When Was The Last Time You Didn't Like Neon Pink?

I recently purchased a neon pink crossbody bag. Despite the major sale, I was concerned that in a short time it would be out of style and the bag would find a place sitting in my closet to collect dust. When I told this to my husband his response was, "When was the last time you didn't love neon pink?" Of course my response was "umm, never." And just like that my decision to keep the bag stuck.

And so comes my lesson of the day. Your wedding day shouldn't be about trends or styles. With every detail from your wedding, think, when was the last time I didn't like this? If you have loved it forever, chances are your love affair won't be ending anytime soon.

Searching for The Skirt

Last July I semi-impulsively bought half of my wedding dress. After months of trying on wedding dresses and not falling in love with any of them, I purchased a gorgeous Monique Lhullier corset top and decided to design my own skirt. Six months have flown by, so it's time to start to seriously thinking about my other half. I love these simple silhouettes below but want something with a little more poof for the big day.

Source: 1 & 2

So cool that the skirt below comes in 26 colors as I have been playing around with the idea of having a non-white (peach or gray colored) skirt.

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Sources: 1 & 2

I'm  leaning towards a skirt design that marries the two silhouettes below.

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How did you decide? Did you dare to try designing your own?

Veil-ed It! {headpiece or veil?}

My wedding gown has a lot going on. I knew that I would never be that bride that can effortlessly and elegantly pull off a crepe sheath dress (Gwyneth Paltrow I am not). That being said, my accessorizing options are somewhat limited by the fact that my dress brings the bling in a major way. Herein lies the problem: I love headpieces, like true love. I have been searching for a headpiece that combines my love of vintage, my love of bling, and is understated enough that I won't look like Honey Boo Boo (think modified tiara, not full-blown tiara). Here are a few that I love:

 Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

Recently, veils have seemed a little more alluring. I had honestly completely written off veils, since we're not religious, not having a religious ceremony, and the back of my gown is intricate, and I wanted it to be visible. However, BHLDN has struck again with a couple of very sheer, very delicate options that are making me rethink this whole headpiece obsession.

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Crafty Table Numbers

It's hard not to love wedding tablescapes. I love seeing the time and effort that goes into planning a perfect table and how couples decide on what goes where and how it'll look. One of the must-haves for any wedding tablescape is the table number. There's so many different ways differentiate tables that it's always fun to see what people choose. I love the idea of a crafty, diy table numbers since I think they would be a perfect addition to our tables. Here are a few that I love and even think you could make on your own!

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Have you decided what you are doing for tables? Are you using numbers or words to differentiate them?  

Six Month Countdown {check-in}

I am officially less than six months away from my wedding date! I keep counting it out on my fingers, thinking I'm wrong :-) The wedding planning is continuing to move along, but I have a feeling these next six months are going to fly by, especially once the festivities start getting under way. This week I booked my bachelorette flight and can not wait to be in Palm Springs with my favorite ladies celebrating my last days as a 'single' woman!

This week I needed to step back and look at the bigger picture before I delve into the little details like invitation design, table-scaping and bride accessories. So, I thought what better way to 'step back' than to get inspired by images from my wedding photographer, Sean Morrison Photography.

Love these kinds of shots. Is it called a fish eye lens?

Close-ups.

Nature, laughs, and love.

How cute is she?!

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And some fun shots...

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Looking at these pictures has me excited to dig into my next few tasks on my to do list. Nothing like some great images to get the inspiration going. The thing I love about my photographer is that he does wedding photography because it's his passion, not just his job. During the school year, he teaches digital photography at a high school in Washington. It's great to know my photographer really loves what he does. I think that comes through in his work.

My To Do List for the next few weeks:

- finding my hair and makeup person/people

- florist

- bridesmaid dresses - coordinating the mix-and-match look

Do you have any advice for me in the six-month countdown? Are you getting married this summer? Would love to hear how your planning is going!

Great Aftertaste

As I mentioned  in last week's post, we had our catering tasting this past week at Heirloom LA. It was wonderful!

Source (You can buy these cute forks off Etsy!)

With this being our first tasting, I had no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. We got to try a smaller version of our crostini station (pictured above), five amazing tray-passsed appetizers (so appetizing that they disappeared before I could remember to photograph them), four different entrée options and two scrumptious desserts.

Our favorites of the night were Smoked Pork Chop with Yam Puree and Roasted Brussel Sprouts (pictured above) and Maple Rosemary Donuts (pictured below)

Now comes the hard part of narrowing down our options. Since we are doing a family-style dinner we want to make sure that what we pick will appeal to all of our guests. How did you decide on your wedding menu? With so many special dietary restrictions theses days (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, ect.) how did you select for the masses without giving up what you wanted?

Showered with love {what to wear to your bridal shower}

While my bridal shower is a good four months away, and there will surely be white and cream-colored dresses a-plenty as the weather gets warmer, lately, I find my fingers wandering to sites like Nordstrom, BHLDN, and Anthropologie to search for the perfect dress to wear to my bridal shower. Requirements are as follows: 1) Effortless (no dress is ever truly effortless, but it'd be great if it at least looks effortless)

2) Chic

3) A little something extra (my mantra for all things wedding....sequins! Just kidding...sort of)

4) Bride-y (a bit hard to wear white lace on occasions when you're not being showered, no?)

What you wear should somewhat depend on the look and feel of the shower, as well as the attendees. Lucky for me, my most favorite ladies in the world know that I like to sparkle like it's my job. So, I don't think they'll mind if my dress is a bit much for a backyard ladies' luncheon in May. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Making It

3 years ago this month I was getting ready to launch Engaged & Inspired. I had been engaged for a month and I was over the moon about starting this venture of mine. At that time my concept of "made it" was to be running this blog full time, doing what I love.

Fast forward 3 years. I'm in a place where I do this full time, yet I feel so far from "making it". Hence this little gem of a quote resounding so much with me I feel the urge to write an entire post about it. Truth be told, so many parts of Engaged & Inspired aren't what I want them to be. They were great at one time but as I continue to move forward and grow as a person and a brand, the only word I feel properly describes my felling is "stodgy". Which, yes, is the worst feeling to have about something you worked so hard to create. No one gets that as much as I.

I feel there will always be different levels of "making it" and that is what makes companies so great. There is always a new challenge, a new level and if your work is great, you will always look back on the earlier stuff cringing. And that is growth.

I haven't had very much time in this new year to reflect & set goals just yet. (Thanks to The Lab & speaking at Alt Summit....so believe me, I'm not complaining!) Despite all the work and long hours I have been putting in this month, this quote and the future of Engaged & Inspired have taken up every free second I can possibly muster.

Since I am not one of those people that dwells in the woes of life, or writes posts to collect sympathy, I won't leave on such a note. The new site design is coming soon, and with that comes some major changes, additions, and of course work to be done. The fact that this place isn't exactly what I want it to be pushes me even harder and drives me even more every single day because it will become (very soon in fact) the most perfect place for me and the most perfect place to cultivate and grow this brand of mine.

Despite it all I have seen tremendous growth in the past year and I send out my sincerest thank you to each and every one of you.  Thanks for finding something to love and finding something to come back for.

I'm extremely excited for the future, the possibilities and for the opportunity to call myself a full-time blogger. Not many people have the luxury to do so, and even more people can't even begin to understand everything that a title like that means. I will say it with pride and never again think that such a title isn't good enough. It is.

Dressing up the Aisle

One of my favorite things about our venue are the huge oak trees around the grounds. They add so much to the space and I can't imagine the place without them. There's one tree in particular that acts as the ceremony focus point. We will be getting married under the tree in June! Since the space around the tree is very plain and rustic, think dirt and leaves, I've been looking for ways to dress up the aisle without taking away from the beautiful tree. Here are a few ideas I keep getting drawn to.

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I love the idea of shepherds hooks with mason jars. They go perfectly with my venue and look beautiful down the aisle. Or the cultural idea of 1000 cranes. I absolutely love how these are displayed between two oak trees.  And drapping on beautiful linen between the branches, so gorgeous and romantic.

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These are the trees we'll be getting married under this summer. It's such a blank slate to work with, I can't wait to decide on the look. I'm in love with the rose petals down the aisle and the gorgeous dahlia tied to the chairs is soft and pretty.

 Source 6, 7, 8, 9

Other ideas might be petal designs down the aisle, a lace runner to walk down on, petals all the way down acting as a runner, or little tins holding flowers to add some pretty to the space.

Saying Yes to the Dress {again}

Okay, I'm just gonna say it - I'm guilty of buying two dresses. I've heard of women doing this and thought - that would never happen to me! Well, last week I bought dress #2. And I couldn't be happier!

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I bought my first dress a few months back and I loved it. But a couple weeks ago I was surfing wedding blogs and came across an amazing dress...a couple clicks later, I realized it was one of the dresses I tried on that was over my budget, but that I loved. So, I thought, instead of regretting not trying just because I already have a dress, I'll do a little searching for used/second hand options. I thought, if I don't find it, it's not meant to be and I'll be perfectly happy with the dress I already have.

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Well, after coming back to my search a week later, one popped up. And it was in San Francisco. And it seemed to be in my measurements. And it was listed for almost 70% off the retail price. So of course I had to go look. It was just too good to be true. But it wasn't. It fit almost exactly and was in near-perfect condition. So here I am today with two dresses. Luckily I also bought my first dress at a discount, so I'm confident I can sell it and not lose much money.

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Moral of the story for me was to plan, but then just let things happen. Control to a point, but then trust that it will work out. I would have been happy with the first option, but I sure am glad it worked out the way it did. I think this holds true for other wedding planning things...missed out on that venue you had your heart set on? Bridesmaid dresses you wanted are discontinued? Trust that the right thing will come along. And keep looking. It will all fall together just right.

Did you have second thoughts on your dress? Did you see a dress that caught your eye after you already had your dress?

Big thanks to Julie from Encore Bridal!