who's got $500 to spend on a shrug?

Because this one by Stella Forest is lovely.

HERE'S A WEDDING WRAP FOR YOU

Does this make up for the less than terrif Alice + Olivia shrug situation? I think yes.

Tsumori Chisato from La Garconne

Wanted: Wedding Wrap for a free-love, barefoot, diamond-ring-craving material girl

Dear East Side Bride,

I will be wearing this lace, Monique Lhuillier, dress for my upcoming August Wedding. Our wedding is being held at our favorite Summer camp spot in Western Washington, with guests camping/cabin-ing all weekend, and all the bohemian, tree-hugging, activity and mischief I could ever dream of...or so that is the hope. We are not going for a theme aside from controlled chaos and the great outdoors, but we do have all the MAJOR traditions that make up a wedding covered: live music, food, open bar, flowers, even a seating chart.

So here is where I am hung up. I am a Gemini, and I never even for a second played into Astronomy predictions or horoscopes...until I started planning a wedding. I am part free-love, barefoot, flower goddess, and part diamond-ring-craving, Kate-Spade-wearing, "Can you add some more sparkles to my prom corsage?" material girl. I need some suggestions on accessorizing my simple wedding gown, in particular an overcoat, shawl, cape...for chilly Washington evenings around a rustic/yet glamorous camp-fire.

Help a Gemini find her wedding style PLEASE.

*****

No idea how you can be free-love and diamond-ring-craving. Or barefoot and Kate-Spade-wearing, for that matter.


But.

I FOUND A SPARKLY SHRUG FOR YOU!

$99 down from $484 (if Gilt is to be believed)

Let me know if you need an invite or whatever. I can't remember how it works.

Photo at top: Thierry Lebraly via L'Officiel via Sasha Darling via Frederic Chollet

business in front, party at the back

Hello to my Snarky Sister,

I am getting married in October to the artistically minded scientist I've been searching for. And found the MOST AMAZING Escada wedding dress which is completely modest in the front, but is backless. As in almost butt crack backless with beaded straps. For 85% off no less on the internet. Oh and there's a bow which snaps onto the butt area. I thought I would hate the bow, but once the aforementioned fiance took some pics of the back, with and without the bow, this minimalist woman actually decided to go with the bow.

We're having a VERY short ceremony, hopefully outside and with a mention of the Higgs boson particle and dueling accordions.

My question is this: what kind of shrug would work? All the weddingy sweaters/jackets/wraps are cropped bolero looking things and that WILL NOT WORK with the whole almost butt crack dress, but anything long will look strange with the bow.

Can you think of anything amazing-like or do I just suck it up and be cold for the sake of my fucking gorgeous backless bowed dress? (it's floor-length - I know you hate tights but how do you feel about long underwear?)

*****

i require a photo

*****

http://www.bridalwave.tv/2007/08/escada_silk_wed.html

Because it's a large it hangs down a bit lower on me.

*****

suck it up for the ceremony. you'll be so giddy to be getting married, you won't notice the cold.

and then throw on a dressy full-length coat of some sort to make your getaway. (snapping off the bow if you need to.)

but first things first, lady. GET THAT BUTT CRACK TO A TAILOR.

They're heeeeeeere: CHIHUAHUA IN A FAUX FUR wedding pics!!!

(click to enlarge)

Okay, yeah. So basically I am obsessed with Parker.  But me melodia + the new hubs are pretty cute, too.

It was a fluke 86 degrees in Boston in October. Say Byebye to my fox stole.

I wanted to go with a cabinet of wonder theme. Bones, geodes and curiosities.

The boy had his suit custom made. Yay Irish tweeds and vintage buttons. (Poor guy didn't think it'd be that warm.)

I went for a simple raw silk nautical inspired dress (Jorge Manuel). I'm sorta considering recycling. I'd like some splurge cash and I'm sure the gown would make someone happy.

Anyways, we got married in the largest bird sanctuary in the NE, the John James Audubon Habitat in Belmont, MA. Lots of flora and fauna.

We borrowed a 57 porsche speedster... We were pleased to spot a huge buck on our newlywed drive. So sexy.

After the wedding we went back to the Lenox Hotel, smooched on the rooftop and then were surprised by love knots left on our bed. The last shot is us in our "Judy Garland" suite. The door was so bling that it had a camera. 

The guys we worked with just "got us." They gave us the flat Victorian marital portrait shot we wanted. Just perfect!

Ayyyyyyy! 

(Photos by Avena Studios. Check out a bunch more here and here)

the bucket tree

Um. So this beautiful little vintage shop is run by the very same lady behind Rust.

I think her amazing wedding might have given her a teensy bit of a wedding obsession. (Not that I can relate or anything.)

I'm just saying. The bucket tree has a pretty great wedding section.

Dear ESB: Can I pre-wear my wedding shrug?

would you tell me i'm insane if i purchased this [to wear to holiday parties]...

realizing that it costs more than i normally spend on almost anything. i'm thinking it would double as wedding wear. is it kosher to wear something at your wedding that everyone has already seen you in elsewhere? because i couldn't possibly convince myself to spend that much on something unless i wear it many, many times.

*****

if it were a pair of shoes I'd say HELL NO. you want them to be brand spanking new the day you get married in em. (see: genevieve)

but a shrug? pshaw.

do you already have the dress picked out? do you know when + where you're getting married? i.e. how chilly it will be? do you care?

i say buy it.

I am NOT a ruffle person

Really I'm not. But these ruffly pieces are insane.

(I bet crutch would make the shrug for you if you asked her.)

Photography by Carl Bengtsson for Brides UK September/October 2009 via {a glamorous little side project} via simple blueprint

now here's a shrug I can get behind

via {a glamorous little side project}

Did I say I'm not a shrug person??

white paper flowers + black wedding shoes

When this lovely lady weighed in on the great black shoe debate with "I wore a pair to my wedding, short dress and all," I shameless begged her to send photos. She obliged. Immediately. (Ihavethecoolestreaders.)

Here are the details from Kyli:

My husband Luke and I got married in New York City at the top of a private building on May 29th. We had about 45 family members and friends join us for a quick ceremony officiated by a friend and then a great party filled with music, amazing food and tons of laughter and conversation.


The people we worked with: Acquolina Catering, Hatch Creative Studio for the flowers and Collette Foley for the cake, were all spectacular and in the end everything was beautiful and delicious. The dress is vintage -- it's Oleg Cassini from the 60s. I got it online from Vintageous and the only alteration it needed was a bit of resizing.

Two good friends, Ennio Rizzi and Randy Noak, took all of the digital shots, and the polaroid and holga pictures were taken by assorted guests with cameras we'd set out.



The insane paper flower wall was made by my incredibly talented mother - she crafted every piece by hand over four months and carried everything with her from California.


In the end, it was one of the best parties I've been to, which was everything we could have asked for. (Editor's note: Yesssss!)

Hi

I think I'm back. My body is back anyway, happily getting reacquainted with my little desk in the kitchen of the bungalow. It's possible I've left a few pieces of my brain strewn across the Bay Bridge. And in the parking lot of the Emeryville Denny's. (Which is a movie unto itself on a Saturday night, let me tell you.)

Anyhoo, I missed you guys. My plans for recovery/reemergence are as follows:

1. Bloggety blog blog blogging.

2. Blog stalking. (Yeah YOU.)

3. Doing laundry laundry and more laundry. This may not seem like an important part of the cure, but a) all our clothes are dirty and b) I find doing laundry strangely theraputic. I think I'm still high on having my own washing machine.

4. Drinking whiskey and watching the new True Blood.

5. Tweeting publicly again. I love YOU GUYS. I want you with me always so I can talk to you, say, when H-town gets wrapped up in a wildly boring cell conversation in the car, or I'm standing in the dressing room at Crossroads and I need style advice asap. It's only when the desperate self-promoters/assy wedding planners/porn spammers (it's a fine line) descend that I want to scratch my face off.

I have much suckier things I need to take care of, like replacing the rusted-out exhaust pipe on Blue, my beloved Volvo station wagon, and finally f*cking doing our taxes. But what's another day or two?


Images via Le Fashion. I just can't wear docs again (believe me, I wore the hell out of them from 1989-1994), but when I was costume shopping here the other week I was sorely tempted by a pair of combat boots. They are supremely good with this sheer dress.

the shrug has arrived

The shrug Elizabeth made for Myra inspired by this one rocked by our own cevd.

cevd says she wants another one. Now that is just greedy.

Five wedding trends I'll never get tired of

Lately I've been harping on trends that drive me up the wall (let's face it, just the word trend drives me up the wall). So I decided it was time to step back and recognize a few wedding ideas that rock.

1. Photo booths. Whether you rent the classic or go with a modern update, people effing love to pose for pictures. And I for one wish I had more photos of my wedding guests.

(Image courtesy of The Flashdance's Smile Booth)

2. Mason jars. I love em for cocktails, florals, and especially votives. They have a fabulous rustic chic vibe, and they're amazingly photogenic. Leave the rings on to get an extra glimmer from your candles. (Jars of the non-mason variety are good too, and easier to collect.)

(Image source here)

3. Shrugs. The bigger and fluffier the better. Did Elizabeth Dye just hint that she's working on a shrug inspired by this one....?

(Image source here)

4. Creative catering. I am a sucker for a backyard barbecue. Or a wedding catered by a taco truck! How rad is this?

(Image found here)

5. What am I leaving out? Please submit your ideas! I'm getting very lonely listening to myself think.

on the other hand....

These amazing pieces by Barbara Munsel are handmade from organic and vintage textiles. And there is nothing hippie about them.

You just have to figure out how to order from the Netherlands.

Via Bliss by way of periwinklebloom

hello my fantasy, feathery shrug

Would you like to be in a wedding? That fantasy other wedding in which I marry H-town again?

Or I could just wear you to the video store. I bet that's what cupcakes and cashmere would do.

Lolita via .v

Update: Shrug is by Sonia Rykiel. Damn her.

uber-chic North Carolina wedding

Christine of pretty.pretty.paper (one of my personal favorite design/style blogs) was kind enough to sneak me the photos from her October wedding.

Here are the details she gave me:

dress - monique lhuillier from ultimate bride in chicago (back when i was living in an actual city)

shrug - again monique lhuillier but i had to BEG for it. i saw it in a magazine and spent about two weeks convincing the lady at ultimate bride that i really was interested in this and yes there was a good chance i would buy it if she could get it for me. she got it and then so did i ").

veil and hair piece were from leah c. i was originally opposed to a veil but while we were chatting she convinced me to go with the birdcage and i was very happy.

mas wore a tux by john varvatos and some really killer grey patent leather boots (which you can barely see and we are a bit peeved at the photographer for being so blind to mas ... didn't notice it on the day though so i am thinking he is holding back some images). we got his tux the week before the wedding and the poor kid was running around asheville the day of for a bow tie.

diy - well there was a lot on the list before the wedding that my mom and i were going to work on, but in the end it came down to the menus and the cakes (michael and i made the chocolate and then had family friends make the italian ceam, coconut, and carrot). our cake toppers were a disgrace so we didn't put them out ... i failed miserably at sourcing the sticks to make table numbers ... we completely forgot about the photo booth ... and well i think you might get the picture by now. we didn't have a whole lot of extras though. the menus were the only take homes for the guests (well that and all the left over liquor that went to our friends, we had to buy it ourselves and my parents don't drink so it would have been wasted on them).

i don't have a way with flowers and my mom was kinda keen on them so we had a most lovely florist (the bloom room) who agreed to keep the blooms to a minimum and used a lot of edibles and sticks instead.

our brothers officiated the ceremony - we each have one brother and no sisters and since there was no bridal party we wanted them to somehow be included. also i have three cousins that are very near and dear who walked frances down the aisle.

Christine, I hope you'll forgive me for cutting and pasting your email straight into this post. I'm grinning ear-to-ear because you sound so much like me. A hair obsessive about bride/groom style and just enough laissez-faire on the rest.... Except of course for the letterpress menus, which kick some serious ass. (Update: the menus part two.)

I'm loving the trend of home-town weddings with city style. This one is a smash hit. Obviously.

p.s. The boots rock.

Photos by Parker J Pfister