One of the first things I was excited to do after our engagement was to ask our friends and family to be in the bridal party! I'm so thankful to have some wonderful friends from high school, college, and work that will be joining me down the aisle! I wanted to do something personalized but fun and useful at the same time, so I finally decided on jewelry boxes for the girls from here.

I also snagged some paint swatches from Lowe's with our wedding palette colors and ordered personalized North Carolina outline cookies with our wedding date on them from Southern Sugar Bakery here in Raleigh - they have the cutest cookies (also Christin one of the owners just got engaged as well, congrats girl!) 

For the cards, I wanted something very simple and after looking on etsy, I decided to just create these myself in photoshop and printed them on cardstock! 💕

I was so excited to give these to all the girls, and I definitely think they loved them! Looking back now, I wish I would have gotten one for myself as well!

For the guys, Tommy found these groomsmen cards on etsy which were seriously so perfect for his group of friends - and who doesn't love that movie! 🤣

I can't wait to share more exciting wedding details with y'all soon! xo, S

This is ours:

When Sarah and I started dating while in college, one of the first questions I asked her, wanting to know more about her, was which beach she went to. In North Carolina this can be a pretty serious question, since our state has so many beaches and most people are pretty particular to one. Her reply, couldn't have been better.. She was an Atlantic Beach person too. Immediately this set off hours of conversation about our favorite places to visit, eat, and unwind. A few weeks later, God blessed us with one of those 80 degree winter days and I told her skip her classes for the day that I was coming to pick her up. I took her on a day trip from Greenville down to Atlantic Beach and it was there that we took our first photo together.

After dating for a little while, I saw something special in Sarah that I soon realized I couldn't let go of. I was seeing who I wanted to spend my life with and knew that whenever the time came to propose, it had to be at the Crystal Coast. There clearly are no shortage of ways to propose once you start to involve a coastal landscape, but for some reason, my mind kept going to boats. Finally, it dawned on me.. dude just charter one of the many boats that line the docks of Atlantic Beach and Morehead City!

But, y'all I needed a ring! 💍

Last December, my Mom asked me if Sarah was expecting a ring for Christmas. I said no, not for Christmas, but sometime soon! My Mom, then stopped me, and said, that she and my Dad wanted me to take the stone from my Grandmother's ring and use it. I man cried. No shame! I took the stone to Baileys and chose an awesome setting, couldn't have been happier how it turned out. I know my Nana would have loved it too. Now, that I had the ring it was back to the planning for a proposal that I had been thinking about for years. You only have one shot at this, so you've gotta do it right. 

We had picked a week to head down to the beach for a vacation, so I now had a week...needed to pick a day. Things are getting closer. I needed a boat! Fortunately, about a week before I found one that looked to be open, talked to the Captain, and he was 100% on-board to do exactly what I was looking for. Sunday came, it was down to the wire. I was acting cool as a cucumber all day, until mid-afternoon. We were sitting around the pool and I kept texting my Captain about some storms in the area and we decided to bump the charter time up by an hour to make sure we could get it in. I had to move quickly. I told Sarah that I had to run back to the condo to use the bathroom. I quickly tried to prepare a cooler with champagne bottles at the bottom, that were hidden in my luggage. Added some water, a few Cokes, a few beers, closed the lid, and made it look normal and went back to the pool like nothing had happened. When I got back, she asked me the dreaded question.. "What do you want to do for dinner tonight?" Honestly, it blindsided me and I had no thought process and I blanked. I said something to the extent of, I have that covered already. I tried to play it cool, but I think at that point she started to think something was up.

Since she didn't know where we were going, when she was trying to pick clothes later, she asked what she should wear? I told her wear something comfortable, but just be prepared for wind. I felt I had to give some kind of advice and I was just trying to cover those bases. We were ready to go and it was almost go time. We went to the car to leave, I was empty handed of course because I couldn't make things look odd. However I needed an excuse to go back to the condo, fortunately, she asked me to go back and get a brush. When I went back, I packed a bag of snacks and dropped the ring box into an empty can of peanuts I brought with me. This was 100% planned. Sarah doesn't eat peanuts and it was the perfect place for me to hide the ring box and I could put it into the bag of snacks for the boat and it would be a complete disguise.

We got to the dock, out of the car, and Sarah was not exactly sure what was going on, and was just kind of along for the ride. I hollered out to our Captain "mind if we take a ride with y'all?" and he said, yeah come on! Off we went, Sarah still unsure of what was going on, I asked her if she's ever been on one of these before? Of course, I knew the answer was no, but I was nervous. She could tell, because I wouldn't sit down, I was trying to let all of my nervous energy out, and be cool about it. We rode off down the channel and onward towards Beaufort. 

Sarah had always told me, no matter what she wanted pictures of the proposal. Obviously I hadn't hired a photographer so I had to improvise. Our captain had brought his son out with him that evening rather than his mate. I went back into the helm deck from the cockpit got the ring box out of the peanut can and said to his son, when I give you a thumbs up, come on outside and ask if you'd like for him to take our picture. Pretty normal question right?! 

I got his attention and he came out, right on queue and asked, and we both said sure. I handed him my phone and put my arm around her just like any normal photo, and it was until I grabbed her other hand and turned her towards me. Right then she knew. I told her that I loved her and that this was long overdue and that it was time. I dropped to my knee and asked if she would marry me. In the zone, I basically blacked out on the first yes, and after she said yes a second time I stood back up and slid the ring on her finger. I had pulled it off, we were engaged!

I went back into the helm deck for the champagne, shook the captain's hand and headed back outside to the cockpit to celebrate and through all of the excitement, a boat had caught Sarah's eye while I was inside and she snapped a photo. A smaller boat, sitting on a dry lift only a block from where I had proposed, with the name Miss Margaret on the back. Almost a divine intervention, as Margaret was my Grandmother's name. It was just a sign that she was there, and knew. I had pulled it off, she had said yes, and everything went off without a hitch. We were just so happy to be in our favorite place, with each other, as an engaged couple.

Let me start this by telling y'all that I am not a morning person to say the least...that's why I rely heavily on a daily routine. I also really love to get as much sleep as possible..or should we call it beauty rest! 😆  Pretty much each morning my routine is the same...which is basically down to a science, to allow myself to sleep as late as possible.

1. Coffee + More Coffee

Let's be honest, caffeine is a must, especially in the morning! I have got to have my cup (or two) before heading out the door in the morning! Right now I am really loving cold brews and have stumbled across a few good ones at the grocery store. When I'm not drinking iced coffee, I normally set my coffee brewer on auto brew..there really is nothing like waking up to the smell of a fresh pot of coffee in the morning.

2. Wash face + Shower

So so important! I wash my face nightly and each morning with a natural stem cell cleanser to get rid of any dirt build up. I also alternate between using an electric exfoliating brush and a gentle wash cloth. Oh and okay, so maybe my hair doesn't get washed every day, hellllooooo dry shampoo. But a quick shower is def a must every morning to help me feel refreshed and start the day!

3. Skincare Regime + Apply Deodorant

I apply a toner, a pore reducing serum/eye cream, and a daily moisturizer...in that order, because order is important. Also, can't forget to apply deodorant. My schedule can sometimes be extremely hectic with long hours and I don't want to worry about having to reapply. I had been on the hunt for a long lasting deodorant and lately, I've been loving Dove Advanced Care Antiperspirant. Talk about long lasting...it offers 48 hours of odor and wetness protection. Plus it has added skincare benefits with Dove ¼ moisturizers and NutriumMoisture for softer, smoother underarms. You know when you just love something you want to tell everyone about it? That's how I feel about this deodorant, I loved it so much I just had to let one of my girlfriends in on this beauty secret. 

I picked up one for her and guess what she loved it too! She said "After using Dove Advanced Care Cool Essentials I'm hooked!  The product is gentle on my skin and goes on super smooth. It lasts all day through work, my crazy travel schedule and work outs. I've used Dove products for years and this is definitely my new favorite!" See, I told y'all its THAT GOOD! 🙌🏻

4. Grab Breakfast + Out the Door

I have to admit, this is probably the part of my routine that may vary from day to day..depending upon how much time I have. Fresh fruit and yogurt are my go-to in the morning. But if I'm running a bit behind, I at least usually grab a snack bar or granola...oh and this is also when I usually get my second cup of coffee! ☕️ 

What does your daily routine look like? Anything you must do to start your day off right?

With October on the horizon, I've been looking to pinterest for some fall inspo. I have really been loving fall decor that incorporates white pumpkins with neutral colors. This centerpiece, shelf-styling, and mantel are some of my very favs. I've also been on the hunt for some great fall recipes to try out. I definitely plan on making my chocolate chip pumpkin bread and I've added these salted caramel brownies, this pumpkin pull apart bread, and cinnamon apple crumb cake to my list of recipes to try!😍 What are some of your favorite fall recipes??

I thought this article about things that are really the biggest waste of money was really interesting. I am definitely guilty of wasting money on at least 6+ of the things on this list! 😏 A while back, I mentioned being more present and attempting to live a more minimalist lifestyle. I've tried since then, to really be mindful of want versus need...in all aspects of my life. And let me tell you, it is HARD, but has definitely increased my willpower to not just buy all the things (I'm looking at you Target)! 😂

Have you all done the iOS10 update? 📱I'm usually pretty good with keeping up with all the new updates and features..but I have been so busy lately that I totally didn't read up on it before updating. Biggest Love:🙆🏼 The updated messaging design and features. Biggest Dislike:🙅🏼 The removal of 'swipe to unlock'!! This was by far the biggest shock to me and I still try to swipe every time I pick up my phone. It will definitely take some getting use to. What do y'all think?

Like I mentioned above, this past month, I had the joy of opening my first belle. a signature collection shoppe at Artisans in Greenville, NC. Really this all happened so fast. Between designing the space, creating new pieces, photographing everything, and tagging inventory...I didn't have time to even breathe. 😱 Honestly, this all seems so crazy to me and is still sinking in, but I am so overjoyed to have my designs come to life in this shoppe!! ☺️ If you're local to Eastern NC, I would love for you to stop in and check out our space. If you're not, you can still shop all of the designs on the website or check out our Instagram page!