Bridal Beauty {the 4 month regimen}

Here I am, 4 months out and I've begun my final beauty regimen. After reading health and wellness articles, taking advice from my friends and just generally making a few decisions on my own, here are the things that I will be doing for the next 4 months to make my face look its best. 1. Oil Cleansing Method To make sure that my skin is radiant on June 16, a few months ago, I began a face washing routine called the oil cleansing method and let me tell you, it is absolutely amazing. I mix 3 parts castor oil, with 1 part olive oil and a few drops of tea tree oil, rub it on my face at night, wash it off with a warm washcloth and that's it! No face washing in the morning, no expensive products, nothing else! It might seem strange to wash your face with oil, but it feels SO good and so not greasy. Read up on it in this little article and you'll understand better why it works. From my perspective, this is the best way to wash your face out there (my face is less greasy, generally zit-free and just healthier).

2. Facials I read that it's not enough to simply have a facial before a big event, but that you always want to have a few (at least 3). So this weekend I had my first facial and I plan to have one a month from now until the wedding. Because I personally don't have the money to spend on facials at the top boutique spa in the area, I get my facials at my local beauty school for $21. They do a great job, charge a ton less and I like knowing that I helped someone practice their skills!

3. Makeup I'm not a big makeup buyer, but over the next few months, I'll be trying out a few products to find somethings I really love. Below are the few makeup standards that I am currently in love with. I'm on the look out for a new mascara, so if you have something you can't get enough of, let me know.

Powder, blush, concealer, mattifier, lipstick

What's your beauty regimen for your big day? Am I missing something?

{Spring is in the Air} Backyard Wedding Inspiration

In just a few months (weeks rather) my sister will be tying the knot herself. That's right, her and I will celebrate anniversaries a week away from each other :)

Source: Glitter Pops, Flowers

They are having a pretty short engagement, and we are going down a bit of a different route for her wedding than we did for mine. But, I am pretty darn excited about the whole thing. So today I wanted to share just a tinge of the inspiration we have gathered for this lovely backyard affair. There will be about 40 guests in attendance and I have some super fun ideas up my sleeve that I can't wait to start working on. Since I will be DIYing the bejesus out of my parent's backyard, we have to make sure to fill the whole space and cross our fingers hard for no rain! (But I will confess, if it does rain, I'm so excited to do the ceremony in front of the fireplace. So romantic)

Source: Peach, Throw

Source: Cake, Balloons

Source: Flowers, Pool, Dessert Bar

I'm excited for the next few months and what that will bring.  And I am excited once again to craft it up so very much. It doesn't get much better than crafting nights, now does it?

Lovely Love-Themed Posters

We all know and love Pinterest for amazing wedding ideas and inspiration. But lately, I’ve been getting some non-wedding inspiration from Pinterest and it has helped me take a big leap in life. Recently, I decided to leave my job in advertising to pursue a longtime passion for interior design. Leaving a world you know to try something new is definitely a risky decision, but sometimes in life you need to take a leap of faith. And these (beautifully designed) quotes are great reminders of that whenever I started to doubt myself. I wanted to share these with you all in case they might help you take your own leap of faith (even if that simply means getting the over-the-top statement necklace for your dress that you’ve been fantasizing about but aren't sure if it's too much)—plus they are just so darn gorgeous!

Sources: Passion, Daydream, Believe

Ogling over these posters got me thinking about ways to incorporate that typographic look into the wedding. There are so many pretty posters with sweet, love-themed typographic designs. I could totally see putting these in pretty frames on tables, or hanging from ribbon from trees. Or, what about printing something extra large as a photobooth or ceremony backdrop?

Sources: Forever, We Fit, So Glad, Cup of Tea, Love Life

The best part – after the wedding, you can use them to decorate your house! What a cute keepsake from your wedding day!

Sources: Eat Drink, Keep Calm, Best Day Ever 

Anyone else using typography as part of their wedding décor? I’m not sure where I could incorporate this in our venue so ideas are welcome!

Rehearsing::The big dinner

Since JB and I became engaged, we've been planning, re-planning and constantly discussing the rehearsal dinner. We quickly found out that most of the places we'd love to have our dinner either 1. Don't make reservations for parties on Friday nights during dinner time, 2. Are ridiculously far above our price range, or 3. Don't have a space large enough for our group. We aren't having a HUGE dinner...just near 50 people, but turns out many restaurants accommodate around 35-40 in their private rooms. After searching and searching for the perfect place that's meaningful to us, but also has the unique food we love, I think *fingers crossed* we've finally settled on a new restaurant near our houses, Next Wood Fired Bistro & Vino Bar. With the location decided, now it's time for us to start brainstorming the fun stuff! Here are a few of the things I'd love to do at the dinner and my style inspiration for our wedding-eve.

1.Postcards: I want postcards sitting at the tables for people to leave us notes, advice, drawings, etc. At the end of the night, JB's mom will collect them and then mail them to us, one each week until we have them all! I'd love to get one of these Pantone postcards each week. Wouldn't they make the CUTEST little album!

2. Music: It's always important to JB and I to have the music we love playing at our events, so the rehearsal dinner is no exception. At our venue, they normally have a guitarist, but we're in a separate room and may not be able to hear his music. If not, here are a few songs we have to play. P.S. The linked playlist is on Spotify, which I LOVE. If you don't have it yet, you should, you can share songs with friends, listen to basically any music you could ever imagine...it's just great.

3. My style: I bought my rehearsal dinner outfit at the end of last summer (when all the whites were on sale), but here is my inspiration for my outfit. I'm even thinking that I might wear an antique hat or headpiece, because why-the-heck not. What are you wearing for your rehearsal, are you going formal? Casual? I'm wearing a skirt and top (all in white, of course), so I guess I'm right in the middle.

one, two, three, four, five

 4. The After Party: What do you think about an after rehearsal dinner party? Have you had one, been to one? I'd love an opportunity to see a few people who weren't at the dinner before the craziness of our big day. Let me know about these later-night, after-dinner get togethers! 

Apple Orchard Inspiration

The best part of my day is getting the chance to chat it up with brides who are full of inspiration and excitement over their big day. After a fabulous chat with a bride, Ashlynn, she sent over her Pinterest board of inspiration and boy did it inspire me! Her inspiration is an apple orcahard-esque theme filled with fab DIYing and a bit of homemade glory. I thought this would be a fabulous opportunity to inspire those of you who are planning a late-summer wedding filled with homemade love.

I love these dish towel save the dates! In fact, I want to get a few for myself to remember our wedding day. :) Apple butter on vintage pieces are so awesome. Similar to jam, these are great favors that guests will love and will love to eat.

Source: Apple butter, dish towels, barn

Don't you just wish there were more red barns around? I sure do. I don't think I have found one in all of my searches, so if you are in a place that has one, I highly envy you! And, yarn letters are definitely becoming a favorite of mine at the moment.

Source: Table Number, Centerpiece, Invite

Source: Love, Lemonade, Cans, Orchard, Cake, Flatware

Source: Flowers, Tablescape, Ceremony

The Ring::Modern, Classic, Nontraditional...

Of all the decisions I've made for the wedding, by far the most difficult and the one that I am ALL OVER the board on is the ring. Everyday I show JB ring upon ring from wide to thin, diamond-filled to etched, I simply don't have the power to make up my mind on this one. I want to be able to wear my band by itself, or with my engagement ring and at the moment (this literal moment, as I'm writing this) I'm leaning toward minimal or no diamonds (who needs 'em...have you seen my engagement ring?! JB rocked it).

My main problem is that the rings I want aren't sold in store (etsy-love), or they're not sold near me (NYC has the main stock of rings I want), so I can't try them on with my engagement ring. That's why I need your help, what do you think?

Here are some of my options in all their glory...I've tried to narrow it down to my faves, but honestly there are probably more that I may like better, or at least like better for a few minutes (my indecisiveness is RAMPANT). Because there is such a long list of possibilities coming your way, I've broken them down in to groups so that you can easily source each image. Plus, ALL of these can be ordered online and they're all well under $1,000.

P.S. Which ever ring I decide on, I will order in white gold (so no worries on the yellow v. white gold issue).

I was going to try to list my favorites from each group...but I can't even decide on that.

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four, five

These next ones match my engagement ring, they're made by Eidel Precious and would clearly fit well with my current ring, but I think they're just a little too classic for me. However they are SO gorgeous and sparkly!

The next set I absolutely adore. I love that number 3 is vintage, but I think it might be a bit too wide. I really love the placement of the stones on numbers two and four. I just generally like number one.

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four

Number three of the next four is from BHLDN and I LOVE it, but I don't know if I love it as a wedding ring or just as a ring.

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four

This final grouping is maybe my favorite...maybe.

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three

What do you think? Which is your favorite? Which would look best with my ring?

Videography::Dreamy and Whimsical

Videography is something that I've always wanted incredibly bad for our wedding, but nothing (until now) ever quite seemed to work out. Have you seen some of the incredible wedding videos out there?! They are AMAZING, dreamy, whimsical....more than simply a tape-recording of the day, that's for sure! Here are two videos that I keep going back to because I simply can't get enough. Stick with me because *gasp* the second video isn't a wedding video, but it is BEAUTIFUL and the aesthetic that I want for my wedding (also, I'm absolutely in love with food, so this video [for me] is quite fitting).This first one gets me EVERYTIME. The pink church, the gifts and Wonderwall...just watch, you'll see. http://vimeo.com/26502282

Now, this is the wedding-less video, but I'm pretty sure that you're about to fall in LOVE with Tiger in a Jar just like I have. The dreamy lighting, documentary style and just wait for the ombre pine nuts!

http://vimeo.com/25385248

Now that you've seen those two BEAUTIES! Look at Jonathon Link Studios, the amazing videographers that I am going to have the privilege to work with for my wedding. They are an adorable husband-wife duo and JB and I are thrilled to have them on our team. Here is one of my favorite videos they've done, but really I love them all!

http://vimeo.com/19527209

Two of my favorite things about Jonathon and Kristin Link are: 1. They are attending our rehearsal to get a better feel for how the day is going to go down. 2. They are shooting our wedding with 3 cameras (!!!). We met with them this past weekend to talk about details and were just so impressed with everything they had to say, I can't wait to watch our video for years to come!

I love the gift exchange from the first video and I always love when videos include pre-wedding preparations, but what are some other things that I have to make sure to leave time for my videographers to capture (other than the obvious ceremony and reception traditions)?

P.S. I'm less than 5-months out! Also, I found this the other day in a book at Pottery Barn and had to share...

A Beer Themed Wedding

I think it's official. We have reached truly obnoxious beer nerd status. On our drive home from Lake Tahoe today, we were talking about how we couldn't drink Budweiser, Coors, or Miller if you paid us (well, maybe if you paid us...). I am a total snob when it comes to beer. But it's only because I love flavor and creativity so much!

Anyways, the whole point of that was because we're making beer an integral part of our wedding reception. We've talked about a couple of different ways to incorporate our love and appreciation for craft beer with something else important about the wedding. Because we're also doing a little travel theme, we thought about featuring a beer or wine from each place we've each traveled over the years. We also talked about highlighting California beers because they're local (i.e. eco-friendly), and, well... awesome.

No decision yet as to how we're going to do it, but we're definitely having a "beer bible" to tell a story about each of the beers, how they taste, maybe throw in a cute story about how that beer relates to one or both of us, where we first tasted it, etc.

Whatever we do, we're going to force craft beer on our friends and family so we can have more beer nerd friends. And if a wedding isn't a place to force people to follow your ideals, then where is? ;)

Here is some more beer inspiration I've been looking at:

I just love those customized pint glasses! And these beer koozies for the wedding party are awesome.

Sources: 1, 2-3, 4, 5-12, 13

So what do you think we should go with, California or International beers? Are you incorporating your favorite drink into your wedding? What are some of the ways you're highlighting the things that are important to you both?

Save the Date! {Paper Inspiration}

This weekend my goal was to send out our save the dates. With my job, I design invitations to all kinds of events all the time, however it was very fun to finally get to design something that was entirely for me and JB. This has probably been the most daunting job for me simply because of the inspiration overload that I keep talking about. From letterpress, to printed balloons and magnets to film strips, here are some of my very favorites.

one, two, three, four, five, six

JB and I have been together for almost six years (2.5 of which were in high school), because of this we have done a TON of monumental things together from attending senior prom to venturing abroad to moving in to college dorms. I wanted a way to remind people of all the things we've done together in a simple, concise and adorable way...enter, the punch card.

We are punch card fanatics, if your restaurant has a punch card, you better bet that we'll fill that card for the free froyo, sandwich...So we decided to combine our love of punch cards with a list of the things we've done together and there you have it, a *hand-punched* punch card ending with an un-punched "Vow I do."

Kraft envelopes are my favorite and with my mom's swirly handwriting they are the perfect amount of whimsy and handmade. The one thing I wish I could have done was to use antique stamps on the envelopes (like number six above), but when I really looked at my budget, it just wasn't something I chose to do. I ordered the rubber stamps with our return address and the heart with "JB and Taylor" from  RubberStamps.net and even though it said 7-10 days, they had it to me in 5. Plus on this site, you can easily upload any .jpg image, see a preview and order a stamp (aka you can use your own handwriting for a stamp to make everything look perfectly handmade).

Next, on to the invitations! I want something more elegant for the invites, but still modern and fun. My mom is an incredible artist, so I would love to use her work. What do you think, hand painting, watercolor, more with the modern typography like the save the dates, what's your pick?

Earring Inspiration {something other than rhinestones}

My main wedding jewelry (other than my completely gorgeous engagement and wedding rings), will be worn on my ears. I'm not wearing a necklace, but I really want to play up my some ear jewels (JB likes my ears, so it works out nicely). I've never been super in to sparkly, rhinestone like things (unless it's a full sequin/glitter/rhinestone dress...then I'm in), but I've ALWAYS loved rocks...I even had a rock collection when I was little. Because of this, I absolutely adore the geode jewelry that I keep seeing. Specifically the gold dipped geodes, ugh, I could own a new pair for everyday of the year. However, I just can't decide if for my wedding earrings I should wear something white/ivory/neutral or if I should add a little color. What do you think? Here are a few of my favorites...

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven

Do you have a favorite? Have you seen good geodes anywhere else?

P.S. I know the third pair are pearls, not geodes, but I love them, so I couldn't leave them out.