Make It

Hitched!

I apologize for the extended absence, but, in all fairness, a lot has happened since my last post. I've moved (still within Ann Arbor), started a new job, and, oh yeah, got married!

Matt and I tied the knot on 11.11.11 in Chicago. Our ceremony took place on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center and we had a dinner afterwards at a restaurant called Tru. We had seven guests, which consisted only of parents and siblings. It was a really nice, low stress way to mark the occasion and I'm really happy we chose to get married this way after considering a lot of other options (big wedding, wedding in Ann Arbor, DIY backyard wedding, etc).

I'll talk about it in more detail once I get more photos to share. I'm still waiting for them to trickle in from our friends and family who all acted as photographers for the occasion. You'll see that I did end up wearing my glasses and I found a dress with sleeves, yay! Also the dress is a Lela Rose, which I found on Shopbop for 70% off. This was really exciting because I had lusted after a Lela Rose dress from the very beginning but had assumed it would be out of my price range. The quality is incredible and now I'm looking for other fancy occasions where I can wear it. New Years?

I'll definitely do a more comprehensive wedding recap later on. We did a pretty non-traditional, low key wedding and I don't think there are enough online resources for how to plan a celebration like this.

The Wedding Day: Glasses or No Glasses?

I mentioned the other day how I need to tone up and start exercising to look cute for my wedding. And since we've opened the Pandora's Box of my personal vanity, let's just keep digging in!

I wear glasses everyday. In college I tried to be cute and only wear them in class and then go without in social settings (made for very awkward interactions in the dining hall when I literally couldn't tell who the person waving at me was until they were within an arm's length).

But my eyesight is much worse now. I shudder to think what the widespread use of computers, smartphones, tablets, 3D glasses (p.s. DO NOT see Transformers 3. It's terrible), etc is doing to the eyesight of the Millenial Generation. 

I'm not super comfortable with eyedrops and touching my eyes, so I've never worn contacts, but I've wondered if I should look into them. Not only for a more mature and professional look personally, but also for the wedding day.

I do think it depends on the type of dress. A strapless gown with a full skirt would probably look a little off with glasses. But I could probably get away with it with the more cocktail-type dress for our smaller wedding.

Did you wear glasses on your wedding day? Do you know a bride who rocked them and looked awesome?

Image via Warby Parker

Put A Sleeve on It

Remember when I posted back in March wanting a long-sleeved wedding dress for my November wedding and having a hard time finding one? Well I have a feeling that's all about to change.

Thank you Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Sarah Burton for bringing long-sleeves back! I completely think that (the former) Kate Middleton's wedding dress is going to have a huge impact on bridal trends and I couldn't be happier. Sleeves are classy, classic, and everyone can pull it off, unlike the ubiquitous strapless trend. If you've got some sewing skills, Harlem Loves dug up this great Vogue sewing pattern for making a similar dress, influenced by Grace Kelly's wedding gown.

As for the royal wedding, did you watch? I caught a few moments of the processional to Buckingham Palace before I went to work, then came home afterwards and gorged on Internet recaps. They seem like a very sweet, normal (well as normal as can be in that situation) couple.

Where Are All the Long Sleeved Wedding Dresses?

So our plan is a wedding weekend in Chicago with only our immediate families (parents and siblings). In November. It's urban, it's small, it's the complete opposite of a big production. And because it will be late fall, I will certainly not be wearing anything strapless or spaghetti-strapped. Which is actually kind of a problem when you're looking for a wedding dress. I'd love to find something pretty, short (as in, not a ball gown) and long sleeved. Because what's the point of wearing a strapless dress in November only to  throw a cardigan over it?

Here's what a night of Internet research yielded.

Wearing white is fine, but I'm not totally committed to it. I have a feeling I may even have better luck finding what I want if I consider a wider range of colors. Something like this would certainly be nice (via The Sartorialist)

In the more bridal-y category, something like this J.Crew number would be perfect if only it wasn't a ball gown. I know an option could be to purchase this dress and alter it shorter, but I'm not buying a $2,500 gown only to hack off 40% of it. Have you seen similar styles anywhere? I love the high waist, boatneck and 3/4 sleeves. I just want it to hit slightly above the knee and have a slimmer skirt.

I do love cap sleeves but this might be a bit too summery for November and possibly too casual for what I envision, though a different choice of shoe and hairstyle could go a long way.

Same here. I like the idea of this, but it might be a bit too hippy for my taste. Though with an updo and a silver shoe perhaps it could be a winner.

Leave me a comment with a link if you've spotted any other long sleeved options.

The Wedding is On

Not that it was ever off, but I've been engaged for over a year and- after a few false starts- haven't made any plans for a wedding...until now. My hesitancy had nothing to do with Matt (all is good) and everything to do with bigger picture issues about where I am in my life.

I've blogged about my late 20's angst before and it appears nothing brings that out quite like a wedding. Because a wedding is a big deal. It's one of those now-I'm-an-adult kind of moments, and the thing is that I really didn't/don't feel like an adult. Money is a big part of that. Career is a big part of that. Vacation days, 401k's and dental insurance are parts of that. It was hard to think about planning a wedding/honeymoon and know that I would have zero paid vacation days off work to enjoy it. And while I haven't attained adult-like levels of success in any of those areas, I'm closer than I was last year. So let the wedding blogging resume! First up dresses...

Another Update

So it occured to me that I left a few things out of that previous update post.

• In book-related news, I received another (!!) request for a full since writing Sunday's post. This was also a result of the queries I sent last week. So apparently that was a really good decision.

• In personal-related news, I haven't posted a wedding related update in a while. That's not for any particular reason. I'm still engaged, things are still good with Matt. Mostly it's due to a few factors: After the initial bout of excitement, I kinda got grossed out with all things wedding related. This includes everything from highly produced wedding magazines to the cutesy quirky wedding blogs. Everything started to look the same. I got bored. Also, while I like the idea of bringing together our widely scattered network of friends and family, I absolutely hate being the center of attention. See I bolded it to show you how much I despise this prospect. I like the idea of planning an event, designing invitations, and putting to use the incredible talents of our friends (exhibit A: that dessert table above, which some friends put together for a recent wedding), but not if it means that all eyes will be on my for 4 - 8 hours. Of course a smaller wedding is also an option, but then important choices about who is and is not invited would have to be made. So instead of making any meaningful decisions about the wedding, I have chosen not to think about it at all. Because that's how adults deal with important life events, right?

(Image: From The Kitchen of Olivia)

Ann Taylor, I've got my eye on you

File this one under: missed connections.

Do you see how cute this Ann Taylor dress is and how closely it resembles the (very expensive) Lela Rose in my previous post?!

Do you see the price ($198)?! 

And do you see that it is now sold out?! Argh!

I probably would feel ridiculous buying a wedding dress a year in advance- I have two cats and no closets- but this would have been a good one. (Thanks to Olivia for the tip)

Has anyone else noticed how, well, hip Ann Taylor is lately? I've noticed this trend of what I would consider formerly stodgy/boring mall stores updating their offerings (the J. Crew comparison is undeniable. BTW, Jenna Lyons fans, did you see this?) to appeal to a younger, hipper crowd.

It all started when I saw an Eileen Fisher ad on The Sartorialist of all places! And then I clicked on it! And then I actually liked it, alot! It's possibly the only time I've actually clicked on an ad on a blog and it was as much because the picture was so striking as because I was SO confused to see Eileen Fisher on The Sartorialist.

If you're interested, here are a few links about the Eileen Fisher transformation, which I find totally fascinating (definitely check out that last one, which is the case study by the branding firm that spearheaded the new identity).

In any case, I'm going to keep my eye on Ann Taylor, for future, reasonably priced contenders for THE DRESS.

Addicted to Applique

For some reason I've really been drawn to applique when I look at wedding dresses (also, short dresses). This Lela Rose sheath has been bookmarked for a while. It's such a simple silhouette, but the hand work is gorgeous.

Rethinking the Wedding Plans

So I know I've been pretty gung-ho about a DIY backyard celebration, but the more I think about it, the actual work involved with hosting a function for 50 - 100 people seems a little overwhelming. There are too many variables: the weather - though a tent would certainly help, the bathroom situation- we'd have to rent port a potties which isn't very appealing to me, the food situation- we had an ideal vision of self-catering but there's so much to coordinate, and a number of other concerns.

So now, I've started to go in the polar opposite direction and start looking at having the wedding at a place that would require minimal work on my part, and a smaller guest list (50 or so) and then planning a big, casual, low-stress backyard barbecue later in the summer (2011). The inspiration for this was this photo set from wedding photographer Aruna B, specifically, the reception held at Logan, a restaurant in Downtown Ann Arbor.

As I thought about it more, the idea of a restaurant reception became more and more appealing. The intimate atmosphere, the amazing food, the decor already in place, along with linens, flatware, alcohol. Plus, isn't the idea of renting out an entire restaurant just pretty cool anyway? I called and got some pricing : a $500 fee for the use of the restaurant and a $5,000 minimum order, add on tip and it's essentially $6,000 to cover the venue, food, drinks and literally everything needed for the reception. This is probably comparable to the price of renting a tent, toilets and decorating and catering a wedding at our place. Isn't it funny how when you start looking at wedding pricing what would normally seem like a major expense seems downright reasonable? 

Another perk of Logan is that it is right around the corner from another spot I've had my eye on as a really great space for the ceremony, the Bubble Room, an underground exposed brick room beneath Vinology. (Images also from Aruna B)

You know what's amazing about the Bubble Room? To use it for a wedding ceremony, the rental fee is only $300! And with the hundreds of handblown glass orbs, who needs any more decoration than that? So I'm thinking a small, candlelit ceremony here, and then a short walk around the block and down the street to Logan for a great meal.

Has anyone else had or been to a restaurant reception? What was your opinion?

Love This!

White vinyl table numbers on the water bottles. (Via)