2018 reflections

I cannot believe this year is already coming to an end, I say this every year but this year flew by for me. The past several years were really tough for me, they were filled with loss, sadness and anxiety. I never thought during those years that I could possibly have such an amazing year like this past one. When 2018 started I knew I wanted my word for the year to be growth. I wanted to grow in every area of my life and boy did I ever.

July 10, 2018 I got engaged!

At this point Connor and I had been dating for a little over 8 years, I could sense it coming but I never expected it to be so perfect. As soon as he got down on one knee, I felt pure bliss! As crazy as it may sound, getting engaged completely changed our relationship. I knew we would always be together but making it official gave me such a warm feeling inside. It's hard to express how it feels but it just feels right. 4 days before I got engaged my best friend, Brianna also got engaged! It was such an exciting time for us!

July 13, 2018 wedding planning!

A couple days after we got engaged we started wedding planning. We knew we wanted to get married in under a year so we got to planning! As soon as we found our venue everything fell into place. Our wedding is in just a few months now and we are bursting with excitement.

August 3, 2018 I said yes to the dress

I found my wedding dress! The day was so magical and was filled with love!

August 21, 2018 I got a new car

I had my 2006 Jeep Wrangler for 9 years! I never thought I'd part with it but I wanted a smoother rise and more practical car. I traded Jack (my car) in for a new Jeep!

October 5, 2018 my best friend's wedding

Allyssa got married! It was such a beautiful day and so many amazing memories were made.

November 10, 2018 my niece Charlotte was born

Charlie is such a sweet baby girl! I am obsessed with her and her big sister Annabelle

December 5, 2018... coming soon

I cannot wait to share this next big announcement with you guys!


This year was so amazing for me, I decided to step back from my work life and fully embrace what means the most to me. I am truly the happiest I've been in so long and I am so thankful to all of you for supporting me as well as my family and friends. Most importantly I am so thankful for God, without Him none of this would be possible.

Never give up on your dreams and keep pushing through the rough times. I promise you, everything will turn out exactly how you want it to be. I hope you all have the best year imaginable!

How to create a vision board

There's just one more day of 2018, I hope you all had an amazing year and were able to achieve all your goals. Setting goals for the new year is so important. The past couple of years I've been creating vision boards. A vision board is a board filled with everything you want to manifest for the new year. I usually add goals I want to achieve in my personal life and business. By creating one of these boards you will constantly be reminded of what you want to work towards!

How to create your vision board

Find a board
You can get something simple like a poster board from the drug store, these are great because they are inexpensive and big enough to put all your goals. I got a small board from staples.

If you want your vision board to have a bit more style you can get a wire grid board and pin your goals to it! This board is from ASOS

Gather old magazines

Ask your family/friends for old magazines. The more the better! I went to Rite-Aid and found some magazines that specifically talk about the new year, they have such great quotes and ideas for reaching your goals.

Create

This is the fun part, you get to be creative and create your dream year. Put anything on this board that you want to happen for the new year. This is your time to dream, put goals that seem unattainable to you. Simply cut out images and glue them onto your board. You can even make a party of it! Me and my business besties had a fun vision board party! 

What to put

You can put both small and big ideas on your board, it's all about what you want! If you want a new kitchen sink, cut out a picture of a sink. If you want to go to Greece, put a picture of Greece. Make sure your photos/words you cut out are specific. If you want to go to Greece don't just put a picture of any beach, if you want to make more money put the actual dollar amount. 

Here's some goals that I placed on my board

• quotes that inspire me
• a house
• creating a new business
• re-branding my existing business
• doing a passion project
• honeymoon
• sunny wedding (good weather for our wedding is a must)
• creative confidence
• Greece
• Disney World
• yoga
• make more money 
• help animals
• find a new hobby

Place this board somewhere you will see it everyday. Every time you see it you will be reminded of what you want to achieve this new year.

*this post contains affiliate links

My wedding day accessories

Today we're talking about bridal accessories! I wanted to get this post up before black Friday because I know that some of these stores will be having great deals. I compiled a list of all of my wedding day accessories. I hope this is helpful for any bride-to-be's out there!

The veil

My wedding veil is from Davie & Chiyo. They were kind enough to send it to me. The prices from their shop are amazing, my cathedral length veil was only $116. The veil I tried on at my bridal salon was $250, eeekk!  The quality of this veil is unreal, it feels so soft and luxurious.

The veil I got is called Eloise, I went with the cathedral length. I've always dreamed of having a cathedral length wedding veil. They also sell this veil at shoulder length starting at only $60.

They are having a black Friday sale from November 23-26. Use code BLACKFRIDAY2018 for 25% off

The Eloise veil by Davie & Chiyo 

Hair vine

I will be wearing my hair up so I wanted a hair vine to spice things up! If you've done any research on hair vines you know they are pricey. I found this stunning vine for under $11! 

Rose gold hair vine from Amazon

Sticky bra

If you're dress is strapless, open back or low cut you will need a sticky bra. I swear by this set, it is under $13 and includes a sticky bra and flower covers.

Sticky bra from Amazon

Bridal panties

You don't want to forget a cute pair of bridal panties! Here are some fun options for every bride!

Little white panties from Victoria's Secret

Seamless panties perfect for brides with a slim fitting dress from Victoria's Secret

Personalized panties from Etsy

Garter

I made my garter, here is the blog post for it. I will also add some links to beautiful garters you can purchase.

White garter from Etsy

Beaded garter from Etsy

Something blue garter from Etsy

Wedding shoes

I went with personalized wedding shoes that double as my something blue! My shoes are from Kate Whitcomb, they were kind enough to send them to me. They have so many beautiful styles and different customization options. Use code EmelyneB2019 for 15% off, good until 7/19/2019

These are the ones I chose

Bouquet charm

I love the idea of having a charm on my bouquet to remember my grandparents. You can get these made on Etsy for around $15. I chose to DIY mine. I found a pack of 18 charms on Amazon for under $10. 

DIY charm

Etsy Charm

Decorative Etsy Charm

Makeup luggage!

This may sound odd but if you are traveling to your venue and will be using their bridal suite to do your hair and makeup you should definitely invest in good luggage for all your supplies! It will be so much easier to roll around your hair and makeup products rather than carrying them in a bulky bag. This can also double as luggage for your honey moon!! 

Carry-on luggage from Kohl's  

That is all for my wedding day accessories! I hope this was helpful to you all!

xx,

Emelyne

My favorite old-fashioned Christmas movies

It may only be November but in my heart it's Christmas time! I love watching Christmas movies in November to get me into the holiday spirit! I think the best Christmas movies are the old-fashioned ones. I have put together a list of my favorite old-fashioned Christmas movies for you all! I have arranged these movies in the year that they were made.
If you have any movies you think I should add to this list let me know in a comment below!

Do It Yourself Wedding Garter

If you're reading this you're most likely getting married soon so congratulations! If you're like me you've been searching for the perfect wedding garter but soon realized they are expensive! Who knew a tiny piece of fabric could cost $60?! I debated on splurging or making one myself, I decided to save the money and make one. It was actually such a fun and relaxing process. I put an old movie on, made some tea and got to work! There are so many different types of garters you can make, I was going for a boho/simple look. Feel free to add as much bling as you'd like! I went to Joann Fabrics and got all my supplies for under $9. I could easily make 10 garters out of the supplies I got totaling each garter at under $1!! WOW! Enough rambling, let's get started!

Supplies (click for direct links)
this post contains affiliate links

• Ruched ivory elastic or white ruffled elastic  
• Chiffon I got nude and blush pink
• Flower appliqué (similar to mine)
• Small pearls 

MEASURE your leg where you would like your garter to sit, cut your elastic to that size.

CREATE small flowers from the chiffon fabric, here is the video I followed. I was so surprised how easy it was to create these flowers! I made my circles about an inch in diameter rather than 3 inches like the video so that the flower was dainty.

SEW on your floral appliqué, you can either sew this directly onto the elastic or sew the ends of the elastic to the ends of the appliqué that way the elastic does not run through the design.  Lastly, sew on your chiffon flowers you made. Taaaaa-daaaaa it was that easy!

How to choose the perfect wedding dress

We all dream of the day where we will be standing in a gorgeous wedding gown surrounded by our family and friends. We don't always think of how hard it will be to actually find that perfect dress. Last month I went wedding dress shopping for the very first time. I've watched Say Yes To The Dress since I was twelve so I guess you could say I've been preparing myself for this moment. I had a vision of what style dress I wanted. It was a plunge neck line, open back and a skirt made of tulle and magical appliques. I had been pinning dresses similar for years. Most of the dresses I loved were well out of my budget, they were starting at $10,000 yikes!! The dress style I wanted was extremely hard to find, nearly impossible with my budget. That is why I am writing today's post, I want to share some advice with you that I learned from wedding dress shopping.

Be open minded
Like I said, I knew my perfect dress most likely didn't exist in my budget so I was prepared to go with a different style. Some brides may go into the consultation not having any style in mind and that's perfectly okay! Your bridal consultant will help you to find your perfect dress. I picked a dress that has an element I never thought I'd like! I actually saw this dress online and decided I wanted to try it, I found a bridal shop that carried it and made an appointment. Going into the appointment I wanted to try the dress on for fun, just to see what it would look like. Who knew it would end up being THE dress!

Go with what feels comfotable
Now I don't mean comfortable as comfy to sleep in, unless that's important to you. I mean comfortable for you and your style. It is so important that you feel like YOU in the dress. Many brides get talked into a dress that is nothing that they wanted and they feel uncomfortable in it. There have been so many times I decide to try a new look and I end up feeling uncomfortable the entire night because it is not me. So please, make sure the dress you choose represents you and only you!!

This is your dress
I'll admit it, I'm a people pleaser. I often choose things that make others happy and leave me feeling underwhelmed. I know for a fact, there is a huge chance my fiancé will not like my dress but you know what? I'm totally okay with that. If you feel that you will pick a dress you don't love just to please your friends, family, in-laws or even your fiancé do not do it! Both of my friends picked dresses that they also feel their fiancés will not like. I think as women, we often try so hard to please our significant others that we are willing to sacrifice what we want. This is your time to shine!

How will you know it's the one?
I truly believe that everyone knows deep down when it's their dress. Like I mentioned before, when I went to try on my dress it was just for fun. I thought it was too "out there" for me to actually wear. As soon as I slipped the dress on and looked in the mirror I started to feel the tears well up inside. As she was clipping the dress I couldn't wait to run out and show my family and friends. As I walked out, I looked at everyone and they all had tears in their eyes. Of course this made me even more emotional because I didn't think they would like it. Everything felt right, the dress felt like me and I was truly happy. I will say that I was so concerned about how Connor would feel about my dress choice. Everyone reminded me that he would love it because I was in it. I won't lie, weeks after I found myself waking up in the middle of the night having nightmares about the dress. Did I rush into it? Why did I get the dress? Should I have went to other stores? The late night thoughts were enough to drive me insane. Every time I had those feelings I looked at my dress and fell in love with it all over again. Trust your gut and the perfect dress will find you!

How To Find Yourself

It can be so hard to be yourself, we are constantly being fed perfect images on social media that can make us feel like we need to change. When we see these images of "perfect" people we often feel that we should mimic some of their characteristics to be more beautiful. There have been many times I've found a new Instagram account and I become obsessed with the model's style, beauty and personality. It's so easy to be inspired by that and slowly change things about ourselves. If social media didn't exist who would you be? What would your style be? Would you be more confident? These are questions we all need to ask ourselves.

From personal experience, I can say that social media has (to a degree) changed my style and confidence. Since using social media, I've found it hard to know who I truly am and as a result I feel less creative. Social media is great, don't get me wrong but I think that it has become such a huge role in our lives that it has stunted some personal growth that we all need to go through. I truly feel that if I never used social media I would have a different style and different interests.

Back to the original question, how do you find yourself? I believe that in order to find your truest self, you need to detox from life. I am in my 20's and have gone through the stage of not knowing who I am or what I want to be doing. In order for me to find myself, I go back to the days of no internet and get creative. Can you remember the last time you ditched your phone and just truly enjoyed an entire week. I highly recommend taking a solo trip or planning out a peaceful week for yourself. Everyday plan an activity outside or go somewhere that inspires you. I really love putting on peaceful music, opening up the windows and painting on a blank canvas. I'm not good at painting but it is SO relaxing and helps me to calm my mind of all worries. Doing things like this will help you become more in tune with yourself.

Take a day to try different things, write down activities you love to do or wish you did and do them! Imagine your most perfect life, how would you feel? What would you wear? How would you treat others? What would your job be? Whatever it is, make it happen! You have the opportunity to make your life whatever you want it to be. Setting goals and ambitions for your future will help you to be less fearful and more excited for the future. The key to finding yourself is doing what makes your heart and soul happy.