Where The Farm Meets the Forest- Tablescapes

I love reading older blog posts from the wedding blogs that were started over a year ago. I was not even planning a wedding 6 months ago. So now I have a lot of wonderful catching up to do.
I really like what jsj is doing. A few months ago she posted about a flower shop in Boston- Winston Flowers. Simply gorgeous, creative designs.

On a much more recent note: Housemartin is amazing. This blog is so inspiring. It is the place to go for all things floral (with a nice dash of home design thrown in for fun). This week he shows off with these beauties. From the post, "I did a grouping of 6 cubes running down the table. Each cube has a leaf wrapped inside, tufts of moss, and billy buttons - very architectural - maybe echoing a little cluster of undergrowth in the woods."

Bestill My Heart

I love Amy Ross' work. She has a new print available across the ocean at the Keep Calm Gallery. I added her online portfolio to my registry awhile back. What a wonderful gift for us newlyweds!

Dress Mess... All Cleaned Up

Most planning (after the guest list) has been relatively simple. So much of the details are taken care of by Blue Hill at Stone Barns. This part is truly a wedding dream come true. Then there is the search for my dress. So many brides blogging online have had an easy time of it. I didn't.

I did the bridal salon thing at Pronovias trying on fabulous Manuel Mota dresses. They were all dreamy, I just did not feel like me and did feel exactly like an anonymous bride. These also started at $3,000. I wasn't prepared for this.

Then I figured if I was going to spend thousands of dollars, why not go to Barney's and buy a great gown. Those started at $5000.

At this point I decided to go with just the opposite. Something affordable. I spoke with Chrissy at Wai-ching out of Seattle (super nice). I ended up not committing because the dress would all be made via mail. She has great dresses though.

Then I found a dress at BCBG, bought it. Took it to my fabulous seamstress to possibly add a train. I just did not feel bridal enough, and THEN it came out in a variety of colors and lengths. This made it even harder to commit to. I was in hell and everyone I knew thought I was flakey. A few days ago, A $10,000 Wedding blogged about this dress- comments came from anotherbride-to-be who also bought the dress with similar sentiments (so I felt a little better...). (Picture from bcbg.com)

At this point, I needed serious help. I dragged a good friend, Stacey, through all of this. She still came through and went to what she referred to as "The Mothership". We went to Vera Wang. I bought my dress... love it... and I am finally comitted. (pics below not my dress but from verawang.com)

Little Ladies

We have a flower girl and a ring bearer- both are young ladies. The search for dresses for them has been daunting. They live in two different cities on the West Coast, which does not make it any easier.

What is available for these young ones in bridal fashion is... can I say, EWWW. The styles most available are of two breeds: fairy princess or young hussy bride.

I came across a pretty old post on Something Old, Something New for Smitherman & Barnwell. What fabulous dresses. Some are over the top, but most are quite beautiful and stylish for a little lady.

Our Photographer, Part 2

We were eloping, and then we were having a wedding, and then it was moved to September. Through it all our photographer, Sarah Sloboda, weathered the storm with us.

I have been taking ceramics at Choplet Ceramics Studio for about 2 years now. One day in February, as I was putting away my work, I saw another member putting her clay away. The name on her bag of clay read, "Sarah Sloboda". I asked if she was Sarah Sloboda the photographer- she said yes, and that was that. Our fate was sealed.


This photo was taken by Sarah Sloboda- please ask her if you can use it.

Please sir... can I have some more?

Shoes, glorious shoes.

All of these are great shoes to hide (or not) under your fabulous dress.

Above: left to right, top to bottom... Guiseppe Zanotti, Gucci, Manolo Blahnik, Valentino. All available at Bergdorf's.

IF... I Were Having a Beach Wedding

I would think about having an eco-sphere at the dining tables. Not only are they living fine art, they are clean and simple and would not add clutter to composite centerpieces. They are a little pricey, but compared to floral centerpieces, they are a steal AND they would double as special gifts for the bridal party. The smallest start at $75 and head up to $300+ and last for 4 or more years. Many places carry them, but you can order direct here.

images from eco-spere.com

Our Photographer, Part 1

AC and I were once eloping. We were going to cross the East River and head to Central Park with Molly. Afterwards, we were planning to walk to the Time Warner Center for dinner at Per Se.

I did want to have fabulous announcements made with a book of photos and send them to everyone possible. I remembered my friend Mike's wedding pictures were amazing and captured everything without it seeming contrived- he used Sarah Sloboda. I emailed her and later called her to work out the details. We talked for 2 hours! It was a good sign in my book.

We then decided to have a wedding- with less than 9 months to plan!

I informed Sarah of our ...uhhh... change in plans. She rolled with it. We love her work- check out her website. The picture below is one of hers- please ask her if you can use it.

Ici

We had dinner in our neighborhood at Ici last night. They do an excellent job of using fresh and local food- I am LOVING this trend take hold. We met up a couple of friends who are getting married in less than a month on May 3rd- hearing their plans, it sounds like it will be a ton of fun.

Ici has a STUNNING private dining room upstairs. It would be a fabulous place to host a rehearsal dinner or host your reception for a small wedding.

Wedding Dress- My constant dilemma

I have dress issues. I do not want to spend more than 1K on my dress- it is for one day, and really... how often do I have the opportunity to wear a fabulous long gown? Never. SO, I have one in hand, but am keeping my options open.

On a related tangent, this month's Domino Magazine is a fabulous read. Thumbing through the "Outfit to Room" article I saw this Phillip Lim dress. AC's friends are getting married at The Foundry in July- the bride is wearing a long white dress she bought at the Phillip Lim store in SoHo, a fabulous find.

You can see the rest of the pics from Domino here.

The Weather Outside is Delightful!

I know it is spring, but thinking so much about the middle of September makes me think of how similar this weather is to Fall (minus the anticipation of being able to shed all coats). AC and I try to go apple picking every Fall. Our favorite place to pick is Breezy Hill Orchard (first discovered with my friend Anna). The owner of this fabulous place, that makes the best cider- hands down AND allows my dog to run around like a mad-woman, is Elizabeth Ryan. She was more than happy to arrange for a few green varieties to be a part of our favors in September. Green apples, Green (the eco kind) favors.

For a Bold Bride

I tried out the Manolo Blahnik Sedarby heels (in teal) for my wedding shoes. It is a LONG story, but they did not work out. But they have been on my mind- new fabrics have come out this spring.

I love coming across little things in my everyday that seem so similar to (sometimes) luxury items you cannot own. I pass this tree everday on walks with Molly. These MB's available at Bergdorf's now, they could work for the right bride.

Rings on Your Fingers

We are trying to stay local and utilize the amazing variety of independent businesses in Brooklyn, NYC, and the Hudson Valley for the wedding. We recently went wedding band shopping at The Clay Pot in Park Slope. They had such an amazing selection of handmade jewelry. They can also tell you if the artist uses recycled metals.
AC had an "Ahh" moment with a Marian Maurier band he tried on.

Above (left to right, top to bottom): Maureen Maurier, Yasuko Azuma, Messina, Todd Reed, Scholdt Design, Anne Sportum- all can be found at The Clay Pot
images from The Clay Pot

Save the Dates

Our Save the Dates went out a few weeks ago. I know I wanted them to be letterpressed, but all of the great letterpress studios I knew of (Greenwich Letterpress, Sesame Letterpress) were a little out of our price range.

So I rolled up my sleeves, used copyright free images, and a free font and designed them myself. Don't laugh; I did it in Microsoft Word. Being a science-medicine girl, I never really needed Adobe other than for PDF health alerts. No worries, I am doing the invites in Illustrator.

The back was blind letterpressed- I wanted to evoke the simple and fresh feel of the wedding, but hint at the fun elements that could be counted on. We had them printed at an incredible letterpress printshop in Brooklyn, Coeur Noir.

Where the Farm Meets the Forest

It seems every other couple is moved by the color green for their weddings now. It is a lush color that reminds me of ferns and grass. Two pictures that inspire. One taken on a hike upstate the other on one of our vacations in Vanuatu.

Molly

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

AC and I have lived in NYC together now for 8 years. Most of this time we have been lucky enough to own a car. We take trips galore up to the Hudson Valley and the Catskills for day hikes, long weekends, and fresh air- our dog Molly loves it too.

We love good food. We had eaten at Blue Hill in the city and really liked what chef Dan Barber was all about; sustainable, local food.

We looked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for these 2 reasons in particular. Our first visit there was on a very cold Saturday. The sheep were kept in a shelter so they could have access to water that wouldn't freeze. We gave them a little visit and finalized our decision to have our wedding here.

Starting This

I am starting this SO late in the game, but I feel drawn towards doing it. We, AC and I, have the date set at September 12th, 2008, less than 6 months away. I prefer NOT to be a "knottie" (no offense of course, just not for me- and for those who do not know, it is a profiler on "the Knot" website). I simply need to organize and streamline a few thoughts.