dressing my ladies - bridals by lori

After we left Bella Bridesmaid, we decided to stop for lunch at nearby Tin Lizzy's Cantina.

(source)

Because my bridesmaids are awesome, Emily offered to drive my car so that I could enjoy some lunchtime margaritas. It was a major buzzkill, though, when on our way to Lori's we got pulled over. None of us had any clue why - maybe speeding? Turns out, it was because we ran a stop sign at a 5-way intersection. Eek! I'm pretty sure the SUV in front of us did the same? But I can't say that I was paying very close attention. We, or I should say Emily, got a citation. Bummer. We brushed it off and eventually made it to Bridals by Lori.

After trying on a few dresses, we decided to focus on the flowy, silk chiffon ones by Amsale. Everyone loved this stunning one-shoulder dress.

Becca

Katie

Sam

Emily

MOH Sam also loved the halter above. The floral detailing is a nice touch since my dress has flowers on it. The upside - everyone loved these dresses. I even tried some on and they truly felt like pajamas. I also love the look of chiffon and think it meshes well with our vintage/rustic/garden wedding (more so than the stiffer looking silk shantung). The downside - there was only one color even remotely close to what I was looking for and it just didn't make my heart sing (sorry - corny, I know) like the LulaKate colors.

Amsale - Ocean

If ocean was just a little bit lighter/brighter I would most likely scrap my idea of having all the girls in different shades and go with the Amsale dresses. With that said, I guess I'm leaning more towards the LulaKate dresses. Any ideas/insight/suggestions would be much appreciated!

dressing my ladies - bella bridesmaid

This is going to be a long one...

Our first stop Saturday morning was at Bella Bridesmaid, a quaint little shop in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.


After trying on a few different styles, the maids were gravitating towards these two from Coren Moore - one boatneck and one sweetheart, both with lovely detailing.






We were excited that the dress picking was so easy, but little did we know that the fabric color palette that the consultant had laid out on the table (with at least 10 different shades of blue, that I loved) was not the one for Coren Moore. Instead we had only 4 shades of blue to choose from and they didn't flow together as nicely.

(source)

So we discussed a combination of their tiffany blue and lime.


Sometime during this discussion, the consultant came over and showed us some photographs of a wedding where half the bridesmaid dresses were tiffany with light green sashes and the other half were light green with tiffany sashes. To give you some reference, this is the photo I showed her as inspiration at the beginning of the appointment:

(from the newest edition of Southern Weddings Magazine)

Needless to say, the photo she showed me was pretty much the exact opposite of the above mismatched look I was going for. At that point, another consultant came in and took over our appointment. It was just at the right time, too, because I think my bridesmaids were picking up on the fact that I was disappointed and a bit overwhelmed/frustrated with the other consultant's lack of understanding. So they spoke up and we started over. This time, we focused on the dresses that coincided with the color palette I was initially drooling over. The following dresses are LulaKate or - as our (new) consultant put it - the build-a-bear of bridesmaid dresses. There are 14 different bodice choices and about 7 different skirt choices. My bridesmaids picked out the following styles:

MOH Sam chose Angela, a straight across strapless shown with box-pleat skirt. She liked this style as is.

BM Emily chose Pam, a cross-over/sweetheart with straps. It is shown with the box-pleat, but Emily likes it better with the straight skirt.

BM Katie chose Gina, a scoop neck front and back. She prefers the straight skirt as well, rather than the party skirt shown here.

BM Becca picked the sweetheart neckline, Pearl, with the box-pleat instead of the straight skirt shown.

All of the dresses would include the band as seen in the Angela and Pam photos or potentially a sash instead, similar to the Coren Moore dresses we liked in the beginning. And below are all of the shades of blueish green. I'm waiting on Bella Bridesmaid to send me some swatch samples since the colors look drastically different in person. Right now I'm leaning towards a combination of Pond, Tiffany Blue, Surf, Mist and either Waterfall or Paradise. As BM Becca explained to the consultant - I want my bridesmaids to look like 5 girls showed up to the wedding wearing dresses that just happened to go together.

Here we are, at the end of the appointment, happy with the decisions made and with plenty of options to discuss over lunch. All of the girls' measurements were taken and their preferred style combinations were written down. Now I'm just waiting for an email from our consultant and some fabric swatches. The designer for LulaKate will be at Bella on the 27th, so I might be able to go back and get sketches made and price quotes for all of the dresses we are considering.

Next up: our appointment at Bridals by Lori throws a wrench into the mix.

forever young - her

One of the other projects I've been working on recently is our growing up slideshow. Since I have a background in communications and digital media, I have elected to doing it myself. In the winter the future mister and I started collecting photographs from our families and this summer, during a particularly slow wedding planning month, I got started by scanning in a bunch of photos. My mom also helped out with her scanner at home and recently sent me another batch.

Maybe it's just me, but I really enjoy looking at other people's baby photos. So here are a few of mine:

newborn

1 year

3 years

4 or 5 - my brother and I ate breakfast in this chair together every morning

first day of kindergarten with my Barbie lunch box

my favorite color was pink

7 years - anyone remember the game Pretty, Pretty Princess??

8 years - visiting grammy and pop pop

10 years - boys will be boys

I'll stop here since the awkward pre-teen/teenage years don't need to be posted to the interwebs.

Honestly, though, I could immerse myself in old photographs for days on end. I love revisiting old vacations, milestones, events and emotions. And I've found it very difficult to narrow them all down! As you can see, these are mostly photos of me and my brother. For our actual slideshow, I've been trying to include photos of me with the various members of my immediate and extended family and friends. I think it's more fun for the viewers when they have a connection to the photographs.

Those of you who have done slideshows, did you enjoy the process? Did you find it difficult to pick your favorites?

Next time, I'll show you a few of the future mister.

confetti poppers

(source)

Doesn't this look like a fun alternative to the usual flower petals, rice, bubbles, or sparkler send off?

day of coordinator

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we had recently signed the contract and paid the deposit for a Day of Coordinator. I am extremely excited to have this checked off the list! I knew from early on that I wanted a coordinator of some kind, but was concerned that one wouldn't fit into the budget or that it would be considered unnecessary. Luckily, both my parents were on board with this idea and the future mister and I met with someone back in June.

After our meeting, we decided to go with their lowest package, which they describe as "for the couple with their event professionals and facilities confirmed, but who require a coordinator to facilitate their rehearsal, pre-ceremony pictures and ceremony." More specifically, this package includes:

planning sessions at 3 months, 1-2 months and 1 week prior to the event
unlimited email and phone conversations the month of the event
personalized, detailed timeline of pre-ceremony and post-ceremony photos
personalized, detailed timeline of ceremony
copies of personalized timelines distributed to all appropriate wedding professionals the day of the event
etiquette advice and guidance
complete wedding rehearsal coordination (1.5 hours)
pre-ceremony and ceremony coordination (4 hours)
emergency coordinator kit available at event

Our coordinator will also be able to handle some set-up as long as it is minor. For anything that is more involved or time consuming, our coordinator suggested we hire a second person at an hourly rate. We can also upgrade to full day-of coordination (to include the reception) at any time. This is where I'm torn and would love some advice. Initially, I was very happy with just rehearsal, pre-ceremony and ceremony coordination in order to save some money. After the post-ceremony photos, I figured that the DJ and catering manager could take things from there. But now I'm thinking that an extra $200 might be worth the peace of mind that comes from having a coordinator there for the entire day, pre-ceremony through reception. Which do you think is more important - saving some money or peace of mind?

speaking of cake toppers...

I was reading Weddingbee yesterday and saw this:

(source)

It made me laugh out loud. Now this is a cake topper I think the future mister could relate to. Me - not so much, but I still find it amusing.

cake toppers

Since I seem to be on a roll with wedding accessories/decor inspiration, let's move on to cake toppers.

Le Petit Oiseau
Charming and cute, but pricey

Lollipop Workshop

Super sweet, but also pricey

Bent Branch
Adorable!

Lilly BonBon

Another cute option

Kiki La Ru
I just think these look fun and very rustic/vintage

The toppers above are all very lovely, but my favorite is most definitely this one:

(source)

When I was an itty, bitty girl (about 4) I saw a picture of the most beautiful Barbie in a magazine (probably the Sears Christmas catalog).

Happy Holidays Barbie 1989

I was in love and it went straight to the top of my Christmas list. I was already a huge Barbie fan, but that Christmas started almost 20 years of collecting. I have every single holiday Barbie from 1989 until 2008, in addition to a few others. So, of course, the 1960s (reproduced in 1997) Barbie and Ken wedding ornament is my top pick. I'm not exactly sure how the future mister feels about my preferred pick, which is probably why I haven't made any decisions yet.

What do you think? Should I go with Barbie and Ken or keep looking to find something we both like?