SL: Old/blue, borrowed and new?

What does everyone think of the "old, new, borrowed, blue" tradition? Silly and outdated or necessary for wedding day? I've been thinking about my outfit- I definitely have many new things and plan to borrow a bracelet. Is it ok to have my old and blue in the same item? Behold, a fabulous hanky with my maiden name initial embroidered on it in blue! Was my grandmother's-I plan to hold it with my flowers.
Has everyone else done this tradition? Important or not?

Samantha's shoes: ordered!

Well friends...I have shoes!! Finally, I've made the decision and these make the final cut (provided that they fit):

RSVP, Ivana for $89 with free shipping from Zappos.com! I'm hoping that they come just in time for my first dress fitting next Friday July 31st!

V: Forget the wedding, I'm going to Italy!

It seems many folks are choosing to postpone a honeymoon or opt for a smaller mini-moon these days. 

But wow. Mr. B just booked our trip through a travel agent our photographer recommended, and it is going to be OFF THE CHAIN.

Besides the fact that it is every man's dream to take an extended vacation to New Zealand, there was never much doubt that we'd definitely honeymoon in Italy. Florence specifically, where Mr. B spent three years of high school. I need to visit this town to understand that time in his life, and what better time than after I've locked up our relationship and thrown away the key? 

First stop is naturally Florence, to check out the bars Mr. B was regularing at the tender age of 15.

Next stop will be Venice, which would normally hold less interest for Mr. B (some grumbling about all the freaking tourists), however we will just happen to be in Italy during the Biennale.

THE BIENNALE. The historic, prestigious, famed, international art show that only occurs every other year. A dream of mine to attend for ages since studying as an art history major. 

No joke: we will be staying in a Best Western. It just happens to be a 15th century monastery.

We will see awesome art!

Final stop will be Lake Como. A place new to both of us. Our hotel is RIGHT ON THE WATER and there is a chance we will run into George Clooney. Good thing we will have already thrown away that key. . .

The economy being down right now is actually really working in our favor, considering the amazing deals we got on all 4 star hotels. Sabine, the German-accented travel agent has a terrible website, but is the nicest person in the world and really hooked us up. CANT WAIT. ALMOST MORE EXCITED ABOUT THIS THAN THE WEDDING.

SL: We have rings!!

Hey friends- I have a wedding band- I'm really getting married! On Friday, Mr. Livalittle and I went to Ben Bridge jeweler in the Ala Moana Shopping Center to purchase this gorgeous wedding band- I'm very excited. It is a perfect match to my engagement ring, so I think that it will look great!

We also purchased a ring for him, which is both white and yellow gold with a "satin" finish, which means that the metal has a brushed appearance and isn't super shiny . This will be perfect for Brad as it matches his yellow gold academy ring, but will also coordinate with mine. It's a pretty close (but not exact) match to this:

Exciting!

V: Guest Attire

Who doesn't hate showing up under- or over-dressed to a party? In that respect, I guess I appreciate the 'Black tie preferred' or 'Pack your bathing suit' requests (though I'd hate to burden someone to run out and rent a tux just to attend a party in my honor).

 

But this is a new one. A wedding featured in Brooklyn Bride today asked guest to specifically wear white (see above).

I can't decided whether this is really cute, fun and makes picking out an outfit easy; or if this results in an undue burden on guests.

Personally, I'm not a fan of folks wearing black to weddings. What are you going to, a funeral? Since we're having a fun, casual wedding, would it be wrong to add "Skip the black and don something vibrant" to the info card of the invite? Any suggestions for a cute way to word this? 

V: New jewelry plan

Several folks have managed to convince me to keep the neckline area of my dress simple. In other words, I have been dissuaded from going to there.

So in light of that, plus the fact I may have blown past my veil budget, I've decided to wear the jewels I already own. 

See: Single pearl necklace worn to try on my gown, a present from Mr. B. Perfectly simple and meaningful. [Apologies for the dark picture]

Though I can't help look around, you know, for special goodies. 

This JCrew bracelet is pretty divine, though I would really prefer earrings made of the pearl clasp on the end. 

You could reason that those are are earrings I could wear again and again. They might even be able to be classified as a non-wedding purchase . . . right?

SL: Get Out of My Head, Knot.com!!!

According to http://www.theknot.com/, I have 89 things left on my to do list before the wedding and 66 days to do them. This means that in order to stay on track, I will have to do an average of 1.348 wedding related tasks per day, some of which require hours of time and most of which require significant moolah. Oh knot.com, you are a cruel mistress!

I feel like a slave to the checklist- I hate it but I keep going back. It's like an abusive relationship. The knot.com has begun to infiltrate every aspect of my life- I search the site at work, at home, in my sleep....ok, maybe not in my sleep. But seriously, I feel like it is insidiously working its way into my brain and is taking over!! Sadly, I have it open in another tab right now. I better get back to my checklist.

Signing off,

Samantha Livalittle

V: Second Day Dress

I am a huge fan of Scarlett O'Hara. Not only because she tromped around my glorious southern town, but also for her incredible feistiness, self-preservation and determination to make it [aka, we may have been separated at birth]. And if she had a fabulous Second Day Dress for a pre-honeymoon going away brunch with the family, by golly, so should I!

Though I may have been banned from hoop skirts by one Mr. B, I found that the Wedding Suit would substitute quite nicely. Its seems brides everywhere are donning it to leave the reception, or for a simple courthouse wedding. I also hear Carrie wore one.

So, this is it, people. Found & purchased from Etsy seller CraftyCrowVintage yesterday for the pittance of $38. 

Yes, $38, for a cream brocade suite from the 1960s. Rock on.

$38!!! I wish numbers could be written in ALL CAPS.

Samantha's thought of the day: Copy Victory

Ok, so Victory and Mr. Birdsbee had some pretty ridiculously hot engagement photos, right? They are so wonderful that they have inspired me to get some photos done as well! Although it's totally cliche, we're having pictures taken on Lanikai beach this Sunday.
I think that we'll have a few pictures taken by the boats, outrigger canoes and on the stone beach access stairs for some interest. I don't just want the same old same old, but then again, we do live in Hawaii and this is definitely our best backdrop!

V: Fill up that address book!

Need to get mailing addresses from your wayward friends? Easy, thanks to Google Docs' Forms!

Step 1: Log in to Google Docs and create a new form. [You are the owner, but you can set it s your fiance/mother/etc is an editor or viewer of the document]

Step 2: You will see an Excel like spreadsheet. On the drop down menu "Form," select "Edit form". You will get the screen below. Add questions and headers [you can even make multiple choice responses!].

Step 3: Choose a "Theme" for the design of what your friends will see. Ours is Grey.

Step 4: Send it out via email, either by pasting in a URL to an email or by using the Share feature on the Form doc.

Step 5: Your results are collected in an easy to manage spreadsheet. Ahh, technology is bliss.

Samantha's thought of the day: Beautiful Shoes for Under $100!

So remember when I was trying to decide between these two pairs of shoes? The gorgeous pink Badgley Mischka Carlo pumps in pink or the oh-so-tempting Maria Lopez shoes in peach?

Well, I decided that $300 for a pair of shoes is just not necessary...so I started to look at Zappos and Like.com and there are some fantastic options for under $100!! Nina shoes, rsvp, Me Too and Johnathan Kayne have some very fun choices.

So those Badgley Mischka pumps were beautiful, right?

Check out these, very similar shoes by rsvp, which come in champagne, pure white and black for $89! An extra $200 could go a very long way!
Or what about these killer red shoes by Nina, also for $89? Ooooh, these are tempting!

Or what about these Caparros shoes, called "Greece" for $79...very sweet and would be great for a daytime outdoor wedding, I think.

Or if you wanted something blue in your shoes? Check out these Navy ones by rsvp- also under $100!
Classic white shoes by rsvp:

White and be-jeweled:

Ok and these aren't appropriate for a wedding dress, but I really want them!

Check out Zappos, particularly rsvp brand!!

V: End the colored shoe trend

True, I myself have lusted after some beautiful yellow wedding shoes [and even ordered them]. But I'm done. The perfect yellow shoes do not exist.

east side bride already deemed it ok to go with a black wedding shoe [for Practicality's sake]. But I've already got black pumps and I would love to add to my little collection.

Enter: Nina Paladin in Slate. Totally affordable. Totally wearable post-wedding.

So, could this be it??

Interactive Tablescape!

I have made an exciting discovery!! Check it out...it's a "Set Your Table" interactive program, where you can play with colors and designs to see what will work for your "tablescape." It's designed to help make registry decisions...to see what china, flatware, glassware and chargers will look good together, but it could also help with color decisions for your reception! Interesting!
Check out my creations:

Fun, modern and French here
Traditional choices here.

I'm still trying to envision our tablescape, so I'm hoping this tool will help!

To blush or not to blush?

That is the question. So ladies, quick poll. What do you think about a blusher? Old fashioned in a fabulous way or snow monster-y?

These days I'm finding that none of my friends are interested in using a blusher, but I think that it can be a beautiful look, provided that the veil is made with high quality tulle or silk and is very transparent.

I'm not a fan of the "I threw a blanket on my head" look, shown below, although she does look rather fairy-like and pretty in her diaphanous garb.
Check out this black veil! Wow, it actually works on her!

(I picked up the first and third pictures from Practical Pinay Bride.)

Fabulous yellow stuff!

Victory! Check out these menu cards and table accesssories! Not only do they have a bird on them, but they come in mimosa! Could it be more exciting?

Below is the table card:

And the menu card:



And the table number!

I found these at Magic Wand Stationery- these are called Whimsy Birds!

Veil: Finalized after complete 180

I know, right? An elbow length, double layer, ribbon edged, pouffy-topped veil?

Yep.

This is a looong way from the birdcage, and the cathedral length lattice lace number. But it's going to be awesome. See above picture [single layer version, sample of my dress].

And the BEST part? The reason I can rationalize going so very over budget? It's actually two pieces in one. 

Famed Priscilla of Boston sales lady Ellen [who was actually in a nightmare of mine last night, no joke] was redeemed when she showed me how to turn the VEIL into a WRAP. Whoa! Tuck the comb into the back of the dress and wrap it around your shoulders. Secure with an "heirloom pin" [words straight from the southern grand dame's lips]. Seriously, it looks incredible. But I can't find any images of others who have attempted this. So stay tuned! Til October.

Vacation wedding bananza!

It's been FOREVER since I've written! Was off in Kauai, chilling with 14 of my family members and el fiance. It was great for Mr. Livalittle to get to know our crew, which included my parents, two brothers, two sister-in-laws, niece, uncle, uncle's girlfriend, uncle's girlfriend's daughter, cousin, cousin's husband, cousin's son, and aunt.

We took the opportunity of togetherness to do some serious wedding planning! First of all, fiance and I finished our counseling with my Aunt, who will be co-officiating at our ceremony. Hallelujah, praise the lord! We talked about all sorts of interesting marital and wedding-related issues, including the need to do wills, advanced directives and life insurance. Seems scary, but it is a practical issue of getting married and being bonded to another person legally!

Secondly, Mr. L and I have booked our honeymoon! We will be flying to Calgary the day after the wedding and will spend time in the Banff and Lake Louise area at Mount Engadine Lodge and Lake Moraine Lodge. Will be gorgeous I think! I've heard rave reviews of both! We're excited to be in a quiet and serene part of the world. We also have never experienced cold weather together (literally, never. We've always been in 65 F or above) so it will be cozy.

We also addressed wedding invitations. OMG is that a pain. Addressing everything correctly with the right titles, honorifics, addresses and handwriting is not easy! It is fun, however, to think that it's all getting more real. I used the stamps available at the post office:

We discussed music and are still trying to find a father-daughter song! Any good suggestions? We talked about "In My Life" by the Beatles and "You are the Sunshine of my Life." Dad thought that the former is a little too sad and hippy and the latter is a little too 70s. Thoughts?

Shoes: back to the drawing board

Remember these? The prettiest shoes in the world? Too high [aka I'm a 3.5" high heel wimp]. Back to square one. Options are open, from wearing shoes I already own, to continuing the hunt for something rad.

Enter Option:

Nina Shoes now allows you to build your own shoe. We're talking custom heel heights and an incredibly wide range of color options. And they come in canary luster yellow satin [hopefully the color looks better in person?].

The question is: does anyone have experience with Nina Shoes? Comfortable? Quality?

Um, thank you Martha Stewart's Bride's Guide blog. Normally, you shame me in my manners [I'm going to address envelopes to Mr. Dean and Mrs. Christine Birdson and there is nothing you can do about it.] or feature brilliant DIY weddings that still end up costing seven times what ours will be. But this is a serious lead.