Category Archives: Wedding Planning

Glam Hair for a Glam Bride

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I have always been a bit proud of my hair- it’s long, dark brown and pretty healthy. It hasn’t been colored, straightened, or treated, so it’s in really good shape for my wedding.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about how to wear my hair on my wedding day.  A lot of people have told me to wear it up so I’m not fussing with it, but my heart is leading me in a different direction. I want to feel glamorous, beautiful and dare I say…sexy on my wedding day and to me to me there’s nothing more feminine than long, shiny, beautiful hair.

There are so many ways to wear long hair down, but one in particular has caught my eye in fashion magazines and celebrity red carpets- old school, hollywood, glam hair.

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I absolutely love this look! It is so classic, stunning and reminiscent of beauties way before my time.

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I’m having a hair test run done March 27th and I’m so excited to see how this looks on me. I just pray my straight hair can hold those beautiful waves!

What do you guys think? Am I insane for wearing my hair down? Is the old-school, hollywood look suitable for a bride?

Our Invitations Are Out!

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This weekend Luke and I spent all day Saturday addressing, stuffing and stamping our invitations. It was a big undertaking, but I’m so excited they’re out! Invitations were low on our list of priorities for our budget, but I think they turned out super cute!

I enlisted the help of a graphic designer I work with a lot for my clients to help create a custom-designed invitations based off this photo from our engagement session.

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We loved that this photo showcased the Chicago sky-line since our wedding it a trip for most our guests. We used this as the photo for our save-the-dates to get people excited about the city and then carried it over into our invitations.

I worked my friend to create invites that played off our yellow and green colors while maintaining the feel of the photo. What he created was a bright yellow and white design showing the city scape and our sillhouettes. The copy was in green and we chose a metallic, grass-green envelope.

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I’m really happy with how they turned out and we got it all for a steal!

You may also notice we incorporated some social media into the invites by giving our guests the option to keep their RSVP stamp and instead send us their response on the Wedding tab of my blog.

I’m excited to start getting more RSVP’s- it’s getting so close!

Five Lessons in Avoiding the Bridal Blues

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Planning a wedding can be a roller-coaster of emotions and events that no one prepares you for. It can prompt many brides to run into situations with friends, family and their fiance they haven’t faced before, which can bring out the best and the worst in those relationships.

The other night before I went to bed, I was contemplating some of the less than wonderful moments I’ve encountered during my six months of planning and realized I’ve learned some valuable lessons.

So in my journey to help other brides, I decided to write those lessons out for you all. Here we go:

Five Lessons in Avoiding the Bridal Blues

  1. It’s OK to be unhappy once in awhile. So you’ve met your prince charming, you’re madly in love and you’re planning your dream wedding. That means you should be feeling pure bliss all the time, right? WRONG. With an engagement comes a lot of stress, anxiety and worry. It’s normal to feel less than chipper sometimes, which brings me to my next lesson.
  2. Don’t mask your feelings with “wedding planning.”Going from a single girl, to a fiance to someones wife is a HUGE transition. You’re likely going to feel a wide array of emotions that can sometimes be uncomfortable. I think sometimes brides try to avoid dealing with those emotions by throwing themselves into planning their wedding to the last detail. This may work for awhile, but eventually those feelings will rise up and you’ll explode- either in the form of a fight, stress overload or tears. Allow yourself time to feel your feelings for just 10 minutes and you’ll be able to put them behind you and enjoy the moment.
  3. There is no scorecard.Keeping track of who’s done what for you and comparing that to what you’ve done for them in the past is a recipe for disappointment. Give people the benefit of the doubt and trust they’ll support you when you need it.
  4. Don’t ask for opinions about the things you’re REALLY excited about. If you’ve fallen in love with a dress, flower type or necklace, don’t ask your friends/family for their advice unless you’re willing to hear that they aren’t as amped about the object as you are.
  5. Adjust Your Expectations.Not everything you’ve dreamt up for your wedding will happen. You’ll have some disappointments. If you expect them in advance, you won’t be crushed when it doesn’t work out.

There are a lot more I’m sure, but those are the five I can think of now. What do you guys think? Any lessons you’d add to the list?

Happy Friday!

The Cutest Little Swing Dress

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Luke and I are planning to do a swing dance for our first dance. We’ve been taking lessons at Galaxie on the west side of Chicago and it’s been really fun so far!

With just two classes under our belt we’ve learned the basic footwork and four spins. Luke is being a great sport about it all and has picked up the steps quickly. I shouldn’t be surprised though, you all know he has moves.

Since I’m predicting after our six week course and five private lessons we’ll be dipping and twirling, I decided I needed to get a swing dress to wear for our performance. Something cute that will show off a spin.

I searched on Etsy, (my favorite site ever!) and found this adorable dress.

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So stinkin cute right?! I wish I had spotted this back when I was hunting for bridesmaid dresses! The dress maker is able to do it in many colors.

I really hope she can get me one in time for April! =)