If you follow me on Instagram stories, you know I spent this past weekend in Austin with my bridesmaids for my bachelorette weekend! We stayed in this cute little Airbnb on the south side of town, and I enjoyed having all my favorite people together for three days. We kicked off the bachelorette weekend with dinner at the Airbnb thanks to Jessica of Feast & Dwell. She prepared the most delicious buddha bowl with chickpeas, kale, quinoa, sweet potato, chicken and topped off with a homemade hummus sauce (perfect for the wedding diet). After dinner I dawned my “Future Mrs. Phillips” sash, and we headed to the Garage Cocktail Bar downtown. The Garage Cocktail Bar is in the middle of a parking garage and can only hold 88 people at a time. Since it is a smaller setting, it is the perfect spot to sit and have a conversation with friends, while getting the Austin experience.

Saturday mainly consisted of a wine tour through hill country with Discover Texas Wine. They picked us up in party bus, and we filed in wearing our matching Mexican embroidered dresses that I gifted to each bridesmaid. Cathy, our bus driver, took us from our Airbnb to three vineyards for wine tastings and back at the end of the day, which was so convenient. We started with Bell Springs Winery, followed by Salt Lick Cellars, and ended at my favorite of the three, Duchman Winery. My favorite wines on the tour were the Salt Lick Cellars Tempranillo and the Duchman Family Aglianico. After our busy day, we had dinner at Guero’s on South Congress for some authentic Tex-Mex. Finally, at the end of the day, we were all excited to get back to the Airbnb and put on our PJs and play some bachelorette games.

Before my bachelorette weekend came to an end, we stopped by Josephine House for brunch on Sunday. If you have not been to Josephine House, their brunch menu is all so delicious, and it is the cutest little spot (you might remember it from my ACL weekend this past fall). I was so sad for the weekend to end and for everyone to head back home. Austin was the perfect spot for a bachelorette weekend, and I hope to have many more girls trips to ATX soon! Shop all my bachelorette looks below! xoxo

Our wedding is less than 100 days away, so naturally I am freaking out over here! We have made major progress on planning the past few weeks, and we just have smaller things to cross off our list now (like buying a house ha). The wedding shoes I designed with Shoes of Prey came in yesterday, and they are perfect (check out my “Wedding” highlight on Instagram stories to see the final product)! We have selected all of the music with our DJ, passed off the envelopes to the calligrapher, booked my bridal luncheon, and will have my first bridal shower this weekend! With so many things going on, I have hardly thought about what I am going to wear to all the upcoming events. Bridal showers, bachelorette party (less than a month away!), bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner will all need white outfits. Since the vast majority of my closet is black, finding white outfits has been a little difficult for me. Most white dresses, tops, and skirts are a little see through, and most white accessories are slightly off white. A few white pieces I have found and love include this adorable white lace dress from Anthropologie. It fits perfectly, and the tea length is great for luncheons and showers (full post coming soon). I also found this fun Rag and Bone dress at Neiman Marcus Last Call and love the small cutout in the back. I will have it slightly altered to fit just right through the waist  though. Of course I had to order my favorite Marc Fisher pumps in white, but I am also majorly crushing on these white Marc Fisher wedges for a more casual look. I have linked all of my favorite white pieces for future brides or to add to your spring wardrobe below! xoxo

I underestimated how difficult setting up a registry would be. I mean, how on earth do you decide that one fork is better than another, or if you want to eat off of white or colored table linens?! Who comes up with all these options? After going round and round in circles, I think we finally have our registry set. I learned a few valuable lessons in this process, so below I am sharing 5 tips for registering for your wedding.

Start creating your registry early and edit it often. Trust me, you will change your mind a million times on what kind of plates you would like to register for. Things will also go out of stock or be discontinued. It is helpful to start building a registry early that you can alter as needed and often. When you are editing your registry, think about grouping certain things together and cutting down on the number of places you register. I would recommend having no more than 4 registries. It is best practice to register for all kitchen items at one place such as all flatware, glasses, and serving ware at one place while all bed and bath lines at one place. I also learned that many places will send a coupon after the wedding valid for the items on the registry you did not receive, so go head and over register in case you may want it later!

Go in store to register, not just online. It is great to start a registry online. That way you have an idea of what each store has to offer and you get the ball rolling. However, we found it we much better to see things like plates, glasses, silverware and linens in person. You might decide you hate a pitcher after feeling how heavy it is, or a set of kitchen utensils might feel cheep and flimsy. Not to mention, many stores will give you gifts for coming in to register in person!

Be sure to read the return policy for each store. Some stores have funny return policies, and it might not be as easy as you think to return duplicates or things you change your mind on. Most stores have a 90 day return policy (Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Target), but some have 30 day policies (West Elm, Pottery Barn, Dillard’s, Anthropologie). Also, be sure that you are not registering for any final sale items because that typically means that item will be discontinued.

Register for things at varying price points. Think about your guest list and what is affordable for everyone. While some guests are happy to purchase all your kitchen appliances, other guests have tighter budgets and cannot buy everything on your registry. Try to group things in sets, like plates, glasses, and silverware to help guests cut costs. Keep in mind that whatever you do not receive as a gift you have to buy yourself. If you would not be willing to spend the money on something for yourself on your registry, odds are your guests will not either (this is where those registry coupons are helpful).

Make it easy for your guest to shop your registry. Be sure to create a central location where gusts can shop all registries, like a Knot website or Zola, so they are not hoping from site to site. When you set up the registry, include a shipping address where guest who are traveling or might not be able to attend can ship gifts directly to you. Lastly, consider if stores offer free gift wrap for registry gifts either online or in store as that can be helpful for traveling and local guests alike.

I hope my 5 tips for registering are helpful when deciding where to register yourself! xoxo

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They make it look so easy on television! While trying on dresses was fun, it was not as easy as the brides on Say Yes To The Dress make it look. I went all around Dallas trying on dresses at different bridal salons. I started looking at dresses with just my mom and dad to get an idea of what I liked and what our budget should be before bringing others along. We went to Bridal Boutique in Lewisville, LuLu’s in the design district, Nordstrom at NorthPark Center, and Patsy’s on Henderson. I narrowed down my search to a few dresses at Nordstrom and Patsy’s, then invited my grandmother and future mother-in-law to join. Below are the four things I learned about saying yes to the dress!

You don’t always just “know” which dress is the “one”. At least for me it was much more difficult to pick a dress than just “knowing”. I ended up really loving two very different dresses that were about the same price. I had very strict standards for the material of the dress, the cut, the details, and the price. When I found two dresses that fit all of my standards, it was almost impossible to choose between the two. While they were very different dresses, I went with the one that was slightly more comfortable. Ultimately, I knew I would have been happy wearing either dress on my big day.

Stand your ground, sales associates will try to push their style on you. Know what you do not like and tell them before you even begin trying on dresses. I knew that I did not want any rhinestones on my dress, nor a reveling or low-cut neckline. I started all of my appointments by politely letting the sales associate know that those where the two things I did not want to try on at all. You would not believe how many times a sales associate asked me to just try on a blinged out dress with a plunging neckline. Some do this without even realizing they are, so it is okay to tell them that you do not want to try on a dress if you know you will not be comfortable.

The fitting rooms can become very small. When you invite too many people along, there can easily be too many opinions in the room. This is why I looked at dresses with just my mom and my dad ahead of time. Once I had my own opinion about what I wanted, I was able to decide in the fitting room if I liked a dress before showing it to everyone else. This way I was only showing dresses that I liked, and didn’t risk everyone else liking the one dress I was not wild about. Luckily my grandmother and future mother-in-law were great about letting me make the decision, but I know this is not always the case.

Do not feel pressured to say yes to the dress. You will start hearing numbers about how long it will take to get the dress in, have it altered, and how you really should have placed your order last month. Don’t worry, there are so many designers and dresses out there, you will be able to get a dress you love on time. I do not like ongoing projects, so naturally I wanted to pick a dress the day I started looking. Luckily, I did not love any of the dresses at the first few salons, so I was forced to keep looking. It is possible to try on too many dresses, but I think it is important to know all of your options before saying yes to the dress! xoxo

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About five minutes after I got engaged, I wanted to call all my girlfriends and immediately ask them to be in my wedding. I also knew I wanted to ask my bridesmaids in a more personal way, so I resisted asking until I could put something together. I wanted to include a personal note to each of my bridesmaids, and these Rifle Paper Co. cards were perfect. They even make cards for matrons and maids of honor. I also wanted to include a picture from a fond memory, so I added these adorable white and gold frames from Target to my bridesmaid proposal box. Then to add something fun, I also included these yummy Sugarfina champagne gummy bears. Shop everything I included in my bridesmaid proposal box as well as my favorite bridesmaid gifts below! xoxo

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