Choosing a Hairdo for "I do"

One of the biggest things I worry about for the big day is my hair. Folks I'm gonna be real honest with you here, my hair kinda sucks.The color? Great!So blessed! But styling is a no-go the majority of the time. I actually wear my hair down most of the time and it's just straight with a mind of it's own. Hairspray only seems to anger it and it laughs at my pathetic attempts to curl it. It gets a great frizz when on the beach and even takes what would be a nice wave for some people to the "did she put her finger in a light socket?" level. So what's a girl to do? If you're answering scour the web for options and including a "please let me hair not suck that day" in my nightly prayer, you would be correct (and a tad overdramatic...). So here's what I'm loving...

Down with curls and a hairpiece. I'm initially drawn to this option since down is sort of my signature. But with uncooperative hair and lots of dancing, I doubt this will be a realistic option. But look at these options! How can you resist?

Source: Green Wedding Shoes, Martha Stewart Weddings

Braids! There is something so romantic and sweet about braids. I  love that you can do something sleek and sophisticated or messy and beautiful.

Source: Delightfully Tacky, Style Me Pretty, Hair and Make-up By Steph

Half up seems like a great compromise to having my hair down, but I still worry about what the ends would look like at the end of the night.

Source: Martha Stewart Weddings, ImgFave

Up, up and away! These are something beautiful to look at  and and with a great hairstylist should look great the whole night.

Source: Style Me Pretty, MODWedding

I'm in the processing of getting the info for a potential hairstylist and I have lot's of time to decided what I want, but it's one of the big unknown's right now. (Which I hate unknowns!)

Which is your favorite?  Any advice you could offer me?

Connect with me elsewhere! Twitter | Pinterest | Blog

Candid Photography {worth a thousand words}

This week I'm looking at photographers and discovering I'm drawn to all the amazing candid shots. Don't get me wrong, I love posed photos just as much as the next girl, but I think what sets great wedding photographers apart are the moments they are able to capture when no one is expecting it.

Sources: all Style Me Pretty

This week I'm going to Mexico for a friends' combined bachelor/bachelorette party. Finding a photographer will be next on my list when I return from vacation. I can't wait to keep looking! I am hoping photographers will be open to Skype meetings, at least until we narrow it down.

Follow up to last week's post - while I loved the dresses at Amy Kuschel, I don't think I found the dress for me, so the search continues!

Until next week!

falling in love with {fall weddings}

Ok E&I brides, I am now just 47 days away from my wedding day- that's just 6 1/2 weeks away, people!  Here's what I've been up to lately:

• The invitations have been sent out! They're gorgeous and I LOVE them :)
• I had my first wedding dress fitting- if I wasn't nervous/excited before, well, I am now!
• We met with the wedding singer (live Italian opera singer btw)
• I had my GORGEOUS bridal shower in LA hosted by Vinnie's aunt Teri, Debbie, and Sally :)
• Vinnie got fitted in his custom suite

There is still plenty to do, but as you can see these last couple weeks have been BUSY for us.

To give myself a little break from my own wedding planning I chose to blog about fall weddings in general. Living in LA we don't have the luxury of having a TRUE Autumn season... at least not like the beautiful foliage I enjoyed while living in Eugene, Oregon :)

Enjoy this fall wedding inspiration!

Photo Credits: Martha Stewart

Photo Credits: Martha Stewart

Photo Credits: Left, Top Right, Bottom Right

Photo Credit: Green Wedding Shoes

Thanks for reading everyone! Stay tuned for my next few posts.... I'll be cake tasting; taking you through Vinnie's custom suit fitting, and giving you some work out tips from a personal trainer at the Biggest Loser Ranch! ;-)

See you next Tuesday!

It's Here.

Nearly a year of blogging. Two years of planning. Nine and a half years together. I can't believe that after all this time, our wedding day is upon us. We're now in the final days and my house is a disaster, covered with craft projects, spreadsheets, wedding gifts, and beauty products. I pick up the dress on Wednesday, nails and facial on Thursday and then head up to Sebastopol on Friday!

Remember where we've been? Our inspiration, obsessing over the wedding dress, the bridesmaid dress dilema, making save the dates and invitations? It has all come together and I can't wait to see the end result.

I'm so excited for the big day. I know once Saturday rolls around, the stress will melt away, the excitement and joy will set in and we'll get to enjoy being surrounded by our favorite people. I have a feeling I'll feel a little bit like this...

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

And, if all else fails, we're heading to France a week from today! :)

So any advice for the big day?!

Crazy for Confetti

Now that our venue is about 98% booked (just waiting for them to confirm that they received our check in the mail), I can start to think about some of the smaller details for our wedding, like confetti! Who doesn't love confetti and the awesome photo ops it provides?

Source: Tamara Lackey Photography

For our wedding, I would love to have something colorful thrown at us our way back down the aisle after we are pronounced husband and wife. Colorful possibilities include flower petals, colorful sprinkles, paper confetti (would have to be biodegradable for our venue), pom poms, dried lavender or streamers.

Source: EP Love

So, how did the rice/confetti tradition come about? Throwing rice at a newlywed couple is an ancient tradition that is meant to bring good luck, and more importantly, it symbolizes fertility. Sounds great to me! Unfortunately rice throwing is an ancient tradition now mostly because venues don’t allow it.

Sources:1, Braedon Flynn & Diana Rush

If you have spent anytime on the Pinterest wedding boards, you have probably already seen the above pin that tells brides to throw sprinkles at their wedding instead of rice because the photos will turn out amazing. I love anything sugary, so incorporating sprinkles sounded fun to me until I read wedding coordinator Danielle Pasternak's advise. She points out that, "if any of your guests hands are sweating as they are holding the sprinkles – or if it’s a little humid out – the color from the sprinkle will loosen and very likely end up on your gorgeous, white gown." So, sprinkles are off the table for us.

Sources: Closer To Love & KT Merry Photography

I am leaning towards having lavender tossed because it would be easy to acquire (locally it grows like a weed), it fits with our venue, and has an amazing color and aroma.

 

Sources: 1, Dixie Pixel Photography &  Shell de Mar

Are you planning on having anything tossed, thrown or shaken at your wedding? How did you decide?

Coral + Teal DIY Wedding

It looked like a beautifully sunny day in Virginia for Annamarie and Ryan's wedding day at the Virginia Center for Architecture. The gorgeous couple got especially creative and crafty! Look at the details of their wedding, coordinating such pops of quirky color to capture such a country-themed wedding! They used the effect of a bright teal truck in their background, gave away jars of jam, a cute DIY themed photobooth, and fun floral arrangements. Thanks to Katelyn James for shooting these images.

All the stunning photography is done by Katelyn James.

{honeymooning} Travel In Style

These fabulous luggage pieces will get you where you need to go with those closet-staples you need most. From a perfect tote bag to carry the necessities, to a carryall bag for day trips to the beach, these are my favorites of the season! As a note, a fun tote bag with your names and wedding date on it, is the perfect way to prove you're honeymooning it up to those that can pull a few strings to make your honeymoon extra special. (Always ask for honeymoon upgrades people!)

Source: Wedding Chicks | J Crew | Kate Spade | Louis Vuitton 

DIY Country Wedding

What a fabulous DIY Country wedding we have in store for you today. I absolutely love the little touches the bride and groom DIYed themselves.

From the fabulous bride, "Growing up on a dairy farm I always knew where I wanted to someday have my wedding. The church was a little catholic church where my parents married 31 years ago.  The reception site was on the top a hill out in a hay field overlooking our town.  My favorite detail of all was my dress, organza lace and simple to a T! This allowed me to accessorize and find my “Something Blue” wedding statement necklace. I feel so blessed to have found my other half, my best friend and my lifelong partner."

VENDORS:

Photography: Hetler Photography LLC Flowers: Blue Iris Events Ceremony Location: Sacred Heart Catholic Church Reception Location:  Stieg Family Farm Dress: "Dakota" by Enzoani Wine:  Magic Mountain Winery Hair & Make-up:  Helena DeYoung

Choosing Our Wedding Bands

I've never gone jewelry shopping. Well, I've never really gone shopping for REAL jewelry. The good stuff. So when this last weekend Kyle and I went shopping for our wedding bands, I was really nervous. I finally got a little glimpse into how nervous he must have felt when he picked out my engagement ring. The poor guy!

MadeMan.com

There were only two places I wanted to go. First was the wonderful jeweler Kyle bought my engagement ring from. They have been amazing from the day Kyle met them, and anytime since that I have been in their shop. It's called Johann Paul Jewelers in San Anselmo, and it's owned by two Kiwis (New Zealanders, not fruit). Since I spent a semester abroad in New Zealand, we hit it off right away. I love those guys, especially Paul. We hadn't been in the store in over a year, but Paul remembered us and knew all these sweet little life details that I forgot we had told him.

By the way, here's a tip: get your ring cleaned every damn day if you can! I hadn't had mine cleaned for over a year, so when I walked in that's the first thing they insisted. Holy crap?! It was like 10 times more sparkley! Kyle and I were both shocked! Apparently I put my hands in dirty places too often. Needless to say, I've been enjoying the particularly special shine this week :)

We talked to him about what I wanted, which, truth be told, I wasn't sure about. I wasn't sure if I wanted a straight ring or a curved ring to fit snugly with my engagement ring. What if I wanted to wear the band by itself one day? Or if I wanted something simple for traveling and outdoorsy things? I tried on a beautiful straight ring that looked gorgeous with my engagement ring.

Then I tried on a curved ring, and knew that's what I wanted. I mean, it was just instantly WAY better, and it looked like a beautiful, cohesive (anyone else think of Project Runway when you hear that word?) piece of jewelry. So we talked to him about having the designer of my engagement ring (eco-friendly, local, and awesome designer Yael) make a custom band to fit together with my engagement ring. Yay! Easy!

Then we talked to him about bands for Kyle, and Kyle knew even less about what he wanted. I always thought he'd look great with something a little modern, a little rustic, but definitely unique and handmade. Since Kyle works with his hands a lot, the one thing we knew was that his ring had to be tough. Basically it needed to be able to be smashed with a hammer and not break in two or smoosh around Kyle's finger. That meant gold was out because it was too soft, and tungsten was no good either because it's too hard, you can't get it off a swollen finger.

He tried on some titanium bands that had rings of wood or carbon fiber by local designer Jerry Spaulding. He felt so awkward about wearing a ring. He was so quick to pull them off. He kept exclaiming how weird it was to wear a ring. Poor guy, it'll take some getting used to. He ended up loving a matte titanium ring with a thin offset carbon fiber band in it. But we still had one more store I wanted to check out.

Naturally we drove the Triumph convertible into the city to check out Manika Jewelry, which specializes in jewelry handmade by local artists. They had more limited options as far as wedding bands, but I loved the idea of something that had a really organic feel to it, so I wanted to check this place out. He tried on a few beautiful rings by Redstart, and especially liked one called "Stream" that had a hand carved line cut through the band, resembling a stream.

               

After a beer at City Beer Store, Kyle decided he liked the ring by Jerry Spaulding best. A beer well spent, I say!

So there we are, we have our wedding bands picked out. I can hardly wait for him to slip it on my finger!!

How was your wedding band shopping experience? Was it easy? Stressful? Was your hubby equally as awkward about trying on rings? Do tell!

Save-The-Date Inspiration

My ideas for our save-the-dates has been all over the place. From overly whimsical for the mister's taste to pretty but a bit impersonal for my taste, I've thought about it all. We wanted to stay within our vintage-romantic theme while being personal and stopping short of bordering on something that could double as an invite to a kids party (or a singing telegram). These are just a few of the things I loved that we didn't go with or ultimately provided inspiration for our save-the-date!

I love the thought of this confetti popper with the details on saving the date is so sweet! The Mister was a big fan of the photo booth Save-The-Date.

Source:  Oh Happy Day, Whimsical Wedding Bliss, On Hand Modern

Have I mentioned how much I adore postcards? Over-the-moon adore! Aren't these amazing? I also have a thing for watercolor and it's ability to add color, softness, and elegance all in one stroke or drop. 

Source: Wedding Paper Divas, Wedding Paper Divas, Martha Stewart Weddings, Ruffled

In the end we went with traditional paper, but I think any of the more "fun" options would have been great if they fit better with our theme. This weekend we will be getting are had work together and finally seeing our final product! I can't wait to share them with you once I know they've all been received. Until them I must know...

 Did you do something fun for your Save-The-Dates? Anything special you included for wording or did you just have your names, date and city? 

Connect with me elsewhere! Twitter | Pinterest | Blog