delish. and not food.

Ok, that's it. These might be my favorite bridesmaid dresses I have ever seen anyone use. They might not be the "perfect" dress, but their SO cute, the colour's GREAT, flattering and WAY more original than most anything we typically see. Good job ladies! Image from Green Wedding Shoes photos by Julie Mikos.

other people's weddings: Amy & Craig

Awww... I love this wedding... this is a great example of my favorite level of... well, I guess the word would be formality. Notice how the details are all still special: the shirts are crisp, the shoes are killer, the dress is detailed and amazing, BUT the overall feeling seems to be one of warm, summer nights, with your best friends. I know this sounds silly, but to me, a really great wedding ends up conveying the same feelings as any great party, and our greatest parties always seem to be our barbecues! Great music, great food, and cool friends... Really, you can have all the lighting schemes you want, but that combo is unbeatable... As long as you're able to keep it "special" (no hockey jerseys or sweatpants... and no, I'm not joking. Both of these things have been worn to weddings I've been to!) you're good to go! These gorg details were shot by Heather Wendling and more can be found over at Style Me Pretty. Now I just have to convince both my brothers to wear suspenders *words I never though I'd be saying!*

snazzy maids and an extra special helping of maid of honour: Orange & Magenta

Ok, I know orange is typically always done with the whole "citrus" them, or you know, fall. But I kind of hate citrus, and the fall thing is pretty obvious, no? So, seriously, check out the awesomess that is that MOH dress!! I'm not totally sold on the belt, but that's an easy change out. and with the simple orange bmaids dresses and possibly co-ordinating magenta flats this could be SO killah!! clockwise from top-left: Alex Monroe,my Wedding Flower Ideas, Sophia and Chloe, Madaboochoo, Old Navy, Yoox.

snazzy maids and an extra special helping of maid of honour: Red 'n Black

So, I've read a lot of posts recently about the new "trends" in b-maids dresses, in particular patterned dresses, mismatched dresses, and a "special" dress for the MOH. My personal favorite is the idea of having basically matching b-maids dresses, especially using TEXTURE instead of pattern, with a suped-up version for your maid of honour. So I've decided to do a little series for your viewing pleasure, going through the spectrum of the rainbow! Each set will have a look for your b-maids with a co-ordinating look for your maid of honour, hopefully in ANY colour you might happen to choose!

So here we go! Let's start off with Red (and black!). I'm totally digging the rock 'n roll glam feel of this board (check out the tiny skull in the b-maids headpiece!) B-maids getup is on the left, MOH on the right. Clockwise from top-left: Unique Vintage, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Dorothy Perkins, Gordon's Jeweler's, Christian Louboutin, Georgina Goodman

other people's weddings: Alexis & Dave

So I've been trying to get a more structured flow to the site, concentrating on more specific areas, the ones that have helped and inspired ME the most on other people's blogs. One of my favorite sections? Real weddings. I mean, you can see all the perfectly laid out tables, flowers, and cupcakes you want, but until you see them in action it's just not the same, is it? I mean, I've posted real weddings before, but now it's official. And so, without further ado I present you with Alexis & Dave with photos by Mary Claire Crow. And yes, I realize there's a heavy tan and hydrangeas, but girlfriend won me over in so many other ways that I ended up barely noticing. Most importantly? Lady has STYLE. Especially check her b-maids and her own dress. TO. DIE. FOR.

Call me overly-traditional, but I see NOTHING wrong with one-colour rose bouquets. Totally what I'm going for. I think, especially if you're doing a lot of non-traditional things, those little details that harken back can be really sweet.

See? What'd I tell you? Girl's got style.

The Ladies. I lurve the purple door (shockingly).

The Charming Couple...

Best groom photo evah!!! ROCK ON, MAN! ROCK ON!!!

shoes for sistah (or that's my excuse anyway)

So, I've pretty much got my shoe situation sorted out as per my earlier post("these shoes were made for dancing..."), but that doesn't necessarily stop me from pining over what-ifs... Thankfully, I feel like I can justify this drooling by looking for shoes for lil sis, despite the fact that she is MORE than capable of finding something on her own, more than likely cuter than anything I can come up with! Anyhoo, thought I'd send of the shoe-candy your way... Did you know that Victoria's Secret has some pretty great shoes now? Who knew? (And don't ask how I found out!) All from Victoria's Secret.

I am seriously crushing on the black ones, there, but I'm worried that, between the bow on the front of her dress and here, that's just too many bows!

Could be fun, either colour (well maybe not so much the green...)

Ok, the purple ones? Yep, love them. Like, LOVE them... Are purple shoes with a purple dress too much? Even if they're very different shades?

I think the black would be too harsh, and the lilac are a freakishly close match, but the grey could be pretty, no?

other people get it! II

Woot! Totally found the "sister" dress (ironic?) to lil sis' b-maid dress over at auburn & ivory... This dress is basically only different in that the ruffles run along the bottom edge here, instead of vertically from top to bottom. Otherwise, same colour, same bow, same brand. Seriously, how cool is the styling here? Also? Auburn & ivory? Killer site. Just saying.

Sis needs a freaking phone!

Got lil sis' dress in the mail today. I'm a little concerned, just because I never really planned on getting THIS dress. But it's very pretty, the colour's great and it was a damn good price. Concerns: it's big. Like, TOO big. It fits ME with some room to spare. Have I mentioned that my sister's TINY?! Honestly, how is it that I have to wear a medium or large, but their size 6 is too big??? Really? Is that what we've come to? A 6 is a large? But that's easy enough to change, I guess. Oh, and it's a little short. I'm actually not worried about the length, but I want HER to be comfortable with it. And it is NOT a bridesmaid dress! I think this is GREAT, but I'm worried my guests might not "get it". Do I care if they get it? Yeah, I'm not sure. I think, more than anything, I just need to see it on her... now if only she'd find herself a freaking phone! Well, here it is, hanging in my living room. Though, actually, even as I'm sitting here it's really starting to grow on me. I think it's the sunlight flooding in through the windows...

Surprise!

Sooo... have you ever bid on something on ebay completely assuming that you WON'T win the bid? Yep, that's what I did with a bridesmaid dress for lil sis. Only to realize the next day that I was the winning bid and out several bones... soooo.... she HAD told me that it was great (which is why I placed a bid in the first place!) so I can only hope she loves it! Now, be warned, it's "different", and it's looks uber-weird on the odd, grey mannequin... But picture my leggy, brown lil sis in it, and I kind of love it. Either way, what's done is done and this is the card that I'm tucking into sis' Christmas card when she comes over to celebrate tomorrow (just watch, this'll be the first time ever that she's all over her emails and realizes a day early what I got her!):

Woohoo! Might have found a b-maid dress!!!

So went out with lil sis on Friday and after a few totally traumatizing episodes related to bridal boutiques that had me totally dreading the rest of the day (not to mention the price tags! Seriously! WTF! When did bridesmaid dresses average out around $300?!?! For a boring tube of cheap poly-satin??? For realz?!) we decided to hit up a few of the higer end stores to at least look for inspiration. This would be when we stumbled half-heartedly in BCBG MaxAzria... and we LOVED it!!! Though the prices are well above what I would EVER spend on a "normal" dress, they were well within the realm of what she would have to pay for your standard/horrible bridesmaid dress. And how thrilled were we both when we came across this little number!!!

To say that this dress looks better on my sister is the understatement of the century! She looked beautiful. And like herself! It's perfect in real life: dressy, elegant, trendy, with kind of a bohemian edge that's frickin' awesome! Despite the crazy price tag, I think it's the one! YAY!

The Never Ending-Never Beginning Bridesmaid Dress Search

So little sister has been riding me lately to get my act together re: the bridesmaid dresses. Some concerns: will it just be her or cuz too, because one's tall and thin and the other's petite and hourglass with a capital "h". Either way will both girls even wear the same dress? Short or long? Structured or flowy? How to keep the bridesmaid dresses from overpowering my own simple gown? How much money to spend? How to even find the dresses we like considering we live in the boondocks? Is it cool to buy the dresses online? Oy, it never ends, does it? Well, at least lil' sis and I basically tend to agree on style. Here's some of the options I like best (whether or not getting them is even a possibility is a whole 'nother question!)

Vera Wang from Bluefly.com

BCBG from Bluefly.com

ABS from Bluefly.com

Jim Hjelm