The Ensemble -- Alternately Titled, "Go away, Mr. JeffMemorial!"

We're under the 70 day mark, which is just terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I now regularly get that "Oh my god! I'm getting married!" feeling. I mean, it's really happening!

Thankfully I have had most everything done for quite some time now considering this wedding has been almost two years in the making. While I am now tying up loose ends and firming up dinner reservations and winery tours for the honeymoon, for the most part I'm not feeling like I have left something undone. (Hooray!)

This does, of course, lead me to dwell on details. (A bride dwelling on details?! Next thing you know, I'll be telling you the sky is blue and water is wet!) Recently I've been pondering my whole wedding ensemble. It's taken a few months, but the whole look as finally come together... I think.

Well, I have the dress...

It's the dress picture above in this color (navy blue, for the click-through phobic), and no that's not me.

I also have the shoes.


I have Swarovski Bella Golden Earrings.

And I have a cute handmade clutch from Etsy seller "UpStyle"!

But I'm not really sold on wearing a necklace. I've asked a few people, and they're sort of split down the middle between "Absolutely no necklace! It'll take away from the dramatic neckline," and "Of course! That dress screams for a necklace!"

God, I feel silly writing this--pondering extensively over whether to necklace or not to necklace. I guess it's one of those things where, since I very rarely get dressed up, I want to do it right. And it's not just the necklace. It's an overall ensemble anxiety, which sounds pretty ridiculous. I love all of these pieces separately; let's hope they play well together, as well.

I am, however, inclined to say no to the necklace, favoring the "dramatic neckline" which is sad because there are so many beautiful bridal necklaces out there.

Part of me wonders if maybe I should have left a few actually important projects to the end of this planning process, heh. Then I wouldn't spend actual time thinking about frivolous stuff like this. Or maybe I should spend more time on my homework.

What little things did you surprisingly get hung up on?

erin mcdermott

since mr. uva and i moved to charlottesville, we have met some awesome people. one night, last year, i was over at my friend erin's house. that night, erin so kindly introduced me to meg runion (our engagement session photographer) and the three of us got to chatting. wouldn't it be great if we started our own wedding planning company with a la carte services. meg would be the photographer and crafter extraordinaire, i would be the logistics planner, and the lovely erin mcdermott would be the creative side and jeweler. i do still dream about this plan and how fun it would be to work with these ladies...


erin moved to charlotte, nc over the summer to live with her fiance (a fellow bride-to-be) and design her jewelry full-time and has been designing up a storm making awesome custom pieces for brides and bridesmaids. what a great bridesmaid gift idea! i'm a little jealous of all of these ladies who get to work with erin. she really is fabulous!

she sells some awesome everyday pieces as well as her custom wedding delights. my little sister wears one of erin's charm necklaces that was a birthday gift almost everyday.

More Than Just Handbags… A Jewelry Conundrum Solved?

As I’ve mentioned previously, I am a lover of accessories. This is especially true of purses. I love and adore purses. We have a separate closet out in the hallway, where the upper half is just my purses. (Thank you, Mr. JeffM!) You might say I have a problem, but I’d like to consider myself an… enthusiast.

Source.

When it comes to choosing accessories, I generally find choosing the bag for an outfit to be the easiest decision. This was true with my wedding ensemble, as well!

But I have been at my wit’s end about jewelry. I’ve scoured etsy, and every online storefront I can think of and nothing is jumping out at me going “Love me, Liz! You know I’m just right for you!” So tonight, I took a break from pulling my hair out over jewelry to look at, well… I admit it, I decided to look at handbags from one of my favorites: Kate Spade.

While I was clicking around, lusting over the clean lines and bright aesthetic, I noticed a link on the left sidebar that jumped off the screen and shook me!

JEWELRY

I didn’t want to get up my hopes up, so I hesitated in clicking. I have had such difficulty finding anything I liked! I didn’t want my gal Kate to let me down… I would be heartbroken!

She didn’t. She didn’t let me down at all. I wanted all of it! It doesn’t all go with my outfit, but I had to share some of my finds which would go great with a lot of different bridal outfits.

Park Avenue Pearl Studs
Cute. Clean. Love.

Crown Jewels Drop Earrings
For the bling lover in us all!

Know the Ropes Knot Stud
These are my personal favorite.

Moon River Double Pearl and Bow Necklace
If I was wearing a necklace with my dress… I might need to find an excuse. Rehearsal?

Park Avenue Pearl Cuff
Would be so adorable with the matching earrings.

All Wrapped Up Idiom Bangle
HOW CUTE IS THAT BOW??

I know the Mister is probably just THRILLED that I have found more reasons to shop, but seriously, I never thought about my favorites being designing multitaskers! I guess it’s kind of a “DUH!” thing, but hey! I can be taught!

Pretty pretty pearls

I bought myself my wedding gift that's supposed to be from Mr. GP. Whoops?

Really though, you see, it was just too good of a deal to pass up! I was in Boston a few weeks ago, as I aforementioned, to do wedding stuff with Mama GP, my Sister (MOH) and three other bridesmaids and I was exchanging a shirt in the Copley Mall JCrew that I had bought the night before for a different color (that they didn't have at the Cambridgeside JCrew) and strolled on into Iridesse. I love Iridesse, Mr. GP bought me my first strand of pearls ever from the store in Tyson's for our first Valentine's Day in 2007. I especially love that Iridesse was founded by Tiffanys! Talk about classic style.

It just so happened that the Iridesse store in Copley was going out of business and the entire store was...get this....50% off. On top of that, the first item was an additional 10% off, the second 15% off and the third 20% off. I got three items.

I texted back and forth with Mr. GP making sure it was okay that I bought the items, as I knew he wanted to buy me pearls for my wedding gift. But the deal! The deal was so incredible!

So I found a triple strand necklace, a triple strand bracelet, and hanging earrings. The total cost for the three? Roughly $220 with taxes. Originally priced the three items would have been over $500!! The necklace alone was $250 originally!

The necklace I got is similar to this, but an exact image could not be found...

The clasp is a bit smaller, originally priced at $250 I paid $112 for it (again, not the exact necklace is shown).

[Bracelet, Iridesse $150]

[Earrings, Iridesse $85]

Take 50% off those prices and you've got some pretty amazing deals! There may be time to check out the Iridesse located at Tysons II. Rumor has it all the stores are going out of business, however the website doesn't indicate anything about the brand itself going out of business. I recommend checking out the Tysons II location for some great, great deals!

How did you find your wedding day jewelry? What are you wearing??

[Addendum] as of Sunday (my 26th birthday) there is now less than 5 months till we tie the knot!!!

How Crafty Are You, Part II

All right, so apparently I am obsessed with letterpress printing.

But are these gift cards from Sycamore Street Press not adorable?

These birch bark silver rings from Twigs and Heather would make great wedding bands, especially for men. They're simple but not boring. One of the artists told me her husband wears his as a wedding ring!

Everything at Perch Design is charming, but I thought these shake-a-leg salt and pepper shakers were especially great.

I loved these guys. Why go to Hallmark or Party Town to get your confetti when you can get it handmade to any color, shape, or specification? The nice folks at Confetti System will do it all for you--they also do hats, lanterns, garlands, or whatever you need for a party. Plus, it sounds very scientific and technical, doesn't it? "I had everything taken care of for me by Confetti System." People will know you mean business.