guess the dress

Work has been pretty slow today. Usually when this is the case I catch up on my blogs and check to see if any of my vendors have updated their websites/blogs. Imagine my surprise when I found that my dress is now up on the Anne Barge website! As a personal choice, I am keeping it a secret until the day of the wedding. My mom is the only one who has seen it in person, and my dad has seen a picture. Feel free to take a look at the website and let me know what your guess is!

Did you show your dress to anyone and everyone? Just a few? Or none at all?

confessions of a short haired bride

I am getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of inspiration for short haired brides. My hair is about chin length. It has never, ever grown any longer than shoulder length. Once it starts creeping past my chin, it starts driving me crazy. Since being engaged, many people have asked me whether I plan on growing my hair out for the wedding. Why should I? I am a short haired girl. Do I really need to grow my hair out for one day? I'm afraid that if I even tried, I'd end up pulling a Britany Spears:

(source)

So back to the point. Where's all the hairstyle inspiration for people with short hair? Most photos just show regular, everyday hair with a headband or flower. I want to look at least a little bit special. It is my wedding day, you know. Maybe half up? After scouring the web for hours, here's what I found (of course none of these are half up):

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I like this one because it's more on the casual side, but still elegant and romantic. Pretty sure I'd need more hair though as I can barely make a ponytail.

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I love the volume and texture of this one. My hair is stick straight, so I'm not sure if waves would hold. Also, headbands give me serious headaches.

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I like the side view of this one. The back is okay - I don't really like the spiky look since I'm going for something softer and more romantic.

Finally, here's what I'd choose as my inspiration if I were deciding to grow my hair out:

(source)

I've had this photo in my wedding binder since the very beginning of planning. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure I ripped it out of a copy of the knot that I purchased way before I even started dating the future mister. It's got a bit of volume, some texture, not too structured and very romantic. Now I just have to find a stylist who can work some magic with my fine, straight, short hair and lack of inspiration.

How are you wearing your hair? Did you have any difficulties finding inspiration?

clean eating

I have always considered myself a pretty healthy eater. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and love fruits and vegetables, except for a select few (sorry brussel sprouts).

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Toward the end of college I started to enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes. I even took a vegan-based nutrition course my last semester. Lately, though, I've been in sort of a cooking funk. I come home at the end of the day and just don't feel like making anything. Nothing sounds appealing, and of course I feel that whatever I do make, I've made a million times before. I have a subscription to Rachel Ray, but the few times I've tried her recipes, they haven't been too successful.

Well last week one of my co-workers came to my rescue when she introduced me to Clean Eating magazine. I only browsed through her copy, but ended up purchasing my own because it looked quite promising.


The website describes clean eating as "consuming food in its most natural state...It's not a diet; it's a lifestyle approach to food and its preparation, leading to health, well-being, and a lean look." The section I tried out first was their 5 day meal plan for less than $50. The magazine offers 5 recipes and a grocery list. I took that list with me on Sunday and it really did add up to less than $50. I've tried 4 recipes so far, and only one was a complete failure. But that was, in part, my fault because the grocery store didn't have an ingredient I needed, so I tried to substitute something else. Overall, these meals tasted good, used healthy, fresh ingredients and only took about 30-45 minutes to make. I'm excited to test out some more recipes. And I'm sure my body will start appreciating the decrease in fast food and frozen convenience meals.

I'd love to hear if you have any healthy eating tips or recipes to share!

bridal glow no more

Remember this post on my bridal glow? Well a severe problem has just come to light. My Equate (walmart) version of Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer for sensitive skin ran out just last week. So I went to Target and picked up their store brand version. I noticed that it was a bit thinner and less moisturizing than the walmart brand, so while I was at the grocery store this weekend I purchased some Olay. Before I even put it on my face, I noticed the difference - for the first time (in the 10+ years I have been using it) it smelled like sunscreen. But I put it on anyway. Well there truly was an unmistakable difference. Thick, greasy, gritty, smelly AND after two days of use my usually clear skin now has tiny breakouts on my nose, cheeks, chin and forehead. I thought maybe I was crazy, so I did some research and found this. Over 6(!) pages of negative reviews dating back to July 2009. That must have been when they released the new formula and I was spared, at least for a little while, since I had stockpiled the walmart version. The good news is, however, that they plan on relaunching the old formula this April as the "Classic Gentle Formula." Guess I'll be heading to walmart to see if their version can hold me over until then.

Have any of you experienced a tried and true product changing for the worse?

spring break & wedding registries

TGIF! It's been spring break all week and since I work at a university, no students=no work. Although it has been an enjoyable reprieve, having no work makes for a very loooong week. So needless to say, I am ready for the weekend!

Anywho, since I didn't want to be completely unproductive with my time this week, I started our wedding registry. Initially, I was planning on waiting until the future mister was out of school for the summer so we could go to the store and look at everything. But then I got some great words of advice from my FSIL. She said to do most of the registry online first. Then, make a list of the items we want to see in person and take that list to the store. We'll be more prepared that way and spend less time. And since guys typically have short(er) attention spans, it will be less painful for the future mister as well. Definitely good to know, since I want to try and make this as easy (and as fun!) for us as I possibly can. So, earlier this week, I set up registries at the following stores:

www.macys.com

www.potterybarn.com

So far it's been pretty overwhelming. All those checklists make my head spin. But I'm slowly working my way through everything. I'm considering also setting up a registry at either Lowe's or Home Depot. Do you think this would be a good idea/worth it?

Where are you registering? Please feel free to share any thoughts/tips you have.

if the shoe fits

I think I found my wedding shoes. They're not only peep toes, but also the absolute perfect shade of robin's egg blue. Behold:

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There's only one problem. The heels are 4.5 (!) inches. Between me and the future mister there's only a difference of about 3 inches. My consultant at Kleinfeld's suggested I find a kitten heel. Do you know how difficult it is to find CUTE kitten heels?? With a peep toe? Nearly impossible! So a 2.5 inch heel sounds pretty reasonable.

Well, the shoes above are from ninashoes.com. They have tons of different styles and colors and you can even design your own shoes! I was seriously considering this, but that option doesn't have a style that I absolutely love or the Easter Sage color (above). Here's the style that I do like:

(source)

What to do? Well, I sent an email to customer service to see if they would be offering any other styles in Easter Sage. Surprisingly, I received an email back a little over 12 hours later. It said that they would indeed be offering that color in more styles, but not for another 2 months. Perfect! So I signed up to be on their email list and will check back in a couple of months. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Has anyone else had difficulties shopping for wedding shoes? Any suggestions on other places I should look for cute, low-heeled shoes?

why I love the mailman (and my mom)

These beauties arrived in the mail this weekend while I was gone:

Vintage hankies for our save the dates! My mom found an older woman selling vintage linens at a local craft store and they struck a deal. At the moment, she only had about 25, which we went ahead and purchased, but she'll be acquiring some more in the near future. Now I'll have to start coming up with some potential designs...

wedding videos (part 3)

So who did we choose to capture our wedding day for all eternity?

Drum roll please...

Andy Jackson of Portal Films!



Please go there now and click on Enter Gallery to view a short clip of his work. Or if you have the time, check out his blog for a few full length pieces (20 minutes max) - but only watch them if you have the time to do so without interruption. Trust me, it's worth it!

Yes, the Stillmotion videos make me tear up and I love that they so beautifully capture the emotions of the day. But, Andy's films make me ball like a baby AND they give me chills. AND he shoots in Super 8mm. Which, by the way, fits so completely with the feel of our wedding.

I'm not sure I could really say it any better than Andy can himself:

"The films I have been creating over the course of the past few years, or at least the style I have been striving towards, is purely impressionistic. When I say that, I mean that what I capture is not necessarily literal... love is not necessarily portrayed with a couple exchanging a kiss, nervousness is not necessarily portrayed by a bride shedding tears, joy is not necessarily portrayed by smiles and shouts. Within the films I create, I do not strive to show memories that people already have; I do not serve to replace or dilute those memories. Therefore, love is more evident within a hand caressing an arm in comfort, nervousness is more evident within the fiddling with one's hair, and joy is more evident within the look the bride and groom give each other after all the cheering has passed.

So when I say 'impressionistic' it is not because I exchange images entirely with metaphorical replacements, but rather because I tend to show the in-between moments, the gentle details, and the little interactions instead of just an 'event.' My work is about experiencing a feeling rather than watching history.

Add to all of that the geometry of composition, the emotional relation to objects, and the piecing together the flow of an edit like a puzzle, and you have the reasons why I call what I do 'impressionistic art films.'"

I get giddy just thinking about Andy capturing our wedding day. If I cry and get chills by watching strangers, I can only imagine that those emotions will be one hundred times stronger for our own film. And THAT is something I can watch over and over and over again.

wedding videos (part 2)

UNTIL! Until, the wedding blogs came to the rescue once again. It was love at first sight. I was head over heals. BUT, this person was about two hours away. Nothing lost, though, by finding out pricing and travel fees. I'm telling you, this was fate. The videographer, or in this case cinematographer (read about the difference here), has a brother in Atlanta so we would only be charged for mileage, which was pretty insignificant. I was floored.

However, this was pretty early on in the wedding planning. We didn't even have a venue yet. So we sat on it. Then, come January, I decided it was time to get a move on and start making other decisions, mainly regarding the photographer and videographer. So I went to this guy's blog and read that he had moved to Vermont! I almost cried. But again, nothing lost by finding out what the new travel fees would be. They only went up by about $100. Are you kidding me?! It really was fate. Just two weeks ago I signed the paperwork and paid a deposit.

Curious yet as to who we picked? I think I'll drag it out into one more post...

wedding videos (part 1)

Before getting engaged and discovering the wonderful world of wedding blogs, I was of the mind that wedding videos were boring, sometimes cheesy, and almost never looked at again once the wedding was over. Not something I was interested in.

Then I saw this:

Laura + Josh // The All Brevis Wedding // Mexico from stillmotion on Vimeo.

And I cried! I don't even know these people and I'm crying and watching their wedding video over and over again! Wouldn't it be great to have something so touching that wasn't mind numbingly long and boring - something that we could watch on occasion to remember how special our wedding day was? Of course!

The company that did the video above is called Stillmotion. Unfortunately, they are based out of Canada. So the search began. Most other companies in our area couldn't even compare. Some weren't quite as corny as others, but they still didn't have what we were looking for. Until...

What are your thoughts on wedding videography/cinematography?

baby shower invites

Here's another project that I recently completed. My friend, and former co-worker, Jessica is expecting a baby girl in May and asked me to design 75 baby shower invitations. I was thrilled! It was quite time consuming tying all of the little ribbons, but it was well worth it - they really complete the look. I also love the unique size and shape - thank you Paper Source!

STDs

Last month I shipped these Save the Dates out to my best friend Ash. She and her fiance are getting married this summer and as my gift to them I am creating all of the paper goods for their wedding. I love how they turned out.

They went from this:

To this:

And then I packaged them up in two stacks in order to ship them out. I think the belly band I created at the last second was one of my favorite parts.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what we come up with for the invitations.