INSPIREMS

Taylor & Kevin {Weddings}

10/31/2018

Happy Halloween everyone!
We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Halloween than with the best treat of them all - a gorgeous fall wedding! A color palette of rich berries and cream brought a lovely richness to the celebration. Bridlewood of Madison was the perfect venue of celebration for this precious couple’s big day! Keep reading to see more of Taylor and Kevin’s October wedding!

{Tell us a bit about y’all!}
Kevin and I are both from Brandon, Mississippi! We met in high school, sophomore year to be exact! I can remember sitting in front of him in health class and him trying to copy my homework before the bell rang.
I am now a nurse at St. Dominic’s hospital in the Neuro ICU; I absolutely love my job and neuro/stroke nursing. Kevin works at Eaton Aerospace. We both currently work the night shift so I guess you could say we’re night owls!

{Can you tell us about your proposal?}
Our engagement was a complete surprise for me! We had talked about getting married and both knew that we would someday, but I never knew when he was going to propose. The weekend we got engaged was the weekend before his birthday, so I thought we were going to Livingston for a Kevin’s birthday dinner! We are both candy lovers, so every time we head out to Livingston we have to make a stop at the candy store. We decided to check out the candy store before meeting up with his family for dinner and when we came back outside Kevin stopped and asked me turn around. When I did, I saw all of our family and friends holding up “marry me” signs in the street! I turned back to Kevin and he was already on one knee! It was truly a surprise and is one of the most memorable and magical days of my life. He even picked out my amazing pear shaped diamond himself; my ring is so beautiful so I love giving him the credit he deserves!

{What was the biggest inspiration for your wedding?}
I knew I wanted a fall wedding, so I started there when trying to decide major themes and to guide my search for inspiration. I actually followed The Knot Wedding Timeline and looked through many wedding magazines. I knew I wanted a fun wedding where people felt they could get up and dance and have a great time, so I decided to go with a DJ instead of a band. I read a blog post once about how DJs can play every type of music and I thought that would fit better with what I wanted our celebration to be.

{What were some of your favorite moments from your wedding day?}
Our first look! I’m sure everyone says that, but it was so special for both of us. We almost didn’t do a first look but I am so thankful that we did. A first look gives the bride and groom and opportunity to see each other, just take in each other’s beauty, and hug and love on one another. Another special time for me was getting ready with all my girls, my mother, grandmother, and mother in law! Also, I loved how much fun we had cutting the cakes!

{Can you tell us about some of your favorite details?}
One of my very favorite details of the entire wedding was Kevin’s grooms cake! It was absolutely amazing. It was a vintage, leather looking golf bag (my groom loves to play golf!). I also loved the clear signs we had, they ended up being some of my favorite decor elements. Another detail that I’ll always remember wasn’t even planned! During our ceremony a deer came out to say hello! It made the day seem so magical and like a real life fairy tale.

{What about the flowers?}
I knew from the beginning I wanted my flowers to incorporate burgundy/wine color. I found a bouquet I loved on Pinterest and took the picture to a meeting with the Fresh Cut team! They helped me use that picture as inspiration and make a bouquet that was uniquely my own. I wanted my bridesmaids bouquets to look similar to mine so I asked Fresh Cut to make smaller versions of mine for them.

{How did you choose your venues?}
Our ceremony and reception were both at Bridlewood of Madison. One reason I picked Bridlewood is how grand it feels when you drive up; the beauty of the building and the land is exactly what I wanted! I also told my family that I wanted to get married somewhere that had a long aisle I could walk down. I knew I would only wear this dress once, so I wanted to have plenty of time to show it off! Another thing that made this venue special was the fact we got engaged just down the road at Livingston!

{Do you have any tips for anyone planning a wedding?}
Yes, go ahead and buy ALL your gifts you are planning on giving (parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl, ring bearer, officiant, ect.) wrap them or have them wrapped and let that be done! Don't spend your whole wedding planning process worried about gifts you are giving other people. Get that done early and it will take a lot of stress off you in the last few weeks leading up to your wedding. I am so thankful I used Fresh Cut for catering and floral. It was much easier for me than meeting with two different vendors. I also would suggest at least getting a day of coordinator. I did not have a wedding planner but I did make sure I had a day of coordinator and it truly makes the day of a lot less stressful for the bride.

{Vendors}
Photography: Katelyn Anne Photography | Venue: Bridlewood of Madison| Catering & Floral: Fresh Cut Catering and Floral| Rentals: Parlours Rentals | Lighting: Denise Terry| Harpist: Fine Arts Ensemble| Photobooth: Mississippi Photo Booths| Clear Signs: Lewis Designs| Gown: Lace Bridal| Bridesmaids Dresses: Mimi’s Bridal| Hair: Lane & Alyssa Swindle| Makeup: Christine Cody & Kara Lott|Painting: Casey Langteau Art|

12 Days of Giving {Insider Inspiration}

10/29/2018

Happy Monday y’all!
We hope y’all had a restful weekend and are ready to take this busy week by storm! With the holiday season right around the corner, we are constantly looking for a way to give back to our community. Our friends at Bravo, Broadstreet, and Sal & Mookie’s have a wonderful program that allows you to give back to the organization of your choosing. Keep reading to find out how you can get involved with the Heart For Jackson program by participating in the 12 Days of Giving!

Giving back to the greater Jackson community has always been a priority of Mangia Bene. In addition to providing Jackson residents with fantastic dining experiences at Bravo, Broadstreet, and Sal & Mookie’s, owners Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal aim to better the community through their business. In 2015, an opportunity to incorporate giving back to the community into holiday gift card sales presented itself and the 12 Days of Giving was born! Jeff Good adds, “The holiday season is a time for giving, and who can use a gift more than all the wonderful charities in our community. By creating the 12 Days of Giving campaign, we have made it easy to give to charity while also taking care of your shopping list!”

Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal

10% of all gift cards sold during the 12 Days of Giving sale will be donated to the 12 Heart for Jackson Charities in the form of gift cards. From today, October 29th, until Wednesday the 31st, you can partake in the program by nominating charities you think deserve to be a Heart for Jackson charity online at 3in1GiftCard.com. The 12 Days of Giving officially starts on November 9th and ends on November 20th. The gift cards can be purchased online or at any of the three restaurants during this time and are redeemable at any of the restaurant locations (with the exception of Sal & Mookie's in Biloxi).

There are two essential steps to making sure your favorite charity gets to benefit from this amazing program. First, make sure to nominate the charity before Wednesday October 31st online. Then, purchase as many gift cards as you can during the 12 Days of Giving, November 9th- 20th. Who knew giving back could be so easy and delicious!

For more information on Mangia Bene, please visit their website.
To nominate your charity and purchase gift cards, click here.

Maggie Wade- 36 Years on Our Side {Life}

10/19/2018

Cheers to the weekend y’all!
We hope that y’all had a fantastic week so far and that the weekend will be even better! Today we wanted to highlight Maggie Wade, someone who we are so honored to have the privilege to get to know. Maggie Wade has worked to bring the Mississippians news for over 36 years now and is a tireless advocate for Mississippi children in need. Keep reading for more on her inspirational story and have a great weekend!

Every day, Maggie Wade enters the homes of many Mississippians delivering the good, the bad, and the heartwarming stories of the day. In a world, with so much negative and so much bad news, one wonders how she may be able to do this day in and day out. “I see the very best of people, but unfortunately, I see the worst of people too,” Maggie says. “I can only do the news because I know the Good News. Because I know the Good News, I can keep going.” Through her platform of the news, she has become a tireless advocate for foster children and adoption. “I believe that God put me here on this earth to be a servant, not to be served,” smiles Maggie. She feels her role is to be a servant to children.

Maggie began her career at WLBT in 1982. She has been the weather anchor, a news reporter, coordinator and producer of children’s programming, and is currently the news co-anchor at the 4, 4:30, 5, and 10 p.m. newscasts. “It was kind of amazing how I got involved in adoption and foster care,” smiles Maggie. “I was filling in one weekend in 1985 and covered an adoption celebration. I was able to interact with the children there and play with them.” Not long after the celebration, the same social workers that were there that day came to the station. They approached Bert Case, the news director at the time, about partnering with the station on doing a segment featuring foster children who were in need of permanent homes. There was only one condition that they had, that Maggie do the segment. In November of 1985, the first segment aired. Once she got involved, she began going to workshops that dealt with the legal aspects of foster care and adoption and to learn what these kids went through, the neglect, abuse, and abandonment. “I felt God leading me to be an advocate for these children,” smiles Maggie. She decided that anything she could do to use the platform of the media to get the word out about these precious babies that needed permanent homes she wanted to use. “I felt as if that was my purpose for being here,” says Maggie. “I want to show love to babies who need it and promote adoption in any way I can.”

Throughout her career, Maggie has received more than 500 awards many of them recognizing her tireless work for the children in Mississippi. She was recognized by the United States Congress in October 2011 as an Angel In Adoption for her work on Wednesday's Child. She was nominated by Senator Thad Cochran. She also received the award in September 2001 for the segment featuring foster children in the state in need of permanent homes. Through Wednesday’s Child, 98% of the children featured have been placed, that number is currently more than 7,000 children. Maggie was nominated by Congressman Ronnie Shows. Congressman Shows also recognized Maggie's work for children in the state on the floor of Congress. The National Association of Social Workers, Mississippi Chapter selected Maggie as their Citizen of the Year in March 2009 for her work with Wednesday's Child. She was also honored as the 2009 Volunteer of the Year by Tougaloo College. In October of 2011, Maggie was appointed to a 3 year term by Governor Haley Barbour to the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. In 2012, Maggie received the Salvation Army Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also a recipient of the Father Donald W. Lloyd Memorial Award presented in August of 2013, in recognition of Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy by the Marie R. Hoerner Foundation. She was also recognized by Catholic Charities for her support in 2012. In 2014, she received the 2014 Woman of the Year Award from the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women.

“I feel that God has given me this platform, and I want to use it for good,” says Maggie. “I have met so many amazing and precious kids.” Some of the kids will contact her and she says it never ceases to bring tears to her eyes as they tell her how being a foster child has helped them to be better husbands and better wives. “I haven’t met any of the children that have been featured that have a bitter spirit. They are amazing people doing wonderful things. It’s truly wonderful to hear the hope and enthusiasm they have,” smiles Maggie.

Today, Maggie still uses her platform, but in a different way. At this time, Wednesday’s Child is not on the air, but Maggie is prayerful that they will one day have the platform once again to spotlight these children so that they are not forgotten. “These are our babies and they need and deserve Christian homes,” smiles Maggie. God has used her as a vessel to touch the lives of thousands of children here in Mississippi and she continues to give God all the glory for the work he has done thus far. “It has been a very rewarding 35 years in the news and I’m truly thankful for the opportunity God has given me to be where I am.”

Fall Floral Arrangement with Oxford Floral {Insider Inspiration}

10/15/2018

Hey y’all!
If you’re in need of a beautiful and festive floral arrangement for your fall get together today’s post is just for you! We got the chance to sit down with David Naron of Oxford Floral for a fun tutorial. Keep reading to see step by step instructions of this stunning arrangement that will be sure to liven up any tablescape or entryway or even tailgate!

Oxford Floral has been creating beautiful and festive floral arrangements for over 80 years just off the square in Oxford, Mississippi. Along with providing extraordinary floral arrangements, Oxford Floral also offers fine gifts, accessories for the home, and full bridal registry of crystals, china and linens.

As the leaves change colors and the temperature begins to dip, Fall is the perfect time to bring some of the outdoors inside with a unique floral arrangement. Drawing inspiration from the colors of Fall with football and pumpkins in mind, David Naron of Oxford Floral created a beautiful centerpiece for your next tailgate or party.

{STEP ONE}
Make sure to choose a pair of pumpkins that complement each other. Meaning that they are size appropriate and they stack well. This is very important to the process as the pumpkins will be the foundation of the arrangement.

{STEP TWO}

When prepping the pumpkins I love to use a jigsaw. They are great with heirloom pumpkins whose exterior are much more dense than traditional pumpkins and it is actually much safer than an ordinary kitchen knife.

{STEP FOUR}

Fall hydrangea is a great base for this arrangement. You can piece it off and use the smaller pieces in areas that cannot usually sustain an entire hydrangea.

{STEP THREE}

The use of dowel rods is key to the stability of the arrangement. After securing the dowels in the bottom pumpkin you can the pre-cut the holes for the top pumpkin, making your arrangement secure.

{STEP FIVE}

Don’t be scared of height. Go big. Your oasis will hold a lot of flowers. Just take your time and remember that when a flower is inserted into oasis then it really needs to stay there. If you insert a flower and remove it continually, it will deteriorate the sustainability of the oasis and can cause it to crumble. Be patient and deliberate!

{STEP SIX}

Don’t be afraid of incorporating non-traditional flowers. I love the use of peppers, ornamental cabbages, bromeiliads, pumpkin on a stick, etc. in the fall. People want to see the unexpected. Give them something to talk about.

{STEP SEVEN}

I always like to have a couple of clusters of interest. For this project, I used yellow crespedia.

When you feel a project is getting too “busy” stop and create a few impactful clusters. It will cause the admirer to focus on those areas. You also have the opportunity to create little vignettes within larger pieces.

{STEP EIGHT}

Football is king in the south during the fall. Well, during the fall in the floral world, bittersweet is king of all kings. Don’t be scared of it at all. You simply cannot hurt it. Bittersweet is very pliable and can be wound all around your piece. Use the first couple of pieces as a web to incorporate the remaining vine. It is very important to apply it at the end of your process.

Many thanks to B. Flint Photography for capturing this stunning arrangement so beautifully!
To learn more about Oxford Floral, please visit their website.

Chaney & Pallas {Weddings}

10/10/2018

Happy Wedding Wednesday y’all!
We wanted to share Chaney and Pallas’s beautiful celebration of their love with y’all today! We absolutely love how well Kyle of Kyle Hancock Photography was able to capture this sweet duo’s wonderful love for eachother. This wedding was full of precious details and we hope y’all enjoy it! Scroll down to hear from Chaney about what inspired her big day!

{Tell us about y’all!}
Pallas and I both grew up in different settings. I’m a city girl from Jackson, Mississippi whereas Pallas’s hometown Hamilton, Mississippi is in the country. However, we both grew up loving Mississippi State University. There was no way to know how much Mississippi State would bring us. Not only did State bring us friends to last a lifetime, but it also allowed our paths to cross, which Jesus knew we both needed.

At the end of Pallas' freshman year and my sophomore year, he texted me and pursued me a little more than I was ready for. He eagerly asked me on a date and I just wasn’t ready for a relationship, or so I thought, so I turned him down. However, he kept pursuing me and being consistent. Because of his consistency, he finally got me to go on his boat to the Tombigbee River with some mutual friends. I went that day thinking we were just going as friends, and would leave as friends. Well... after that day things felt a little different. I was beginning to have feelings I thought I wasn’t ready for, but in reality God knew where it was heading.
After that day, we couldn’t stand to be apart! We spent the whole summer together it felt like (when he wasn’t farming of course) and I loved every second of it. I found out quickly that Pallas was truly my best friend and the guy I had been praying about for a long time.

Throughout our relationship, life hasn’t always been easy. With my mom's sickness and her going to be with the Lord, Pallas was there through it all. Along with God, Pallas truly was a rock, a solid foundation, that I could come to for rest. He has a tender heart that has made me a lot of who I am today. Now that we are married, we have grown and learned even more about each other. And the best, most exciting news of all, is that we are expecting a baby next April! We are thrilled and know this baby will bring even more happiness to us as a family.

{Can you talk to us about working with Fresh Cut Catering and Floral?}
My best friend, Kaitlyn Manning, had gotten married the year before me - so her and her mother, Lori Barfield, helped me so much with the planning process. They gave me a lot of ideas and inspiration which led me to my main appointment with Wendy Putt of Fresh Cut Catering and Floral. That’s when Wendy Putt and her daughter, Julia Putt, did it all! They’re the best and I trusted them with every detail. They allowed me to walk around and choose details for my wedding in the Fresh Cut warehouse where they keep all the beautiful decorations. One of my favorite moments from our meeting was when Wendy and Julia picked out these awesome wreaths for my reception lighting and ended up calling them the “Chaney Wreaths!”

{What was your favorite moment of your wedding day?}
My absolute favorite moment of my wedding day was seeing my now husband, Pallas, for the first time that day. The day was perfect leading up to that moment, but when I saw him.. knowing he would soon be my husband, was my favorite moment in the world. I sure was nervous though!

{How did you decide on your wedding ceremony location and reception venue?}
I chose to have both my ceremony and reception inside The South Warehouse in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. I made this decision because I had always been blown away by The South every time I went to a wedding there. It’s a beautiful, spacious warehouse space that is totally customizable. There are so many possibilities for gorgeous weddings! It was absolutely perfect!

{What about the flowers?}
I chose to use a combination of some of my mom’s favorite flowers alongside my own favorites. The result was beautiful! I was very much inspired by what I thought my mom would pick for me so all the florals were very special to me!

{What are some of your favorite details from your celebration?}
I loved that we used a Mississippi coffee table book as our guest book. I am so happy we made this decision because all my guests signed it with well wishes and sweet notes that we’ll now be able to keep out on our coffee table forever!

Remembering my late mother was a big part of my wedding. We celebrated her life in a couple of different ways. A bouquet in her honor was wrapped in a handkerchief crafted out of her wedding dress. Additionally, my garter belt was made out of her wedding dress and we had a table set up in honor of her.

During the ceremony, Pallas and I welcomed our parents, siblings, and grandparents to come up and pray over us as a beautiful song played in the background. This was a super special detail of our ceremony I am so happy we thought to incorporate.

{What was your favorite part of the wedding planning process?}
My favorite part of the wedding planning process was sharing fun wedding ideas between my husband, family, and best friends. Although some say it can sometimes be an overwhelming stressful time, I had so much fun with it and would do it all over again! Also, all the fun festivities in between like our showers, engagement parties, and my bachelorette trip were perfect and I created so many wonderful memories!

{What tips would you give someone else that’s planning a wedding?}
Take it all in! Don’t rush it! During your engagement, have a blast and don’t wish it by!
I wish I could go back and do the parties and festivities all over again! On your wedding day, be yourself and be with your favorite people. One of my favorite parts of the entire day was being surrounded by the ones I love so much! It was a blessing to have a day with my favorite people all around me pampering me to make me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. During the reception - be with your husband, dance on stage, eat some cake, and don’t blink! Someone had told me to take each moment in, and that’s just what I did.

{Vendors}
Photography: Kyle Hancock Photography | Venue: The South Warehouse| Catering, Florals, Lighting: Fresh Cut Catering and Floral | Bar:The Iron Horse Grill | Dress: The Bridal Path | Tux: The Tuxedo Junction | Event Coordinator: Rachel Curtis with Posh Design Shoppe| Band: D Play (New Orleans) |

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Taylor & Kevin {Weddings}

12 Days of Giving {Insider Inspiration}

Maggie Wade- 36 Years on Our Side {Life}

Fall Floral Arrangement with Oxford Floral {Insider Inspiration}

Chaney & Pallas {Weddings}

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