Samantha's Bridal Shower Bonanza!!

Ok, ladies. Finally! I'm ready to post about my bridal shower. Oh, what a wonderful bridal shower it was! I woke up early on Saturday morning and went to my first event of the day- a hair trial with the lovely Meg Ford, traveling hair stylist based out of Reston, VA. Laurie, one of my lovely maids, came with me- it was so fun to be pampered while chatting with these two wonderful women.

We returned to the house to begin the festivities for the "English Tea" themed shower, hosted by my lovely sister-in-law Abigail. She was the hostest with the mostest, thinking of every last detail, including gorgeous favors of pretty tea cups, bags of tea and biscotti. The spread was fantastic- tea sandwiches, fruit skewers, pesto crostini, chicken mango skewers and my favorite, lemon curd cupcakes from Lavender Moon cupcakery in Alexandria, VA! Oh, my people know me well.

Various relatives, future in-laws, bridesmaids and neighbors began to arrive as we all chit-chatted and milled around the champagne punch bowl. See this recipe for Orange Sherbert Champagne Punch- my favorite! Then came time for the present opening- who doesn't love presents? I must say though, I've never been the center of attention in that way- by the end of the day, I was exhausted, but ready for the next step!

We left Great Falls for downtown Washington, DC, where we had a fantasmo dinner at Jaleo's spanish tapas bar. We ordered a few glasses of sangria, ate yummy food and caught up with each other while getting excited for the night ahead.

After dinner, we headed to Allison's fantastic apartment, which was decked from ceiling to floor in 80s decor! Again, my people know me so well! So we broke out the champagne, some of the girls tried on their dresses and then it was time to get decked out in 80s gear. There was a lot of spandex.

After the getting ready fest, they all bestowed their lingerie gifts upon me. Oh, what fun! Everything received was very pretty, but I was particularly and especially amused by an interesting gift for Brad, inspired by The Full Monty. Thanks, Heidi's bf!

After the lingerie opening, copious pictures and more celebratory champagne drinking, we were off to DC! That's where I'll end my tale...oh, what a night!

SL: Crowning Glory!

Before my bridal shower last Saturday August 1st, I had the pleasure of working with Meg Ford, who does wedding hair on-site. She will be able to come to me and my bridesmaids on wedding day to do any kind of style. I asked for half-up, half-down with cascading curls. She was so easy to work with, very professional and I think she did a great job! Will look great with my whole look, I think!

Hair!!

Hello friends!

As is evident by my last post, I've been in a wedding rut (redding what?). To distract me from the minutae of collecting addresses and pretending I have nice handwriting while addressing the aforementioned save-the-dates, I have turned my attention to hair. I made a rather large to-do list by month in preparation for the wedding and there at the bottom of May is "find wedding hair guru." Excellent...this is fun, THIS is something I can get excited about!

Hair, in terms of wedding beauty, is very important. My mother has always said that a person's hair is their "crowning glory," which, to me, evokes images of royals and angels with fantastically voluminous locks. Ah, yes: heavenly princess hair- sounds about right.

So in order to acheive heavenly princess hair, I assume that I will have to use massive amounts of hairspray and employ the talents of some hair magician floating around DC or Northern Virginia. Due to the logistics of wedding day, I will not be able to go to a salon and will therefore need the person to come to me. I have looked at theknot.com and have found a few mobile hairdressers, but don't know where else to look for someone who will be willing to travel. Thoughts on this?

I'm definitely wanting long, wavy hair that is half-up and soft in the front. I plan to do a trial run with the hair person when I go to DC in July, so I'm hoping that the first try works, since hair trails are normally between $60-$100!

If all else fails, does anyone know of a ridiculously fantastic hairspray so that I can do it myself? Thanks bloggers!!

Makeover!

So I'm sort of obsessed with makeovers. Truly, madly, deeply. Whether it's hair, makeup, body, mind, soul- I LOVE the makeover show, movie or what have you. So imagine my glee when I discovered http://www.taaz.com/, the ultimate makeover website!

I am planning to use this website to help prepare for my wedding- what kind of hairstyle do I want? What shade of lipstick or gloss? Shade of eyeshadow? Should I get highlights? How about lowlights? There are lots of other fun things to try like fake eyelashes, colored contacts and lip-plumping. The plumping made me look like a total crazy lady. Anyway, the list goes on. PLUS, not only can you try different shades, but they are actually linked to real makeup products! Amazing.

Upon hearing about the site (from my dad of all people), I had tons of fun experimenting with different hairstyles, eye colors and hair colors. The technology is actually pretty good and you can adjust everything exactly to the picture you upload. It is super fun to see! Below I have posted pictures of me in different iterations:

Barbie Samantha
Beach Bum Samantha

Glamourous Samantha

Alternative Samantha

And finally, if Mr. L and I have a little Livalittle, this is what I think she would grow up to look like- me, with his coloring:

Has anyone used the site? Thoughts?

Hair-spiration

Ok, so wedding hair is really important, right? I hate to admit it, but I'm the kind of girl who FREAKS OUT after a bad hair cut- it can put me in a funk for weeks and sometimes months. I wish I was exaggerating. I guess it's just that my hair is part of my identity-- it has pretty much always been long and blond (and on a good day, voluminous).

So when it comes to a wedding look, I am looking for a hairstyle that is glamorous, romantic, sexy and soft. No sleek hairdos for me. I also definitely want some cascading action (perhaps to match my cascading bouquet?). Additionally, I would like to wear a very long, single layer veil, which of course, effects the hair look. After trolling the internet, here is what I've found:

Look #1: The hairstyle above is lovely- she has volume at the crown, romantic curls and yet it doesn't look messy. Grade: A

Style #2: Here is another similar look- lots of height at the crown and curliness everywhere. It might be too much height for me though- don't want to be looking like the Bride of Frankentein! Grade: B-

Style #3: Above-- Elizabeth Hurley. Notice the cascading hairstyle, softened by bangs and a tiara and topped off with a long veil. A nice look, but I'm not sure if I want to return to bangs. That was a hard time for me, haha. Grade: A-

Style #4: Her golden blond hair is so beautiful and natural looking. Frankly, this would be a more practical hairstyle for me, since my hair may not hold tighter curls for an entire day. It may not be as exciting or glamorous, but it certainly is romantic and pretty. Grade: A-

Style #5: Ding, ding, ding! Maybe it's just because I think James King is really pretty or maybe it's because her bouquet is coral (my fave color) or maybe it's because she looks so darned happy, but I'm liking this hairstyle- a lot. Long & lovely curls? Check. Long veil? Check. Vintage touch with the glam sideswept hair in front? Check. Grade: A

What do you all think? Do you agree? Which number is best?

Taking a page out of this (Note)Book

Oh man, it's a good night over here on in the Bird nest. Mr. B is out on his weekly business trip and I'm indulging in a rare moment of woman movie weakness. Now showing: the sappiest, most macdaddy romantic movie of ALL TIME. Yep, you guessed it, it’s the Notebook. *prolific bawling ensues*

Not only is this movie incredibly romantic, it’s also stunningly beautiful. Set in the golden era of the late 1940s, the clothes, the make-up, the sets are amazing. Mad Men good.

And check out this incredible hair inspiration:

This image from an elegant city hall wedding captures the beautiful up-do better from behind.

And this:

That's it, my classy wedding hair look!