Pure Poetry

I saw the brown version of these Poetic Licence shoes over on Oh Happy Day. These would be such cute bridesmaid or wedding shoes. Comfortable heel height, strap so they won't fall off during dancing, and great for pictures.

Big Plans, Tight Budgets

Who wants a platinum wedding?? I do! I do!! But how can I get $300 a bottle champagne wedding on a six-pack of beer budget?


Hey, you're not the only one asking yourself that question. According to Time magazine, lots of brides are. Here's a little of what they're reporting:

"According to the Wedding Report, a research firm that compiles stats on the wedding industry, the average cost of an American wedding rose to $28,732 in 2007, as the festivities have grown increasingly elaborate and personalized. But for the first time in almost a decade, that number is forecast to drop slightly this year, to $28,704. Nearly half of caterers and event planners surveyed by the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) in March said they were seeing declines in wedding spending in response to the economic slowdown; 12% even reported wedding cancellations because of financial concerns."

Now isn't that interesting. What's your take on this whole scale back situation? Have you found yourself dealing with it? Or it is just business as usual for you? Let me know...

Operation: Love Reunited

Yesterday I read about this great organization on Andrew Bryant's blog and had to share.

Operation: Love Reunited connects photographers with the families of enlisted US Military men and women and provides the family with a complimentary photography session. The session focus is on deployments– before and more importantly, after, when they reunite safely home with their families.

Although this isn't specifically related to wedding photography, I know that many of you out there are trying to plan a wedding while someone you love (fiance, partner, brother, father, sister, mother, friend) is in a war zone. I know many of you have had to cancel, re-schedule, move-up and move back weddings b/c of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I also know how valuable these photos can be. Husband and I both worked for a year for the government in Iraq (non-military) and one of the last things we did before we left was have a portrait session done for our families...just in case. And if you think planning a wedding with a loved one in a war zone is difficult, then try planning the wedding FROM the war zone.

If you're part of a military family and would like to have this done please go to their website for more info and if you are a photographer please consider donating your time to this worthy cause. It really can make a huge difference in someone's life.

Affordable Bridesmaid Dresses

Aren't these two dresses adorable? The second one says it's black but it looks dark gray to me, which is the "it" color these days. And pink, of course, is a perennial favorite. The best part: each dress is only $150. Why even look at those bridesmaid dress companies?

A Bride in Need Deserves Help Indeed!

Calling all brides! Calling all brides!! It's time to bustle your dresses, strap on your Jimmy Choo wedding sandals, put your diamonds together and help a fellow sister in matrimony that is in dire need of your assistance.

This young bride reached out to us because she needs someone to re-book her vendors. You see, due to a family emergency, she's had to cancel her wedding completely. Can you imagine? Being so near "I do" and having to postpone everything? Unfortunately, they could lose their deposits unless one of you spectacular brides can help her re-book a few vendors, specifically the Loyola Alumni Chapel, Westminster Hall (reception), the Peabody Ragtime Ensemble (entertainment) and Signature Catering.

Rest assured she won't be making a profit from this, you'll pay the vendors directly. She'll only receive her deposits back, which will help her pay medical bills and take care of other necessary expenses.

If you can help, or know someone who can, give Mrs. Nearlywed a shout by clicking the "Email Me" button on the right. Thanks in advance for being fabulous!

We are ALL TOPS!

Right now I am so loving Christine Tremoulet for being passionate about her craft. Some of you have heard me say it over and over INTENTIONALITY! Here is a quote from her:

Several weeks ago, I heard Guy Kawasaki speak here in Houston. He has nothing to do with weddings - but lots to do with marketing. (Matter of fact, he is mentioned several times in Harry Beckwith's "Selling the Invisible" book.) He has a site called alltop.com which has different "channels" for different topics.

I shamelessly begged that they create a wedding channel. I sent them a list full of URLs to include. It finally launched today!

I Love That! That's so what this business and even more so Life is all about, being Intentional about something..."Anything".

Enough for the Life Lesson the other great news is -we're on the site! Head on over and take a peek at a great list of fantastic wedding blogs.

As soon as you're done there PLEASE head over to view Christine's and be blown away by her photography... Talk about being Intentional!!!

Giving Props

Being a green and white bride myself, I naturally gravitate towards that color scheme. I really love what Jacob and Rachel did with it and how unique their wedding centerpieces were. Using props on the table alongside flowers really made their centerpieces unique and my guess would be that they cost less since the use of fresh flowers was minimal. See if you can also spot the use of fauna in addition to the flora.

All photos credited to Sarah Bussey Photography







^ I know this HAS to be the first time you've seen a turtle shell used in a wedding. If it isn't then I definitely need to hear details.

Miss Me??

Well I'm back! And married to boot! Alas, now begins the long wait for pro pics. But don't fret, I'll stick with you through the next month or so and feed pretty wedding things your way till my pics come in and I can pick apart every detail of my wedding in excruciating detail.

Up now are these lovely baubles from Ben-Amun

Perspective

So when you're at your wedding and you realize that the napkins don't match the exact shade of fuchsia that your bridesmaids are wearing, think of this before you make yourself ugly with anger.



^ Gorgeous bride and amazing shot




^ The Earthquake begins and the photographer keeps clicking






^The aftermath

Photos found at Photoshelter...click to see more.

Getting With The Program

So we are now t-minus 3 days away from the wedding and we're running around taking care of all the small details that you can really only do at the last minute.

Some of those details are programs, menus, escort & place cards, and menu cards. There was just one thing I was sure of when it came to these things : I wanted to have nothing to do with them. Yep, I'm sick of the small details.

Sure, I COULD do them and probably save some money, but I'm at the point in my life where my time is more valuable to me so I don't mind throwing out some cash. And I never want to think about font, color, or paper again. So where do I go when I'm looking for someone craftier then me? Etsy of course.

Specifically the shop of Etsy seller andbear. I was browsing for programs and found these programs pictured below in her shop


^ The programs are one long piece of 110 lbs. cardstock with info on the front and back. And they are only $1.25 each. Naturally andbear can design these to fit you wedding colors/design. I was also psyched b/c in the listing it said she could also do other items like menus!

So I contacted andbear, told her the info I wanted on the programs, showed her my invites, and below is what she came up with!

^Click to enlarge


^Here is the back with the order of the service. I didn't want a giant booklet with tons of thank-yous and explanations. Like most things I just wanted something simple.


^And here are our menus! You can enlarge to see what we'll be dining on.

Andbear also designed escort cards, place cards and table numbers based off of our invites. So for 35 programs, 70 menus, 70 escort cards, 70 place cards, and 9 table number cards I only paid $180 plus shipping! That small investment was well worth keeping my sanity!

Invitations....

Our invitations are coming together! It is so exciting to see all the pieces fit together!

FI and I ordered our Main invitation from Paper-source, and I showed you the other day, so we are getting that letter pressed. We purchased the pocket folds from Paper Presentation as I blogged about earlier but they just came in the other day. The look great and the stardream silver is the perfect color!

We purchased the large sheets of Stardream Quartz from paper-source and had them cut down at Kinkos, along with our Stardream Mars Paper which we are using for the backing of the invitation. I love seeing the idea I had in my head starting to come to life.

I believe we even found the paper we want to line the envelopes, unfortunately the picture loading device is not working for me, it could be because I am posting at work? Tonight I will try to upload the pictures and show everyone!

Since we are using a pocket fold we need an A 7.5 Envelope--so we had to special order these. We had wanted to get them in the dark red, but Paper-Source only has them in so many colors so we ordered them in the Stardream Quartz. We are doing a trial of lining the envelopes tonight, so I will definitely take some pictures and share!

It is so exciting every day seeing different pieces of the project come together. Now FI and I are in the process of purchasing a printer, we are leaning towards an Epson, since we have heard rave reviews, but if anybody has any suggestions please let me know!

I will try to upload pictures later--I'm heading to Chicago tomorrow for one of my best friends Bachelorette party, but I will try to load them before I leave! Happy Memorial Day everyone!

In My Perfect Wedding World

My calla lily bouquet will look like this bride's! It's elegant, graceful, and pretty much perfect. Bravo to her florist for getting this classic 100% right.

All photos below credited to Evoke Photography from the wedding of Amy & Mike.

Registering for Sheets?

If sheets are on your registry then make sure you read this article in the Washington Post on how shops and manufacturers are cheating consumers...hint: Those 800 thread count sheets for $150 might not be as soft as you were hoping for.

Marching To Your Own Drummer

It's been a while since I featured a BadA$$ Bride, but this lady qualifies! Pink and white dress? Seen it. Black and white? Yeah seen that too. Pink, black, and white....the hair....the shoes...awesome.

Photos credited to John Michael Cooper of alt.f from the wedding of Staysi and David

Kate Landry Bow Frame Clutch

This is a little bit more girly then they type of thing I normally go for, but there is something about this purse that I really like. Maybe it's the sale price - $63.75

Thankfully with less then a week to go I've past the point of online shopping. Nothing I could order now would get to me on time without paying extra shipping...which would kill the whole point of getting good deals online. My pocketbook breathes a sigh of relief.

A Royal Wedding

This weekend the Queen's oldest grandson, Peter Phillips, married Canadian, Autumn Kelly. In a very unroyal move, the couple decided to sell exclusive photos to Hello! magazine for about $1 million dollars but that doesn't mean a few photos weren't snapped by the news agencies as the couple entered and exited the church.


^The Bride wore a $6,000 bespoke dress from British Designer Sassi Holford .


^She carried an elaborate if somewhat traditional bouquet. The crown was a loan from her new MIL Princess Ann


^The bridesmaid dresses were from Vera Wang






^Poor Princess Beatrice has inherited her Mother Fergie's style taste and not her Aunt Diana's


^Princess Ann was very appropriately dressed as the mother of the groom.


^And of course Prince William's girlfriend, Kate was there. He couldn't make it cause he was at another wedding. She represented the couple.

When You Care Enough to Hit Send

Because my wedding wouldn't be complete without vicious sarcasm...Someecards - When You Care Enough to Hit Send.










^I'd love to send this one out after our wedding...some might take offense but a choice few will enjoy it.

But The Good News Is...

So I'm definitley down about my bridesmaid not being able to make it to the wedding, but it's not totally raining on my parade...remember last month when I posted about Monachetti video and how I said that if I could have anyone in the world do a video of my wedding it would be them?

Well...I caved...after going back and forth with myself and with fiance for what seemed like forever we decided to have Monachetti do our wedding. Man...never thought the word "video" and "our wedding" would be in the same sentence!

It's crazy, I know...completely impulsive...but I'm excited and can't wait to share with you guys what Monachetti creates for us!

And for some audiovisual stimulus, below are the two videos I posted last month (cause I'm obssesed) and two more!




^Amy and Casey




^Shannon and Matt




^Libby and Time



^Casey and Lance

Two Free Tickets until Midnight!

We are in the home stretch for our Get Into The Event Planning Game. If there are any of you out there that still want to attend. I am offering two free tickets to the workshop. Just email me directly using the link to the right (info holymatrimonyonline com) and I will get you set up.
The tickets are first come first served and you don't have to take both of them. The workshop is being held in Columbia, MD and starts promptly at 8:00 am ending at 12:00 pm.

Wanna see you there!!

Bummer

So with about a week and a half to go before the wedding I've found out that one of my bridesmaids won't be able to make it. She's been really sick lately and she's been in the hospital for the last 3 days. It's the second time this month that's she's been in and now they need to do outpatient monitoring. She's trying to talk to the doctors to let her come but I've told her to stay. I don't want her to get worse just b/c she wants to come to my party...plus I don't want to spend the wedding day in the emergency room b/c she's pushed herself too hard.

I can't say I'm not disappointed. She was worried I'd be mad, but I had to explain there is a difference between being sad vs. being mad. I think she feels a lot of guilt b/c I traveled to India when she got married and she feels like she should come to mine come hell or high water. It's been hard convincing her that she's got to forget about the wedding and just take care of herself.

So my three musketeers are down to two :(

Color My World

One of the reasons I chose my wedding colors (kelly green and white) was because I liked the way bright colors show up in photos...I really want my photos to pop with color.

The other day I saw the below wedding of Amy and Matt on the blog of Jennifer Dery, and I love how vivid all the colors are. I thought the bride did a good job of meshing the bright greens, oranges, and pinks with a neutral like navy so that it was bright but not garish.


^I adore these flower girl dresses...Love the white petticoats and the kelly green ribbons


^I had a major crush on these green bridesmaid dresses from JCrew, but alas, they would not have been flattering on my bridesmaids and they were a little overpriced (IMO)


^Loving the ribbons on the flowergirl basket

Bachelorette Ideas

Ok, I am not the biggest fan of Top 10 or 20 Lists. I might scan them for a sec but overall they don't do too much for me. But having said that the folks over at Customized Girl have put together a really useful TOP 50 list of ideas and tips for the Bachelorette Party.

Now it may be that the Bachelorette Party does not get nearly enough play and its always one of those things that leaves people scrambling for ideas on what to do. Ta-Da! Check our their list.

And once you've read the list head over to their website they have THE cutest tee's!

I Would Hurt Somebody For Venice

I have a "thing" for Europe.

A BIG thing, I Love it, LOVE it, LOOOOOVVVVE IT!

So when my new friend Rosie from Forever After Images in the "UK" dropped me a note with images from a recent wedding she shot in Venice, I was over the moon.
First I love the fact that she reads my blog Second...well just look at the shots...

Bring On the Short Pants

I "think" it's officially safe to say that Spring is here.  Despite 40 degree weather this past weekend and the fact that I have told al of my brides to get a shawl, I do feel as though the worst is behind us and warmer temps are in store.  So having said that I began thinking that capri's, skirts and my cute, cute walking shorts will very soon be making their debut.

So as a ritual I made my way to see if there was anything new on the razor front.  Perhaps it's TMI but though i wax the brows, I shave the legs. I am trying out the
Schick® Quattro, they say you can even skip a day... hmmm.... yet to be confirmed.

The other kind of cute thing is on their website they have created the funniest widget, yet another way not to get any work done! 

You can customize the character -  make them audibly say whatever you want - and send it to anyone you know that could use a "dream date." (You've already got a man Ms. Bride To Be!)

The dream date widget is here Have a go and send one to a friend.

Calling D.C. Brides! Your Time To Shine

The Washingtonian is looking for engaged and recently-married couples. All your hard work and attention to detail might even get a spot in the magazine or online. Here's the lowdown from The Bridal Party :

Seeking: Engaged or Just-Married Couples
By Marissa Conrad

Been to any great weddings lately? Or maybe you’re planning one yourself. Either way, The Washingtonian would love nothing more than to hear all the details of the big day. E-mail us at [email protected] or [email protected] and give us all the details! Don’t be shy about sending a few digital snaps, too. You could be featured in our magazine or online.

Jewlery for the Maids---

The next mark on my "to do list" has been Attendants gifts. I know that we are still 4 months out, but I really want to get them something special, so I want to focus on this now.
So Far I have two Definites of what I want to include in there gifts:

- A pair of earrings to wear on the day
- Home made stationary ( gocco)



Than its between mani/pedi for everyone or a nicer bag that I put everything in and another possible gift--but I'm not worrying about that now-- What I have found is the Earrings that I want for My girls!

I found the wonderful designer ameami on Etsy

Below are the earrings for the Bridesmaids:




^ Imagine them in Garnet though--So Garnet and Pearl--I think the Red will accent will look great with the Gray Dresses!

Here Is the Style Idea for the MOH's




^ However instead of the Purple imagine Quartz--I love the tear drop, and I think they are going to be perfect for the girls!

Ameami is a Pleasure to work with, she has been so helpful picking out stones for me, after I describe what I am looking for, I can't wait till the earrings come in!

Garden Wedding Escort Cards

This is a pretty cute idea for escort cards. It would be perfect for an outdoor spring/summer wedding.

Photo credited to Evoke Photography from the wedding of Erin & Brian

Lush from Labbancz

Now on the complete other side of the spectrum from Jenna Bush's casual soiree is this lavish wedding that Marie Labbancz had on her blog today. Even though my personal tastes learn towards the modern and subdued, it's a bit of voyeuristic fun for me to see really romantic style weddings like the one below. Hey, if you're going to go lush then you need to go all out!


^The Brides dress was a Pnina Tornai gown from Kleinfeld Bridals . I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen a white dinner jacket and tie combination (as opposed to bow tie) but I'm liking it.


^Check out that back! Silk Roses were a theme throughout the wedding


^I've often expressed my love for long tables as opposed to round...need I say more?


^Silk roses were incorporated into the invites as well


^Normally I really hate when flowergirls are dressed up as little brides (as I'm sure you can tell by my flowergirl dress) . But this dress is just so much fun I think any little girl would feel like she was in heaven in it.


^Both of the tuxes were custom made


^And of course we can't forget the cake

For more pics check out Marie's blog.

Bush Wedding Photos

The White House has released a few photos from Jenna's wedding this weekend (they are from White House staff photographers, not her actual pro-pics).

I must say I'm really impressed with how normal and low-key her wedding looked. She literally could have had anything that she wanted...price was no limit...and yet she chose a really elegant and casual affair.

^ I think her dress fit her like a dream. And no stiff, elaborate updo for her...just soft, natural, wavy hair.


Not a handcrafted sugar flower in site....just real flowers and simple sweet buttercream frosting.


^What a beautiful setting for a ceremony




^No tuxes here....the bride's father wore a suit


^The family photo


^The inside of the wedding tent. I don't see any towering centerpieces or matching glass goblets anywhere (but I do spy those chivari chairs!)


^The outside of the reception tent.

Doesn't this feel like a wedding you could have thrown yourself? I love it. If money was no object do you think you'd have enough self control to go low key or would you go all out?

So True!

^ I saw this today over on Blah, Blah, Blahg (the blog of the designer who did my wedding labels) and immediately identified. I start out each day with so many goals I want to accomplish for work, home, and life in general, and instead of getting anything done I'm distracted by some shiny wedding thing.

Yummy Texture from Papel Vivo

I was trying to clean up my list of "Favorites," when I rediscovered, Papel Vivo. I know that letterpress is all the rage, but for a different type of texture, I love what Papel Vivo is doing with embossing. Don't you want to just run your fingers over it? And a bonus feature is that all of their paper is handmade. It just adds to the textury goodness. Most of their invitation sets are around $6.50 each which I think is incredibly reasonable.

Things That Annoy Me About Wedding Planning - #2

If you remember, #1 in my occasionally updated list of things that annoy me about wedding planning, was: Dress stores that don't let you take pictures. And for #2 I'm going to have to list

#2 - Overused phrases in the wedding blog world.

I've been planning my wedding for oh-so-long, and when I first began there were oh-so-few wedding blogs. Now there are oh-so-many and there is one phrase that most of them use oh-so-often. I have to admit that in the beginning I was so oh-so-guilty as well. Every wedding I saw was just oh-so-cute and oh-so-beautiful and oh-so-elegant.

I'm not sure where this phrase came from...I believe it may have been a play off of the truly oh-so-wonderful and oh-so-charming events of wedding planning company extraordinaire Oh How Charming! All of her weddings were oh-so-amazing, so people had to find a way to express that and developed an oh-so-creative play on the company's name. Now every blog, whether big or small, uses this phrase oh-so-frequently.

Well, maybe it's because I'm near the end of a long planning time and am starting to burn out a bit, but every time I see this turn of phrase I find it oh-so-annoying. Sadly, I see it on a daily basis, multiple times a day, on oh-so-many blogs. Now I know imitation is oh-so-flattering, but as a group of wedding bloggers and oh-so-talented writers, lets see if we can all find an oh-so-new way of expressing how oh-so-spectacular some of these weddings are. I'm begging on my oh-so-painful knees, for my oh-so-fragile sanity, or maybe it's just time for me to take an oh-so-needed break.

Tsumami Kanzashi for Your Wedding

Remember those awesome boutonnieres I posted about earlier this week? Well unbeknownst to me they are actually a unique Japanese art form called Tsumami Kanzashi. Apparently, Kanzashi are a type of traditional hair ornament and Tsumami is a particular type of Kanzashi...from what I can tell they are hair ornaments made out of cloth (traditionally silk is used) instead of metal or other materials. It is also constructed using a traditional method. You can read more about it here.

Though normally worn in the hair, the Tsumami Kanzashi we saw earlier were turned into boutonnieres and are from the Etsy shop of GocheMoche. Below are some samples of her Tsumami Kanzashi bouts and pins from her shop. They are a total steal and range from between $8-11

Some other Etsy shops that do Tsumami Kanzashi are Marissa Joanna Rojas :

And AtelierKanawa:

The other White Dress....

I am heading home to NY tomorrow for Mothers Day Weekend. While I am home I will be attending a Friend from High School's Bridal Shower, I will definitely report back on what I see there! Next weekend is FI graduation from graduate school, both of our parents are coming up for it--So I know that we will have a lot of wedding talk the next couple of weekends. However, the Thursday before FI graduation his work is having a gala of sorts. Black tie, men in tuxedos and woman in ball gowns---somehow I have nothing to wear. This has had me in a mad dash on all the normal websites trying to find a gown for Thursday evening! Mama Alexandria and I are going shopping when we are home in NY , so I am hoping to find something than! While I was searching earlier today I stumbled across a dress at Macy's that I think would be perfect for the Rehearsal Dinner, let me know what you think!




^ It is from the Ralph Lauren Collection and I think it is Stunning. It is just what I had in mind!

Handmade by Allison

If any of you frequent the Maryland knot.com board then you are probably already familiar with the work of Handmade by Allison. During her own wedding Allison handmade practically every part of her wedding and now she does the same for other brides. Save-the-dates, invitations, aisle runners, calligraphy....you name it, Allison does it. All I ever see are raves about how much brides love her work and how reasonably priced she is.

Allison has also started a blog and she's featuring some of the items she's created for brides. If your sick of DIY, don't have the budget for a high end designer, and really just want someone else to do it for you then check her out.

All work below credited to Handmade by Allison

Agent Provocateur Bridal Line Debut

As I promised, I'm letting everyone know that the Bridal Line at Agent Provocateur has hit the stores! Some of it is just a little bit too spicy to post on this blog but beautiful nonetheless. Below are some of the more tame options.


^Sophie Babydoll - $250


^Kate Corset - $335


^Sophie Waspie - $315


^Wedding Set Tie Sides - $70


^Wedding Set Tie Sides back - $70

Vintage Bobbies from Sproutstudio

I love these vintage style bobby pins below. They are all from Etsy shop sproutstudio and are such an elegant alternative to some of the flashy blingy hair ornaments out there.




^Daffodil floral cameo - $9.00


^Ivory Roses set- $14.00


^You can get matching earrings too. -$18.00

I <3 Paper-Source....

FI and I have decided on our invitations! As you know from an earlier post, I loved the lady that made our Save the Dates and Engagement Party Invitations--but it was just too expensive, so FI and I decided to take over some of our paper products--okay make that ALL of our paper products. Right now the first thing we need to get done is our invitations. Our goal is to have the invitations put together the last weekend in June/first weekend in July. Since we are currently in MAY ( where has the time gone?!) that does not leave much time!

A couple of weekends ago, FI and I went to Paper-Source in Georgetown on a lazy Sunday. Originally we were just going to check out paper/supplies that we might need and to see if anything gave us any ideas. That was when we found our design. It was one of those moments when you KNOW that is what you are looking for.




^ This picture doesn't even do it justice, but we loved the look of the design, exactly what we were going for and the crimson letterpress was amazing! We are still going to print the inserts and menus/programs on our own, but we will incorporate this design ( they sell the design in stamps so you can use it as you wish!). What do you think? It turns out pricing is only about $100 over what we would have spent for the invitation part and it includes the paper we want and the envelopes we want! We are going with the Stardream Quartz paper and Stardream Mars Red envelopes . We are also going with a Silver pocket fold's that I will show you at a later time. I am now looking for envelope liner paper ( I haven't found anything I LOVE yet)--I must admit though it is very exciting to see the color scheme and all of these pieces fall together!

Couture Cupcakes - Cupcake Bouquets

Today Daily Candy had a great post about DC based cupcake creators Couture Cupcakes. Not only do they design beautiful cupcakes, but they can also create cupcake bouquets! How much fun would those be as a centerpiece at a wedding? And instead of taking home the centerpieces at the end of the night, each guest could just eat their own cupcake!

This also seems like something you could try yourself if you're throwing a bridal shower.

The Names They Are A Changin

Leave it to California to always be a step ahead. Thanks to a lawsuit filed by a man from Los Angeles, it is now just as easy for a Californian man to take his wife's last name as it is for her to take his last name!

Michael Buday wanted to take his wife's last name and was surprised to find that doing so would be a lot more complicated and expensive then the other way around. So he and his wife filed a lawsuit, and now state law guarantees the rights of both married couples and registered domestic partners to choose whichever last name they prefer on their marriage and driving licenses.

I'll be taking my fiance's last name, but I do believe it's an individual choice and people should be able to chose whatever name or combination of names that best suits their situation. Yay for California!

I Take This Cyberpal to Be My Bridesmaid

The New York Times just ran a story on the development of friendships over the internet due to wedding planning. It mainly focuses on friendships formed on theKnot.com and it says that often these friendships fill "emotional gaps" when real life bridesmaids aren't quite as interested in all that wedding stuff like other brides are.

I can't say that I've developed any deep friendships over the internet because of wedding planning but I do feel like I "know" a lot of the bride bloggers out there and I'm interested to see how their days went and I'm genuinely happy for them when I see all their hard work pay off.

I can say that I've become closer to other friends/acquaintances in the last year who have been planning their weddings at the same time I have. It's a lot easier to go to these friends with concerns and questions b/c I know they will a) know what the heck I'm talking about and b) will probably really care. Not that my other friends don't care but the best advice I ever heard about wedding planning is "nobody cares about your wedding except you" and I generally try to take that approach when it comes to discussing the wedding with friends and family so I don't bore them all to tears.

Has anyone else developed a friendship or strengthened a friendship b/c of wedding planning or the internet? How about the opposite? Has anyone lost a friendship b/c of wedding planning?

So long, farewell

Hello, everyone! I know that I left you all hanging big time last night as I was right in the midst of posting pictures from my wedding that finally happened. Sorry about that! I've been busy with life and being pregnant! Officially, I'm 8.5 months and I'm about early to mid June. And am I ready? *shrug* I'd like to think I am but there seems to be a ton left for me to do before our baby girl arrives.

Anyway, I wanted to finish what I started before with showing you the last of our wedding photos by our lovely photographers Balance Weddings. I put together a photo montage to music of some of the over 780-something pictures that were captured and I hope that you can get a better idea of how The Big Day turned out for us. It was certainly a day that I won't soon forgot and perhaps it's the pregnancy hormones but I can't lie and say that I didn't get misty-eyed when I finally looked at all of the pictures. I would have posted all of the rest of the pictures in installments like I had started to do but I'm a little on the tired and short-of-time side these days and so doing a slideshow is a little better for me.

The entire thing is on the long side (a little over 11 minutes total, I believe) but, there are some great moments that were caught in the middle that weren't seen on television when our episode aired and it's those moments that I will remember and cherish most! See if you can last (and not get bored) until then at least! Something else - if you don't like mainstream country music (Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban) then feel free to mute it. Mr. Bowie is a big country fan and I felt it appropriate to use two of our favorite country songs as the lyrics really speak of our relationship.

Hope you all are well!!! This will officially be my next to last posting! I'll do at least one more when our little baby girl arrives so that you all can see a picture of two. It would only be right that way since I did announce my expectancy here afterall!!!

See you in a month or so when I bid you farewell once and for all and you're finally rid of me??? All the best with your planning of your own "happily ever afters." *wink* Take care.

Vendors used were as follows:

Photography - Balance Weddings, Rissa Miller and Nathaniel Corn

Hair and Makeup - Up Dos for I Dos, Ashley Riddle

Flowers - ProFlowers Weddings

Event Planning and Coordination - Holy Matrimony Online, Vicky Johnson (aka Mrs. Nearlywed)

Church - Trinity Lutheran Church in Bowie, MD

Reception site and catering - Pho #1 Restaurant in Baltimore, MD

Bride and flower girl attire - Davids Bridal

Groom and ring bearer attire - After hours Formalwear

Cameo Style from Ben-Amun

I'm sure you all know by now that the latest edition of Martha Stewart Weddings featured "Cameo and Black" as the wedding theme of the season (or 'pink and black' as I like to call it). I have no doubt that in a year or so we'll see this theme in a number of weddings. So if you're a cameo bride then make sure you check out Ben-Amun by Isaac Manevitz.

Not only does Ben-Amun have some amazing and not totally unreasonably priced jewelry they also have the below cameo pieces.


^Austrian Crystal and Resin Cameo - $170

^Austrian Crystal and Glass Pearl Cameo- $135

^Austrian Crystal and Glass Pearl with Resin Cameo - $205.00


^Austrian Crystal and Glass Bead with Resin Cameos - $270.00

My only advice if you are going for this look is to pick either the earrings or the necklace. Both would be too much and you could be victim to the "Hello Kitty" effect.

Creative Ideas from "Our Labor of Love"

I've been stalking and loving the blog of "Our Labor of Love" ever since my friend used them for her wedding last year. Today they had a great post from a wedding in Mexico and I wanted to share two creative elements the bride incorporated.

All photos below credited to Our Labor of Love


^First up are these amazing boutonnieres! I love them! they are so colorful and looked great on. Plus these aren't going to die in a day...they can be keepsakes.


^Second up...look closely at the brides bouquet. She used peppers in her bouquet! Yes Peppers! They add a great touch of color to the bouquet and it's a nice nod to the Mexican locale. These are so subtle, though, I think a lot of brides could use them and no one would even know they are peppers.

Ann Taylor 25% off Celebrations

If you have had your eye on any of the bridesmaid, wedding or flower girl dresses at Ann Taylor now is the time. 25% off including final sale dresses.

The Getaway Mobile

Last weekend Fiance and I went down to Charlottesville to finalize a few thing including the car we'll be using on the day of the wedding. Our church and reception are only 5 minutes apart so I was fine with just driving our own car but Fiance didn't want to pass up the opportunity to drive something fun.

I'm not really a limo type of gal...they can be fun, but in general I think they are overpriced, cheesy, and for the most part unneeded, so we decided on a classic car. Luckily Charlottesville is the home base for Sports Car Rentals. It's just a one man show...a guy who loves classic cars and rents them out to people in the area. He has a great selection and the best part is instead of dealing with the pricey hourly rentals of limos we get to have the car for the entire weekend.

The rates are a total steal in my opinion - $95 for one day and $180 for the entire weekend. They allow up to 200 miles a day to be put on the cars.

So without further ado below is the beauty we chose - A 1959 MGA:

^ Isn't she beautiful???

Below are some of the other options:

^1974 MGB

^1960 Triumph TR3

^1978 Alfa-Romeo

^1972 Triumph Spitfire

^1963 Buick Skylark

^ And this beautiful "Bridal White" Cadillac is available with driver for those that would prefer to be chauffeured around for their wedding. It's a little bit more pricey though...$150 an hour

Southern Wedding Style - New Mag, New Blog

Not that any bride really NEEDS another wedding magazine or wedding blog to read, but if you do (which I guess apparently I do) then check out the new magazine Southern Wedding Style (coming soon to a magazine rack near you) and the new blog Southern Wedding Style Blog.

The blog already has some beautiful pics up and they even did a post on one of our featured weddings from back in November.

And really....no one does weddings quite like Southerners!

Finding My Photographer

This is going to be long so if you want you can just skip to the end ;)

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows how much of a crush I have on photography blogs. I'm always finding new and amazing photographers and I try to share most of them with you. So some of you may be wondering who did I chose for my wedding?

Well, I had an advantage when it came to finding a photographer because I was basically booking about 18 months in advance so nobody was really booked yet. I started by going over EVERY photographer listed at the WPJA for the D.C., Virgina, Maryland area. I also looked at EVERY photographer that advertises on the knot.com for our area, and EVERY photographer mentioned in the Washingtonian, and every photographer listed in CityVoter. I also looked at every photographer I saw mentioned on my local knot.com board. It didn't matter what the price was...I looked at their website.

Did this take a long time? Yes, but I'm pretty decisive so it went quicker then it would for others. What was I looking for? Well, ideally someone in the $4,000 range, but I knew if I found someone I totally loved I'd pay more. I was looking for a photographer who could take really vibrant colored photos as well as black and white and most importantly I was looking for realism. I wanted a minimum number of posed shots and a maximum number of "as it happend" shots. Obviously some shots have to be staged but I didn't want my wedding to look like a fashion shoot or anything cheesy.

Because I was planning from overseas I can't stress enough how important a good website was to me. If you are a photographer INVEST in a good website. What's a good website? One that is easy to navigate (just b/c it's a fancy website doesn't mean it's easy to navigate!) and one that has many examples of a photographer's work and preferably entire albums for me to look through. I wasn't able to go to anyone's studio and look at their portfolio.

One of my main criteria for a photographer was that they could not have anywhere on their website the "veil over the groom's head" shot. Why? Cause for me it's the epitome of the staged bridal shot, it screams cheese, and it annoys me every time I see it. Now I know a lot of these photographers do this shot because the bride asks for it....which is fine, you can't really say "No", but photographers do get to chose what they put on their website. And if this type of shot was the best example of a photographers' work then s/he probably wasn't the photographer for me.

So after scouring the net I narrowed it down to about ten or so photographers that I was interested in. I then presented these photographers to Fiance to get his opinion and agreed to mark off anyone he didn't like. Fiance had weird reasons why he wanted some photographers off the list ("she takes too many photos from an angle") but I went ahead and marked them off.

Other photographers fell off the list for other reasons - one didn't book more then a year ahead of time (stupid rule), while another was moving and wasn't sure which state she'd be in (understandable).

So in the end it came down to two photographers. I won't mention the one I didn't pick but I will say that he's an excellent photographer, his work is well known in D.C., and I'm sure I would have loved my photos. His price, though, started at $4,400 and that's without even factoring in the travel fee to Charlottesville. Everyone tells you to sacrifice everything for good photos...pay whatever you have to! So I really felt like I shouldn't be bothered by the price...but it did bother me.

In the end I went with the second photographer I was considering. I went through all of the dozen or so albums on her website (she doesn't just feature 'the best of' on her site...her albums have 60-80 photos from a dozen different weddings). I read every knottie bio that featured her work, and I was also able to get some passwords from past brides and looked at their online albums. All her past brides gave rave reviews. After looking at all of her work I could honestly say that if any of their albums were my own then I would be very happy.

And the best part...$3,200 for a package that includes:

8 hours of coverage
DVD of all images with reproduction rights
Engagement Session
Password protected online viewing
Between 600-800 proofs

I had to add on $200 extra for travel fees to Charlottesville but that still made the grand total only $3,400 ....which was at least a $1,000 less then the other photographer I was considering. And $600 less then we originally thought we would have to pay. I actually SAVED money on one of my vendors!

So who is this wonder woman? She is North Carolina based photographer, Linda Wallace.

You may remember Linda's work from some great knottie bios including:
MrsMarin
SoireeLaura
JenniferT08
Jennyks
MrsAndrea&Kevin
Allieoop06
Jlo92504

But just in case you don't I'm including some of my favorite photos from her website...brace yourself...there are a lot! And as always you can click each photo to enlarge.

All work below credited to Linda Wallace


















^Enlarge this one to see the tear rolling down her cheek!