VEil pick up!

Stale content, I know, is the worst thing one for a blogger. I’ve just been crazy busy and not had a tremendous amount of time and really, I have been so focused on Christmas and have been working on so many unrelated projects (which means I am extra scatter brained!) that I haven’t had time to think about weddings.

Here’s some exciting news, once again work took me to the Big Apple for the day so I was able to carve out an hour and get some wedding schtuff taken care of. Most important -I picked up my veil today!!!! I have a sneaking suspicion (ok, he told me) that FH logs on to here every now and then so I don’t want to give too much away.

As you may recall, I posted a few weeks ago about my trip to SposaBella Lace to have a veil made (ask for Maci, she was fantastic and even tipped me and mom off to a sale down the block where we bought lots of costume jewelry for next to nothing - I am talking $3 nothing). The veil was a quarter of the price of getting one in the department store where I got my dress. I wanted something simple and could not justify in anyway paying upwards of $400 for two pieces of tulle.

I also picked up my hair piece, I really don’t know what I am going to do with it but I loved it and will bring it to my trial - which is this Friday!!!

All in all I could not be happier with the veil and would highly recommend thinking outside of the bridal salon to purchase your veil and other accessories. They get you because you are there. When you are spending a lot already it is easy to say – hey – what’s an extra $500, but really, think of what that could mean? That’s another 3.5 people I could invite! A step up in the welcome baskets, or heck, that almost covers the cost of my bridesmaids gifts. So when I was able to have the simple veil that was $450 custom made for $95 and the hair piece (just a simple comb) that I saw in Saks for $375 for $95, I think I made the right decision.

Coming this week...
Hair and makeup trials, food tasting, and everything else I can get done over the holidays!!!!

Father's Rules

Love this, from author W. Bruce Cameron’s new book “8 Simple Rules for Marrying My Daughter” offers humorous advice from dads to the new men in their daughters’ lives.

Here are his first three rules:

1. If you neglected to ask my permission before you proposed to my daughter, don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me by making sure your wedding is both beautiful and to a different woman.

2. There are many, many men your age in this world, but there is only one woman who is my daughter. She is unique. You, on the other hand, can be replaced at any time.

3. My whole life, it has been my job to make my daughter happy. Now it will be your job. My job will be to make sure you do your job. And don’t think that just because my daughter picked you, it means you meet my personal standards for what is good for her. I haven’t made up my mind yet, and will be evaluating you over a period known as forever.

This could be a great Xmas gift for Dad, or maybe a great gift from Dad to your fiance! Here's a description from its site:
"Following the stunning success of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter -- which was adapted into a TV show for ABC -- W. Bruce Cameron returns with an even more hilarious look at fatherhood, capturing the predicament of the forgotten man in the tux at his little girl's wedding. "

Two dresses? Two looks?

OK, so the two-dress trend is definitely one of the latest and greatest. I love the idea in concept. I mean, giant wedding dresses are definitely not always conducive to cutting a rug all night long. And sometimes the same dress doesn't look right in a church and then in a sleek reception setting.

The post idea came ffter reading an article in the Argus Times (it came across the wedding news ticker), in the article Mark Ingram was quoted saying he saw the trend emerge about 2 years ago and has continued on.

Here's one celeb that made the dramatic change: Christina Aguilera
Dress 1 elegant, form fitting with a heck of a train by Christian LaCroix


Dress 2 Sexy number, definitely a party dress made for dancing and showing the Xtina personality. This one was designed by her stylist Simone Harouche.

Designers are now catering to this trend as well. Go to Priscilla of Boston's website and there is a whole section of "Reception" dresses!
You could go from one of their over the top Platinum collections like this

Or maybe you have a garden wedding and you are looking for something romantic like this from the Vineyard collection?

But then you want to let loose from the tulle or drop the romance and get sexy so you throw on one of these numbers and you are ready to partay (all shown from POB)

Conceptually I LOVE this idea but for a couple of reasons I cannot fathom doing this.
1. My dress was expensive. Maybe not for everyone but for me, its definitely the most expensive thing I have ever worn. How could only wear it for the 1 hour ceremony plus some pics? Seems ridiculous (unless you are the above mentioned Xtina and the wedding dress is just another expensive thing you will don). I mean I justify buying $200 jeans by tellinng myself I will wear them again and again and again. How could I purchase something for thousands of dollars to wear for an hour?

2. I love my dress. I really love it. I want to wear it for as long as possible.
Besides, I didn't go too over the top and I moved around a lot when I tried it on to make sure it was danceable.

However, when I started planning my day, I did want to add some sort of costume change in there. The ceremony is during the day at a traditional Catholic church by the beach. The reception is in the evening in a formal setting, The Woodlands mansion. Wouldn't it be the perfect wedding for a dress change? I think so, but again, not really in the cards.

So here's my plan-
For the church I am going to do pearl studs, pearl strand necklace, veil. Not exactly like this - well not really at all but you get the idea, classic bride wearing classic pearls.
(pic from BridalfashonMall)
Then, once I am ready to get to the evening reception and want to sport a more nighttime look, my plan is to get a pair of "wow" chandelier earrings and go drop both the necklace and the veil. I'll also have in a hair "spray" that I got from here.

What's your thoughts on the dress change phenom? Do you plan to do anything to differentiate the ceremony and reception? NOT that you HAVE to, you spend months figuring out what to wear to one!

Ring Bearer- Pillow Alternatives

Dear FH has an 8 year old son that is very much a part of our family and we want to have play a big role in our wedding. We thought that he would be an usher and stand alongside the bestmen (yes I said men, there are two) but when we told him about the wedding he said, "Cool, can I be the ring dude?"

LOL, sure, you can be whatever you want. I think when we get to the rehearsal though, he'll want to stand with all of the guys. He's a guys's guy, and he's 8. There's no question he is a rough and tumble sports fanatic (his father's son.)

Here's the dilemma. While doing all of this wedding obsessed Internet surfing I kept finding the most gorgeous ring bearer pillows.

Like these from blogger extraordinaire, Brooklyn Bride who started Brooklyn Pillow:


I mean, can't you totally see throwing this on a chair to funky it up after the wedding?

Or I love the elegance in a pillow like this from Etsy seller Emici Bridal:



Well, everytime I almost bought them I thought of the face I would get when I told future stepson he had to walk down a church aisle carrying a pillow. It just seems wrong to make this boy's boy carry a dainty pillow.

I started wondering if there were alternatives to pillow carrying. Here are some cute things I found:

Maybe carry a banner like WeddingBee Mrs. Radish did?


HOw about a bell ringer? I had a cousin do this and it was adorable. Although, I'm not sure he would go for this either. If he did, I can assure you it will be quite the ringing. Here's a cute pic from Bridal Party Tees Blog. She also has a nice post on this option.



Do you have any ideas? PLEASE share!

BTW- 8 down, 50 more to go!

Just as a quick update, with the Save the Dates out about a month now we have heard about 9 people that will not be able to make the wedding (4 couples, 1 child). It is awful but I am relieved. One couple I am sad about but they have a VERY good reason. The Save the Date went out to 259 people (meaning number of people that would be invited with those STDs, dates, etc) and my dream goal is exacty 200 people which is what our minimum is (yes, I included FH and I). I think we are in good shape because so many people are from out of town. If, by chance we get a lot of "no's" I am not worried, we are well prepared with a b-list of people that definitely should have been on an a-list if we didn't both have such huge families.
Anyway, just something I was thinking about and thought I would share.

Fancy Find #9 - PaperZest, Wedding & Christmas!!

OK, yet again I have been an absent blogger, this darn work thing always getting in the way. I totally thought I would coast between Thanx and Xmas but that has definitely NOT been the case.

Nevertheless, I have a great FANCY FIND for you today!!!

My friend Sara, (you may remember her beautiful wedding details from this post) had some of the most beautiful, fun and funky stationery I have seen in a long time. She ordered her customized suite through PaperZest. Which, I have seen recommended on such sites as Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book and others.

Here's some pics of her fun stuff:






I love how everything is coordinated but nothing is too matchy matchy- something that lots of people strive for but not always achieved.

Sara and Christina from PaperZest hit it off so well they decided to collaborate and do some Christmas cards together!!!They have an Etsy shop where you can buy these sassy little greetings. I think they are great if you are giving a gift certificate or something like that where you need a special card for your fun friend. Maybe order a few and add them to a hostess gift. You'll love the fun designs and the witty sayings that are perfect for the stylish and saucy gal pal or boy toy.

I love this one:
"All I want for Christmas is you"
"And something from Tiffany's but that's neither here nor there"


How great! You know you all love it! There are more fun cards so check them out!