Long White Dresses 2012: Alternative Wedding and White Gowns under $1000

I will openly proclaim that one of my favorite parts of wedding planning was shopping for a wedding gown (you can't deny that many of them are just plain stunning!)  Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that many designers have their eyes set on ladies just like me and apply a not so lovely premium to wedding gowns.  Once you factor in the cost and time for alterations ($300+ for alternations?!), it is a few thousand you may have wanted to spend elsewhere.  While I had very specific tastes and was lucky enough to pay a few hundred each for my Pronovias La Sposa dress and my Monique Lhuillier gown, I wish I had known more about great gowns being produced by a few familiar retailers (the full list is here).

One of my best friends is getting married and had wanted some suggestions on where she could find affordable wedding gowns.  Ms. Efficient (she gets things done!) quickly found one at David's Bridal and no longer needs my suggestions, but I am happy to pass these along for any other bride or lady that just wants a rocking white gown (how great are some of these for a summer soiree!)

Maybe you're like me and are a lover of lace and light, feminine details.  If you love bows, delicate cuts and fabrics, then here are a few gowns for you.

1. Silk Dupioni Cascade Ruffle wedding dress, Ann Taylor, $795

2. Addison Lace dress, Saks Fifth Avenue, $288

3.  Olivia open back gown, Ann Taylor, $550

Maybe you don't want to spend a lot and you have an edgier aesthetic.  You may be looking for some blatant sexiness, asymmetry, and unique touches.  These dresses may be for you!

1. Badgley Mischka gown with beaded shoulder, Zappos, $750

2. Rachel Pally Kimber dress, Shopbop, $233

3. BCBG Max Azria Magdalena gown, Zappo's, $348

Maybe you're looking for something not quite floor length, but still fun.  If tea lengths are your cup of tea, here are a few options.

1. Tiffany dress, Ruche, $349.99

2. Embroidered tea length dress, Ann Taylor, $695

3.  Audrey dress, Ruche, $249.99

FFF - Aisle New York shopping for non-brides and more long flights!

Happy Fun, Free Friday lovelies!

Online Sales
The Aisle New York is a new online sample sale website for the chic and savvy bride with everything  from Anne Barge, Lela Rose, and Monique Lhuillier gown to shoes and accessories for everyone else.

But these Oscar de la Renta earrings (now sold out) are worth the click to the website for me.

They also had a few Pour la Victoire shoes on the site recently.  If you're not a bride, but love another resource for chic 'n cheap items, keep an eye on this site for great accessories, jewelry, and shoes!
Here is my invite if you need it.

Otherwise, this weekend I am...
...spending half the time flying!  Though we depart Friday the time difference is horrid and we get back late Saturday/early Sunday.  Sigh perils of living so far from our native city...my inner clock will be so confused.

{source}

What are you doing this weekend?

Have a fabulous weekend!

Fun Finds {Wedding} Look: The perfect beach wedding gown

I remember reading an article stating that one of Vera Wang's first questions to a bride whose gown she would design is where the bride is getting married.  After all, a wedding gown should make sense in the venue in which the couple is getting married.

So if you're throwing a beach wedding in Bali, this shell wedding gown would be perfection indeed.  That's the glorious thing about wedding apparel - it can be fun or formal, but the main thing is that it should reflect the bride.  Ms. Oracle Fox seriously had the coolest gown - ethereal, crocheted, shell trimmed and undeniably fun (notice the feather headband too).  Congrats and what a lovely wedding!

Thanks to Cristina for highlighting these pictures!

Fun Finds/{Wedding Look}: Photo, word puzzle guest books

Thanks to Josie for introducing me to Bella Puzzles.  They are the coolest guest book and real-life decor idea I've seen in a while (and if the bride and groom don't get it, wouldn't it be a great gift for them!)
I especially love how you can insert custom photos, words, and fun puzzle shapes.

What a great idea for your wedding guest to commemorate being a "piece" of your life.

Custom puzzle, 12" x 18", 80 pieces, $240 here

Custom puzzle, 14" x 18", 90 pieces, $240 here

Insert custom words,

have cool shapes,

and ask your loved ones to sign!

What kind of design do you like most?

Photo Love {Wedding Look}: Chelsea Clinton's wedding and that smile

This is the smile that conveys the sense of happiness and fun that any bride, rich or poor, political "royalty" or ordinary citizen should have on her wedding day.

Image from Wireimage

I definitely feel the love and love that Vera Wang gown!

Congratulations to Chelsea and Marc!

DIY: Thank you, LOVE, and ♥ signs

I wanted signs in our wedding shots after seeing other couples holding adorable homemade signs.  That and I thought they would be a great picture for thank you cards.

I made the following signs: Thank you (we could print these for the front of thank you cards), LOVE (because who doesn't love LOVE?), and the simple but classic ♥ symbol.
This is the current decor for the top of our low bookshelf.  I love reusing items from my projects!  

A few tips I learned along the way:
1. Use cardstock.  I rushed and printed signs for our photobooth on plain paper and they were pretty floppy in photos.
2. Bold and increase your font whenever possible.  It looks large on the screen, but won't look large in your hand.
3. Don't  be confined to a single sheet.  You can always have your design overlap pages and cut it out later.
4. Printing on cardstock would be ideal, but if you want to cut out individual words or letters, read below.
5. Play around with fonts and see what works well (if you're cutting out the words like me, scripts are definitely harder!)  There are tons of free fonts at sites like dafont and 1001Freefonts

Start with this...

Here were my materials:

• Heavy (gold or whatever other color) cardstock
• Exacto knife
• Printed sign
• Newspaper (to act as a pad underneath your cardstock)
• Glue Stick
• Scissors

Follow these steps:
1. Design words in MS Word or Powerpoint.  Remember to print it out to get an actual feel for size and dimensions.  FYI, the "LOVE" letters are Calson Initials font, font size 300.  The "Thanks" is Coventry Garden font, font size 250.
2. Cut a wide outline of words/shape with scissors.

3. Paste words/shape onto back of cardstock.  Line the bottom of cardstock with newspaper to protect your cutting surface.
4. Perforate the entire outline of the words/shape with the Exacto knife.  This helps make the cutting easier later and guides the shape.

5. Cut out the words/shape with the Exacto knife.

6. Have fun with your signs!

It would have been a lot easier if the words were printed directly on the signs, but I still loved them.  That and I guess I didn't mind an afternoon of cutting.  But I am happy that these signs are durable (I plan on getting them framed or at least save them in my scrapbook.

Have you taken part in any time consuming projects that you still loved?

Fun Finds/{Wedding Look}: Cutest Programs and decor - Shining Happy People everywhere

Something about these cute little faces on the programs kinda melts my heart.  I wonder what my little head would have looked like if I had used this for my wedding?  I probably would have had my feather fascinator drawn in and my cheshire cat grin painted on.  My husband's shaven head and friend's dark glasses would have made an appearance too.

 Great Programs Tiffe & Leo - they have my vote for cutest programs!

 Of course I love how these happy faces appear elsewhere in the stationary...

...and in the table number holders.

I love how one small and adorable detail can tie an entire party's theme together!
"Shining happy people holding hands..."

Pictures taken by the lovely Erin Hearts Court

Worth it?/{Wedding/Spring Look}? Tiffany's Blue playful shoes

Oh the cute white scalloped trim and that lovely shade of Tiffany's blue (it comes in black with white trim as well)!  This Hey Lady shoe is supposed to be super comfortable and has invisible "wing" arch support (what is that?) and a memory foam insole.  It's not cheap at $340, but if it's that comfortable, it'd be a good investment.  The comfort factor for me would be the key selling point (of course the styling is tres important as well)

Has anyone tried this brand before?

Most importantly, is this worth it?

DIY: Useful and easy fan-ish programs with Mad Libs

I'd been meaning to post my wedding programs for a while and if it provides any inspiration for someone, I'm glad to be of service.  They were relatively simple to design and put together.  I'd also like to think they were kinda fun too (I mean mad libs and everything!)

Originally, I wanted fan-shaped programs with rounded corners that fit on a single sheet.  I e-mailed another bride to ask how she did it.  Apparently, it involved a Fiskar rounded cutting tool, another rounder, and lots of time (though I would have rounded the corners but didn't buy the right tool).  Eeeek.
I like the simpler way so at first I just opted for angled pages.  The Kinko's guy tried to cut it, but a bunch of text ended up getting cut off so I modified it to a rectangular format and had it redone.  I totally recommend a local printer if you're cutting paper - they charge $1.50 - $2 per cut and it's easy and efficient (and the one cut applies to hundreds of pages).

Our programs included:

• Ceremony Guide
• Schedule of events
• Wedding party and family
• Note to our guests
• Directions to the reception venue
• Mad Libs (I always want to provide amusement)

The materials:

• Printed cardstock
• Heart shaped hole puncher
• Ribbons

Directions:
1. I designed the programs on a landscape 8.5 x 11 page in Microsoft Powerpoint and printed a copy; Powerpoint will allow you to move sections of text easily and is easy when you make the Mad Libs.  I'd suggest making the Mad Libs one block of text and the corresponding words to fill in individual text boxes you can easily move under the text.  I'm not sure how to post my template online, but please send me an e-mail at cncliving{@}gmail.com if you would like it.
Note: It is useful to have a version with line cuts/borders printed out and a version without borders electronically for Kinko's to print.

2. I brought the printed and soft copies to Kinko's.  They printed on cardstock and cut the programs.

3. I (or rather my lovely bridesmaids because I was looking for my missing veil) assembled the 3 pages and tied the ribbon on each completed program.

It could have still been simple and lovely if the pages were staggered lengths or had a vellum overlay with our monogram. 

I still loved them though - our programs were informative, simple, and fun.
How did/would you plan your programs?

Feeling Fancy: My Wedding Congratulations from the President

Some of you married ladies may have this already, but I wanted to share with you my wedding thank you from the White House.

Every time I look at it, I feel awesome and important - Chic 'n Cheap Living - the dignitary, haha.  It came a little late (maybe 3 months later?) but was awaiting me when I visited my parents in NYC.  It's something about the letterpressed seal or the signatures that make me feel nice.  If I had just sent this a little earlier and got some presidential attendees, that would have been the cream cheese frosting on the cake.

Anyway just an idea if you have an extra invite and want something for the scrapbook!

If you want to send the president a wedding invitation, see my original post here.

Semi-Meaningful Musing: Life as a Photo Shoot and Finding Happiness with your Imperfect Pictures

So I've been thinking (or rather this has been festering) for a while.  How do you stop obsessing over pictures or having or not having the perfect pictures?  We may wish for, set up, and style those perfect picture settings for life's main events: a wedding, a child's early moments, or a significant birthday party.  But this fixation on having perfect pictures REALLY starts becoming a tad unhealthy when certain brides starting planning their weddings.  Or at least I know it did for me and I didn't even have a clue about good photography prior to wedding planning.

After all, I remember starting to read inspiration and planning sites, stalking photographer blogs, flipping through magazines, and comparing my friend's pictures. 

I mean, is this a happy In Style Weddings Moment or what?

From the ever talented Tec Petaja

If you have a certain aesthetic sense and want your pictures a certain way, go for it.  Of course we want to have great pictures to capture a great day so prep so you will more likely be happy with your pictures.

Here are some basic steps you should take to achieve that:

• Know what you want and prioritize those shots (photos with your family, silly pictures of you, the venue)
• Find a photographer that has a style that fits your style
• Inform the photographer of your must-have list
• Allow sufficient time for your shots
• Bring any props
• Have additional photographers or friends with nice cameras

But as Mrs T pointed out, what if you did all that and you still don't get what you want? She did have awesome pictures like this though.

That's because if it's a large event like a wedding, there's really only the one chance to take pictures.

So if the photographer's back is turned when your sister is doing the worm, he misses it.  If the photographer didn't frame you in the backdrops you wanted, that's it.  If the photographer didn't get that many close-ups of the happy couple, oh well.

No doubt, it's really disappointing to have imagined all these memories captured perfectly and they weren't.  I had a lot of shots that never happened too and it kinda killed me - no pictures of us in front of the brownstones in Brooklyn Heights (where our ceremony was), no pictures with my girls individually (or at least with the matrons of honor), and few detail shots though I DIYed a ton and was pretty proud of my alencon lace veil, our invitations, and our programs (hmm maybe should share that, they were super easy and fun) - none of which were photographed. 

Of course you could have the post-wedding shoot or a trash the dress session but your Grandma will likely not be in the background inhaling shrimp cocktail in the background (and that could be an awesome shot).  So if you have time and opportunity to do an after session with just you and your partner, go for it. It could be more relaxing this time around.

Also remember to gather pictures from friends that are good photographers (esp. those with SLRs or toy cameras).  You're sure to find a beloved shot or two and all you had to do was feed them (and love them!)  We made our friends upload to our Sugarsync folder (it's our paid online backup of both of our computers with extra storage), but Mrs. T pointed out that, weddingphotoswap.com is a great option and is free.

But if you've done all that and still aren't happy, pick yourself up and move on with your life.  While you may have many beautiful moments and some are captured in pictures, you can't live your life as if it is a photo shoot - prepping and posing for a specific moment.  You have to remember the moment itself and to live it up.  We all want to see styling pictures, no doubt.  I mean I've wanted to share my own pictures with you because I had some amazing vendors and want to call them out, but fear the photos aren't pretty enough (and of course I won't be anonymous anymore).  But don't let this control you and your moments and your satisfaction.  Love the great time you had, not just your pictures.
After our Taiwan reception, I said to Mr. Gadget, "I didn't love how our wedding pictures turned out, but I guess I'm ok with that."  That sage husband turned to me said "Yes and anyway I love the way our marriage turned out."

Swoon...
Obviously the picture obsession became less of an obsession and it took time and acceptance.

You'll get lots of shots where someone's eyes are closed or something isn't right.  Maybe one half of the couple decides to stop cooperating and acting silly.  That's ok because you get shots like these and that is what life is all about...the imperfect pictures and the substance behind them.

I'm done posing and perhaps you'll see those wedding pictures around some day.