Wendy R

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Does it have to be White?

I say no…I was looking over dresses and the ones that caught my eye were mostly non-white.  I remember dress shopping myself and the one I fell n love with was more platinum than white.  Why didn’t I get it?  Because everyone around me convinced me it was too formal for a beach wedding, which it was.  These are some gorg dresses I found that are not white but SO hot!

Via Simon Carvalli

This one’s super inexpensive too!  Is it more prom-ish than bridal though?

Oh Vera!  This one is not inexpensive but oh-so-pretty!

I would sooo do this especially if you’re brides have dresses that go well with this blush color palette.

This Oscar de la Renta isn’t a bridal gown per se but I could see it being one – especially for the Spring!  Oh and I found the one dress I loved at Alfred Angelos.

Definitely not beachy and now that I look back, I’m not so crazy about the skirt.  I think I loved how it flattens the tummy with the drop waist.  So would you go for a non-white bridal gown or will you stick to the traditional white/ivory?  And, in honor of bridal market in NYC and me wanting to be there so bad, this week will be about dresses!

Planning Tips: Guest List

So I asked my husband what the hardest part of planning was for him, although I took care of most, and he answered: “Turning family away that couldn’t attend.”  I must say this was the same deal for me, but we just had to keep the guest list short!  If you don’t set rules, get ready for a massive guest list.

I found this and thought it might be helpful and funny.

Most couples nowadays are paying for their own wedding and if that’s the case, you’re going to have to spend a lot of hard earned money!  When we started drafting up our guest list, I kept reminding both of us:

  • Who has been there for us?
  • Whose still around?
  • Who WILL be there 10 years from now?

Friends come and go, but family is blood.   YET, even if they’re family, there are some that you haven’t spoken to in years and will most likely not ever unless it’s for a the big family reunion.  We kept it down to 75 and that was a HUGE task!  I always recommend having a master list and keep a secondary list “B” to add to in case guests from list “A” cannot attend.

Also, I know it’s exciting to get engaged but don’t spread the word like crazy if you’re not inviting said people.  Tell your parents to keep it”on the low” as well and remember that your vendors count as guests too!

How many guests are you having at your wedding? 

We ♥ Chuck!

Chuck Taylor that is! 

I love couples that hone in on their personal tastes during their wedding.  Every detail makes a difference so for Tuesday Shoesday, we’re going with no heels today!

Love this!  Plus. you can customize your own right HERE on the Converse site.
Reminds me of my dirty red I wore for my trash the dress!
I own 4 pairs and counting…who else loves Chucks as much as I do?

Vendor Spotlight: Clifton Photography

Rita Clifton, of Clifton Photography has ever-so-graciously allowed us to feature her amazing engagement and wedding images of this uber-hot couple. Monica and John’s engagement session was shot over two days, in multiple locations around Los Angeles. In the first series, they went for a relaxed and playful look.

Here’s a little bit about Rita…

“There is nothing more fulfilling than being a part of those first moments
together as husband and wife. To document love, emotions, and details is an
honor to be a part of. I find that my style reflects my clients who are very
chic, modern, and hopeless romantics. With each couple I look forward
to building a strong trust and long lasting relationship. Having that core
connection is important in producing amazing images.”

In their next session, the locations held more of a personal meaning to Monica and Josh as both a couple and as individuals. First, they chose Union Station for some old Hollywood glam feel. Monica is an actress so old Hollywood glam was just a perfect theme! Then they payed a visit to the Lucky Strike Bowling Alley in Hollywood, the place where they shared their first kiss.

Rita was also there to capture their beautiful May wedding at Rancho Las Lomas. They couldn’t have picked a more gorgeous venue. For those of you who haven’t been, this restored estate has a private zoo (yes, ZOO!), amazing architecture and gardens.

Rita’s images were all so beautiful, I had a difficult time narrowing down my favorites.

Two dresses? Yes please!


It’s pretty rare when you come across a person with incredible talent and come to find that they are also extremely sweet and humble. As such, I feel very luck to have found Rita Clifton, of Clifton Photography. Thank you so much for sharing Rita! Don’t forget to visit the Clifton Photography blog to see the rest of these beautiful images.

Inspiration Board – LMB Launch Party

LMB Launch Party

This is the Inspiration Board for the Last Minute Bride Launch.  With it’s clean, white, gallery feel, we’re not going to mess so much with the James Gray Gallery, but we are going to add hints of color to it!  August 12th 6-9pm, Event Brite to come out this week!  You’re not going to want to miss it!

Happy Anniversary {to us}!

My first anniversary has come and gone!  Time flies!  I felt like posting some of my favorite pictures from that day.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!  In no particular order:

I love candid shots!  This is my hubs’ gramma.  She’s impatienly waiting for us to have a child.

The props for the photo booth were not only used inside as you can see.  I broke that knife later that night.

Meet my man of honor!  He made me cry from laughter!  Just look at his expression, lol!

Yes, we took part in the mustache trend and I love this picture!

Another candid…speaking about the passing of my mom wasn’t easy that day, but I knew she was there in spirit.

Our first look before the ceremony!  Totally recommend first looks!

To celebrate, we had dinner at the place we got married at.  Melinda from Cake Goodness was so sweet to make this mini anniversary cake!

This was our wedding cake for 80 guests:

This was our mini cake for 2 and yes, it was red velvet!

 

It was pretty perfect with all the details!  I couldn’t figure out the timer on my Canon 7d so I went for my point & shoot before the hubs decided he was done with the photo shoot, ha!  Here’s a quick shot!

Here’s to many, many more!  How do you plan to or already celebrate anniversaries?

Busy Bees!

Craziness has taken over recently so I’ve asked a couple blogger friends to guest blog for us!  We have some amazing peeps that are going to share some of their love with us and we are beyond thrilled!

This past weekend was Britt of Bowie Bride’s wedding and it was truly an amazing day!  The entire wedding was so full of…Britt + Mike!  They personalized their wedding down to the bone!  Here’s a teaser:

Their vows: emotional + yes, kick-ass!  Britt looked hawt in her short Deb Linquist  piece and Mike was looking like a handsome devil!  I know people wanted teasers on twitter, haha, sorry!  Here’s all that you’re getting.  Happy honeymooning Britt + Mike!

And in other news: the invite is up for the Last Minute Bride Launch benefiting Wish Upon a Wedding, so get your tickets on and join us for a night of charity and love!

Register for Last Minute Bride Launch Party benefiting Wish Upon a Wedding in Santa Monica, CA  on Eventbrite

Please see this post on Britt’s free DOC services!

Guest Blogger: Erin of Sparkle & Hay!

Welcome Erin of Sparkle & Hay!

Hello Wenderful readers;  Erin from Sparkle & Hay here!   I was thrilled when Wendy asked me to be a guest blogger for her – hopefully I will not disappoint! 

As a bride-to-be (October 2010) I know how exciting the wedding planning time is, and also how overwhelming it can be!  With so many wonderful sources of wedding inspiration out there it seems as though you are constantly bombarded (in a good way) and can easily go into wedding design overload.  Newly engaged, it sometimes takes a couple a bit of time to figure out their “wedding style”; this was the case with my fiancé &I.  He wanted the large, traditional wedding involving all of our friends and family while I preferred the idea of a smaller more intimate destination wedding, hearinga villa in the countryside of Tuscany or farmhouse in Provence beckoning to me.  We ended up compromising, and found a beautiful vineyard about an hour from home in Stonington, CT which will allow us to invite all of our nearest and dearest while also providing a destination atmosphere.  The vineyard is set on an inlet of the long island sound and has 100 acres of salt marsh, trees, and of course, grapevines.  The actual building is a WWII aircraft hangar with fantastic raw energy, a rustic yet utilitarian feel – idea for me to bring in provincial touches to soften it up.  So I took to the internet and began bookmarking and printing images of other weddings and details that I liked.  This is what prompted me to start my own wedding blog – Sparkle and Hay.  Initially the blog was truly going to be an organizational tool for me to compile all of the beautiful (rustic chic) images and ideas from around the web which inspired me for my wedding.  A blog seemed the easiest way to store this information, and to share it with friends, family, and all of the wonderful vendors we have partnered with, as a bonus, it almost created a planning diary for me to have and look back at after our big day.  So what is rustic chic?   To give you a peak of what it will mean for my big day,  here is an inspiration board for my Provencal Rustic Chic Wedding:



And because I love them so much, I also wanted to share with you our fantastic save the dates created by Lucinda Wesson of Chocolate Creative Design & photographed by Anna Sawin.  To set the stage, each of our guests received a little burlap pouch meant to resemble a vintage feed sack.  In it were clues for what they can expect on our big day; wine corks for the vineyard,  Provencal lavender & a piece of wheat, along with a paper airplane folded from a page of a French love poem book – altogether rustic chic!

So now that I’ve shared my style – tell me about yours!  What do you envision your wedding day to look like and where do you draw your inspiration from?

Thanks for sharing a piece of you Erin!

Happy Friday!

Busy looks like me forgetting to schedule posts.  No biggie.

I haven’t Le Loved you recently so here you go!

and a sneak peak of tomorrow’s wedding!  This was JUST their rehearsal!

Happy Weekend!  Enjoy the sun, it’s going to be a hot one!