the hangover (kit)

UPDATE (1/16/13):
Thank you all for the kind words and interest in my bachelor party hangover kit tags! Due to the influx of requests, please email me at hmgmcguire at gmail dot com to inquire about availability and pricing for customized hangover kit tags.

Please note that I prefer to be emailed directly (hmgmcguire at gmail dot com). I will not reply to comments left on my blog.

Thank you again for your interest!

-Heather


 Original post:

This weekend the future mister went to Charleston for his Bachelor Party. A grand time was had by all and luckily there were no babies, tigers, missing teeth or lost and sunburned grooms. I did have a bit of fun on Thursday night (and a much needed break from invitations) while I created these for the guys:

Hangover Kits! They each contained two bottles of water, two mini bottles of Gatorade, a travel bottle of Advil, Pepto-Bismol, hand sanitizing wipes, gum, and some Airborne for extra antioxidants and electrolytes. Oh, and the future mister got a small box of BC Powder, his preferred headache medicine.

And here's a closeup of the tags I made for each guy (Warning: there is some foul language on some of them. Not meant to offend, just quotes from the movie).

images from imdb.com, photoshopped by me

I was told my kits were "life savers" on Saturday morning.

What did your fiance do for his bachelor party?

black, black, black and blue

This past Saturday, the future mister and I met with our officiant for the first time - wooo! And he didn't "fail" us or deem us unfit to be wed (not that I actually thought he would) - double wooo!

While we were in the area, we decided to hit up the outlet stores. After finding some new clothes at J Crew, we made our way down to Brooks Brothers to check out the ties.

There, nestled in between the other blue ties, was the PERFECT color. The color that I never in a million years thought I would be able to find (in a tie).

(good thing I carry the bridesmaid dress swatches with me wherever I go)

BUT there was only one and we would need six. The very nice salesman who was helping us out left to make a phone call. We were in luck - the closest other store had five ties and could ship them to us for free. Wait a second...could things really fall into place that easily?? I tell you, it was wedding serendipity at it's finest, so I snatched those babies right up.

I was so amazed by my good fortune that I sadly didn't listen very closely to the future mister's opinion. He agreed that the blue was the perfect color, but he wanted skinny black ties. We decided to try the suit on with both ties (since he already has a black skinny one from our e-photos) and, luckily, we can always return the blue ones - so no harm, no foul.

Cute, but very traditional/very wedding-y

Oh my gosh - hold me back! Are you sure you aren't a GQ model??

I have to hand it to him - the future mister was right with this one. The blue may look perfect in theory, but the black tie can't be beat. Now we just have to find black ties for the rest of the groomsmen.

Which would you choose - black or blue? Were you ever quick to make a wedding decision (that you were soooo sure about) only to be proven wrong after the fact?

groom gift guide

We're still over six months out from the wedding, so this post is probably a bit premature. But, with the future mister's birthday quickly approaching and the holidays coming up I thought I would share some of the gift ideas I've been compiling as they could be great inspiration for groom or groomsmen gifts.

for the eco-conscious:

Alex Bottle

for the stylish techno guy:

macbook skin by Karvt - made out of real wood!

(they also make iPad and iPhone skins)

for the history buff:

shaving kit

vintage toiletry kit

pocket watch

for the world traveler:

world map with pins

for the (forgetful) outdoorsman:

polarized sunglasses

and croakies so that they don't get lost (again*)

Since I don't think I have to worry about the future mister reading this before his birthday on Wednesday, I ended up getting him the Alex Bottle. Ever since taking up running, he's been mentioning that a Nalgene would be nice to have because he currently uses a pretty beat-up plastic Gatorade bottle. I considered just getting him a Nalgene (they are less expensive), but the Alex Bottle was too neat to pass up. First, it comes apart at the middle, so it's super easy to clean, unlike most bottles. The other great thing is that when not in use, it's super compactable - just take it apart, invert it and twist back together. Hopefully he'll be just as excited about it as I am.

What unique or thoughtful gifts have you gifted your guy?

*Yes, the future mister bought himself that exact pair of L.L. Bean sunglasses in the summer and as of September they were nowhere to be found.

personal goals

I am so, so proud of my soon-to-be husband this morning! He, along with some of our friends who were in town visiting, ran the Athens Half Marathon on Sunday morning. He signed up over the summer indicating that he could run it in under 2 hours and 30 minutes. After training for a few months, he set a personal goal of running it in under 2 hours. Well.....

My future mister ran 13.1 miles and beat his goal by over TEN minutes!!

1:46:25 - 259th out of 1791, 29th out of 123 in the men's 25-29 age division

He deserved it, as did the rest of our friends who ran! Here are some more pictures of our weekend:

Saturday night I cooked everyone a spaghetti dinner - the boys were watching the UGA/UK game

pinning their bibs onto their shirts

all dressed and ready to go

City Hall at 6:30 am

the runners

and they're off!

at the halfway point I started jumping up and down and causing a big racket

look at all those runners!

Jonathan at the finish line

Patrick at the finish - unfortunately this guy stepped right into my shot

Nathan at the finish

Katelyn at the finish

the future mister and his groomsmen, post-race

so proud!

City Hall at 9:55 am

Did you and/or your fiance set any personal goals prior to the wedding?

the fellers

I have something special this Monday morning. It's been about a month in the making, so I'm really excited to present a guest post from the future mister introducing his "fellers." Without further ado:

Haaaaw Heee!


Best Man Pap - My father is my Best Man, as he is my best friend and mentor. Growing up, I was constantly by my father's side, so much so that he was forced to sneak away in order to go to work or a dental meeting. He always encouraged me in various outdoor activities, be it football, baseball, soccer, hunting, fly-fishing, or snow skiing. Yet, after every minor activity, he would somehow pull me aside in order to point out some deeper life lesson. I constantly tell him that he should be the college professor, not me. We have enjoyed going to Green Bay Packers football games (especially against the Carolina Panthers where we almost got into a fist-fight with a random drunk businessman), fly-fishing in Colorado and Wyoming, and even hunting Cape Buffalo, one of the most dangerous animals in the world, in Tanzania. My father is not only the finest outdoorsman I know (be it hunter or fly-fisherman), but he is also the man I emulate and aspire to be like.

(me, Jonathan, Patrick and Glenn at Patrick's wedding this July)

Groomsman Patrick - I met Patrick in the fall of 2003 at one of our university's dining halls (it was the first weekend of college). Who would have guessed that we were 4th cousins, one generation removed. Because we felt we were the only "mountain boys" from western North Carolina on campus, we hit it off and became roommates from sophomore year until we graduated. Patrick is very charismatic and brings life to any room he enters. At college, I was one of "Patrick's roommates" and I hated walking across campus with him because we could never get to our destination as he would constantly stop and talk to girls. He is a great fly-fisherman and outdoorsman. We have had many good camping trips together, especially on Hazel Creek. He recently married one of my good friends from college, Katelyn. Congrats again, but remember that you are both beholden to me because I introduced you two.

(Glenn, me, Patrick and Jonathan - Hazel Creek, fall 2006)

Groomsman Jonathan - I met Jonathan the spring of sophomore year at college. We were roommates junior and senior year. Jonathan is the "smart and stable" one. He is studying to be a "real Doctor" at Marshall University's medical school and the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back. We've had quite a few memories on the creek bank. The first time Jonathan and I went fly-fishing on Hazel Creek, we had split up, but suddenly he came running up the creek yelling that he caught a fish. I congratulated him, but was worried that the game warden would fine us if the fish came up to be a few centimeters too short. As Jonathan pulled out his creel and showed me the fish, he asked, "do you think this is seven inches and a keeper?" As it turned out, the fish was about fourteen inches and the biggest fish of the weekend.

(Glenn, Patrick, Jonathan and me in Charleston after graduation - May 2007)

Groomsman Glenn - Glenn and I met in the spring of Freshman year. We had several Biology classes together and were roommates Junior and Senior year. Glenn is "the Italian Stallion" or "the Yankee," and is from Buffalo, New York. He is a great friend and has a great sense of humor. Glenn typically has a room full of people enthralled with some hare-brained story or rolling on the floor laughing at a joke. Not only was he a Sudoku prodigy during a business class we had together, but he is also a technology genius. As a roommate Junior and Senior year, Glenn connected a projector and TV antenna together so that we could watch HD television on a pull-down screen that covered one entire wall of the apartment! Trust me, the girls loved our apartment on Grey's Anatomy night.

(me, Heather and Grant zip lining in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - May 2009)

Groomsman Grant - Grant is Heather's younger brother. He attends Temple University and will graduate the week before Heather and I get hitched. He is laid back, quick with a joke and doesn't make too much fun of me on the golf course. I am honored that he agreed to stand up with me on the big day and I look forward to being brothers-in-law.

Well there you have it - the other half of our wonderful wedding party. Maybe I can convince the future mister to write a few more guest posts in the future...

we can't leave out the guys

...even if our groomsmen are being a little slack (only 3* out of the 5 have responded to the future mister's request). Regardless, here's some inspiration for them:

(source)

(source)

Enter the ever popular, yet classic, gray suit. I think it definitely says vintage/rustic/garden wedding, don't you? The future mister and I decided on this option for a few reasons. Not only do we feel that tuxes are too formal, but I also have a problem with paying $150+ for something and not even being able to take it home at the end of the night. So the guys will be tasked with finding a gray suit for our wedding. I've been told that stores like Macy's, JCPenney's and Kohl's usually have great suit sales, so I'm hoping this won't be too difficult of a task.

How did you decide on attire for the groomsmen?


*One of those three texted the future mister to say thanks for the cigar, but he didn't realize that he was supposed to open up the letter wrapped around it. Men.

close, but no cigar

They're not invitations (oh, how I wish I were that on top of things). And they're not programs either. So what on earth are they??

The future mister's way of asking his guys to be groomsmen! After my paper dolls went out a few weeks ago, he decided that he also wanted to ask in a unique way. What did we come up with?

Cigars


Wrapped in a letter with the future mister's family crest, printed on parchment paper with hand torn edges (for that "old timey" look)



Sealed in red wax with an "M"

(Notice how I had to channel my inner MacGyver in order to get the paper to stay wrapped)

Ta da! What do you think?