Look what I found!

I'm so excited to find another example of a non-bustled dress! Thanks to the hive and some additional research, I've closed in on what it is: a wrist loop. (Side note: Apparently I'm loving under a rock. Yes, I really didn't know a wrist loop existed until recently).

A wrist loop was featured on Clare's dress in The Time Traveler's Wife. Brides.com says: "At the reception, the newlyweds dance in a garden lit with romantic paper lanterns. Removing her veil for the reception, Clare also lifts the skirt of her wedding dress with a special wrist loop that Weiss added so that the bride could dance easily."

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I've googled a bit, and haven't found much else on my beloved "wrist loop". I did find a thread on Yahoo! Answers that was very-anti wrist loop, but I remain enamored. 

I have concluded that there are two major factors that should be considered in the wrist loop versus bustle decision:

1. Length of dress train

2. Weight of dress

I haven't revealed my dress yet, but I can say that it does meet this criteria (i.e. it's not very long, or too heavy). Being anti-bustle, I'm definitely optimistic that this is a great option. I'm a girl who is happy to carry a clutch, or a purse that fits in the nook of my arm so I don't think I'd be bothered by having something to "carry". 

 I also saw this photo on the back cover of the latest issue Southern New England Weddings. Trend, perhaps? 

What are your thoughts on the wrist loop? Have you seen one in action before?

Celebrating Weddings Past

I love the idea of including family photos from the weddings of parents, grandparents, and other family members in our wedding. There are many ways to do so as posted by Miss Argyle and Miss Spaniel. In my searching I've also come across these:

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1. Photos strung on a line. First, I love this option because it was taken at our venue, the Glen Manor House. Additionally, it offers guests something fun to stumble upon while they enjoy cocktails or take a break from dancing. 

Photo by Angela Talley

2. Around the cake. One of my bridesmaids did this at her wedding. It was adorable! The cake was on display all night, and as guests went to take a closer peek they also enjoyed a glimpse of photos from the weddings of the parents and grandparents of the bride and groom.

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3. Framed photos on a tree. Talk about a "family tree"! Cute, no? This one seems pretty straightforward: nail family photos to a tree. It's super rustic, and oh-so-memorable.

Are you including family photos in your wedding day? How are you using them?

Wrap-Around Labels It Is!

With my new found gold envelopes in hand, I met with our invitation designer to come up with a way to package our Save the Dates. We considered a few ideas, but I couldn't resist the thought of wrap-around labels. After lots of brainstorming and considering the elements of our wedding these are the four contenders that our Diana Russas of One Bella Design created (she's lovely, by the way).

 

Option One: Chandelier

  

 Option Two: Floral

  

Option Three: Doily Lace

 

Option Four: Soft Lace

 I love them all for different reasons! Can you guess which one we chose? I promise I'll reveal soon!

Where have you been all my life, xpedx?

Soon after our Save the Date magnets arrived, I went to paper heaven. Xpedx is paper heaven. And how, how, how had I no idea such a store existed?

 

  

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From cardstock, to every size envelope imaginable, to tissue paper, to gift bags, I could not imagine a bride not going absolutely nuts here. Seriously awesome! Best of all, the employees were more than generous about offering samples of open stock. 

My personal find of the day was A2 Stardream Antique Gold Envelopes. 

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As a result, I started rethinking my Save the Date packaging. My major gripe with magnets is that they shake around in the envelope and feel somewhat lost and appear "unfinished". Good news is, my magnets measure 5 1/2" by 3 1/2" (kind of huge, oopsies!) and they fit perfectly in an A2 envelope. So I started thinking I'd focus my attention on styling the envelopes...

What are your favorite envelope decorating details? Wrap around labels? Embossing?

I love ampersand details

It's just one little symbol that conveys such sweetness - especially when utilized as a wedding detail. I adore it! I think a simple ampersand is just the happiest icon around.

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Do you have a little detail that you just love? Do you plan to incorporate it into your wedding in some way?

Bridal Beauty Series: The Face

I'm going to brag a teeny tiny bit - I have great skin. I know - I'm lucky. I know this because it hasn't always been that way. About 8 years ago I had what I call the "facial that changed my life". No joke.

The aesthetician informed me that I had very sensitive skin. I had no idea! I would get an ever-so-slight red blemish and go nuts picking at my face and rubbing it down with harsh products full of chemicals and exfoliants.

 

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During the facial I was advised to try a simple, natural, facial cleanser. I promptly went to my local Whole Foods and picked up a bottle of Jason Natural Cosmetics Super-C Cleanser Gentle Facial Wash. Honestly, I chose it only because it looked "nice enough". 

 

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And lucky me - I swear by it 8 years later! And better yet, this is ALL I use! Seriously, no toner, moisturizer, nada. For my skin, it's all about simplicity. Most. random. find. ever. And I haven't had a break out since. How did you discover your beauty secrets?

Save the Dates (And for the record, I simply can't say "STDs")

Mr. Seashell texted me while I was at work one evening that a box from Magnet Street had arrived. I told him to tear it open and send a pic. He asked if I was sure I didn't want to open the box myself. I told him the suspense was killing me, he asked again if I was sure (because he just loves to drive me crazy) and eventually this popped up on my phone:

  

(fresh from the box to the fridge!)

They were perfect! 

Like many of you, we knew that we wanted to utilize our engagement photos as much as possible and our Save the Dates was one of the perfect places to do so. I was inspired by the simplicity of this card I found on Wedding Paper Divas:

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I toyed with adding words to a few of our photos, but ultimately it seemed all too perfect to sneak our info into a Chicago street sign. After spending hours on photoshop, here's the before and after:

 

I must give Mr. Seashell TONS of credit here. He was remarkably patient with the editing process, and truly did the work. I was over his shoulder offering ideas and suggestions and reheating old pizza, but he was the one who figured out how to make the street sign look authentic.

Then I was on to figuring out how to package them... 

 

Isn't my art work amazing? (Ha.) That aside, my initial idea was to attach the magnet to cardstock "stardream" paper with photo corners and add a chandelier graphic to the left. Then I wanted to coordinate the envelope and design a matching stamp on zazzle. Sounded do-able, right?

Did you package your Save the Date magnets in a unique way?

I don't like bustles

There. I said it. I think they're totally weird.

 

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I always assumed I'd bustle my wedding dress because, well, that's what you do. But I never liked it. It's like you take this gorgeous dress and make this low artificial wedgie so it doesn't drag on the floor all night. However, recently I saw pictures of a friend's wedding where she had a bustle alternative. (Yes!) It appears she had a loop sewn inside the bottom of her dress which she could lift for dancing and climbing stairs, but could be let go to show her full dress at any time.

 

  

What do you think? I could see it not being the most convenient option, but my argument is that it shows off the beauty of the dress. Are you going to bustle?

My Mr. Fix-It

I realize this post doesn't have much to do with weddings, but it is about the guy I'm marrying so I think that counts... I mentioned in my bio that my fiancee is "Mr. Fix-It" without much of an explanation. So here it is:

We purchased a condo this past summer. The photo above is from the day we made our offer to purchase. The fireplace looks perfectly nice, but in person it was a giant box of wasted space.

This is from day we closed on the condo, Mr. Seashell took a sledgehammer to the fireplace and what was left was pretty much the photo above. (I immediately began painting and took the yellow walls to a more neutral khaki).

Following demolition, Mr. Seashell and my FFIL spend weekend after weekend building boxes (bookshelves) which eventually became gorgeous floor to ceiling built-ins.

It was an insanely long process, but after months of headaches, living among power tools and dust, it is complete! He really nailed it - molding, granite around the fireplace, and gobs and gobs of money saved by doing it himself.

I was absolutely amazed to discover that Mr. Seashell is such a handy guy! And who knows, maybe we'll be able to put all this craftiness to use for our big day! I have no idea what needs constructing, but between now and then perhaps I'll come up with a project or two that involves a nail gun or electric saw.

Does your fiancee have talents that impress you? Have you tapped into their talents for wedding preparations?

Thank goodness our fridge is magnetic

Sometimes I wonder what our social schedule would look like without having a million weddings on our calendar! Have Save the Dates taken over your fridge?

Oh, paper. I adore thee.

As I've mentioned, I adore paper. I love, love, love it. The process of selecting wedding invitations has simultaneously been overwhelmingly fun, and just plain overwhelming. It has also consumed more of my time than I care to quantify, but in the end I'm confident it will be overwhelmingly worth it!

 

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Too plain, but in letterpress it has an elegant simplicity.

 

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Replace the soft green with a light purple and I could be in love.

  

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Ooh la la!

 

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Gorgeous in person. Perhaps a little too kooky.

  

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Love the nature feel.

  

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Gorgeous mounting, gorgeous font, classically beautiful invitations. 

Amidst all my searching I discovered PrintablePress.com. Check out these suites that can be customized (so picture shades of gold and purple):

 "Victoriana"

 

"Filigree"

  

"Vintage Lace"

  

"Banquet in the Woods"

What's unique about this site is that you purchase the art work and then it's up to you to have the invites printed. The DIY'er in me loved this idea as I could mount the invites, line the envelopes, and maybe add a swarovski crystal or two all at my own discretion. The perfectionist in me was very nervous about this idea because quality of printing (and my own work) was somewhat left to chance. 

The closer I looked at the bottom invite ("Banquet in the Woods") the more I loved it. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it captured something about our venue, The Glen Manor House. If you recall, it's a mansion nestled among gardens and trees set along the water. The graphics of the lush tree and more subtle chandelier convey the woodsy elegance our venue emanates.

I kept looking at invites, but I kept going back to Banquet in the Woods. I endlessly weighed the pros and cons of printing and assembling invitations myself and ultimately my perfectionist side won out. I decided my DIY energy is going to be better utilized on more forgiving projects. So where does this leave me? Custom invites, with Banquet in the Woods as inspiration. ..but that's a whole 'nother post.

What was your inspiration for invitations? Were you brave enough to DIY them?

Bridal Beauty Series: The Smile

Once upon a time, I decided my teeth weren't white enough. This was probably around the time marketing agencies began shamelessly marketing teeth whitening products. Crazy, huh? So, I went to my local drug store and bought a box of these:

After 3 days of use, I became a whitening strip drop-out. OUCH! I must have insanely sensitive teeth because these things killed. I gave up. Months later, I made an appointment with my dentist for professional whitening. I figured they would get the job done most efficiently, and I hadn't heard any horror stories. Um, yeah - I was knocked out for a whole day! Holy horrible pain! Note to self: you have massively sensitive teeth.

So on to Plan B. I still want my teeth to be as white as possible, especially for my wedding day, so here's my regiment from here on out:

 

Listerine Whitening Pre-Brush Rinse

$6.29

Glide Floss Picks

$3.49

Crest Whitening with Scope

$7.29

Arm & Hammer SpinBrush

$4.59

(All photos from drugstore.com)

...and what do you know? These items are FAR cheaper than whitening strips and professional whitening! Plus, I'd obviously be using a toothpaste and a toothbrush no matter what (and the flossing is a good habit too).

So with less than eight months until the big day, I'm committed to using each of these products DAILY. This means no being lazy before bed and skipping brushing my teeth, or not taking the time to properly floss. Best of all, I've noticed results with the Listerine rinse and I'm not having any issues with sensitivity. Thank goodness!

Are you adopting any new regiments to prepare your smile for your wedding day?

Oh, that minor detail?

You know how it goes: have a general idea of what you're looking for, do some research, make some calls, look at a bunch of options. Next, agonize over the pros and cons and eventually embrace your decision. That was pretty much how we came to choose our wedding venue. If Mr. Seashell is reading, he's rolling his eyes right now. More on that later.

Going with the tradition of celebrating the wedding where the bride is from, we had come to embrace a Rhode Island wedding. From there, selecting the season was an easy choice: spring is far too unpredictable and rainy, summer is too hot and sticky, winter is a crap shoot between snowy perfection and gloom, and fall is...well, fall is when New England is at it's most gorgeous. The rich, golden, colorful leaves, warm days and cool nights, apple cider, pumpkin picking, sweatshirts and shorts at the beach, and grabbing one last meal of clam cakes and chowder before winter arrives, makes fall my absolute favorite season. Thus, in a venue, we wanted something that felt uniquely New England.

And here it is! The Glen Manor House in Portsmouth, RI: historic, beautiful, surrounded by trees and gardens, set on the water, and very Rhode Island. More than anything, it has an essence and feel that captures everything that makes my home state special.

Photos courtesy of The Glen Manor House website

What elements were important in selecting your venue? Was there something you were hoping your venue would specifically reflect?