We are under 30 days for the countdown! Ahhhh!! If you've been following my Pinterest Wedding Board then you know right now I am obsessed with finding my wedding hair style! I know I want a soft and romantic look but am not sure if I want it all up or part up. I have my hair and makeup trial on Tuesday and can't wait!
Here are some options I love:
I love her hair and make-up! So soft and romantic!
Until Next Week!
-Jess
Follow me on twitter @jessdawnd and my Pinterest Wedding Board
You might just recognize the bride in today's wedding as one of our fabulous bloggers, Keri! I'm am so very excited to share her fabulous wedding with you today. Check out her posts here on Engaged & Inspired and see how she pulled off this fabulous blush pink New Jersey wedding!
One of the first vendors we booked after securing our wedding venue, was our caterer. We knew that food would be a huge chunk out of the budget so we wanted to accomplish this early and have the chance to talk to and price multiple vendors. After speaking and receiving quotes from nine different caterers in the area we finally decided on our caterer. As you can imagine, lots of different suggestions were made and a large variety of menus were presented. My fiance and I have only been to weddings that had either a buffet or a plated dinner so we figured those would be our two options. Well much to our surprise, caterers started suggesting family style as a great balance between a buffet and plated dinner. Since many of them have been hired for weddings at our venue, they said it was one of their preferred ways to serve at our venue for logistical purposes. We were intrigued. After much consideration and speaking with people who have attended family style weddings, we decided to take a chance. We still haven't been to a wedding with service this way but we are excited to see it unfold on our big day.
Source: Pacific Harvest Catering
I found very few resources online on the benefits of family style versus plated or buffet so I thought I'd share a few pro and cons that were shared with me from the nine caterers we spoke to.
Pros:
Family style dinners typically fall cost wise between plated and buffet
People eat at relatively the same time
It creates an atmosphere of sharing and friendliness
People can still choose what they'd like and how much of each
Cons:
Pricier than the buffet option
Not always the chef's favorite way to plate
For guests with unique food restrictions, they still may need their own plate
Source: Pacific Harvest Catering
Source: Pacific Harvest Catering
Back in September I had the extreme pleasure of working with Matt & Jamie on their Henry Miller Library wedding. In a world of frill and fluff I so loved the chance to work with such down-to-earth people at this amazing location in Big Sur. The fresh air and gorgeous sunlight gleaming through the trees created a perfect setting for these two to tie the knot.
Amoraduro Photography captured the day perfectly. Thanks so much to Matt & Jamie for allowing me to part of your day! I was perfect.
This week we booked our photographer! Soooo excited and relieved to have that checked off our list. More on photography in a future post! This week, along with the photography, I have been thinking a lot about the wedding day timeline. I came across a great article that spoke to this and was happy to see that my day-of timeline was in line with their recommendations, phew! Here is a list of their ten common wedding day timing mistakes:
1. Not scheduling enough time for hair & make-up.
2. Attending your final dress fitting alone. This has to do with your ladies understanding how your dress works and therefore saving some potential headaches...the hooks and buttons can be hard to navigate!
3. Not having everyone get dressed early enough. This is about making sure people are dressed before you are so that your mother, father, bridesmaids, etc. are lookin' their best when the photo ops come up.
4. Too much distance (between where you want to get ready and the ceremony location). For my wedding we'll be getting ready about a 30-minute drive from the wedding site. Even this somewhat short distance has proven a little tricky to plan around when we start thinking about things like hair and makeup time, pictures, and transportation.
5. Not planning out time for family pictures. The article makes a great point that it's not often you have so much of your family in the same place with a professional photographer.
6. Cutting it too close with the limos (or any transportation you are using). If you are having transportation like us, you know this all too well. We kept trying to figure out how to cut down the hours, but finally realized the extra money would be well worth it to have things run smoothly on the day of the wedding.
7. Not scheduling time to mingle with your guests.
8. Too little time between the ceremony and the reception. This doesn't apply to those of us having the ceremony and reception at the same place, but a good thing to consider for those who have two locations. This article basically says, don't worry about having time between the two. Guests will have plenty to keep themselves busy.
9. Not doing a "first look."
10. Failing to give yourself a "cushion."
My fiance and I decided to do a "first look" for several reasons, one of them being the day-of timing. We really want to be relaxed and have plenty of time to do the photos with each other, our wedding party, and our families and not feel like we are missing out on the party! And since our ceremony and reception are at the same place, we won't have time in between to do photos.
Do you have any wedding day timing tips? Did you do a first look?
Confession: I am not the biggest fan of traditional Christmas colors. This year I decided to do things a little different and add in some of my own fun colors to this holiday season. Hence my assortment of yarn colors to fill my home with holiday cheer. This year I decided to make a few of my own ornaments to add to our growing collection. So here is a pretty simple DIY to get you into the holiday season!
SUPPLIES:
Yarn Glass Ornaments or Styrofoam balls assorted sizes. (Michaels) Tacky Spray (Michaels)
Step 1: Spray Tacky spray on the top half of the ornament. Start wrapping the yarn around the top and continue on down the ornament.
Step 2: Spray the bottom half and continue until it is complete!
And there you have it! Perfect yarn ornaments to hang on the tree!
I just love incorporating animals anywhere, whether it be in home decor, table decor or your wedding. Here are a few totally awesome ways to add furry friends into the mix!
There was a point when I didn't understand the point of paying more than a few dollars for a card. Now I can't seem to spend less than $10! Perfect design is something I try to surround myself with each and every day, and this roundup of cards is no exception. Make someone's day a little brighter with these perfect ones.
You're My Favorite Person Ever, Hooray For You, Triangle Letterpress Card, Happy Ever After Letterpress Card, Thank You Letterpress Card
Hotel Valencia reminds me of an almost Italian feel. How perfect are these images from Memoire Studio of this sweet wedding.
I'm very lucky to be getting married at Paradise Ridge Winery, which offers an unbeatable ceremony location. See pics below.
Because of the space's abundant natural beauty, I want to keep things simple and botanical, but would love to bring to life our Art Nouveau aesthetic. Here are some images inspiring me this week.
