Readers Speak: From matchy to MARVELOUS

We are so pumped for this week because all of our posts are going to be from you...our readers. And we will only "interrupt" a little. (It will be the text you see in red).

Allow us to introduce Amy, of the A-Team! :)

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This summer I started reading a new blog created by a childhood friend. You may have heard of it! ;)

Well, like everyone else it sure got me thinking. I have always loved Christmas cards but I’m usually figuring out outfits at the last minute and hoping for the best. Well this year was going to be different. I had inspiration and a vision several months before the big photo shoot. I found these adorable outfits on Zulily. 

They arrived and I hung them in the utility room. Now, all I had to do was figure out what mom and dad were going to wear (or so I thought). I envisioned a fun photo shoot at a very vibrant playground in Downtown Dallas. My theme was going to be Joyful-etc. (Which we, the Mommas think would be a darling "theme") I was so proud I was ahead of the game – or so I thought.

A couple months later – the Merry Momma’s blogged about wardrobe choices and I immediately went and texted Merry Momma K the picture above. Their blog suggested not to be too matchy matchy and wouldn’t you know it that is exactly what I had above- MATCHY MATCHY and very BOLD. (You should know – I love dressing my girls alike and they love it also- at least for now. I really had not thought about coordinating outfits instead of matching.

So, I was back to square one and it was already October! The Merry Momma’s suggested to pick one outfit you love and coordinate around it. I went searching a favorite site of Merry Momma K and found an adorable dress that I just loved. (Which ended up being the EXACT dress I had picked for Emmy to wear... how funny is that?!)

From there I got to work. I eventually decided to utilize navy and rust to help coordinate with colors in my living room (where I wanted to display the pictures). (YES!! This is super important! It's great to take fun pics and send them in cards, but y'all... take pics that you can and will display in your HOME!!!)

While I loved the dress I found, I ultimately selected the outfit below to allow for layering (Layering – another suggestion I took from the Merry Momma’s)!

Next Direct also had coordinating outfits for my other girls.

I laid everything out and texted Merry Momma K for final decisions! They suggest asking a friend to help –what better friend to ask than a Merry Momma!

Making sure it all fits and looks great!

The night before the big photo shoot I laid everything out and was ready to go!

Thanks so much to the wonderful inspiration from Your Merry Momma’s blogs I ended up with a great wardrobe. I was more than thrilled with the results (see below) and enjoyed all the compliments when the cards arrived in my friends and families mailboxes in early December. I could not have done it without the inspiration and advice from YMM!

Who: Adam, Amy, Addison, Audrey and Allee Grace

Locoation: Beyond the Blue Studios; Arlington, TX

Props: Red Wagon provided by photographer

Clothes: Amy - Ann Taylor; Adam - Gap; Girls - Next Direct

Comments: See above :)

Designer: Shutterfly

Photographer: Gara Hill, Beyond the Blue Studios

Favorite Thing: With the help of the Mommas, this is my favorite card ever. I especially love the use of the trifold since it allowed me to use so many pictures! The bible verse is something I came across in the summer when I was looking up verses about hope and joy. I loved it and saved it to use on the card.

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So what do the Mommas think? We LOVE it! The card is marvelous! We love that Amy trusted us enough to go beyond her comfort zone. We love that these are images that she will use in her home. We love that this blog inspired, helped, and made this crazy process a little bit easier!!

Get PINspired: We know this post is long, so here is a short sweet look at some fun on Pinterest

1. Wagons make adorable props

2. Navy and Rust are a LOVELY color combo!

3. And, we talked about walking pics before!

Happy Monday, everyone!