How to make your Fashion Dollars stretch in a down economy

As a woman, I love to look my best whenever I go out.

When you look good, you feel good. I also never want to be caught out in public looking terrible, because your bound to run into someone you know. How awful would it be to run into an ex and you're in pajamas and rollers? You know they're going home thinking, "wow best decision I ever made was dumping her."

If you're like most people in this economy and you've had to cut back but you feel you need a little pampering once in a while, you're not alone. Companies are laying off workers and doubling the workload of employees (I'm dealing with it firsthand). The stress and overwork with no increase (and sometimes even a pay cut ) is hard to deal with.

If you bump your attitude up into something positive and decide to dress for success, you can get yourself noticed by your own company or possibly another if you're looking for a new job.

If you're wondering how to do it with a closet full of tired, old, I'll-fitting clothes, I have some tips for you to go out and get top notch looks for less.

• I've discovered the wonderful world of consignment shops in high-falutin' towns. It's amazing what you'll find. Brand new Louis Vuitton handbags, never used for more than 50% off retail. Designer jeans that were $150 and worn once for $25. Dresses, suits, jewelry and watches all designer and unaffordable for most, now at much less than retail.

You really shouldn't snub consignment shops. They're definitely worth a look. The nicer the town, usually the better the quality. 

 I got a pair of gorgeous Gucci shoes that were never worn for $189. I promptly went online to check the retail cost of $475.

Damask Wedding Inspiration

via bellacupcakecouture.com

According to Wikipedia, "Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave. Twill damasks include a twill-woven ground or pattern."

The way we typically think of it today is by the distinct repeating floral pattern that you see in wallpapers or designs. Typically today Damask is a solid color graphic icon set upon a contrasting background.

Big Bold graphic prints are hot right now for modern weddings. It's no wonder so many brides are drawn to not only damask, but leopard print, zebra print and other big bold patterns.

Looking at your Wedding as a Brand

An interesting thought today is considering your Wedding as your very own brand.  As a graphic designer, event planner and marketer it's just part of my whole process.  If you're not use to this way of thinking, it's a great way to gather your thoughts into your personal style.

"There's so much wedding information floating around out there on the web, that it becomes hard to sift through everything." 

We get bombarded by color themes, cakes, flowers, etc.  How do you go picking out what you like?  And worse, what if it all doesn't go together?  You may like a pink rose bouquet, but your favorite centerpieces might have tiger lilies.  Your favorite color may be purple, but your favorite bridesmaid dresses might be green.

An Elegant Invitation from Minted

When you come up with a central theme, it can help a great deal.  How do you go picking a theme?  Well imagine your perfect wedding day.  Picture it in your mind.  Do you want elegance, romance, something modern?  Once you have that down you can begin to break down what that means into your ideals.  Lace is romantic, while a plain satin dress is modern.  Neutral palettes are elegant and timeless, while bright color palettes are more modern.

"You may find when you're done choosing your theme, what you end up with for wedding choices are much different than you originally expected." 

Tip 1. Don't feel bad about what you like.  If your thing is roses, go with it!  It's what makes you, you. Trust me you and your guests will "get it" if everything is consistent and goes well together.  You'll also feel less overwhelmed by all the stuff out there to sift through. If you were to go with a theme like this, you could deck out your invites with roses, have an all rose bouquet and find a gown covered in roses!  Don't be ashamed of it, embrace it.

Elihav Sasson 2012 Bridal Collection

1920's Hollywood Glam was the inspiration for this collection by Elihav Sasson. There's lots of beading, lace and feminine details in this hint-of-lingerie look.

Almost all the looks in this collection tend to be sleeveless despite the current trend of sleeves, boleros and other more modest looks.

If you love the look of satin, beading and traditional Wedding Gowns, this collection is definitely for you.

Need some color inspiration for your wedding?

via fizzyblog

If you're in need of some big color inspiration and you're totally in love with the spring and summer fashion lines coming out in 2012, you're in luck!  I've been tirelessly searching and putting together a fun, cheerful and funky inspiration board for you.  It's for a carnival inspired wedding, but the bright colors are great for any exotic color themed wedding or tropical destination wedding you might be planning.

via pinterest

"A carnival themed wedding is all about fun.  The colors are bright, bold and cheerful.  Think teals & turquoise paired with orange and fuchsia."

The food and decor should be just as fun as the colors.  Instead of a big towering wedding cake, instead try a dessert bar with fun foods (carnival finds like fried dough/funnel cakes) or bright pink whoopie pies with rainbow sprinkles.

2012 Wedding Trend Predictions

photo via: bridalcookie

Want to know what Wedding Trends will be hot in 2012?  I've compiled my top 10 predictions for this years big ideas.

1. Smaller guest lists for a more lavish wedding. When you have a smaller group, you can spend more money per person (aka you're wedding looks extravagant and you can spoil your guests!)
2. Making your wedding a weekend event with a post-wedding brunch and scheduling fun local activities
3. Different Centerpieces. Rather than doing a tall epic centerpiece of flowers,think out-of-the-box like hanging centerpieces.
4. Hand-painted watercolor wedding invitations.  Think gorgeous florals and fruits cascading down your invitations all hand-painted.  Posh Parties is available for this service.

A Pink and Navy Autumn wedding

Happy Halloween Everyone! Boy do I have a Treat for you!  It's a Pink and Navy Autumn wedding. This wedding took place in Gloucester, MA at the Ocean View Inn.

When we met with the fantastic Andrew Kubika of Stay Focused Photography (the talent behind the fabulous photos), we knew he was the perfect personality for our wedding.  He was fun and of course, he took some fantastic photos. His motto is "creatively capturing your most important moments". I'd say that's perfect for his photojournalistic style.

What was this wedding like?  It was a little bit of tradition and a whole lot of fun. Dig into that big bowl of candy and enjoy the Talented Mr. Kubika.

Wedding Readings

Being Catholic I've been to a lot of Catholic weddings of friends and families.  If you've ever been to a Catholic Wedding Ceremony, you tend to memorize the 1 of 2 readings that are always done.  Afraid of falling into this trap with the typical Catholic readings and trying to avoid anything with "fire & brimstone", I turned to the internet for help.  Maybe something modern would be better....

I tried looking up modern wedding readings and nothing seemed appropriate.  Much of what I found was corny or almost seemed to be a joke.  Sorry, but to me a ceremony is a serious commitment. 

The Ceremony and Cocktail Hour Playlist

I've obsessed for hours over the perfect playlist for my outdoor wedding ceremony and cocktail hour.  How I went about coming up with the perfect playlist is from first deciding on what mood I wanted to capture during the Ceremony and Cocktail hour.

I knew that during the ceremony I wanted very traditional classical music and the cocktail hour I wanted things that were much more lively.

How I got to exactly what I wanted was by searching and exploring the interest for playlists and listening to string groups on youtube.

I would recommend if you're doing a very traditional ceremony indoors or outside, you search for groups that have playlists on their websites of weddings.  You can get a good idea of the traditional stuff and what you would like removed or added to that list.  From there, listen, listen and listen some more to cd's, amazon samples of music and youtube.  On youtube I typed in search terms for string quartet, string trio and various songs with "string" in them that I was not familiar with.

The other thing you'll need to figure out is what musicians you'd like to have at your ceremony.    Do you prefer all strings?  Want a floutist?  Or, maybe you'd like a harp?  All have very different sounds, and the pricetag can be very different as well.  Traveling with a harp is difficult; but if you love the sound and can afford it, it can be a very nice touch.

Are you thinking of nixing the live band because of cost?  I'd hate to see someone rely on a CD or Ipod (which could have technical difficulties).  At the very least have the DJ for your reception (if you're having a dj), setup a small set outside just for your ceremony.  It usually doesn't cost much more if your ceremony and reception are in the same location.

So without further adeau, here is the playlist selection for my very traditional ceremony:

Ceremony Playlist

Pre-Ceremony Music –

Hornpipe Water music

Eine kleine Nachtmusic

Spring – Vivaldi
Music of the Night – Phantom of the Opera

Beauty and the Beast – Seating of the parents / grandparents

Processional – Rondeau

Bridal Chorus – Canon in D

Gospel Acclamation\song  – Ave Maria (sung by Jean)

Bride & Groom Recessional – Trumpet Voluntary

For the Cocktail Hour, I definitely wanted something fun, lively and different.  I have a wide variety of music, but nothing that I feel will sound too out of place.  I wanted a mix of swing, jazzy, modern and upbeat music.  I really like how this mix turned out. 

Anything "too out there" for the string group I told them to substitute since I was sure they wouldn't have all the sheet music requests on the list below.  Anything in parenteses below was my way of telling them I saw "such and such" a band playing that song on youtube.

Cocktail Hour Playlist

Viva la Vida – Coldplay

You give me Fever

American Patrol – Glen Miller

Paragon Rag – Scott Joplin

Puttin on the Ritz (modern string quartet Vienna)

Cantaloupe Island – Herbie Hancock (modern string quartet)
Sweet Georgia Brown

It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

Hello Goodbye – Beatles (the string quartet)
In the Mood – Glen Miller

Penny Lane – Beatles (Vitamin String Quartet)

Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve (vitamin string quartet)
U2 – All I want is you (Vitamin String Quartet)

Dare you to move – switchfoot (the string quartet)

Clocks – Coldplay (vitamin string quartet)

Por Una Cabeza – Carlos Gardel

When I’m sixty-four - beatles

Win Free Bridesmaid Convertible dresses for your Wedding!

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If you don't have an account with ideeli, join today in order to register for this wonderful promotion!

Cotton Candy Cocktail Signature Drink

If you read my recent post on how-to make your own Signature Drink Bar Menu's for your next event or wedding, you would have noticed a certain special ingredient on the list...cotton candy.

We decided on a very limited bar selection.  This included Beer (probably 3 kinds: 1 light, and two regular options), Wine (2 reds, 1 white option) , extremely limited liquour (maybe 2-3 kinks) and two signature drinks (both incorporating the same main component, vodka).  The reason for this was simple, to save money and waste.  If we offered everything under the sun for drinks, we'd have a lot of opened-for-one-drink leftovers.  This way we minimize waste.

My idea came from an episode of David Tutera's My Fair Wedding.  In it he served a simple drink with cotton candy as the "sugar rim". When the drink was poured over it, it melted into the glass.  It was a really cool show-stopping drink.  I have to have it.  Isn't it the most fabulous thing you've ever seen?

DIY Pomander Centerpieces

Love floral centerpieces, but hate the pricetag?  My florist quoted my $145 per table for this.  I made what you see here for $12.  These are fake flowers.  However, if you're brave you can order flowers and make them a couple of days before your wedding.

For Faux flowers:
- Syrofoam ball
- glue gun
- glue sticks
- faux flowers
- a base to hold the flowers (i used a candlestick holder)
- greens

For Real Flowers
- a tall bucket
-floral foam ball
- floral tape and wire sticks
- greens
- a base holder
- a base to hold the flowers (i used a candlestick holder)


Faux Flower Instructions:

1. Start to glue your flowers in a circle around your ball, but stop before the base.
2. Start gluing flowers in the other direction around your ball, stopping before the base.
3. Fill in flowers in the rest of the areas that are empty
4. Add greens or filler if desired
5. Place glue around your base/vase the pomander will be sitting on.  Place the bottom of your pomander on top of the glued base.

Real Flower Instructions:

1. Soak your floral foam ball in water in your bucket until soaked through.  The ball will float at first and sink when soaked through.
2. Snip the stems off your flowers to the desired length and stick into your ball, starting at the top and moving around the sides.  If your stems are not strong, use floral sticks and wire to strengthen the stems and then insert them into the ball.  Stop before the base.
3. Add your greens by attaching them to the stems of the flowers and wrapping with floral tape.  You can also alternatively attach them to the floral picks/sticks, but this may add more bulk than you want.
4. Place your base holder into your vase/base.  If it is noticeable, you may want to fill your vase/base with gel, beads, rocks, etc. to hide your base.  Stick your pomander on top of the base holder.  The holder should penetrate the bottom of your pomander to keep it steady.  You can alternatively make your own for your centerpiece.

Watch the Video How-To Instructions below on how I made my DIY Pomander Ball

Weddings are about Love and Friendship

A Wedding is a great time to celebrate love and friendship, not just with your Significant Other, it's a time to celebrate those who have been there for you throughout the journey of your love story.

Don't forget about your wedding party! How many nights did your bridesmaids spend finishing your invitations with you? Who was there when you had a meltdown over your vendor not calling you back? Celebrate the people in your lives that are there for you at your celebration.

A new trend that helps you showcase how special these people are in your life is called "Meet the Maids". Typically a table is setup with photos and a little description of your bridesmaids/groomsmen. You can put how you met each other and why they are so special to you. It's a great way to say "I cherish our friendship" to those that have been there for you.