FlowerBOMB!

When it came time to choose my wedding day scent, there wasn't a question in my mind! I've been wearing the same perfume everyday for over five years and I never get sick of it! I totally feel a connection to this scent.  My fiance associates it with me, and I even have a sweet little story to go with it! Who's the lucky winner, you ask?  It's Flowerbomb, by Viktor & Rolf! Flowerbomb's web site describes the fragrance as a floral explosion that has the power to make everything seem more positive; it's a mixture of Sambac Jasmine, Centifolia Rose, Cattleya Orchid, and Ballerina Freesia bloom on a base of Patchouli. 

Photo source

So, back to my story... Going back in time, about five and a half years ago, I celebrated my sixteenth birthday in New York City because of a school journalism trip to Columbia.  It was my second time to the city, but I still remember feeling totally in awe of how glamorous it felt compared to home.  I was pretty style-oblivious at the time, completely unaware of designers and such.  But I loved wandering around in all the fancy stores on Fifth Avenue with my friends!  On my birthday, my friend Kristen and I got our makeup done at the Nars counter inside Saks Fifth Avenue and everyone there was so friendly to us. They passed around the fact that it was my sixteenth birthday to the other people working in the store.  Well that night happened to be the premiere party for Flowerbomb, which was exclusive to Saks at the time.  The people from the perfume counter came over and gave me a free 1 ounce bottle of Flowerbomb, wished me a happy birthday, and told me I should come back and get my makeup done again for free before our Broadway show the next night! I was pretty naive at the time, and I just remember heading back to our hotel that night thinking, 'The people at Saks Fifth Avenue are the nicest people in the world!' Anyway, it was a total Breakfast at Tiffany's moment for me that I've never forgotten.

Blowing out my candle on my 16th birthday

In years since, I've more than paid Viktor & Rolf (and Saks) back with my addiction to buying bottles of Flowerbomb!  Here's a ring shot I took of my engagement ring with my favorite bottle of perfume:

A few weeks ago I noticed that my current bottle of perfume was getting low, and I guess Mr. Turtle passed that info along to my dad.  So my dad surprised me with a big 3.4 ounce bottle as a wedding present! I was so excited! Wasn't that sweet of him? :)

In the grand scheme of our wedding, which perfume I'm going to wear is such a minor detail.  Yet it is so important to me to have stories behind the little details.  Which perfume are you planning to wear on your wedding day?  Why'd you choose it?  Does it have a story?

Scrumdiddlyumptious?

Sure, candy buffets have become a pretty big trend at weddings. But are they overrated? Definitely not! Come on, who didn't dream of getting a golden ticket after watching Willy Wonka as a kid? Everyone loves candy!

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(How fake does that set look now though? Seriously!)

Well, I highly doubt our candy bar will live up to the standard set by Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory, but I predict that it will at least rival the Candyman's shop!

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Putting this thing together has been a true labor of love! My mom has been my creative partner throughout the whole ordeal. I showed her pictures like this:

Photo source: Amorology Weddings

Photo source: The Bride's Cafe

Photo source: Martha Stewart Weddings

...and she started researching bulk candy and collecting jars. Once we had all the jars, I did a little sketch to plan which candies would go best in which jars.

(A little bit has changed since then, but you get the idea!)

Once the candy arrived, we made a trip to the fabric store and bought some fabric and a variety of ribbons to add some style. I made some little labels to tie on to the jars. (Not because our guests don't know what gummi bears are, but because labels make everything cuter!)

My mom bought me a sewing machine for my bridal shower, and I don't know anything about sewing, so we also took the opportunity to get me started on developing some sewing skills. My mom is a great seamstress, so she helped me complete my first ever project: the candy buffet tablecloth!

Anyway, our candy table has definitely surpassed my expectations! I hope our guests like it! I think it should be a lot of fun and a great favor for them to take home to remember our day!

We still have some concerns though, like having the right amount of candy and being afraid that the candy will melt at our outdoor wedding. Who else is doing a candy buffet? (Or maybe a cookie one, or an ice cream one!) Do you guys have any tips to share?

My Second Bridal Shower: Mr. Turtle's Family

After all the fun I had and presents I received at my first bridal shower, it was hard to believe that I had another one to attend on June fifth! FMIL Turtle and Grammy Turtle hosted this one at FMIL & FFIL Turtle's home.  I had such a wonderful time getting to know Mr. Turtle's side of the family and their friends better and felt so blessed by them.

Mr. Turtle joined us for a little bit to introduce me to his family and friends as they entered.

He also helped his mom (shower hostess) to set the tables up and pick up the cake and centerpieces.

The tables looked beautiful! FMIL Turtle and Grammy Turtle shared their fabulous collections of dishes, glassware, and silverware.  FMIL Turtle even surprised me by buying up a few sets of the Pottery Barn napkin rings we're registered for and gifting them to me after the shower! 

One of my favorite parts was the amazingly gorgeous and delicious cake! See all that pink? The stuff that looks like fondant? Well it's actually white chocolate! The aesthetic appeal of fondant, but with the delicious taste of melt in your mouth chocolate! Genius!! (This cake also taught me that I need to practice my cake cutting skills before the wedding. It's harder than it looks!)

I received so many beautiful gifts and had such a wonderful time at both of my bridal showers.

What have your bridal shower experiences been like?  Who hosted your showers?

Something Old Turned Something New: Part 2

Once I'd found Holly Stalder on Etsy, and hired her to make me a shrug out of my mom's wedding dress, we began the process of designing exactly what it would look like. Since the lace details from both my mom's dress and my dress are both ivory, Holly suggested dying the shrug either a light blush pink, or silver, (two of our wedding colors.) And which color do you think I chose? Pink... of course!! Was there really a question? We messaged back and forth for a couple of months, finalizing the design. I absolutely love what she came up with!

I love the texture so much! The different types of lace, the pleat detail, the asymmetry of the design... it's everything I'd hoped for and more!  My shrug definitely adds the uniqueness factor I'm looking for in my wedding day look... especially considering that my dress has turned out to be a pretty popular one among 2009-2010 brides! (Don't bother searching through my archives, you can't remember my dress for a reason! I'm not revealing it until after the wedding, remember? ;) )

I have run across other people who could have created this shrug for me, but I am so happy that I chose to work with Holly.  She has a stylish eye and a sophisticated approach to fashion design.  I wish I could nominate her for Project Runway or something. The least I can do is share this great resource, and highly, highly recommend her to all of you!

What is your favorite wedding day accessory?  Are you too incorporating "something old" into your otherwise "something new" ensemble?

Something Old Turned Something New: Part 1

Growing up, I've always enjoyed looking at the pictures from my parents' sweet little church wedding, which took place over twenty-two years ago in my original hometown of Morgan Hill, California.

Early on in our wedding planning, I realized that although I did not plan to wear my mom's wedding dress, I really wanted to find a way to incorporate it into our day somehow. I've seen a lot of great approaches to doing this, including everything from the bride wrapping her bouquet with lace from her mother's dress to organizing a whole display of family wedding gowns from multiple generations.

Personally, I knew exactly how I wanted to incorporate my mom's dress as soon I ran across Holly Stalder on Etsy.

Holly is a fashion designer out of Portland, Oregon who loves working with salvaged antique fabrics and trims, incorporating these elements into her modern designs.  Once I saw some of the bridal shrugs in her Etsy shop, I contacted her about making one for me, using the lace from my mom's wedding dress.  She was happy to do it and we began talking back and forth about my custom shrug design.  Here are some of her beautiful designs that caught my attention:

All photos courtesy of Holly Stalder's blog and web site

Check out this video, from Holly's blog, in which she shares some details about her design process.

While Holly was working on my shrug, she would send me photos of it in progress, and I would just get so excited about this aspect of my wedding day outfit!  My shrug arrived last week, and I just can't wait to show you how it came out! (Coming up neeeext!!)

Have you been able to incorporate any items from your family members' weddings into your wedding?  I would love to hear some of your neat stories!

My First Bridal Shower: Fun, Friends, and Family

I had such a wonderful time at my first bridal shower!  In my last post, I showed off the beautiful flower arrangements designed my friend and bridesmaid, Julz.  There are so many other cute details that stand out to me when I think back on that afternoon, and none of them would have been possible without my four beautiful bridesmaids:

From left to right: Bridesmaid J-me, MOH Camo, Me, Redhead Bridesmaid, and Bridesmaid Julz 

(Don't I have the prettiest friends ever?)

These four girls set aside so much time to plan my bridal shower in the midst of their already busy lives.  

Redhead Bridesmaid and MOH Camo setting up for the shower (Red and her awesome mother hosted the shower at their home.)

When guests entered, they were directed toward this table and instructed to write a special message of good marriage wishes to me and Mr. Turtle.  My bridesmaids (and hostesses for the day) also set out a pile of envelopes for guests to address to themselves.  This made my task of writing thank you cards a bit easier, since I didn't have to track down addresses and address the envelopes. I thought this was a great idea!

I thought they did such a great job with the tables!

From the delicious food...

to the seat of honor they reserved for me with the cute tag/bow, a pink balloon, and a special crystal champagne glass to hold my pink lemonade!

Another highlight was definitely the dessert table!

The girls planned some great games! For the first one, each guest was handed a fake diamond engagement ring.  Every time you saw a woman with her legs crossed, and you called her out on it, you could take her ring.  The person with the most rings at the end won!  The second game was a quiz about me and my relationship with Mr. Turtle.  My mom won that one.  (I guess that would have been pretty messed up if someone was able to beat her.)  The third game was "Bridal Bingo."  Each guest was handed an empty Bingo card.  They were instructed to fill each box in with a gift from my registry.  As I opened my gifts, they were able to cross off boxes on their Bingo cards.  Whoever got a row filled and called "Bingo!" first won a prize!

Some of the guests filling out their "Bridal Bingo" cards... (My mom is on the left, looking pretty thrilled.)  Since the afternoon felt so crazy, I didn't feel like I got to talk with as many of the guests as I would have liked to.  I love that I have pictures to look back on as proof that they all actually seemed to have a lot of fun!

In an effort to stay organized, MOH Camo sat by my side and wrote down which guest brought which gifts.  (Thanks, girl!) 

When opening the gifts, I felt so overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends and family! It felt like the best birthday party ever, x10! I received everything from our pots and pans, (thanks to Mr. Turtle's mom)...

to a vacuum from Mr. Turtle's grammy...

to this stylish Pottery Barn phone, courtesy of MOH Camo and Bridesmaid J-me.

Some other highlights were a sewing machine and book of family recipes from my mom, a classic pitcher, wine accessories, and glasses from Pottery Barn, Beatles glasses from Target, and many of my beloved Martha Stewart baking items off of our Macy's registry. 

Me with my Ribbon Rehearsal Bouquet lovingly made by Family Friend Sue.  

I went into my bridal shower with absolutely no expectations, in the middle of a busy weekend, and left completely blown away by the love, generosity, and stylishness of my bridesmaids and other friends and family! Thank you, everyone!

Did your bridal shower surpass your expectations? What were some of the highlights for you?