Not too long ago, the City of Saint Louis opened the Citygarden. It’s this great little “urban oasis” right in the heart of downtown. Although I have yet to visit this lovely little spot in downtown, I am already in love with the idea of it.
Mark di Suvero for Citygarden
For those of you not familiar with Saint Louis, it’s a great town, but there has not been much to do downtown other than catch a St. Louis Cardinals‘ game (which I highly recommend), go to a St. Louis Rams‘ game or take a brewery tour at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery (which I also recommend, but maybe that’s because I used to be a tour guide there…I digress). When the Citygarden opened (which is free, by the way), it gave Saint Louisans a great new spot to get away to on a beautiful day, which we have been having a lot of lately. Plus you can bring your pets!
Not only is this place a fun spot to visit on a weekend (or for lunch on a weekday), but it is a great new spot for couples to get a few of their engagement or wedding photos. You still get the feel of a park, but you get that urban feel that is really popular in photography right now.
Jodi Schlosser Photography
Now I’m really excited to get my photos taken in a few weeks by a great friend for a new little project I’m working on (more on this later).
I think, when the FI and I renew our vows (Yeah, I’m WAY ahead of myself on this one), we’re going to do it this way.
Southern Weddings Magazine
Scroll down about half way, and to the last image. Yeah, that about sums it up. How gorgeously awesome is that?! Too perfect for words. Le sigh.
I thought I wanted my bridesmaids to carry small bouquets. That is, until I saw this:
Beth Berry Photography
I have seen the idea before, but this time it really struck me. I think it would be a fun and modern twist on the original bouquet to instead have the girls carry clutches in different patterns of reds and/or oranges. For the sake of the wedding ceremony, we would adorn each clutch with a peony or ranuncula.
Beth Berry Photography
It’s something a bit more fun, and instead of throwing away their bouquets, the girls get to keep a fun clutch. I’m not much of a flower person (although they smell wonderful and I am having a love affair with ranunculas), so this could be another different and unique element for the wedding (even the FI said it’s a “cool” idea). I still plan on carrying a bouquet (I’m sure some of you were asking this in the back of your mind).
Are your girls going to carry flowers, or you going to go for something a bit modern/untraditional?
If you’re not hiring a day of coordinator (which, I think is a GREAT suggestion), be sure to put one of your bridesmaids or family members in charge of creating an emergency day-of kit for you. Typically, these kits include things like: aspirin, band-aids, blotting papers/powder, sewing kit with safety pins, mints, chapstick/lip gloss and anything else that could be important on the day of.
Martha Stewart’s wedding site features information on how to DIY your own emergency kit. You can also Google it and find many sites with information on what to include in the kit. Any of them provide a good foundation of what to include.
You can also purchase pre-maid kits, like this one featured on Amazon.com:
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What types of items would you want to include in your day-of emergency kit?
Thanks to the lovely Jamie DeLaine and Carissa Jones for finding photos of the back of this hairstyle and sending along the information to me. I honestly thought I was going to have to have my hairstylist make it up, but now I don’t have to! I am forever grateful to these ladies.
Oh swoon.
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Hairstyle was created by the All Made Up team in Los Angeles, CA.
P.S. How crazy/beautiful is the back of that hair?!
Okay, not really. Although I did touch up my blonde-y locks last night to be brighter. It’s still summer so I have to enjoy this blonde while I can still get away with it. I digress.
I have not been really thinking about wedding hair at all. If I come across something in a magazine, I usually just tear out the page and save it, but that’s about it. But, then I found this totally awesome and fantastically beautiful hairstyle. I so want my hair to look like this on my wedding day. I think it would completely match my whole look and feel.
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I love everything about her hair. It’s part modern, part romantic, mostly just beautiful. Helps that she is gorgeous, but ugh, I love that hair.
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Please do me a favor. In about a year, when I’m complaining that I canNOT find a wedding hairstyle I like. Remind me about this one. I’m sure it’ll get forgotten in the shuffle of wedding planning and I need someone to remind me of the hotness of this hair. Thanks! Oh, and if anyone can manage to find a photo of the back of her hair, that’d be great, too!
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Ugh, and don’t you just love Jasmine’s photos? To. Die. For. Beautiful.
Hairstyle was created by All Made Up team in Los Angeles, CA.
A few years ago, Victoria’s Secret made popular the “Sexy Little Things” attire that was desired by most brides-to-be. You could (and still can) buy sexy little panties, bras, jackets, t-shirts and so on. A very cute concept, and a profitable one might I add. Seems even Vicki’s found a niche in their own customer base consisting of girls headed to the altar.
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I haven’t even given any thought to this area of lingerie, and to be honest, I’m not really sure I will (and cannot believe I am actually blogging about this).
I did, however, find a great little line (albeit, a tad pricey) with some bridal items, which I think are a bit more tasteful that Vicki’s (sorry!) and have a great vintage-y flair! Ell & Cee, which is based out of the UK sells some great bridal pieces like this.
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The great thing about their pieces is that they are hand-finished, not machine-finished AND their shopping cart is PayPal, which means us brides from the States can take advantage of a higher quality undergarment for that special day.
Okay. I’m stopping myself now. I still cannot believe I blogged about this. Forgive me, Dad.
I love when local brides are featured on bigger blog sites. It really shows that the Midwest is coming along in the wedding industry.
If you have not stumbled upon it already, be sure to head over to Style Me Pretty and check out Abby’s posts about the wedding.
This bride uses a lot of creativity and ideas that me and the FI are looking for in our wedding. She executed a lot of DIY projects, which gave her wedding the feel that it was really about her and her husband. Plus, her reception venue is the same place where we will be having ours. It is always nice to see how other brides set it up.
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Let me also mention that the bride bought her wedding dress from J.Crew and had her seamstress ad the flowers and the overlay. AYKM? That takes some creativity and a strong vision!
How could I forget to mention that the bride and her bridal party made their own bouquets! I have had my eye on this DIY project since before the FI and I got engaged. I’m crafty and think this is a fabulous way to be green (support the local economy by buying local and in-season flowers) and save some money!
There are so many elements from her wedding that I love. So, Audra, if you’re reading this, I might just borrow some of your ideas because they are faboosh!
And P.S. I love that they hung paper lanterns. Makes me feel 110% better about wanting to hang paper lanterns at Windows.
Boy, am I on a blog roll today.
Found this quote today while rummaging around on my Photog’s blog and fell in love with it.
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Bronte
No, this post is not about my shoes (I’m on a shoe-posting hiatus…for now). And, it’s not about my lovely BM Kate, although, I do love her (sending you blog love, Kate).
This post is about these lovely dishes, I mean china.
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The FI and I are not planning on registering for china (more on that in another post). I cannot help myself but love that china.
It comes in platinum too…
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…but I love the green. Even the FI loves the green. It’s just fun and vibrate and, well, different than your traditional china.
And, because I love most things untraditional (forgive me), I’m giving a shout out to Kate (as in one of my BMs) and her china.
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Her lovely china set was also featured recently on The Pioneer Woman’s blog. As a side note. If you do not already read The Pioneer Woman’s blog, you should.
And, in a later post….to china or not to china (and we’re not talking about the country, people)!
