Bridesmaid Dress Chosen...On To The Engagement Photo Shoot Outfits

Well, most of you who follow this blog already know that I chose dress option number 1 for my ladies to wear and I'm very happy about this decision. For some reason, that was the only dress that I could envision the full ensemble perfectly. Now on to more pressing matters - Adam and I are heading to Seattle next weekend for fun with friends, a couple of bridal showers and an engagement photo shoot with our photographers. I am so excited about this because Adam and I don't have a lot of pictures together and the ones we do have are self portraits...you know the ones where Adam doesn't smile because he thinks I'm obnoxious/vain for holding the camera up and requesting that he make all sorts of faces.

The tricky thing is, I have had a hard time deciding what we should wear. On one hand I want to have a clean/classic look so that 20 years from now we don't say...yikes, what were we thinking. On the other hand, I want to look youthful and stylish which happens when you pick out some funky trendy pieces and incorporate them into the outfit. I have already picked up a couple of things so far and could use some opinions. Take a look at these pieces and let me know what you think:

First outfit:
I went into this store called South Moon Under and fell in love with this long sweater - I like how creams and whites colors look fresh and clean in pics so I thought I would pair this with a cute white tank and dark hudson's, scarf (since I love wearing these with everything) and a pair of wooden wedge-sandals:






To go with this look Adam would wear this light blue Quicksilver button down, dark rinse Lucky jeans and his light brown Rainbow flips:




Okay, on to outfit number 2: I bought this dress from JCrew - in navy blue and I was thinking I'd just keep it simple by wearing t-strap sandals and maybe a long necklace (kind of like the model in the picture). To go with my navy blue dress, Adam would wear a bright grass-green half zip sweater from Banana Republic that has a few thin navy and white stripes (I couldn't find an image for this one) and the same jeans and flips combo.



For the final outfit, and this is the one I am a little unsure about - I have picked out this top from French Connection. I loved the color although it's kind of hard to see the red/orange that it really is in person. I want to pair it with white capris, the wooden sandal wedges and a brown belt that hangs a little looser. For Adam, I am going to have him wear a soft navy v-neck with some dark khaki cargo shorts - something kind of simple to tone down my funky top.


So...that's all I've really got so far. Any thoughts? Thanks!!

Bridesmaid Dresses: The Showdown, Part II

I have narrowed down my dress options for my lovely ladies in waiting/bridal party. Option #1 is this little Alfred Sung number: I love the big box pleats, the bow, the belt/sash, and color combo. I could see this pairing nicely with ponytail, white bouquet and fuchsia shoes. One idea is for all bridesmaids and matrons of honor to wear this dress and with this color scheme. The second idea is for my matrons of honor to wear the same dress with a reversed color palette (ivory dress, navy trim and sash).

Option #2 is to go with a JCrew fabric and allow the ladies to pick out their dress style preference. I like the cotton cady fabric, I think it is light and summery and will work well for a late August wedding. Plus, there are 5 styles to choose from so one of these cuts has to please each of my 8 girls! I also like how different styles look a little more organic in pictures as if they all just happened to wear the same color of dress that day :)






Option #3: My final option is one that my dear friend and bridesmaid, Kara found for me! When JCrew came out with their summer collection, I totally forgot to look at the regular dresses outside of the wedding party page. She found this navy blue, swiss-dot, soft, sweet and summery little number that might be the answer! I like it because it's a little less "bridesmaidy" and I definitely think you CAN wear this one again. Ladies, I know we have heard that several times from the weddings we have been in but, I think this dress it would actually work! And...it's also the most affordable of the three options.

I love all three of these options and think each of them would work well in our preppy-chic wedding :) I just can't decide!! Thoughts?

Bridesmaid Dresses: The Showdown, Part I

I waited the entire month of April for JCrew's big summer preview to find THE perfect dress for my ladies and the best they could come up with is the Silk Dupioni Rosette Dress??? Seriously, this dress was the only new bridesmaid dress that I saw! I am a big fan of the whimsical rosettes that are popping up everywhere this season from fancy dresses to t-shirts, it's definitely a sweet accent...but this dress is absolutely out of control. What do you think?

Outdoor Lighting

Okay...what do you call these outdoor, clear, bulb, stringy lights anyway? I have been conducting search after search trying to locate these bulbs that I have seen featured in tons of movies, pictures, etc. and I finally found a set at World Market! I really doubt they are the only store that carries these lights!

Anyone out there know what they are technically called and where to find them for a smashing good deal?

Nantucket...

My friend Jordyn had the best idea for her wedding: she rented lounge furniture and made things so cozy for her guests by bringing/ordering blankets, pillows and heat lamps (it was outdoors in December, CA - not too cold, just mildly chilly).

I think I'd like to piggy back on that idea for my reception by adding outdoor furniture that will make you feel like you are at a fancy, east coast beach/garden party. I'm not quite sure where to rent furniture that looks like this, but this picture from Restoration Hardware's Nantucket collection is my inspiration...very preppy, right?

The Registry Dilemma

I've spent every night this week, approximately 3 hours per night, trying to decide on the 15 things that I finally have in my registry. That is pretty much an hour per thing. There are a couple of things at work against me...1) I'm using an online registry from wishpot.com that was appealing because I could shop wherever I wanted and all items could be stored in one location. However, there are two problems with this - first, if you have the opportunity to look at every website out there for the perfect duvet cover and you are me, you will spend 3 hours looking for a duvet cover. If you are limited to the one store you are registering at, you will probably just pick that thing and be done with the process.

I have now spent an insane amount of time looking at different types of silverware, not because I wanted to so much but because I thought I should since I have that capability from wishpot.com. Second issue is that I love Crate and Barrel and I can't seem to find a way to make Crate & Barrel get into my wishpot.com registry basket. It's supposed to be easy: you go to the website, pick the thing you want and then click on your little wishpot.com icon to capture that thing and it automatically asks you how many and you can add notes, etc. For some reason, wishpot.com does not like Crate and Barrel and will not allow me to have it.

I realize that I have now said 'thing' a billion times. That happens to be another issue. My fiance doesn't particular like things and stuff - so maybe I should just ask people to donate money to our honeymoon and fun trips that we could do if they'd like to get us gifts? The thing with that is neither of us really have any kitchen things, so I feel like we need a good foundation. Maybe it would just be easiest to go to a store and pick up things and put them in our registry?

What to do friends? Stay the course and continue the never ending, online hunt with wishpot.com? Or just pop by Macy's and Crate and Barrel this weekend and knock the whole thing out in one pop? Or just ask guests to donate to our honeymoon if they'd like to give us gifts and worry about things later?

Please help!!

My Worst Nightmare

I woke up really late this morning after the most memorable, terrible nightmare! I had a dream that I was at my wedding reception and no one was there. It's true, after sending out 170 invitations, not even my closest friends showed up. The entire dream was spent hastily searching this enormous reception site for the people that I thought should be there, bumping into someone strange who would then tell me that so and so isn't there! Even my best friend Jordyn showed up late and just kind of shrugged her shoulders about the whole situation. To be honest, I have no idea where this nightmare even came from! I don't have some strange, subconcious fear that people won't show up to the wedding festivities...or do I? It could be a result of the conversation I had with my mom last night where she told me that my 99 year grandfather won't be able to make it. It's hard for him to travel, I expected him to miss the occasion.

Still, I might send out double the invites now that I had that dream...just to be safe. Please come to my wedding friends!! :)