Save the Date!

Just got this gorgeous design from Erin of Lucky-Luxe. Can't wait to send them out to our guests!!!

Bridal bootcamp?

Procrastinating is easy. The interweb provides hours upon hours of information. Recently I came across an article about engaged women going to extremes to get in shape for their big day. I wonder what they look like 1 year later? 5 years later? Hmm... Now, I know I am not in as good shape as I was back in college when I was rowing year round and alpine skiing/racing, but residency doesn't provide a lifestyle that allows for that. But, with the coming of spring and hopes of warmer weather for outdoor recreation, I am going to committ to fitness again. And not just for the big day, for life! My first act, a warm up row on my Concept2 followed by a 3.5 mile run. I feel great!

Mini skis are here!

The miniature snow skis arrived today from Moose-R-Us. They are so cute! And so cheap, the total cost for 7 sets with shipping was a mere $26.00. Now I need to make a trip to A.C. Moore for yellow and navy ribbon and pins. Guess I should also grab a glue gun. For the ribbon I was thinking of using yellow for the groom and navy for the groomsmen. Good idea? Well, I can't wait to put them together with Bridesmaid F's help. How lucky am I to have a DIY diva for a sister-in-law? Another thought I had was that it may be fun to incorporate a small bloom into the boutonnieres. Maybe yellow? or white? We'll see what Kelly thinks when we get together to talk flowers later this week. It's the little details that make this process fun!

Escort card/favor idea

I was contemplating combining the escort card with a favor and came up with the following idea. After skiing many people enjoy mulled wine, cider, or cocoa. So, I was thinking of attaching the escort cards to a bottle of wine packaged with mulling spices. The Spice Barn sells pre-mixed mulling spices in a variety of quantities, and for a reasonable price. The wine used for mulling is supposed to be a cheap red varietal, but the tricky part is finding a large number of half-bottles or full bottles (1 per couple) of cheap wine that doesn't look cheap...The local wine shop my mother frequents is showing this bottle of Sonoma Vendange Cabernet on their website for 12 bottles for $35.88 ($2.99/bottle). Definite possibility. In the meantime I am going to brainstorm other ideas for my escort card/favor that fit with our subtle ski theme.

Candy table

Image from www.amyatlas.com

So I've been thinking about this for a while and I really like the idea of a candy table in addition to wedding cake and also for a favor idea. Amy Atlas has some lovely designs on both her website and blog, but starting at $5,000/event, she's definitely not going to make the budget. Finding the candy is the easy part, at http://www.candywarehouse.com/ you can buy in bulk according to size, color, or theme! I've bookmarked that site for later. Now I have to start looking for candy jars, cake stands, plates, etc. to display the treats on the candy table. At one end of the table I am thinking of having a basket with cellophane bags with a cute sticker attaching ribbon to them for guests to fill up, then tie, and take home to enjoy later. Of course I'll have to think of a sweet message to print on the labels!

Sex And The City

While searching for a good picture of the silver Manolos, I came across this photo of Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw on SATC. It's from an episode I believe is titled "A Women's Right to Shoes."

This YouTube video (I could only find it in Spanish) is a clip of Carrie getting her coveted Manolos and strutting them in the streets of NYC. Fabulous!

Shoes!

My inspiration here is old Hollywood glamour. One of my favorite actresses, Audrey Hepburn, was not only beautiful on the screen in the popular films Funny Face, Sabrina, and Breakfast at Tiffany's, but also off the screen in her ballet flats and Hermes scarves. Truly a style icon!

These Manolo Blahnik Sedaraby D'Orsay shoes in silver look like something AH would wear and are a stunning accessory for any bride on her wedding day, and thereafter!

DIY boutonniere

My incredibly crafty future sister-in-law found the exact mini skis I was looking at (see post about Fritts Rosenow) for a mere $3.00 each! So, needless to say we are ordering them and making them ourselves. How fun!

Snippet and Ink Board #315: Navy and Yellow

Inspiration board sent to me by Betsy Dunlap. I love that my calligrapher is adding to my inspiration!

Top row from left: book photo by ThussFarrell, lemon cake by K. Rose Cakes via Ritzy Bee, narcissus bouquet from Martha Stewart Weddings, fascinator by Rosa ClaraRow 2: leaving City Hall photo via Blah Blah Blahg, Austin Floral Indigo plate photo by Gemma Comas, lemon centerpiece from Martha StewartRow 3: lemon sparkler from Brides, lollipops from One Hundred Wishes, photo by Mulberry Photo, navy tights and yellow shoes from BlueprintRow 4: cattleya orchid bouquet photo by Jocelyn Filley, Chanel nail polish from Nordstrom, lemon centerpiece from Martha Stewart Weddings, lemon slice invitations by Brown Sugar Design

Lucky-Luxe

My other exciting news is that Erin of Lucky-Luxe is designing "Save the Date" postcards and invitations for me. Her work is fabulous! Recently on her blog she posted "Save the Date" postcards she created for another bride, who my wedding planner Sarah is also working with, and has a navy/blue/yellow color scheme too. Even though I don't know them, from her post I feel she really captured the essence of the couple, and beautifully set the tone for their upcoming fall wedding. I can't wait to see what she creates for us!!!

Betsy Dunlap

Growing up I always appreciated beautiful handwriting. My mother recalls that if I didn't like the way a word looked on paper, or caught myself misspelling a word, I would erase the whole word and sometimes the whole sentence, just to make it perfect. I also tried my best to copy the sweeping strokes of others whose writing I admired.

Today I find myself admiring the work of calligrapher Betsy Dunlap, who I am excited to announce, is available to work with me for my wedding! No doubt, the details will be amazing!

Fritts Rosenow Bespoke Boutonnieres

Just got sent a link from F of these adorable boutonnieres she saw on the Brooklyn Bride. It's too perfect that they are navy and yellow!

Ski theme ideas

Now that most of the planning is well underway I've taken some time to think about design for the event and incorporating a ski theme into the paper, decorations, and favors. (More on the paper when we get that finalized.)
In lieu of a guest book it would be fun to have people sign a pair of vintage skis. This idea came from Real Simple Weddings. The couple hosted their ski themed wedding at Squaw Valley, CA. The bride, a graphic designer, put together adorable save the dates and invitations! Check out her company at www.mintchipink.com Sarah and I think it would be fun to incorporate similar ski images in a wallpaper pattern for my invitations. Thanks for the inspiration!
For the decorations I was thinking of naming the tables after ski mountains we've been to together: Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Killington, Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Sugarbush, Cannon, Loon, Waterville Valley, Wildcat, Mount Snow, Saddleback, Alp D'Huez. If 16 isn't enough I'm sure I can think of a few more! I'm working on ideas of what to make the table signs out of, but I was thinking little wooden signs in the style of trail signs. Any ideas for me?
Some favor ideas I came up with are inspired by our travels. In France they served these amazing sugar coated waffles at a small stand outdoors at the mid-mountain gondola. We stopped there several times for a 4 o'clock snack on our way back to the lodge. They've become popular in the USA and you can find a Waffle Haus now at most New England resorts. I think they would be great to have on the dessert/candy table! I found a great recipe a few years back from the Boston Globe. An apres ski treat was warmed spiced wine called Vin Chaud that I think could make a fun favor too. I'm also considering putting together cocoa favors with dipped marshmellows. I'd love to give guests something we enjoyed after a great day of skiing that can also be enjoyed on a cool fall evening.
Getting creative and coming up with a few DIY projects= amazing details!

I LOVE this bag!

Silk gala Clutch $88 at www.jcrew.com

J.Crew bridesmaids dresses

My future sister-in-law F (bridesmaid) chose lovely J.Crew dresses for her bridesmaids, and it was the first place I looked to for mine. They truly have a beautiful collection of styles and colors. I hope the girls will actually wear them again! My sister C bought two of the styles to try on and e-mailed me photos that I will share. I love them both!

Earrings and necklaces and bangles, oh my!

Top Row (L to R): David Yurman Noblesse Pave Earrings $1350 and Petite Albion Pearl Earrings $1110 at www.davidyurman.com, Tiffany Pearl studs $275 and Tiffany Diamonds by the Yard pendant in platinum $975 at www.tiffanys.com
Bottom Row (L to R): Tiffany Pearls by the Yard Necklace $295 and Cultured freshwater pearl necklace $625 at www.tiffanys.com, Ippolita 2 Diamond bangle $335 at www.ippolita.com, David Yurman Confetti Pave Station bangle $425 at www.davidyurman.com

Just daydreaming about some potential accessories...

Shoes, glorious shoes!

Top row (L to R): Kate Spade "lover" $275-$295, Kate spade "muse" $275. Both at www.katespade.com
Middle row (L to R): Jimmy Choo "Macy" $595 at www.jimmychoo.com, Manolo Blahnik "Sedaraby" in white $715 at www.barneys.com
Bottom row (L to R): Manolo Blahnik "Sedaraby" in silver $715 at www.barneys.com, Manolo Blahnik slingback sandal $695 at www.neimanmarcus.com

I admit to having a bit of a shoe obsession! Recently I created a fun powerpoint with the above images and sent it to my sister J (MOH) and Sarah to help me decide on styles/colors of shoes for my big day. We all agreed that stylish (and hopefully comfortable) shoes you can wear again are well worth the expense. I think my fiance N would faint if he knew how much these cost!

My Mosaic

Inspiration Board

Inspiration

We've got a great team together, and it's time to start getting creative! I decided on Navy and Yellow for my color palette. Now we've been looking for inspiration to bring to the save the dates/invitation suite. We're also brainstorming design ideas for the ceremony and reception space. I'll share a board that Sarah created for me, and also one I put together with an online program at Mosaic Maker that I discovered from the Wedding Bee.

Beautiful blooms!

We are making great progress with all the plans! As I mentioned before, my close friend J got married not too long ago, and she's been a great resource throughout the planning process. One night, awhile back now, N and I had dinner with J and her husband, and I commented how much I loved her wedding flowers. She quickly sent me the name of her florist, and friend, Kelly Harris.

This photo is from her site www.beautifulbloomslive.com and is from J's wedding! We haven't had a chance to meet yet, but I've been flipping through magazines and a book Sarah let me borrow to collect ideas. I can't wait to share what we come up with.

Music

I have long imagined walking down the aisle to a string quartet playing Pachelbel's Canon in D minor. While discussing potential wedding plans at work, one of the NP's raved about the musicians she hired for her Boston wedding last year. She later sent me a very helpful e-mail she had put together for another bride-to-be with a list of all her vendors. My main interest was in Michael Reavey Music. I did a quick internet search and came up with a few others, which I also contacted. Michael Reavey was the most flexible for scheduling (prelude 15min or 30min, ceremony, and cocktail hour???) and also the most affordable of the group.

I ended up deciding to hire the DJ to start with the cocktail hour and then continue for the reception. Sarah had someone in mind, and he came back to me with the best offer, so this saved me alot of time! Oh, we're going with Top Choice DJ Select, Renzo Hernandez.

Adeline and Grace

With Sarah now on board, we picked up the pace and quickly made a list of potential vendors. We started with photography and looked at Adeline and Grace, Geneve Hoffman, and Jeff Dachowski. Sarah has personal experience with Adeline and Grace, and the others came highly recommended to me by my future sister-in-law F (bridesmaid) who is getting married in September, and a close friend of mine, J, whose wedding I was in not too long ago. It really was a tough decision, and I would be thrilled to work with any of these extraordinarily talented people! In the end though, Erica (Adeline and Grace) won me over!

Namaste

Potentially one of the most difficult tasks in my mind, finding an officiant (I admit that my experience with church is limited to weddings and funerals), couldn't have been easier! One evening as I was thumbing through my stack of bridal magazines I came across Edi Pasalis, a yoga teacher/wedding officiant. Interesting combination. So, I put down the magazine, picked up my laptop, and checked out her website, www.i-do-yoga.com For a couple like N and myself (consider us spiritual, not religious) I think she's a perfect fit. A few weeks later we met her in her studio in Watertown and from there we didn't need to look any further. I'm excited about meeting with her again to discuss our vows, and maybe to do some couples yoga!

Melissa Sweet

Ahh, the dress! My mother and sister J (MOH) came to Boston for a girls weekend of dress shopping in February. Separately, the three of us had amassed quite a pile of bridal magazines. Could you believe that we all tore out a photo of the same wedding dress that we absolutely loved? It's true. Well our first stop was Priscilla of Boston where I tried on beautiful gown after beautiful gown, but only one really stood out, the Melissa Sweet "Cossima" (the one we all had torn from the bridal mags). Later that day we drove up to Andover to Cristina's Bridal and an Alvina Valenta sweet-heart gown caught our attention. How to decide? Over a bottle of Pinot Noir we gabbed for hours. The next morning I announced the Melissa Sweet was my favorite (and there was much rejoicing!)

True Event

Next on the list was the wedding planner. Lucky for me a woman my mom works with daughter's friend is the lovely and talented Sarah True. We met and it was like we had known eachother for years! I'm thrilled to be working with Sarah on all the details of my big day!!!

http://www.trueevent.com/

A place indeed

Once we were finally engaged the first thing on my "To Do" list was to secure a date and a site for the ceremony and reception. On a free weekend (hard to come by sometimes) I hit up various hotels with my fiance N in tow. I fell in love with the Boston Harbor Hotel, and if you visit their site you'll see why.
http://www.bhh.com/

12.26.08

Backtracking a bit...

After 9 years (I know, a loooong time!) of dating, my boyfriend finally proposed! Of course I was post-call and in a post-Christmas daze when it happened. But, he managed to lure me out of our cozy 2BR apartment for a walk in the Fells. From Wright's tower he showed me Tufts University (where we met,) Boston (where we first lived together as a couple,) and said some other lovely things, which were all a blur as I knew what was coming next.

As we happily trekked back down the trail my mind was already filling with ideas, and wondering if I could pull together a fabulous wedding in 10 months.

The story begins

Admist planning my October 2009 wedding I have become somewhat addicted to blogs, and decided it's time to start my own. Though this will start with the story of my engagement and plenty of details about planning my wedding, I think it will end up as much more.