Once Upon a Time in Mexico

My boss has been on her honeymoon in Mexico since Monday. I've thought of her often this week as I slave away without her in the frigid Arlington cityscape... And decided that it would be awesome to have a Mexican themed wedding, perhaps even taking place in Mexico.

This image of Frida Kahlo inspired the board below—gold and crimson—and it's a stunning portrait of the famed Mexican artist.



Ruffled capelet from Kate Towers; dress by Alfred Angelo; groomsman image from Wedding Tactics; vintage gold earrings from Cayuse; crimson bride bouquet image from Beginning2End; Aztec wedding cake image from Great Wedding Cakes; gold "Bretelle" sandal by Christian Louboutin; bridesmaid dress and shawl from Bill Levkoff; rosary made by Rosebud Rosaries; San Antonio mission shot by Walt Hubis; mariachi photo by throughsarahseyes; Guatemalan Wedding Dress bag made by Stacy Leigh; gold flake martini from Trendhunter.

Reflex Blue Wedding

I love reflex blue!!! It's a color in a standardized matching system (PMS) that printers all over the world use—I have a PMS swatchbook, and it's such good inspiration for finding just the right shade. Anytime I'm out and see something this shade, I am immediately drawn to it. To me, reflex blue is bold, powerful, and strong; its counterbalance would be a bright yellow. If these colors were used somewhat sparingly with mostly neutral surroundings, a modern minimalist wedding would emerge. My inspiration board:

From top, l to r: Gorgeous bridesmaid dress from Nordstrom; simple but elegant cake from the Knot (I love the brooch-like accents!); tie by Krisar; beautiful yellow bouquet featured by Olde Town Florist Weddings; Top of the Town in Arlington; Beaded purse and heels from Asos; blue bouquet seen on Something Blue; gorgeous submerged yellow flowers from a real wedding on the Knot; a fun arrangement with willow branches seen on Project Wedding; vintage glasses from my personal collection :)

I haven't been to Top of the Town yet, but I think their view is so impressive that it almost doesn't matter what the inside looks like! I want to go sometime to soak up the view and try the food... ah, research is so grueling! :)

Vintage Wedding Dresses/ Rockabilly Wedding

My friend Lea has always said that she is going to have a non-traditional wedding in Vegas. I suggested that she check out some vintage prom dresses to wear as her wedding dress—my favorite site for finding vintage dresses is Vintageous—they have SO MANY dresses! The only thing is that you have to surf often because these dresses get snapped up quick.

This is my pick for Lea:I think we could make this pretty easily ourselves, now that I think of it.

And some fun Lea shoes from Zappos:
Cute and EASY pin-up girl hair tutorial from ilovegerardo on YouTube! And slightly less easy (for me—I'm bad at blending) but very detailed makeup from askmemakeup.

Her man can get his outfit off of eBay... there are a ton of "rockabilly suits" there.

Rockabilly wedding cake? Why yes, please! From My House is Better Than Yours on Flickr, via Offbeat Bride.Or she can just go to the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel and ask for the Rockabilly Package—with optional Elvis cake add-on! (I LOVE Elvis, who doesn't??)
And the next time Lea goes to Portland to visit her friend Jessica (or the next time she shops online), she can pick up this swimsuit from Popina—the better to lounge by the pool in! (I wouldn't trust a vintage swimsuit. I guess it's personal preference...)

Did You Know: Old, New, Borrowed, Blue, Shoe??

So we've all heard the little wedding ditty: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue..." but as I often find out, not many people have heard the last part: "and a silver sixpence in your shoe." The origin of this rhyme is generally accepted as being Victorian, but some of the customs that it refers to are as old as ancient Rome.

Something Old
According to The Phrase Finder, "something old" respresents continuity in the form of the couple's friends or family who will support them during their marriage. Items usually are given to the bride by a happily married woman, to pass the happiness on to the new bride. Often the "something old" will be a piece of family jewelry or other keepsake item. My husband's family has a diamond that has been passed down through generations and reset in each wife's engagement ring, so I had a special something old right off the bat!

Something New
No shortage of options here—but for the traditional symbolism, Georgia Girl's page on wedding traditions says that the wedding gown is often chosen as "something new," meant to represent good fortune, success and good hopes for a bright future in a new life. It makes sense that you'd want to step out to your new life in your new dress!

Something Borrowed
The symbolism behind "something borrowed" is similar to "something old," except that the bride would have to return the valued item to ensure good luck, according to The Phrase Finder. Georgia Girl agrees and restresses the value of the borrowed item coming from a happily married woman.

Something Blue
This is actually the oldest part of the traditions and has lots of meaning behind it. Ancient Romans believed that blue was the color of love, modesty, and fidelity, according to Ask Yahoo. It is also well known that the Christian Virgin Mary is most often depicted wearing blue, and the color has been associated with purity since biblical times. All three of the aforementioned sites mention that in ancient Israel, brides would wear a blue ribbon in their hair to represent fidelity, and often both the bride and groom would wear a blue band on the bottom of their wedding attire. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns. (I LOVE this idea, see the blue gown I found!)

A Silver Sixpence in Your Shoe
A quick lesson for the non-British among us: Wikipedia says a sixpence is a coin worth 1/40th of a British pound, made of sterling silver until 1920. The first sixpences were struck in 1551 and continued until the acceptance of decimalisation in 1967. Ask Yahoo says that the shoe custom may date back to a Scottish custom of the groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. In any case, the sixpence represents financial security and wealth of both money and children. Some brides substitute a penny or a dime in their shoe (left shoe for best results). Andy's grandfather collected foreign currency and I was lucky enough to find an actual silver sixpence!

This whole poem is the most purely symbolic tradition in wedding lore, and can be taken as seriously or as lightheartedly as you want. I had the old diamond, new dress, borrowed my mom's pearls, wore blue underwear, and had the sixpence in my shoe because although I'm not superstitious, my wedding wasn't the time to push it!

Wedding Dress Fears

I knew I wanted my mom to make my wedding dress because she has mad skillz :) and it would be a special way to include her since she lives 9 hours away. But I was scared to go into the chi-chi bridal shops and try on dresses that were meant to be worn on super-thin models. (I've gained about 25 lbs. since meeting Andy, and have struggled with "image" issues for a long time.) I was so afraid of trying on dresses that I never did, I just looked at lots of photos and went with something I knew had worked in the past. (We ended up making me a new dress 2 weeks before the wedding, but that's another story!)

I wish that I had read this post by Miss Cleveland Park at DC Nearlyweds before we got married. Don't get me wrong, my mom did a fabulous job and she/I have gotten SO many compliments on the dress. It looked amazing on me and it was so comfortable! My favorite part was that the skirt was velvet (we got married in October) which I find so luxurious.

Anyway, I wish I had read the post because it would have given me the courage to just try on different things and see what looked good on me and what I liked. It doesn't even have to be a wedding shop; just going and trying on formal dresses at Macy's will give you an idea of what you like and don't like. Just make sure you take a trusted, blunt friend who will not give you bad advice! :-D

Awesome photo by Rachel Naft!

Tealness

Yesterday my sister-in-law Amy ordered the bridesmaids' dresses for her March wedding. The dresses are all from Alfred Angelo, and her color is "tealness." (why do they have to come up with weird names? why not just "teal"?) The three bridesmaids have all different dresses:













The maid of honor has a different dress in the same color, it's a full length gown but she might get it shortened to match the other bridesmaids. I think it would be nice for her to have a floor-length dress to show off her "specialness!"

Skiing Anyone?

Inspired by this weekend's ski trip, I thought it would be fun to imagine a skiing-themed wedding. Enjoy!

What a fun groom's cake—"Another One Bites the Dust" via SkimbacoLifestyle.com

I love the incorporation of the mini pine cones in this bouquet via Captured Soul's Flickr spot.

Gardenia centerpieces via Red Envelope (obviously would not buy them all from here!) Gardenias smell so great, but would be bad for anyone with sensitive noses or allergies.

How adorable?!! I wonder if you got all bundled up you could pull this off in the winter too?? Photo by Kari Douma by way of Awesome Photographs

So unique and personalized! From WeddingCakeToppersIdeas.com

I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this dress from Love by Enzoani. The color, the draping, the embellishments... Photo from The Knot.

Locket Up

I have always loved lockets—the idea that you've got a secret is very appealing. They're great for weddings, whether a photo of your sweetie around your neck or a photo of a lost loved one pinned to your bouquet. A locket would also be a nice gift for a bat mitzvah, sweet 16, or quincenera, because what girl doesn't love jewelry? :) You could pre-fill the locket with a special photo or leave it up to the secrets of her heart.

Some great lockets of all shapes and sizes:
Dahlia Jewels
Banana Republic
MStevenson Designs (AWESOME)
Old But New
Macys
Red Envelope

Birdcage Veil: To Make or To Buy?

It seems like everyone and their sister are wearing birdcage veils lately. And it's easy to see why this style of veil is so trendy: they are SUPER cute! Not for everyone, either by personal taste or face shape, these veils will add a cute touch to any gown.

The easiest way to get one is, as with most things, to buy one. There are a ton of veil sellers online; two bigger websites are Something Bold and BirdcageVeils. Within the realm of birdcage veils, these suppliers have multiple styles, from not only with simple combs, to veils with flowers or feathers, to multi-layer veils with lots of volume.

Another source, and maybe one that's a little more fun, is to hunt for handmade birdcage veils on Etsy. I just did a search, and you can find birdcage veils between $130 and $5, depending on your taste and how much you want going on up there. My favorites are by sellers Joei Reed Custom Millinery (if you want to be unique, kick it up a notch with some color or a hat!) and Brenda's Bridal Veils (she has lots of ready-to-wear variety and she takes custom orders as well!).

Other than purchasing your birdcage veil, you could also try your hand at making it, if you're crafty (or even if not—it's not very hard to make the simple net-and-bobbypins style) or if you have a friend/sister/mother you can talk into trying it. The absolute best site that I found with directions was VintageSewing.info. There are step-by-step instructions along with old-school illustrations to show you what to do. Another site with directions is this personal site where the author describes how she made her simple net-only veil and has a little hand drawing to boot.

To make or to buy? That is a question you have to answer for yourself.