Bridesmaid Dresses {mix & matching}

I recently started using the 'Secret Boards' on Pinterest and am loving it for so many reasons! This past week I've been using it as I narrow in on the look of the bridal party. I am 90% sure we'll be doing the mix and match look for the bridesmaids. I like that with the Secret Boards, I have the option to pin my own as I gather inspiration and then share with all my ladies once I'm ready! And then instead of sending an email with a bunch of links, I can send them actual pictures that link right through to where they can buy them (I heart Pinterest). I'm leaning towards neutral, light dresses. Maybe keeping the same length to keep them consistent.

Sources: top left, bottom left, middle, right

Sources: top left, bottom left, middle, right

Sources: left, right

As you can see I'm thinking a light nude/tan/ivory color palate. When we're all together, it should look something like this...

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Mixing and matching can be a challenge, but when done right, I love the way it looks! Did you have your bridesmaids in different dresses? Any tips on making everything look polished and pulled together?

P.S. In my unrelated search this week about DIY Christmas tree skirts, I came across this link with instructions on how to make one out of your old bridesmaid dress, click here. So funny.

The Lab || We're Expanding (To Your City!)

I co-founded a bridal event last year to help brides plan their wedding while being enveloped in inspiration, ideas and surrounded by some of the most creative minds in the industry. We call it "The Lab" and it will be taking place in Sonoma, CA on January 12 (Local? Get tickets!). While we finish up the final details for this event, we can't wait to share what is coming next. And it is awesome....

We have big dreams for this baby of ours, first and foremost, we are expanding! The Lab is no longer San Francisco specific, in fact we are on our way in putting together a 10 city tour of events. Yes, we will be traveling to 10 cities bringing all the goodness of our event to other areas. And hopefully will be headed to your city!

Want The Lab in your neck of the woods? Simply email us (with your city as the subject) letting us know where you want us to come. We will announce the final city lineup in January!

Vendors: Want to be a part of The Lab in your city? Email us letting us know where you want us to come and that you'd like to be involved! We are looking for the best of the best in the industry and would love to hear from you.

Black, White & Gold Brunch with Sarah Seven

Sarah Seven invited a group of the best bloggers in the industry to brunch to preview her ready-to-wear collection along with her newest bridal collection. With a 25 person guest list, we set out to create an intimate space with plenty of details, yummy food, great conversation and of course a whole bunch of girls swooning (and instragraming) each and every part of it!

Sarah's words to me were "I want to host a brunch. I want striped tablecloths" From there my mind went wild with the black, white and gold color palette and I created everything from the invites, to the menus. The amazing Floral Theory rocked the flowers with some brass goblets and gorgeous peonies. Milkglass Vintage Rentals brought the pretty with mix-matched chairs, an amazing linen lounge set and some fabulous details to decorate the space. And of course, Megan Clouse did an incredible job documenting all the gorgeous work and the great time had by all.

Thanks a million to Sarah Seven for bringing everyone together, I think I speak for us all by saying that your designs are incredible and inspire such a feminine, effortless look. Just want until you see all the gorgeous pieces from Sarah's Ready-To-Wear and Fall 2013 Bridal collections! You'll die!

Check out the feature on Style Me Pretty!

Color Splash

I love color, so the process of selecting wedding colors seems like a daunting task. The again, what are wedding colors really for? I have read that the purpose of selecting wedding colors is to set the tone for your wedding reception and tie everything together, but if you have a good aesthetic for color does everything really need to be so matchy matchy? So far  The Perfect Palette and Design Seeds are my favorite sites to search for color inspiration.

I love turquoise or aqua with a bright coral or yellow.

Sources: 1 & 2

Source: Design Seeds

I also like the look of a cool grey accented with muted colors.

Sources: 1 & 2

Since our entire wedding will be outdoors, I like the idea of playing off natural colors too.

Sources: 1 & 2

How did/are you picking your wedding colors? How many are too many?

A Walk in the Park {Sneak Peek Engagement Pictures!}

Greetings from Beijing! I'm traveling for work, and let me tell you, it is Cold here (with a capital C), and that's coming from someone that lived in Chicago for two years! About a month ago, my fiance and I had our engagement photo session with the enormously talented Shang Chen. I'm actually lucky enough to know Shang in real life (we went to business school together), so the shoot was even more fun! We walked around the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers and Golden Gate Park, on a stunningly beautiful fall afternoon.

I'll admit, I was a bit obsessive about outfits, and brought three (yes, three) pairs of shoes to our photo shoot. If you're unsure, your photographer is an amazing resource for advice on what will photograph well. We sent Shang photos of our outfits ahead of time, and she had some really excellent feedback.

Source (all photos): Shang Chen Photography 

I highly recommend taking engagement photos, particularly with your wedding photographer. They are a great time to build rapport, and to work out any of the kinks with your photographer before your big day. Shang is amazing at what she does, and her blog is a great source of inspiration to me.

Have you had your engagement photos taken yet?

That Is So Us {Incorporating Personal Touches}

The big day is about 45 days away and to say that I am excited is an understatement!  

Last blog post, I mentioned that the next few weeks are all about the details. Our flowers are all set and we met with the DJ last week. Currently, in our (little) free time we are working on the "personal touches." When first discussing the wedding, we always knew we wanted the day to be a big party with our friends and family from our current home (Arizona) and our home states (Wisconsin and Illinois).  We also wanted to make sure we found fun ways to incorporate us and things that speak to who we are as individuals and a couple. I wanted to share some of our "personal touches" that we have planned (and of course, keep some a secret!):

Scrabble

When searching Pinterest, Eric and I both fell in love with this image! We love playing games! In fact, when buying a home some of our first purchases were board game essentials like scrabble, jenga and monopoly! This seemed like such a tasteful yet fun way to incorporate something we love into the wedding!

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We even incorporated scrabble into our engagement photos!

Source- Brushfire Photography

DIY

I am typically not a DIY-type person. I find that usually I just end up getting frustrated or have to spend hours just to make one thing! Eric, on the other hand, is very handy and actually pretty crafty. When we first moved in our home, Eric built a workshop/tool table out of wood! So we've put his handiness to good use and he's been making items for the wedding like our table numbers!

Sources: 1 and 2

Music 

Eric and I both love music! We do have very different tastes in music though and when we met with our DJ he pointed that out to us! The DJ had a a simple and short "fun fact" questionnaire on his paperwork about who we are and we had to list our favorite music artists. Our answers: Eric- Eminem and Jess- Jack's Mannequin. After going down the rest of the list (favorite sports team, favorite movie, job, etc) the DJ asked us how we even hang out! I am a true believer in opposites attract!When it came to picking out music for our big moments (processional, recessional, first dance), it was not an easy decision. We both felt it was an important aspect of the day and wanted to make sure thought was put into each song. I am the type of person who links memories to music. For example, every time I hear Genesis "I Can't Dance" (woah, 1991!) I remember being little sitting in the back seat of my dads convertible car and us just singing at the top of our lungs. It is one of my happiest memories. Knowing how important music is to both of us, we talked about "our songs" for weeks on end.The sweetest moment in all of wedding planning is that Eric insisted on picking out our first dance song and I think he did an excellent job! Can't wait for our dance as husband and wife :)

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How are you incorporating personal touches on your big day?

Until Next Week!

Jess

Follow my wedding inspiration board on Pinterest

Tweet me @jessdawnd

Destined to be Destination

As soon as we got engaged, our planning began. I'm not talking a week later or even a few days, after the happy tears dried, I was off to the races. We started with thinking of where we wanted the wedding to take place. We both knew immediately that we wouldn't hold it in our hometown of San Jose or our current city of San Francisco. I'm not really sure why this was the case since both cities have beautiful wedding venues; we just knew we wanted to get away.

It was quickly narrowed down to three locations in California - Lake Tahoe, the San Luis Obispo area, or Sonoma which all have very special meanings to us.

The San Luis Obispo area quickly became the front runner. We went to college there, it holds special memories for us and a lot of our friends, and it's a beautiful area on the Central Coast that is sometimes overlooked. Once we nailed down the location, the venue was next. The area is known for some amazing ranches, wineries, and beach venues which gave us a lot to work with.

Holland Ranch

Source: Bailey Entertainment

Santa Margarita Ranch

 Source: Rustic Bride

Hammersky Vineyards

Source: Touring and Tasting

Stillwaters Vineyards

Source: I do Venues

Spanish Oaks Ranch

Source: Logan Cole Photography

We ended up choosing the very first venue we looked at (the one directly above this post). The outdoor space is beautiful, the entrance to the ranch is grand, had plenty of space our headcount, and the venue is 100% DIY (one of my favorite parts although is makes for much more time and work). I look forward to embracing the natural beauty while including our perfect wedding details too.

Perfect Gifts

Whether I like it or not, the holidays are upon us! Here are just a few things I have found recently that I am totally dying over! Consider each of these loves on my wish list this year :)

1.  Polar Stones: Super awesome! I bought a pack as a Christmas gift and they sent me a sample pack to try out! I'm totally in love with the idea behind them. Freeze the stones and add them to your drink. As opposed to ice, it doesn't water the drink down (and being the uber slow drinker that I am, everything tends to get watered down) which I love. And how stylish are these?

2. Swanlake: My next obsession is this insanely awesome necklace! I really want one right about now! I'm such a fan of oversized chunky jewelry that this piece is a little subdued for me, but I'm sure I would actually wear it if I had it :)

3. Let's Go Anywhere: LOVE. That is all there is to it. This is insanely amazing, perfect for my office.

And you can present a gift without the perfect wrapping paper. Check out this DIY watercolor wrapping paper.

Announcing --> The Lab iPhone App

It is time to let the cat out of the bag! The Lab is a bridal experience taking place in Sonoma, Ca on January 12. As one of the founders of the event, we have been working day and night creating the perfect event for brides! While we ramp up for our event, we have been secretly working on a little something special. I am so very excited to finally let you in on a little something I have been working very hard on for the last few months. The Lab iPhone App!

We are serious when we say that it is our top priority to connect brides with the right type of vendors. We want to showcase some of the best talent for you so you don't have to go and do all the research yourself. At The Lab we will have 6 spaces decked out to give you endless amounts of inspiration along with bites, great music and of course, our fashion show! We also offer a library of vendor portfolios to look through at your leisure. All this is good and all, but we wanted to take it a step further and give you a place to search through our extensive library of vendors before, during or after the event. See something you love while walking The Lab? With the app you can save to favorites or just go ahead and shoot them an email right then and there!

Download it now!

Holidays {registry inspiration}

Last week was Thanksgiving and, after registering a couple months ago, I could not stop looking at all the things around the kitchen on Turkey Day and making mental notes of what I needed to add to my registry. It's one thing walking around Williams-Sonoma with a scanning gun and it's quite another to actually be cooking a feast and realize all the utensils, tools, and serving dishes that go into making it! Luckily we were at my fiance's family's place and they had all the necessities.

Sources: left, right

So, I took the holiday as a chance to take a little inventory of the things on our registry. Some items got the boot. I'm continuing to take mental notes as the holidays get into full swing...roaster for 25 lb. bird? Check.

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At the moment I have two stores going - I chose Macy's, because they have everything and I know people will be able to go in-person if they prefer that, and Williams-Sonoma, because sometimes I like less options to choose from (and also because I love everything in that store). Potato masher? Check.

MyRegistry.com is a great option for couples that don't want to commit to a few stores. The world is at your fingertips (or mouse in this case). It aggregates any item you want into a central registry. You can even scan a barcode with your MyRegistry phone app and add it that way. Genius! If you'd like to do a non-profit registry or feature one that's close to your heart, you can do that too.

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I have to admit, when you are in the throngs of saving for a wedding, registering feels like the shopping you don't get to do!

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I love knowing that the things I'm picking out will end up being the gravy boats, casserole dishes, and platters that my groom, and our family, use on holidays for years to come. It's about more than getting presents - it's about making a house a home :)

Source: my phone + Instagram (movember anyone?)

Do you have any registry favorites?