Shopping 1-2-3

Do you love internet shopping as much as I do? Here, in no particular order are my top 3 online non-bridal, non-brand specific, non-Etsy shopping websites that you should frequent.

1) Piperlime.com - shoes, handbags and accessories and it's all so easy to sort through. Enjoy!

2) Shopittome.com - weekly emails of sales across the web on your fav designers in your preset sizes. RAD! If you aren't already using you should, and if you're going to sign up let me email you a link so that I can get a $10 gift card for recommending the site to you :)

3) DailyCandy.com - the best. just sign up, right now.

You're so welcome.

Wish I were Feeling Punny and Could Think of a Clever Title That Rhymes with Glamour Closet

When Rach came out for a visit a few weeks ago we thought it would be a good time to go BRIDAL SHOPPING (really, when isn't it a good time for that?) so we headed into LA proper to a store I was sooooo stoked to check out called Glamour Closet. Looking back, I wish we had gone to Bella Bridesmaid instead as I have been waiting for a maid of mine (achem) to go there with me... Ah, well, hindsight is 20/20 and there's always next time, right? Suffice it to say, the Closet was anything but Glamorous.

Sooooo.... The Glamour Closet. They don't take appointments. I should have known right then that this was going to be a mistake. But we persisted. The deal is that these are one-off sample dresses from bridal showrooms and you get only what you see in whatever condition it is, at considerable discount. Sounds good, eh?

When you walk in they give you a bag of colored clips and you "wait patiently for your turn" by walking through the store clipping the 6 dresses you would like to try on. They had about twice this many dresses, from Monique Lhuillierto Vera Wang to Oscar de la Renta to Carolina Herrera to Elizabeth Fillmore:


Well... the problem with this place is definitely the no appointments policy. Even though we went in the morning on a weekday we waited, and I am by no means exaggerating, 2 and a half hours to try on our six dresses. After the first 45 minutes of wandering and choosing dresses the one shop attendant (yes, only one) told us it would be "a few more minutes" and after another hour she said "if you girls want to go shopping or get some lunch I can call you 15 minutes before I'll be ready for you."

Holy cow, I like that she told us that after we had already waited an hour and forty-minutes. UGH. Here's my Rachi waiting sooo patiently... and waiting... and waiting...


I guess you can figure out that even though it's a "sample sale everyday" at the Glamour Closet, some deals just don't add up. They had some lovely dresses on super discount but everything was just a bit thrashed looking and by the time it was my turn I was just too cranky to really love anything.


Never fear, we did take pictures of everythign I tried on, but you will just have to wait for those. In the meantime, the hunt continues...

Love & Respect: Pre-Marital Reading

While the bulk of this blog is certainly dedicated to the aesthetic of our wedding day, J and I are actually spending a good deal of our betrothal (?) working on becoming the best partners we can be for one another (awe, sappy and wonderful).

We are both looking forward to starting our pre-marital counseling through our church in a few months albeit I'll be honest, we're not too sure what to expect. But before then we were given a few book recommendations from some of our recently married friends to get us started.

Love & Respect by Emerson Eggerichs (whew, that name's a mouthful) was one of the most highly recommended and upon further research I see they have an entire website with blogs and conferences and intensives, oh my!



The 10 Conversations You Must Have Before You Get Married by Guy Grenier was another recommendation that seems to have some fairly obvious advice but offers some unique perspectives.


There are so many "marriage preparedness manuals" out there, it's quit overwhelming. The bulk of these seem pretty lame (discuss finances before you marry! decide how many children you want!) so it's hard to know what's worth reading, which is why we are looking for your suggestions.

Has anyone read either of these books? Any other good pre-marital reading out there that isn't too sappy or preachy?

Friday Gown Showdown

Is it so bad that I sometimes want to live inside a Lilly Pulitzer catalog? Or visit their "pink palace" headquarters? Or be swept away in one of their perfect swimsuits to a deserted island?

Today's gown showdown is the Betsey vs. the Sydney in the battle of the perfect rehearsal dinner LWD. Or, since these cuties sell at the same cost as some wedding gowns, the perfect elope to the Seychelles and do nothing for a month dress.



Shhhhh! This is what I would be wearing underneath....

Aces and Tweets

Can you tell Jon and I are obsessed with the ACE Hotel and Swim Club?



These pics are from a recent Green Wedding Shoes blog and I implore you (oh yes, I implore you!) to click one of these links and have a good look at the rest of the lovely photos. This blog is specifically about the Commune at the Ace, where we're planning to hold our reception (yes!).

This is pretty much the best blog I have yet to see about the Ace for a wedding weekend so please, please check it out! It includes florals by Palm Springs based Cachet Fiore, which could be a great resource.

Also, thanks to this guy (Erik, social media consultant extraordinaire, looking dapper in Jon's glasses), J and I both just joined twitter (i know, we're so modern, right?)


Soooooooooo, you can now follow us at Mrs_Ford and Jonathone

ENJOY!

Flordida

We're baaaaaaaack! What an awesome trip, photos galore to be posted soon, I swear! But in the meantime...

Without further ado, the TOP 10 highlights of our trip:

1) Seeing my bestest friends Aimee --> and Lindzee:

2) Spending a full week of downtime with my honey

3) When Aimee walked down the aisle on her wedding day Adam was crying so hard his lip was shaking. I'm positive there wasn't a dry eye in the place!

4) Meeting Aimee's new Boston Terrier puppy Blue (oh man, so flippin cute)


5) Seeing Aimee and Adam's beautiful new home

6) Checkin out the hot bodies and crazy tattoos at Wet n Wild in 95 degree heat

7) Seeing Lindz & Erik's beautiful new home

8) Meeting L & E's best friend "Frank the Tank" at Ce Fiore frozen yogurt

9) Trying on wedding dresses with my maid of honor woo woo!

10) Shopping on Park Ave in Winter Park Village

Thank you to Aimee for getting married and providing an excuse for J and I to take some QT for ourselves. She was such a lovely bride, just you wait for the photos. Also, thanks to Lindz & Erik for being such amazing friends, for putting us up and showing us around Orlando (we loved it there! Who knew it had so much charm?) and for encouraging J and I both in ways to move forward with our careers.

WE LOVE YOU!

Friday Gown Showdown

J.Crew vs. J.Crew in the battle of the Whitney against the Sascha... It's too fun that J.Crew makes these great wedding gowns. If only they were more cost-friendly than bridal boutique prices... I am in love with the second one and it's big pouffy flower (are you sensing a theme with me?)... I just want to walk around in it while butterflies and musical notes trail behind me.

There is a J.Crew bridal store at the Grove in LA... anyone wanna go shopping?!

How sweet is this J.Crew bridesmaids dress in perfect papaya?

Coffee Break

We're off to Flo-Rida (woo woo!) so we won't be on here for a bit but when we get back we will have all kinds of highlights from Aimee's wedding, from Lindz & Erik's place in Orlando and even from Rachi's trip out here last week.

Oh yea and... Go Lakers!!!

xoxo

J&T

You Really Got A Hold On Me

This wedding from 100layercake invaded my brain with everything from the pie table (obvs you knew we were going for that one) to the peonies (again...) to the citrus centerpieces to the motown quote button escort cards (ok, I hadn't thought of that at all but I am totally stealing it).

Also, this is the bride and groom... how cute are they?

PomLove

It seems that one of the most common ways to jazz up an interior space (according to the wedding blogs these days) is to make use of hanging poms! I likey... especially in these pretty colors called papaya and mint julip.

We will definitely need the splash of color and don't they just look so darn festive? I also really love this small simple cake with the big fat peony on top... maybe with a minty colored ribbon instead of the white-on-white designy icing?

ban.do you know

This is my dress for Aimee's wedding next week (woo hoo!) only it's in a deep purple color called Lapis... oooh... ahhh. I chose this dress because it was pretty on and it was really comfy, but I think it's missing a little pizzazz.



I would love to just pop out and buy a big beautiful ban.do floppy flower belt but unfortunately they are $160 bucks! Aren't they awesome though? This grey velvet belt would look so darn HOT with my dress. Maybe I could make one...

I found a really cute fake magnolia flower hair clip at H&M for $5 that I'll probably stick with, but it just doesn't come close to this groovy ban.do doozy:

Milkmaid Press

Affordable wedding invites? HUH? I hadn't been able to find anything close to this until now. Milkmaid Press has some really pretty designs and because they're digitally printed instead of letterpressed the cost stays low. Nifty!

These are called Frontier Garden, seems appropriate!

I love these Magnolia ones. If only we were Southerners...

Urban Prairie, kind of vintage lace paisley. Psychedelic!

Jacquie Aiche & St. Kilda

I love when people ask about my beautiful Jacquie Aiche engagement ring because:
a) it's so personal to Jonathon and me
b) I love to show off my man's great taste

While perusing some wedding blogs I discovered another jewelry designer St. Kilda, which is very similar in style and I am really digging their stuff. I have an intense desire for this ring, so pretty.

Friday Gown Showdown

Jon and I just returned from a quick trip out to Wisco to see lil Rachi graduate from high school. Next year she's not only going to be the most beautiful bridesmaid but she's also going to be a freshman at UW-Madison. Go Badgers!!!




We spent a day in little Switzerland in good old New Glarus and Rach tried on some bridesmaids dresses, I tried on a bridal gown or two and Jon tried on the local brew and cheese soup. Only in Sconnie...

I think I found a gown that might be THE ONE! No, you don't get to see pics... Yes, you have to wait till the big day :)


It's clear we're the coolest people New Glarus has ever seen. In case you can't read our shirts:


So, today's gown showdown is a bridesmaid's battle. We really liked the first one but it was too pink and not coral enough. All of the dresses were about 5 sizes too big so if they look misshapen its the dress, not Rach! We may just end up at Nordstrom, I think the girls will all wear their own style but in a similar color palette of green, coral, or grey.

Jim Hjelm Occassions vs. Bill Levkoff vs. Someone Else Whose Tag I Missed






Isn't she the cutest? :)

Sweet & Simple Table Decor

This is pretty much how our reception looks in my mind currently... only add palm trees, BBQ, tons of candles and margaritas. :)

DIY Table Letters

Just finished these lovelies for my wonderful bride friend Aimee who is getting married in exactly 17 days! Eeeek!!! I'm so excited to see her and feel so honored to be a part of her special day. She asked if I could make the table numbers for her reception, but so that no one had to sit at unlucky table number 13 we opted for table letters instead. Aren't they so cute?


I started by buying this pretty floral paper from Michael's and these sweet cardboard letters that have a positive and a negative pop-out. I lucked out too because they were on clearance for one dollar! I still have the positives and plan to put those puppies to use soon.


Mod-podge was definitely my friend during this crafting project. I popped all of the letters out and glued the cardboard negative side circles down to the back of the craft paper.


Like this:


After they were all glued, I cut each letter from the sheet, and using a thin x-acto blade, cut each letter from its little circle. This took a bit of work (especially because I used too much glue. I love you Mod-Podge) but it was fun to do while J killed bad guys on Call of Duty...

Next I used a vase of ours to trace out circles on green stock and I cut these out as best I could.


Once I had all of the essential pieces, I glued the letters to the green circles and voila!



I initally bought some cream colored paper for a third, bigger circle behind the green but we decided they look good just as they are. I like them so much I might just steal them back to use on my own reception tables next year :)