal, not frivolous, most used sample one he ordered.

He also ordered one with his name on it. Which he doesn't use. Just this one.

And so, two months before the wedding, Foxy had a massive beer brewing fiesta and made something like 30 gallons of different varieties of beer (5 gallons per batch). After several weeks of fermentation and forming carbonation, we had a little taste test to see which beers would ultimately go into the gift!

After several sips and faux-expert comments, we had our final four: Peach Coffee Stout, Irish Blonde Ale, Hefeweizen, and English Breakfast Ale.

Next came the fun part (well, the taste testing was the fun part, but I liked this too!).. assembling the gifts! Foxy used some of the boxes from his beer making kits to pack the glasses, and I pimped out said boxes with tags and a brief profile of each beer. (The beer itself ended up going into gift bags that Foxy packed about 5 minutes before the rehearsal dinner.)

I totally love how they came out, and all the guys seemed to really dig 'em. At least according to Facebook, they do!

What's the best gift you've ever gotten as bridal party member?

Gifts for the Girls

First and foremost, I want to thank you all a million times over for your amazing, sweet, and heart-warming words in regards to my grandfather's passing. I am so, so lucky to be a part of such an amazing community of people; I may not know you all personally, but you all touch my heart more than you know. These past few days have certainly been hard, but we are slowly finding solace and are eagerly anticipating mine and Foxy's upcoming nuptials. As some of you mentioned, sometimes this kind of celebration is needed at a time like this.

And so, we keep truckin' and focus on the wedding. :)

Now, to my bridesladies: you know I love ya, but skedaddle. Shoo. Be gone. You'll know all about what I'm writing about here in just a few days!

Bridal Shower Ideas

As if I haven't mentioned it enough, I loved my shower and I loved all the little details. I don't know how MOH Copper and the other ladies came up with or found half of this stuff, but it's too good not to share!!

First up: gifts. It seems that the norm for bridal showers is to buy off of the couple's wedding registry, which I'm totally game with. There's nothing better than ripping open some wrapping paper and discovering a much needed new toaster or fancy, matching dish set.

I feel so grown up with my matchy dishes!

However, I personally believe that there is something to be said about getting non-registry gifts. I know not everyone is as okay with this idea as I am, but honestly? Some of my favorite gifts were non-registry items!

For example, MOH Copper got me a "special moments" wine basket (that may have a more official name, but that's what I'm calling it).

Each bottle of wine had a little tag, designating it for a specific time or event to be used. Each tag also had the cutest little poem on it.

I've seen other bee's talk about this kind of gift before, but as a bride actually receiving it, I'm going to tell you that it's an awesome gift to get. If you're thinking about it, do it! (My ladies also took it one step further and included little notecards for us to open throughout the months/years ahead.. I can't wait to get my hands on those, eventually!)

Next up is the absolutely precious and heartfelt little fox print I shared with you previously from my stepmom. Yes, I'm showing it to you again because I LOVE IT THAT MUCH.

Now I know we all don't have little blogger monikers that we go by, but almost every couple has something that they particularly relate to, whether it be food or an animal or a video game, etc. If you know what that special something is for a couple, why not commemorate it with a little drawing or print? I'm telling you, I didn't know how much I wanted this little print until I got it. Such a wonderful, unique gift!!

Moving on, we have the wedding day emergency kit that I think I've talked about a bajillion times. Always a good idea in my opinion, especially when packaged in a cute Vera Bradley travel case.

Another cute, non-registry gift? The Here Comes The Bride box from Birchbox that I got in the mail from my friend Meg, who couldn't make it to the shower!

I was beyond thrilled when I opened this little box up.. it's genius!! And I will totes-magotes use everything in it. Lurve.

Last but not least, we have the recipe cards that MOH Copper included in the invites and had everyone fill out before the party. I now have the beginnings of my very own recipe book!

I mean, with recipes called things like "Impossible Bacon Pie" and "Gooey Coconut Dream Bars", how could you go wrong?! Also, that BBQ Venison recipe up there? Legit. I haven't had it since I was a kid and I am SO excited to try it out again!

Ok, enough with the gifts. Let's move onto games!!

The first one we played was a "How Well Do You Know the Bride?" questionnaire. Basic, but still fun.. and whoever got the most right won a fun little gift!

I have to tell you, it was hysterical hearing some people's answers to these questions; two people even said my favorite book was the Bible. I mean, I know my parents are pastors, but... no. Sorry mom.

Next up was the purse game. Another standard, but they had some good stuff on the list, and I think my mom ended up winning this one! (She's also likely the only person with a photo of me in her wallet, so that helped.)

Last but most certainly not least was the best. game. ever. MOH Copper read the excerpt below, and every time she said LEFT or RIGHT, you had to pass the prize around the table you were sitting at in that direction.

I honestly have no idea what she actually said.. I was so focused on passing the prize and getting confused on what direction I had to go in that it completely went over my head. Either way, it was a super fun and incredibly entertaining game!!

Thus ends the gift and game highlight reel of my shower. Are you a fan of non-registry gift items? What was the best (or worst) one you received?