If only it were spring

During this crazy snow we are having here in Connecticut, I would like to give a little spring inspiration.  Doesn't this photo just scream sunny, spring day .... in a fashionable sort of way. Something tells me I am going to be wearing a lot more winter coats and a lot less cute yellow dresses with grey belts in my near future...

Oh Penelope...

If the world was a high fashion, spanish runway at all times.. I would walk around like this... Oh, also I would like to look like Penelope without having to go to the gym or cut out cheese from my diet.  

Hmmm Since this is a black dress, and the shoes are purple.. I know its super short but couldn't I convince my bridesmaids that this is appropriate? haha 

I also must point out that she is wearing a fabulous cocktail ring.. sort of like the fabulous cocktail ring in a previous post...  

Penelope has some SERIOUS sex appeal.  I bet you she is this hot in PJs too.  

New Obsession

I can't help it... I LOVE Marc Jacobs.  I also am a little bit obsessed with this ring.  It just represents the most perfect fun, whimsical, fashionable cocktail ring.  AND, to make it even more fabulous... it has perfume inside it.  And it comes in a cute little pouch.  I obviously need a new perfume.. and I obviously need a new ring to compliment my new engagement bling don't you think???? ;)    LOVE THIS...

It's all about the styling...

Ok.. call it a guilty pleasure, call it New York/Upper East Side nostalgia but I love Gossip Girl fashion.  Ever since a good friend of mine (Thanks Kel!) got me hooked, the costume designer in me can not get enough of the clothes on this show.  The first image is from the fantastic designer Lorick and since the show aired in Season 1 this designer has blown up.  It takes more than just a great dress to complete a look.  It's the styling, each accessory, the makeup, that really makes this show the new Sex and the City... for a younger audience of course...  

Hmmm all of these looks would make great bridesmaids dresses too.  

Oh Chuck Bass... 

Ok!  Ok!  My teeny bopper moment is over... back to reality.

Save the Dates

Save the Dates are a fun way to say 

We are getting married!  Don't forget to put this date in your calendar for our wedding!

Here is one of my all time favorite save the dates!  I found it on http://bklynbrideonline.com/  Enjoy!!

http://www.joshdickphoto.com/data/web/savethedate.mov

Oh! So you want to see more engagement shots!?

OK!

 

                 

 

Engagement Shots are in!

I have to take a minute to gush about our wedding photographer.  Not only in Barnaby Draper one of the most talented photographers I have seen, but he also happens to be a lovely human being!  He was so much fun to shoot with.  He made Andrew and I feel so comfortable as we went around the meatpacking district to take our engagement pictures.  He really was able to capture the love that Andrew and I have for each other as well as our love for our favorite city.  Here are a few of my favorites. 

 

  

To see more of Barnaby's incredible work go to http://barnabydraperstudios.com/

The short wedding dress

These images from the talented photographer Ashley Rose made me smile.  I love love love the idea of wearing a fantastic pair of shoes in a different color.  But I really like the idea of actually being able to see those fabulous wedding shoes!  I already have my beautiful dress, but, in another circumstance I would be all over it!  Maybe a dress like this one from Sarah Seven

Hmm this could be worn to a rehearsal dinner couldn't it???

I also can not get enough of what this Manhattan bride did!

I mean.. it's Oscar de la Renta people...  This wedding also happens to be at a gorgeous hotel in NYC.  The Gramercy Park Hotel,  Love it!  As if wearing a short dress wasn't different enough, she changed into a hot little red number.  Totally stunning.  This was found on one of my fav blogs http://bklynbrideonline.com/

I don't think I could do it.. pay that much for a dress and only wear it for half an hour and then change... but I admire those women who do!!!! =)

A Jew who loves Christmas time and isn't afraid to rant about it!

Back story... I have grown up celebrating Hannukah and Christmas.  I am jewish and had a bat mitzvah, but I also celebrate the traditions of Christmas with my mother who is not Jewish.  Since I grew up celebrating both, I think that is why I love this time of year so much.    I would like to take this holiday cheer and bath in it for approximately 6 months.  Ugh, I love it!  And this year... in our new home...we have a fire place!!!  I mean, really?  What says Holiday Cheer like a fireplace?  NOTHING!  What brought on this sudden burst of excitement for the holidays you ask?  Well maybe it is because we picked up our Christmas tree todayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!  I am stating here, that my favorite smell of all time is the smell of a Christmas tree.  I must say though, that we do not have a Christmas tree at the moment, we actually have a Hannukah bush!  A lovely melding of two holidays, the Hannukah bush is a Christmas tree decorating with blue, white and silver.  Holiday excitement is in full effect, which means if you are looking for me, you can find me 

1) Holiday Shopping

2) Making a Holiday Feast

3) Spinning a Dreidel

4) Singing about Reindeer

5) Hanging out with my friends in the above picture at Macy's (The lovely Elf on your left is a Bridesmaids in the wedding.. maybe she could just wear that costume down the isle.. done and done)

Now.. onto the bridesmaids...

Now that I have my dress... it is time to focus on one of my favorite parts of wedding planning... THE BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES!  I have many opinions on bridesmaids dresses.  I don't understand why they have to all be so HIDEOUS!?!  For some reason, if you are a bridesmaid you are supposed to wear a polyester, hot pink dress.  In my opinion, it is a huge honor to be asked to be a bridesmaid in someone's wedding, and as the bride you should want them to look fantastic.  

Now that I am on the hunt for the perfect bridesmaid's dress I see the challenge that they pose.  Your want to love it yourself, but you also want all of your bridesmaids to love it too.  

The criteria for the bridesmaids dresses... 

1) Chic cocktail dress 

2) I must love it

3) They must love it and feel confident in it (I know... this is a hard task.  But I consider myself a good friend.  Also, I know I will be in a few of their weddings and hope they will repay the favor!)

4) It must be black, purple or gray.  I have not decided what color I want them to be in.  But, I do know it will be one of those three

5) It can be either one dress that looks great on all of their body types, or the same color and fabric but different styles.

I was thinking something along the lines of this...

Haha!  Gotcha!  

In all seriousness I have been on the search!  If anyone has any ideas they are much appreciated!

I originally wanted grey chiffon dresses.  But, now that I am starting to imagine what the wedding might actually turn into.  I have changed my mind.  Now I want them to be cocktail dresses that are really cute and chic.  I think in this post I have mentioned the words cute and chic 20 times!   

I found this fantastic new bridesmaids designer the other day.  

www.qisforquail.com/ bridal/

Look how fantastic this is??

I love the sweetheart neckline and the styling is so different.  I am using this as inspiration!  That is why black is back in the running.  I like the idea of 5 different little black dresses that really look great.  Hmmm... The search continues...

Alice in Wonderland

With the new Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland coming out I thought I would get us all excited and inspired by taking a trip down memory lane.  

In 2003 there was the most memorable photo shoot I have ever seen in Vogue Magazine.  They did this incredible version of Alice in Wonderland with Natalia Vodianova as Alice.  Not only did she then become one of my favorite models, but this photo shoot is part of the reason I became a costume designer.  

Not only was the fashion BRILLIANT, but the people who posed with her were all famous designers.  I mean, really??! It doesn't get better for me than this!  I am still blown away by the awesome styling, concept, and attention to detail.  Of course Annie Leibovitz was the photographer.  She is one of those photographers whose style is so apparent and unmatched.  You can see more at vogue.com but I wanted to share a few images with you that have always stood out in my mind.  Enjoy!

I want to be Giselle...

I found this image on tv.yahoo.com
Now that I have bought my dress (whoo hoo!)  I have started to think about what kind of hair I would like for my wedding.  I am often saying in life "I want to look like a Victoria's Secret Supermodel."  I know, I know so does everyone.  But really, I think what makes them so hot has a lot to do with the hair.  Ok, and maybe their incredible bodies too.  But the hair is so glamorous!  

So I was pretty sold on having my hair long and wavy when I became practical...

I am getting married in July and I have frizzy hair!!!  Also, I will probably have to get extensions for this look.  Which doesn't seem very practical either.  I would like to say, that I am a VERY practical person.  I am always that person who is the voice of reason.   I mean, I am the annoying friend who says "Ok, I know this sounds like fun, BUT..."  So does this mean that I should take the practical route and do an updo?  Maybe a modern updo that is still modern, glamorous and wavy?  

I just don't know the answer folks.  There will be more on this topic I am sure of it...

I went to Kleinfeld and "Said Yes to the Dress!"

Yup!  That's me and my beautiful mom after buying my wedding dress at Kleinfeld!
I was very nervous about the idea of going to Kleinfeld.  My mom and I watch the show religiously and it looks very hectic.  I am not the kind of bride who can go to one of those crazy sales and trample over other people to find the best deal.  Maybe for a pair of new heels... but not for a wedding dress.  I need to be in a stress free situation.  So I started my search elsewhere.  One of my first stops was Priscilla of Boston.  Which was fantastic, but we didn't have such a great consultant and even though I loved one of the dresses I found there, I wasn't ready to commit.  I then went to a few more stores and ultimately realized that I was PICKY.  I am a costume designer, which means I know fabric and I know details.  So I needed something that would meet my criteria.  What was my criteria you ask?  Well, I will tell you.

1) FLATTERING

2) Flowy yet structured.  This sounds complicated, but ultimately, I wanted a chiffon or organza dress that had a lot of movement but that still gave me a fantastic shape

3) I didn't want to be Cinderella Barbie.  It is totally cool if you want to be that.... It is just not me.

4) I wanted something a little different, but still chic and modern

SEE!  I told you I was picky!  But, in the end I decided I had to go to the store with the most amount of dresses in the world.  Kleinfeld.  

Our experience was phenomenal and I ended up totally having that moment when I looked in the mirror and pictured myself walking down the isle in MY dress.  Do not underestimate that moment people.  Even for someone like me, who never thought about what her wedding would look like until it happened.  Even for me, that moment was pretty magical.  I cried, my mom cried, then two of my bridesmaids cried.... then another bridesmaid who was also there handed us all tissues.  It was priceless.  

We did not have a consultant who was on the show, but she was very attentive and she listened.  The customer service there is incredible.  There is a reason they are successful. 

Ok.. so I am VERY sorry to not post the dress on here.  But I really don't want my fiance to see it.  And trust me folks.  He will if I post it.  I have very bad luck with these things!  But I will put a few pictures up of dresses that I liked so you can get an idea.  And in 8 months you will get to see a pretty gorgeous dress!!!

This first dress is Romona Keveza and it is so beautiful.  Don't you love the sweetheart neckline and the tulle skirt.. hmmm this looks a lot like the Christos Gown I spoke about in a previous post.  Funny how this was not the silhouette I ended up with!

Oh Monique... how I love thee.  I love love love almost anything Monique Lhuillier does.  Please, if you don't believe me .. go here http://www.moniquelhuillier.com/

I mean really she can do very little wrong.  This model also happens to be gorgeous.  This dress is a much slimmer silhouette, but still flattering and flowy.  See what I mean?

In the end.. I bought a wedding dress!  There at plenty of dresses that I loved and that looked good on me.  But, when it comes down to it.  There is only going to be one wedding dress.  Well... unless you have a different dress for the reception.  But that is a whole different post!

Bridgewaters

So, I am one lucky lady.  Not only am I getting married to the love of my life, but I get to do it here: 

Isn't it beautiful?  This picture and many more can be found on the Bridgewaters website

 http://www.theglaziergroup.com/restaurants/bridgewaters/index.html

Bridgewaters is in South Street Seaport in NYC and if you haven't been to this part of the city, you MUST go.  I love it there because it is so authentic, historical New York.  It has cobblestone streets and lots of shopping and delicious restaurants.  The venue is so fantastic because it has gorgeous hardwood floors, a wrap around terrace for cocktail hour and a view that (as you can see) is pretty awesome!  Every time I think about the wedding I think about this picture.  Oh... and then I think about the incredible food.  Chris Siverson is the executive chef which makes us very lucky indeed!  I can't wait!  

Here is another picture of a wedding at Bridgewaters taken by the fabulous photographer Jen Huang.  

I mean really... Can you handle that view???!!!

Gorgeous Rustic Wedding

So, I have sort of been obsessed with this one wedding dress.  It is a Christos Gown and the style is Julianna.  I love the fabric detail at the top matched with the romantic tulle skirt.  It is not in my budget but a girl can ogle can't she?  The one thing I always said about the dress was "I wish it was strapless".  Well this beautiful bride did just that!  I can't get enough of her impeccable style and wedding glow.  I hope I can look this gorgeous in my wedding photos!  Once you see this dress you will totally understand my obsession!  I found this wedding on my favorite wedding blog  http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/

Everyone should go there who is planning a wedding.  It is truly an incredible resource and inspiration.  These photos also happen to be from Tec Petaja again!  Wow, I didn't realize how much I loved all of their photos!  Her belt is from J Crew and I love the pale peach color.  I almost used that color as one of my wedding colors.  Maybe I should rethink things a bit and add an element of peach in my bouquet.... hmm lots to think about.  Again, love everything about this wedding dress and this bride!  The Groom also happens to look fantastic in his three piece suit.  I just might have to go convince my loving fiance to go that route as well.

If I had events to go to...

I would wear this... 

That is of course, if I could pull it off.  But how gorgeous is this dress????  It is Rodarte and it is fantastic.

This is my first post ever!!!!

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  I hope to inspire others in the worlds of fashion, cooking, weddings and anything else that tickles my fancy!  Since I am getting married this July, there will probably be a lot of wedding posts but really the world is our oyster everyone!  The above picture is from a fantastic photographer Tec Petaja.  

Check them out here : http://www.tecpetajaphoto.com/

Here we go!