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Bonjour, Paris!

I was leaping for joy this morning, much like the male model in the picture.  After biting nails to the quick checking Kayak everyday, plane tickets dropped low enough to secure our honeymoon.  It was brief, as they shot back up about an hour later to double the price.  I'm giddy with relief to say the least.

I know my posts are going to continue to be uneven for the next several weeks, as all my free time is allocated to getting everything ready for the wedding.  That means staying up until 2am figuring out invites and table settings.

I saved these tear sheets from Elegant Bride some time ago, everything about the editorial spoke to me.  The haute couture dresses and beautiful location. The joy and romance expressed in every page.  I can't wait to go!  I'm a big planner, so I'm starting to build lists of places to visit, food to eat, and shopping destinations.  I dream about the Paris flea markets.  Let me know if you have any recommendations or favorites.

You can view more images at brides.com, and they were photographed by Pamela Hanson, who always does a terrific job.

Martha Stewart Spring Weddings 2007-Just His Type

This editorial is from the Spring 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings.  Being a vintage typewriter collector, this wedding is right up my alley.

Photographed by John Kernick.  Click for full size images.

I've become obsessed with lining my envelopes, look at the great the mix of patterns.

Tasha Garcia and D.W. Gibson used their location as the theme for their wedding.  Gibson runs the International Writers Residency program at Ledig House, an historic house located near the Catskill mountains. 

I love the crisp fresh colors of green, blue seersucker and sunny yellow.  Gibson used a vintage typewrite to make their programs.

Their seat assignments look so good, but it pains me that they were taken from actual typewriters.  I imagine all these gutted typewriters laying in a dump some where unloved.

I think I'm going to have to steal her cookie & jam idea.  A batch of my mom's buttery shortbread and some organic cherry preserves may be just the thing to finish off the night.

Instyle Weddings

I picked up the latest copy of Instyle weddings because of one page. I didn't connect with most of the weddings in this issue but I did discover that Instyle weddings has a wedding site.  It features one of my favorite weddings that I have clipped and saved from an earlier issue. There are so many aspects of this wedding that I have fallen in love with.

The banquet seating is a luxurious touch, but you could maybe just sit a sofa or two around your cocktail area to achieve a similar relaxed effect.

I love the pink letter press and double d's, so graphic against the white and golden trim of her cards. Dinner and Dancing, now that sounds fun!

The centerpieces are actually simple but the clever combination of colors makes them pop.  A fresh pink mix of flowers, simple fabric covered box, and some Moroccan candle holders to add some spice.

 

   

   

Katharine McPhee Wedding

Even though we don't watch American Idol, we read enough gossip sites to know who Katharine McPhee is.  Since I'm in wedding planning mode I'm always on the watch for pictures of dresses and receptions.  While her shabby chic theme isn't my aesthetic, I do love her dress.

   

Wedding dress by Manuel Mota, a lacy mermaid silhouette with cascading ruffles in the back. 

She chose a simple long veil that left all attention on her dress.  I think some celebrities forget that balance, and are too focused on being over the top.

Images from People.com 

Vera Wang Sample Sale

   

Here are some lessons I learned from going to the Vera Wang Sample Sale held at the New Yorker.  The first being to not listen to some hotel jerk in the lobby.  I showed up at 11:30pm Friday ready to sleep all night in line, the sale started at 8am Saturday morning.  They turned us and another group away, saying that they would not be allowing anyone to stand in line until 8am.  When I questioned that several notices had said to arrive early, hotel jerk #2 said he would may-be allow us to line up around 6am in the lobby.

When we arrived at 6am there was nobody in the lobby and we were told to go upstairs.  I arrived to a line of about 75 girls sitting in front of me.  The first group of girls had been there since 1:30 in the morning, apparently our jerky crew must have left and they were lucky to get clearance.

I now know how girls become bridezillas-I felt close to choking someone.  Learn from my mistake:

1. Timing-If you have a specific dress in mind, it is crucial to get there early.  I mean hours early.  Like camping out with a pillow & blanket early.
2. Posse-Bring helpers with you, 2 is ideal.  One friend can be helping you into your dresses and holding up a mirror, while the other one trolls the racks for put backs and other dresses you may have missed in the melee.  Also comes in handy when waiting in line so you can take turns using the restroom and make runs for coffee and snacks.
3. The Wait-It took me about 2 hours to get inside once it opened. The first group of girls got in and out fairly quickly.  They only allow 15 girls in at a time.  It is only after the first batch of 30 goes in that it starts slowing down.  Pickings are becoming slimmer and you have to wade through more mess. 
4. Research-It helps to have tried on wedding dresses before so you can get an idea of  what you are looking for to cut down on search time.  Also research her runway pics to see if you spot a dress you like.
5. Sizing-Which brings me to the dress selections.  The majority of the dresses were in sizes 8-10, which is equivalent to street sizes 6-8.  Keep this in mind for your dress budget if you have to get the dress taken in or let out to fit. 
6. Styles-After doing all my research, I still didn't recognize most of the dresses there.  Dresses were overstock with multiples of certain styles with a few true designer originals and samples.  They had Cinderella/ballgown and mermaid/slim silhouettes.  If I were to estimate, shades of color would be 60% ivory, 40% white.
7. Condition-Some dresses were in excellent condition, others had minor rips in the lace, pulls in the silk.  The conditions get worse as the dresses are trodden on and snagged by hangers.  Again, this can be alleviated by getting there early.
8. Pricing-I didn't see but 2 dresses below $1200. The main price points were $1200, $1800, and $2500.  The highest I saw was $12000.
9. Making Friends-Talk to the other brides.  Most are glad, once they have secured their own dress, to give you the ones that didn't work for them, but may be the one for you.
10. What to Wear-The dressing room is all open, with just those cheapie slim mirrors propped up against the wall so please wear proper undergarments.  I saw more breasts and butts than I ever want to see again in my life.  A strapless bra, boycut shorts will do you fine, or something like Spanx.  You need to wear shoes and clothing you can slip on and off easily.  Also clips for the back of the dresses incase they run large.
11. Bridesmaids Dresses-I saw tons of bridesmaid dresses in all colors.  I think it would be hard to get 4 or 5 in the same style, but if you were fine letting the girls wear different styles but the same color you could pull it off.  Plus the price of $30 a dress can't be beat. 
12. Misc items-They had some white satin shoes, and a small choice of veils, I believe all were $75.  They also had a pretty good collection of tiaras and hair combs for reasonable price of $25.  There was one small rack of wraps, odds bits, and I saw one girl holding a lace bolero, but I'm not sure of the price as I never saw any others.
13. Checking out-This is the time to give your dress one more quick glance  for things you might have missed and if the discount is worth it.  I'm a walking calamity, so I'm fine with a few runs and tears.  I would have done it myself within an hour of wearing. 
14. Walking out with the dress-They pass your dress down the assembly line while you are paying and at the end they hand it to you zipped up in a Vera Wang garment bag.  Off you go grinning and wishing the girls still standing in line luck. 
15. STOP!  HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING?  Ask the gentlemen holding your garment bag nicely if you can unzip it and make sure it is your dress in that garment bag.  Wait, it isn't?  EEK, have you given my precious to someone else?  Breathing resumes when another gentlemen comes running down the line with your correct dress.  You hope and pray that some girl hasn't walked off with another dress because she didn't check her garment bag before leaving.

These are some of the dresses that I spotted at the sale:

I would love to show you my dress, but it has to wait, as the boy likes to read my blog.  I was ready to give up and walk out without a dress when I found mine crumbled up on the floor underneath the rack where it must have slipped off the hanger.  Something about the color and design caught my eye, which is all it takes when I'm shopping.   It fit perfectly, and I bought it within 15 minutes of trying it on♥