EXCUSE ME

Celia totally held out on us. Not only is there more ostrich action up on her blog, there are photos of the dance fest, the signature cocktails,* the most rad Celia necklace, and the elusive mariachi.

Sneaky sneaker blogger.

*That's right, Mr. Human Jukebox, I said signature cocktails. These people know a little something about mixing drinks.

how to get a badass wedding dress without ever having to leave the house

Even before she sent me her wedding photos, I knew I was gonna have to squeeze a dress post out of Celia. A girl with vintage style who commissions a custom wedding dress? Yes pls.

I decided to have my dress custom made pretty early in the dress decision process. I had quickly considered jumping on the bandwagon and buying some fancy designer dress but as soon as I saw some of those fancy designer price tags, I was instantly turned off. My mom was gracious enough to tell me that she would work with me on the price, but honestly, spending THOUSANDS of dollars on a gown that could probably be seen on the pages of most wedding magazines and could be worn by any girl that was ready and willing to spend those THOUSANDS of dollars, seemed 1. predictable and 2. not me at all. I try not to buy my regular clothes from massive corporations, so why would I go that route when it came to my wedding day?

On to plan B: a vintage dress!! This idea was extremely appealing. I own and wear tons of vintage and one of my best friends is a vintage buyer. This was going to be perfect! Well, turns out, not so perfect after all. I have seen many girls pull off vintage wedding dresses beautifully, but unfortunately, I was not going to be one of those girls. I tried on a slew of vintage gowns, but I always ended up looking too kitschy and not classic, which is what I really wanted. After all the excitement, I was a bit heart broken that vintage wasn't going to work for me.

And that's when I made the decision to have my dress custom made. I knew it was the only way to get the dress I actually wanted... the dress of my dreams! The hardest part was finding someone reputable that I felt I could totally and completely trust. I came across Lindsey Nelson (who's worked for the Los Angeles Opera House) through another dressmaker who had made wedding dresses for two of my friends, but had moved to Nashville. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, but I definitely knew what I didn't want (no strapless/mermaid/satin/beaded ensemble) and I knew the look I was going for. I sent her photos of dresses and details that I loved and asked her if she would be interested in making my dress. Lucky for me, she jumped on board and said that she would come to my home for all our meetings and fittings. So, I basically got a badass wedding dress without ever having to leave my house... that's my kind of business deal! She came by a few weeks later, measured me, asked me a whole bunch of questions, brought more pictures for more inspiration, and sketched out what I knew was going to be the most gorgeous dress.


I was definitely set on lots of lace and unlike esb, I AM a ruffle person, so there was going to be some serious ruffle action. Knowing that I had loved the idea of a vintage gown, Lindsey had suggested we use vintage lace to construct all the ruffles on my dress. GENIUS! I'm pretty sure that was the very moment I fell in love with her! Over then next three months, we took a trip downtown to pick out the fabric for the main part of my dress, we bid on a variety of vintage laces that Lindsey found for me on Ebay, and had four fittings total. Everything went so smoothly and perfectly, that I even asked her to make my mom's dress and a blouse for the flower girl. In the end, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful gown on my wedding day and I definitely couldn't have asked for a better, sweeter and more personal way to get that dress. There's no way I would change a thing.

Oh, and the whole dress (labor and fabric) totaled less than $950. I'm quite happy to say that my extra money went towards an amazing honeymoon in Europe and not Vera Wang's pocket...



*Update: tons more inspiration pics and terrific detail shots on Lindsey's blog.*

All photos (with the exception of the inspiration board) by Cathryn Farnsworth

Southern California Wedding Chic (complete with ostrich)

I could not be more stoked to feature the wedding of the lovely and hilarious Celia, of life according to celia. Here's what she had to say:

First off, I'd like to give a big fat thank you to ESB for getting what the whole wedding planning process is really about and, of course, for featuring our wedding. I thought we were kind of cool before, but now my head is swelling at a phenomenal rate... jokes.

OK, where to start? After 10 months of planning, some serious nail biting, a good amount of tears, and a few fits of rage, we got married in front of 113 of our nearest and dearest on October 10th at the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse in Los Olivos. We rented the house for two nights and invited our families and close friends to spend that time with us. To say it was the best time of my life, would be the absolute grossest understatement. I guess there really are no words to describe how incredibly perfect that weekend was.

The day of the wedding was the most beautiful day I had seen in months. Living in Southern California can be pretty grueling during the Summer, so a 77º day is always more than welcome. I know tons of little details go so wrong at so many weddings, but I must admit that ours ran pretty smoothly. The ceremony started at 4:30 and we were married by a very close friend of ours... an idea I highly recommend if you are planning on having a nondenominational wedding. He made us laugh, then cry, and laugh again. It was so sweet and so personal. My mom walked me down the aisle and I remember feeling like I was a little kid again.

The ceremony was very short (maybe 15 minutes) and we proceeded to have a huge blowout party. I was not interested in a lot of the traditions, i.e. throwing the bouquet/tossing the garter/etc., mainly because I didn't want to feel like I was on a schedule at my wedding, and also because I really didn't feel the need to have Joseph's hands or face up my dress in front of our families. Maybe that's just me, though.


We both work in the food industry, so the food was a really big deal to us. We didn't want anything fancy, so we felt family style would be our best option. The menu consisted of Roasted Fennel and Orange Salad, White Mushroom Lasagna, and Paella from The Chef's Touch in Solvang and I don't think we could have been happier with how it all turned out. Joseph works as a Sommelier and decided to buy all different bottles of wine from Silver Lake Wine, so that no two were alike. Everyone was excited to see what bottles would be at their table. We also served three signature cocktails; a spicy whiskey one, a sweet tequila one, and a rusty nail for my dad. There was a mariachi and we gave out Mexican tin ornaments for favors as a nod to my heritage. We used terrariums as centerpieces because Joe's highly allergic to quite a variety of flowers.

Dinner turned into a big dance fest and we were so delighted to hear everyone tell us that they were having the best time. I had never in my life felt so happy or full of love. It was almost surreal. The night came to an end, although I wished it could have lasted forever, and I could not believe how blessed we were to have such a beautiful and heartfelt wedding. Totally worth all those fits of rage...



Tune in tomorrow for Celia's advice on how to get a badass wedding dress without ever having to leave the house.

And, yes, that is a ban.do headpiece. Celia visited the studio to try em on. She's fancy like that.

(Photos by Cathryn Farnsworth)