Charmed

Wedding shoe

I have now not only chosen my wedding dress, but also my wedding shoe! I was originally set on Christian Louboutin's Marine glitter peep-toe pump for my dress, but I changed my mind when I got to Neiman Marcus today.They had sold out completely of this shoe!!! I tried on a few others that were sparkly (a necessity for bridal shoes for me), but none caught my eye the way this shoe had originally. Frustrated, I left to go make use of retail therapy at Kate Spade and Tory Burch. But, then a shiny shoe caught my eye!
It was the pink sparkly Kate Spade 'Charmed' shoe that I had originally planned to get for my engagement party attire; too perfect! And, then I bought my wedding day shoe!

My old favorite "marine glitter"

Move over Vera; I picked Monique Lhuillier!

After trying on literally over a hundred dresses since I got engaged, I found my dress today at Nitsa's Apparel in Charlotte!!!!! Nitsa's was above and beyond all the other dress stores that I have entered. They carry all the dresses that celeb's wear to get married (Monique Lhuillier, Vera Wang) and have amazing veils, belts, and diamond hair pieces. I tried on about 15 dresses there, but found my favorite after just 2. I kept going back to it even though it was all what I didn't think I wanted. I was set on A-line and lace when I walked in, but all the amazing couture gowns changed my mind! My favorite designer was by far Monique Lhuillier followed by Watters and Watters, and then Vera Wang. I really thought Vera was going to be the designer I chose; but it wasn't as ornate and couture as I had hoped. The Fall 2011 season of Monique blew me out of the water; it was all so unique. They had just got the runway samples in from New York for their weekend trunk show, and I was worried that the runway size would be waaaaay to small for my hourglass figure. But surprise of all surprises...I fit into every single runway size 0 perfectly. Talk about a confidence booster; guess my daily workouts with B are paying off!

Here are some pictures of the dresses that I didn't buy (not the best quality- they were taken on my iphone)

 

Two piece Monique like Carrie Underwood wore

Silk Satin Monique

Now for some celebs wedding dresses that inspired me to pick mine!

Ivanka Trump in Vera Wang (love the feminine lace!)

Jessica in Vera Wang- great detail on the fabric

Carrie in Monique Lhuillier two piece

Christine Baumgartner in Monique Lhuillier....so classic!

Invitation Inspiration

During my pre-wedding workout with fellow bride-to-be B, I began thinking about our wedding invitations. I have always just thought my invitations would be the simple-yet-classy black on white engraving with our family crest at the top, but now I'm thinking of doing a theme-y type of invite? Is this too modern of me? I have been googling some samples by a company in New Orleans called Scriptura, and have loved their unique ideas! Here are some of my favs for you to enjoy!

First some classic designs that I have always loved

 

Some of the more New Orleans themes ones that I'm sort of liking for save the dates!

Wedding dress shopping is going to drive me MAD!

So I have now been to a total of 4 stores looking for the perfect dress and I've yet to find one that I love enough to walk down the aisle in. I think I am just very hard to please and no dress is going to be unique enough for my liking. I have tried on countless different designers that have yet to satisfy me. I have tried on many dresses that look "nice," but they all seem to plain for me. I am not a plain girl. I want to wow everyone at my wedding with my dress and I am not stopping until I find it!


I have an appointment booked for next Friday to attend the Monique Lhuillier trunk show; maybe I'll have some luck there!

Here are some that I have been drawn to, hopefully they will look as great on as they do in the picture!

Wedding Dress shopping; A day of conflicting opinions

I know as a bride I am supposed to take every single person I know wedding dress shopping with me, but I don't think I can stand to hear every one's opinions. It seems to me that every time I find "THE" dress and tears are about to pour from my eyes, someone says something to the effect of, "oh it's okay, definitely not the dress for you though" and my heart breaks. And then they proceed to comment about how "Amazing" I look in a dress that I would never think to walk down the aisle in. I am so conflicted. I want everyone to think I look great; but I also want to feel that I look great for myself. I think this is why I like to go shopping with my daddy. He waits to hear what I think and then he agrees with me. That's all I really want to hear from the people I bring with me; agreement that I do indeed look awesome in the dress.

So since I did not purchase a dress today and I am going to keep looking I thought I would post the picture of  the dress that my mother loved and I hated...you decide who is right.


  Mom's favorite style by Lazaro (I think it looks like a nightgown)

Bridesmaids: My Steel Magnolias

I am currently trying to think of the perfect way to ask my bridesmaid's to be in my wedding. I've got a good idea of what I am buying them, and I've become very excited to ask them. I absolutely love shopping and love giving gifts, so this is heaven for me!

Some ideas that are really cute that I am not doing (so I don't mind sharing in case my future maid's read) are...
1. Taking the maid out for dinner and presenting them with a bouquet similar to the one you want them to carry in your wedding.
2. Buying your maid's a piece of jewelry that you want them to wear in your wedding
3. Present the maid's with shirts that say "Bridesmaid" so they can wear them to your bachelorette party
4. I've found cute "be my bridesmaid" cookies and cards


Check out this idea I found! I would so do this if I had a creative bone in my body!

In searching for some ideas I came across the website "Bad Dresses." This is a website dedicated to the ugly dresses that brides force their maid's to wear. I for one will not be making my maid's wear ugly dresses. I am all about fashion and I am trying to find the best looking dress possible. My colors are Navy, Light Pink, and Gold so I was going to have the dresses be a navy or a pink. Since it is a late night wedding the dresses must be long, and that is a little hard to find in the right colors. My worst nightmare came true...I may have to shop at a bridal salon for actual bridesmaid's dresses instead of picking out unique dressed from Nordstrom's or Neiman's! I did find one company when I was searching for my wedding dress that I actually really liked. It is called Watters and Watters, and their bridesmaid's dresses actually look very nice!

My favorite bridesmaid dress is here!
What do you think? 

Some other dresses that I found that aren't too bad (ignore the colors)

Ace of Cakes

Want to know one of my favorite parts of wedding planning? The Food! I have become obsessed with wedding cakes. The sugar flowers, the fondant, butter cream, the elaborate designs; I want it all! I have been planning my wedding cake almost as long as I have been planning what my dress will look like; age 4.
I have decided that I still really want a white cake; just with some different details added to it. My favorite cake flavors are the traditional southern red velvet, vanilla-almond, and hazelnut-praline. I do not like chocolate, strawberry/raspberry/or any berry flavor, or just plain vanilla.

Some of my favorite cake designs (yes I love many) that I am going to base my cake off of...

To Do List...boy is wedding planning stressful!

1. Book ceremony and reception hall
2. Book florist
3. Book photographer
4. Book videographer
5. Book baker for wedding cake and grooms cake
6. Buy my wedding gown and begin alterations
7. Book Band
8. Book string quartet for my ceremony
9. Pick out bridesmaids dresses for my girls
10. Book hair and make-up for my girls and I
11. Get save the dates and invitations made
12. Take engagement photos and put an announcement in our local papers
13. buy wedding rings
14. book honeymoon hotel
15. book officient
16. find out what all we need for our marriage license and my name change
17. reserve hotel rooms for my guests
18. buy bridal lingerie, jewelry, and shoes
19. Set up where we will have our rehersal dinner
20. book wedding transportation


So much to do before the big day!

The Rock

I have been engaged now for over 3 months and I still am in awe of my beautiful ring. I could not have asked for anything better; it fits my style and personality to a T! I was told by a family member that I need some good close up photos of my ring so that I can have something to turn in for insurance purposes in case it is ever lost or stolen. I took her up on the offer and here are some of the pictures for all of you that have not seen it yet.
Photos by von Drehle Images

Engagement Party

So what's the first thing you do after you get the rock on your finger? Have a party of course!
Will and I were lucky enough to have a great family that offered to host it for us so we did not have to worry about a thing! We had our engagement party on December 4th in North Carolina and it was a blast! After compiling my guest list and getting together all the addresses, the invitations were sent and we could not wait for the day to come. I had gone shopping a month before for my outfit and actually bought the first dress I tried on. It was a gorgeous black one shouldered number that I matched with gold Badgley Mischka shoes. I also bought this cute French Connection fur mini jacket to wear from the car to the party.

The party was catered and the food was awesome (or so I heard!) Will and I did not get to eat but a bite because we were so busy talking to everyone. Some of the food was crab cakes, lamb, crab dip with pita triangles, marinated veggies (I did have these and they were to die for!), and so much more! There was also a bartender hired to mix our drinks and also serve beer and wine. I chose to only have water with lemon because I am one to turn red with just a sip of alcohol in me. I think everyone really enjoyed the party, I got many compliments from friends and family after.

We spent a lot of the night being photographed (My idea not Will's!) because I love any chance for a photo shoot. Here are some of the many photos I just got back from being edited.