Pouf-tastic

If there are any Southern California ladies around -

I was at the Amvets this weekend and there was a pouf-tastic wedding dress there probably from the 80s or 90s with a Christian Dior label selling for $99. It was pretty spectacular and could probably be re-designed and re-purposed into something amazing. I couldn't find a proper picture but if you are in the area you should go check it out for yourself. There were also some sweet dresses from the 60s and 70s.

{image found here}

Beard Montage

Here's a little tribute to the grizzly grooms of 2008!

{photos from Jose Villa; Frolic; Offbeat Bride ; OB; Style Me Pretty and SMP;}

Happy Holiday

Have a wonderful holiday everyone. I miss my family and friends back east so much and can't stand spending another Christmas without them. I am thankful to be spending it with my true love. I hope you are all warm and cozy with the ones you love and I wish you all the best. Merry Christmas!

{photo from Grazier Photography}

In love

How in love do these folks look? So sweet. And the dress ain't so bad either.

{via snippet and ink}

Lazy Sunday Video

In my dreams I live like this everyday. Riding around Paris on my bicyclette, eating pastries and wearing pink dresses.

{Found via Code for Something}

Weekend Time

Happy Friday. This weekend I'm going to make McG take me to this photobooth to take some glam rock/vintage photos.

I'm really excited that I learned about photobooths in my area from here via here via here! :)

Maybe they'll turn out as rockin' as these pictures found on offbeat bride:

{top photo from girlhula}

Runway Bride

I was clicking through the latest Spring 2009 collections and liked a lot of what I saw. Glamourous and feminine without being overly foofy.

Sleek and Sexy at Angel Sanchez

Why was I born with crazy frizzy madness on my head? I want this awesome bob with bangs!

Old Hollywood Vintage at Douglas Hannant

Non-tradiational and urban beauty at Elizabeth Fillmore

Always the Pretty, Pretty Princess at Monique Lhuillier

In love with the sexy wood nymph at Vera Wang

Modern Dancer

More loverly dancer dresses -

{via Black*Eiffel, Nibs Blog, Haute Hippie, Perfect Bound, Celiac Teen; Sarah Seven}

Speaking of warm...

I need some help. I'm going to a wedding on New Years Eve and I want to get some sort of wrap/shrug/shawl type situation. Most of my funds have gone to gift shopping so nothing that will break the bank. Like less than $50. Any ideas?

Christmas in the Caribbean

I'm going to venture into "Not My Wedding" territory. I've seen a lot of (gorgeous and inspirational) Holiday/Winter theme wedding boards recently with cocoa and cozy, long-sleeved dresses. I thought I would warm things up a little with a destination "Christmas in the Caribbean" board.

Top Row: Dress via Weddings Fresh; Beach photo from AnneMarie Weddings; Invitations by Dauphine Press; Umbrella Photo via Oh How Charming!

Bottom Row: Beach photo via Brides; Dress by Catherine Malandrino; Lemonade from MS; Table setting photo by Mel Barlow

Oh, I wish I had found this before I made the board. It would have been perfect!

Sneaky Lovely

Thank you to Sneaky Lovely (yes that is your name from here on out) for finding this awesome Vintage Vogue Pattern. Once everything is officially official I will send this to my dear mother and beg her to make it for me! I also love love love this one:

Lanvin Love

I'm not going to make anyone where matchy matchy outfits. My lovelies are all so stylin' so they can just figure it out on their own. BUT if I were going to enforce dress code it would be Lanvin all the way. And for that sneaky little lovely who found me - what do you think?

{found Lanvin dress at Weddings Fresh}

Mish Mash

I've been on the hunt for a tea length dress with a ballerina-style top. You know, like, the leotard/sweetheart style neckline with a little bit of gathering. This shouldn't be so hard, right??? WRONG! It's virtually impossible. At least within a modest budget. Why can't we just mix and match a little bit of everything we like?

I may have to enlist/bribe/beg my mother to make a dress for me.

How They Met

I'm in the middle of reading Sexy Red Frame's (I know I'm a little slow) blog from start to finish and I take back everything I have ever said about "How We Mets". She makes me want to open up and elaborate on my own.

Your Own DJ

I don't think McG and I will have a problem coming up with playlists for the reunion. We kind of geek out in the music department. Friends know that every Christmas and birthday means a new "mix tape" for the collection. I've told McG that he should become a professional playlist maker. Yes, people actually pay someone to create their perfect mix. So bizarre. Anway, I came across this amazing resource today for the not-so-traditional wedding playlist. There are 11 indie wedding mixes. I'm not so sure about Fistful of Love for my wedding but I think everyone can find one or two ditties in there. I'm going to steal some songs for my Christmas mix to McG called "The Sweetest Sound...the Soundtrack for the Rest of our Lives." I'm such a cheese ball.

{photo from the lion - another good music resource}

Lazy Sunday Video

These videos almost make me want to stop blogging about weddings. It's the not the gateway drug to crazy town, is it? Yeah, I talk about weddings and my non-existent engagement A LOT but it's just because I like pretty things and happy people! I'm not crazy! Really!

{found via A Girl and Her Blog}

Melissa and Pete Prevost

How is it possible that this couple managed to pull off EXACTLY how I imagine my own wedding. Single layer cake on 3 tier stand with cupcakes? Check? Mason Jars and wild flowers? Check. Bearded fiance and stunning, vintage-esque dress? Check! Check!!!

{All photos by Tec Petaja}

Handsome, bearded fiancé who always kisses you like it's the first time ever? Check!

I totally have one of these too!

Bad Neighbors

So I'm not happy. McG and I have a plan to move back east next fall. We had picked a city and a cute, up-coming, hip, artsy section of said city to live in. I was SO excited to really start our life there and be close to both our families and our friends. Today I found out that his ex lives in the same city. In the same section of town. And this is not any ex. This is THE EX. The one he started dating right after we broke up the first time. The one he dated for THREE years and I had to watch him with every day in college and it broke my heart. Yeah, that one. My nemesis. I hate her. The thought of bumping into her on the street brings out two reactions in me: Reaction #1 "I won, bitch" and #2 "Oh my god. What if he sees her again after all these years and leaves me?" Am I crazy (ok, a little)? McG says that "our past has nothing to do with us now" and "we have good and wonderful and exciting things" in our future. But still I'm worried...should I be?

{photo by мандй}

Speaking of Fabulous Dresses...

I had to share this dress. $45? It's beautiful!

Kickin' It Old School

I want a vintage dress. Preferably tea-length and a gathered bodice. Why is this so hard to find? Of course, Mr. Perfect Dress below is sold!

Lucida Photography

I just wanted to share this amazing photograph with you because I can't stop staring at it!

Priceless

Did I say that I hated romantic comedies? Well, I can pretty much forgive the French anything. We watched Priceless last night which is basically a french, modern Breakfast at Tiffany's with our own modern-day Audrey Hepburn: Audrey Tautou. Yes, it was a little sexist with a girl who can't take care of herself so she takes advantage of rich men. Yes, it was a little silly at the end but it was still pretty cute. Also, I'm one of those annoying people who ruins movies by predicting the ending within the first five minutes and even though I thought I had this one down it surprised me. PLUS I want to wear my hair like she does at the end of the movie at our "reunion." And she wears fabulous dresses.

DIY Mason Jar Centerpieces

I'm really excited about skipping the vendor route and doing most, if not all, of our wedding stuff ourselves. I'm a pretty hands-on kind of girl and a wee bit of a control freak so there was never any question about this being a DIY wedding. I also like simplicity which makes this centerpiece trend ideal for me. For a long time I didn't even think I would have flowers for the wedding. And then I thought wouldn't it be fun to go around to all of my folks' neighbors the day before and ask if I can have some flowers from their gardens. My parents live in an itty bitty, New England town where there are a lot of Colonial houses and gorgeous gardens. We've been there for a million years and my mom is in the garden club so it wouldn't be too hard to gather beautiful bouquets. Just in case I can't collect enough I'll probably take a quick swing by Trader Joes for some extra buds. My mother and I both collect jars of every shape and size and I would love to just put a mish mash of jars on each table. I imagine a million jars full of candles too. Even though it's a big trend these days, I think it's pretty and classic enough to work in a couple of years too.

(Martha, I think; Junk Drawer; Country Living; Snippet and Ink; Once Wed; I forget!; The Fairmount Bride; Snippet and Ink; 10,000 Wedding}

And my perfect bouquet:

From Snippet and Ink's board for the always amazing Katie

Hello and Welcome (again)

I just wanted to say hi to any newcomers visiting from pretty.pretty.paper and we bet in a bar. It is such an honor for me to be mentioned on those blogs since I have been following them for so long. I really am in love with the community of brides, brides-to-be and wedding lovers that I have found here. You guys are so amazing and supportive and creative! Thanks for visiting and if you want to know the whole story you can always start at the beginning! :) xoxo

{photo by Max Wanger}

Proposing to My Man

Before a few weeks ago, when McG and I started talking about "the reunion" everyday, I was actually planning to propose to him. I knew he wanted to ask me but I also know my man and it takes him FOREVER to follow through with a decision. I was going to give him until our 4 year anniversary and than pop the question myself.

Then a couple of weeks ago we started talking plans. And starting saying things like "when" instead of "if" and "our wedding" instead of "a wedding." So I decided to take it one step farther and in the middle of dinner I just blurted out "How about Septembe 2010?". McG: "For what?" Me: "For our wedding." McG: "That sounds like a good date."

Oh. My. God. I thought. We're engaged! I wanted to tell everyone! Well, it turns out his thinking is we're not officially engaged until HE asks ME. What???!!? I consider myself a feminist and I always thought McG and I were on the same wave length. Proposals are sexist and getting engaged should be something a couple discusses, right? Well, we talked/fought about it and now I understand that it's important for him to do something special for me because he loves me. Not because he thinks it's his role to be "the decider". And it's not like we haven't talked about it a million times and it's not like there's any question that I won't say yes.

Then last night I confessed that I had planned on proposing thinking that it's obviously out of the question now. "Oh, you could have proposed to me. That would have been nice." Heh?

So we're back to Plan A (or A.1). I want to have something ready for when he proposes so that I can propose at the same time. Make sense?

Now here is where you come in. What is a good engagement ring subsitute? I've heard a watch but McG doesn't wear a watch and probably wouldn't even if I bought him one. Cufflinks? I kind of want that to be the wedding present. Any ideas?

{Photo from Robert Ryan}

Double Aw

Aw, this tandem umbrella is so cute!

Available at Amazon

P.S.: Doesn't this girl look like Zooey Deschanel?

Trash Talk

Thank you M and M Wedding for introducing me to Tacky Weddings. It's like a car wreck and I just can't look away. Ok, the Hello Kitty weddings are kind of cute, c'mon. I would NEVER put anyone through that but still...

The Real Thing

"Am I romantic?"

This is what McG asked me over the weekend. I don't think my answer was the one he wanted to hear. As I've said before, McG is accidentally romantic. He is probably the sweetest, most compassionate, most generous and most genuine person I have ever met. He doesn't tell me anything he doesn't mean which is to say he doesn't say romantic things just to say them. For a long time, I would get frustrated because he wouldn't tell me that we would be together forever or that he would always love me and all those other lines other guys tend to feed girls. I was like "C'mon, just LIE to me." I just wanted to hear those things. But he couldn't say them because he wasn't positive yet that he meant them. Well, over the weekend he DID say something very romantic. He told me that he has been under the impression that relationships just deteriorated over time. That couples stopped loving each other as much or weren't as attracted to each other or fought more. But with me he realized that it just wasn't true. Our relationship is 100x better than it was four years ago and it was pretty spectacular then. And he knew that it would just get better for the rest of our lives together. And that he would love me forever. :)

So when he tells me he loves me or buys me flowers for no reason I know he does it because he means it not because he thinks he's supposed to or he'll get something out of it.

And I'll take that over romance any day.

{photo by Irene Suchocki}

Lazy Sunday Video

I always thought that instead of wasting $$ on having someone do my make up I would just head over to Sephora or JCPennys, get a makeover, and then on the day of recreate the look myself. Then I started watching the Unbride video and everything changed. Doesn't she look stunning? I want someone to beautify me like that!!!


Justine and Gary from Andrew Bowser on Vimeo.

{Found via here and here.}

Boho Chic

Ok. I need your help and advice. In two weeks we are getting our unofficial engagement pictures taken. My mother wants a nice, "edgy" (her word not mine) picture of me and McG for Christmas to replace the one of me that was taken in front of a Sears backdrop in 1996. I am working with my good photography friend who no doubt will pick a great location and make the pictures look stellar but I have one little problem -

What the hell do I wear?

My friend laughed when I told her I need to buy a new dress because I have a closet overflowing with them. But what is better than an excuse to buy a new dress, really?

Here are my inspiration photos. I would love to hear your outfit suggestions! :)

Feather Love Photography

Via Auburn & Ivory

YYellowBird


via East Side Bride