Happy Friday

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Some weeks drag on and on, while others go by in a flash. This week was definitely the latter for me! Between traveling for work during the day and stuffing our invitations at night, my favorite day of the week arrived quickly. I even managed to finish up our rehearsal dinner invitations, which I’ll share with all of you on Monday.

Tonight, I’m heading to my mom’s house with three boxes of invitations in tow. We are going to head to the post office to weigh them and buy postage. With any luck, they’ll be in the mail on Monday. Tomorrow I have a follow-up meeting with our florist, and my cousin’s fiance’s bridal shower is in the afternoon. On Sunday, I hope to tackle yet another wedding project and do some serious relaxing. Happy Friday, everyone!

Shower Style

Guess what I got in the mail last week:

Sorry, it's a little hard to read, but it's an invitation for my wedding shower! My cousin/MOH bought some cute invitations and sent them out to all of my bridesmaids, close girlfriends and the women in our family. The shower will take place in a couple of weeks in a private room at a Bar & Grill in the East Bay town where I grew up. I was so unbelievably excited to receive news of my upcoming shower. I think it finally hit me that I'm getting married in less than three months!

And in true Party Planner Gal fashion, the invitation provided me with yet another excuse to shop! Shortly after the invites went out, my cousin accompanied me on an all-out shopping extravaganza in downtown San Francisco. After spending the better part of the afternoon traipsing through countless shops, I snatched up this Marine Mural dress from one of my all-time favorite girly-girl stores, Anthropologie:

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The dress cost a tiny bit more than I wanted to spend, but c'mon! It has a cute octopus on the front! And look at that sweet ruffle on the top. Add in the fact that it's off-white and therefore "bridal"-looking, and I was sold. 

Since the Bay Area has been having some bizarre, chilly weather for this time of year, I plan to pair the dress with this cardigan from Old Navy. The pink actually looks much deeper in person:

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Of course, no shower outfit would be complete without some adorable shoes. I found these Steve Madden Fauntain wedges at DSW for a little under $60. I cheated and wore them already, and they're super-comfortable:

I plan to pick some cute earrings from my jewelry box and a nice clutch from my collection to finish off the look. I think this outfit is just the right mix of "cute meets casual" that I was trying to achieve. I can't wait to spend an entire afternoon with some of my favorite women in my hometown. It's going to be a blast!

Did you use your wedding shower as an excuse to go shopping? 

The Sun Shines in the South Bay

Despite the fact that San Francisco has been fogged in and freezing cold for weeks, we can always depend on the Peninsula and South Bay to be gorgeous this time of year. Saturday night was no exception, and the fiancé and I were excited to make our way down to Atherton for a kelvan party hosted in our honor by my bridesmaid, Miss PJ, and our dear friend Mr. S. As Miss PJ commented in this post, a kelvan is “an engagement party before the wedding to spend time with the bride and groom since Indian weddings are so large and generally during the wedding you don't have as much time to celebrate with them specifically.” Thanks, Miss PJ!

And celebrate, we did. I’ll let the photos do (most of) the talking. I handed my camera over to our friend Mr. V for the evening, while Miss PJ’s fiancé came prepared with his own set of lenses:

We started out by cracking open some champagne to sip in the late afternoon sun:

Isn’t Miss PJ’s backyard gorgeous? She’s the one in the yellow dress:

Then the fiancé decided that I was thirsty, so he gave me something to drink:

Miss PJ and Mr. S made an awesome slideshow of photos of the fiancé and I with all of our friends that played throughout the party:

Next, we ate some amazing vegetarian Italian food (which I sadly did not get a picture of!) and played Bingo. Guess whose faces are in the middle!

Miss PJ asked the fiancé and I about 40 questions about ourselves during the days leading up to the kelvan, and put our responses on the cards for the Bingo game. If someone called “Bingo” but had a wrong answer, they had to take a shot. Case in point, Mr. S:

Next, we ventured inside to cut our gorgeous cake that Mrs. N bought for us. Bonus – it was a tiramisu cake from Whole Foods, and it was delicious! We will definitely be serving this flavor as part of the Whole Foods cake and pie buffet we plan to have at our wedding:

Next up, the fiancé and I took turns feeding the cake to each other:

And several toasts were made:

Afterwards, we retreated to the living room for a rousing combo game of charades/truth or dare. Yes, we still play both of those games, and they are awesome.

The kelvan was such a fun time, and a great way for us to reconnect with our friends who are spread all over the Bay Area. The fiancé and I felt so much love and happiness that evening. We are very lucky to have such amazing friends.

The fiancé and I have several more kelvans to attend before the wedding, but those will be family-oriented dinners, and most likely without shots, charades or truth or dare.

Did any of your friends throw you a pre-wedding party that wasn’t an engagement party, bachelorette party or bridal shower?

Dressing the Groom

I knew from the outset of our engagement that the fiance would be donning a tuxedo for our wedding. I think all men, (almost without exception), look handsome in tuxedos, and the look will fit the formal feel of the event we're planning. What I didn't know was that the world of menswear is almost as nuanced as the world of women's formal attire. I mean, seriously, I wish it had been as simple as picking out a black jacket and white shirt, but it wasn't. There were peak, notch and shawl lapels, white shirts and ivory shirts, vests and cummerbunds and one-button, two-button and three-button jackets to decide between.

Luckily, I consulted the wedding bible before the fiance and I ventured to The Men's Wearhouse this past Tuesday:

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Other bloggers have sung the praises of Mindy Weiss' The Wedding Book: The Big Book For Your Big Day, and I have to say that after reading her chapter on "Dressing the Men," I'm a believer. This chapter broke down the ins and outs of formal menswear so that the fiance and I knew exactly what we were looking for the instant we set foot in the tuxedo shop. In sum, that was a two-button notch lapel jacket, a white shirt with a winged collar that could be worn with a normal necktie and black vests for all the men. No white vest for the fiance, and no color coordination with my bridesmaids' dresses. And despite our consultants' minor protests (especially over my choice of white versus ivory shirts), that's exactly what we got:

The fiance will be wearing the Reaction by Kenneth Cole two-button notch lapel tuxedo jacket, a white, wing-collared shirt, black vest and green tie (Side note - I've now purchased three different ties for the fiance, and am having difficulty deciding between them). Meanwhile, his five groomsmen will be wearing the exact same ensemble, except with yellow ties (shown on the right):

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And of course, I couldn't resist buying coordinating argyle socks for the men from golfknickers.com.

I cannot tell you how long it took me to find yellow argyle socks that: 1) were on the dressier side; and b) without any traces of gray! No offense to the color gray, but it doesn't fit into our color scheme, and I think it's a bit too casual for the look we are trying to achieve. I was super-impressed with golfknickers.com's selection of argyle cotton/nylon/spandex blend socks. There are over 78 colors to choose from, and the price of three for $50 was pretty reasonable.

Of course, I'm super-excited, since the coordinating socks mean that our photographer will be able to take some photos like this:

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And this:

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Did you always know exactly how you wanted to dress the men in your bridal party, or did you have to do a ton of research beforehand like me?

Happy Friday

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Another crazy week is winding to a close! The fiancé and I finished assembling our invitations on Tuesday, but there is still a long way to go in terms of collecting additional addresses, weighing envelopes, attaching postage and arranging for them to be hand-canceled. Either way, we should be able to get them in the mail by August 1st as we had hoped.

Tomorrow night, my bridesmaid Miss PJ is throwing the fiancé and I a Maharastrian kelvan party. I’ve never received a really concise explanation of what a kelvan is, and there isn’t much information about this tradition online. My basic understanding is that it is a dinner party hosted by the groom’s parents’ friends for the groom and his family. Our friends, on the other hand, are hosting a potluck-style kelvan for both of us. I am looking forward to lots of yummy food, drinks and maybe even a game or two. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Bachelorette Party Style

I know very little about my bachelorette party, which is being planned by my cousin/Maid of Honor, aside from the facts that: 1) it will be held in San Francisco at the end of September; and 2) it will have a 1920s speakeasy theme! I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how excited I am about the theme. I am a sucker for a good theme party, I love dressing up and I love the “vintage glam” feel of 1920s-inspired clothes and jewelry. There are a ton of fun speakeasy-style bars and clubs in the city, so I am beyond thrilled to see what my MOH has in store for us!

Plus, learning about the theme of the party gave me the perfect excuse to go shopping (not that I ever really need one, but you know how it is)! Thankfully, 1920s-style clothing is very popular right now, so I had no problem snagging this gorgeous iron-colored gown with sequined epaulets from H&M for just $39.99. The belt is also from H&M. I love the tie detail around the neck of the dress and the open back:

I already had these earrings sitting in my jewelry box, and I think they’ll go nicely with the dress. I plan to glam this outfit up even more with some vintage rings from my grandmother’s collection:

Of course, no 1920s-inspired outfit would be complete without an utterly fabulous headpiece. I found the perfect on in etsy seller Flortini Design’s shop. I purchased it right away, and am so excited for it to be delivered to my office.

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Finally, something tells me I’m going to need some amazing dancing shoes for what I’m sure will be a long and debauchery-filled night. I’m currently between these three pairs. First up, the East-Bound Peep-Toe T-Strap from Nine West:

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I also have some serious love for Lauren Jones Angel T-Strap Open-Toe Pump:

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And, even thought the name leaves much to be desired, the Bordello by Pleaser Women’s Siren Pump:

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I’ll probably make my decision by the end of the week. Right now, all three are available in my size at endless.com, but probably not for long. I’m leaning toward the Nine West t-straps because the company generally produces well-made shoes at amazing price points. Take it from me! I am a shoe-snob, and I have about 15 great pairs of Nine Wests sitting in my closet alongside my Charles Davids, Stuart Weitzmans and Cole Haans.

And that’s my 1920s-inspired look that I will rock on my last night as a single lady out on the town! Well, not really “single,” but still . . .

Will your bachelorette party have a theme?

Adventures in Photobooths, Part Two

Yesterday, I shared the digital photo kiosk that the fiancé and I will be renting from Fotomio for our wedding reception. Today, I’m going to share how we intend to personalize the photo kiosk up a bit and fit it into our “rustic vintage glam” wedding theme.

Over the course of my extensive online research into the world of photobooths, I discovered that I was much more attracted to a certain “style” of photobooth over others. It probably won’t come as a shock by now that the style I preferred was more “vintage” and “old timey” than bright and modern. So, while photographs like this one, (with tons of bright colors and props) are undeniably fun:

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I wanted our photobooth to have more of a vintage feel, sort of like the ones shown in the photographs below:

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While I unfortunately do not want to deal with the added stress of transporting a huge, cut-out cardboard moon or picture frame wall to our venue, I knew it would be fairly simple to create a vintage feel by finding some fun fabric for the backdrop and purchasing some vintage-inspired props. I set myself a budget of $150 and went to town at Angray Fantastico, which is only the BEST place in the city to purchase party supplies at beyond reasonable prices.

Here are some shots of my loot. First up, lots of lace! I purchased a lace parasol and several lace fans. Not one to forget the gents, I scored three top hats for $2.99 apiece:

Next up, masquerade masks. Here is where I’m stretching it a bit. I realize that these could just as easily pass for mardi gras masks (and they were in fact located in the mardi gras section of the store), but the look I’m going for is more “vintage carnival." Let's just run with it, shall we?

There’s just something so cool about masquerade masks. If I had a lot more money to devote to this project, I would have picked up some of these beauties:

At $30-$60 a pop, however, it wasn’t going to happen. On a side note, I think these prices are very reasonable for the quality and construction of the masks. If the fiancé ends up throwing me the “30th Birthday Masquerade Ball” that I have been dropping hints about wanting, I’ll definitely hit up this store again for a killer mask. I think the pirate mask would look amazing on the fiance!

Finally, no vintage photobooth would be complete without moustaches on a stick! I shared my tutorial for DIY moustaches on a stick in this post. Sadly, those were made of paper and didn’t hold up so well over the past nine months. I thought about making more, but eventually bit the bullet and purchased this set of five from etsy seller WhiskerWorks:

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They are made of plastic and look much sturdier than the ones I made for our engagement photos.

So that’s about it! I plan to supplement this stash of props with a decorative, vintage style blank frame and maybe some chalkboards. I also have a feather headpiece and boa from a flapper costume I wore for Halloween during my first year of law school that’s stuffed away somewhere. Aside from those additions (and the pretty fabric backdrop, of course), we’re good to go!

That is, unless I decide to DIY a sign like this one from etsy seller castleandcottage . . .

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This is definitely becoming more work than I thought it would be for a non-DIY project, but I think it'll be totally worth it!

So, what do you think? Would you have fun with these props, or would you be a little disappointed that there's no coconut bra?*

*I have no problem with coconut bras - they're awesome!

Adventures in Photobooths, Part One

After a lot of internal debate, I finally pulled the trigger and sent in our deposit to have a photobooth at our wedding reception! After recently attending my second wedding with a photobooth, I decided that this was something the fiance and I just couldn't pass up. They are so much fun, and let's be honest . . . sometimes you need a break from eating, drinking and dancing for hours on end. Photobooths provide the perfect excuse to escape for a bit. Plus, you end up with photos like this:

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Initially, I thought the fiance and I could go the DIY route and create a faux-to-booth, but that idea was nixed once I decided that I didn't want one more thing to worry about. Next, I thought the fiance and I would have to rent two photobooths, since our guest list is quite large, and we wanted everyone to have a turn in the booth. Often times stand-alone photobooths are quite small, and only one or two people can squeeze into them at a time. Maybe three or four people if they really squeeze! Once I realized that renting two photobooths would cost upwards of $2,200, however, I kissed my photobooth dreams goodbye for the time-being.

A few weeks later, while perusing Here Comes The Guide for potential wedding venues for my friend, Miss D, I stumbled upon the perfect solution to my photobooth woes. Enter Fotomio, the self-described "digital photo kiosk for the new millennium." After a few minutes on the Fotomio website, I knew it would be the perfect fit for our wedding. One thing I love about DIY faux-to-booths is that since they usually have fabric backdrops as opposed to a single chair in a booth, multiple guests and groups of friends can jump into a single shot:  

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The Fotomio rental package we selected comes with five hours of photobooth time, our choice of a solid-colored backdrop, studio lights, remote trigger, dual viewing monitors and an attendant who will troubleshoot throughout the evening, if necessary. Fotomio will even let us substitute in our own fabric for the backdrop so long as it meets their size specifications. While our guests will not receive printouts of their photos at the wedding, Fotomio will make them available online within 72 hours. As an added bonus, the fiance and I will receive a CD of the images to keep. Since there is no limit to how many photos the guests can take, we are hoping that this will provide us hours of entertainment and allow us to see part of the day from our guests' perspective. I sent in the deposit on Saturday, and I couldn't be more excited about this decision if I tried!

Of course, I wasn't able to completely resist putting my personal touch on our photo kiosk, even though this wasn't supposed to be a DIY project. Stay tuned for a glimpse of what I've been cooking up . . . I think it will tie in nicely with the theme of our wedding.

Have you attended a wedding with a photobooth? Did you enjoy using it? 

Happy Friday

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This weekend, I have big plans to shop! While talking to my cousin/MOH the other night, I realized that I have an engagement party, two wedding showers, one wedding (aside from ours) and two rehearsal dinners to attend over the next three months. Of course, each event requires and new and fabulous dress. 

For my wedding shower in August, I'm thinking of wearing something along the lines of this happy dress from Anthropologie. Oh, how I love that store! I don't let myself shop there too often, since everything in the store is just my style and I always spend too much money. This weekend, though, I am giving myself free reign to go crazy.

Happy Friday, everyone!

My Mom, The Two-Dress (Mother of the) Bride

If my mom’s dress-shopping experience taught me one thing, it’s that brides aren’t the only members of the wedding party that can have dress regret! From the outset, I knew that finding my mom's Mother of the Bride wedding attire would be no easy task. You see, my mom is plus-sized, which ordinarily wouldn’t be a problem except that: 1) she is a technophobe that has no internet access at home, hence no opportunity to shop on the internet; 2) she lives in a small town and refuses to drive on the freeway, thus precluding her from accessing larger cities with better stores; and 3) she never, EVER wears dresses. Like, ever.

As anyone who is plus-sized (my mom), petite/short (me) or exceptionally tall (the fiancé) knows, it’s difficult to just waltz into a brick and mortar store and buy clothes off the rack. While the fiancé and I solve this problem by doing the majority of our shopping online, this option is not available to my mother (see number one above). For these reasons, I had pretty much ruled out the possibility that my mom would be wearing anything that resembled a traditional Mother of the Bride dress at our wedding:

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Even though these dresses are pretty, I was fine with my mom’s decision. After all, it’s her day, too, and I would have been perfectly happy if she had picked a nice pantsuit to wear instead. For example, this one is nice, and looks very MOB-ish:

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I offered to take my mom shopping in another locale, but she wanted to try her luck locally first. On her first attempt at dress shopping, my mom came up with this skirt, shell and jacket combination:

I was fine with it, and even thought it looked very nice on her, but she didn’t want to wear black. I understand the traditional implication that a mother of the bride who wears black is showing that she doesn’t approve of the marriage. I was ready to ignore all of that if my mom felt comfortable and happy in her outfit, but she really DID NOT WANT to wear black.

Luckily, two weeks later she found this dress at JC Penney. For some reason I can't find a better picture of the dress online:

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I think it’s great! It complements our color scheme perfectly, and I still can’t believe that my mom is going to voluntarily wear a dress! I haven’t seen the gown on her yet, but her best friend promised me that she looks and feels great in it. After all the stress, finding my mom’s outfit ended up being much easier than I thought. And even better, this gown was much more inexpensive than the original outfit she selected.

Were there any restrictions that made selecting you mother’s outfit for the wedding difficult, or was it an easy decision?

P.S. Happy Engage-a-versary to us! One year ago, the fiance proposed to me on the couch at my old apartment. It's been an amazing year, and I can't wait for what's next :)