Inspirational Vintage Sessions

Since I was in elementary school, I've been drawn to the first half of the 20th century. I liked that part of history best, I wrote papers about swing dancing, I researched the likes of Amelia Earhart and Nelly Blye, and I memorized poetry by Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. Sometime I think that I was born in the wrong era, or that I have an "old soul."

I think these leanings have had a huge influence on my wedding planning. It should come as no surprise then that I follow the Vintage Glam Wedding Blog. Recently, there has been a spate of wonderfully vintage e-session photography.

Check out this amazing WWII (and Casablanca!) feeling session from Dustin Todd:


Or what about this one by Jen Stewart Photography?


I've also been blog stalking a girl that I knew growing up (down the street from me actually!). Lydia Jane Photography has got a more mod or 70's feel to her portfolio. Seriously, doesn't it remind you of Super 8 film???

Which photographers do you think have a vintage aesthetic? Are you looking for a photographer to impart a vintage feel? Or are you going more modern?

Now you can see our faces AND get the milk for your cereal

Our Save-the-Dates went out in the mail the week we bought our house. This was a huge relief as we had been pushing it off due to the venue uncertainties. Originally we had wanted to give people 8 months of notice since our date is around the Christmas holiday. The little beauts got out just a tad under 6 months out.

I hemmed and hawed about these bad boys. First, I was set on Bucknell Save-the-Dates. I wanted them to boast of the percentage of Bucknellians that marry of other Bucknellians set against a picture of Rooke Chapel and embellished with mini blue and orange striped envelopes hiding library stamped dates. We couldn't get the layout right though and I wasn't convincing very many people that my vision was going to materialize into the epitome of coolness. Second, I narrowed it down to 3 pre-made post cards or magnets. Third, the Lambster and I asked Mother Ewe which one she liked, then we took the dive and ordered.

Behold!



This is the lovingly hand addressed front of the Save-the-Date that was sent to me. Mother Ewe and grandmother ewe assembled them all while I was off buying a house and eating cheese at my roommate's WI wedding shindig. I was so excited to get this cutie petootie in the mail. I couldn't open her though until I made the drive to Durham where J-ram had the camera. I was so excited to finally open her that I didn't realize there was so much craziness going on in the picture until I was editing the photo for the blog:



Click to enlarge.

Right . . . anyways, I learned an important lesson: If your mom spends all the time hand cancelling the envelopes, you should probably address them lower and remind the Post Office not to send them through the machine . . . and the biggest lesson of all, don't sweat it! No one noticed :)

On to the back of the envelope! Mother Ewe bought a lovely embosser with the Lamb-rents address on it. She embossed the back of each envelope. The envelopes were smaller than we thought and when they ran through the mail machine, they got a little dirty. But again, no one has noticed. Or if they have, they've been kind enough not to say it.



Now we're getting to the good part! The Save-the-Date magnet!!!!! Yes, we went with the magnet and yes that is white paint on my thumbnail . . . And yes, I'm heavy handed with the privacy paint.

We ordered the magnet itself, a glassine envelope to protect the magnet, the post card with pre-sliced holes to hold the magnet, and the envelopes. Here's a picture of how the magnet hooked into the holder.

Here's a detail shot of the glassine envelope as I open it.



And last one of the just the magnet:

I'm so grateful to my family for pinch hitting this mailing for me. They truly blessed me by allowing me to focus on the house.

Have you been able to delegate a chunk of planning to anyone?

Pearls

One of my first thoughts about wedding colors was to incorporate pearl and silver. While not colors per se, I wanted these finishes/metallics to round out the feel.

So far, pearls have been incorporated:
1. On my dress - after swearing I didn't want lots of beading, the outer layer of my dress sports little clumps of crystals and pearls.
2. In the bouts - I found little pearl picks, pearlized flowers, and pearlesque buttons (see post below and click for larger image).
3. On the bridesmaid pomanders - I've been attaching the fabric flowers with pearl tipped pins and adding pearlized buttons.

The list will increase as I find other little places to tuck them in.

The most obvious place I'm not incorporating pearls is on my neck.


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You'll see when I unveil my dress story why that is. It does not mean that I'm going to abandon pearl necklaces all together though. I just bought my first real pearl necklace and earrings set with a portion of my raise. I got an amazing deal on them at Macy's. We decided to set up our registry and to do that, we had to open a Macy's card for the cash back option (more on that later). The day we set up the registry, also happened to be the day of the Macy's one day sale.

I'm so proud of my savings, I'll give you the breakdown:
70% off all Pearl jewelry
+ an extra 10% off for the 1 day sale
+ an extra 20% off for buying with our new Macy's card
= I paid a little over $100 for over $600 worth of pearls

Oh yeah! It was such a good deal that I almost felt bad about it. But people, it just goes to show that there are some amazing deals in this economy.

I had no idea how to care for my new lovelies. So I turned to my resident preppy homemaker goddess, Christine. Check out her awesome pearl care tips for me here.

All that to say, that I def. want to wear my pearls, but they'll probably be making their appearances at the rehearsal dinner or shower or whatnot.

Did you wear pearls on your wedding day? Did you get a deal on yours, or were they heirlooms?

ONBB

I work in a field of never ending acronyms. The government unceasingly confers long monikers onto agencies, processes, and people, then proceeds to refer to them by some sort of shortened version that inevitably is more of a hassle than some simple naming convention that could have been used in the first place. President becomes POTUS. Naval Network Warfare Command does not become NNWC, but rather NAVNETWARCOM. In the previous two examples, the acronym is pronounced as a word - po-tus and nav-net-war-com, whereas other times it merely is a combination of letters such as the EPA - e.p.a. . . .

The bridal world is full of them as well. The first startling one when I starting to read the blogs is STD. Did you just double take as well? I first thought that maybe I really was a fuddy duddy and then I thought, "what's the matter with kids these days?" (Bye, Bye Birdie anyone?). Turns out, a few sentences more and the whole thing is cleared up - Save-The-Date . . . STD . . .

AnySTD, ONBB is not, as far as I can tell, an accepted acronym for Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue - but it seems to fit to me and all the extra S's that I would have incurred seemed superfluous. So hang with me on the ONBB.

My parents first gift to me upon hearing of my engagement was the ONBB. It came all in one box.


They had bought this one box upon a visit to a jewelry store when they visited me during my semester abroad in Bath, England. Their trip had special significance as they were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.


Here's your twofer today, the story of my parent's wedding bands. My dad lost his wedding ring in the ocean. On their honeymoon. They couldn't find it anywhere and for the next 25 years, they couldn't justify the expense of replacing it during hard economic times and raising two children. On the occasion of their 25th anniversary, and since it's uber cool to buy momentos in a foreign country, they settled on a band from a British jewelry store. For the next 4 years my parents wore their wedding bands together once more. Then my mom fell, spraining her wrist and hand badly. They cut her rings off in the emergency room. So now just my dad has a wedding band that he can wear. Isn't that something????? For almost 30 years of marriage, they've only ever worn their rings at the same time for about 4 years, give or take a few days.

Back to ONBB, on their trip to the Bath jewelry store, they saw these gorgeous boxed sets and decided to set it away for me.



I was so touched by their thoughtfulness. They bought this gift for me before I was dating my Lamb Lovie. Before they knew who my husband would be, they were preparing for it. And that's one reason that I love them.

Trumpet Sounds! Hallelujah! Angels singing!

Babies giggling! The whole earth rejoicing! Other various fanfare up the whazoooooo!

Hear ye! Hear ye!

In what was the most momentous week of my life - other than the week I was born - my wooly counterpart and I secured a wedding venue and bought a house.

The Harrison Opera House:

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Our house :)


The stress building up to the week was intense. We found the house and pushed through our loan documentation to close in less than 3 weeks. Our search for a venue had stretched over 6 months. I remember feeling a distinct weight being lifted off of my shoulders.

Are you planning a move or house hunting during your wedding planning?

Going to the Chapel

Though I firmly believe that God is present everywhere, and I was quite happy with my thoughts on a small intimate wedding ceremony on the beach, planning my ceremony at our church has quickly becomes one of my favorite aspects of our wedding.

I am one of those poor pathetic girls who has visited churches since I started dating my Ramma-Lamma, and would think to myself, "This would be a lovely backdrop for wedding pictures." Hello! This is a house of the Lord! Not a prop for my wedding!

I'm glad to say that this church means a lot more to me than my previous shallow thoughts. This church is the church where Jason and I first visited together. This church is the church where we decided to go together. This church is the church where we became members together, had our pre-engagement counseling done, have served in the nursery, and have prepared food for the congregation. This church is full of the "my people" that Ruth talks about in her pledge: "Your people will be my people, and your God, my God."

I wasn't able to find many pictures of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Norfolk - the building that houses "my people" :) - but the brick exterior and the ivory columns are indeed going to provide for lovely architectural details in the pictures.

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But more so, I'm glad that it's going to provide us with the spirital love and support and that we'll need as the Lambsters become one.

Hehehehehe, become one. That's a whole other post!

Was the ceremony location important to you? Was it for religious reasons? Sentimental reasons? Other?

Our Heroine Makes a Choice

You may remember that I left our heroine under a spell of self-doubt and inability to make a choice. I am obliged to tell you that there is a happy ending.

Our heroine built her courage and returned the darling pearl shoes, setting her heart on the gorgeous shoes.



She is happy to report that her J. Crew Mary Janes were bought on eBay and with shipping cost a mere $34.94. The attached shoe clips, which make all the difference, were purchased on Etsy for a total of $12.00, bringing the grand total to a magical price of $46.94. Not too shabby!

Sadly, there is a twist of fate in her fairy tale, the story is not yet over. The lovely vintage dress she envisioned wearing to her rehearsal dinner has been snatched up and she must trudge on in her endeavors.

Have you been facing resolutions on one front, just to turn around and face more challanges?

Boutonniere Bounty

For whatever reason, boutonnieres are on of the wedding items that I'm most excited about. I love looking at them, I love thinking about cute bouts for different themes, and I'm quite happy that I get to make one for my groom, for his 5 groomsmen, our fathers, our grandfathers, and our ushers - that's 14 total! And they'll each be slightly different.

Until I can get my act together and write up a tutorial for the ones I've created, I wanted to share this amazing Etsian and her work. Elle F Designs has been featured on quite a few sites, including in the hive, for her cake toppers. Now she does bouts as well.

Click here for her shop link.

And check out these beaut bouts!

Vintage Rehearsal Dinner Outfit

I have about 20 pages of "favorited" items in my Etsy account. As I was browsing through them (I do daily to purge those items that have been sold or expired), I pieced together a wonderfully vintage outfit.

I liked it so much, and it seemed so wedding-y, that I thought it would work beautifully for a casual or courthouse wedding. Then I thought, "Why couldn't it work for a rehearsal dinner?" Since my wedding is in the winter, the sleeves would be appropriate and I think it's just so classy! Without further ado, here is my vintage outfit find:



The gorgeous vintage dress is from Glory by Jeannie Lee. It's a 60's mini and just about my measurements.

The chic shoes are flats from Moonula. They're my size!

The glamorous earrings are from Stacy's Designs 88. They're made from vintage chandelier crystals and I think would be the finishing touch!

Budget Break Down:

Dress: 75 + 10 S&H = 85
Shoes: 25 + 6 S&H = 31
Earrings: 75 + 4 S&H = 79
Grand total: $195

I'm not sure if I wanted to spend any money on the rehearsal dinner outfit, but I bet I could wear this same outfit to holiday parties this winter as well. I have a few hesitations though.

1. The dress won't fit and I'll have to try to resell it which is always more hassle.
2. The dress will almost fit, but cost some more to tailor.
3. If I buy the dress first to see how it fits, the other pieces may be bought up.
4. If I wait even one minute more, one of the pieces may be bought up.

I think I'm going to sleep on it. I'd hate to pass up such lovely vintage pieces all for the sake of being an online shopping wuss.

Did you ever pass up a buy to only wish you had gone with your initial gut feeling? Where did you find your rehearsal dinner outfit?

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Interestingly enough, being happy is sometimes the exact source of my worry. Call it first child syndrome, people pleasing, or a personality flaw, but whatever you call it, I have it. In my immense desire to please people, especially authority figures, I sacrifice what I think will make me happy.

In my own mind, this sacrifice ultimately will make me happy because I think that my source of happiness will stem from pleasing that person. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, congratulations! You may be a youngest born, or just not give a crap about what anybody else thinks. I truly wonder how free that must feel!

*tap, tap, tap*

Excuse, Miss Lamb? This is a wedding blog about rainbows and butterflies and love being enough!

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Well, dear reader, I never would have believed it before going through it myself, but weddings are not all they're cracked up to be. Now just gather around and let me tell you a little wedding story.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who believed that every girl would feel like Cinderella on her wedding day and that she would have lovely glass slippers to wear. This little girl grew up and fell in love with a man an inch tall than her.

So she decided that she would buy a pair of ballet flats.

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She also couldn't stop browsing Ebay and found a gorgeous pair of high heels. Prince Charming encouraged her to wear what she wanted to wear. Then the well meaning mother, whom the girl adored, sang the praises of the ballet flats. She tried them both on with her dress and knew that she felt glamorous and like a movie star in the high heels. But the well meaning mother made a long list of reasons not to wear them.


The girl couldn't sleep at night. Mother loved the pretty ballet shoes. And everyone knows that: "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." All of the lovely maids by the girl's side also whispered in her dreams. They said, "You should feel glamorous in your shoes!" The girl entertained all sorts of compromises, wearing the movie star shoes and then wearing the ballet shoes later. And vice versa.

Unable to make a choice, a sad and conflicted spell was cast upon the girl and she could not sleep again until she made the choice to make herself happy, or make others happy.

The End.

Are you easily influenced by your desire to please others? Did you ever commit to a wedding item that someone else liked, only to regret it later?

ATTN: Brides on the Cheap, err, I mean Chic

One of my friends has a great blog about being a domestic goddess. The Part-Time Happy Homemaker gives great tips, recipes, and some how-to's.

I routinely catch up on the site on Mondays and a few weeks ago, I think I hit a wedding jackpot! Check out this post and tell me you didn't just think "WEDDING!"

Now, don't go buying them out, I want to get two, one for me and one for mom. But seriously, can't you envision the lemons and limes for an awesome summer tablescape? Piled on a white milk glass centerpieces? Or what about awesome little pumpkins for the fall?

Are you going with a fruit centerpiece? Were you thinking of incorporating candles as well?

Ring Rockability

I follow Offbeat Bride. And deep down, in my secret subconscious, I wish I had the guts to be more daring like many of the brides featured there.

In absence of my courage, I live vicariously through the posts and randomly bookmark rockable wedding items, just in case I throw this whole big traditional thing out the window.

Here's a sampling of rings I have in my favorites on Etsy:

Sea Babe Jewelry's Rough Diamond Set



Hawaii Titanium's Ring Style W1F:


And last but not least, my current favorite - 51 Degrees North's Wedding Bands:


Have you thought about incorporating daring items into your wedding? Or is your whole wedding daring?

Faux-quets

I'm not a choosy flower person. I love me some grocery store bouquets. I love the country song about picking wild flowers.


Spending money on really expensive floral arrangements, when carnations and baby's breath tickle me pink, did not appeal to my practical side. I hadn't thought much about flowers for the wedding, other than casually looking at what is in season for January. I might have written down in my little blue wedding notebook about Williamsburg Christmas influenced centerpieces with fresh greens and fruit.

Then . . . (I love the turning points in stories!)I was just browsing Etsy like I do every day and I came across this:

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Amanda, from Design Whimsy, creates these gorgeous bouquets from vintage finds. Now this is an idea I could get into! It can be done well in advance, it won't die, and I'll be able to admire it after the honeymoon and beyond!

Look at how lovely the lace details on this one are:

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I also found this absolutely divine (and outside of my budget) bouquet from Lost My Kitty's Etsy shop:

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I was drawn to the feathers in the previous designs and decided to search for feather bouquets. Check out this couture candy!

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The more non-fresh flower alternatives I found, the more I became convinced that this was the look that I wanted to capture for my bouquet. In a fit of excited and crafty rage, I spent over an hour in Michael's utilizing a 25% off your entire purchase (That's right!!!! These coupons are printed in some bridal magazines!) and bought myself some supplies.

I had a box of supplies sitting in my room looking at me longingly, asking me to make them into a treasured faux-quet. I told them, "Shush up supplies! I've got to graduate this weekend!" and then I paid them the attention they deserved over the summer. I'm about 95% done with my bouquet and the bridesmaids pomanders and I can't wait to show you the finished products!

Are you considering fresh-flower alternatives? What inspired you to look to other materials?

The Lambs Make Their WWW Debut

Anyone ever pronounce it de-butt? Hahahahahahahaha - I find the spelling of debut funny in a very 7th grade sort of way. I am also having flashbacks to "playing wrestling," which is much like "playing house," except we pretended to be our favorite WWW wrestler.  Jake the Snake, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and Brett Hart - didn't matter who my brother was playing, I would give him The People's Elbow and then we'd get into trouble for rough housing. 

Anywebsite, I love the idea of the wedding website. Like Save-the-Dates, sometimes I think they're narcissistic, but also like Save-the-Dates, they really come in handy! I reference the websites of marrying friends at several points during the planning process, especially if I'm attending the wedding from out of town. Since the majority of our guests are traveling from out of town, we considered a website to be a must.

I browsed all of the well known providers plus a few. I knew that we weren't quite tech savvy enough to create one from scratch, so we went with the pre-designed ones created especially for weddings. Here's my list:

Wedding Tracker
Pros: Recommended by our Event Designer, Flash Designs
Cons: The themes didn't fit the feel I was going for

Ewedding
Pros: Great designs! Starting to get close on the feel
Cons: A tad more than we wanted to spend

In fact, I almost splurged for this theme because I was getting really frustrated with the lack of neutral colors available across the board.


Wedding Window
Pros: Great designs and highly customizable
Cons: The customization takes a lot of effort and it's a tad expensive
But check out this amazing looking site!


Wedding Website Templates
Pros: Interesting designs I hadn't seen before
Cons: Not the best user interface and needs a lot of work

Wed Simple
Pros: A ton of features included, more neutral palette designs
Cons: Again with the price, just on the expensive side

This website helped me to easily compare a lot of options side by side:
Wedding Websites

After about 2 days of researching, penny pinching, hemming and hawing, our event designer pulled through in a big way. She suggested looking at:

My Wedding

I know what you're thinking. I'm psychic like that. It is a terrible home page. Just move past that and click on Free Websites on the top navigation bar.

Just look at some of these amazing designs!




I found about 4 designs that also had color combinations in our palette. I didn't feel like I was "settling" for a design that didn't sing to me and I didn't feel like I was handing over a lot of money (because it was no money at all!). What's more, I didn't sacrifice functionality. I'm still getting an RSVP tracker, music player and more extra pages than we'll know what to do with. Really, it was the perfect solution for us.

Here's a shot of the top half of our homepage:

For privacy's sake, I had sloppily edited our names and date with the spray paint function in paint. How 1999 is that? Awesome.  Then I realized that our first names aren't that private and the date would be cropped out anyhow.  So you've been spared from my spray paint privacy massacre for the time being.

Was the wedding website important to you? Any other great free sites you've used?

How shall my little hooves be shod?

Sometimes, I'm a little self-conscious when I wear high heels. My Lambers loves me in heels and thinks flats look a little like "grandma shoes." I too love heels, but I also soar to 5'10" or above when I slip them on. J-Ram? He rocks me hanging off his arm in my high heel glory like sane Tom Cruise used to rock the less botoxed version of Nicole Kidman. Me, I avoid pictures standing on the same level and prefer taking pics when I'm standing a step below him. Yikes!

This has led to an interesting debate in my head. Should I boost my confidence and own my height by wearing heels? Or should I find a lovely pair of flats and be comfortable (mentally and physically)?

Here are some of the flat options that I have been scouring on the internet:
Isotoner Slippers

These babies will keep my tootsies toasty - but will not be good for the walking outdoors. They'll be comfortable for dancing, but maybe not as picturesque.

The Jeffrey Campbell Pearl Flat

In Ivory, the cutie-petooties just might bring together style and functionality. But will Lambers think I look like I'm on my way to the retirement home?

RSVP Herlene

I love the peep toe and jewel ornamentation . . . but I'm not loving the scrunchy look. I suppose on my feet, they'll appear flat though.


Ruby and Bloom Grace Ballerina Flat

I always wanted to be a ballerina - and with a little touch of vintage clip on earrings . . . eh? I see the potential.

Naturalizer's Verdum Peep Toe Flats

Similar to the Herlene, but less scrunchy and no bling. I think these would be a statement that the shoes just weren't that important to me. Which might be the statement I want to make, but I'm not sure.

These are some of the heel options that have caught my eye. I found most of the options on Ebay since it was so easy to narrow down the size, color, and designer - bonus points, there are some great deals!

Kate Spade Gold Gwen Slingbacks

I'm not crazy about them, but with the designer construction, they should be more comfortable than most high heels. It's a clean and polished look.

J. Crew Daniela D'Orsay

Peepety peep toes! How stinkin' cute are the bows? And gotta love not having to pay J. Crew prices.

J. Crew Mary Janes

More like Plain Janes . . . but I could spruce these bad boys up with a feather and shoe clip no? They also just look comfy for a high heel.

Notice how I keep going back to comfort? Maybe I should go with the slippers! Anyone wear slippers as their wedding shoe? Did you regret not having a formal pair of shoes?