The desert scene is such a great source of inspiration; the colors of the sand, plants and succulents, open skies, the sun… it’s all so vibrant and warm. Christine McGuigan Photography & Kate Whitecotton took that image and started combining all these great southwest-inspired prints and patterns, to give this shoot a vintage, desert feel; perfect for summer weddings. Check it out!
The BIG DAY is here, YES!! You’ve seen our proposal story, our engagement photos in Italy and Palm Desert, my wedding dress hunt, my wild bachelorette party, tiki bridal shower, and planning bits and bobs. And now it’s time to share part 1 of the most beautiful day of our lives, as captured by the visionary Max Wanger, a talent who I have known would be there photographing us since I first discovered his breathtaking work four years ago.
Tim and I hadn’t really collaborated on many creative projects, but during the planning process we found ourselves bouncing ideas back and forth about our wedding style, location and vibe. Everything seemed to flow so easily… yet another sign I was marrying the perfect guy for me. We both love mid-century design, the style and colors of the early 60′s, so we knew we had to incorporate that vibe into our wedding.
Our first kiss happened after a James Bond party a friend threw (as told here), so we thought it would be fun to give a nod to those early movies. Our first project was a save the date. Inspired by the opening credits to From Russia with Love, we collaborated with Scott Clark on a quirky video to announce our wedding and give our guests a bit of intrigue. The song in the video is Lujon, by Henry Mancini, and pretty much sums up the feeling we wanted our big day to portray. Here is a screen from our wedding website Tim and I created..
Come and walk with me through our fairy tale..
Tim and I arrived in San Clemente a few days before the wedding to relax and focus on each other. The months and weeks leading up to the wedding were full of excitement, trying to get everything done and ready to celebrate our love in front of our family and friends. The planning process was a blast, extremely hard and time-consuming, overwhelming at times, but downright amazing. With the help of our wonderful planners, Bash, Please, we had a celebration of the century. There is no way we could have pulled this off without them.. they were a pleasure to work with, had a creative solution for everything and kept us sane throughout the process.
The Fiore Beauty team arrived to get me and my ‘maids all fixed up! Jaimi gave me the prettiest glitter French mani..
My wedding dress hunt was a long one.. filled with full tulle gowns, pretty blush colors, lace and many different dress shapes. I had an idea of what I wanted, but when I tried on many of the gowns in my research folder they just didn’t feel perfect on me. When I saw this Jorge Manuel gown on a mannequin at The White Dress, I was instantly drawn to it.. with its sparkly beaded details and body-hugging mermaid shape. The moment I put it on, I felt like a million bucks. Like a movie star. Like an silver-screen siren. It wasn’t what I had planned to wear all along, but sometimes the dress finds you.
To compliment the dress, Twigs and Honey made me an ethereal custom blusher veil. Paula from Ila Handbags designed two amazing clutches to go with each gown, which are some of my prettiest treasures. And I couldn’t resist these Nicholas Kirkwood heels to pair with my reception gown. Here is one of his similar styles.
We’re pretty excited about today’s post. It’s coming to you from our new, fab partner at LaurenConrad.com. She’s got some handy advice on bridesmaid dresses, so we’re going to let her take it from here. Happy Friday!
Hello 100 Layer Cake readers! My name is Alex and I am a fashion and beauty editor for LaurenConrad.com where I have been blogging all about the preparations (and lessons learned) for my upcoming nuptials in our Wedding Bells series. As you can see I’ve joined forces with the lovely ladies of 100 Layer Cake and am excited to share some of my best industry tips and insights with all of you throughout the coming year. I’ll cover everything from aisle style to hair ideas and even a few makeup tutorial. To kick things off I thought it would be fun to talk about one of my favorite parts of planning: picking the bridesmaid dresses!
Coordinating bridesmaids dresses is tricky. More often than not you are working with a variety of different body types, skin tones, and hair cuts, which really complicates the process of picking the right dress for each attendant. To really throw a wrench into things, mismatched maids dresses have become all the rage as of late making the coordination a tad trickier…and that’s where I come in. If you’re into this on-trend medley of maids’ attire, take note of these 5 tips to create a perfectly coordinated crew of ladies for your big day.
1. Decide what aspect you are going to mismatch. You don’t just have to mix and match colors, you can also have everyone wear the same color but in different styles, or you can play with different materials and textures. If you’re really daring, try mismatching all three!
2. Select a color scheme. If there is a marquee color for your big day, be sure to base the dresses on various tones of that central color or are pick shades that are within the same color family. If you’re not especially savvy with color matching, stop by your local hardware store and grab a fan of paint samples to get inspired.
The spring inspired shoots that have been coming our way recently have been so pretty to look at and filled with the prettiest of blooms. Like this one from Scott Michael Fraser. Scandinavian folk art has always been a love of his, so taking cues from its focus on nature and sweet simplicity, he and a few creative folks created this shoot, imagining what a modern Scandinavian bride might create for her wedding. And the venue? You’d think they were in some lush garden someplace in Europe. More like Los Angeles County. The Descanso Gardens in La Cañada was the perfect backdrop with stately oak and camilla trees connected by groves of waist-high ferns, and quiet wandering paths.
We’re sharing some of our favorite wedding shoe finds from around the web.
