Real Wedding: The Bickerstaffs

I saw just ONE picture of this wedding and knew it would be gorgeous. Boy was I right! Hannah Bryant Brown of HBB Photography kindly sent me these gorgeous images to share with you all. I hope you are inspired!

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Teal, Mustard & Berry

Good morning! Happy Thursday, GREY Readers. I’m looking forward to working hard for you today (I’m vowing to make up for our lost posts this week!) so I’ve decided to make residence in my new office: the local library. Our library is like none other. It was built back in the 70’s and totally looks like Mike Brady designed it (think orange, brown and 70’s typefaces everywhere). There are fountains and windows as far as the eye can see, and the best part is they have a cafe! So, whilst I sip my morning coffee, we’re getting the day going with a cup of morning color.

I’m really diggin’ this funky little color palette. It’s different, which, as you should know, I LOVE! But it’s not a bad different; it’s a FRESH different. It may be a bit of a challenge to successfully pull this off for a wedding, but if you’re a color enthusiast and find that new mixes charge your batteries, then this one’s for you! I’m just going to warn you now: I’m REALLY into teal and mustard yellow. What the heck?

Sources left to right from top: 1. Etsy 2, 4, 6, & 9. Meg Smith 3. Masterpiece Weddings 5. Etsy 7. Unknown 8. Etsy

Back with Black!

Well, you all must be wondering what cliff I’ve fallen off of. No posts for two whole days??? Friends, I’d like you to meet the new love of my life, my nephew, Hudson Ryan Collins:

So, I’m sure you can understand why I’ve been away for a few days! But we’re back up and running now, and I’ve got some gorgeous things in store for you. (Besides that baby’s precious little face!!! I just want to nibble on those toes!)

Today, I wanted to share with you a wedding shot by one of my absolute FAVORITE photographers, Trever Hoehne. His work is always to-die-for! I love Justine and Don’s wedding: it’s clean, sophisticated look is both fresh and elegant. Ahhhh!  And, I LOVE black! I want to see more of it!!! So, let’s get into it…

LOVE when bridesmaids get to choose their own dress. And I think this shows how it can work. And black is just so lovely!!! Gorgeous!!!

Rustica!

I love all things vintage and/or RUSTIC! Mixing the formality of a wedding with a casual atmosphere makes for a very playful event. I often feel weddings are so rushed and bogged down with traditional formalities that before anyone has a chance to breathe, the bride and groom are running through bird seed/sparklers/flower petals/et al and whisking off to an undisclosed location. Rather than take the “checklist” approach to reception activities, I prefer the idea of a fantastic dinner, lots of wine, plenty of hearty conversation, laudable toasts, and a good helping of tunes courtesy of Frank Sinatra, Kenny Chesney and the 80’s. The whole rustic wedding fits right into that vision, so today, I thought I’d show you what I mean.

For sources, click on each photo.

: : F A L L : :

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: : S P R I N G : :

: : S U M M E R : :

Real Wedding: Kate and Evs

I’m so sorry for today’s late post!!! But I promise I’m making it up to you RIGHT NOW! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to share this real wedding with you. Not only have I developed a web-crush on both Stacy Sodolak of SMS Photography and Kate Moynahan of Elefantites Alegres, but now I get to share with you Stacy’s photos of Kate’s wedding AND Kate’s post-wedding advice to all of you brides out there. Kate is unbelievably hilarious, and is in fact our very own Fashionista Vista. I know you’re going to love her wedding and what she’s got to say. Without further ado, here is Kate!

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K’s Do’s & Don’ts of Wedding Perfection(ish)

(1) if you’re early in the planning stages… decide want you want before interviewing vendors. yep, this sounds obvious, but i was one of those chicas that was so excited to begin planning that i jumped right in with both feet without considering exactly what sort of look and feel i (ummm “we”? well, whatevs) really wanted. those early vendor interviews and visits were by far the most frustrating of the entire process. so do an impromptu guest-count, clip your magazine photos, make some lists – whatever it takes to get at least a vague idea of your ideal celebration – before you start trying to cross off big-ticket-decision-items… trust me: it will save you lots of tears / bottles of wine / pathetic, sissy “but i just want it to be perfeeeeeect” whines.

(2) and while you’re at it… do what you want! i tried to post about this a while back, and Mags just recently said it ever-so-much-more-eloquently than i… but plan the wedding that you and your fiance want – not what a magazine, or your mother, or a blogger, or your friends want. so time to cowboy-up, girlie, and make your celebration your own.

(3) surround yourself with good people. it doesn’t matter if your florist was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings / the Knot / Modern Bride / Whatever… if she’s a total bitch or a space-cadet who sucks at returning emails or doesn’t take your ideas seriously, then the planning process is going to be a whole lot more stressful than necessary. hire people who you click with – who get you and your “vision”… as totally lame as i felt, i knew immediately who my vendors were if their eyes lit up when i said “Midnight Garden Party Hosted by Anthropologie” (hush your face, i’m not good at verbalizing “themes,” alright?). it may sound cheeseball, but planning a wedding with people who i legitimatly enjoyed as human beings made the process all that much joyous and fun.

(4) play nice – it pays off. and i’m not just talking about the Karma Department (although your family, friends and fiance – aka “the F Trifecta” – will be infinitely grateful if you keep the Bridezilla Moments to a minimum) – being a non-diva can literally pay off bigtime. 2 weeks before the wedding, we got the call that we were thousands of dollars under our anticipated budget. yep: you heard me correctly – a couple of rent payments to spare! why, you ask? first-off because our wedding coordinator Gina is a total badass, but also because we got a ton of bees with honey! apparently wedding vendors don’t often encounter super-pleasant people (which, dude, sucks – you’re getting married – freakin’ smile!) – so communicating your wants and needs without being a total Mariah Carey about the whole ordeal will take you far. this is not to say i was a total peach for 15 mo., but professionalism and personality will make it easy for vendors to throw in a little something extra!

(5) here’s a thought: look like you! so i have sausage arms. i (very sadly) will never be Michelle Obama. even during the thinnest phases in my life, my arms remain thick-ish comparatively. this is just a fact of my existence. of course, wanting to look my best on our wedding day, i hired a trainer, cut (a few) carbs, and amped up the cardio. and i felt beautiful and fit on March 28… but, yep, there they are, in some of our pictures: the sausage arms. sure, i could have denied myself every sweet, every ounce of pasta, every glass of wine in the months leading up to the wedding, but (a) i would have been a total bitch-beast, and (b) Waif K is not me. looking back at our wedding photos 20 years from now, i’d rather see myself – sausage arms and all – than some uber-skinny girl i don’t recognize. the same goes for your makeup, hair, and dress – choose a look that makes you feel gorgeous as you – not what you think a “bride” should look like. plus, you have to give your photog something to PhotoShop!

(6) if this is up your alley, take pictures before! hands-down, best wedding decision we made! it made the waiting around before the ceremony go so much faster, it put both of us at ease for the ceremony, it was fun (!), and we had much more time to hang out with our guests. people were very divided on this topic but i have absolutely no regrets – the moments we shared during our “first glimpse” were priceless (ie: the first coherent words out of Evs’ mouth were “do you like my tie?” ummmmm, yes honey, i was with you when you bought it… do you like, oh, i don’t know… my wedding dress???) and i just know i would have been anxious and fidgety during family pictures had they occurred during cocktail hour. probably not a decision that is right for everyone but it worked swimmingly for us!

(7) this one’s a “duh” but… don’t sweat the small stuff. things will go wrong on your super-special-princess-day. several things went astray on our day. if you pull on your big girl panties and roll with the punches, the day’s going to be a lot more enjoyable and you’ll laugh about the snafus much sooner than if you pout. case in point: my veil snagged on my way down the aisle with my dad – literally snapping my head back in a very big, very ungraceful, very un-bride-like way – i’m 112% positive that i looked like a retarded string puppet. so yeah, embarrassing, and yeah, typical… but one massive fist-pump and a very loud “i’m okay!” later, dad and i were rolling back on down the aisle. turns out… this was actually one of my favorite moments of the day – it cut the emotional tension and made everyone laugh – and i am nothing if not the class clown. so rock on with your bad imperfect self – it feels good!

(8) don’t worry – you’re still you! sounds weird but the dweepy sociology freak / quasi-feminist in me was worried about how being a wife would make me feel… would it be different? would it be weird? would i immediately have an urge to prance around the house in a frilly apron with a feather duster, martini ready and waiting for my man to come home? fear not, friends! although i have recently dabbled in pot roast, it turns out that i am the same sarcastic, crabby-in-the-morning, neat-freak, addicted-to-crap-tv, stubborn-ass girl that i was 3 weeks ago! and Evs is still the same know-it-all, crotchety, goes-to-bed-at-9-PM-on-Sundays, moody-when-hungry, infuriatingly-rational man he was 3 weeks ago! score!

there you have it… my spiel. for what its worth.

okay, soapbox away. thank you for letting me Play Bride for one more moment! cookies for all of you!

Giveaway Wednesday

Is it just me or do our giveaways keep getting better and better? Well, today’s giveaway is none other than a wedding ring!!!! What’s that you say? Yes. A wedding ring. Your eyes do not deceive you. So if you haven’t purchased a ring for your fella, I’m pretty sure this is the contest for you. Let me break it down:

Superior Wedding Rings is an online company that offers a HUGE selection of wedding rings. Their rings come in everything from ceramic to palladium, and in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Superior Wedding Rings is going to giveaway your choice of ring from their site (up to $120 in value). Here are a few samples of my faves:

If that sounds like a down deal to you (I mean, HELLO, I’m not even engaged yet and I think I’d enter!) then here’s how to enter to win:

1. Post a link to Superior Wedding Rings on your blog, facebook or myspace page.

2. Make a comment here and link to your post.

3. If you’re chosen as a winner, you’ll need to put up a permanent link to Superior Wedding Rings on your blog in order to receive your prize.

Easy as pie, gals. Easy as pie. And if you don’t have a blog, what the heck? You just might want to start one. The cut-off date for entry is Tuesday, April 28 at midnight. We’ll pick the winner at random!

On your mark, get set, go!!!!

If this, then that

If you are having a yellow wedding like this:

{Style Me Pretty}

Then you ought to by this for your bridesmaids:

And perhaps you’re brave enough to wear this (because I LOVE it!):

And give this to your mom to wear in place of a corsage:

And use these as your thank you cards:

And if there is any way you can manage to fit this in somehow, I’d be forever grateful!

Inspiration: Beach Wedding

I don’t think a beach wedding ever gets old. There’s such a romantic and relaxed feeling to it. And since the weather over here feels like it’s mid-July, I could think of nothing else besides ocean. Almost all of these photos (except the few listed below) are from a wedding designed by Lisa Vorce of Oh How Charming Events and photographed by Elizabeth Messina.

Sources: 2. Brides 3. Brides 4. Etsy 8. Karen Tran

Found: Birch Cones

Yesterday I received the following comment on this photo from {GREY} reader, Ashley:

I am having an October wedding with a fall theme. We are incorporating birch trees into our centerpieces and I wanted to know about the birch tree hanging basket. Are they available to purchase? I would need 6 of them for the pews at my church. Thank you!

Since birch is all the rage right now, I thought I’d look into finding where one might purchase such an item. And guess what? I found some birch cones for purchase and you’ll never believe it, but they’re affordable. I can’t begin to tell you how much my “Found” posts make me happy. I think they’re my favorite, because we’re bringing you the sources right from the photos! Here goes:

Muscari sells these cones for only $10, and they come with pre-drilled holes in the sides.

And if that isn’t enough, they sell some other fabulous little ditties to go along with the look like this ring bearer ring cushion:

And these boutonnieres:

And for very well-priced birch bark tubes (especially if you’re buying in bulk for a wedding) like these, check here.

Happy day! Thanks Ashley for the comment. I’m glad I could source these for us all!

Chocolate & Pictures

Happy Monday!!! Wow. What a weekend. We had a fabulous photo shoot yesterday with Stephanie Williams, Eva from Red Velvet Occasions and the absolutely LOVELY gals, Lucia and Henny from D*LSH Design. The girls are releasing a new e-zine project called Utterly Engaged and I promise you, it will be fabulous. I had the absolute pleasure and privilege to design the florals and help style yesterday’s shoot, which will be featured in their first issue! YAY! As soon as Utterly Engaged comes out, I will most definitely share all the goods with you. So that’s what Grey has been up to. Now let’s get this week started.

When photographer Elizabeth Messina celebrated her wedding at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, among all the fabulous details (which you can check out here) she offered her guests personalized candy bars with photos of her, her new husband Lee, their children, and their travels. I am always looking for ways a bride and groom can share their story with their guests, and I think this is a great way to do it. For links to creating your own custom wrappers, click here.