Best Graduation Present Ever

Mr. knows how much I adore Anthropologie, but how I would never ever buy one of the dresses from there because...well, because I feel weird spending money on myself like that. For my graduation present, Mr. surprised me and took me to Anthro to find a dress to wear for graduation. Well...it didn't happen as easily as he'd like (how can the entire city of New York be sold out???), I was finally able to track down this dress in my size:































{ image from anthropologie }

I think I'm almost more moved (but not surprised) at how well he knows me and what I like...I really am lucky to have him in my life!! Sigh...

Ok but...I've heard that printed dresses are bad for engagement shoots, but this one is just too pretty! Is it ok if I wear it for our engagement photos? Or is it too busy?

Mediterranean Inspiration - Bougainvillea

I'm still struggling to get all my ideas together and decide on what sort of feeling and decor to choose for our reception. The two major ideas we have been throwing around is some sort of "secret garden" feel or something that looks a bit more Spanish (without being very literal...ie: no fans, I'm not wearing a flamenco wedding dress, and no mantilla on top of the wedding cake...something a bit more Spain-inspired).

I came across some photos of beautiful bougainvillea from Spain and then remembered this inspiration board from (where else?) snippet & ink.























Our venue has a lot of stone (a huge stone fireplace in the center of the room) so I'm definitely drawn to this board. It even incorporates those Moravian-style stars! I think it might be possible to incorporate some succulents into a feel like this too. What do you think?

So, Pennsylvania isn't blessed with the lush tropical climate in which bougainvillea grows. Am I crazy for thinking maybe, just maybe I might be able to find and drape a few somewhere for our wedding? And then there's got to be a way to make a garland like this real bougainvillea lei but instead out of tissue paper to hang from the ceiling beams:















{ image from alohakauai }

or use poms in similar colors:


















{ image from PomLove on etsy }

And then there's always the pom napkin rings too:
















{ image from Martha Stewart }

Or would that be too much pom? Don't want to make it too fluffy...

Also, if we go with this, I don't want it to be too matchy-matchy. Yes, I love that color, but I don't want to have "wedding colors" per say.

So, how do you think that will look with our venue?





























{ images from our venue website }

Too much fluff with all the poms? Also, how do we incorporate succulents? Would it be too much stuff hanging from the ceiling to use the moravian stars too?


Edit 6.1: Of course after I saw this after I did this post, but how perfect is this Bougainvillea napkin ring!










{ image from Amy Nichols photo by Lisa Lefkowitz }


Also, I found these pretty flower twinkle lights on Everyday Beauty via Twig & Thistle
and tried to photoshop them to be more of a bougainvillea color.

Heavenly Lantern Festival - Taipei

How beautiful would this be instead of releasing doves or butterflies? I just wish I could think of an environmentally friendly way to do it...


{ Thanks Gangsta Bride! }

So, according to wikipedia: "Sky lanterns (sky candles) are airborne paper lanterns traditionally found in East Asian cultures. They are constructed from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material. When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, thus lowering its density causing the lantern to rise into the air. The Sky Lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight, after which the lantern floats back to the ground. They can achieve quite a height and launching them in strong winds is not recommended."


















{ image from wikipedia }

And of course, for a mere 195 british pounds (yikes!), skylanterns.com has a wedding package for an assortment of lanterns. Their front page has a bride and groom holding dove-shaped lanterns...kinda made me gag a bit.

Either way, I think it's beautiful and if there could be some biodegradable version of these that didn't cost a fortune it would be such a memorable send-off! That's if you don't live in the state of California or anywhere else where there is a threat of wildfires...

the cake

I took a trip to the mall to look for dresses for graduation/our engagement shoot and I wandered into the Pottery Barn store I used to work at. I didn't intend on buying anything but after looking around the store for quite some time, I saw this:










{ cake stand from Pottery Barn, photo by me }

Now, before blogging entered my life, I didn't feel like I had any need for a cake stand. Until, that is, I saw the beautiful variety of cake stands that exist and how they can be so beautifully displayed at a wedding reception. So, while I'm not 100% sure that this cake stand will be used for our wedding, I can absolutely envision myself making a cake like the one below and have it setting out on the table for Mr. after school one day.
















{ Orange Layer Cake from Blue Orchid Designs }

Wow, when did I become Suzy Homemaker?

On the topic of cakes...Our friend Matt went to the Culinary Institute of America and is now busy rocking his culinary talent in NYC. He has agreed to do our wedding cake! [insert excited girly laugh] I just couldn't imagine a perfectly fondant-ed, tirelessly decorated cake for my wedding, so when I saw the cake below, it was love at first sight:















{ image from snippet & ink, cake by Fleur de Lisa }

And then the inspiration just started flowing in. Check out all these beautiful cakes and their beautiful decorations.

I love the flowers on this one and the white on white.



























{ image from classic bride }

Flower petals...















{ image from and photo by the incomparable Anna Kuperberg }

Love love love the gardenias!!!

















{ image from Style Me Pretty }













{ image from Martha Stewart via snippet & ink }

How tasty does this mint chocolate chip cake look!!















{ image from a small town bride }

Yum!

wedding shoe tradition

So, Mr. wanted me to post about shoes today. Not sure I'm at the shoe-buying stage yet in planning (GASP, but isn't that the first thing a girl wants to do? buy shoes? yeah, not me), so instead I decided to post about a really cute tradition that I read about on Blue Orchid Designs blog.

I have already shared that I will absolutely not be hurling my beautiful bouquet across the room and really would rather not isolate all the single ladies (all the single ladies...now put your hands up) in an attempt to catch said bouquet. Instead, there's a Turkish wedding tradition that says to have all your single female friends sign the soles of your wedding shoes. It is said that the name which has worn away the most by the end of the night is the next woman to get married. An autograph session would totally would be a fun part of the getting ready process or even at a bridal shower, no?

So, tossing the bouquet: out. Turkish John Hancocks: in. Flowers are safe, single ladies still find out who's next, and I have more of an excuse to dance like I've got a degree in it at our reception (not that I needed one)...everyone is happy.

Alright, maybe I have started thinking about shoes. I love these if they came in a blue. Maybe by next summer :)





















{ shoes from J.Crew }

turtle love committee love!

I'm not the only one who thinks my ring is great, Turtle Love Committee (see my recent post featuring their lovely rings) has a feature called "Cool Rings in Real Life" and they decided to feature MOI! Go check it out!


















How cool! Thanks for my first shout out Adrianne!

monogram inspiration

One of the most inspirational blog posts for me so far has been How to Design Vintage Monograms by Vintage Glam Weddings. So today, my official first day that I am absolutely 100% completely and totally done with school, what do I do? Go back to Lehigh and check out a book on monograms. Guess I just can't get away from the place.

But oh.em.gee. I found the coolest book I have ever seen.






















The Alphabet of Monograms by Henry Lillie. Oh, can't find it on Amazon? Hmm, maybe that's because ISBN numbers weren't around in 1865. How cool was it to pull that book out of the stacks and open up the front cover to find:














Yup, 1885. Pretty neat I think. Anyway, on to the fun stuff.

While it would have been way too nice of Mr. Lillie to think of us back in the 1800's and make us an awesome monogram, no such luck. There were, however, CK and CKJ (would work beautifully if he would take my last name :)).

Here are a couple pages from the book: A, C, and M.
























{ all images taken from
Alphabet of Monograms by me }










If you want me to check if your initials are in here, let me know! I'd be happy to look.