Friday, January 28, 2011

Square Pegs



I saw this picture a few months ago in an NY Mag feature about weddings. The article is actually from 2007, but I love the chic draping and square tables. The East Room is spacious enough to where we could opt for square tables over round, but I've decided to forego unnecessary upgrades. Luckily, RNL doesn't call for a lot of decor. In fact, I think overdoing it could really crap on the natural regalness of the library, so my main priority for decor is flowers. I still like the ambience of this picture, though.

Style Points


Love the style, colors, and long side braid

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Vintage

Like I said, I want to go classic all the way with my styling. It started with the engagement party my parents threw us. Us is myself and Ata. Like the info on my blog says, we're Pakistani, so all of our parties are extremely traditional; no white wedding here. Our engagement party was fairly small (just family) and my parents decided to tent our backyard for the occasion. My style inspiration for the night was old Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore:

via sulekha.com

the beautiful outfit my mother-in-law brought for me

iPhone shot of a polaroid taken at our party


Love At First Sight

Let me preface this by saying that my parents are graciously throwing me a wedding on September 30, 2011. With about 350 of their closest friends...Yes, 350. I know, scary.

After the initial shock set in, I began my hunt for a wedding venue. I'm pretty certain that this is the most difficult part for all brides. You want something unique, affordable, available, beautiful, and in my case, large enough to comfortably accommodate close to 400 guests. I guess the first logical place to look is a hotel. A hotel wedding can be nice, but choosing a unique location was really important to me, so after I came to terms with the Langham being out of my budget, I set out to find a spacious, non-hotel venue.

Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California was brought to my attention by my sister and it was the first venue I actually visited. Needless to say I was sold pretty much instantly. And here is why:

Aside from the beautiful gardens with Nixon's birthplace in the background, the East Room (modeled after the actual East Room in the White House) boasts tall ceilings, intricate crown molding, grand chandeliers(!), thick drapes, wood floors (!!), gold Versailles chairs as their standard (!!!), and is conveniently located 15 minutes from my house. I visited RNL in October and snagged their first available Friday of 2011 (every Saturday was booked through next November).

Before RNL, I did an extensive online search for venues. Here Comes the Guide was the best search engine I came across. They have just about any location on there, along with reviews, price and space breakdowns (these are sometimes confusing/hard to find on the actual venue's website; especially the spacial specs. Here comes the guide does space breakdowns of each hall at the venue along with outdoor space)

RNL East Room

The Obama's East Room

**I've never looked at the photos side by side. After seeing them, I actually think I might not use up-lighting in the reception hall. The lighting fixtures and chandeliers are the same in both and I definitely prefer the warm, natural lighting of the photo with the Obamas. I also don't personally care for the colors used in the RNL photo.

Bride Style

I guess the first thing you're supposed to choose when planning your wedding is what style of a bride you are. In the Super-bride wedding planner I bought, these are the 5 options:
  • Classic
  • Natural
  • Modern
  • Playful
  • Romantic
I was immediately inclined to Classic & Romantic. but upon further thought, realized I don't really fit into the whole Princess thing. Here's what Gartner Studios (the makers of my planner) has to say about Classic Style:

"Your style exudes quality, distinction and timelessness. Ever bit a lady, you take your cue from Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. Your fashion sense is tasteful and traditional. Timeless, elegant, sophisticated, polished, graceful, ladylike."

While I feel that my style in day-to-day life is a little more playful and sometimes unconventional, for my wedding day, classic and timeless are definitely the way I want to go.

So It Begins

Hello Friend,

If you've arrived at this page, it's most likely because you read my blog "Sara's Shoebox". The Shoebox is primarily a photography blog, but I do post random thoughts from time to time. In order to avoid Sara's Shoebox from transforming into a bridezilla blog, I decided to create "Sara's Wedding". Since my engagement this past November, my sister and I have been exchanging dozens of emails a week with different pictures and ideas, my bookmarks folder is practically full with a disorganized list of sites, and my clippings aren't categorized properly. So fair warning: Sara's Wedding is an outlet for all things wedding. As always, comments, critiques and suggestions are welcome. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Sara