Happy New Year!

Danny and I are spending New Year's Eve at my family's shore house, so no blogging till 2013. I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe New Year and I hope that 2013 brings you lots of love and luck!

Wedding Do or Don't: White by Vera Wang

This is a post that I was very torn about writing, in fear that I may offend a few people, but in the end I've decided to post it to find out what everyone else thinks about this collection. Vera Wang is known as bridal royalty. When a girl gets engaged, the first thing she thinks about is her dress, and the two most common names that I hear thrown around are Monique Lhuillier and Vera Wang. Vera has designed the wedding gowns for some of the most well-known celebrities in the world (Jennifer Aniston, Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Lopez, and Jessica Simpson, just to name a few), which is why I was pretty surprised when I found out that she had designed a collection for David's Bridal. *gasp* 

This can be looked at in a few different ways:

1. For the bride on a budget, this is an amazing chance for her to wear Vera Wang on her wedding day without breaking her budget. 

2. For the bride not on a budget, this could be seen as a "faux" Vera Wang dress. ("My real Vera dress is way better.")

3. For private bridal boutique owners, this is not good news. (I'm losing customers to David's Bridal?! Damn you, Vera!)

I still have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Vera can appeal to the masses by making her beautiful creations more affordable for women who don't have $6,000 to spend on a wedding dress. On the other hand, by making her designs available to more people, she's sort of "watering down" her amazingness. The moment you go from couture to ready-to-wear, you cheapen yourself. 

The big difference between Vera Wang and White by Vera Wang is not in the design and aesthetics, but in the material, beading, and construction of the gowns. We're talking silk and satin vs. polyester, hand beaded vs. machine beading, built-in corsets boning, lining, and covered buttons vs. zippers, standard fits, and little to no lining. 

Let's look at a few comparisons:

Vera Wang on the left. White by Vera Wang on the right for $1200.

Vera Wang on the left. White by Vera Wang on the right for $1000.

Vera Wang on the left. White by Vera Wang on the right for $1200.

At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter who or what you wear. If you're married to the one you love, then your wedding was a success. People will think you look beautiful in your gown regardless of who designed it, or how much you paid for it (which is nobody's business anyway). I leave you with a few more dresses from White by Vera Wang and these questions: Do you notice a difference? Which do you prefer? 

Dress Designer: Marchesa

I'm obsessed with the Marchesa Spring 2012 collection. I've always been a fan of Marchesa in general (2 of my favorite collections can be seen here: Resort 2010 and Resort 2012), but this collection blew me away. 90% of the dresses are dresses that I would wear on my wedding day. 

The collection manages to stay cohesive while experimenting with different styles. With dresses ranging from bohemian to modern to traditional, it's good for brides with all different tastes. 

Take a look at some of the dresses from the collection and let me know which ones are your favorites.

(Pictures from NY Mag)

I love the draping and the structure of the top.

I love this for a reception dress to change into after the ceremony.

My favorite piece from the collection, however I think my shoulders are a little too broad for the detailed sleeves on this one. Meh. 

Cute for a bohemian bride. Simple earrings or a cool headpiece would complete the outfit.

I love the sheer detailing on the top of this dress.

A little too simple for me, but beautiful.

One of my other favorites of the collection. I wish I could find a better picture of the back of the dress.

LOVE the zipper detailing on the back

I love this dress. Structured, but still retains movement.

A little simpler, but I love the detailing on the top.

Wedding Colors: Black and Gold

I knew this was going to happen. I had my wedding colors all picked out, then upon further research, I found another color scheme that I really love. Thankfully, it's not too far off of the original colors of navy and gold that I had picked. 

Right now I'm really loving black and white weddings with champagne accents. It's so simple, but I think the gold is a great accent color for winter weddings. Here are some great pictures from black and gold weddings that I found on Pinterest. With so much great inspiration, how could you not love these colors?

Hiatus

Sorry that it's been so long since my last post. Some things came up in my life that needed my immediate attention, so I haven't been able to spend more than 5 minutes on my computer in the past 2 weeks. That said, I'm going to try to catch up on my posts and give you all some great inspiration and ideas. 

In the mean time, here are some pictures from our second engagement party thrown by my parents 2 weeks ago. I forgot my camera, so I had to rely on my iPhone to capture everything. I apologize for the poor quality :(

Enjoy, and I'll be posting some great entries soon!

With my brothers

My former and current teammates

The guys

With most of my bridesmaids, my Maid of Honor, my mom, and my future mother-in-law

With my parents

With Danny's parents

Wedding Traditions: Chuppah

Chuppahs are a big part of Jewish weddings. The chuppah is a canopy that the couple stands under during their wedding ceremony.  It is used to represent the home that the newlywed couple will build together.  A traditional chuppah is usually a cloth or a sheet that is stretched over 4 standing poles, but nowadays, they are growing more and more ornate and elaborate. From lights to flowers, couples are striving to decorate the chuppah to be much more than just a piece of fabric supported over 4 poles.

I love the way this couple arranged the fabric to look more like a gazebo.

A great way to get more use out of the chuppah after the ceremony is to move it over the couple's sweetheart table during the reception.

This suspended chuppah is great for a modern wedding.