Dressing the Girls: A Winner!

Hive, I can't thank you enough for your supportive comments in my previous post. It made Sister Tartlet's day, which in turn made my day (and weekend)! I'm happy to share that despite the perplexing experience, not all was lost because BM Tanya came to the rescue and suggested another boutique in the area she was familiar with. The women at Bridal Couture of Plymouth kindly let us drop in without an appointment, and we found the consultants to be far more laid-back and friendly. Energized by the warm atmosphere we quickly hit the racks, and the most incredible thing happened: we found one dress that looked spectacular on all three women. Cue the choirs of angels and the flying pigs!

Shopping Tip #1: If at all possible, find an example of your dress in the color and material you want. Because this shop only had the dress-sent-from-above in Violet, we had to rely on a swatch book. We narrowed the selections to "Pink" and "Peach Fizz," both of which were sweetly pastel. In my head, the swatch translated into dresses of this delicate shade:

Caroline Tran via Style Me Pretty

Dressing the Girls: The Faux Pax

I had a very laissez faire attitude when it came to my bridesmaids' attire. Short or long, taffeta or cotton jersey, it truly made no difference to me. My requirements? To wear something they feel comfortable and fabulous in! That being said, it became clear after a few inquiries for criteria that perhaps complete freedom didn't sit comfortably with them. Eventually, my awesome sister (and MOH) scheduled a trip to Michigan so the four of us could go dress shopping together. We started the day off right by filling our tummies at my favorite brunch place in Ann Arbor: Cafe Zola.

DiY Project: Book Covers

Hive, I'm so excited to share this project with you! Not only because I puffy pink heart how these turned out, but also because you get to see how crafty Mr. Tartlet is. He's had weekends off this past month (glorious!), and has been the driving force behind the creation of these babies:

Book covers for our wedding programs! Now, how on earth did we get this idea planted in our minds? A while back I came across these brochures that Megan of Kelly Oshiro Events created.

Chocolate Splendor and Fallen Angels

The title may suggest the beginnings of a smutty romance novel (...not that I read those...), but I assure you that this post is indeed about our wedding confections. You see, up until about a week ago, Mr. Tartlet and I were set on serving a variety of cupcakes at our reception. However, when we met with Debbie Meyers of Sweet and Savory Bakeshop to finalize the flavors and details, we were presented with the opportunity to sample two cakes whose flavor simply blew all of our cupcake plans out the window.

For your virtual tasting pleasure, I give you the first of three kinds of cake we'll have at our wedding: Chocolate Splendor, an 8-layer cake including 2 layers of yellow chiffon with Grand Marnier, 2 layers of chocolate souffle pastry, 2 layers of chocolate mousse, and 2 layers of espresso buttercream. Feast your eyes on the miniature, 4-layer version in the foreground below:

Sugar, Sugar

I was absolutely delighted by the input on my previous post! Can I just say that I love this community? Because I really do. Thanks for helping this indecisive gal out!

Today I'm moving upwards from my feet and talking about something that's very close to my heart: my stomach. While there's something magical about the traditional, tiered wedding cake, nowadays there are so many creative, sweet endings to indulge in. I can't help but drool a bit as I see these dessert displays incorporated into other weddings. One of my regular blog reads, Ruffled, even featured a post the other day all about the art of dessert bars. Check it out for some great tips and tricks! In the meantime, get ready for a visual sugar high, my dears.

The smorgasbord candy bar:

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Putting it to a Vote: Tales from a Two-Shoe Bride

Hello, my lovelies! In this final installment in my search for those picture-perfect wedding shoes, I come bearing a dilemma and a question. Here's a synopsis of my shoe-scapades thus far: I found a fresh pair of green heels, but started to second-guess whether they would detract from my overall look. I mustered up some classic shoe inspiration, which eventually led me to stalk this flirty pair of heels on eBay:

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Classic Shoe Inspiration

I hinted in my previous post that I've been experiencing a bit of shoe regret. Although I'm head over heels for the trend of using brightly colored shoes to punch up your wedding day fashion, I'm starting to question pairing my light and airy wedding dress with a bold color. And, because our color palette is filled with soft, romantic hues, I started to consider my options for a more "classic" look.

Top Row: Badgley Mischka Randall, Badgley Mischka Dusk

Middle Row: Audrey Brooke Valentine, Kate Spade Evie

Bottom Row: Nina Gita, Ivanka Trump Doublet

Things I Heart: Colored Shoes

"Funny that a pair of really nice shoes make us feel good in our heads--at the extreme opposite end of our bodies."

- Levende Waters

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Slipping on the right pair of shoes makes me feel FIERCE. And ladies, self confidence is priceless. I love brides who sneak in that pop of color. It's fun, sassy, and makes for great pictures! The sunny color of this bride's shoes totally matches her color palette:

Floral Inspiration

I am florally challenged. I use descriptions like: "that thing with the ruffly petals that has greenish leaves." I mean, how could you not know what I was talking about? I struggle with transferring a bouquet of flowers from their plastic sleeve to a vase, and usually end up with an arrangement that would make Picasso proud. Mr. Tartlet kindly keeps mum, shakes his head, and proceeds to repair my trip on the failboat (toot toot). Fact: if it's green, I will kill it. 

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While the above photo was taken from another soul who lacks a green thumb, I did call home to ask if Mama Tartlet would send a picture of a baby cactus I had killed and kept because it had somehow fossilized in the pot (archaeologists, I'm you're worst nightmare). Her response wasn't "what cactus?" It was "which one?" ::facepalm::

Resources for Second-hand Shopping

I love giving used items a second life, especially when it comes to amassing decor items for our wedding. From eBay to thrift stores, we've been trying to work every discount source. "Something borrowed," is another angle I'm taking, saving us money while simultaneously bringing a little good luck our way from the lender. Here's a sampling of deals we've gotten so for our big day:


1. Glass cylinders from eBay and Bravo Bride. I admit that luck had a lot to do with the price of the 36 glass cylinders I landed from eBay (~$70). A seller was going out of business, liquidating inventory, and had unusually low shipping charges for the heavy glasses. I contacted him about my concern that they would shatter in transit, and he assured me they would be carefully packaged to arrive in one piece. Fortunately he ended up being true to his word:

These will house floating candles!

I found a set of larger cylinders (21-24") on Bravo Bride. The bride's mom had used them for her daughter's floral arrangements, but now they were collecting dust in her basement. She wanted them OUT, and because she was local I was able to avoid shipping costs.

DiY Project: Bridesmaid Newsletters

When the wedding planning really took off, I discovered I had a terrible propensity to forget who I've told what. I started to sound like a broken record to my nearby gal pal and BM Tanya (who I work with) whereas my sister and MOH (who lives the furthest away) would unintentionally get left out. I had yet to start blogging at this point in time, so I contemplated shooting off mass e-mails or going the website route like Miss Brooch. Ultimately, I decided to go with the power of snail mail. I *heart* getting real mail (read: not bills). Growing up, one of my favorite parts of summer was writing to friends I made at camp (Interlochen, anyone?), and as an adult I still love seeing a hand-written letter in my mailbox.

I designed a newsletter using Adobe Illustrator, but there are numerous free templates available for download, like these for Microsoft Word. The first page contained introductions and important dates:

Video(graphy) Killed the Radio Star

Hive, prepare yourselves for some lovely videos to pore over! If you've been hit by snow-maggedon 2011, I hope you're safely curled up under a warm blanket in the company of a cup of hot chocolate.

Epic Motion 2010 Promo from Epic Motion on Vimeo.

When we first started planning our wedding, the term "videographer" conjured up images of Christmas past, with Papa Tartlet tottering around with a camera, trying to be obscure but failing spectacularly in an endearing way. The resulting videos were the kind that come with a motion sickness warning. Plus, anyone else hate the way their voice sounds on a recording? At any rate, I clearly needed to be schooled in how far things have progressed, and this crazy beautiful film did just that:

Kate + Mike: The Trailer {re-mix} from Epic Motion on Vimeo.

I teared up. I couldn't help but smile. By the time the bride and groom entered the reception hall, I was mock ringing a bell while sitting in my chair. I'm gaga for films like this one where not only the moment is captured, but the feeling, too. So many people say that the day goes by faster than you can imagine, and I'm positive that we'll land into that category of couples who have a difficult time recalling the details (I have a hard enough time remembering what I did yesterday). And, it's not that there will be a shortage of video cameras at the wedding; my family in particular is notorious for being camera-heavy. Don't ever volunteer to take pictures--you'll quickly end up with a noose of a dozen cameras hanging around your neck and a few more piled in your arms. It's just that with a video...you only get one take to get it right.