Third sneak peek

I'll post much more about this when the time is right, but for now, here's a sneak peak of our "story" that'll make an appearance in the invitation suite.

Just seeing these words makes me cheesy-happy, and I love that they're part of what everyone will receive.

Thursday scattershots

1. Every time I see a wedding featuring the JCrew Lydia bridesmaid dress, I perk up a little. Check it out in yellow! I'm so pumped my girls will be wearing this dress. The perfect beach bridesmaid dress, in my opinion.

2. The bounty of loved ones in my life who are trying to get pregnant, are currently pregnant, or are new moms levels me. And they've all done it according to their own plan, just as they wanted to. You all are fantastic and make me so happy with all your hip mom-ness.

3. My food hero Heidi Swanson has a new natural recipe search engine. Go check it out! Heidi is a great first-stop source for anyone trying to incorporate more whole ingredients in their diets, particularly whole grains and greens. Her recipes are fantastic.

4. I think the coolest thing I've seen in the wedding world lately has got be these live event paintings. Incredible! How amazing to have an artist paint a portrait of your ceremony?

5. I'd like to win the lottery and dress our reception in red printed linens with white charges and these dishes. Please?

My girls and Mozz, coming to me this April

Introducing the man kicking off our spring bachelorette weekend:






Seriously? Seriously.









I get slightly skin-crawly at bachelorette sightings that feature costume props etc. But a Morrissey kick-off, a day of pooling and spa-ing, and a night out on the town? YES. And on my birthday weekend to boot? YAY!

How about an ode to romance, Smiths style, to kick off this Thursday?

The crux of the matter

Some realizations r.e. wedding planners and me:

1. I really like planning and details

2. I'm not good at ceding control of these matters to other people

3. If we had a wedding planner, I'd still be doing all these things anyway, on top of or in question of what the planner was doing

4. Planners cost lots of $$$

5. I am best left to my own devices

Dress-up Ken

Last night we played one of my favorite games: Dress-Up Ken! This is when the f-word patiently tries on about ten different groomsmen and groom looks for me and we critique each one.

We're getting close, which is good for our planning needs and bank accounts. But it's bad for my love of the Ken show.

Maybe soon I can make the f-word model honeymoon looks? Cookout ensembles? Brunch attire? :-)

Two big decisions for the guys: this suit and this shirt. Ties (of course!) to be continued...

(T. M Lewin is our favorite shirtmaker, fyi... even more so than Thomas Pink, and a heck of a lot cheaper. Ladies, get your men in these shirts, trust me!)

Behold, my red shoes

Remember this?

Let's try it with red shoes, why don't we? Better yet, let's try it with MY red shoes. THE red shoes.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





















So I know, I know, these are not my inspiration shoes. The funny thing is, I think these are actually far better than those for the dress, the event, the day, everything. They're comfortable, too. And elegant enough to appease those who might raise their eyebrows at red wedding shoes. (Not that any of us would do such a thing, of course.)

I'm in love. And... loving my wedding shoes, too.

Score!

Inspiration Wedding: Hipster palette

This wedding is great through and through. Via Elizabeth Anne Designs, let's ooh and aah over its Huntington Beach hipness:




Sassy Bridesmaids. LOVE IT. I think the blonde on the left is especially sassy because she knows she is rocking her J. Crew Lydia dress, don't you think? Only sassy brides would choose that frock for their gals, you know.













Pocket-size programs. Ribbon binding + typewriter touches? Love.














Hot escort cards. Buttons, pattern, great color, and more great typeface? Yes. (We will be seeing buttons on escort cards again, by the way).













Colorful pattern. Pattern and color coming back at the table? Dots + cool table numbers? Yes!

Chair signs: yes please

I love chair signs. Here, my all-time favorites, courtesy of Style Me Pretty.

Notes on flower girl dress shopping

1. I simply cannot justify spending $250 on a flower girl dress, no matter how adorable it is. Sorry.

2. When searching for flower girl dresses, you inevitably end up on pageant dress websites, and they are terrifying. Little girls painted up and dressed to look like trashy teens will always horrify me.

3. Now there is a market for "plus size" flower girl dresses? Please, America, step away from the fast food.

Holding pattern

Not a ton of wedding progress this weekend, mostly because we're waiting on a delayed shipment of some potential groomsmen shirts that will help inform a host of other decisions. In the meantime:

• Ordered 5 yards of each potential fabric as a sample. Fingers crossed something will work and we can place the big order!
  
• Found some backup red shoes in case the discontinued, now collectible red Louboutins don't materialize
• Returned some ties
• Got the contracts for the makeup artist and bagpiper
  

I think that's about it. I'm okay with a lovely weekend of napping, though. Gotta get it while the gettin's good, right?