Are you at a hipster wedding?

You know I love my infographics, and with weddings being all anyone is talking about recently amongst my friends, this was to cute not to share.

Weddings + Bridesmaids

No, don't get too excited yet, I'm not getting married. My friends, however, are all getting hitched and next year is turning out to be a mammoth wedding year! I'm going to be bridesmaid for at least one of those weddings and so I've been tasked with helping in a tonne of ways.

Being the bargain hunter that I am, I've been finding some great things online with the sales lately.

This Zimmermann dress is a cute colour in real life and great fabric, and a bargain on sale at the moment for just $196. I'm not usually one to go for Zimmermann but they are popular amongst bridesmaids, and at those kinds of prices they're definitely a good option for any fashionable bride and bridesmaid.

Now I love J Crew and they have a tonne of options. I love this grey one above, and it comes in a million different hues. At approximately A$275 it's not quite as cheap, but a lovely option though admittedly it can probably be recreated elsewhere for cheaper.

Though a lot of sizes have since sold out, this beautiful punchy pink one is just A$100 and a great vibrant pink that I'm sure is popular amongst brides.

And what about this one for the floor length styles (which I will probably be looking at more, for the particular wedding I'm attending). At A$360 on sale it is a little more pricy but considering you can literally pick any colour of the rainbow, it is around the same price as Australian stores but without the full colour range. I just love this 'wild beet' colour.

For something a bit different, this Jayson Brunsdon diffusion line dress at Myer retails for just $179 and is cute for a floral, more casual wedding. And for wearability, this could definitely be worn again after a wedding!

Have you come across any great bridesmaid appropriate dresses lately?

Charleston, South Carolina

Over the Christmas break I found myself in Charleston, South Carolina for a wedding. Charleston is a quintessentially cute, Southern little town with such a lovely colonial town vibe. It's recently been appearing on the 'new cool cities to visit' lists regularly, and I've since heard it is the second most popular place to get married in the US behind only Vegas (for obvious reasons).

The wedding I went to was seriously breathtaking. The best wedding I've ever been to, but I knew that would happen because the bride is the uber bride who has been planning this wedding since the day I met her (long before she even was engaged).

Here are some pics I wanted to share with you of the beautiful place that is Charleston!

I ate at the popular and hipster restaurant Husk that has all the Southern specialties such as this - pumpkin pie! We also had pigs ears lettuce wraps which were AMAZING!

 

This is an unfortunately badly shot photo of the building in which Husk is in - I was not my usual self this trip and really didn't take many photos, and didn't make an effort in most cases. I was just all about having a good time and soaking it all in!

Sunday brunch is, as always, a huge thing in the US, but in a religious southern town like Charleston, it is Halls Chophouse for 'Sunday Gospel Brunch'. I wish I had bothered to take a photo of the live, grand piano playing, soul crooner who sat in the corner entertaining us for the day. And for a bit of Southern hospitality, this was my complimentary glass of bubbly, after the restaurant owners started chatting to us!

And now for the wedding - at a beautiful plantation overlooking the river. Despite being in the middle of winter, it was a sunny warm Winters day which was absolutely amazing.

I do slightly regret having such a good time that I didn't stop to properly take photos of the sunset. But this is seriously how amazing it is - the following photo was taken with no filter on an iPhone. Is it not spectacular?

Southern food at the wedding - mac & cheese and chicken & waffles!

Beautiful beautiful florals - all painstakingly done by an amazing florist.

And for a sense of the main street - this was the high end shopping strip where you could literally get any designer item you wanted!

I love me a good holiday, and this was definitely one!

Wedding Photography

One of my favourite flipboard sections is the one on Photography - I would say I look at it at least once every 2 days which is a lot considering it doesn't get new posts as often as say, News or celebrity would.

Anyway, I stumbled across this beautiful wedding photo:

Isn't it extraordinary? And there was even a video accompanying it showing the painstaking effort that went into composing this beautiful shot - it literally took several minutes of adjusting the dress and the bride to get it just right!

Photo courtesy of Jerry Ghionis and Picture Correct

Wedding Invites

So last week I received a very last minute wedding invite for a wedding in 2 months time. Now I am totally all about the bride+groom doing whatever they want because it's their day, so even though I know I'm a very last minute invite (my friends received invitations at least 2 months ago now), I am not bothered by this in the least bit.

However the reason I'm posting about it is because I wanted to hear some others thoughts about what they think the etiquette is with wedding invites - so it is an away wedding being held on a Friday during  the day. It's a couple of hours drive away so do-able, however with it being fair last minute now the accommodation in the area is either quite limited and/or fairly expensive. With the wedding being in the afternoon and the reception at night, I think we would need to stay one night. There's also the factor that guests will have to take the day off work (if possible, again, at last minute).

So while I would love to join in the celebration, there is quite a bit of organisation that needs to happen for me to attend, not to mention the cost.

My sister and I were discussing this though - it almost feels like the etiquette is such that if you are a) available to go b) financially able to afford the expense (as in you're not going to be living on bread and water to afford it), one should accept the invite?

Would you expect all people in this situation to accept, providing all that needs to be organised (leave, accommodation) can be done?

Vera Wang Sydney Store

The big fashion news of the week is that Vera Wang has just opened her first Australian stand-alone store! I'm sure there are big cheers from Australian brides who no longer have to go through Helen Rodriguez stores to get their paws on her famous dresses.

The store opened yesterday in one of my favourite Sydney hotels - the InterContinental - so I'm yet to have a chance to wander in or see any pics but I'll definitely be stopping by to have a sticky beak.

For the non brides (like myself!) out there, who else is hoping there will also be some delectable eveningwear to choose from too?

Here's some examples:

Visit Vera Wang at the InterContinental hotel Sydney, Shop 5, 117 Macquarie St., Sydney


Edit: Just a quick edit on this post to add that I happened to visit the InterContinental hotel last night and  wandered past the VW store! They literally just switched off the lights as I walked past so I could only take this quick terrible iPhone pic :)

Images courtesy of verawang.com 

Vera Wang: And the bride wore black...

I came across a few articles about Vera Wang's Fall 2012 Bridal collection including some inky creations in her normally traditional wedding line-up.

I personally think it's fabulous, I mean we're in the 21st Century, who says a wedding dress has to be white? I'm fairly traditionalist but that doesn't mean I don't love the sentiment. The dresses added drama to the collection and I quite like the route she took with them. After decades of designing white dresses, it's no wonder she felt the need to break out of her shell a bit!

 This was the first hint of black in her collection so it was like she started with this to gradually take people onto the black dress journey. I imagine this would have moved quite spectacularly on the runway but I just love the layered textures. I'm not a huge fan of the ruffling but there's a twisted sense of being traditional which I really like.

 I love the overlay detailing on this - it actually reminds me a bit of a mid 2000's Jean Paul Gaultier collection (I used to be obsessed with the enfant terrible) and the fact that it's a 'light' take on a black wedding dress.

 I'm not sure that I like this as wedding dress, but the concept is great - the grunginess of the bustier contrasted with the lightness of the tulle.

And I personally don't really like this one, but I love a good fishtail. Something about it is so dramatic! Again I would never wear one myself, but on the right person it can look stunning.

Would you wear black on your big day?

Images thanks to brides.com

Wedding Bells

Who doesn't love a good wedding right? Well the last few weeks I have been celebrating my friend's wedding with all sorts of festivities - the Hens Night, Kitchen Tea and of course the big event which was this weekend! I wasn't able to make the Kitchen Tea but being part of the other two was heaps of fun and I love seeing a friend so happy. You know when you just know a couple is perfect for each other...well that's how everyone at the wedding felt. And now for some pics....

Mood lighting

We went to the burlesque show at Crystal Boudoir at GPO. I wouldn't quite call it a 'burlesque' show as it was more of a performance...if only it was exciting as the burlesque scenes in Gossip Girl or more Dita Von Teese inspired! We kept on thinking some Christina Aguilera singing (a la Burlesque the movie) would help bring some excitement to the show too. But nonetheless, a beautiful place to hang out!

Inspiration in the form of Burlesque the movie, Gossip Girl and Dita Von Teese

Anyway, enough of a picture sidetrack, here's a pic of one of the actual performers. There were 3 girls and a guy and let's just say these girls were uber flexible and very intense.

Catsuit wearing performer

And now some from the wedding! I was playing around with settings on my camera as well to make for some moody images...

Bridal bouquet

Beautiful vintage wedding cars taken with 'nostalgic' camera setting

Anndd for good measure, a kinda crappy pic of my beautiful shoes. They are blush satin slingbacks by Alessandro Dell'Acqua. I love that they've got a bit of elegant 'funk' with the mirrored/beaded embellishments. I'll take a better picture of them sometime and blog about them.

They were actually the same shoes I wore to my 21st so they will always have a place in my heart :)

Royal Wedding: Zara Phillips'

So the pictures are out and the verdicts are already starting to stream in for Zara Phillips' wedding gown. I thought she looked beautiful - exactly how I expected in terms of a simple silhouette with not too much pomp or anything that made her stand out as a Princess Bride. She is after all the rebel royal and she always kept her title as 'Miss' and not 'Princess' so it seemed fitting that her wedding matched that with understated grace and glamour.Turns out I was wrong about the tiara - she did end up wearing one but it was less crown like and almost more like a encrusted headband/headpiece.

Loving the lighting in this photo!



 

So the all important details:
Dress: Stewart Parvin "The dress featured a chevron-pleated bodice, a dropped waist, and a "cathedral-length" train, and was designed to create a "bell-shaped" silhouette". Apparently made of silk faille and duchess satin.

I think I was kind of on track with the strapless prediction, but with floaty ethereal Grecian inspiration with the straps. The taffeta type weight of the duchess satin seemed to add the structure I was hinting at, but without too much volume.

Shoes: Jimmy Choo - yet to see close-ups so I'll comment on these later when I see more pics! I'm imagining a simple satin pump in any case.

Veil: Tulle cathedral length veil with a short blusher - simple, nothing too heavy and without any of the fancy lace embellishments you might expect of a Royal, but I thought this suited her too. She always seemed like more of a tom-boy so to have anything too complicated going on would overpower the simplicity of the outfit.

Tiara: Greek Key tiara - I thought it was quite pretty, nothing too over-the-top which was good. And the fact it matched the Greek heritage of her name seemed fitting.

Make-up: Bobbi Brown <3
So what can I say really but thumbs up from me (but perhaps I'm biased!). Relaxed, modern, simple chic. Perfect for any bride, and lovely for a Princess too!

You know what I love the best? That she's keeping her maiden name. There's something very modern about that and adds to why I think her and Princess Anne are amongst the most progressive, low-key and relatable of the Royals. Love!

The "Other" Royal Wedding

As we speak the "other" Royal Wedding is getting started - that is of course Zara Phillips' wedding to Mike Tindall. I love the British Royals so of course I'll be paying close attention to the nuptials and what everyone is wearing, but I also have a bit of a soft spot for Zara Phillips and her understated, non-chalant way-of-life despite being so privileged. She still sits a far second behind my favourite member of royalty, Charlotte Casiraghi (gosh she's so beautiful!) but that's another story.

Anyway, she's already announced her wedding dress will be Royal couturier Stewart Parvin so I was having a bit of a browse of his website to see what kind of dress she might choose.

I'm definitely imagining something tailored but ethereal, structured but with a sense of lightness. I'm thinking she'll be inspired by these dresses, though I imagine she'll have her own unique spin because she's always been the Princess who did things her way and wanted to be a bit different.

Hang onto your love

Sweet Simplicity

In terms of headpieces - I'm guessing definitely no tiara and I would say she wouldn't really want a veil but probably to stick with a bit of tradition she'll probably have a short blusher or veil which will be light and airy. I actually really want her to do more of a hairpiece - a beautiful hair ornament would be pretty.

We will just have to wait a few hours and I'm sure we'll hear about what the lucky girl chose! In the meantime, I saw this Stewart Parvis wedding gown which I thought was just stunning. Very old Hollywood glamour (Grace Kelly-esque too), but breathtakingly beautiful.

Put Yourself in my Place