Coral is the New Pink

I am definitely taking full advantage of my every moment as A BRIDE (it's my one shot, do you really think I'm not going to obsess?). But if I'm honest, sometimes I just can not look at one more bouquet or veil. At those times (when I am not browsing www.shopstyle.com) I like to read interior design magazines like Martha Stewart Living and Dwell. My absolute favorite blog is Design*Sponge.

Imagine my delight (and horror!) then when I was taking a mental wedding break to browse the design blogs and came across this wedding reception inspiration on D*S by the amazing blogger behind OnceWed. Not only is it a beautiful spread called "Peach is the New Pink," but it also highlights my fantastic choice in wedding colors (pinky-oranges, ivory and celadon). :)

Enjoy!

Simply lovely, isn't it?

Bridal Shoesplosion: Sandals or Flats?

The battle rages on! Should this bride wear sweet sandals under my gown or something a bit more supportive like flats? I am leaning towards sandals at the moment. I mean come on, it's Palm Springs. Although there seem to be more flats that I could wear again and again. For the record, if I were about 3 inches shorter, I would have the most amazing shoe collection you have ever seen. As it stands (as I stand?), I generally just drool over heels from afar.

These are some of the sandals and flats winning the heart and mind of this bride.

Tory Burch Miller Logo Sandals in tulip coral. Itried these on a few weeks ago and they are super cute but I think way too casual for my wedding ensemble. They are really bright and happy, and actually much more corally than they appear in this picture. The perfect honeymoon sandals.


Tory Burch Patent August Thong in poppy coral. I love these. I want them. A lot. Only, I haven't tried them on in person yet, so maybe I should make that happen first.

Tory Burch Distressed Leather Reva Flats in gold. These seem like the grown up version of little girl princess shoes. Who doesn't want to be the princess on her wedding day?

I looooooved these Stuart Weitzman Archery Sandals in pale gold when I tried them on. They are so pretty in person and actually incredibly comfortable and versatile. They are the forerunners for my wedding shoes at the moment. Although I really am in love with the TB August Thong above too.

Stuart Weitzman Low Key Flats in Hummus. I know these look a bit... orthopedic (or something, SW shoes look kind of grannyish in pics, what's that about?) but I tried them on and they are super cute in person. I just really don't like that the color is called hummus. Do I have issues or what?

Coral Crystal Collection

Sigh, how I enjoy you dear Nordstrom. Whilst shopping today I came across the very coral-centric Crystal Collection at Nordstrom, also available online (Do I sounds like an ad? Sorry, I'm excited). The Ava Gold (shown below) embodies the right twist of upscale tropically resortwear with orange and pink crystals that perfectly match our wedding colors.

Couldn't you just envision a lovely maid swathed in coral chiffon blowing in the desert breeze with a flower in her hair, draped in orange and pink crystals?! OK I'm getting simultaneously really dang excited for our wedding and completely carried away...

Ahem, back to jewelry, the collection is quit varied, with something that would suit every style from simple to more extravagant. Aren't these great? I almost bought the bracelet for myself today but I figured I should wait until my ensemble comes together a bit more.

In person, they look even more rich in color, and they would make fantastic bridesmaids gifts. Get pumped ladies!

Friday Gown Showdown: LWD Edition

How often in life is wearing white almost required of a girl? Trust me, this bride is going to take full advantage of the opportunity and wear white not only on my wedding day, but at my rehearsal too. Depending on the style and formality of our rehearsal dinner, any one of these LWDs would hit the right note of put together but relaxed that I usually go for.


For something upscale but not too stuffy, I would wear this BCBGMAXAZRIA Strapless Floral Appliqué dress in a heartbeart. It is youthful without being any kind of scandalous.




For somewhere relaxed with great ethnic food (say, authentic Italian or Thai) this MINT by Jodi Arnold ruffle dress would be cute, especially with some sandals and a flower in the hair.


For a backyard bbq with family and friends, this Ainsley V Neck dress is still put-together but sweet and simple.



For the luxe trendy spot in town, you can't beat this French Connection Betty dress. If it weren't $550 bucks I would buy it to wear grocery shopping... LOVE it.

Color Inspiration

Corally oranges, slate grey and creams look lovely together, don't you think?

Wedding Hair Dos

I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but the celebrity with whom I most closely relate hair-wise is the lovely Chloe Sevigny of Kids and Big Love fame. If you have no idea what either of those titles refer to stop everything right now and go directly to the closest video store (Do people still go to the video store? Hello, netflix!).

I say I don't know if it's a good thing or not because a) her hair is long and mostly straight but sort of does whatever it wants b) it's always a bit unkempt c) this is the best attempt the lady gives me at an up-do:

Which is truly lovely for a quick jaunt to the Emmys, but not really up to my standards for wedding day.

Thus my dilemna... When searching for pictures of cute wedding hair-dos, I constantly come across curls. I think curls are sweet and romantic, but I never curl my hair. Ever. So, does having a romantic, sweet hair-do require curls? I just dont think I can justify looking completely different on the most important day of my life.

So I still search...

I found this very cute simple up-do on a real bride from 100layercake. I just feel like it is so stylized though. I LOVE the cute side pony-tail but I feel like in 10 years I would look back and think, wow I was so 2010.

When looking through more real brides' photos on OnceWed's Ideas page I saw these three very beautiful bridal dos. Im not too sure how a veil would work with the first one and I really love the second one but it is slightly curly. I think the third one is most close to how I usually wear my hair for an event...

I thought the hair at the Emmys this year was very fresh, and great wedding insiration! I especially like the idea of the pouffy up-dos as rocked by Amy Adams (top left), Jamie Lynn Sigler (top right), and without the scary bride-of-Frankenstein dye job by Drew Barrymore (bottom middle). Im afraid any up-do that I attempt will look like Mila Kunis (bottom left) which is pretty enough but just seems a bit lazy and flat for a wedding do.

In trying to find some more pouffy-styles (is there a better way to describe that? I feel like Im talking about souffle.) I came across the following from the Beauty page on Brides.com and I must say I really like these both.

What do you think? That's a lot of hair talk, I know... I think there will be more soon. I need to figure this part out (get it?)!

Mawage, Sweet Mawage

I think the idea of having a commemorative arty marriage license is romantic. Also, I am extremely corny. But the search for a good one led me to the realization that I don't really know what is required in order to wed this man of mine. So I did some investigatory web-searching.

So, apparently Jon and I made a smart fiscal decision to get married in Palm Springs because Riverside County is one of the cheaper counties in which to wed in our great state California! Upon reading about the requirements for marriage I learned some yeses and some nos for Riverside County marriages:

Common Law Marriages: No.

Cousin Marriages: Yes.
Same Sex Marriages: No.

Ok. I have a strict no political commentary on my joyful wedding blog, but I'm just putting that out there. Moving on....

When searching for beautiful, frameable certificates of marriage, I was pleasantly surpised by the array I found. Some are much wordier than others. Some are "quaker-style" where all of the quests present at the marriage sign the certificate and some are Jewish ketubahs. Isn't it fun learning? I like these ones most of all I found:

A simple but elegant religousy Christian version:

For this bright red artsy version check out www.thesmallobject.com

There was quit the collection of handmade marriage cerificates on www.Etsy.com with some being much better than the rest. I particularly liked this one:

The certificates from www.galleryoflove.net are a bit more stylized for an antique or retro look but they are really sweet.

Finally, I found these BEAUTIFUL ketubah marriage certificates from artist Shell Rummel and they blow everything else out of the water. There are so many more on her website: www.ketubahtree.com


This one is my complete favorite called "I carry your heart" after the ee cummings poem with one of the most beautiful bible verses on the bottom of the tree as well. Dude, me want.

Friday Gown Showdown

Autumn is NOT the best time of year to find beautiful coral colored bridesmaid's dresses in the stores. But, thanks to our wonderful God that creates all things, we are all blessed with online shopping! Let's all say it together... AMEN!

Some of the winners for my online search for pretty coral frocks include these two diddies from Nordstrom.com. They're both a bit laid back, but I think they could get snazzed up with the proper accessories, no? Look for one walking down a church aisle near you in March 2010.

Max & Cleo ruffley coral dotted dress.

Patra beaded chiffon gown.

Our Wedding Colors: A Love Story

Maybe I just really like art and fruit and flowers and babies... or maybe Nathan introduced me to the Idee Inc. Color Lab... you should go there.

What inspired your wedding color palette?