Ballroom Blitz

Every time I visit RNL, I love it a little more.

Hello Lover!

I love satin. Satin ribbon, satin fabric, satin shoes. The only thing better than satin, is blushy nude pink satin.

I came across these satin Prada sandals yesterday. I swear they were satin in store, but the ones online only show suede...so picture these in satin:

They were so unbelievably pretty, and I almost blew half my tax return on them. Further incentive: they would be perfect wedding shoes! Well, lucky for my wallet, they only had them in a half size too small, so I left empty handed. On the same note, I'm not sure I want to spend a crazy amount of money on wedding shoes-- mostly because they aren't going to show at all. So unless I get the itch to spend right before the wedding (which is highly possible) I'm tentatively wearing the shoes from my engagement party (that I still haven't had the opportunity to wear again) or something else from Badgley Mischka and most likely in blush satin :)

Brian Atwood

Badgley Mischka "Randi"

Badgley Mischka "Elia"

Badgley Mischka "Dreamy Flower". Not satin but they remind me too much of the first time Carrie name dropped Louboutin in Sex and the City at the end of season 4 (as far as I can remember) for her last Big date before he moved. I tried these Badgley Mischkas on last time I was at Bloomingdales-- they look prettier and less wild once they're on.

Thoughts/opinions/suggestions?

Stunning!

The Princess Bride, the Duchess of Cambridge, Her Royal Highness Catherine wowed millions across the globe this morning with an elegant, chic and timeless wedding dress. Designed by the creative director at Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, Kate's dress was reminiscent of Grace Kelly's royal wedding dress from 1956, and accompanied with a 9 foot train-- a humble homage to her late mother-in-law's 25 foot train.

Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco

Kate & her train

She accessorized the dress simply with a pair of diamond earrings (a gift from her parents) and a Cartier halo tiara. I'm normally opposed to wedding tiaras in any way, shape or form, but this is a rare instance where it is actually acceptable and appropriate, not to mention meaningful as the tiara was lent to Kate from the Queen herself.

I didn't know I cared that much about the Royal Wedding, but as soon as I woke up this morning, I found myself fast forwarding through my dvr'd recording of it to see the procession and ceremony, giddy through the entire thing. I honestly don't think Kate could've picked a better dress. The strong sleeves and shoulders and incredibly narrow waist were really flattering to her frame. The dress screamed "Princess" in a regal and elegant manner; not in the bedazzled, bejeweled, blinged out way that seems so common on Platinum Weddings. This was traditional and stylish all at once. Simply stunning!

Pick a Card, Any Card

So, I finally managed to compromise on invitations and have found a wonderful letterpress company, Bella Figura! After sifting through dozens of invitation companies via a google search, I came across Bella Figura and instantly fell in love with their designs (as well as their awesome flickr page full of detailed shots of each invitation suite). I ordered 6 samples after business hours that night and the following morning, I already had an email from one of their consultants answering all the questions in the order I submitted, as well as suggestions for other suites he thought might work with my wedding colors (information required on the order form).

This beautiful box of samples arrived today. Check out the presentation!

The main invite samples

Different ink samples

The reply cards

Here are the 2 samples my mom and I are in between, Cartoccio & Nantucket:

The pricing is as affordable as I can find for letterpress, but I really like their simple and chic designs as well as the great customer service (a huge must for pretty much anything we're investing in for the wedding, and shopping in general), so after I show the samples to a few other family members this weekend, we are definitely going to place an order with Bella Figura!

INVITATIONS

ARE

KILLING

ME

Canopy of Lights

I found some more photo inspiration (although some are crappy quality):

Some fishing line, a big ladder, lots of white christmas lights...I'm beginning to wonder if this is something we could do ourselves...

And just for fun, I love how everything is on yahoo answers.

(No, I did not post that question lol)

Mendhi Motifs

My mom came in with these flowers she clipped from our backyard that happen to match my Mendhi color palette.

I was never that into hot pink but I feel like going the pink route rather than red (plus the minor color accents on my mendhi outfit are hot pink and royal purple). While walking around Artesia a few weeks ago, my mom and I randomly stopped in at Cottage Art, a store that sells Indian novelties, cushions, furnishings, decorations, scarves, etc. We were enticed by the window display (pictured below) and thought we would find some great treasures for my mendhi.

My mendhi, which we decided would be held at home, has hopped around from inside to outside, our large entry hall vs. the living room, or a tented backyard vs. a canopy. As of now, it will definitely be in the backyard, but we haven't decided if we need a canopy or not. We ended up buying the draped-miniature canopy from the window display to use for the stage, so I think a large canopy on top would be redundant. On top of that, I'm thinking of lots of lanterns, throw pillows, large cushions and lights. I was at South Coast Plaza the other day, and passed underneath this blanket of lights they have, and thought something like this would be a beautiful and festive solution to decorating our backyard.

(South coast pictures via flickr)

I love twinkle lights!