Royal Inspiration

Today I saw an article featuring the new wedding website of the royal couple. If you want to see it, you can check it out here. Prince William and Kate are on the cover of EW magazine this week, which I admit is the one gossipy magazine I subscribe to. Details about their relationship, engagement and wedding plans have been all over the media ever since they announced their engagement last fall. Why is America obsessed with the royal couple? I understand the curiosity since from afar it seems like a real-life fairytale, but do we really need weekly updates on their lives and where they are in the wedding planning process?

I'm sure Kate's wedding planning experience is much different from that of the typical bride: First of all, the dress. There are speculations about which designer will have the honor of designing her gown. We are talking some of the biggest names in fashion, what a lucky girl Kate is. Second, the extremely public wedding ceremony. Apparently, almost 2000 invitations have been sent out. Can you imagine having a wedding ceremony/reception with THAT many people?!? Not to mention, the millions who will watch the ceremony via internet and tv. Third, some of the best wedding coordinators. I'm not that far into planning and I'm already thinking about how nice it would be if someone else could take care of the details for me. Kate probably has some of the best wedding coordinators helping her at every step along the way. 

It'll be very interesting to see how the royal wedding will affect wedding trends. What style of dress will be popular because Kate wore it? Flowers? Colors? On April 29th, we'll find out.

On a side note, the obsession with the royal engagement has led to the creation of many different royal engagement/wedding memorabilia. My personal favorite: 

Crown Jewels: Condoms of Distinction

Yes, you can purchase royal wedding souvenir condoms. Visit the website, it's hilarious!

<3,

M

Change of Heart

First, I'd like to apologize to anyone who is using or has used orange and teal as their wedding colors for the comments in my previous post. I mentioned my skepticism of the orange/teal color combo. After doing some research (because hey that's what I do!) I'd like to amend the comments of my previous post.

It appears that I really don't have a good eye for color and thank goodness for Google, which allowed me to find images of inspiration boards and real weddings that used orange and teal. After seeing these photos, I can see that this color combo is actually quite pretty.

We all know that I love orchids. Look at these beautiful orange orchids sitting on the teal runner. Very pretty!

photo from nicolebdesign

I'm going to assure my friend, who was also very skeptical about the color combo, that the colors of the wedding she's going to be in aren't bad at all. Next time I'm feeling skeptical about something, you can be sure that I will first do my research before being so critical.

<3,
M

Crazy Color Combo?

A few weeks ago, theknot.com put together a list of crazy color combinations that "actually work". I was expecting unusual color combinations. For example, my friend is going to be in a wedding where the colors are orange and teal. I don't mean to offend anyone who likes/is using/had used this combo, I'm sure that with the right shades of each it probably looks nice. Who knows, maybe I just don't have a good eye for color. I like orange and sure, I don't mind teal, but I can't imagine what they look like together. And as a result, I'm a little skeptical of this particular combo. Anyway, I was thinking that combinations like orange and teal were going to be on this list because it's not overly popular, it sounds crazy (in the sense of, what does teal go with?) and maybe it "actually works"?

What would you expect to see on a list that is called "20 crazy color combos that actually work"?

Well, I can tell you what I wasn't expecting: I was not expecting to see some of my favorite combos. For example, yellow and blue (which they called "sunflower and sea glass blue") or purple and pink (which they called "eggplant and gobstopper pink") or yellow and baby pink ("canary and cotton candy pink"). To me, the names of the colors are crazy. Is this the way wedding colors are labeled? Or colors in general? Why?!? What happened to the basic color names? And if I have to learn what these obscure names are, how the heck am I ever going to choose a color combo? Okay, nevermind the color names, back to the point of this post...

...As I was scrolling through the different combinations,  I came across my absolute FAVORITE color combination...

...wait for it...

Yes, that's right: pink and green! Or "bubblegum and grassy green", as they called it. Can you believe that?!? When did pink and green become a "crazy color combination that actually works"? Again, I think it has more to do with the names of the actual shade of pink and green. Afterall, there are many different shades of pink and green and perhaps when picking colors for an event like a wedding the exact shade matters. Still I was not expecting to see a lot of the combos on that list because to me they don't seem all that "crazy".

I guess the good news is that the combo I like and want to use actually does work, so thank you to theknot.com for making this explicitly clear. I now feel much more confident in choosing these as my colors, not that I ever doubted that they would work well together.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, orange and teal were not on the list, not even under weird alternate names. I don't know if it means that it's a "crazy color combo that does not work" or if it's not a crazy color combo at all. Who knows? If you want to see what other color combinations work, go here to check out the list.

Despite my disagreement about the craziness of the color combos featured, it was actually cool to see photographs from real weddings that used these colors and it was nice seeing what worked. And while we haven't made it official yet, I have a feeling we'll probably be using some shade of bright pink and green (very appropriate for our summertime wedding) as our colors. :)

<3,
M

Marry Me

Someone posted this on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing. It's a beautiful song with romantic lyrics. I predict, based on popularity, that it will be the first dance song at many upcoming weddings. It's a bit too cliche for me, but the message is sweet. Enjoy!

<3,

M

Saying Yes to a Dress

Thanks to TLC's popular "Say Yes to the Dress" tv show, it seems that there is extra hype around finding the perfect dress. There are several reasons why I love watching this show:

1. It's fun to see the many different styles of wedding dresses. Who knew the selection is so huge? Which leads me to ask, how on earth do I make a choice?
2. It amazes me how much some women are willing to spend on a dress they will only wear once. I can't justify a dress budget in the thousands, I can barely justify the several hundred I will most likely end up spending. However, it is nice to see what several thousand dollars would get me if I had such a budget.
3. Let's be honest, the drama involved in selecting a dress is rather amusing and has a funny way of sucking me further into the show.  
4. The reactions of the women when they finally decide on "the dress" are a reassurance that despite the stress and the pressure, it is possible to find an amazing dress. 

Up until fairly recently, I hadn't given any thought to wedding dresses. A friend of mine had to go to David's Bridal to try on several different bridesmaids dresses for a wedding she's in this upcoming summer. She asked me to go with her to give her feedback on the different styles and then suggested that since I was going to be there, why not also try on some wedding dresses for fun. 

This was my very first time in a bridal store and walking in there I was instantly overwhelmed. The Saturday crowd of brides-to-be and their entourages did not help the fact that I suddenly felt out of my element. There were rows and rows of wedding dresses, an entire section of bridesmaid dresses, and racks of prom dresses. Overwhelmed is an understatement. The consultant assigned to me was extremely nice, patient, and understanding. With her help, I chose several different dresses to try on. And surprisingly, it was fun to try dresses on. I felt like I was playing dress up, until she put a veil on me and then all of a sudden I felt like a bride. And again, the wedding started to feel very real. 

While I did not find "the dress" that day, I at least have an idea of the styles that do not work well on a small 5' frame. Princess gowns that are really puffy and mermaid gowns are definitely out of the question. The mermaid gown didn't look that bad, but I hated feeling like I couldn't walk. I'm not sure when I'll try on dresses again, but when I do I now have a better idea of what it is I'm looking for. Here is a wedding dresses and shoes inspiration board. As a side note, you'll notice, I am mildly obsessed with peep toe shoes! :) 

<3,

M