Two Birds makes one dress. One dress that you can wear about a million different ways, in a smattering of beautiful colors. Check out their creative website to learn just how to tie, wrap, and twist this dress into shape. Strapless you want? No problem. Oh, you said you need your shoulders covered? Ok, sure.
If the demand over at KenzieKate for green wedding invitations is any indication, green is the new pink! Truthfully? I couldn't be happier. I love green. Emerald, Kelly, Seafoam? All good.
Even though it makes me a little sad, I think it will be a while before we see brides strolling down the aisle in green dresses... (insert reference to Barenaked Ladies song here). But I do think, as I've stated in the past, that wearing a colorful shoe beneath your layers of silky white is both timeless and on-trend. I'm convinced that Grace Kelly would have done it. I can picture it very clearly in my mind's eye.
Anyway, my point is that I discovered (via Earth Friendly Wedding) some lovely shoes in a rainbow of hues over at UK shoe boutique Beyond Skin. Those of you in the US are not allowed to panic. They ship world wide. And they'll let you exchange if they don't fit. Deep breaths! As a very important side note: The green shoes you see above? They are more than just green. They are GREEN. As in, environmentally responsible, vegan, and cruelty-free shoes. Very, very cool. I'm sure Grace Kelly would have approved.
I'm lucky enough to have Jenny Ebert contributing to Something Old, Something New today. Great ideas are always welcome here!
In the midst of getting ready on her wedding day, designer Loree Lash pulled out a chic little bottle. I noticed it said, “Loree’s Wedding” on it. As I was inhaling the beautiful oh so delicate bouquet, Hope (Loree's maid of honor) came in with her own bottle, which had the perfect little label “Hope for Loree’s Wedding”.
Loree and Hope both personalized Le Labo’s Rose 31. If you get a chance, check out their website.
Best~
Jenny
Jenny Ebert, lifestyle photographer and wedding afficianado is currently contributing her insight and expertise to Something Old, Something New on a bi-weekly basis, you can visit her website here.
If you're looking for a gorgeous gift for a lucky bride, these jewelry boxes from The Cross Design are just the ticket. These just feel so special to me, especially the mother-of-pearl one. I think either would make a lovely shower gift... or anytime gift really. We are, after all, coming into that gift giving season, (all too quickly I might add).
Just a few of my absolute favorites from the brand new Fall 08 Collections.
dress 1: a sketty-strap empire waisted dress with beaded flowers, by Jenny Packham.
dress 2: a graphic, empire with flowy skirt and circle details, also Jenny Packham.
dress 3: a precious short sleeve mermaid, by Monique Lhuillier.
dress 4: a refreshing sillouette from Amsale.
dress 5: lots of movement on this uneven hemline with beaded bodice, by Reem Acra.
dress 6: gorgeous detailing on this romantic Reem Acra.
All photos courtesty of Brides.com.
Oooooo. These shoes are realllllly nice. I would wear these. I would wear these all over the place. From Marcello Toshi.
I love these bangles from the Smithsonian (did you know I used to work at the Smithsonian? No? Great place to work. Just FYI). Anyway, the fact that I used to work there, like 10 years ago? (oh wow, that makes me sound kind of old) has nothing to do with why I like these. I like them because they're hand-painted, they can dress-up, or dress-down, they're not something you see everyday, and they're a bargain.
My good friend, fellow blogger, and super-duper wedding photographer Karen of Karenscape Photographers is having a contest, better yet, a free give-away. Karen is looking for brides willing to help her kickoff a "Trash the Dress" portfolio. If you are newly married, interested in getting some free fabulous fashion-magazine-type photos of yourself and your groom, and are willing to trash your dress in the process, visit Karen's blog for more info on how to enter. Karen is a fantastic photographer, (I speak from personal experience). This is an amazing opportunity to get something awesome for nothing!
Shoes! Shoes always cheer me up. Especially pink or yellow satin ones, worn under beautiful white wedding gowns. Even better because they're under $200.00.
Monday morning, I noticed that my engagement ring was missing. What immediately followed was a panicky, frantic hunt, throwing the already messy house into even more disarray. I knew I had it the previous Tuesday, our 3rd year anniversary, because I cleaned it right before we went out to dinner. I knew I had it on Friday, when I was cutting color swatches for KenzieKate, because it was pinching my finger when I was using the scissors on the tough paper. After that, I neither remembered having it nor not having it. Where had I been? Where did I see it last? Could it have fallen off? Did someone take it? My entire Monday was spent in a daze, trying to remember what I did with it.
Then, I remembered putting it on the coffee table, while I cut swatches. I had taken it off, because it was hurting my finger. I remember putting it in a box lid, so it wouldn't fall on the floor. Then I remembered putting scraps from my paper swatches in the same box lid so I didn't make a mess. Then, as far as I can remember, I left them there. The ring in the lid, with the scraps. Once I remembered, I immediately went on the hunt for that box lid. It wasn't on the coffee table any more. We had cleaned the room on Saturday morning. One of us must have dumped the scraps into the garbage, not knowing or remembering the ring was in there. Then came the frantic search thru the trash. Not in there. Then the horrible realization that the trash had been picked up that morning. Oh God. All the trash from the week before. The trash from Saturday too. It was all at the city dump by the time I realized what had happened on Monday night.
I've lost things in the past, important things, but never something this meaningful. I had pictured giving this ring to my children as a family heirloom. My friend made this ring with her own two hands, especially for Dell and I. It was my "something blue" at my wedding. It is the single most meaningful gift I have ever gotten. And now it's gone. I feel a little silly being so upset about this. But I can't describe how much I feel I've lost.
I know that most of you have just gotten your rings, and you love them, and you can't imagine ever loosing sight of them for even a second. So I guess that makes this blog post pretty much a huge downer? I promise that tomorrow I'll write about something awesome and cheerful. Just don't hate me if there are no engagement ring posts for a while. The wound is still pretty fresh.
So this is an interesting concept. Conde Nast has created something called Dream House. As far as I understand it, Dream House is a showplace home, designed to inspire newlywed or newly engaged couples. In addition to displaying some fabulous decor, the fanciest in bridal attire, and the epitome of registry chic, the Dream House will be open to the public for tours, cocktail parties, classes and spa treatments. The Dream House will only be open for four weeks, starting on the 18th of October. You can visit the Dream House main site to see a schedule of events, and purchase tickets. Part of the proceeds will go toward the I Do Foundation, and at $10 per event, it seems like a pretty reasonable fee for a cocktail party or a manicure. Take a few of the girlfriends! Where is this Dream House you ask? Manhattan, of course.
Gorgeous! These earrings from Shebangs are sort of ideal, in my opinion. Not too expensive, nothing fake, in variety of unique options. I happen to be spending every last penny to my name right now at Home Depot, but if that were not the case, I would be heading in this general direction.
I may see it every time I open a bridal magazine, but like it or not, there's something really sweet about this dress from Siri. It's the neckline, it's definitely the neckline. It's timeless, it's ageless, it's flattering. With a shorter kicky skirt it's flirty. With a pencil skirt it's sexy. With a longer skirt it's demure, yet fetching. In all variations it's totally Old Hollywood. I'd wear it. My mom would probably wear it. I think my husband might even try it on for laughs, but he'd never admit it. It's one of those dresses we can all wear.
How often have you not bought clothing that you generally liked because of one little thing? The skirt's too poofy, the sleeves are weird, the color is not flattering. These things are happening to me all the time. Especially the color thing. Now, close your eyes, (not really, you have to keep reading) and imagine this: You choose the color, the bodice, the neckline, the waistline, the skirt, the sleeves, and the collar. Oooooooo. You have a YOU dress. In your color. And you can be wearing it in 10 days, for less than $300. From Style Shake.
Every night, before I go to bed, I post on this blog (usually). I read a lot of websites, get a lot of emails, and in general, I know fair deal about wedding related stuff. I can find an adorable bridesmaids gift in no time, cough Etsy. My brain is a-wash in color schemes. And don't even get me started on invitations. That being said, even with all my accumulated knowledge, I go to maybe three weddings a year? Maybe? What would happen if I went to a wedding every weekend? Would I be laden with that many more spectacular ideas? Hmmmmm. I don't want to go to a wedding every weekend. I don't have enough dress-up clothes for that. Plus I would get fat off the coconut shrimp and "signature cocktails".
Enter Jenny Ebert. I will let Jenny introduce herself in a sec, but boiled down, Jenny is the girl who goes to a gazillion weddings (she's the photographer). She's a professional wedding-goer. She's there in the trenches, while I'm out here- in theoretical wedding land. So from time to time, Jenny will be posting here on Something Old, Something New. She'll be offering a real-life perspective on weddings, a first hand account of what real bride's are doing on their wedding days. What worked? What didn't? Ask Jenny! So without further ado, I'll let her say a quick hello. If you have questions for Jenny, about photography or otherwise, feel free to ask them in the comment section.
Hi! I’m Jenny Ebert. I am a Lifestyle and Wedding Photographer based out of NYC. When I’m not taking photographs I spend most of my time doing a never-ending list of projects. Thanks to my stylishly chic and oh-so-fabulous Brides (and possibly my little obsession with all things wedding) the inspiration, ideas and projects never seems to cease. More to come, very soon.
Best,
Jenny
Just time for a quick one today, I'm still in Toronto at my sister-in-law's baby-shower-weekend-family-extravaganza. I saw these dainty, gorgeous little Philip Crangi rings over at Seamsters, and couldn't resist. I can easily picture wearing these two rings together on the same finger as a wedding set. So affordable, yet so chic!
Happy Columbus Day to everyone, and especially to those of you lucky enough to get the day off. And to the Canadians: Happy Thanksgiving!
An adorable little set from Kim&Maki. Might make a perfect bridesmaid's gift or even wedding jewelry for a casual event. I love the gold beads mixed in with the metal! Also available in silver.
So, on a complete side note. I have to tell you what happened to me this morning, if only to alleviate some of my embarrassment. So, imagine it's 2:30AM. You're sleeping. I'm sleeping. We are all sleeping. Dell and I wake up to a smoke detector type sound. Never good. So we both get up and run down stairs expecting that maybe the boiler had exploded or something. Turns out, it was just the alarm system. The one that, when we asked the seller about it, he told us he didn't know anything about it, it was there from the previous owner. There were clearly no intruders, and there was certainly no fire, so we press some buttons; "off" seemed appropriate, as did "reset". Anyway, the thing went off. Fine. So back to bed we go. Flash to 6:30AM, same story. Smoke detector noise. Dell runs down, shuts it off, and back to bed. Flash to 7:00AM, again, with the smoke detector noise. So this time, I run down to shut the thing off. Only as soon I hit the "off" button, the read out says "20 SECONDS TO EXIT". I'm thinking, Exit? Exit the house? Exit button? Exit the program? Then, "10 SECONDS TO EXIT". My half asleep, groggy brain is telling me that something bad may be about to happen. There's a countdown. 5-4-3-2-1. Then; LOUD, LOUD, LOUD air-raid type sound coming from the devil box in the hall!!! Much louder than the sweet, innocent smoke detector noise. I have to cover my ears. I scream for Dell, but he's already half way to me. I'm clawing at the box, trying to get inside, turns out, whoever invented this alarm system thought of that. No way in. After about a minute of scramble, Dell takes a hammer to the battery box in the hall. The alarm goes off. Ahhhh... WRONG! Unbeknownst to us, there is a bull horn attached to the outside of the house, high up, on the corner under the second floor window. As soon as we destroyed the inner alarm, an ambulance like noise issues forth from the bullhorn, VERY, VERY LOUD, BROADCASTING IT'S PANIC INDUCING NOISE INTO THE SLEEPING NEIGHBORHOOD. I loose it. I'm in hysterics. I'm picturing all the awful Indiana Jones type booby traps this house could still have in store for us. I'm picturing the poor neighbors, who we have yet to befriend or offend, laying awake in their beds cursing our names, deciding that we are indeed horrible people. We run outside, and I scramble to find a ladder. Dell gets up on the ladder, and R-E-A-C-H, but he can't reach the bull horn. At this point, I'm whimpering. I call my Dad at work, he's in a meeting. I'm full on crying at this point. The neighbors are starting to come out of their houses, in their jammys, they don't look pleased. What feels like an hour but was probably more like 5 minutes passes. I'm scrambling for a taller ladder, a chainsaw, a boomerang, whatever I can find to KILL IT! Meanwhile, Dell is being a genius, and finds wire snips, dangles out the second floor bedroom window, and cuts any and all wires going to the awful nasty bullhorn. SILENCE. All you hear now is me, still whimpering. Unable to comprehend the manner in which I've woken up. Turns out? At seven in the morning, faced with an awful sound, I will crack. I'll crack right open.
All is quiet now. We must start the baking of the cookies that will act as a peace offering to the neighbors. We are the new people who don't know how to work their house, we are sorry. I'm not sure why telling thousands of people that story makes me feel better, but it does.
I know I'm not the only one who's excited that Darcy Miller, (Editor at MS Weddings) has taken up blogging. Several wedding bloggers have posted about The Bride's Guide (Darcy's blog) and I just know there are wedding blog readers out there dying to pick Darcy's brain. Personally, the idea of an Editor at Martha Stewart Weddings entertaining my questions is just plain fun. So without further ado, I'll give you the Q and A:
Q: Take us back to when you were first engaged. Aside from calling family and friends, what was the first thing you set your mind to?
A: When you first get engaged, the first thing you should figure out is where and when you want your wedding and then set the date. I had a special place in mind for my wedding, so I had to first check availability.
There are four things that are most important to start with as they will affect each other: budget, size, style and location. It’s important to first determine the budget (or at least a range) as this will affect the size. Both families should write down their must-haves and their wish list of guests before even starting to look at location. Next, you should determine the style that will reflect you as a couple (ex. small beach wedding or large traditional wedding). And then you’ll be able to determine the location based on all of these things.
Q: Is there one paramount "wed-iquette" rule you would never break?
A: The most important thing is to be comfortable at your own wedding. Don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right to you. Etiquette rules are supposed to inspire, however, it’s up to you as a couple to make all the decisions and make it personalized.
Q: Every wedding seems to have its snafus, (charming or otherwise). Can you share one of your own wedding mishaps?
A: I was lucky to not have any major mishaps at my wedding. For the last few days leading up to the wedding, I hired my friend and wedding planner Elizabeth Allen to help me out. It allowed me to enjoy my time with friends and family.
Q: What are some of your favorite fall wedding color combinations?
A: The most popular color combinations for fall are jewel tones and pastels mixed with browns. However, I also really like brighter colors and you can never go wrong with classic wedding colors such as white and silver. In the Fall issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, we feature emerald green and aqua in our regular palette story. The issue is on stands on October 1.
Q: Describe your ideal experience as a wedding guest.
A: Wedding guests should feel welcome and comfortable from the moment they receive the invitation through every detail of the ceremony and reception. So if it’s a fall wedding, make sure guests won’t be too cold at an outdoor reception or too hot at a summer wedding. Music is also a very important guest experience – it sets the tone so choose carefully.
Make sure that no matter how big or small, that at some point you greet all guests individually. Destination weddings are popular because the couples have more time to spend with their families and friends.
Since October is Breast Cancer awareness month, several bloggers and I agreed to POST PINK! today. I'm so pleased to be part of a group who is so gung-ho about things like this. What could be a more appropriate pink post for Something Old, Something New than Something Pink? Something Pink is huge three day wedding gown sale hosted by Brides Magazine. The sale features several big name designers at amazingly affordable prices. Taking place in midtown Manhattan from October 4th-6th, tickets are available here. This would be a great way to show your support, and save a bit of money on your gown at the same time!
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