The Bride Made Me Buy This - article from the NYTimes

These brilliant women decided to wear their ugliest bridesmaid's dresses and battle out their resentment through a football game.
{photo by Jeffrey Boodman}


This particular bridal party was made up of anyone that showed up in an old bridesmaid's dress, what a fun loving, good humored bride!


This last one is my favorite, a total classic.

While browsing through NYTimes.com, I came across this really funny article about bridesmaid's dresses. I happened to miss it when it came out, around the same time as the release of 27 Dresses, but nonetheless still a funny read and look through some really tacky bridesmaid's dresses and creative ways to have fun with them after a wedding.

{images from the New York Times}

Alex Woo

Last weekend I met jewelry designer Alex Woo at The Wedding Party event and she was so delightful to speak with. I think any of her designs would be a great gift for a bridal party. I especially love the Narissa Collection, the delicate and weightless look of the reefs are really beautiful and perfect for a beach wedding.

{images from Alex Woo}

Chapeau de Gateau

Speaking of Mokuba, I came across these lovely cake toppers by Alison Dawson, founder of Chapeau de Gateau in Canada. She handcrafts these beautiful detailed cake replicas made from Mokuba ribbons. Not only can you adorn your cake with ribbon she can make you one from ribbon to last a lifetime.

{images from Chapeau de Gateau}

Mokuba

Last week I took a day off from work to go ribbon shopping. My first stop was Mokuba New York, I was blown away by the amazing selection of thousands of ribbons, yes, thousands. I highly recommend going there, it was supposed to be the first stop of many ribbon stores, but leaving there I felt completely inspired and didn't feel the need to continue shopping. There was a wholesale only sign on the door, but I went in and the staff was extremely helpful and let me shop. Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos, but above are some scans of the ribbons I picked up. If you have a tax i.d. # you can get 30% off your purchases, which really helps. Some of the ribbons were a bit pricey but considering all of the ribbons are original designs and made in Japan with some of the finest materials, it's justified. I wouldn't be surprised if your wedding dress has trim from Mokuba, I saw a famous wedding gown designer shopping around while I was there.

I am thinking about wrapping the second to last ribbon around the base of each tier on our wedding cake as well as the cake topper...

Mokuba New York
55 West 39th Street
New York, NY 10018
#212-869-8900

{top image from Mokuba New York}
(bottom image from Thoughtful Day}

The Wedding Party

This past Saturday, I went to the Martha Stewart Weddings / The Wedding Library event with fellow bloggers Vané of Brooklyn Bride and Anne of Perfect Bound. It was so much fun to attend with other passionate brides! The event was really insightful with notable speakers Preston Bailey, Darcy Miller of MS Weddings (who is as cute as a button!), Reem Acra, and Mark Ingram, all of whom gave great advice from the many years of experience they've had in the wedding industry.

There were so many amazing vendors, all of which were delightfully wonderful and nice to speak with. Some of the highlights for me were Hatch Creative Studio, their floral installations are always a work of art, the table setting collaboration with Ceci New York and Stone Kelly was gorgeous, Alex Woo had a beautiful selection of jewelry (everything handmade in NYC), Jenny Ebert Photography, Ron-Ben Israel Cakes (had a wonderful little set up of cake tastings, yum!), and the ladies from Bubble and Lo who did a little makeup session on moi, with fake eyelashes! Overall, it was a fantastic event, I highly recommend any bride to be to attend these, you can't go wrong if MS Weddings is putting it on.

Thanks Vane and Anne for such a wonderful day!

(top two rows)
Hatch Creative Studio
(bottom row)
Ceci New York and Stone Kelly

{images from Thoughtful Day}

Hannah Clark

Jeweler Hannah Clark has created a beautiful assortment of handmade bohemian jewelry. Most of the hand crafting is done in her little gem of a shop located in the East Village. Along with her own designs, the shop has a carefully curated mix of both vintage and new jewelry. A great place if you want to get custom rings made or an original piece for your bridesmaids.

{images from Hannah Clark}

Incredible Invite!

Via Elizabeth Anne Designs I came across one of the most amazing wedding invite booklets I have ever seen, designed by Masuga. So much time, thought and energy went into this. I love how personal it is, such a beautiful and thoughtful way to be invited to a wedding.

{images from Masuga}

Marie Torbensdatter Hermann

I love the work of Marie Torbensdatter Hermann, her shapes and use of color appear to be very minimal and subtle, but when put in an installation like the top image, the scattered repetition of color, shape and height is nothing but beautiful.

{images from Matin Gallery}

Heart Shaped

A cute little heart shaped teacup could be a sweet little Valentine's Day gift...It is not so much my style, but I thought it was share/gift worthy.

J.Crew

I love the colors (especially the yellow!) and styles of the new J.Crew bridesmaid's dresses. I ordered my bridesmaid's dresses right after the New Year and was heartbroken I didn't wait a week longer to see the new dresses from J.Crew. Through some sweat, luckily no tears, I was able to cancel the dresses, and order the J.Crew ones, I am so relieved! I absolutely love the ready to wear aspect of their party dress suite and the fact that it is super convenient and easy to place orders.

{images from J.Crew}

Handmade By Alys

These little flower packets by Handmade By Alys are adorable. I'm not sure if they do indeed have flower seeds, either way they're a really cute way to incorporate your theme onto a favor.

Check out her work, I love her illustration style.

{images from Handmade By Alys}

Flight 001

Flight 001 is a great little boutique for everything travel related. Lucky me, there is one right down the street from my apartment in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. The interior of the shop has been designed to feel like a stylish airplane cabin, I love the walnut veneer. It's great place to pick up some small favors to go inside a welcome tote, especially perfect for a destination wedding. Some are a little pricey if you have to buy a lot, but if you are having a smaller wedding some of these items are easily manageable.

(top l-r) E- Boost Packets will help keep your guests immunity up for a weekend of fun! These Essential Wipes are refreshing lemon towelettes, perfect after a long flight. (middle l-r) I love this vintage inspired Air Ticket Memo pad designed to look like a plane ticket. This on the go Mini Ping Pong Game will actively suit the restless children (and adults!) at any of your festivities. (bottom) These super hip Passport Covers are great for guests that have to fly out of the country.

All of the Flight 001 locations:
Chicago
Brooklyn
New York City
Dubai
San Francisco
Berkeley
Los Angeles

{images from flight 001}

Get Dovey

This new little print by Wonting is perfect for the new year and a great little wedding gift. Check out the rest of Wonting's cute, beautifully illustrated Gocco prints at Etsy. I love her stuff!

Monique Lhuillier for Royal Doulton

I am thrilled to see that Monique Lhuillier launched a dinnerware collection for Royal Doulton. It makes perfect sense. All of the gorgeous and lavish details found on her gowns have inspired elegant dinnerware and stemware patterns. I love the subtle colors, especially the pearlescent warm grey hue on the Femme Fatale collection with the embossed lizard skin...I think it's brilliant! The delicate rings with scattered dots on the Étoile drinkware are just too precious and don't get me started on the Blanc vase, it's my favorite! If you can't afford your dream Monique Lhuillier gown, you can still let her be a part of your life. All of the dinnerware, vases and stemware are available at Bloomingdales.

(l - r)
Blanc vase - Femme Fatale
Étoile
Atelier - Dentelle
Joie - Étoile detail
Ruban - Étoile

Printed Hometown Totes

These cute Maptotes are a great way to carry around some hometown pride. At only $15, they are the perfect grocery bag or carryall for a days adventure around your favorite neighborhood.
{images from Maptotes}


Which reminds me, I snatched this Built By Wendy Great Lakes tote last year, it is perfect for me considering I grew up in Illinois and now live in New York. I feel proud to carry it around.
{image from Built By Wendy}

Canada Type

Check out these fonts from Canada Type, depending on your style, they would be great for any upbeat, modern invite. Click below to buy any of the above fonts or just browse Canada Type's website to look at all of the great fonts they have to offer!

(Top - Bottom)
Jezebel
VIP
Pendulum

Made By Girl

These customizable posters from Made By Girl would be a nice little gift for a loved one or new parents. She also has a stationery line with a wide range of card themes, I especially like the Amor card in the love pack.

{images from Made By Girl}

Mr. Boddington's Studio

Ever since I first saw a Mr. Boddington's wedding invite in New York Mag's Wedding issue Summer 2007 I have been totally inspired. I am in love with the fonts, colors and patterns they use for all of their stationery. Their invites are completely sophisticated, original, and charming with all of the beautiful and thoughtful details. I am in the process of designing my own invites and I constantly go back to theirs for inspiration.

{images from Mr. Boddington's Studio}

Shweta Kumar