Blog love

I just saw that AmyJean from the Relentless Bride nominated me (and several other of her friends) for a blog award. I think this is fun because it perpetuates the blog love.

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

So I'm linking to That [engaged] Girl, Betrothed Bean, My Wedding Report, Engageology, Cats Cheese and a Wedding Please, Wide Eyed Bride (whose taste I absolutely love), and With this Ring.

Pay it forward girls!

Backup shoes. What?!

Everyone knows by now that I have my beloved Fluevogs. They are comfortable... for 2-3 inch heels, but they're still heels. Also, my sister thinks I'm crazy for wearing them in the first place!

Well, last summer, when I was making my very first inspiration board, I pulled a picture of some Two Lips shoes that I loved... and they were flats. The thing is, the shoe had been discontinued and you couldn't find it anywhere but e-bay. I wasn't too keen on wearing used shoes.
This is the Tessa... She doesn't exist anymore :(

Not to be daunted by a challenge, I looked through all existing Two Lips shoes to see if there was something comparable. Through that search, I found the Talent. It was also unfortunately discontinued. But through more searching I found one pair on discount at an on-line shoe seller. They were less than $30 bucks. This meant I had to get them as a back-up for the Fluevogs. Here is the Talent. (Pretty similar to the Tessa, no?)

I wish it had straps and a back, but I'm just happy to have a comfortable back-up!

Inauguration Day!

I'm watching coverage this morning of our new President Obama (love saying that) before the swearing in. There seems to be so much joy and hope in Washington DC and the country.

I feel a bit misty eyed to be watching history, and am wondering what it's going to be like to tell people about it 20 or 30 years from now.

Right now, I think someone needs to pinch me!

Oh and in only slightly related news, hats are back! Never have I seen so many fedoras, golfer caps, top hats and other chapeaus. I think this is a great trend, as you can see from our engagement photos.

Flower girl dresses: harder than you might think

I feel a little rant welling up inside of me. What is up with flower girl dresses? Why is it so necessary to dress little girls up like women? What is wrong with these people?

Now, I may not be the most conservative person, but this is one place where I am ultra-conservative. I believe that little girls should dress like little girls. No need to rush their developmental process by putting them in slinky, spaghetti strapped, v-necked numbers. I feel like role models like Miley Cyrus and Brittany Spears are rushing girls' mental image of what they should look and act like, and I don't think that's a good thing.

Here's a sampling of what I found by clicking the first link that popped up when I google searched "Flower girl dresses"



I did not go searching hard for *ehm* horrible images... This is what is really out there! (I'm not going to even credit these images-- they don't deserve it)

What happened to sweet traditional little girl dresses? Maybe like this from Smitherman and Barnwell:


or this from the Briar Patch? (which is the only dress with any sleeves that was worth posting)

Ultimately, it will be up to my sister and her kids to decide what they want to wear, but I don't think it'll be easy finding something appropriate. I wish them luck! (and am happy to help)

Slightly more traditional

Here are some of the slightly more traditional engagement shots... (for the mamas)

Miriam Haskell vintage pearls

I've been on the hunt for just the right necklace to go with the sweet dress. We've talked about making something so that it would be perfect. I ran across this charming necklace on Bel Canto Designs on Etsy, and was pretty smitten.

It's vintage Miriam Haskell and it's in mint condition. My only worry is that it might be too long to sit exactly where I would like-- it's a 16 inch strand, and I have a 13 inch neck.



What do you think?

Blurb on Miriam Haskell:

BORN IN 1899, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ART NOUVEAU VANGUARD,
she was one of four children, and the daughter of small-town merchants in Albany, Indiana. Some 30 years later, Miriam Haskell would have tea with Coco Chanel while selecting the upcoming season’s beads at Madame Gripoix’s- the finest source in Paris. While Miriam would bring her young design artist, Frank Hess, Chanel was alone. They would talk. Share ideas. Trade fashion celeb secrets. They were among a new class: independent women who began their careers designing jewelry to complement high fashion clothing in an exclusive boutique.

MIRIAM HASKELL OPENED HER FIRST BOUTIQUE IN 1926, “LE BIJOU DE L’HEURE” IN NEW YORK”S McALPIN HOTEL. She created collections for the society women of her day, the lavish productions of Flo Ziegfeld, as well as the couture of Coco Chanel. Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball, the Dutchess of Windsor, to name a few, were among her greatest patrons. It wasn’t long before her spectacular, custom-made jewels were sought after, collected and cherished. If history is any indication of the value of a Miriam Haskell piece, today’s collection promises continued appreciation- be it at an auction house, by chic women throughout the world or simply by generations to come.

Vintage wedding

I just stumbled across this great vintage wedding through the Little Black Book. The bride is Heather Fowler, a wedding photographer. I think she did a great job of incorporating a vintage feel to the modern setting.

And I am loving her hair! I laughed because in her blog she said she really struggled to find someone who could do the look she wanted. Well, I think they nailed it.

I don't want to borrow any of her photos, so here is a link to her site.

Heather Fowler

Another taste of the engagement photos

It's taking us some time to re-size all these images. They're huge! Here are a couple of other images that we've already finished with.


Anyone notice something funny in the above picture? I didn't notice it until yesterday...

This might be one of my favorite pictures. This whole place is totally decimated, we're all dressed up (which is super weird for me), and the only way to get upstairs is to climb. Imagine doing that in what I was wearing. Yikes! And isn't Chris just completely adorable?

My new favorite centerpieces

I wonder if we can do something like this for centerpieces? These are bear grass, little mums, and cabbage done by Colin Cowie. These tables look so great.

Engagement Prelims

I love the above picture because it looks like an album cover or something. Kevin's camera work is amazing!I love how this looks like 4 frames of film, each with a different story. Again, Kevin is awesome!

All photos by Kevin Payne (please don't use without permission).

Engagement pictures are here!

We have to resize them because they are giant files. As soon as we do I'll post some pics.