Wedding: The Dress

Here I am, a little more than three months after my wedding, finally getting around to doing a series of wedding posts. I'm going to be very honest by sharing my ups and downs with all of you. I do not want to sugar coat the wedding planning process, because I would be lying to say that it was easy and perfect. I hope that I can inspire and help other brides by telling my stories and sharing tips and suggestions that I learned, many times the hard way!

I'll start by saying that I planned my own wedding; I did have a venue wedding coordinator to guide me and help with logistics but in all other respects I was on my own. I absolutely loved planning my wedding, even though sometimes I wanted to rip my hair out it was stressful at times. Google docs, Inside Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings, Bride and Bloom magazines were my best friends during the planning process. My wonderful, talented, and beautiful bridesmaids were also always there for me and I really couldn't have done it without them!

I fell in love with the Maggie Sottero Sabelle wedding gown right after I got engaged. It sounds cliche, but as a little girl (and into adulthood) I wanted to look like a princess on my wedding day, and the Sabelle dress is exactly that, a princess dress. 

I went to try it on, and absolutely loved it. I decided not to buy it that first time because I had 20 months until my big day and wanted to browse and try on others before making my decision. I cannot even tell you how many wedding dresses I tried on in the span of 16 months. Among my top picks was the Kenneth Pool Degas gown, a very different dress than the Sabelle. After trying on the Degas gown, I flirted with the idea of a more modern, clean, mermaid or drop waist gown which is a stark contrast to the Sabelle- a dress complete with every imaginable detail: crystals, lace, silk, rosettes, asymmetrical shape, a cathedral length train, and some pickups (which I usually abhor). 

I purchased a Barbra Allin gown that was majorly discounted at a sample sale, with the hopes of altering it to fit the princessy style I'd always envisioned. I liked the dress, but I had hopes of reincarnating the blank canvas of a dress into something completely different. MAJOR mistake, ladies! 

DO NOT buy a wedding dress under these circumstances, no matter how much the price is reduced. 

In the end, to "fix" this dress would have cost me more than the dress itself. 

12 weeks before my wedding, I bought the Maggie Sottero gown I had fallen in love with first. 

{wiping my lipstick off my husband's face after our first kiss}

After my dress saga, the most important things I learned were:

-Buy the dress that you can't say no to and can't keep your mind off of.

-Only take one or two people dress shopping, those who know and understand your style.

-For women of all shapes and sizes: make sure there is support BUILT IN to your gown! As you can probably see, I am big busted. I did not wear a bra on my wedding day because 1. When the bra is not attached to the dress, you'll naturally have the urge to pull up one or the other. 2. I had lots of support built in to my dress, and did not need to wear a bra. 

Inspired by: Rebecca Taylor

First off, I hope you can forgive me for posting so sporadically here. I am planning on resuming regular blog posts asap, but with school ending and a wedding to plan, I have been SoOoOOOo busy. 

Anyway, enough with the excuses....

Today I stopped into Target for some boring household items when I stumbled upon this dress which is almost identical to Rebecca Taylor's "red poppy" dress, skirt, and top(s).

The Target dress: 

I'm excited to wear the dress once it starts warming up in CA, and I'm thrilled about the $25 price tag! Have any of you found some good finds at Target recently?

Sweater Dresses

It's finally time for Pumpkin Spice Latte's, Halloween decorations, color change in the leaves, and crisp cool air (albeit not quite yet in Northern California). As you may be able to assume, Fall is my favorite season for several reasons, especially for my love of fall clothes. This fall/winter I am planning on stocking up on sweater dresses. They are so easy to throw on with leggings and boots while still looking put together. Below are some sweater dresses from the Runway @ F/W New York Fashion week 2010, followed by my top picks.

DKNY

Halston

 

Rag and Bone

*Photo credit: google images

Theory Cutaway Sweater Dress

Bird by Juicy Couture Puff Sleeve Sweater Dress

Bop Basics V Neck Sweater Dress

L.A.M.B. Cowl Neck Sweater Dress

Mossimo (Target) Turtleneck Sweaterdress

LANVIN for H&M

When I woke up this morning, I found out the most amazing news...Lanvin is doing a line for H&M! I'm most excited about this release above all other designer-for-retail-store mass releases. Lanvin pieces grace the red carpet regularly and is truly a luxury brand, which I love, love, love. The line will be released at H&M on November 23 of this year. Lanvin's mastermind designer, Alber Elbaz gave the following statements: "I have a problem to do a collection that is a secondary line. I mean, you don't want to be the stepsister. You want to be Cinderella. Show me one girl who wants to be the stepsister." He later explained his collection for H&M, saying "H&M approached us to collaborate, and see if we could translate the dream we created at Lanvin to a wider audience, not just a dress for less. I have said in the past that I would never do a mass-market collection, but what intrigued me was the idea of H&M going luxury rather than Lanvin going public."

Are you as excited as I am? I can't wait to see a lookbook for the collection and will be sure to post it as soon as it releases to the public!

Recent Purchases

I ordered this XOXO dress (inspired by Carrie's dress in Sex and The City 2, pictured below) last week and am still awaiting its arrival. I was worried because it was in my shopping cart at xoxo.com, then a couple days later I went to pay for it and it was sold out. Luckily Macy's still had it in stock and I ordered it there. Click Here To Buy


Tory Burch Revas in Gold--Got these on ebay for $90!
I was BEYOND excited when I saw these on The Look For Less because I had been wanting the Valentino version (pictured below) but did not want to pay the price. Click Here To BuyValentino Bow Wedges

Living in The Lap of Luxury

I LOVE anything and everything luxury, it defines my style and if I had the money I would give into it. I know the things listed below are extremely gaudy and gratuitous but that doesn't stop me from wanting and loving the opulence!
Pictured on the left: Chocolate cake covered with edible gold. Pictured on the right: Champagne with edible gold flakes. This gave me an idea I will probably be using for my wedding. I'm looking into ordering edible gold to put in champagne and other various cocktails. Fortune Small Business Magazine named edible gold leaf the most expensive food. One pound costs $75,000. The cheaper option is to buy small (sand like) 23k edible gold in a shaker, which retails for about $30. My Grandmother's sister used to use edible gold when she entertained, maybe that's where I get it?
This Macbook pro was blinged out by Stuart Hughes. He is famous for blinging electronics including iphones, game consoles, and televisions. See below for more Stuart Hughes designs! This Macbook is all platinum, and the Apple logo is encrusted with 53 'IF' Flawless diamonds, for a total of 22.5 carats. If you want to buy it, it will burn $209,000 in your pocket.
Ooooh how I wish I owned this TV. Another design by Stuart Hughes. It is the most expensive television set in the world at $2,250,000.00 The PrestigeHD Supreme Rose Edition is has screen size of 55 inches and covered with 28 kilograms of solid 18ct rose gold. The entire frame of the is adorned with 72 flawless IF diamonds.

You're looking at one of the most expensive mattresses in the world. The Gold Mattress is made byMagniflex and has 22-carat gold yarn cover and features the company’s patented Memoform Core, which adapts to the shape of the body with up to 85 percent accuracy. Magniflex says the physical properties of gold makes the mattress anti-bacteria, anti-inflammatory, anti-stress and anti-dust mite and odor-free. It sells for $24,000 and comes with matching gold pillows, priced at $1,000 each.
For $3.2 Million, you can own this gold and diamond 3GS iphone. It has been named the most expensive cell phone in the world. The phone itself is made entirely of 271 grams of 22 carat high grade gold, with the front panel consisting of an astounding 68 carats of 136 flawless diamonds and the navigation button on the iPhone 3GS Supreme is composed of a single rare 7.1 carat diamond.
PS3 by Stuart Hughes, 2,500 grams of solid gold!

Here is another design by Stuart. A Wii made of gold and encrusted with 78 diamonds. Retail is $487,000.00. Here is a similar look to Stuart Hughes' iphone 3GS design for a cheaper price. It is called Royal Crown iPhone Case and is studded with swarovski crystals. Retail is $180.00.
I first saw these "Sweet Dreams Beds" on Kimora Lee Simmons' show Life in the Fab Lane, and wanted to look them up to see how much they cost. Obviously this bed is a child's bed...Here's the description from poshtots.com: "Imagine your little princess sliding down this slide in her best ball gown! This beautiful Princess Palace Bed features custom hand turned spindles, custom fiberglass fabricated curved slide, custom made spiral staircase, and so much more. The grand spiral staircase leads to a balcony complete with pink turrets." I asked Chris if we could make one of these for our child(ren) when we have them because the cost would be in the hundreds as opposed to a whopping $50,000 to order.

The Look For Less: Initial Necklace

Max and Chloe Initial Necklace, $765
Couture Candy Personalized Pendant Necklace, $78

Recent Purchases Part II

J Crew "Rainy Day" Flats in Neon Pink
Ella Moss "Antoinette" Top-Shopbop
Marc by Marc Jacobs Mirrored Heart clutch-Marc by Marc Jacobs in San Francisco
Jonathan Adler Malibu Barbie Candle-Jonathan Adler store in San Francisco
Twelfth St. By Cynthia Vincent Faux Bra Slip Dress-Shopbop
Lulu's "Chilltown" Dress in Coral
Rory Beca Monte Carlo Wrap Dress-Shopbop
Kate Spade Pink Earrings-Bloomingdales

In The Nude + A Little Update

I hope I can be forgiven for being MIA this week! The last couple of weeks have been hard (to say the least) with school. I am so ready for the weekend! My birthday is on Saturday and I can't wait to relax and see my friends! So far I have a spa day planned with my BFF and a dinner with friends.

In my last post, I got some questions about doing OOTD/LOTD posts and I'm going to try and incorporate those into my blog in the near future. Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see here! Also, stay tuned for another Recent Purchases post coming soon!

Right now I LOVE nude everything and have been lusting over these pieces...

Nude by PrettyInPink87 featuring Joie tops

Items in this set:
Milly Asymmetrical Ruffle Dress, $350
Rory Beca Monte Carlo Wrap Dress, $215
Joie - Joyce Lace Top (Off White) - Apparel, $160
Forever21.com - Tops - Casual - 2070840618, $15
Hyper Prive - Nude, $865