I have learned a lot about wedding planning over the last year and much of that is thanks to my wonderful wedding planner. One of the most random things I learned is in regards to stationery and choosing your save the dates and invitation suite. I learned that your stationery can set the tone for your wedding day. I didn’t realize choosing stationery for one’s wedding required so much thought. And so, we set out into the wonderful world of paper goods knowing that we had to choose invitations that both expressed our vision for the wedding weekend and was conveniently under budget.

First, our save the dates. We chose not to pursue the modern save the dates highlighting an engagement picture because that just didn’t suit us as a couple. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love having two of my favorite people featured on my fridge in a gorgeous professional photo, it just never felt quite right for Eric and I. Picking out save the dates are incredibly fun because they can be playful and unique. You can choose an adorable engagement photo or you can choose a vintage postcard depicting the Yosemite Valley. Of course, if you’ve had some of your engagement photographs taken by the likes of Chesapeake wedding photography agencies or similar, then you could also include one of your favorite photos from your engagement photography session. I love the simplicity of our save the dates and practicality as I assume they will end up in everyone’s recycling bins eventually. Don’t lie to me, we’ve all been there, none of us scrapbook anymore.

I have been an avid follower of Rifle Paper Company for a long time now and am completely obsessed with their gorgeous flower prints. I knew our wedding planner was the perfect match for a while, but when did I really know? It was when she sent us an invitation suite that highlighted a colorful Rifle floral print, without me ever mentioning my dream of Rifle Paper Co wedding invitations. I was sold from the second she sent it. Not only were the invitations all of my favorite colors, but they were done in letterpress, which is an especially nice touch for those who want to add a little somethin’ somethin’. Sure, they weren’t customized Rifle invites, but who has that in their budget anyways? The best part about our invites, Eric, our wedding planner, and myself designed the suite from the ground up. We had inspiration from Etsy, duh who doesn’t these days, but we took the original invitations and went wild. We were able to take our overall vision for the wedding and display it in something as simple and low key as an invitation. This my friends, marks our first wedding DIY project. Eric and I went crazy at Paper Source shortly thereafter buying necessary craft supplies and painstakingly put the final product together. We created our very own assembly line and, singlehandedly, glued envelope liners, taped belly bands (yes that’s a real thing), and stuffed 120 envelopes.

Lastly, but certainly one of the most important considerations is that of the wording and addressing of a wedding invitation. Do you have any idea how sexist an envelope can be? Dr. and Mrs? I mean really. The approach Eric and I took, and advice I felt worthy of sharing on this post is that the envelope should be labeled for who you know best. Everyone should get a label before their names and so as to not make assumptions, all the women can be assigned Ms. (instead of Mrs.). Next, if a couple is living together they can be assigned the same line on an envelope otherwise they each get their own line. Note, if you’ve known each individual of a couple for the same amount of time my personal default was to put the woman first. We’ve earned it ladies.

For example, Ms. Amanda Thomas and Mr. Eric Spishak would be an appropriate way to address an envelope to my fiancé and I. We’re on the same line because we’ve been living together three years and dating almost seven years total. We’ve worked hard to be on the same line after all of these years.

As for the wording of the invitation, I’m a big fan of some formality with some fun. You want to keep these classy and timeless, but still have your personality shine through so as to not have your invitations feel stuffy and impersonal. We hope we nailed that little tidbit in ours, but nobody’s perfect. We are also financing a majority of our wedding therefore we get to invite everyone to our wedding instead of the traditional, so and so’s parents invite you to their daughter’s wedding. You know what I mean.

There are a lot of ways to modernize wedding invitations these days including RSVPs online, which a lot of people do. Personally, I love getting mail and find the tradition of mailing an RSVP a non-negotiable so we chose to keep it traditional. Minted and Wedding Paper Divas are online stationery companies that make purchasing and designing stationery an easy and painless process. Long story short, our wedding invitations and save the dates were not something we wanted to break the bank, but they were an important way to express ourselves and set the tone for the wedding weekend. We had a lot of fun creating our own invitations, licking over a hundred envelopes (Eric literally licked all of them, I have to be honest), and learning that there are two ways and definitions to spell stationery (or stationary).

Let’s talk bridesmaid dresses. As we move further and further into the 21st century and we embark in 2016 there is one major trend in bridesmaid dresses and that is, wearing all the same dress is not as popular as it used to be. Of course there are still the more traditional weddings that follow the classic matching dress route, but for our wedding I decided to go rogue.

At first, I wasn’t sure just how different I wanted my bridesmaids to be and so I took one of my bridesmaids dress shopping. I first want to say how lucky I am to have six of the most obliging besties out there willing to wear just about anything I ask of them, but I really wanted to include them in the decision making process. For months I took note of each of their preferences of colors and styles, knowing that Katie hates strapless dresses as much as I do and that Amelia would prefer not to be in a dress made completely of tulle. Knowing what makes each of my girls feel their best made the shopping day 100x easier because that was my ultimate goal. While I’m dressed up in the prettiest of white dresses, I want the women next to me glowing, comfortable, and happy as well.

I narrowed it down to two stores, mostly in order to get an idea for what various styles and fabrics would feel and look like in person. And so, Sara and I set out to Weddington Way and the Nordstrom Wedding Suite. I have to say, neither experience was particularly special or deserves any spectacular accolades, but it was helpful to see the dresses in person. Weddington Way, for those of you who aren’t engrossed in the wedding world, is an online bridesmaid shopping bonanza where they have a zillion different colors, styles, and brands of dresses. Lucky for me, they have a pop up shop in their San Francisco office meaning we were able to show up and see a lot of their dresses in person. Nordstrom was similar in that they had some of their dresses, but do not stock all of the ones they advertise online, making it somewhat of a disappointment. For example, the brand Sara and I ultimately fell in love with were Donna Morgan dresses. We happened upon her catalog sitting at Weddington Way and then again at Nordstrom and Sara had tried on one of her strapless dresses in the Chantilly color, a champagne color of sorts, but with a fancier name. We were in love with the mismatched styles of dresses in this pale pink color and that was where our vision was born.

Now I hate to be cliche, but I wanted to choose a color that complimented the outdoors and didn’t outshine it by any means. We’re getting married in Yosemite National Park for pete’s sake, we don’t need to go crazy! I was drawn to the paler colors that would blend in nicely with green sequoia giants, natural grasses, and earth tones. After a quick search Sara and I realized that the three styles of dresses we liked the most unfortunately didn’t come in all the same color and so our grand plan evolved. We settled on this sort of crazy, sort of brilliant idea that we should have mismatched colors and mismatched styles and include a gorgeous floral print that would somehow tie it all together and become a gorgeous bridesmaid set. Once again, because I have the greatest bridesmaids in the world, everyone happened to agree with our crazy idea and went all in, purchasing their dresses during perfectly timed Black Friday sales.

Choosing your bridesmaid dresses should be fun and should actively include the women wearing the dresses. As set “wedding colors” and wedding trends go in and out of style, choosing bridesmaid dresses becomes easier and easier. It becomes about what makes the ladies you care about most feel comfortable, confident, and beautiful while finding dresses that compliment your own dress and style of wedding. If your dress is of a vintage inspiration, have your bridesmaids wear dresses that tend towards a similar era instead of something modern. And I mean really, at the end of the day it’s most important that you can twirl in it, you can spread your legs apart, and that it’s a Fritz Bernaise. You really can’t do much better than that.

I’ve always considered myself extremely lucky when it comes to friends and lady friends in particular. I have arguably the most incredible, inspiring, strong, beautiful, hilarious, and intelligent women surrounding me. Because having fifteen bridesmaids is what one might consider, excessive, I chose six of my best ladies to be my bridesmaids with the plan to continue including the other ten or so in other meaningful ways. The first and most important way to make my six bridesmaids feel special was how to “pop the question”.

I have heard horror stories from friends who have been bridesmaids in countless weddings and I have to be honest, you get a lot more negative stories than positive ones. In contemplating “the ask” I wanted to ensure my bridesmaids felt cherished, loved, and that just as I am asking them to do this favor for me, I too would do anything for them. My bridesmaids are scattered across the country, so it was critical that they did not skimp on a personal request because of the distance. I can’t thank them enough for their assistance in finding the perfect wedding venue and a photographer similar to this Wedding Photographer in Essex so that I could remember the most beautiful day of my life for years to come. I don’t even know how to express how important they are to me. They’re probably also planning a bachelorette party for me. Let’s see how it goes!

In fact, all of these considerations led me to the obvious, a bridesmaid box filled with a mixture of things that represent both the wedding weekend (Yosemite National Park, adventure, etc) and our friendship. These luxury wedding gifts could make any bridesmaid feel so special that they may not be able to say no to your request even if they are miles away.

I chose unfinished cigar boxes so that I could paint them myself (with some help from my wonderful fiance, both emotional and technical). Painting the boxes turned out to take several days and it was not exactly the most fun task. In the end it felt good to spend so much time on something for each of the ladies who are undoubtedly going to spend much of their own time helping out on our wedding weekend, bridal shower, and bachelorette party. Next, I went on a hunt for the perfect trinkets to fill the boxes, which ended up being: Malvi Marshmallows, trail mix, bandanas, a cute Instagram print of myself with each bridesmaid, an airplane sized Fireball shot, and a Yosemite postcard with a love note written on each one. Well, they too might have planned something like a bachelorette and many more surprises (head over here to get ideas to plan for a bachelorette) with it, so it completely makes sense for me to prepare a gift for them. Thankfully, each of my bridesmaids accepted my proposal because let’s be real, they all knew this was coming for at least a year before I was even engaged. Now that they’ve agreed to be my bridesmaids, we can start celebrating and looking for dresses for them to wear. One of them suggested convertible bridesmaid dresses. That was a good idea, it’s definitely something we’ll all look into. I want them to be comfortable and happy with their dresses.

In the end, I would recommend putting a little time into asking your own leading ladies (or gentlemen or both) when asking them to stand next to you on such a big day. Consider their likes, dislikes, and what would bring a smile to their face. If your bridal party happens to live near you consider asking them in person over brunch and bloody marys (because nothing is better than a good bloody)! My fiance also spent time asking each of his groomsmen in a personal way. As he is not one to talk on the phone generally, making the effort to call each of his six besties to ask them individually was a truly special gesture. This goes to show even the smallest action can make the biggest impact and that the best part about this whole thing is having your favorite people by your side.

Weddings are entrenched in age old traditions and rituals that some of us in the modern world choose to partake in and others that we leave behind. Today we’re going to talk about some things that have been bothering me since I got engaged over 6 months ago and that, my friends, are wedding diets and bridal expectations.

I’ve had poor body image since sixth grade. My eating disorder began gradually in seventh grade and became uncontrollable my freshmen year of college. 3 months of inpatient rehab later, hours of therapy, an unbreakable support network of the best friends a girl could ask for, and I would consider myself in recovery for the last 6 years. I’m not perfect and my past with my eating disorder does not define me, but I still find it influencing my body image and relationship with food as years go by.

The reason I bring up this issue now is that in my last post I blogged about the joys of finding the perfect wedding dress. I absolutely LOVE my dress; I cannot wait to wear it for an entire day because it is beautiful and I feel beautiful in it. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t having an internal battle with myself and my dormant eating disorder. Wedding dresses are beautiful, but you aren’t always going to fit into the sample size dress. Sometimes at the last minute, one might require wedding dress alterations to fit into the dress. You could also get measured in front of a mirror in your bra and underwear, something I like to think of as my own personal hell. All I could think was, thank God this is happening now, when I am strong and stable in my recovery.

This is why it is so important to find a wedding photographer who can put you at ease and make you feel relaxed on your big day. Some friends of mine recently got married and their photographer did such a good job of capturing the moment in a friendly and approachable way. If you are on the lookout for a New York based wedding photographer for your celebrations, Read reviews about Olga Topchii, wedding photographer from NY to help you decide on the right person for the job.

First thing’s first, a wedding diet is an option, NOT an obligation. Going on a wedding diet is not like hiring an officiant or getting a marriage license, it’s a choice, not a necessity and you can still tie the knot without one.

Read more “Wedding Wednesdays – Wedding Confidence”

I have a big secret that I’m going to share with you today. I bought my wedding dress already. I bought it back in July in Los Angeles, my hometown, where I went with the leading ladies in my family. Wedding dress shopping is something that can seem overwhelming unless you take the right steps prior to the big shopping day. Obviously, looks aren’t everything, but it’s important to feel comfortable and confident when your Portland wedding photographer (or other photographer in your area) is snapping pictures of you left, right and centre. Wedding nerves are common, but wedding embarrassment is something you’ll want to avoid. Today I will let you in on why my shopping day was so successful!

First, I went wedding dress shopping two times prior to the official shopping weekend. This was extremely helpful as it took the edge off when I eventually went as I felt comfortable in wedding dress boutiques and knew the right questions to ask. During these two preliminary shopping trips I was also able to try on plenty of different dresses so that by the time I got to the big shopping day in L.A. I knew the general color, style, and fabric that I preferred for my dream dress, which brings me to my second point.

Second, I tried on every single wedding dress silhouette, color, and fabric that is available prior to the official shopping weekend. You can scroll through Pinterest and ‘pin’ your dream dress a million times, but your opinion may change when you actually try the dress on. It’s important to give every type of dress a try, you may be surprised and fall in love with a ball gown when you always thought you’d end up in a mermaid. Keeping an open mind will eventually lead you right to the dress of your dreams. There’s no point trying to please everyone. A little planning and budgeting would go a long way. What matters is how you want to feel on your big day. You could click here to learn how to cut down on your wedding expenses.

Third, my Maid of Honor, is my sister and she’s pretty much the best person on Earth. She planned us quite possibly the most fun, girly, and organized wedding dress shopping day ever. We started our day with champagne and donuts while watching Say Yes to the Dress and doing our hair and makeup. My sister made us appointments at three shops and in between shop one and two we stopped for much-needed brunch fuel. I would highly recommend keeping your shopping day to 3-4 boutiques so as to not overdo it by trying on way too many dresses. Also putting on gorgeous white dresses is surprisingly exhausting, especially when you’re having a glass of champagne at each shop!

Fourth, I knew my budget and stuck to it. I refused to try on a dress over my budget knowing that if it was already over without alterations it would completely be out of my price range after alterations and accessories (veil, shoes, belt, whatever you need to complete your bridal look). Wedding dresses are completely overpriced, let’s just be honest, we’ve all seen Say Yes to the Dress. I had no intention to spend $5,000 on a dress I will wear once for a few hours. Because of my strict budget, I shopped at smaller boutiques focused on local designers and also seriously considered a pre-owned or secondhand dress bought online from somewhere like LeoList. Lucky for me, my perfect dress ended up being wonderfully under budget.

Fifth, I wasn’t afraid to commit. Once I found my dream dress I purchased it and made a conscious effort to stop paying attention to any pictures of wedding dresses unless they’re the pictures of me in my dress, which I must admit I look at weekly. That’s normal right?

Shopping for a wedding dress was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning thus far. I truly did not anticipate having such an easy time choosing my outfit for the big day and feel lucky to have had such a supportive team of women during the process. Here’s hoping all of our future wedding planning decisions are as easy as finding a wedding dress!