July 2023 Recap: Weddings, Babies, Families, oh my!

Phew! July was a big, busy, and joyful month for me! I would say I’m excited for things to slow down this month but they’re not 😉 At the time of publishing, Matt and I are traveling to Italy for our honeymoon(!!) in 10 days! We’ll be in Italy for 11 days visiting Rome, Florence, Amalfi, and Taormina. It’s a ton of travel but our last few days (in Amalfi and Taormina) will likely be spent 100% at the resort’s pool or beach. So, it will be great! First half will be jam-packed full of history and sightseeing and all of that jazz while the second half will be relaxation city!! (Mostly.) Anyway, let’s get into the last month for me… 

OUR WEDDING!

I – we! – started the month off strong!! Matt and I got married(!!!) on July 1, 2023 – a date we hopefully won’t ever forget! The math will be hard for me – it’s why I’m glad my birth year ends in a 0 – but Matt can figure that part out. Anyway, our wedding day was perfection. The forecast in the week leading up to our wedding wasn’t promising: one day, it called for rain while the next it called for sunny skies. On the day of our wedding, the forecast still called for rain almost all afternoon. Since our entire event was planned to be  hosted outside, this was not great news. (We did have an indoor backup plan but it wouldn’t have worked right.) Our venue manager found me around 10AM while ~the girls~ were getting their hair and makeup done and let me know that I needed to make a decision by noon. I said, “we’re doing it.” It did drizzle a little bit but by the time ~3:00PM rolled around, there was nothing but sunny skies, heat, and lots of humidity! And, while photo-taking and our ceremony was pretty hot, the weather cooled and humidity dropped enough to be comfortable for our cocktail hour and reception. A few notable details from our wedding (photos + vendors below, too!): 

• We took all – seriously – of our photos before the ceremony began. Solo portraits, couples portraits (including a first look) and all family portraits. We didn’t have a wedding party and we didn’t want to spend cocktail hour taking photos so… we didn’t! 
• Matt’s brother, Joey, officiated our wedding and we couldn’t have picked a better person to do it. He completely personalized the script and included details of our ~courtship~ that we’d forgotten about. He was sentimental without being cheesy, and funny without being embarrassing. 
• Matt insisted that we write our own vows. I was nauseous over this for weeks – months, even! But after we recited our vows, I couldn’t have been happier that we did that. We both said very similar things which, I think, just goes to show how perfect we are for each other?! (Cheese.) 
• We each had our own signature drinks: a classic mojito and a spicy pineapple margarita. I think you can guess which drink was mine and which was Matts. And our cocktails were served in stadium cups with Ellie on them! Our photographer thought our cups were so cute, she snagged a few to bring home. 
• I really loved our cocktail + dinner hour music. Here’s the playlist I provided to the DJ. 
• The White Lotus intro song introduced us into our reception. Which, thinking back, was fitting since we’re traveling to Taormina (where S2 was set) for our honeymoon! 
• We had the DJ cue up The Succession theme song when my dad got up for his speech – we all loved it! We were debating between that or The Sopranos theme — my dad is a less-brutal and less-murdery combination of Logan and Tony. 
• Our florals were everything we could’ve dreamed of and more. When we began wedding planning in January 2022, we thought we’d go with a creamy-white + greenery color palette. We eventually flipped the script, went all out with color, and I am so glad we did. My only regret is not giving our florist a bigger budget to play with. (You gotta draw a line somewhere, I guess.) 
• I loved my hair and makeup! It was very simple, very Erin-but-better! And the woman I hired is just so much fun! 
• Our photographer freakin’ killed it with the photos! Neither of us particularly love the camera but Kim was able to work with us and produce gorgeous photos. She sent us a sneak peak within the week and will have the rest for us when we get back from Italy. 
• Lastly, our venue! Our venue manager, Tiffany, was able to get us a table for 20 at the resort’s upscale patio and significantly lower the food/bev minimum for our rehearsal dinner. Our dinner that night was so delicious, too. The day of the wedding she was running around making sure neither of us needed anything. She really was amazing!! While I didn’t eat much at our reception (nerves!), everyone else said the food was delicious! And catering even packed up two to-go meals for Matt and I to eat when we got home. 

Vendor Team

• Venue, catering, rehearsal dinner, accommodations: The Grand Geneva Resort + Spa
• Florals: Courtney of Trellis Weddings 10/10
• Photography: Kim of Kim Ritchie Photography 10/10
• Hair + makeup: Liz of Elizabeth Scott Company 10/10
• Planning: Me, Your Day with EK
• Rentals: Collins Custom Creations
  • We rented farmhouse tables and crossback chairs
• DJ: A Personal Touch DJ 
• My gown: Reddington Bridal, altered by Gail Doyle
• Matt’s tux rental: The Black Tux

(^^this is a lot longer than I intended.)

BABIES!

Okay, more like a single baby… almost immediately after our wedding, I flew to Charlotte to meet my new nephew!! Megan and her husband Kyle had their baby boy, Blaine Patrick Mish, on June 25, 2023. Meg’s nurses said she freakin’ killed it! (And of course she looked amazing after delivery. Insane.) By the time I got to Charlotte, my nephew was a whopping 10 days old! My trip involved lots of cuddling, feeding, me insisting that I help my sister with stuff and her refusing, and more cuddling. Leaving Charlotte later that week was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do (I’m dramatic) but it wasn’t too horrible since Megan and Blaine traveled to Chicago later in the month. 

Family Golf Outing

And then finally, we had my family reunion/golf outing. My grandma’s family began hosting a family golf outing a zillion years ago but with people moving, getting busy, and getting older, it became too difficult to get the whole extended family together every year. My cousin and my great uncle got together sometime early 2023 to get the ball rolling and they did a fantastic job. A good majority of the extended family made it to Lake Lawn for the reunion and the golf. (It was my first time participating in the golf portion and I won “longest putt”! I think my win had more to do with the fact that nobody signed the stakes on the green except me… a win’s a win!) After golf, the resort hosted a dinner for all of us and it was so nice to chat and catch up with everyone – and snag one or two of my Aunt Sarah’s chocolate chip cookies. She knows how to win me over! My family had to leave the next day but a lot of my cousins stayed another day or two to swim and relax and hang with the fam. Fun! 

And that’s all for now! See ya next time. 😎