How Sweet it is...

Some of my earliest childhood memories include cookies. Every Christmas all the girls in the family (and Mr. Newport and BILN- they are great dough rollers) bake at least 15 dozen of about 10 types of cookies-no lie! My mom is known for her cookies. She makes every type imaginable, some of my favorites being classic chocolate chip, pumpkin with a maple glaze, chocolate with caramel and almonds, snowballs, and her famous sugar cookies.

Searching the web I have found so many great places with the cutest sugar cookies, the only real test is whether or not they tatse better than my moms. Ever since I found decorated sugar cookies on the web, I've been in love with the idea of a cookie favor at the wedding. I've been to a decent amount of weddings and my favorite favors always seem to be edible or picture frames.... or honestly, they tend to get thrown out. I love cookies and other edible favors because they are never wasted...at least with me. I've found so many sites with cute cookies, I thought I'd share some favorites.

Eleni's in New York is one of my hands down favorites. Every season there are new options that are cuter than before. I am especially in love with the Wedding collection below. It would be perfect for a "Breakfast at Tiffanys" themed shower. I also think it would be cute to send to a friend who just got engaged.

Casue Sweets seems to be the couture designer of cookies. How amazing are these shells? Perfect for a seaside wedding.
Casue Sweets has the most intricate designs, they'll even custom make cookies designed to match your wedding gown! How unbelievable are these: I love these starfish and shell sugar cookies from Ali's Sweet Treats. They fit perfect with our nautical theme. I think they would be a cute addition to our Out of Town Welcome bags. A Dozen Eggs, located in New England has so many cute options. My personal favorite is Penant Fever. My sister's fiance proposed to her at Fenway Park where they had their first date. So we threw them a Red Sox themed Engagement party and of course we bought a few of the Penant Fever Cookie Collections and they were a HUGE hit at the party!



At my god-daughter's baby shower, we used K-Delights. The cookies were delicious. I think the diamond ring sugar cookies would have been perfect for our engagement party. After a lot of price research on sugar cookies on the web, I think K-Delights was the cheapest option I found. Most cookies range around $5.00 up to much more, but they had options under $3.00.
I love these cookies from Meli and Angi. I like that they are personalized. I think they would be a cute favor tied up in a package with a ribbon.
One of my favorite cookies I've seen on the web is this clever "Crabcake" from Maine Cake and Cookies. It's perfect for a clambake wedding.


I found these monogrammed beauties at Rolling Pin Productions. They are perfect for a garden party or English tea themed shower.

Are you trying to incorporate a favorite family memory into your wedding?

Another Sneak Peak!

Sister Newport's photos are in! It took us a few hours to look at them all, as there are over 1,600 photos! They came out amazing. I'm excited to do the re-caps, but will need to wait for the high quality proofs before any posts. But for now, here is a sneak peak at what's to come:

Photo collage from the amazing Michael and Laura of Michael Sparks Keegan photography.

Beginning to plan again!

After a few months hiatus from planning my own wedding, things are starting to pick up again!

We went from no plans to all of the sudden, lots of planning going on in the Newport household. We are currently working on room blocks, transportation, asking our wedding party, dress appointments, save the dates, pre-cana etc. etc. etc.

We felt like a two year engagement gave us all the time in the world, but now that we hit the one year mark, we are starting to feel the clock ticking......mainly because our friends and family are constantly asking us when can they book a room. They have been asking since we got engaged in October of 08....two years out. We've had to tell them that hotels don't do blocks that far in advance....so they were good, but as soon as this October hit....we were asked again, when can we book a room?

It's definitely helping to keep us on the ball. I didn't think people would book so far in advance, but then again my family loves weddings. We got a famiyl reality check this month when my cousin who is getting married 2 months before us sent out their save the dates two weeks ago and within a few days of receiving them, specific types of rooms were already filled up. We had to go with our second choice for a wedding 10 months away! We were getting phone calls from aunts and cousins telling us to book our room asap before all of the best rooms are gone! I thought they were being dramatic until we called ourselves.

Did you have a long engagement? Did you take any planning breaks and later had to rev up again?

Talented Friends and Family

One of the things I love about Facebook, is the ability to instantly get access to photos after a big event. Within the few days after Sister Newport and Brother in law Newport's wedding, at least 6 albums have surfaced. My favorite being from Jarett Skeffington. He is a photographer(Jskeffphoto) from CA who has been doing photography on the side for a couple years.

He wasn't the actual photographer for Sister Newport's wedding, but he still got some amazing shots. It helps to have talented friends and family members. I want to give sneak peak at some of his shots, but don't want to give too much away before the re-caps!

I love the moment captured in this shot. Mr. Newport escorting two of the bridesmaids into the reception to "I've got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. The wedding was so much fun and I love that this picture captures thatThere were so many great options for the first dance and father daughter dance to choose from!

The details of the wedding were amazing.I love that this was captured. I'm so amazed at the quality of the photos seeing as I never even noticed Jarett taking these.

I was so nervous giving my speech and I like that I appear to be calm and collected in this one!
And of course, I had to throw some in of the flower girl, my adorable god-daughter.

I spoke to Jarett during the wedding and was excited to hear he's going to be updating his website. I've been excited to see more of his recent work, as most of the site is form 2006. He recently shot a wedding and I'm excited to see what he can do as the real photographer, because I think the shots as a guest were amazing. Jarett is a relative, so I've been following his work for as long as I've known about his business. It's been so cool to see his progress over the past couple years. I can't wait to see more!

Did you have any surprising talents at your wedding?

Teaser Pics!

Sister Newport and Brother Newport's wedding was AMAZING, the only thing I didn't like was that they left for their honeymoon the next morning at 6:00 a.m., which left me no time to re-cap with my sister.

Honestly though, it was beyond perfect. I loved in so much that I'm starting to feel the pressure to make ours just as nice! I can't tell you how many comments I heard basically saying: Best Wedding Ever! The reception venue even wants to use their wedding photos for marketing materials and vendors have encouraged them to submit their wedding to magazines. So yeah, a little pressure for next year. Luckily when I was stressing, Mr. Newport reminded me that our wedding will be just as special because in the end we'll be married.

So without further adieu, here are a few teaser pics from Michael Sparks Keegan and Laura.

Hopefully I'll be back with more to re-cap soon!

Sister Newport's Rehearsal Dinner

Sister Newport's rehearsal dinner was amazing. It was held at one of Mr. Newport and I's favorite restaraunts. The restaurant had a private room upstairs, which was the perfect size. The night was so perfect because it was so intimate and a great time to spend with Sister Newport and BILN's closest friends and family. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.

On top of the great time, the food was amazing. There were three appetizer options and three entree options. The restarunt printed off personalized menus with the bride and groom's photo of choice.
The meal was amazing, but the biggest hit of the night was the groom's cake. When people walked in, they literally poked at the cake and wanted to know what it was and were amazed when they realized it was cake. Everything on it was edible including the beer bottles. The cake was made by Laura Anes of Sweet Results. She is the same woman, who made Sister Newport's shower cake. I lvoed the shower cake, but this is now by far my favorite cake.As you can tell from the groom's cake, Brother-in-law-Newport likes beer. Within the past couple of years he has started to homebrew beer and is well known for his unique flavors. As part of his groomsmen's gifts, he gave each guy a six pack of his homebrewed beer with fun labels personalized for each guy.

Mr. Newport, got a six pack called "The Devil Made Me Do It" with a photo of him as a New Jersey Devil player (his favorite sports team). Along with the homebrews, each guy received a beer mug personalized with their name.
The bridesmaids each received a piece of jewelry. Mine was a necklace with my first initial engraved from Tiffany's.
Everything about the night was amazing. I had never been to rehearsal dinner and imagined it would be formal. This was so laid back and fun, it's definitely giving me ideas for our rehersal next year!

What did you do for your rehearsal dinner? Any tips on keeping the vibe fun and casual?

To my Sister, with Love

Right now, I am off celebrating with Sister Newport and BILN, I have writen this in advance as I wanted to share my excitement as it's happening. I'm so excited for Sister Newport and BILN, they are two amazing people and I'm so happy they have found each other. Usually my feelings come easily, but the hardest part of this whole process was writing their speech.

There was so much I wanted to say and share. I have been working on it for almost a year and a half, since the month they got engaged in March of 08. I have written draft upon draft. Nothing seemed good enough, and to be honest, I'm still not completely happy, with my speech, since there was so much more I could say, but after a million revisions, I figured I needed to relax and say what's in my heart.
So after a bajillion drafts, here is what I'm probably saying at this moment to two of my best friends:

I’d like to thank everyone for being here on behalf of Sister Newport, BILN and their families. They have spent so much time planning out this day; it’s hard to believe it’s finally here.

I’m honored to be Sister Newport’s Maid of Honor. sister Newport has always taken care of me and I’ve been honored to return the favor this past year.

When I was in pre-school, I used to crawl into bed with Sister Newport because I was scared of monsters. We had watched Little Monsters, one too many times and I was deathly afraid they were coming to get me. For a while, she let me sleep with her every night because I thought my big sister could keep the monsters away.

When I was getting too old, or maybe she was just sick of sharing a bed, she told me, If I put a pillow over my head, the monster’s couldn’t get me. I believed everything she said was true. It’s now twenty years later, and I still have a habit of sleeping with a pillow in my head.

Sister Newport’s always been there for me, whether it be to keep monsters away and protect me, to cheer me on and support me, or to give advice and lend an ear.

I found a quote that represents my feelings towards Sister Newport. “Sometime’s in life, there really are bonds that can never be broken. Sometimes you really find that one person who will stand by you no matter, what. Maybe you’ll find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding, but there is also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you, sometimes, better than you know yourself, is the same person, whose been standing by you all along.”

I wrote that quote in my note asking Sister Newport to be my maid of honor. For many years she has been that person for me, and she still is. I feel lucky that we have both gone on to find the “ones”, but even luckier that we still have each other.

I’m happy to say that Sister Newport has found someone who will take care of her, protect her, cheer her on, and make her smile for the rest of her life. BILN is one of the most thoughtful people I know, he loves Sister Newport with his whole heart. He truly cares for her and her happiness. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband for my sister. Today, as Sister Newport gains a husband, I have gained a brother. Although, BILN has truly been a part of the family long before today.

BILN and Sister Newport, I love you both very much, you are two very dear friends to me. In the past couple years, I have seen you both grow as individuals and flourish as a couple. Separately, you both are very special, remarkable people, but together you are complete.

Here’s to BILN and Sister Newport, may every day be as sweet as today!

{Their wedding is on The Sweetest Day}

Did you find it hard to write a speech for a loved one? Extra points if you can name where that quote is from!

All photos by Michael Sparks Keegan