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Friday, August 27, 2010

Happy Friday!

Hooray for the weekend!  The end of Summer is approaching fast, I hope to make the most of each and every single weekend.  Kicking off my Friday with a half day of work and an evening with my friends.  And tomorrow?  Tomorrow is my Cuz's first dress fitting at Kleinfeld!  Holy smokes, time has zipped by us.  Last on the list is a bachelorette party for our friend, Joy!  I can't wait!

Looking forward to some crazy bachelorette fun and a big juicy pair of these:



*hint*hint*

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Color Conundrum

After seven months of planning the wedding full-force, it was time to start tackling the colors I planned to use. Sure, we weren't set with a venue but I couldn't let that stop everything! The color palette was hanging over me, and I felt like I needed to get something decided but it was tough!


When I first envisioned the wedding I saw something romantic, elegant, and simple.  Here's my first inspiration board:


Then I added a pop of red to the mix, by way of fresh cherries.

Image via MarthaStewartWeddings.com / Styling by Rebecca Thuss



Then I started thinking about a little "gilded" romance.  






So I should have been good to go with our color palette. And I thought I was. 


Colors shouldn't have been an issue, except that I never bothered to take the guys into account.  Call me neurotic, but I was bothered by the way their blues fit into my color palette:

I liked it...it was playful, fresh, and cute.  It was pretty darn perfect for a Summer celebration, especially a celebration held over Independence Day weekend.  But it's not really what I was going for at all.  To me, the blue and gold colors didn't mesh well with my softer palette that originally intended to use.  I knew that there had to be a color combo that would work, I just had to find it.  


So back to the drawing board I went!

Did you have trouble settling on a color palette?  Was there anything about your wedding in particular, that made you think twice?

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Bridal Hoarding - It's Real, Look it Up*

Bit by bit, piece by piece, I've started collecting items for our decor.  This is a little tricky since I only have a loose idea of what I want everything to look like in the end.  But I can't help myself.  I am slowly turning into a bridal-hoarder. 



The hope is that I will not have to worry about finding these sweet little details at the last minute.  And there's nothing more eclectic then buying items from here and there as time passes, since that's pretty much what "eclectic" means.  This has also saved me a ton of money.  Because since I started early I still have the ability to wait until things are on clearance--see that red sticker on the frame up there?  Clearance tag!  I think that frame was marked down to $4.  Score!  That lantern right there?  I bought it for less than $8, after I found an imperfection.  The plate?  $3, also from the clearance section. 

Of course this will be a complete waste if I don't end up using any of it.  But I'm optimistic.  My hoard includes a bunch of pretty frames, interesting pieces of milk glass, and couple ceramic vessels for flowers.  I'm determined to make this work, I just need to settle on a design!  


*I have no idea if "bridal hoarding" is an acutal condition.  And no, I haven't looked it up. 




Have you considered collecting decor for your wedding in advance? Are you a bridal hoarder, like myself?  If so, I want to know about your favorite item!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Search Begins



As  a child, I would sit and sketch the most gorgeous outfits, dreaming that I was a fashion designer with the most amazing wardrobe in the the world.  Admittedly, many of those outfits consisted of mismatched fabrics, spandex biker shorts, enormous fabric daisies, and floppy hats with the brim flipped up in the front.  Thank you Blossom, thank you Fly Girls, and thanks to all the ladies of Saved By the Bell.  


Fashion design never panned out for me, but I still love design, I still love fashion.  And what does this have to do with weddings?  

In all the time spent designing the coolest and most gorgeous outfits ever, I never once, created a wedding ensemble.  To this day,  I have no idea what I want to wear on my wedding day.  There's so much pressure to find the one dress that brings you to tears.  The be all and end all of dresses.  And I don't understand that. For me, there's always next season.  If I don't like the fabrics or patterns of the Fall doesn't mean that I won't be obsessed with the looks of the Spring. 

Essentially, every wedding dress is variation on theme; a white dress, made to be worn once.  One of these variations has to work for me.  

And so, I'm going to bite the bullet and just start trying dresses on.  I am going in with an open mind, but not too open because I could end up with a serious case of bridal overload.  I have a few criteria to use:  fitted, no beading, low back (or interesting back detail), and straps.  Of course, there is plenty of leeway here, but these are some of the characteristics I've really liked so far. 

Lucky for me, I have New York City in my backyard (more like a short drive away).  I've already had one appointment (more on that later), and four more coming up in the weeks to come.  This should be fun, right?  More like torture?  Okay.  It may in fact end up more like torture, but I think this is the kind of torture that I can handle just fine. 

Monday, August 23, 2010

Inspiration - Gilded Romance

I came across the most beautiful hardcover books designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith via Design Crush and it got my (wedding)wheels turning.


Image via CB-Smith.com / Cover Design by Coralie Bickford-Smith




The gorgeous new cover art for the classic novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald totally captures the opulence of the Jazz Age, and combines it with a really delicate aesthetic that would be perfect for a wedding. Translation: I need to add every single one to my collection! 

And so, I decided to create a sophisticated inspiration board  as an ode to the new objects of my desire.  Will I use this for my own wedding?  Maybe some of it, but hopefully someone else will!


Here's what I came up with: 

(clockwise from top left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, )
Row 1 via: MarthaStewartWeddings.com / CB-Smith.com / AudreyHepurnComplex 
Row 2:  JCrew.com / MarthaStewartWeddings.com / RetroPrint
Row 3: CB-Smith.com / MarthaStewartWeddings.com / MarthaStewartWeddings.Com 

Bold and sophisticated black and alabaster contrasts the softer, more romantic shades of blush and gold: simple invitations with gilded accents, the classic champagne cocktail, and garland made of vintage jazz music.  My inner magpie is drooling over the shoes since I am a sucker for the sparkle--what a sweet and unexpected addition to a wedding day ensemble.

This, my friends, is a step in the right direction (I think).  We are getting closer to a color palette I can live with!