Final touches

WEDDINGSSSS!!! My wedding fever was starting to wane folks but as of Sunday, I had a renewed bout of enthusiasm (I'm going to be a bridesmaid for my beautiful cousin! First time I've ever been in a wedding. Yay!). Just enough to write one more post about all the final details that will make my non-denominational committment ceremony perfect. (How do you spell 'committment'? Is that too many t's? m's?)

Hair
Has to be a slightly messy but always elegant chignon. Flirted with the idea of having my hair down and long and flowy in waves but whenever I see wedding pictures I tend to gravitate towards up-dos. What do you think? Hair swept back? Or some loose tendrils at the front? Reese and Hilary are making me think all back:

 
Makeup
I don't want, like, black smoky eyes but I like SOME smokiness, lots of lashes and natural peachy tones thanks. And um, Annie I wouldn't mind those earrings...

Winner!

 Cake
Must be: red velvet; buttercream/cream cheese frosting; not overly elaborate. I think the following egs fit in nicely with my garden theme.

Flowers
Peonies! Hydrangeas! David Austin roses! Yes! Bouquet must have some peonies, possibly some roses and possibly some lisianthus. Table settings will be similar, maybe also with some hydrangeas somewhere? I really liked the ones I had at my 21st birthday and am drawing inspiration from those (first pic).

 Viola! So signals the end of the month (and a half...) long series of wedding posts! Did you enjoy?! Even if you didn't and only Alissa and Henrietta read these blogs, well, that's enough for me. So who wants an invite to the non-denominational committment (sp?) ceremony OF THE YEAR? (I'll holla when I know exactly what year it might be...a long time from now...).

After all this talk of weddings, I'm super psyched to be participating in one now. All my hours of trolling the bridal sites have not been in vain! I can now share them with my cousin! I'm helpful.

The Dress.

Dun dun dunnnn. It was all leading up to the dress, non? While I have flirted with the notion of a fairytale pouffy princess dress (because when else will I wear one?!) at the wise old age of 22 I've decided on something decidedly more elegant. Off-white, lacy, with straps (there'll be no hitchin' of the dress down the aisle for me). Thank heavens I didn't get married at 8.

Bits of Dresses
These dresses caught my eye for some reason or another, but not like, as a whole. Rather, each dress has some appealing element in it that I like and might like to incorporate into my own dress one day.

 Alberta Ferretti. Like: fall of the skirt, material.

 Anne Bowen. Like: fit of the bodice, material? I don't know actually what I like about this dress. There's something. Do you see it? Dislike: colour, shoulder straps.

 Christos. Like: lace!!!!, colour. Dislike: bulkiness.

 Douglas Hannant. Like: skirt, straps. Dislike: colour, boob pleating.

 Jenny Packham. Like: shoulder detail, bodice. Dislike: volume of tulle.

 Jenny Packham. Like: bodice, shoulder straps. Dislike: hem of the skirt.

 Jenny Packham. Like: sleeves. Dislike: everything else. This dress is not for a booby girl.

 Jenny Woo. Like: shoulder straps, fall of skirt. Dislike: Nothing really, but it's a bit too simple.

Ramona Keveza. Like: lace!!! Particularly, the bodice. Dislike: the veil. I don't think I want a veil.

Couture
These dresses are all, obviously, divine. However they all, obviously, would need some alterations to qualify for my wedding gown.

 Givenchy. Alter: um, the lady parts on display. 

 Givenchy. Alter: ditto above.

 Givenchy. Alter: ditto above above. But it's still soooo gorgeous.

 Givenchy. Alter: NOTHING.

Givenchy. Alter: MAYBE the height of the split, but it's pretty much perfect. This whole collection was (see: Cate Blanchett's Oscar dress).

Alexander McQueen. Alter: um, the head-dress obviously. And possibly the length of the train and the high neckline.

Oscar de la Renta
Despite all of the beautiful above options, this one dress has had me captivated since, like, forever. I first spotted it on Carrie and if it weren't for the gorgessity of the Vivienne Westwood I would have screamed at her for not choosing this one.

The only thing that tarnishes this dress is the fact that George W. Bush's daughter had it for her wedding. Grr.

Going away dress

HAS to be Lanvin:

Except, you know, I probably won't actually be going anywhere. That's ok, if I have my manor house/garden wedding we'll just have a fancy pants brunch the following morning and I'll wear it then.

bridesmaid dresses

I know, I know these wedding blogs are getting kind of tired. Can you tell I'm a bit sick of them? I've even been avoiding writing anything at all because I don't want to write about weddings so I just don't bother. The plan, therefore, is to bang three more posts out over the next few days and then I can resume posting as normal i.e. any random shit I want. Lady Gaga, News of the World, Emma Stone's blonde hair...be prepared I'm coming for you.

Anyway, onto the pretty dresses! I've been to many, many weddings over the years (I'm Greek) and so I've learnt by experience what works and what doesn't (in my humble honest opinion). I've noticed in the past that many bridesmaids who have all been forced to wear the exact same dress despite invidividual measurements and tastes does not work and at least one person always looks uncomfortable. At my non-denominational commitment ceremony I want everyone to be comfortable and happy so everyone gets a different couture dress, depending on what suits (not what they like - this is still MY day).

I've also been inspired by the gorgeous bridesmaids dresses from the first SATC movie - it had many flaws, but unlike the second film, couture was not one of them.

I am planning on either having 2 or 3 bridesmaids and therefore dresses have been grouped accordingly. Enjoy.

 L-R: Dolce and Gabbana, Tibi

 L-R: Erdem, Milly

 L-R: Michael Kors, 3.1 Phillip Lim

L-R: Lanvin, Lanvin

L-R: Lanvin, Givenchy (!!!!!!!!), Lanvin.

The last one is my absolute favourite, obviously. In fact, that entire Givenchy season was pretty much my favourite thing in ever, in history. EVER.

Garden Wedding (the garden of a manor house, obviously)

Oops. So I've been kind of lax re: updating this blog. Specifically, with rounding off wedding blog month. But I've been busy aiight? I have been graduating, and working (internship started at marie claire yesterday and is going fine, thanks for asking) and going out to dinner, and drinking and watching Survivor seasons back-to-back. My New Year's resolution in fact was to watch all 22 seasons in chronological order this year. See, I've missed quite a few so I want to properly be able to call myself a Survivor fan.

ANYWAY, I DIGRESS. Weddings!!! Who doesn't love a wedding? Getting your hair didz, getting a manicure, buying a pricey new outfit, waxing your eyebrows/legs/whatever, judging everybody's outfits, smugly ascertaining that yes, you are wearing the best shoes out of everybody...it's a joyous occasion, it really is.

So continuing on with the series of wedding blogs this post is all about the beautiful garden decor I would like for my wedding. Note: I don't necessarily love all these things for my wedding in particular, but I definitely draw inspiration for the theme from them e.g. dessert table, eclectic mix of table settings, mismatched vintage china, profusions of undone floral bouquets, etc.

Enjoy some pretty pictures on this chilly Tuesday morning:

Pretty right?! I bet you so want to come to my wedding and drink cocktails out of huge jars.

P.S. On the general topic of weddings how cringe-worthy was Reese Witherspoon's? A pink dress? PINK? Look Reese we know your career is a little (a lot) lack-lustre right now and you haven't had a box office hit since 2003 and you really, really need 'Water for Elephants' to be a smash, and it might be because, you know, Twihards, but you don't need to dress up as Elle Woods on your wedding day and remind us how popular you were. Also, I can sense your desperation from here. Selling your wedding and engagement and love and blah to stay in the mags while promoting your current movie...really? You won an Academy Award. You're better than this.

PHEW OK, DONE. Seriously contemplating starting a celeb-centric blog. What do you think? I need a place for my thoughts.