Jadoregrace Southern Lifestyle Blog

Little Black Dress

7:00 AM

Hey guys! Joe and I went to the triangle this weekend to spend some time with our friends and get some good eats. Need recommendations for a good coffee place in Raleigh?

Go to Sola Coffee they have the BEST mini donuts AND amazing homemade syrups for the Fall season, seriously so good! Plus, they have the cutest "I Believe in Raleigh" collage that is of course perfect for pictures #DoItForTheGram

Afterwards, we went to Seoul Garden to get some good Korean food. This is hands down the best Korean restaurant in the triangle (at least I think so) I always get their black bean paste noodles and my mouth is just watering thinking about them, I could eat that stuff every day…

We played Sheriff of Nottingham and Codenames all weekend. These board games are SO SO fun! Sheriff of Nottingham is kind of like MAFIA but in a different setting. We had so much fun making bargains and deals and trying to lie our way through this game, would definitely recommend it for a game night!

Now, let's talk about this outfit. I have several "little black dresses" in my wardrobe but this is my favorite one for casual settings. You can wear this SO many different ways. My favorite way is dressing it up with a nice necklace and heels OR dressing it down with boots and a scarf during the fall. The best thing about little black dresses is that you can really go about wearing a hundred different ways.

For this weekend, I paired it with my trusty Clarks Booties. These are so perfect for the Fall and are comfortable. I never buy a shoes with a heel unless I know that I can walk in it without looking like a complete fool.

FOOD

Greenville Restaurant Guide: Angus Grill

7:00 AM

Angus Grill

Located: 4054 South Memorial Dr. Winterville, NC 28590

Helpful Tips: Ample Parking Outside of the restaurant

Must Order: Brown Sugar & Egg Burger OR BBQ Double Bulldog Burger

Hey guys! I’m so excited to do my very first feature of my favorite spots in Greenville. I really plan on learning all the ins and outs of this town while we are here for the next four years and I plan to do it right!

Angus Grill is a restaurant in Winterville (which is right next to Greenville) and located in a strip mall. Don’t let its location fool you, they have got some creative and tasty burgers going on inside of this restaurant and you won’t want to miss them.

As soon as you go into the restaurant you seat yourself but will be served by a waitress. I loved the interior of the place, clean, decorated by someone with a good eye, pictures of cattle that fit the theme.

Obviously, this restaurant is known for its burgers but I loved that their fries are cut and made fresh as well as their buns. I ordered the BBQ Double Bulldog Burger and Joe had the Black and Bleu burger. As soon as I took my first bite, I knew that this was going to be our new burger place to go in town. The explosion of flavors.. I mean, YUMMMMM!

BBQ Double Bulldog Burger with Tater Tots

The service we received was wonderful. There’s ample parking for the restaurant as it’s located in a strip mall. We can’t wait to visit again!

TLDR; Service / Amenities

Fries are cut and cooked fresh as well as the buns
Creative burger combos: (Loaded Tot Burger, Fried Mozarella Burger, etc)
Good Service and Clean Interior

You can see the details of my outfit in this post → HERE.

Where have you had your best burger? Our favorite burger restaurant in the Triangle is Zinburger in Southpoint!

FALL

Fun Maroon Dress

9:35 AM

Jadoregrace.com// Maroon Dress for the Fall Altar'd State with Riding Boots

Hi ladies! So, Joe took his first test this Monday and did great! He was studying the whole weekend so we had a very chill weekend staying in our place while he studied. After his test, of course we had to celebrate and went to go get some burgers from Angus Grill.

I loved finally getting to wear this dress for date night, the fall weather is really starting to shine through in Greenville and I could not be more excited about it!

These boots are oldies but goodies (I’ve had them for four years.. I think it might be time to get a new pair for this Fall!)

I love the back because it’s so flirty but still covers up well.

And the front of this dress is unlike any other that I’ve gotten before. It allows for a plunge below the neckline that isn't too revealing and still fun.

It was a little windy while we were taking pictures but we had fun with it anyway :)

I got this dress from Altar’d State and the boots from Sears many seasons ago but I’ve linked similar options for you guys to try this Fall!

WEDDING

5 Things You Should Do After You Get Engaged (And Our Wedding Portraits!)

7:00 AM

Jadoregrace // Wedding Portraits 5 Things to Do After You Get Engaged

All pictures taken by Ally and Bobby

Today I will be sharing the last portion of our wedding pictures - our portraits. Joe and I got to sneak away from our reception and just spend some time together knowing that we had finally gotten married! Man, the wedding day was such a blur, I’m so happy that I have these pictures to remember the day by.

I’ve been seeing more engagements on my newsfeed and timelines and all of them make me so giddy! I just love reminiscing about the day we got engaged, it is one of my favorite memories to this day! With seeing all of these recent engagements, it got me thinking about what I wish I had known the first weeks of being engaged and so I’ll share my insight with you guys today!

After you pop the champagne, celebrate, and finally stop gawking at your ring...

Make a wedding email
I was that girl that was obsessed with the idea of getting engaged (and getting married) and had already come up with a hashtag for Joe and I (it was #FindingNenow like “Finding Nemo”).

After the first three weeks of daydreaming about our wedding, I finally STARTED planning. I looked at wedding magazines, blogs, Pinterest, etc. I started emailing vendors (I emailed A LOT of vendors).

I started off using my personal email but it got very overwhelming to deal with all of my personal and wedding emails in one place. Plus, I was attending wedding conventions and putting my personal email down for everything and my inbox was getting so clogged up! Then, a friend suggested I create a wedding email and it was the best idea ever. I made a wedding email (findingnenow@gmail.com), created folders for all the different vendors I was in communication with (Photography, Venue, Catering, Planning, Etc) and my life got a LOT easier!
Download some Apps (or order/hire a Wedding Planner!)
I was the first one in my friend group to get engaged so I had absolutely no idea where to start. I turned to The Knot, Wedding Wire, and Southern Weddings frequently to read up on what I should be doing and to come up with a timeline for myself.

The Knot has an app that you can download that will help you track all of your wedding guests and give you deadlines for wedding tasks based on the date you are planning on getting married.

If you’re more of a pen and paper gal, Southern Weddings has a wedding planner that is extremely helpful and focused on helping you plan the wedding of YOUR dreams. You can read more about how I planned our wedding ceremony with the Joyful Wedding Planner here.

Of course the other option you have is to hire a wedding planner. If you’re in the triangle, I have heard amazing things about Stephanie Scholl.
Compile Your Wedding Guest List
Start making your guest list with your fiance as soon as possible. Having an idea of the number of guests you want at your wedding will help you with making a decision for the venue. You don’t want to look at a venue that will only hold a capacity of 100 people and decide you want a 300 person wedding. If you need to, rank the people on your guest list. My husband and I had to do this with our guest list. We decided that ALL family members and our closest friends were absolutely getting invited. If a certain person hadn’t touched base with us for over a year, we put them on the B list. We also made a rule that we would only include plus one’s for those who had been in a relationship for over a year. This was just how we decided to condense our guest list because we had a budget that we needed to work with. The best way to cut your budget is to cut your guest list!

But, if you decide that you want to be able to have a wedding with all of the guests on your list you absolutely can. The best thing about your wedding day is that you can completely personalize it and make it your own.
Decide on a Budget
Before you go look at that venue that will cost you $12,000 decide on a budget! If your parents will be assisting you, sit down with them and have them give you a number. It’s really important to have an idea of what kind of finances you have to work with because weddings can get very expensive. With a budget, you’ll have a better idea of what things you’re willing to pay for and what things you can simply let go or switch out for more budget friendly options.

Wedding days are extremely important but they are not worth blowing out your entire savings account OR going into debt for. With the right mindset, you CAN have a wedding with the budget that you’re given to work with. You'll learn very quickly that you will have to compromise a number of things to make your wedding happen.
Determine Where and When You Want to Get Married
The venue is one of the most important parts of your wedding day! There are so many factors to consider for your perfect venue but the most important ones are WHERE it will be and WHEN your wedding will be.

It’s important to stay flexible with these two factors because depending on your dream venue, you may have to choose between getting the venue or going with a different venue for the date you had in mind.

Personally, I wanted to get married in the Fall and in the mountains. We ended up signing a contract for the very first venue we saw which was NOT in the mountains and for a summer date (and then later ended up going with another venue.. I can elaborate on that later on another post..). You should NEVER sign a contract on the day you visit the venue, especially if it’s the first venue you’ve looked at! I did end up getting the mountain wedding of my dreams but it was in the spring rather than in the fall!

You can start looking at venues in your dream location first (it can be your hometown, your fiance’s hometown, a location that is significant for both of you, etc) and then decide a date depending on when the venue has availability. Most couples need 8-12+ months to plan a wedding but it can be done in a shorter time frame as well! (I’ve heard of weddings that were planned in under 3 months!)

Just remember that this is you and your fiance’s wedding! Many people will try to give you opinions but try to stay true to yourself and what you desire for your wedding day, it’s okay to say no to certain things if it’s not what you want!

All pictures taken by Ally and Bobby To my married folk, do you have other things you wish you had known to do after you got engaged? Drop your advice in the comments below! :)

PAST WEDDING POSTS:

Bridal Portraits

Wedding Details and Getting Ready

First Touch

Planning a Meaningful and Joyful Wedding Ceremony

Incorporating Culture In Our Wedding