Wedding Hair Round-up

Wedding season is in full effect!  And whether you are a bride or a bridesmaid, you need to have some seriously great hair.  I used to have a go-to blog bookmarked, but now it's gone!  So, I figured that was a sign to do my own collection of inspiration...

First, classy up-dos for those windy outdoor weddings!

And then, some romantic long looks.

Our First Wedding Anniversary

 Today marks my husband's and my first wedding anniversary.  I am so thankful to have this man in my life, especially over the past year.  This day also just makes me want to go back to Colorado and celebrate with our friends and family all over again!  I love you, Garrett.

Luxe Mountain Weddings

Our wedding from last summer is featured today on Luxe Mountain Weddings!  I never got around to doing many wedding recaps, so this is a great place to see it. I'm glad there are blogs dedicated to mountain nuptials - I absolutely loved the natural, outdoor setting!

Western Wedding

So, I've been working on my wedding album with my photographer all week, and it's made really start to reminisce...

Then, the thought of weddings made me think of these amazing wedding photos I saw a couple weeks ago!  The below photos are of David Lauren's (son of Ralph Lauren) wedding to Lauren Bush (granddaughter to President Bush Sr.).  The ceremony and reception took place at the Lauren Family's Double RL Ranch in Colorado (relatively close to where we got married).

Isn't that dress (by Ralph Lauren, of course) just immaculate?!

The reason to get married in the mountains.

Horse and buggy, duh!

The same photo gallery included some absolutely gorgeous engagement photos.  I love the simplicity of these images - very classic without any sort of gimmick needed.

All photos featured in Vogue

All in all, stunning photos. But one question remains... is her name now Lauren Lauren??  Somebody had to ask!  Have a great weekend, y'all.

Unique Bachelorette Gifts

My new cousin-in-law asked me a couple of weeks ago for some bachelorette gifts ideas that weren't the same-ole thing you see at every shower.  Having just been a bachelorette myself AND a maid of honor,  I felt pretty confident in answering this question.  So, I decided to put all of my suggestions into this blog entry.  Who doesn't love a fun gift guide?!  You could probably take most of these ideas and adjust for all different occasions too!

#1 The first idea I can take no credit for - a few years ago, my friend Pam got our other friend Meagan an embroidered velour track suit with her new last name on it - "Mrs. Hamblen."  We all thought it was a genius idea, so when Pam got married this last April - of course, Meagan got her one.  I think it's such a great gift - especially if the couple is taking their honeymoon right after the wedding because it makes for the perfect plane outfit!  Plus, you can personalize the colors to something you know your friend would love.

#2  There are tons of cute things over at Kate Spade's Wedding Belles site.  My favorites are these little necklaces that a bride could wear for showers, the honeymoon, and even after they are married.  I, personally, feel like someone would get more wear out of the "mrs." necklace, but the "i do" one is pretty damn cute too!  Mrs. Spade also has similar style necklaces that are not wedding-related for all of your gift giving needs :). And at $78 each, they sure don't break the bank.

#3  The next idea is a gift I wanted to buy my best friend Pam for her bachelorette party, but she beat me to it! Dagnabit!  And she also got me one too!  So, what was this fabulous idea we both had for each other?  A personalized hanger for your bachelorette's wedding dress.  Here's a photo of Pam's...

#4  One thing I was actually able to get Pam for her bachelorette weekend in NOLA was this adorable little bag with the saying "For Like Ever" on it.  It also comes in poster form, which is totally amazing as well.  She was able to use the bag on her wedding day to carry all her stuff around in too!

Let me know if you have any fun gift ideas you've used in the past.  There are plenty of more weddings (and bachelorette parties) in my future!

Diament Designs

So, back to my normal ramblings with random wedding recaps thrown in :).

I wanted to tell y'all about Diament Designs jewelry today.  It's super affordable and unique!  Here are a few of my current favorites:

If you're in NYC, they carry this line at my friend's store in Park Slope - Eponomy.  And if you haven't checked out Eponomy before, I highly suggest you do so - if for no other reason than to meet the owner's lovely french bulldog Bianca!

Oh, and if you want a wedding fix for the day - here's our wedding slideshow . Hope you like it as much as we do :).

Wedding Sneak Peek

So, we got back from our wedding last week.  No honeymoon just yet - we'll most likely go to Croatia next summer, so don't feel too bad for us ;).  We had such a great time seeing all of our closest friends and family in the same beautiful place.  If it works for your families, I can confirm that a destination wedding is definitely the way to go!  Hands down!  We were able to have so much fun and spend quality time with the majority of our guests.  It made the actual wedding day that much more spectacular and memorable.

My photographer Alison White posted this photo to her facebook site, so I thought I'd share...

 

And yes, I wore a birdcage veil.  I absolutely loved the vintage look of it! But instead of buying one of those expensive ones on Etsy, I found a really affordable one here.  I used those savings to buy the brand new Chanel makeup that I'm wearing in this photo. I went the "peach and spices" route, even though I was initially thinking dramatic red lips. The reason I changed my mind is that I just didn't look enough like myself with the super red lips and dark shadow.  I've decided that look is better for a night out, rather than my wedding day (but if you feel comfortable in it for your wedding, please go for it! I'm just a whimp). Regardless of color, I ended up being very pleased with how my "face" lasted throughout the night.  Go Chanel!

More wedding recaps (and many more photos) to come...

More Augusts!

Today, the lovely Caroline Fontenot posted an amazing blog of photos from Pam & Jason's wedding.  I've been stalking her blog for a few weeks now just waiting for this post!

I wanted to share a few of my favorites here...but make sure you head on over the full blog post to check out all the hilarious dancing photos, as well.



Isn't this such a cute idea for a photo?! Love it!




Funny story here: I was going to get a hanger like this one for Pam, but she had already gotten one for herself and me, as well.  Besties really do think alike :).




Jackie's amazing shoes to honor our favorite rocket scientists!!




I think these photos from Pam & Jason's "First Look" are my favorite.  They really capture the love and emotion these two have for one another :).




This one is kind of funny b/c you can see me holding down Pam's veil with my foot... don't worry, she asked me too.



Wedding Par-tay.



Isn't the decor loverly?  I love the look of this long head table.

 Oh, and if you haven't seen Pam's bridal portraits or the couple's engagement sesh, add it to the list of generally awesome things to look at.

The Augusts!

This past weekend, I went to Austin to celebrate the wedding of one of my best friends in the entire world - Pam!  The wedding was hidden away in the gorgeous Texas Hill Country at a venue called Camp Lucy.  One of the bride's close friends Caroline Fontenot was the photographer - if you haven't seen her stuff yet, you need to shimmy on over to her blog. And quick.  Here's one great photo Caroline posted yesterday.  Aren't they just too adorable for words?!?

I love you Pam & Jason!!! And I can't wait to see where life takes the two of you!!

Monday Hair Fun!

So, I've been loving these hair how-tos from A Cup of Jo. You will definitely want to bookmark these puppies!

Three Pretty Buns

Messy Side Ponytail

Messy French Bun

Also, I've had some questions about my recent Curl Stick post.  I think people are wondering how it differs from a curling iron.  So, here's a photo of my hair from this weekend after I used it (please excuse the awkward self-portrait).  I'm still in love with the perfectly messy waves the Curl Stick creates!

Speaking of my hair, I've heard of a lot of brides cutting their hair post-wedding.  I'm not really growing my hair out for the wedding, just keeping it the length it's been for a while now (which is pretty loooong). I hadn't really thought about cutting my hair until I saw an article on Jennifer Aniston's new haircut!  I really like this longer bob look!  Adding this to the "Potential Haircuts" file...

Women be shoppin'.

Lord, they be shoppin'!

Since I feel somewhat guilty about all the upcoming expenses for our wedding, I decided the best place for me to exert my shopping energy was in finding great deals on dresses for bridal showers, bachelorette parties, etc. Excellent plan, donchathink?

After eying the ASOS website for months (maybe years) now, I finally decided it was time to order something(s) off this incredibly chic, neverending, online UK store. Don't let the fact that this website is based in the UK scare you... they provide free shipping and returns to the good ole U-S-of-A. Lucky us!

So, you wanna see what I got? Thought so.

Dress #1 : a perfectly draped t-shirt dress for basically $26!  I think this is a great little number you can dress up or down.  Big accessories and awesome heels for a bridal shower, then flip flops and a chunky knit for a late spring evening...

Dress #2 : I think this one might be my favorite.  It has these embellished slits on the sleeves - which I normally wouldn't go for - but it works here.

Dress #3 : Love the long sleeves on this one - I feel like it will help bridge the winter-to-spring wardrobe gap nicely.  I can wear it with tights and booties while it's still cold, then nude heels when it starts to warm up.

Dress #4 : I've been wanting a dress with a one shoulder cut like this for a while now.  Put on some bright peep toes and I'm ready for some bachelorette festivities!

I'll update everyone once I receive the order and see the quality of the clothes - fingers crossed!

Saying yes to the dress...

This past July, my mom and my future mother-in-love came up to NYC to go wedding dress shopping with me before the big move.  The first day was wonderful!  The second day was frustrating... but I eventually found the perfect dress and I can't wait to wear it next summer.  And no, you will not get to see it in this post - so keep dreaming ;).  BUT I will show you some of the other beautiful gowns I found on my shopping journey.

I knew I wanted something with texture and a splash of uniqueness that I hadn't seen on anyone else's wedding dress - and I've been to a lot of weddings.  Nothing too sparkly. Nothing too poofy.  I was a Texas debutante.  So, needless to say, been there. Done that.  I also didn't want anything too heavy since we were having an outdoor wedding.  I was actually leaning towards a short dress, so that I could keep costs down and also get some rad shoes.  However, I was definitely one of those brides who ended up with a dress that was NOT expected.  But it's beautiful and sophisticated, and I couldn't be happier.

So, here's how it all went down...

We started at Amsale.  One of my best friends from college had an Amsale dress that was beautiful.  They also carry a whole line of "Little White Dresses" that I wanted to check out.  A lot of the dresses (like the ones below) at the showroom were gorgeous - I guess their prices have gone up with their popularity. So, it seemed like a lack of unique design for the price.

Next, we headed down the street to Pronovias, a spanish brand known for its beautiful lace and european style gowns.  I found so many dresses that I loved here.  And the prices seemed so much more reasonable for what you were getting!  Here are a few that I looked at...

Our final stop on Day 1 was a new bridal boutique in the West Village called Lovely Bride.  Lovely carries a lot of smaller designers and most of their dresses have a similar aesthetic to what I was looking for.   I highly recommend this "lovely" little place.

Day 2 was the more frustrating day.  We started out the day at Kleinfeld's - you know, the "Say Yes to the Dress" people.  It's a lovely salon... a lovely HUGE salon.  That was one of the difficulties here - you really had to rely on your consultant to understand your criteria and pull the right dresses.  The problem? My consultant did not understand what I was looking for.  Also, I don't think Kleinfeld's really specializes in the style of dress I was looking for.  They have so many more options if you are looking for a big glitzy ball gown. Sorry, Pnina Tornai, I'm just not that into you.

The final stop on my wedding dress journey was the brand new J. Crew bridal salon on Madison Avenue.  It is a great boutique!  They don't quite have their process down yet.  And as much as I love the simplicity of the J. Crew dresses, I was looking for something with just a little more panache.  But here are a couple that I tried on....

I am going to remember their jewelry though!  So unique - it's over-the-top, but in a good way!  Check it out...

The next couple days, I slept on everything I saw and eventually came to a decision.  It was a tough decision because going into my dress search, I was thinking I would end up in a more casual dress.  However, I ended up purchasing a beautiful dress from Pronovias that is more on the fancy side.  It will still fit in our rustic mountain theme with its delicate, vintage details. And I'm so excited to marry the love of my life in this dress!