Wedding Shoes

Today I began to think about what I want to wear on my feet for the big day. I googled "wedding shoes" and within 2 minutes I was bored. They all looked the same to me. I've noticed a trend these days in brides wearing funky or colorful shoes. I presume that 99% of the time the shoes are covered by your wedding dress and nobody can see them. The way I see it, the shoes' biggest job is to provide a photo opp and to give comfort and confidence to the bride. You might know by now that my favorite color is blue. What about a pair of blue shoes? They could also fill the role of "something blue" (if I even pay attention to that, we'll see). The other consideration I must keep in mind is my height. I'm already a tiny smidgen taller than the groom, so I'd prefer not to wear heels. I also thought about the weather and temperature on my wedding day. Late September could still be sandals or open-toed weather - but it doesn't have to be... So many considerations! Don't forget that blue is one of the wedding colors too. Well, I found a few pairs of flat, funky, blue shoes on eBay that all caught my fancy. What do you think?

Betsey Johnson AFD

Jessica Simpson

Mia

Style & Co.

Back On Track

The bridesmaids dresses have been ordered. Whew! After months of browsing, researching, looking, asking for advice/opinions, thinking, searching, imagining, and visualizing, I have made my decision. My bridesmaids will all be wearing Aria dresses of their choosing. Here are the 5 dresses that the 6 ladies decided on:

The color of the dresses will be periwinkle and the fabric silk shantung. Each dress will also have a removable sash in sunset gold. I wanted to ensure that the sash is detachable so that if they ever decide to wear their dresses again, a clashing orange accessory wont hinder them (I mean, come on, blue and orange?).

We're ahead of schedule. The dresses take about 3 months to be custom-made and shipped. Sometime in May we will all get together to try-on the dresses and determine if any alterations are needed.
Aria dresses are made in the U.S.A.! In all my research, I have found the Aria dresses to be the most affordable custom bridesmaids dresses available. The aria website is easy-to-use and very informative. My favorite part of the website is the album of real weddings and all the bridesmaids that have come before us.

Dress Distraction

I bought myself a new dress. Why? Because sometimes I can't pass-up a J.Crew final sale and all this looking at bridesmaids dresses has made me yearn for a fun, formal dress for myself (wedding dress not included). I will need a nice, summery, formal dress to wear at a wedding this July. So, this was perfect! Can you tell I'm just trying to justify my purchase? Plus, my Matron of Honor hooked me up with her sweet teacher discount to further reduce the dress price. The dress has arrived and it fits perfectly (and looks great too):

French Silk Twill Vionette Tank Dress in 'Key Lime'

Regular Price $295. Andrea's Awesome Acquisition Price $73.

Bride Wars

On Sunday night I went to the movies with 2 of my girlfriends. We saw 'Bride Wars' starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. It was certainly a wedding-themed movie, and I enjoyed it given my current state of mind.

Yesterday I ordered new curtains for the Living Room from West Elm. They are called 'Medallion Window Panels' and I got the colors Flax and Ivory.

New Lights!

I discovered a great website for buying lighting: CSN Lighting. It is part of CSN Stores, an e-commerce company based in Boston with over 200 online stores. Yesterday I spent several hours browsing and selecting the perfect new lights for our house. The search and browse functions on the website were extremely helpful and easy-to-use. I don't think I've ever had more success finding exactly what I'm looking for online and at prices I could handle. It started out with just a new light for living room and quickly expanded to new lights for both bathrooms and the kitchen. I got free shipping and there was no sales tax! Check out our new lights:

Kenroy Home - For the Living Room

Progress Lighting - For the Upstairs Bathroom

Progress Lighting - X's 2, For the Kitchen

Maxim Lighting - For the Downstairs Bathroom

Maxim Lighting - For the Downstairs Bathroom

Caterer: √ (check) !

Tuesday we booked Nicole's Catering for the Reception. Woo-hoo! That's a biggie to cross off the list. As it stands now (and we can still change our minds), there will be a cocktail hour and a sit-down dinner. Dinner will be in the barn. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be in the "birch area" outside of the barn. If it's raining on the big day, we can do everything in the barn: ceremony, cocktails, and dinner.

This is just a fun photo I came across on the Internet

Flower Girl No. 1: √ (check) !

Your first question is probably 'No. 1?' Yes, I say 'No. 1' because I anticipate 2 to 3 Flower Girls. Details to follow. You see with Flower Girls, you need parental approval. Her Mother was present and agreeable to the proposition. So today I officially declare Rebecca Boyle (cousin of the groom) to be Flower Girl No. 1. It was no secret to me that this little girl was interested in the position. She recently sent me a stack of drawings depicting bridesmaids, flower girls, and even a ring bearer all adorned in the wedding-appropriate orange and blue attire. Here is my favorite:

Drawing by Rebecca

Chandeliers

Here's my new excitement: chandeliers! No, not the crystal, sparkly, grandiose kind... the antiquely-looking, barn-appropriate kind. Yesterday's blog-post with the photo of the decorated barn features such chandeliers. Here are some more inspiring photos:

I've asked one of the caterers we're considering to find out about pricing and options. Does anyone have any ideas on how we could borrow or rent antique chandeliers (without breaking the bank)?

Barn Decorated

So, the Buhrmaster Barn could use some fancying up. Here is my favorite photo of a barn decorated for a wedding:

Happy 2009!

This is the year we get married! Happy New Year! Happy 2009!