It’s officially wedding season. Or, in my case, ENGAGEMENT season, since I’ve heard about/toasted to 6 newly engaged couples in the past two weeks or so (!!!) and probably another 6 couples over the past few months! Such an exciting time! AND (not to make it all about me), just found out that I will be the maid of honor (refuse to use the term “matron of honor” — sounds so old and ogrely) in my bestie’s wedding and am dying with excitement (!!!) I’ve clearly already begun to make some preliminary plans for all of the awesome parties I’m going to be throwing in her honor over the next year or so, and have also already bought her a truckload of engagement prezzies, including a Smythson wedding planner with her NEW initials engraved on it.
She informed me that she’s already stocked up on Le Pens ($1.69 apiece, Marvy) and some organizational folders/dossiers ($18, SeeJaneWork), like a good little bride:
The pens will come in handy for all of the THANKYOUNOTE writing she will be doing, and — to further assist her in the enormous task of wedding-related letter-writing — I found her the most ADORABLE note cards in the universe from TheLittleBlackShop:
When I reached out to place the order, I got to “e-meet” the creative genius behind the line, who turns out to be just the loveliest of people as well as the UBER-talented founder/head designer of a event planning / design firm, LittleBlackPress. (She also lives in Boston, MA, my current dream city, as noted in Friday’s post…). She has generously offered one lucky reader a set of personalized cards from her shop! What what! To enter, all you need to do is leave a message on this post telling me about the best piece of mail you’ve ever received — acceptance letter to college? love note? $5,000 refund? Pair of Louboutins? What was it?! Please also check out TheLittleBlackShop’s Facebook page (lots of interesting ideas for the brides-to-be!) and her uh-may-zing bloglet to swoon over her event-planning capabilities. Enter to win by Thursday, 5/19 — I’ll announce a winner on Friday, 5/20! Also, died over her “Pregnant in Heels” cards given my unhealthy obsession with the new Bravo series of the same name. (Ridiculous and also addictive.)
Need to order now?! The sweet proprieter has offered 20% off all purchases from her Etsy storefront with coupon code FASHION, from now through June 30! WOOO! Love is in.the.air.
But down to the nuts and bolts of wedding/engagement season: what to wear to all of the festive wedding-related occasions so many of us have on our social agendas over the next few weeks? I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve received about wedding-related wardrobe decisions, i.e. what shoes to wear with a bridesmaid dress, where to go for cute wedding presents, etc. So here goes: a few styling ideas to leave us stylish throughout the season!
My first instincts for wedding attendant fare? A bright sorbet-colored dress (mango — Tibi, $155, TheOutnet; strawberry — $305, Zimmerman; or raspberry — $345, RebeccaTaylor) —
I like the idea of complementing with some dazzling, high-def turquoise statement jewelry — how about this go-geous necklace by Loren Hope ($175, LorenHopeDesigns — incidentally, bought my mother’s “mother of the bride” thank you gift from her — the “Belize Cluster” necklace, and she loved it):
Perfect with a chic clutch (love this beaded style — Chloe, $1,650, MyTheresa) and some eye-catching gold sandals (OMG, obsessed with the entire Rupert Sanderson collection! — $795, Rupert Sanderson):
If you shy away from bold colors, this soft gray dress (on sale for $229, Calypso) is lovely, and I d.i.e. over the soft “epaulette” inspired accents on the shoulders.
I kind of like it with some dramatic sparkling danglers ($270, Dannijo) and some jaw-dropping shoes (a girl can dream, can’t she?! — one concern about these: they may upstage the bride…$3,295, Net-A-Porter):
With a monochomatic look of this sort, a little POP in the form of a funky clutch is in order — still head.over.heels for these be-petaled Sondra Roberts clutches, which come in a range of colors ($105, SondraRoberts):
The above dress is also available in a classy navy hue that would look killah with some emerald-inspired earrings ($280, Mariam Haskell)
I’d finish with a show-stopping cuff (Alexandra McQueen, $670, TheOutnet) and some glittering pumps (Kate Spade, $325, Jildor) —
For the pastel-lovers, how to die is this elegantly-draped mint dress ($368, Alice & Olivia), especially offset by coral earrings ($320, Bounkit):
I’d finish with a pearl-accented bracelet ($480, Mariam Haskell) and one of the amazing Amanda Pearl roll clutches ($1,395, AmandaPearl):
