what if you can only decide on the shoes?

We are eloping. In Austin. You may decide that I can't be helped after you read this.

I can't decide on a ring. I can't decide on a dress. I can't decide on my hair or if I'll carry any flowers. I haven't even thought about setting or an officiant. I can only decide on these shoes (in either color). I'm surprised I can decide on that! The thing with all the other stuff is I don't have a precedent. I don't wear white or dresses much (NY. black. and yes I know I don't have to wear white, and I don't have to wear a dress, but I'd like to give it a shot since we are eloping and I think FH [and our families, if they were privy at this stage] would like us to keep a few things traditional) and I never wear rings. I'm a bracelet girl. I would love help with both because I'm at the point where the internet has swallowed my perception and intuition up and everything looks the same. or bad. and just not me. but I'll take whatever seems most fun to y'all.

Budget under $700, and something around $400 or less would be sooo great. My instinct says on the shorter side is the way to go because I don't want it to feel over the top. I'm not into the ball gown elopements. And I'd probably feel more comfortable in less-than-head-to-toe-white. And I wanna see the shoes! I'm 5'3", 32C-24"-34". I like interesting shapes, architectural details, and a modern clean feel, because it's more flattering to my midget body but I'm not opposed to a little lace, and a touch of gothy feel. I do not do bohemian. I do not do bling. Even subtle bling. I wanted to love this LOVER and this Manivet (with a slightly opened up neckline) before we were eloping, when we were having a tiny wedding, and a normal-ish one respectively. Of course the LOVER is not available in the US and it does not go with the shoes. There is this LOVER which is over budget and while I love it on the model, I'm not sold that it's for me.

Rings. I love Anna Sheffield. My favorite one was this. Then when my dear friend got engaged in November, she had her jeweler uncle make her a replica. What can I say. We have similar taste. So that's out. Other things: I like black. I'm not sold on diamonds (ethics, and said hesitation regarding over-blinginess). I like herkimers but I don't want the setting to look too crafty. I want it to look modern and polished and I haven't seen any that cut it. I also like rutilated quartz. I'm not sure that I want two rings, and so am also open to a stone laden band. I've thought about Mociun, Alex and Chloe, Macha, and everything on Catbird. There was this ring which is so out of character for me but it is also my birth stone. I also like Bario Neal but none of them sing to me. I'm open to stacking and I like the idea of mixing metals because I do that in my other jewelry. Oh budget on the ring(s)... under $2k and I do have my mom's setting from her first marriage (with my dad) to mine for stones if i somehow go blingy.

phew. After reading this it's probably easier to just help me with the dress even though the ring should come first. or neither. jeez.

thaaaaaanks.

eloping-naked-in jeffrey-campbell-shoes

*****

I found your dress.

It's from H&M's Conscious Exclusive collection, which will be in stores April 4.

You're welcome, FUSSYPANTS.


p.s. What about a wedding bracelet? Just throwin it out there. Nobody says you have to have a ring.

The booties have it.

They beat out the wedges by 84%.

I guess my quiz was too easy?

And I like that they don't go with the dress. That's what I like about them. Just because you're going with Pronovias doesn't mean you have to wear Kate Spade fucking slingbacks, amirite?

POP QUIZ: Which shoes go with this dress?

Dear ESB,

Which do you prefer? There can be only one:

(Jeffrey Campbell)

(Schutz)

Let's have a little Monday morning pop quiz and then tomorrow I'll tell you the right answer.

Fill out my online form.

pin-o-RAMA

Every once in a while when I'm procrastinating, I do a little "market research" on pinterest.

If you type: http://pinterest.com/source/eastsidebride.com (but insert your own url at the end, obvs) you'll get a quick overview of what people are pinning.

There are two images from this here blog that keep coming up over and over: This adorbz pair of budget-ish sandals, and this seeeelammin turquoise ring.

Weird, right? 

I mean, not weird. But I guess I'm always hoping ppl will pin images like this. (They don't.)

Anyhoo.

Thought you should know the Jeffrey Campbell sandals are avail at Nordstrom in red and black.

(And they're on sale over at UO in white.)

You're on your own with the vintage turquoise. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED. 

Or: Here are a few lovely modern options....

(Four Square Turquoise Ring from Mociun)

(Aili Tulum Ring from Catbird)

(Rad Turquoise Ring from Scosha)

______________________________

*All credit goes to Bri for the tip.

Abby + Ted's Adorbs Berkshire Wedding

Abby was an early reader of ESB (long before she was engaged....) so it's super fun for me to be featuring her real live wedding photos. Super. Fun.

Here's what Abby and Ted had to say about their sweet little mountain wedding:

My rocker BF gave me a twist tie instead of a diamond, and it was perfect. In his music studio, surrounded by about 20 of his closest guitars and synths, Teddy proposed to me with a black twist tie he had fashioned into a ring -- a twist tie that a minute before had been holding together some cables. I wore it for about 24 hours, and then we picked out a stacker set by Rhode Island jewelry artist Heather Guidero. We had the original twist tie engagement ring cast in silver to preserve the spontaneous and totally metal nature of the proposal.

Teddy is an experimental sound artist and electronic musician, and I’m an architecture librarian, so we eloped in the mountains in an introvert’s paradise. Our wedding was a quiet, private, DIY celebration of us and what we've built and will continue to build. We got married in the Berkshire Mountains in Williamstown, Massachusetts with just our immediate family and a few friends, 12 people including us. We chose the Guesthouse at Field Farm as the venue because it’s one of our favorite places. It’s where we come to get away, read, write and be happy.

The Guesthouse at Field Farm is a mid-century 6-bedroom home that once belonged to a librarian and American art collector. There is a library, American paintings, books in every room, and original mid-century furniture. It's now a B&B on a nature preserve, so we rented the venue for the weekend, and had complete privacy. Design is important to us, and our venue was a place designed and built with love and an eye for minimal beauty.

We held the ceremony under a tree in a field, surrounded by mountains. Most of the flowers came from my Mom’s garden, including poppies which we put in the boutonnieres. My brother Pat walked me down the aisle, and my brother Brian was my MOH (Man of Honor). There was a flash storm, high winds, heavy rain and black skies for about an hour before the ceremony. But, just before, the sky opened up and the birds were freaking out. All I could hear was birds chirping, and I had so much fun during the ceremony. That surprised me. I was so present, in the moment and content. The ceremony was my favorite part.

A close runner up for favorite moment is the photo/skate sesh we had just before the ceremony. We hiked out to the main road, and my brothers tore down the hill on their skateboards in full suits, laughing like crazy as they just barely missed me. At one point, I had to wear Pat’s skate shoes to tromp into the muddy woods for photos. There I was in my Sarah Seven dress, holding my Jeffrey Campbell wedges and stomping into the forest in my brother’s huge, skate shoes. It was awesome.

After the ceremony, we had an intimate dinner at the Guesthouse in the dining room. We designed a minimal woodland chic tablescape, including a burlap runner, animal place card holders with library place cards, menus hand-typed by the groom, and airplants. We got a rad custom cake topper from Melabo, which was our first wedding purchase. The cake was a DELICIOUS gluten-free chocolate cake by our caterer, Wild Oats, a local farm co-op.

Following dinner, Teddy performed an original work called “Ceremony” in the garden. Here’s how he described that: 

“Ceremony, a site-specific sound installation created for our wedding day consists of 3 different instruments (acoustic guitar, sampled piano and modular synthesizer) each recorded onto their own cassettes. Each instrument was recorded in varying lengths and then looped at different intervals, each only repeating 1-3 times. The effect is somewhat hypnotizing as familiarity with each part is only partially established before the overall feel of the piece changes over time. The 3 cassettes are played in unison in their own individual players, each placed around the area where we were married.”

When the sun set, we celebrated with drinks and watched an entire field of fireflies blinking like nature glitter. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen.

Our photographers Jamie and Michelle of Rad + in Love were amazing. Like better-than-I-ever-could-have-imagined incredible. They helped us choose our ceremony and photo locations. They were fun and flexible, and guided us through the day. It was a privilege to have such talented, cool and stylish ladies be a part of our celebration. The energy they contributed to the weekend ended up helping to shape one of my most favorite weekends ever, and I can never thank them enough for being part of it.

We live in coastal Rhode Island, so we had a big post-elopement picnic with about 100 friends and family at the Meeting House in Tiverton, Rhode Island the week after our ceremony.

In the end, our wedding was exactly what we wanted, we shared it with people we love and made new friends in the process. And, WE’RE MARRIED. Seriously, it’s the best.

-Ted and Abby

Photos by Rad + In Love! Go see more over on their blog.

Wedding? Yes! Rehearsal? NO.

I am having the super funsiest time perusing your Shopping Contest entries. Nicole almost stole my heart for doing the above layout herself in Polyvore.

But you guys should know better than to suggest any kind of dress in white/ivory/blush for a rehearsal dinner.

DON'T BLOW YOUR WHITE-DRESS WAD THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DAMN WEDDING.

I'll give you til Monday afternoon-ish PST to post more entries/redeem yourselves.

Erin Fetherston dress on The Outnet ($195), Big Bunny Ring by Digby & Iona at Catbird ($180), Rabbit's Foot Necklace from Cities In Dust Inc. ($60), Jeffrey Campbell Rose Floral Platforms from Bona Drag ($130)