DIY Shoe Bling

Finding the PERFECT bridal shoe can be a pain. Depending on your personality, you might want to match your dress, you might want to wear hot pink shoes that pop, or you might want to bling it out. Regardless, it's hard to find the ones you've been dreaming of.. especially if you're on any type of budget. Well, here's a solution so simple than even the non-craftiest bride can do: Add rhinestones to your own shoes!

From plain

To Sassy!

complete tutorial here

Wedding Shoes

I was in DSW a few weeks ago to pick up some new brown shoes for my fiance, and I of course browsed the entire women's section. I was looking for tall boots, if anything, but I came across these lovely Caparros and just knew these were meant to be my wedding shoes! So comfy!

Fall Weddings

I'm currently loving reading about rustic, Fall weddings. Check out these lovelies below!

photos seen here first.

Winter Shrug - Savvy!

Last night, while casually browsing the mall, I happened upon something I was not expected --- a cute faux fur shrug! It is a classy faux spiral fur coat featuring 3/4 bell-shaped sleeves and a cropped swing style. It is both winter savvy & a budget savvy steal from Forever 21!

Hair Fascinator

To go along with the Modern Vintage feel of my wedding, I've also decided to wear a fascinator & I fell in love with this one below! I can't wait to see it in person!

Fascinator by Brenda's Bridal Veils here.

MOH Hair Accents

To separate my Maid & Matron of Honor from the other Bridesmaids, I am excited to be giving them their own hair fascinators!! They will be eggplant purple instead of black, but they are VERY similar to the below! It will look great since both my MOHs are planning to wear a side bun!

Seen & ordered from Brenda's Bridal Veils here.

Guy's Socks

FINALLY! I have been searching for men's socks with purple or eggplant in them for over 2 months!! Last night, at Express Men, I found one. It was a little like winning the lottery! P and I snagged them up as gifts for the groomsmen & ushers so that we can take cute pictures like the below!

Winter Encouragement

After having discussions with several people over the last few weeks, I was getting sorta bummed about the fact that being a winter bride, I will not be able to take any photos of my fiance and I frolicking about in an open field on a warm, summer afternoon. So, I went online and looked for inspiration of things that I loved about the uniqueness of winter weddings, and I came across the perfect pick-me-up photos. I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Below is the cutest pic of a winter bride and her bridesmaids on a snow filled, winter day. I love the contrast of their dresses with the white snow on the ground, and I love how the bride looks like an angel descending on the snow.

I just think this is a super cute photo of the groom & bride...
I LOVE this idea! I have been on the search for months for the perfect cashmere socks for my Fiance and the guys.... this just fuels my energy to keep looking for them!
I love the kiss with the snow falling, and the crowd in the background. So cute and so perfectly captured with the diffused lighting of a winter day.
Love this photo because it's almost exactly like what my guys will be wearing -- groomsmen in black suits with purple/plum (bow)ties with ivory calla lilies, and the groom in a black suit with a white (ivory) tie.
All photos first seen here.

FINALLY - back in black

So, when my MOHs and I picked out the Bridesmaids dresses, we didn't know what they would look like in black because there were NO pictures in black online, and there were no black dresses at the store. But, we figured back is black, taffeta is taffeta, we should be able to imagine it. I was just REALLY happy when I checked the Priscilla of Boston website again today to find that they had updated the photos to show the dress in black... and I love it, yay!

The only thing was... now that they've updated colors, they showed all the other colors that I could have chosen from (which for whatever reason the store didn't tell me -- probably because I told them I wanted black ;)) but anywho, now I LOVE this blackberry color that the dress comes in and kinda wish I had gone that way... of course I could never have known because at the time we ordered the dressess I had a different color palette planned. Oh well. Either way, these are gorgeous dresses and I can't wait to see how beautiful the BMs look!

Men's attire

Given our new colors (wine & eggplant instead of Red), below is the attire we've decided on for the guys. Simple and will fit in nicely with the decor of the ceremony site as well as season.

Handmuffs instead of bouquets?

OK, tell me all, what do you think about bridesmaids carrying handmuffs instead of bouquets? Might be a fun and unique alternative for a winter wedding, yes?

Winter Cape

Every winter bride needs a winter cape! Check out this lovely one by Spazooie on Etsy. I think it's super cute and adds a lovely feel to winter nuptials.

{idea} Boutonnieres

P and I have pretty much decided to go with the feather centerpieces that I blogged about previously. Given that, I've been trying to decide how I can continue that modern vintage feel throughout the wedding. I think I will include some feathers in my bouquet, and then I also thought how fun it would be to use feathers instead of flowers for Boutonnieres. I went onto Etsy (where else?) and after 1 quick search, found this lovely bout by Rationale. P isn't quite sure what to think, but I definitely feel inspired!

{idea} something blue

So I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how I incorporate something blue into my wedding attire. Blue jewelry just wont work. It's all about the pearls. Blue shoes? Maybe... but what else? Then I remembered something I had seen on one of my favorite blogs - the BudgetSavvyBride. This bride purchased little blue fancy (glittery maybe?) sticker letters from a craft store and affixed them to the bottom of her shoes! On the left shoe, she wrote the couples names, and on the right shoe, she wrote the couples wedding date and the words "I Do." How cute!! and creative. and fitting for my budget! :)

Bridal Clutches

Etsy has to be one of my favorite websites. It is so awesome that I can find ANYTHING crafty and cute on there. and if I can't find it, I surely can find someone with enough skill to make it. While searching for damask items, I recently came across Melody June who makes the cutest clutches! I loved one of her patterns, but wanted it with a bow instead of a ribbon... I just convo'd Melody telling her what I wanted, and wa-lah. Within a day, my custom designed clutches were being made! I can't wait to see how they turn out! I ordered one for each of my bridesmaids... Melody is nice enough to offer a discount (a free clutch) if you order 5 clutches or more! So now we'll all have one. :)

Below is a picture of a clutch Melody made being used in an engagement photo.

The clutches I designed were inspired by this, but use a different damask pattern, and have both removable red & black bows.

BM dresses

After I tried on my wedding gown and was purchasing THE DRESS, my MOH's skidaddled off to look at the bridesmaids dresses at the store. Before I had even gotten to the BM section, they had narrowed it down to 3 options. I said I needed to go to the restroom, and they said they would use that opportunity to try on these gowns. I could have only been gone 2 minutes max, and when I got back, they had already picked the dress they wanted to wear. I think they would have knifed me if I had said I didn't like it... fortunately, I did. It's a LOVELY dress, and doesn't look too bridesmaidsy. They swear they can't wait to get it hemmed after the wedding and use it for their LBD. So, all-in-all, the BM dresses were picked in <10>

The store didn't have the dress in black, so my MOH tried it on in the gray color as shown above, but the dresses in my wedding will be black. The dress is from the Vineyard Collection by Priscilla of Boston. Cute, eh?

My wedding gown

A couple weekends ago, my Matron of Honor was amazing enough to host an engagement party for P & I. She was travelling into town from a few hours away, and My Maid of Honor was flying into town from Washington, DC. Clearly, it was the perfect time for me to try on dresses for them, and also for them to try on bridesmaids dresses. I'm just at 6 months out from my wedding, so we need to order ASAP!

Well, we went to a lovely bridal shop here in town and we started trying on dresses for me. The girl helping me was super nice and listened to what I said I want, and my concerns about flattering my figure. She totally heard me and brought me the most amazing dress, and then even brought me a sash from a different designer to add to the dress to give it the empire effect I wanted, as well as make it one-of-a-kind. I was sold on the spot. The store then took me to an area to try on different jewelry, veils, headpieces, etc with the dress. It was amazing getting all dolled up for this, and way more fun than I thought... but, I was trying not to get too excited, because the dress & sash were way out of my price range. However, the sales girl said "let me see what we can do for you." I didn't have high hopes, but when she returned, I was presented with an offer I couldn't turn down. If I was willing to purchase the specific dress I tried on (the one used as a sample), I could take it home that day for over 50% off the price tag! I almost hyperventilated. It now put the dress in my dress range, and saved me the agony of hoping my dress came in in time to get alterations prior to my wedding. I couldn't believe it. The dress was a NEW sample. There are no dirt stains on it, no torn lace, no make up stains on the inside, nothing. It looks incredible. So now, I have it hanging in my guest bedroom and sometimes I go lay in there and pull out the dress and just look at it and daydream. :)

So glad my MOH's made me try on dresses!! Of course, the jewelry was another story -- still ridiculously expensive from the bridal shop, but I have a solution... stay tuned for a future blog to find out :)

Wedding Dress Inspiration

Because I'm getting married in Winter, do I have to wear a "winter wedding dress" with lace sleeves and velvet?! I think not. I love the idea of wearing a dress that could be worn year round, not only in the winter. I will plan to spruce up the winter effect with a faux fur bolero or wrap during some pictures. Anyhoo, I've gone to try on dresses several times, and have chosen my dress (it's a secret), but I wanted to include some pictures of dresses that inspired me, felt perfect for the feel of my wedding, and were all around phenomenal.

Lovely dresses from the Alfred Angelo Sapphire collection:

Beautiful Dresses from Maggie Sottero:

As you can tell, I like A-line, empire waisted dresses... and preferably lace. :)

Colors

Soooo, I have 2 sets of favorite colors: the first being bright pink & green (with pearls :P) and the second set of favorite colors is black, white & red. Given bright pink & green doesn't make me feel 'wintery', it was very easy to pick my wedding colors: black, white & red it is. This also works out because P's college colors are black, white & red. Done and Done.

So as far as outfits for the bridal party, I think we'll have the bridesmaids in black, floor-length gowns. They can carry white flowers (tbd). Then we can have the groomsmen & ushers in black tuxedos with red vests & ties. I think the bright reds might be a little too much for our venue and tone of our semi-formal (yet ridiculously fun) wedding, but I am inspired by the color and pattern of the vest below. It might be the one. We'll see what P says. He will be in a cream vest/tie to match my gown.

Vest & tie from Men's Wearhouse