David and my Ladies: Inspiration

Since we had set up an appointment at David's Bridal to look for bridesmaids dresses, I decided to revisit the My Favorites section at their website. I had looked at every bridesmaid dress in their website a month or two before we actually set up the appointment and had saved my favorite dresses to my account. Since it had been helpful to bring my top dresses to my  bridal appointment, I wanted to bring examples of bridesmaids dresses that reflected the style I was looking for.

I wanted my girls to have options to choose from, so I found eight different dresses that I thought could work.

All images from the David's Bridal website

I couldn't wait to see my girls try the dresses on. I wanted them to find their own perfect dress! At our appointment, I think they tried on about four or five of these dresses, and I have the pictures to prove it ;-)

How many dresses did you look at for your bridal party? How far in advance did you start researching?

Fit for a Cake

I remember a wedding-related conversation I had a long time ago with my MOH. I was just beginning to explore all the details that go into wedding planning and I said, "I don't want one of those bride-and-groom cake topper figurines." As any good MOH would do, she agreed with me, "Absolutely, that is so dated."

Of course, back then, I thought that cake toppers only looked like this

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It's amazing all the things that I've learned about weddings since then, including cake toppers. I'm still not 100% into having the bride and groom on top of the cake, even if it's with something as cute as this

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I'm sure you must be rolling your eyes at me, asking, "Nina, then, what the heck do you want??"

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I want a crown fit for a queen a cake. Since I saw that picture, I've been obsessed with the idea of having a crown for a cake topper. Me being, well, me, went into research mode to find that exact crown that you see above. I did find the crown, along with its price. A whooping $625 - that's more than what my wedding dress cost!

I haven't given up on having a crown cake topper, even if the Mister looks at me like I'm crazy. He isn't completely on board with the idea, in fact, he didn't really care for the idea at all. I've been continuing my hunt for cute crown toppers, but haven't found too many. I just found these two yesterday.

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I showed them to the Mister, to see if I could warm him up to the idea a bit more, and he seemed to like these better than the first one. In particular, he really liked the third one.

During my research, I was also looking for tutorials on how to make a wire crown. Yes, I am indeed crazy, I have been considering making the crown myself. Mind you, I have no experience making jewelry and using wire, let alone constructing a crown! I haven't completely given up on the idea, and I got some wire at home to play around with.

I visited my local Hobby Lobby yesterday (yay for having one a mere 10 minutes away from home and on the way home from work!) and as luck would have it, I found that third crown in the bridal section of the store. It was the last one left and the price was $24.99, much more reasonable than the $600+ price tag. I didn't buy it because it looked a bit banged up, and the Mister hasn't confirmed he wants to go with the crown topper. I'm also still considering giving DIY a try, even if it's just to see if I can (or can't) do it.

What do you guys think? Should I just go ahead and buy this topper, if I find it in better conditions at another Hobby Lobby store? Should I still attempt to DIY, just to appease my 'what if's'?

Dresses for my Ladies: Inspiration

When I first started thinking about dresses for my lovely ladies, I knew from the beginning I didn't want to choose a dress and a color for them. I didn't want to force them into a particular dress or just because I'm the bride. No, I wanted them to be able to choose a dress that they'd feel comfortable and beautiful in. Unlike Alice Cullen, I don't really enjoy playing dress-up with other people.

Instead, I wanted to give them an overall idea of what my vision for them was, and let them choose a dress that fit within that vision. And what is my vision, you ask? Well, something elegant, simple, and with a vintage feel to it (detecting a pattern here?). Definitely a full-length dress, maybe a tea-length dress. As for the colors, it could be any color within our wedding colors.

For more inspiration, I turned to the interwebs. I wanted to see what was out there that could fit within the wedding's theme. I came across The Dessy Group website, where I found a lot of inspiration!

All images from The Dessy Group website

The problem? Well, the website doesn't really give you the price tag of each dress, but it does let you find a store near you that carries their dresses. Although I decided not to pursue these particular dresses unless we really had to (read: David's Bridal didn't have anything that we liked), finding them really helped me form a clearer vision for my girls.

How did you begin the dress search for your bridal party? Did you choose a dress and/or color, or did you let them choose it?

Wedding Muse

Since I first got engaged, over a year ago, I've been browsing countless magazines, websites, blogs, and forums to find inspiration and ideas for our wedding. I've also looked at many inspiration boards put together by other brides to reflect their wedding vision, and saved a few favorite ones.

When our color scheme changed, it was one of these inspiration boards that helped me decide on a new color scheme (and also reassured the Mister that I would not be using hot pink in our wedding).

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I loved how the soft pink and gold went together. It just feels elegant and romantic, with a touch of vintage. Even though I have numerous images collected, links bookmarked, and online documents collecting ideas (Google Docs rocks, just ask my lovely bridesmaid), I never created my own inspiration board. I wanted to, but didn't know how to begin. I tried using Polyvore and Style Me Pretty, but it wasn't fun... until now.

I'm proud to present to you my very own inspiration board! Isn't it lovely?

While our wedding is not going to be a themed wedding, I do want it to have a certain feel. I think I was able to capture it with this inspiration board: romantic, elegant, simple, and vintage. As a side note, I love the idea of having a candy buffet, but the Mister vetoed it right away. Doesn't it look lovely though? Isn't that chocolate brown a lovely accent color? Oh, and that colorful, little rectangle on the top left corner is our color scheme.

Have you created your own inspiration board? What is your vision for your wedding?

Image Credits:  Sunday Suppers, Silpada, Green Wedding Shoes, Style Me Pretty, Johanna Hehir, Sarah Beth Designs, Wedding Art, Country Living, A Field Journal, Always A Blogsmaid

The Fairy Tale Shoes

I was never the girl who had her whole wedding planned out. No floating fairies showering me and my prince with pixie dust as we kissed for the first time as prince and princess. However, I did dream of one thing: the dress. I know, I know. I recently shared with you my beautiful wedding dress, but there was one dress that had been my dream dress for over a decade. The one dress I knew I couldn't have.

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I first laid my eyes on it back in 1998, and have found myself looking at it periodically through out the years. You see, one of my very favorite movies is Ever After. Ever since I first saw it at the movie theater, I was captivated by refreshing take on such a classic fairy tale. A wonderful Cinderella that needs no Prince Charming to rescue her! The costumes designed for the movie were gorgeous, and I was in love with one of them.

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The "Just Breathe" dress. Isn't it breath-taking? It's the gown that Danielle de Barbarac (played by Drew Barrymore) wears when she goes to the ball, risking everything to tell Prince Henry the truth about herself.

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When I first got engaged, I started researching the possibility of having it made for me. It was not meant to be. I simply could not afford it and had to let the dress go. It is still my dream to own one like it one day, even if I have to make it myself!

In the last few weeks, my thoughts have returned to the movie and the dress, and something occurred to me. While I won't be walking down the aisle in this gown, I still need shoes to walk in. I thought that I could maybe find Danielle's slipper.

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I began to search, and didn't have to go too far before striking gold. I found these:

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Aren't they amazing?? After a quick chat with my bridesmaid, I placed an order for a pair of these shoes. I know there are some risks about buying shoes online. As with clothes, sizes and fit may vary by style, which is why I reviewed their return policy prior to making a decision. But, I have to say, I absolutely love the way they look and hope they fit! If they fit but for some reason don't go well with my dress, I still plan on keeping them. I can already see myself wearing these beauties to the Bristol Renaissance Faire.

Have you had to let go of an item or idea you had dreamed of for your wedding? Were you able to incorporate a piece of it somehow?

Color Confusion

Mister, if you're reading this post and haven't changed your mind about seeing my wedding dress before the wedding, I suggest you hit the back button of the browser!

As I mentioned before, during my appointment at David's Bridal, I was told that the dress I ended up purchasing only came in ivory. I didn't want to let the color prevent me from choosing my dream dress, after all, ivory is close enough to white (or, at least, that's what I kept telling myself the day after my purchase).

Spring, Are You Here Yet?

Oh, hi there. Remember me? I know I've been away for a few days, but I needed a small break. Kinda like the break the beautiful weather took last Saturday. After two days of wonderful blue skies and bright sun, I woke up Saturday to a blanket of snow, plus an all-day snowfall. But now that the snow melted (again), so did the boring, white background of the blog! Like the new look? The lovely pink does remind me of spring! Spring, are you here yet?

Let's get on with some wedding goodness, shall we? During the last few days, we have tackled a few items (which I'll be posting about individually soon):

1. Wedding Dress - I've shown you the lovely dress that I picked, but what you don't know is my dress has arrived! A week ago actually! A mere two weeks after ordering it and changing the original order two days after placing it!
2. Bridesmaids Dresses - My awesome girls picked out their dresses and, may I say, they look gorgeous in them!
3. Music - While we selected a DJ company back in January, we finally have a date for their Meet the DJ Night. During this event, we can meet their 17 DJs and select our top three.
4. Tasting - The mister set up an appointment with our venue for the tasting. The other night we went through the food options and made our selections for the tasting. I really can't wait for this! Not to mention, we want to get a glimpse at their wedding cake binder.
5. Save the Dates - I'm still working on these, but we've made a lot of progress. I'm loving the way they're coming out. The mister has been helping me, and I can't wait to share them with you.

While we have kept busy, we also need to keep working with our to do list. To keep me honest (and motivated!), I'm sharing our big-ticket items with you.

Our (Big-Ticket Items) To Do List

1. Find (and hire) photographer
2. Research hotel accommodations for our out-of-town guests
3. Book hotel+flight for honeymoon

So, enough about us, how have you been? Have you tackled many wedding-related items from your list? What are your big-ticket items to do this month?