Journey to the Dress Lesson 6: Accessories Make the Ensemble

Through this week-ish, I've written all about the ups and downs of finding, purchasing, and altering my dress. So what's left?.... The fun part: accessories!

Lu and I are having a vintage-themed wedding, and our colors are yellow, burgundy, and orange. Needless to say, I was able to get a little creative with my accessories.

However, keep in mind, there's a fine line between "creative" and "costume." The dress, or dresses in my case, are the still the key to my bridal look. Everything else that I wear has to complement the dresses. If not, it'll just look like I tried too hard... and possibly failed.

I decided to keep it simple and classic, yet fun and funky, with the following accessories:

Jewelry: Classic diamonds and pearls earrings, necklace, and bracelet -- not too big or with a whole lot of bling, just a little sparkle

Veil: I originally wasn't going to wear one, but I ended up purchasing a short blusher veil to stick on the back of my head for the ceremony. (Yes, the blusher's supposed to be worn in the front, but who can tell the difference?) Then I fell in love with a vintage birdcage style veil with a feather fascinator.

The feather doesn't cover my entire head, but you get the idea.

Shoes: I'm so in love with my shoes that they got their own post.

Purse: I'm totally changing up my look for the reception, so that Lu and I can have some fun! I'm trading the veils in for a flower in my hair, and Bella Fiore from www.etsy.com, who did the corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding, was able to make me a custom clutch that pulls everything together.

Perfect for cell phone, lipgloss, and some ID!... Even if the cell will be turned off and my ID won't reflect my "real" name after the ceremony.

Hair and Makeup: Although these technically aren't accessories, they definitely can accent or destroy the entire look of the wedding. I'm not a fan of wearing my hair up in something fancy (brings back bad memories of the 90s when bobby pins and prostyle gel ruled) or back in a bun (which I do fairly often anyway). Lu likes this look:

SCOR Formal 2009

My hair's longer now, so I think it'd work if I did the curls a little looser. I'm not sure how well red lipstick would go over at a wedding, but I think it's beautiful -- not to mention that my teeth look extra white! Decisions, decisions.

Read More

Journey to the Dress Lesson 3: Off-White is Okay (Kinda)

Once upon a time, a woman only wore an ivory gown when she was... tainted (a "nice" way of saying pregnant, already had children, second marriage, etc.). In fact, it might cause a scandal if a woman otherwise presumed to be virginal wore something besides bright white on her wedding day.

In today's age, it's not uncommon for a bride to wear white to her second wedding, or for a first-time bride to wear ivory. Ivory is a softer color, and it's more flattering to most skin tones than white. All white can actually be quite stark.

Some brides even choose to stroll down the aisle in a white dress with a pop of color -- such as a sash -- that complements the wedding colors. At the extreme, a small but growing number of brides even decide to shock everyone with a bold red dress.

While white may be a sign of purity in the Western world, brighter colors are often the tradition in many Eastern cultures -- symbolizing good luck or future wealth and prosperity. Check out Red Hot Brides for more pictures of women who made the bold choice of wearing a colored dress.

When I was looking for a dress, one of the options that I was leaning toward (and even purchased but returned) was a beautiful ivory lace gown. However, the main reason that I had doubts had nothing to do with the outdated stigma associated with ivory.

The main problem with ivory is that it's just hard to match. Everything about weddings is centered around the color white. From the shirts and spectator shoes that the men in our bridal party are wearing, to the flowers in my bouquet, to the linens on our tables: White takes a co-starring role in most weddings.

Part of me wanted to just wear it anyway. It's close enough, right?

The answer is, "No!"

After talking to my photographer, it turns out that ivory really does show up as dingy when put next to pure white.... And I'm sure that all of my Spelman sisters can agree that the one girl that decided to wear a cream dress for her traditional attire during our first convocation stuck out like a sore thumb.

Me on April 11, 2006 (Class Day) at Spelman in my traditional white dress attire: white dress, flesh-toned stockings, black closed-toe shoes.

In the end, I decided to go with a white wedding dress. Despite all of the unique things that Lu and I are bringing to this wedding, tradition wins on this one.

** Wedding Porn Wednesday: Wedding Gown Style **

Since it is Wedding Porn Wednesday, I would be remiss if I didn't discuss some wedding gown porn. Besides being spammed by all sorts of bridal boutiques, here's some of the better porn that tempted even me:

1) The David's Bridal $99 sale: It lured me into the store twice -- enough said. No, that's not enough because I walked out both times with a great dress. Even though I returned the ivory dress, I was still definitely pleased with my experience.

2) Free Stuff: At some boutiques, they'll offer you free veils, shoes, undergarments, etc. if you buy a dress. Since these accessories can rack up to several hundred dollars purchased separately, it's definitely worth checking out these deals.

3) Running of the Brides at Filene's Basement: The ultimate example of what the wedding industry can do to otherwise normal women. One store + One day + 1700 designer wedding gowns for 70-90% off (i.e. $10,000 dresses selling for $249) + hundreds of "teams" of bridesmaids, moms, etc. = Mayhem!!... But mayhem that's supposed to be really fun. If you're getting married soon, the Chicago event is on Friday, DC's in July 30, and Boston and Cleveland are having their sales at the end of August.

Read More

Whirlwind Weekend Recap: Sugar Rush

In my last post, I left off with Lu and me finishing the Bride and Groom Challenge and sucessfully making it to Maryland. Instead of going straight home, we detoured to see our photographer and baker. Since Lu's latest obsession is photography, then I'll leave that post to him. However, since my lifelong obsession is dessert, then I get to share the details about our cake tasting and design.

We arrived at the bakery at about 3:00 pm, a few hours after lunch, and just in time for a late-afternoon sugar fix. Whew! Did we ever get one at Mrs. Oliver's Cakes!

When we walked in the door, we were greeted by Toni, the owner of the bakery and a variety of samples, including: lemon cake with lemon curd filling, chocolate cake filled with coconut, chocolate filled with chocolate buttercream, almond filled with buttercream, red velvet with cream cheese, and butter rum with almond icing.

Just one example of what Mrs. Oliver can do!

After trying to daintily take a forkful of each -- at least I was, Lu was shamelessly enjoying everything -- we got down to details.

I didn't realize how important it was to try to bring everything from the wedding into the cake design. I thought it'd be a matter of just selecting colors and a design that looks cool. Of course, you can select a cake that way, but it's fun to pull in the parts you want to highlight.

In addition to talking about cake flavors and round vs. square layers, we really sat down and discussed a way to make our cake be a mini, edible representation of our wedding. I brought in fabric swatches of the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids dresses with me, as well as a sample bouquet with our flower colors. I'd also emailed Toni the previous week with our inspiration board and pictures of my dress.

To summarize what we came up with in one sentence: I'm in love with our cake.

The cake is going to be covered in yellow fondant with rouching to complement my wedding dress. The rouching will be joined with edible brooches to pull in the vintage theme. Our "topper" will be a cluster of burgundy, yellow, and orange sugar flowers, and there will also be a few flowers on each of the three layers. The base of each layer will have a white fondant "ribbon" around it, dotted with fondant pearls. Finally, if it doesn't look too busy, there will be a lace pattern (similar to the one below, also in the fondant) in the background.

The cake will look almost too good to eat, but wait until you hear about the flavors we selected:

Bottom Layer: Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling
Middle Layer: Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Top Layer: Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Filling

It's going to be absolutely delicious! I was a bit worried about the fondant taking away from the flavor. After all, most fondant tastes like play-doh. (Who cares how pretty the cake is if it tastes like something you ate when you were in first grade?!) However, Toni was adamant that the fondant that she uses actually blends into the cake. Still skeptical, she let us sample the fondant with the cake, and she was right! Instead of play-doh, the fondant tastes more like marshmallows. Yuummmmm!!!

Maybe we'll start a new wedding tradition by eating the cake first....

Read More

Our Inspiration

I had a conversation with a good friend of mine earlier this week about wedding "design." Quite frankly, Lu and I had just considered colors (burgundy and orange/yellow), a theme (Harlem Renaissance vintage), and some fun details (feathers, lanterns, fedoras). We figured that everything else would work itself out accordingly.

However, we took a little time today to really imagine our wedding. Let me know what you think!

Read More

Shades of Pink & Blue

Here are some amazing images from House Beautiful. Lots of Pinks and Blues, tow of my favorite shades in home decor. Hope these will inpire you....they've managed to put a smile on my face in this stressful time.

Read More

Dare to use COLOR??

I think most people shy away from BRIGHT COLORS . Even I hesitate sometimes when I think of painting a wall a bright color. They say colors on walls can be uplifting.... Well, I've had a Ralph Lauren PINK paint stored in my garage for about a year now. Can you tell I'm hesitating to use it? Well, I admit having this blog and placing all these inspiring images has helped my hesitation toward bright colors! I am growing to LOVE colors on walls now and hope to do more of it in the near future. Images from Marie Claire Maison.

Read More

Designers Guild, Colorful Inspiration

Established in 1970 Designers Guild is a leading worldwide luxury home furnishing brand. Designers Guild designs and wholesales furnishing fabrics, wallcoverings, upholstery, bed and bath under the Designers Guild and other brands throughout Europe and worldwide.
Tricia Guild founded Designers Guild in Chelsea, London in 1970, one of the most influential and creative forces in Interior Design. I go to this site every so often for inspiration and even though the pics are small, they are still so fascinating! Hope it will inspire you as well.

Read More

2 Great Decor Ideas!

Here are 2 interesting decor ideas I found on Women24. Make your kitchen more inviting by creating a nook for seating – real important in a busy kitchen. Built-in seating is always comfortable & looks great. Adding pink curtains will create a soft light and a warm feeling to the nook. Also, If you've been thinking about wallpaper lately, but aren't too sure. How about opting for stencils? Not only is wallpaper expensive & hard to apply, it also limits your choice of colors and patterns. Find a pattern you like and have it lasercut into a stencil. Choose strong colors that complement each other or muted colors like mother-of-pearl as an accent for a softer interior. The 2 lower images are from Stencil Library.

Read More

Reinvention, NOT Restoration

This is some creative upholstery.... but before these Victorian pieces were bright and cheery, they were worn down and some even torn. The antique furniture was bought on Craigslist, believe it or not. The pieces were then re-invented by NYC based company, (Custom Design Studio) when they refinished the dark wood frames in vivid colors and replaced the upholstery with bold patterned fabrics. I love it! Read more about the process on the Home Magazine website.

Read More

Kelly Wearstler is my top pick Designer!

I LOVE her designs and have even been around them, such as the ViceRoy hotel in Santa Monica. I remember walking in there and seeing this lobby and was so impressed. She isn't afraid to use colors and has lots of fun doing it i'm sure. She has her own style and I enjoy every bit of it. I'd to get her newest book "Modern Glamour- The Art of Unexpected Style" - i skimmed through it today while at the bookstore and many of the pics on her site are in the book. Its an amazing site too: Kelly Wearstler. Its a pleasure to post some of her work here.

Read More

Eat on this

These are the coolest dishware i've seen. They all have a unique design and color. You can even lean them on your walls as decoration. You can see more of her brightly colored dishes on her site: Sarah Cihat.

Read More