Category Archives: Miss June

Bride Blogger // Reception Details

Favors

Please start doing your favors early. We spend HOURS the week before the wedding driving around to find the least expensive “wedding mints,” as I call them. The favor boxes were from Michael’s, as were the monogram stickers keeping the boxes shut, and the ribbon were varieties in the same color from every Wal-mart in town we could find with thin enough ribbon in that color…. more hours of our life gone that we’ll never et back. I wish we would have gotten all the materials ahead of time. We would have gotten better deals price-wise, and spend those frantic, store-hopping hours on other wedding tasks. It took a team of about five of us many hours to fill and finish all 300 favor boxes… but in the end it was a wonderful detail, a great finishing touch to the tables, and a yummy treat for our guests.

Flower

Flowers. Mine were not exactly what I wanted, and our two mother’s bouquets never made it to the church, but we received many compliments on them none-the-less. I wanted a more rose and gardenia filled bouquet with less variation in color, and larger bouquets for the bridesmaids.. they were supposed to have two dozen flowers in each of theirs! For the flower girls I went with faux flowers from Hobby Lobby wrapped in ribbon with a stick-on flower to look like a pin. The faux flower idea was perfect as they got thrown around and used for hitting younger (and older) brothers all day.

Cake

Besides flowers, finding the perfect cake vendor was a tough chore. We forewent expensive fondant (and tasteless) frosting and went for a butter cream finish with some flowers thrown on. It wasn’t “pearlized” the way it was supposed to be and I think the samples we had tasted better than the actual wedding cake, but we went with a price-friendly option and everyone was too busy enjoying the dancing and company of the night to think the cake was anything less than tasty. We did red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate flavors, each layer being a different flavor, and the groom’s cake was supposed to look like a tuxedo…. It didn’t really come out that way but at that point… you just gotta roll with the punches!

To help with costs in the cake department we had sheet cakes pre-cut, waiting in the kitchen to be served after our cake cutting.

My advice here: If you walk into a vendor’s shop, or call, and you get anything less than friendly and professional… turn around and walk out and find yourself someone who appreciates your business. As someone who studied entrepreneurship I was appalled at the lack of pride in doing business of some people in the wedding business. If you’re stuck in a situation where you have to chose a vendor due to budget, just make sure you give them very clear directions and make expectations known. If all else fails, warn every bride after you not to go there!

I’d say I’ve give the taste of the cake a 6/10, the design a 6/10, and professionalism and friendliness a 3/10.

Oh, and make sure there’s a plate set out for you when you do the cake cutting…. : )

Bride Blogger // Daddy Daughter

From Miss June:

Nothing makes me more emotional at weddings the the daddy-daughter moments. The moment when he gives her away and the daddy-daughter dance. Janine did an excellent job capturing those moments between my father and I. He’s the best man in the whole entire world and I am so blessed to be his daughter. His speech at our wedding was so touching and I had people coming up to me all night saying they wished they could be friends with my dad, or they wished they will be a dad like that someday, or even that they wish he was their dad! I love him very much and I’ll never forget bawling my eyes out during the daddy-daughter dance as he told me how Brad was the perfect man for me, and that “perfect” was the only way he could think of to describe what he thought of me. I love my dad.

Bride Blogger // The Wedding

From Miss June: Getting ready for the wedding at the church was full of anticipation for the girls, and a five minute process for the guys. The details I chose for my something old, something new… My handkerchief was given to me by my mother-in-law to be, it was laced and beautiful and I have it displayed with the other detail pieces in a glass hutch in our home now. The blue bird was placed in my bouquet and was from my Grandmother Shirley, my mom’s mom. It had been in her bouquet when she got married years ago. The sol, white flower was also something old from my mother’s bouquet and placed in my own. The earrings were new and the shoes were new. (I ordered the Badgley Mischka’s from Piper Lime online. A girl has to wear some great shoes on her wedding day!) My something borrowed was my aunt’s tiara she wore at her own wedding, it was beautiful and I was so appreciative to get to use it.

The girls continued to get ready at the church and I got my finishing touches of a last spray of perfume before going down to see Brad for the first time. This first moment you see each other is…. so wonderful. A couple friends stood by the door keeping the church empty so Brad and I could have our first moment of seeing each other to ourselves. I feel like that was the moment we got married, even though I know it came about an hour later. It was finally real then. I was in the dress, he was in the suit, everyone was ready, and we were about to be married.

Bride Blogger // Wedding Day

From Miss June:

We started the day at 8am! That’s right… bright and early. Believe me… I heard the grumbles from some of the girls.. but, that’s what you’ve got to do when there’s so many to get ready! I started the day giving each of the women involved a gift bag with a small bottle of champagne for mimosas and a “bridesmaid” tank top I had made. (I made the bridesmaid tanks by ordering rhinestone decals online and buying tanks at Forever 21.. so simple and so much less expensive then buying tanks that are already made!) The champagne bottles said “A toast to my bridesmaids…” or “A toast to my mother-in-law.” I also made casual v-neck shirts with the rhinestone decals for my mom and mother-in-law to wear that day as well.

We then went to Garbos! It was raining and my phone was blowing up with texts to remind me that “rain on your wedding day is good luck!”… I was just praying that today wouldn’t be the day for the bad storm we always seem to get in June here in Omaha. It wasn’t! Not at all… by the time we left the salon around noon the sun was out, the sky was blue, and we were hours away from the vows!

Everyone got their hair done and we headed back to the hotel to grab our dresses, order some lunch (Jimmy Johns), and get shuttled over to the church for the final preparations! There was no extra time to spare. I was so glad we decided to get ready so early in the day and were able to get all the last minute things of the day finished in time. No matter how prepared you are, things just keep coming up!

Bride Blogger // Buff Bride

From Miss Behavin: About three years ago I was fresh out of college and new to the big city of Omaha. I had a ten minute commute to work and always listened to the radio. One day I heard the Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping (FXB) advertisement and wondered what it was all about. Then of course I forgot about it. A little while later I noticed a FXB going in to the strip mall by my house. When I finally got the courage, I emailed the owner/head coach of the Northwest location. I had an immediate response, and this was no dull message. Courtney had so much enthusiasm and it made me want to go in to meet her. So I did.

I was so scared. To start your 10 weeks you have to get measured, weighed, tested on pushups, situps, and run a mile. Eeks. But I did it all and didn’t die. I made a promise to myself that I was going to stick to the meal suggestions (Don’t worry I got a cheat day every week and I used it!) also, I would work out the 6 days a week like they wanted me to. I went into the 10 weeks thinking I was going to be a size 2 by the end of it. But as the weeks progressed and I began to feel stronger and healthier I realized that I didn’t care what my weight was anymore! At the 5 week mark we had our second round of testing. This time I was pumped! I was so much stronger already. I hadn’t missed a day and was sticking to the healthy eating lifestyle. Lifestyle… that is what FXB is really all about. Yes, you can join for the 10 weeks, and get awesome results, then stop. But in my experience, I totally fell in love with it.

But then I fell in love with something, well, someone else. I met Mr. Behavin my second week of FXB. I felt confident enough to talk to him, and honestly I felt like a hottie. We started dating and I promised myself that I would still make it to my 5 am workouts. And I did. I didn’t miss a day. 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week, for 10 weeks, of kickboxing, upper and lower body works, eating healthy and a new boyfriend. I was so proud of myself. I rewarded myself with a new wardrobe. I wasn’t a size 2 and I didn’t want to be because I looked great! Then I was trained to start instructing! I was a FXB instructor!! Well, two times…

Then love got the best of me. My 10 week program was over and I only promised myself to not skip during that time frame. So, I began skipping one day, then two, then a week. I paid for a year in advanced and still couldn’t get motivated. I had skipped months and was terrified to go back. Then the year was up. Do I pay again and never go? Do I just stop? I chose the lazy and cheaper choice.

I started feeling terrible. I stopped looking and my awesome toned arms in the mirror because now they were just boring arms. All my new clothes began to be snug, and ended up in the back of my closet. I would eat healthy for a day, then I would go get a blizzard because I could. When Mr. Behavin and I got engaged I thought I would immediately go back. But no, I thought working out in my apartment gym would be enough. It wasn’t even close to FXB.

This August I hit a low point. I was trying wedding dresses and all I could focus on were my flabby arms and belly that had come back to haunt me. I sent a simple facebook message to Courtney. Something like “I miss FXB, I feel terrible, and I can’t feel like this as a bride”. She was just as enthusiastic as she was years before when I initially emailed her.

I ended up going back at the end of September. Many of the same people that were there when I started were still there. Some shared their own struggles when their lives got busy too. But everyone made me feel welcomed back. My personal coach from my 10 weeks, Lisa, still was there to push me as much as she did 2 years ago. Last week, as I was giving the bag some seriously love with my right round houses she shouted something at me over the music. “Buff Bride!!”

So this is my motivation. I want to feel like I did before. I want my awesome arms back. I have a pretty important dress to wear this June and I am going to rock it. But with some help from my Northwest FXB family. I have learned that sometimes life gets busy, but you have to make sure you feel good. Whatever it is that make you feel like a hottie, you should do it. Run. Pilates. Your apartment gym. Anything! I do have two suggestions for my fellow brides who are looking for something to make you feel your best on your wedding day.

#1Don’t do the crazy diets. I have done them all, and when you lose weight that way you just become scary mean because you are just so hungry!

#2 If nothing else is working for you and you need an extra push to get motivated… try FXB. There are many locations throughout Omaha and Lincoln. (Of course the Northwest Omaha location is the best.)

Bride Blogger // The Rehearsal Dinner

From Miss June:

The rehearsal dinner was absolutely beautiful. The in-laws pulled it off with style!! I have to thank my new Aunt Fran Rounsborg at Platinum Weddings and Events in Kearney, NE for the wonderful decorations and table and chair coverings this day. It was just wonderful.

At this point, I was done doing anything else! Tasks had been distributed out all week, we got the favors done, gifts were wrapped for being distributed at the rehearsal dinner, everyone knew their parts, and everyone made it in town OK and (mostly) on time.

We had a cocktail hour at the Paxton between the end of rehearsal at the church and dinner. It was beautiful, the food was simply amazing, and a string quartette played both during the cocktail hour and dinner. We had a table set up of pictures of family member’s wedding photos, and another table with pictures and captions for each of our bridesmaids and groomsmen.. “Meet the Maids” and “Meet the Gents.” We heard so many compliments on those two tables and we set them up again the next night at the back of the reception. It gave wandering guests something to do between conversations and brought everyone a little closer that night. :) We also made a seating arrangement that mixed our two families together so they could get to know one another before the wedding. We heard great things about how happy they were to meet someone on the other side of the family at dinner, and would not have had that same opportunity otherwise.

After dinner concluded, we had a slideshow of our childhoods up to this point in our lives, and handed out gifts to those who had a part in the wedding. Brad went with money clips for the groomsmen, and I chose engraved glass keepsake boxes for my bridesmaids with earrings for the following day in them.

The last fun twist to the night was a tradition form Brad’s side… the “Hall Family Wedding Tradition” of pulling out those big, red, wax lips and giving our neighbor a big smooch! I’m not sure everyone really got it, but it was fun, non-the-less, and made for some great candid pictures!

(Janine McClintock)

All photos from Janine McClintock, preferred vendor.

Bride Blogger // Test Run

From Miss June: Oh boy.. test runs. Nothing gives a girl more anxiety than putting what she’s going to be remembered looking like forever into someone else’s hands… or at least it was that way for me! I was so torn between what I wanted to do for my hair… What about half up? Will it get too hot? I want to show off my long hair I’ve been growing out, so if I put it up won’t that defeat the purpose? ….. ahhh! On top of not knowing which style I wanted, I need to find a salon that could fit in 26 people for updo’s before noon. Is that even possible?!

Ohhhh it was. Barely. and I mean BARELY. After a failed test-run at a salon down-town close to the hotel reception site, we decided the best place to go for our large number of updos, price, and professionalism, was Garbo’s at regency. (They even put us on their facebook page! :) )

I wanted one thing for my hair: Big Texas Hair… think pageant-style without the tacky. And by golly, I got just that!! Anyone that knows me, knows that big hair is just… my thing! Maybe I was made for the South, maybe I spent too much time with my family at Horse shows around bedazzled everything growing up.. regardless, I love that big Texas hair.

The test run went well and I was ready for the big day to get here, already! I left the salon, big hair in tact, and went home to get ready for my bachelorette party that night on Cindo de Mayo!

Bride Blogger // Wedding Retreats

From Miss June:

We were married in the Catholic Church and went through the required pre-marital counseling sessions and retreat. We were actually really excited to go through the process and learned a lot about each other through it. The sessions and retreat were not as “intense” as we thought they would be…. at all. They were more geared towards making us think about the way we interact with each other, building our communication and understanding of each other.

I do have to take a moment to brag about the house we built (with limited resources.) I cannot at all recall what the lesson was here, but at our retreat we were given a bag of random materials and told to build a stable house on it. Luckily, Lincoln Logs were a total hit during our childhood so built the best out in the place! That is… as long as it doesn’t rain.

With the sessions and retreats, part of the experience you’ll get is from whomever is leading it. We got a lot out of ours, but we also came in with a positive attitude, eager to learn as much as we could about building a great foundation for our life together. If I could offer any advice, it would be to have fun, and enjoy the time you are forced to take apart from your normal every-day routine to get to know each other! The closer it gets to the wedding, the less and less of that you’ll have!

Bride Blogger // Bridal Showers

From Miss June:

The bridal showers were a blast. I had two bridal showers and one couples shower. My bridesmaids put together a shower that was tailored to my style to a “T,” and was based around all of the Ann Taintor sayings you see on all the mugs and pinterest icons. Pictures with fun captions on them. My maid of honor, Kelly, and the rest of the girls did a wonderful job. The guestbook sign-in was especially creative. Each person was to choice one of our engagement photos that were printed out, and add captions as to what Brad or I was saying. The pictures and captions were then glued into an old book with pages glued together and prepared, along with a note from the attendee.

Each of the bridemaids brought their own personal concoctions so everyone could find a beverage to enjoy. There were many delicious drinks and finger food for everyone to enjoy, and it was a great opportunity for old friends to catch up.

After the shower I gave each of them a gift for hosting such a shower for me. Each got a black photo book with a message from me written on the inside cover about our friendship and thanking them for being a part of such an important part of my life. The photo books and gift bags were decorated with a quick stick-on glitter initial for an added touch.

The other shower was just as fun and hosted by two of my Aunts. It was retro 50′s themed with old hats saved from my late Great Aunt and games geared towards old-fashioned housewife games and the like. It was such a fun weekend of showers! A couple of months later Brad and I attended a couples shower thrown my his side of the family at Mahoney State park. It was a great setting for people to spread out and enjoy catching up with family and friends while enjoying barbecue and celebrating our upcoming wedding!