Completing the Look {Finding the Perfect Accessory}
I am so excited to be blogging every week until our January wedding! Since we are about 2.5 months away from the big day, the very big items like venue, dj, photographer and florist are all completed and now it is all about the details. The details really can be overwhelming but we are trying to just have fun!
I am currently loving the idea of adding an extra special accessory to my "bridal look". My fiancé, Eric, has been amazing through the planning process and I truly think he has great taste (He likes to remind me all the time that he is the one who picked out our wedding invitations). We have made every decision together as a team except my dress which is why I am so excited for our first look. Eric has no idea what my dress looks like or any details of my "look" for the day.
Some ideas I am currently obsessed with:
Cardigans
I love how you can tie in one of your wedding colors by just slipping on a cardigan!
Seriously in love with this sequin cardigan/jacket look!
Hair Bling
The headband and the bun...so chic!
I love this look. It reminds me of a more subtle take on Anne Hathaway's headpiece.
Personalized Rings
Your engagement ring and wedding band will still be center stage with these delicate bands. I love how you can stack them and they would be a great bridesmaid gift too! (Plus they are only $35!)
Would you wear any of these accessories on your big day?
Bridesmaid Dresses {The Color Face-Off}
My biggest dilemma with my bridesmaids dresses has been the color. I think I really like the ombre' or varied hues in one color look like the below examples.
Source: Green Wedding Shoes 1 & 2
I feel that I should stick to one color like blue or creamy tan. Same dress, totally different feel in each color.
Source: For Her And For Him
The blending of two colors looks great here though!
Source: Green Wedding Shoes
My coordinator said the tan would look best with the blue flowers, but I think they would look great with blue dresses as well. Also, the styles may be a bit different to compliment each girl. Need your input all!
Which pallet are you feeling?
Clutchspiration
Today is exactly 50 days from my wedding day. 50 DAYS. I think I'm in shock. Just 50 days ago it felt like we had a million years to get all of my little projects and concepts completed. Now every single day is just slipping through my fingers. Thankfully this past weekend we got away for a couple of days to celebrate our 6th anniversary. We ran away in the Triumph to Healdsburg for some sunning, wine tasting, and a mind-blowing vegan dinner at Cyrus. It was a bit weird to think that this was our last anniversary as boyfriend and girlfriend, fiancé and fiancée. So now what happens... do we start back over at one again?
Anyways, among all the impending decisions I need to make, one of the fun ones is picking a purse!
A vintage clutch would be lovely. Or a modern art deco inspired clutch would make me just as happy. So let's fantasize for just a minute about the absurdly expensive ones.
top: Judith Leiber clutch, bottom: Bijou Tresor clutch
Okay, now that I've drooled on the keyboard, let's look at the more affordable ones.
top: Anthropologie, middle: Monsoon Accessorize, bottom left: Monsoon Accessorize, bottom right: Monsoon Accessorize
I'm really loving the idea of using a clutch as my something blue. What do you think?
Do you have any great tips for where to find a cute vintage inspired clutch? Which one is your favorite? Do you even need a clutch on your wedding day?
Girly Time {Flower Girls}
Last week I sent cute little cards to my four flower girls (my 2 nieces and Kyle's 2 nieces) officially asking them to be in my wedding entourage, and they agreed! Lucky me! They're all so adorable, I cant wait to see them all dressed up and ready to lead the way down the aisle. Now I get the fun task of choosing what they're going to wear. And I love shopping. Particularly virtual window shopping. (Does that make me a bit strange?)
I really love this modern, sort-of bohemian princess look with the long tulle skirt and the the flowers in their hair.
sourced from Style Me Pretty, photos by Sara Donaldson
Or I can go with the always-a-good-choice clothing shop, J. Crew. I mean, let's face it, everyone else in my wedding is wearing J. Crew. I may as well put everyone in their beautiful clothes!
top: Style Me Pretty, photo by KT Merry; left: Brides, photo by Jose Villa; right: Style Me Pretty, photo by Veil and Bow
I really love all of the white dress options and their sparkly flats!
I've also heard of brides who are way cooler than me that let their flower girls dress up as their favorite character and dance down the aisle. How great would that be for them?!
What are your flower girls wearing? Which style do you like better of the two above? I need to start making some decisions!
Choosing Our Wedding Bands
I've never gone jewelry shopping. Well, I've never really gone shopping for REAL jewelry. The good stuff. So when this last weekend Kyle and I went shopping for our wedding bands, I was really nervous. I finally got a little glimpse into how nervous he must have felt when he picked out my engagement ring. The poor guy!
There were only two places I wanted to go. First was the wonderful jeweler Kyle bought my engagement ring from. They have been amazing from the day Kyle met them, and anytime since that I have been in their shop. It's called Johann Paul Jewelers in San Anselmo, and it's owned by two Kiwis (New Zealanders, not fruit). Since I spent a semester abroad in New Zealand, we hit it off right away. I love those guys, especially Paul. We hadn't been in the store in over a year, but Paul remembered us and knew all these sweet little life details that I forgot we had told him.
By the way, here's a tip: get your ring cleaned every damn day if you can! I hadn't had mine cleaned for over a year, so when I walked in that's the first thing they insisted. Holy crap?! It was like 10 times more sparkley! Kyle and I were both shocked! Apparently I put my hands in dirty places too often. Needless to say, I've been enjoying the particularly special shine this week :)
We talked to him about what I wanted, which, truth be told, I wasn't sure about. I wasn't sure if I wanted a straight ring or a curved ring to fit snugly with my engagement ring. What if I wanted to wear the band by itself one day? Or if I wanted something simple for traveling and outdoorsy things? I tried on a beautiful straight ring that looked gorgeous with my engagement ring.
Then I tried on a curved ring, and knew that's what I wanted. I mean, it was just instantly WAY better, and it looked like a beautiful, cohesive (anyone else think of Project Runway when you hear that word?) piece of jewelry. So we talked to him about having the designer of my engagement ring (eco-friendly, local, and awesome designer Yael) make a custom band to fit together with my engagement ring. Yay! Easy!
Then we talked to him about bands for Kyle, and Kyle knew even less about what he wanted. I always thought he'd look great with something a little modern, a little rustic, but definitely unique and handmade. Since Kyle works with his hands a lot, the one thing we knew was that his ring had to be tough. Basically it needed to be able to be smashed with a hammer and not break in two or smoosh around Kyle's finger. That meant gold was out because it was too soft, and tungsten was no good either because it's too hard, you can't get it off a swollen finger.
He tried on some titanium bands that had rings of wood or carbon fiber by local designer Jerry Spaulding. He felt so awkward about wearing a ring. He was so quick to pull them off. He kept exclaiming how weird it was to wear a ring. Poor guy, it'll take some getting used to. He ended up loving a matte titanium ring with a thin offset carbon fiber band in it. But we still had one more store I wanted to check out.
Naturally we drove the Triumph convertible into the city to check out Manika Jewelry, which specializes in jewelry handmade by local artists. They had more limited options as far as wedding bands, but I loved the idea of something that had a really organic feel to it, so I wanted to check this place out. He tried on a few beautiful rings by Redstart, and especially liked one called "Stream" that had a hand carved line cut through the band, resembling a stream.
After a beer at City Beer Store, Kyle decided he liked the ring by Jerry Spaulding best. A beer well spent, I say!
So there we are, we have our wedding bands picked out. I can hardly wait for him to slip it on my finger!!
How was your wedding band shopping experience? Was it easy? Stressful? Was your hubby equally as awkward about trying on rings? Do tell!
Bridesmaid Gifts by Blackbird and the Owl
Blackbird and the Owl has a bevy of leather clutches that I am just dying over right now. Seriously, how awesome are these little modern hand candies. I thought these would be perfect bridesmaid gifts for your girls. Different and unique and totally chic, your girls will use these again and again.
style, comfort &/or color {bridal shoes}
In exactly 2 months from today I will be married... OMG! The next 60 days or so will be filled with bridal showers, last minute vendor meetings, and finalizing the details. One of those details is picking out what shoes I'm going to wear. Lately the trend has been to wear a pop of color. I once thought that I would go that route, but now I'm leaning toward something more traditional and elegant. Oh and here's something we rarely think about ladies.... COMFORT! Yes we want to look gorgeous from head to toe on our wedding day, but at what cost? I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to wear something feminine and elegant for the ceremony and photos, then opt for something more comfortable and stylish for the reception. Here's some of my inspiration:
TOMS, Miu Miu, Badgley Mischka
Kate Spade & Stewart Wietzman
Badgley Mischka & BHLDN 
Steve Madden & Jimmy Choo
What about you? Can you swing the 5 inch heels all night, or are you going to have a second pair of fancy flats to hit the dance floor with?
Hair Today
My goodness. I feel like each time I do a post these days, we're hitting a wedding countdown milestone! Tomorrow will be the official one month mark and I'm definitely starting to feel it. While I swim among the thank you notes, seating charts, and craft projects, I'm really looking forward to heading up to Sebastopol for my hair trail next week! I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do with my hair, but I'm hoping a pile of photos will provide the needed inspiration for my stylist to come up with something fantastic.
I love braids and twists. I know it's trendy, but I like the boho feel to it (I do live on the Berkeley border after all). I'm thinking a loose braid or twist is a must. Aren't they gorgeous?
The wedding is fairly casual and I typically wear my hair down, so something pulled all the way up doesn't really feel like me. That said, I definitely want my hair to feel special (and to stay off my face when dancing). I'm thinking a side pony is a great solution to achieve both a casual and special feeling together in one style.
So take one part braid and mix in one part side pony tail, I guess this is what you get!
What do you ladies think? Any advice, do's or don'ts for wedding day hair?
not wed yet {the bachelorette party}
I cannot believe my bachelorette party is this weekend!!! My maid of honor, Monica, has been planning for months to coordinate what she affectionately calls, "the best bachelorette party EVER." Here's what I know about the weekend: we rented a house with a swimming pool and outdoor bbq in beautiful Santa Barbara, we are going wine tasting; hiring a driver of course, and we are going out for a night of dinner, drinks and dancing on state street (I think). Regardless of what we end up doing, I know I'm going to have the time of my life because I'll be surrounded by over a dozen of my favorite girlfriends. This post is dedicated to what I'll be wearing this weekend. I already have both dresses picked out, but figured I'd throw some inspiration your way for those of you brides-to-be out there who still need to shop for your last "fling before the ring" attire. ;-)
Since we'll be spending one of the days out in the sun wine-tasting, it's important to have a casual, but fun and flirty sun dress. Here's some inspiration below.... BTW I found/bought that turquoise necklace online for only $40!! In person it looks like it is worth hundreds! What a find!
photo credits: left, top-right, bottom-right
And for the night we hit the town I envision myself in a white & sexy little number. FYI, I bought the BCBG dress on the left. LOVE it!
photo credits: left, middle, right
Here's some inspiration from my last bachelorette party fashion post:
And finally, here's a sneak peek at my party invitation (Monica knows me so well).... and a shot of me wearing the fabulous dress I recently bought- that one will be for the wine-tasting extravaganza. OOOOH, I'm so excited!!!!!
photo credits: invitation & Taya's Dress
What do you have planned for your bachelorette weekend? Are you doing something local or traveling somewhere new? Would love to hear your fun stories!
