Not Another LA Blonde

Tag: Wedding

The Engagement Party

Happy Monday y’all!! I know that last week I only posted one time but like I told y’all, I’ve been super busy these last couple of weeks. Here I am to tell you what I’ve been up to…the Fiancé and I finally celebrated our engagement with our families this past Saturday. It was a TON of work but the final outcome was everything I hoped it would be.

Ok, so for starters, we’ve been planning this party since about May. It was supposed to be in July, but my future in-laws house wouldn’t be done with their remodel by the beginning of July so we pushed it back to the beginning of August instead. The remodel at the house should have been done around mid-July, but as of Monday of last week, it still wasn’t finished (eek, talk about stressful!). So we were about a week out and the remodel seemed to be never-ending and I honestly didn’t think it would be done in time. I think magic was made because by Friday, the bathroom and living room were about 95% done and the backyard had grass and was landscaped making the remodel pretty much done.

Friday morning my mom and I went to DTLA so that I could pick up the flowers I needed to make all the centerpieces. As soon as we got to my house, I finished the welcome sign that would be hung for people to see as they walked in and then got to work on cutting and arranging flowers. Once we were done with those, we headed over to the fiancé’s house to start setting up (there were still tons of workers there so not much got done). We all worked really hard on Friday to get as much stuff set up as possible.

Saturday morning rolls around and we head back over to the house to finish setting up all the details. Let me tell you, it was not smooth sailing, there were lots of sweat, tears and threatening to cancel the party (what are y’alls thoughts on kids at an engagement party?) Anyway, we got it all resolved and ended up with 100 people over at my future in-laws house for the party. I made most of the decorations used at the party and my parents helped me with pretty much anything I needed. My future husband’s parents also helped us out a lot too. Even though all of our bridal party couldn’t be there, we had such a great time with everyone who was able to make it. I can’t thank everyone who helped out enough for being there for us even when I was being such a pain!

Here are some pictures of the decorations I made for the party:

Here are some shots of us, the bridal party and our parents:

Sunday afternoon the fiancé and I opened our gifts and were pleasantly surprised at how generous people were (any money we got is going straight into the wedding fund account because every little bit helps)! That’s all for my fun-filled weekend. I hope y’all went and did something fun and didn’t work too hard!

XOXO

August 7, 2017
The Ring Boxes July: A Box for the Bride-to-Be
Happy Monday! Welcome to the start of another work week… I recently got my second The Ring Boxes box in the mail and finally got a chance to look through it properly. I have to throw this out there…I’m not writing my own vows for the wedding, so this box was a little bit of a letdown for me, but if you are writing your own vows, then this is perfect for you.

From the subscription website: “Who doesn’t love flaunting that fiancé title and flashing your new fabulous bling! You always want to have all the newest and cutest bride to be goodies when you’re engaged and The Ring Boxes gives you just that, one big box full of all the most popular and fabulous bridal products each and every month leading to your special day! Each month we arrange a new box packed with full sized custom gifts, wedding décor, beauty and spa products as well as date night perks! Giving our brides the ultimate bridal experience.”

The Ring Boxes was created in January 2017 so it’s still pretty new. It features handpicked bridal items delivered right to your door each month. You can choose from monthly, 3 month, 6 month or 12 month packages. The price varies depending on which subscription you choose. Since my wedding is exactly a year away, I choose the 12 month package which brought my pricing to $35/month or $420 for the year. A single box costs $40. This box is the perfect subscription for the bride-to-be!

This month there was a definite theme to the box and it had to do with: WRITING YOUR OWN VOWS

Here is a BREAKDOWN of the JULY goodies in my box:
1. Wedding Vow Writing by Alycia Curtis – Retail Value = $14.99
A guide on how to write the most original tear-inducing, non-boring wedding vows of all time! Since I’m getting married in the Catholic Church, I won’t be writing my own vows. I think this book is great if you are writing your own, but it won’t really be useful to me (luckily I know a lot of people getting married, so maybe one of them will want the book!).
1. Vow Journals by Stevie + Bean Paperie – Retail Value = $18.00
Forget the crumpled index cards and use these beautiful notebooks to read your vows from. They also make a perfect keepsake for years to come! Again, this item isn’t really relevant to me, but there are 8 lined pages in each book which provides a lot of room for the happy couple to write their vows in. maybe I’ll keep them and the fiancé and I can write our own private vows that we can read on our own on the wedding night or something.
1. She said Yes Candle by Lux Illumie – Retail Value = $15.50
This white tea and berry scent captures the fun moment of saying yes with all the excitement to come! This candle smells divine! It’s not too overwhelming of a smell. This brand lasts for such a long time! I was really happy to get this in my box!
1. Rose Gold Diamond Topper Pen –Retail Value = $14.99
The perfect wedding planning accessory adds some glam to writing your vows and to do lists leading up to the big day! Ahh this is so cute! I def wouldn’t spend $15 on it, but since it was in my box I’ll be using it even after the wedding day!
1. Natural Handmade Bathbomb by Lizush –Retail Value = $5.00
This All Natural, Vegan, Non GMO, Essential oils handmade bathbomb will help you to relax and escape from all your wedding planning stress. I don’t think they sell bathbombs individually, but here the link to the Lizush website and here is their etsy shop page! I’m not a huge bath taker (I usually only have time to take a shower since I live at home with 4 other people still) so I’m not sure about this product. I love the way it smells, but I just don’t have the time or patience for a bath right now. Maybe I’ll see if my cousin wants this item.

BONUS!!!

The box also came with 2 recipe cards. One was a recipe for the bride to be and the other was a recipe for the perfect date night. One was “Penne with Chicken & Prosciutto Cream Sauce” and the other is for “Chocolate Fondant Lava Cakes”. They both come with a recommended wine pairing. I think that this is such a good idea for the soon to be bride to have a collection of recipes to make. I can’t wait to try out both of these recipes!

THE VALUE

The value of this month’s box is $68.48. While there are some items that I wouldn’t pay for or wouldn’t pay that high of a price for, I felt that the value of the July box was really good. The cost of the box was half of what the whole box was worth, so that was a win in my book.

I think this box is a great for the bride-to-be and I can’t wait to see what the rest of my year subscription has in store for me! After my year is up and I’m married I will cancel my subscription but only because I will no longer need a bride-to-be box delivered to my door every month!

XOXO
July 24, 2017
The Ring Boxes – A Box for the Bride-to-Be
Happy Wednesday y’all, We’re about half way through the work week!! Ok, so remember when I posted about having my blogiversary a few weeks back and I talked about how I would be starting some new subscriptions. Well here we are, I’ve found a new subscription box for myself!! The Ring Boxes was created in January 2017 so it’s still pretty new. This box is the perfect subscription for the bride-to-be!

“Who doesn’t love flaunting that fiancé title and flashing your new fabulous bling! You always want to have all the newest and cutest bride to be goodies when you’re engaged and The Ring Boxes gives you just that, one big box full of all the most popular and fabulous bridal products each and every month leading to your special day! Each month we arrange a new box packed with full sized custom gifts, wedding décor, beauty and spa products as well as date night perks! Giving our brides the ultimate bridal experience.”

The Ring Boxes features handpicked bridal items delivered right to your door each month. You can choose from monthly, 3 month, 6 month or 12 month packages. The price varies depending on which subscription you choose. Since my wedding is exactly a year away, I chose the 12 month package which brought my pricing to $35/month or $420 for the year. A single box costs $40.

This was my first month getting the box and the theme was: SWEATING FOR THE WEDDING!

Here is a BREAKDOWN of the JUNE GOODIES:
1. Comfy Tank Top by Mush Made – Retail Value = $24.99
Show off your up coming wedding workout goals with this comfy racer-back! While I couldn’t find this exact tank top, I’ve linked one that is very similar from Etsy. I’m really excited about this tank because I’ve been wanting to get a tank like this, but didn’t want to actually buy one haha I can’t wait to wear this while I work out. I’m sure there are a lot of girl out there like me, BUT I love having items that announce to the world that I’m engaged and this tank is perfect for that!
1. Custom Headband by Mavi Bandz – Retail Value = $14.99
This adjustable non-slip custom headband is the perfect accessory to your cardio set. This headband was custom for the box, but here I’ve linked the plain one without the writing. This headband is a little too expensive for my taste, but it’s cute enough that I will wear this one while I work out. I love the bright colors on it and I hope that it stays in my hair during my run.
1. Custom Water Bottle by Before The Rings – Retail Value = $15.50
Another must have for any gym sesh! Stay hydrated with this custom water bottle. I couldn’t find this exact water bottle online, but I’ve linked one similar to this from Amazon. For some reason, I LOVE water bottles so I was really excited to see this in my box! I love that the back tells me how much I’ve drank so far. This is a plastic bottle, so I don’t know that I would pay almost $16 for a bottle like this, but it was great that it came in my box.
1. Custom Gym Towel by Mush Made –Retail Value = $11.99
How many times do you go to the gym & realize you forgot a gym towel!? Here’s your own custom bridal towel to keep you dry! YES, I love that this towel is pink (my favorite color). I don’t have a gym towel currently, so I’m really happy that I got this in the box. Now when I go workout during lunch, I’ll have a towel to wipe my sweat away with.
1. Natural Handmade Soap by Lizush –Retail Value = $6.00
This All Natural, Vegan, Non GMO, Essential oil handmade soap will help you to cleanse after your workout while keep you relaxed & smelling heavenly. This soap smells divine. I love the way it feels on my body when I shower and the way it leaves my skin smelling like lavender. I also love that this product is all natural and that it comes in an affordable price.

BONUS!!!

The box also came with 2 recipe cards. One was a Recipe for the Bride to Be and the other was a Recipe for the Perfect Date Night. One was lightened-up shrimp scampi and the other is for a marinated chicken. They both come with a recommended wine pairing. I think that this is such a good idea for the soon to be bride to have a collection of recipes to make. I can’t wait to try out both of these recipes!

THE VALUE

The value of this months box is $73.47. Since I got this box with a new subscription discount, it was only $31. While I wouldn’t pay that much for each item in my box, I felt that the value was really good. The cost of the box was half of what the whole box was worth, so that was a win in my book.

I think this box is a great for the bride-to-be and I can’t wait to see what the rest of my year subscription has in store for me! After my year is up and I’m married I will cancel my subscription but only because I will no longer need a bride-to-be box delivered to my door every month.

XOXO
June 28, 2017