our engagment pictures

Friends. May I present to you, our engagement session:

This one is my personal favorite...it'll get a frame...definitely.

We spent last Saturday in Flagstaff with the incredibly talented Sarah Neal, my fave local photographer (who is unavailable for our wedding day which is a huge bummer). We spent the day meandering around old downtown brick buildings, forging paths through meadows of tall grasses and purple wildflowers, dodging raindrops with the help of a beautifully bright umbrella, and whispering "I love you's" as the entire experience was rather romantic. Sarah was so comfy to be in front of a camera for...such a creative eye, an artistic edge and wonderful company...it was like spending the afternoon with an old friend (but it was also like being in the presence of a celebrity as I'm such a fan of her work...)

The sky in the photo on the left reminds me of an Ed Mell painting (he's my favorite Arizona artist and famous for his renditions of the southwestern sky.)




Sarah told me to clean my nails prior to our session. I did. I swear I did....scrubbed and picture ready. And then Flagstaff happened. And picking wildflowers, and sitting on fluffy pink blankets in the dirt, and well...life happened. :-)

My favorite spot. This field was spectacular! I was so happy here.

There are a few more lil goodies at Sarah Neal's blog!

*Sarah - you are amazing!

dresses by thread

Pretty dresses from Thread where the average cost is around $400!
So glad my sanity is coming back around to the super simple designs again...I found myself getting caught up in Disney dresses for a while there.
(not that there's anything wrong with Disney dresses...it's just not me...that's all...don't be offended)

romantic table tops

Soooooooooooo many elements I love here. My fave three things:
1. the "letters" as the table identifiers
2. clear mason jars...with purdy flowers...yup...love...still
3. the antique lace tablecloths overlying simple beige linen...oh...gawd...enchanting.

via all a twitter

wedding wish wednesday: #11 just the right light

Sarah Neal Photography

This past weekend My Guy and I had our engagement pictures shot in Flagstaff by the lovely and talented Sarah Neal (whom I adore...she has such a creative spirit!). I've been such a true fan of hers right from the wedding planning get-go, it felt like such an honor that she was going to take our photos! Yippeeeee!!!

Saturday started out as a sunshiny morning, but the clouds rolled in just before our session began...and yes...with those clouds came sprinkles of rain. To my delight we took some photos in the drizzle! I LOVE rain and I LOVE cloudy days...so I was all smiles! Plus, we were wading through fields of wildflowers, weaving between big beautiful pine trees, exploring old dirt roads and twirling in big open meadows - it was heavenly! Whereas we had a lot of fun doing it, the cloud cover didn't create ideal "lighting" for photos.

Sarah mentioned that a good thing to "wish for" would be natural light on our wedding day, to capture those magical moments. Photoshop can't create that magic sunshine... it just happens... organically.

So. For the sake of magnificent photos...I wish for the golden rays of the western sky to peak through the clouds and light up our wedding day.

Oh...and I cannot cannot cannot wait to see our shots! Check out Sarah Neal's dazzling website here, and her blog here!

real life: a big sur wedding

Oh how charming! How lovely! Such a beautiful palate, a beautiful location, beautiful couple...yes...they did a wonderful job coordinating this look. My fave detail is the flowerpots with living plants all lined up. And that color scheme I'm liking more and more...orange and aqua...so pretty.

Found at all a twitter

autumn invites

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to plan an autumn wedding. It's my favorite season, and My Guy's favorite season, so it's kindof a pity we couldn't plan our union accordingly. Life sometimes swoops in and decides what is what.

I love the colors of fall, the thick rich shades of colors that are named after food: olive green, pumpkin orange, cranberry crimson, mustard yellow, and chocolate brown. A feast for my eyes!! And not just the colors! Everything is magical when the leaves change and that crispness fills the air. It's the time when my family starts to gather, when our holiday recipes begin to find their way into the kitchen, and the anticipation of the holidays gets me giddy! Granted, fall in Phoenix isn't really "fall" at all - but where I went to college - oh man - it was spectacular.

While browsing the unique wedding invitations at Wedding Paper Divas, I felt myself longing for autumn. Yes. It's the best season.

etsy over tiffany's

Beyond the Rockz

So my mom is always on the lookout for Christmas, Birthday, and ____ (insert any random holiday) presents for her daughters, and our beaus. She loves the thrill of the hunt I think...and get's a huge kick out of finding those gifts that perfectly match our personalities. She's pretty stinkin' good at it.

My baby sister recently turned 21 (yay!) and my parents added to her Tiffany's jewelry collection (she's the baby of the family and for some reason we all tend to shower her with jewels and other fine things...we can't help it...it just feels right). My other sister was quick to remind my mom that the "other" daughters in the family have birthday's coming up and LOVE Tiffany's too...so don't forget when our turn comes around.

It was then I knew something wasn't quite right. Why did I scrunch my face up when my sister assumed I'd want something from Tiffany's? Sure it's a lovely store with beautifully sparkly things, expensive things, things that make girls weak in the knees! Um. Sure, Tiffany's is OK, I guess. But I was quick to interject that there are shops on Etsy that I would honestly prefer over Tiffany's. I would. I really just would.

"What type of jewelry do you like, dear?" my mom asked when I told her I'd rather have "Etsy stuff." (And my mom really does use lovely words like "dear" when referring to us...it's nice.)

Without a moments hesitation...
"Beth Cyr's shop...here let me show you..." and I pulled my laptop up and showed my mom my favorite pieces.... "figured I'd show you mom, just in case..."

She ooooooooed and awwwwwwed. Obviously. Beth makes beautiful things.

Then I showed her the ring at Beyond the Rockz that I visit weekly...it's beyond lovely and someday it will live on my right hand....or in it's new necklace form (which I'm slightly obsessed with). Again....my mom was immediately smitten and gave an extra lil "wow!" when I told her their jewelry was made from recycled materials.

Spent a little while scouting out an assortment of wonderful Etsy shops and found so many things I'd LOVE to decorate myself with. I'd rather own a handcrafted piece of art. It's true.

Who is your fave independent jewelry designer?

Beth Cyr jewelry

Beth Cyr jewelry

ginko leaf ring - elizabeth scott designs

hydrangea cluster necklace - Patrick Irla Jewelry

Silver Leaf - Blonde Chick Studio

wedding wish wednesday #10: keep him in the loop

One Love Photo

I am in love with the sweetest man in the world. He's supportive of my endeavors, embraces my quirks and cherishes my heart. I am absolutely crazy about him and feel like we really are the luckiest to have found each other.

I mention those things because I don't want to "take over" this entire wedding process. I have this blog to posts bits of beauty for MY inspiration, but I don't want to leave my love in dust just because he doesn't fantasize about beautiful wedding cakes or bouquets. It's easy to leave him out, that sounds awful, but it's true. There aren't a whole lot of wedding logistics that he gets "into". And more often that not, I'll ask him what he thinks about something and he'll wink at me and say, "whatever you like" and really mean it!

Flowers? Yea, he doesn't really care. Not that he doesn't care, it's just that...well...flowers are flowers...and all are actually pretty....so in the end it just really doesn't matter.
Centerpieces? Um, again, not all that important in the grand scheme of things.
Cake design? Yea right.
Cake topper? Don't make me giggle.
Stationary design? Nope.
The overall design of the event? Doesn't keep him up at night.

But ask him about food? Oh. He has serious opinions.
Beverages. Yes! Yes! He cares! Local brews please!
Gifts he'll be giving his groomsmen? So very personalized and wonderful!
Invitations? As environmentally friendly as humanly possible.
Bridal party? Wants to take care of our buds as much as financially possible.
Boutonniere? Something with a small pinecone.
First dance? He wants to pick out the tune.
Vows? He wants us to compose our own (which I don't know if I can even handle!)

This is a celebration of our union. I don't, for one minute, want to isolate him and take over this event to be about me the bride. If he makes choices that aren't my favorite, I want to just flow with it!. My wish is that I plan this wedding ALONGSIDE him. That I don't go skipping through the pretty meadows of wedding planning and leave him behind. I am excited to share this journey with him, and I know our relationship will grow during this process.

Oh I just love him!

to engagement party or not?

Our Labor of Love via Once Wed

My sisters approached me a couple weeks ago about an "engagement party."

Did I want one?
Who did I want to invite?
What activities did I want to include?
What kind of food did I have in mind?
They needed addresses...
They needed invitation design ideas...

Whoa.

Ummmm...I don't know. I've never even been to an engagement party. Do I need one? Who would even come? What city should it be in? Sounds as detailed as the wedding itself! My gut reaction was, "no thanks, we don't really need an engagement party."

I would, however, be up for a "farewell" shin dig prior to my departure to the east coast in a month. Nothing fancy. Perhaps a pup crawl? Perhaps a joint engagement/farewell par-tay? Yea....that sounds better.

*What was your engagement party like?

feathers and frills *sale!*

me and my hair flower via A Sophisticated View Photography

One of my fave Etsy bridal boutique - Feathers and Frills - is having their summer sale!

EVERYTHING is 15% off!

This is where I got my fantastic hair flower for my bridal portraits....the hair flower that I searched high and low for...the hair flower that I love so much I will be choosing my wedding flowers around it.

Go buy something fabulous!

garden roses and vintage ribbon

Look at all those vintage ribbons! And those garden roses!? Be still my heart.

It's like a love poem...manifested as a bouquet. *sigh*

via all a twitter

made out like a craigslist bandit

here

The other day, sortof goofing around on Craigslist, I did a lil search on mason jars. Hit the freakin' jackpot my friends. I found Betty. She has over 300 mason jars in her garage and likes to get rid of them in increments of 60 (interesting right?). She had big ones and little ones, all the different jar brands, some had lids, most didn't, all were clean and ready for me. Needless to say, I walked away with six dozen of 'em. Holla!

table top decorations = check!

*note: love this picture and how they used all different sizes of candles in the different sized jars....great detail.

ring browsing adventure

ENTER TO WIN AN ARTISTIC SKETCH OF YOUR WEDDING GOWN!

here

The first time we went "ring shopping" we decided to hit up the local independently owned shops in our central Phoenix neighborhood, and forgo the mall. We started at Louix XV on Central.

After getting "buzzed" in, we were met with a powerful gust of cold air conditioning, and the soft warm light dancing on the jewels in sparkling glass cases. I had no idea what I was in for. This jewelry shop was no shop, it looked like a museum or something. Individual spot lights emphasized specific necklaces and rings and it was quite a site. We knew in about .25 seconds that we were in way over our heads. But what the heck...

Eli came up and introduced himself as one of the master jewelers, an incredibly friendly young man. My Guy asked to see eternity rings...to which we found out they don't have any. Then we asked about solitaire engagement rings...just to see what they looked like on. Ummm...they don't carry any diamonds less than a 2 carat either.

OhhhhhhK.

But Eli was so cool, he told us that most of their pieces are custom orders...and people purchase heirloom jewelry and investment pieces (investment pieces? what does that mean in terms of jewelry?). He encouraged us to look around at some of their creations. Many of the jewels on the necklaces were HUGE. Like, HUGE. I think perhaps my jaw was on the floor the whole time. Everything was so elegant. Not really my taste, but undeniably beautiful and fancy!

Eli walked over to us with a handful of enormous diamond rings for me to try on. Just for fun. (Bless you Eli was what I was thinking the whole time!) The first one was a 7 carat yellow diamond rimmed in tiny white diamonds. I about croaked. When I took it from him I put my index finger RIGHT ON TOP OF THE GEM leaving my freakin' nasty fingerprint on their beautiful ring...I felt like such a tool. But I tried it on anyway. It was super heavy and reminded me a lot of Paris Hilton's engagement ring to that Greek guy...you know which one I'm talking about right...obnoxiously big and ridiculous for real life? Yea. It took up my entire proximal phalanx. It was pretty amazing. Then we found out it was a 2 million dollar ring. WTF? Seriously Eli? Who the hell comes into this jewelry shop and buys a 2 million dollar ring? I don't understand.

Tried on a few more, I felt like a celebrity! It was a bummer handing all of those beauties back when we left.

Needless to say, we didn't go ring shopping for a few months after that.

diy: blue vintage mason jars (seriously)

I know. I found this and was skeptical too...but it looks legit...perhaps worth a try if you're so inclined. Had to post it...too creative not to!

Get all the DIY instructions here at Bridal Buzz:

Ingredients:
-clear glass mason jar
-Vitrea 160 : Turquoise (which is a transparent color for glass and costs less than $5)
- Vitrea 160: Thinner
- fan brush
-small tupperware container
- oven

1. Clean the glass
2. Mix 1 pinky nail size scoop of Turquoise color with 1 dip of the fanbrush into the Thinner solution (do this mixing in a small tupperware container.)
3. turn jar upside down and using thin brush strokes, apply the paint with the fanbrush (it will look cloudy and streaky...but that's OK!)
4. let it set for 24 hours
5. after it sets, bake at 375 degrees for 40 min and let it cool all the way (your brush strokes will disappear during this process)

- the mixture you created at the beginning of the process makes enough to create 5 jars at a time, which makes this diy cheap cheap cheap!!
-genius! love it.

ENTER TO WIN A SKETCH OF YOUR WEDDING DRESS!!

real life: in the maryland mountains

Meet Jill and Jason, and have a peek into their Maryland mountain wedding. Jill is A.Mountain.Bride follower and after her wedding last May, has so many ideas to share with the rest of us brides-to-be! Check out her blog for the WHOLE scoop.

They have a "thing" for penguins which I thought was cute and quirky...especially for a mountain wedding. Whimsical personal touches are the best.

My favorite detail, she attached sprigs of lavender to each seating card. I think it looks beautiful...and can you even imagine how incredible their venue must have smelled!?

I love shots like this...where the photographer captures life and laughter.

wedding wish wednesday #9: keep it together

One Love Photo

I've been known to be "sensitive." Especially now that I've gotten older. I don't know what it is, but I cry at commercials (State Farm has a couple out right now that are really good), songs on the radio, touching photos, or sweet words, and sometimes, even wonderful memories. I used to be pissed I reacted this way, but now it's OK. My heart works and I enjoy experiencing emotion, even if the emotion makes my nose bright red, my mascara run down my face and goofy facial expressions that cause me mortification when captured on film.

But. For my wedding, while I'm in front of everyone standing next to My Guy, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to lose it. Seriously. Even now, just thinking about speaking/hearing those sacred vows overwhelms my heart and chokes me up. EVEN NOW and I still have 11 more months to go!

So. I'll wish to be a happy excited smiley bride. To keep the tears at bay. I don't want any photos of me balling. Please.

pretty lil cake

What a delightfully sweet sweet cake.

from auburn & ivory

ENTER TO WIN AN ARTISTIC SKETCH OF YOUR WEDDING DRESS HERE!!

victory #1: our officiant

(I love that she's sneaking a peak at her new hubby....too cute)

Well. I suppose the first victory is probably that we are "engaged"...yay! But honestly, the news I'm about to confirm made My Guy and me so very excited...

we officially have our officiant!

We asked one of our best friend's to preside over our ceremony...and she ACCEPTED! And she's EXCITED! And we're ELATED!

This friend of ours was recently married to her childhood/high school/college sweetheart, and is therefore a newlywed herself...yay! (her wedding picture is above). She is one of my favorite people to walk the Earth and I knew within the first few moments of meeting her that our souls were friends (no joke). She embraces the most honest and sacred components of what love is, and radiates that to those around her. She is warm and lovely and wonderful and kind, and luckily, there is nobody we know who is as talented a wordsmith and poet than she.

Details are fuzzy...like her getting ordained...but we'll figure that out. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful person in our lives, and that she will be there to bring us into our spiritual union!

happy 21 baby sis!

I'm so thankful for you pretty girl.
(And excited that you can finally join us for margaritas!)

bridesmaids hair idea

4 The Sparrow's Nest - $10.50/2 (this shop has fantastic little twigs clips too!)

Midori Designs - $25/3 (what about a lil orange blossom in each girl's hair?)

A reader sent me a link to great hair accessories from Anthropologie. I've mentioned that I really like that idea of bridesmaids wearing different dresses (of their own choosing) and she suggested that hair pieces could unify the bridal party. I like the idea of these tiny little "somethings" in the bridesmaid's hair! I did a lil scouting on Etsy and found some great stuff (obviously)!

Great idea Linda! Thanks for sharing!!

Quirky Beauty - $25

Anthropologie