Fancy Find # 11 Faux your honeymoon?

So, after we got engaged last year, FH and I took a fantastic trip to Cabo, we stayed in a nice hotel but I was still weary about wearing my engagement ring. When we go on vacations we love to lay out in the sun and sip daquiris but we also love to take excursions, hike, fish, etc. Well, because of this and not wanting to leave my ring in the hotel room, I decided to get a fake ring from Kohls. I loved the idea but I have a sixe 4.5 finger and the smallest I could find there was a 6.

Anyway, while perusing the pages of Brides Magazine yesterday I stumbled on this website- emitations
Check it out!!! There are so many different designs and styles, you may not find your exact ring but you'll probably find something somewhat similar. I am definitely going to get one of these, they're more expensive than the $19.99 Kohl's one I bought but they look much better and have small sizes.


But, maybe you don't want a ring like the one you have! Maybe you want that J. LO giant rock? (they show original designs and copies of celebrities! how fun!)


A vintage look like Katherine McPhee's? (I am partial to this one cause it is similar to mine with a different cut)



Maybe you want a simple eternity band or just plain band so you can be active and not feel too dressed up!?


I actually found a ring that looks like my soon-to-be-step-sister-in-law's? Looks so much like the Tiffany Lucida!



Here's a link to their clearance- I think this is always the place to look first.

I'm torn between getting something subtle and getting something Ka-BAM! I love the WOW factor but isn't the whole idea not to get robbed? I probably shouldn't attract people who would want to rob me!

Oh- btw- there is a whole line of jewelry, not just engagement/wedding rings!

And the winner is...

Stacie!!!! Stacie has a great blog, The Natural Way and I think that Galit's global, hand crafted style matches that of Stacies beautifully!

I am so grateful for Galit and my first giveaway, I couldn't be more proud, her pieces stopped me in my tracks and I loved sharing them!

Again, here's the piece that Stacie has won. For more check out the Etsy store or Galit's blog! Congrats to Stacie!



I really think the affordable yet gorgeous jewelry on Galit's site would make fantastic bridesmaid gifts, wedding day jewelry, or maybe something for your mother? I am loving this stuff and just thinking of who I need to buy a gift for next!

Its another busy busy week in the Mrs. In May household so there will be few posts once again. I can give this update of my weddings dealings from last week : had a conference call with the florist, my amazing bridesmaids sent out my shower invites, updated my registry, sent the last large payment to the wedding hall (final is due when I know the final count) and, um, I know there were more, does it ever end?

Ooh, also, when I get the chance I'll be reviewing a fantastic purchase I received last week from an Etsy seller, it's the perfect Mother-In-Law gift!

Drum Roll Please.... GALIT BARAK GIVEAWAY!!!!!

OK, so just last week I discovered (ok, with the help of an email from ETSY, me and a million other people "discovered" lol) and posted an amazing Fancy Find from Galit Barak.

To find out more about Galit check out her blog
here's a quick synopsis...
She is a 22 year old jewelry designer from Israel. How amazing is this- she studied fine art before volunteering in a a drug rehab center, then spent time tourguiding soldiers in Jerusalem as a soldier herself. Now she is my favorite new jewelry maker hand crafting each piece with a crochet needle creating unique creations combining beautiful materials like pearls and semi-precious stones.

Now we've teamed up for a giveaway, check out the piece that could be yours!!!!!



Isn't it darling? I think its perfect for you brides-to-be or for any lady to wear around Valentine's day or any day of the year!

Here's how it will work: (NOTE: I sort of stole this process from Make Mine a Mojito, I think she does the best giveaways, ha ha, maybe its because I won one!)

1. Visit Galit's Etsy Store, particularly the Bridal Collection (of course)
2. Leave a comment telling me your favorite piece from the bridal collection
3. If you post a link to the contest on your blog, I'll enter your name twice!
4. Do the above two and become a follower and you'll get a third entry!! (don't worry faithful followers, you'll get this perk if you already are an official follower!)
5. Contest will end on Friday, January 30th and winner will be announced Monday, February 2nd!!
6. Galit will then send you the necklace directly from Israel! (I'll connect you through emails and make sure to keep in touch until you receive your prize)

Got it? Go!!!

Fancy Find #10 Etsy Seller- Galit Barak

So,I am not the only one that gets the daily Etsy email featuring various sellers so this may not be a "find" for you but of today's featured sellers definitely stopped me in my tracks, Galit Barak.

I love this ring! Of course, it says it is sold out but I still love it and thought it would make a great bridesmaid gift or even day of jewelry!


Here are some other things from her Etsy store that I love...




The above pieces are all from the "Bridal Collection". I didn't even realize!


UPDATE:
I just did some searching and found out a little about this craft designer from her blog!
Here's how she describes her jewelry style (take note, she does do custom orders):
"For me each jewelry is a creation stands for it self, I combine colors, shapes and textures while choosing high quality materials.
All my jewelry is made with sterling silver 925 or 14 karat gold filled, semi-precious stones and pearls.
I'm happy to make custom orders, according to your ideas, or joint thinking, for a special event, as a gift, or just because it is time to treat yourself with something new."

VEil pick up!

Stale content, I know, is the worst thing one for a blogger. I’ve just been crazy busy and not had a tremendous amount of time and really, I have been so focused on Christmas and have been working on so many unrelated projects (which means I am extra scatter brained!) that I haven’t had time to think about weddings.

Here’s some exciting news, once again work took me to the Big Apple for the day so I was able to carve out an hour and get some wedding schtuff taken care of. Most important -I picked up my veil today!!!! I have a sneaking suspicion (ok, he told me) that FH logs on to here every now and then so I don’t want to give too much away.

As you may recall, I posted a few weeks ago about my trip to SposaBella Lace to have a veil made (ask for Maci, she was fantastic and even tipped me and mom off to a sale down the block where we bought lots of costume jewelry for next to nothing - I am talking $3 nothing). The veil was a quarter of the price of getting one in the department store where I got my dress. I wanted something simple and could not justify in anyway paying upwards of $400 for two pieces of tulle.

I also picked up my hair piece, I really don’t know what I am going to do with it but I loved it and will bring it to my trial - which is this Friday!!!

All in all I could not be happier with the veil and would highly recommend thinking outside of the bridal salon to purchase your veil and other accessories. They get you because you are there. When you are spending a lot already it is easy to say – hey – what’s an extra $500, but really, think of what that could mean? That’s another 3.5 people I could invite! A step up in the welcome baskets, or heck, that almost covers the cost of my bridesmaids gifts. So when I was able to have the simple veil that was $450 custom made for $95 and the hair piece (just a simple comb) that I saw in Saks for $375 for $95, I think I made the right decision.

Coming this week...
Hair and makeup trials, food tasting, and everything else I can get done over the holidays!!!!

Two dresses? Two looks?

OK, so the two-dress trend is definitely one of the latest and greatest. I love the idea in concept. I mean, giant wedding dresses are definitely not always conducive to cutting a rug all night long. And sometimes the same dress doesn't look right in a church and then in a sleek reception setting.

The post idea came ffter reading an article in the Argus Times (it came across the wedding news ticker), in the article Mark Ingram was quoted saying he saw the trend emerge about 2 years ago and has continued on.

Here's one celeb that made the dramatic change: Christina Aguilera
Dress 1 elegant, form fitting with a heck of a train by Christian LaCroix


Dress 2 Sexy number, definitely a party dress made for dancing and showing the Xtina personality. This one was designed by her stylist Simone Harouche.

Designers are now catering to this trend as well. Go to Priscilla of Boston's website and there is a whole section of "Reception" dresses!
You could go from one of their over the top Platinum collections like this

Or maybe you have a garden wedding and you are looking for something romantic like this from the Vineyard collection?

But then you want to let loose from the tulle or drop the romance and get sexy so you throw on one of these numbers and you are ready to partay (all shown from POB)

Conceptually I LOVE this idea but for a couple of reasons I cannot fathom doing this.
1. My dress was expensive. Maybe not for everyone but for me, its definitely the most expensive thing I have ever worn. How could only wear it for the 1 hour ceremony plus some pics? Seems ridiculous (unless you are the above mentioned Xtina and the wedding dress is just another expensive thing you will don). I mean I justify buying $200 jeans by tellinng myself I will wear them again and again and again. How could I purchase something for thousands of dollars to wear for an hour?

2. I love my dress. I really love it. I want to wear it for as long as possible.
Besides, I didn't go too over the top and I moved around a lot when I tried it on to make sure it was danceable.

However, when I started planning my day, I did want to add some sort of costume change in there. The ceremony is during the day at a traditional Catholic church by the beach. The reception is in the evening in a formal setting, The Woodlands mansion. Wouldn't it be the perfect wedding for a dress change? I think so, but again, not really in the cards.

So here's my plan-
For the church I am going to do pearl studs, pearl strand necklace, veil. Not exactly like this - well not really at all but you get the idea, classic bride wearing classic pearls.
(pic from BridalfashonMall)
Then, once I am ready to get to the evening reception and want to sport a more nighttime look, my plan is to get a pair of "wow" chandelier earrings and go drop both the necklace and the veil. I'll also have in a hair "spray" that I got from here.

What's your thoughts on the dress change phenom? Do you plan to do anything to differentiate the ceremony and reception? NOT that you HAVE to, you spend months figuring out what to wear to one!

I'm Back! Custom Veil Shop

Hey Ladies!!! I am back and back to a semi-normal work schedule where I can blog a bit and more importantly read some blogs!

I got a lot done in a short period of time but there's still a lot to do, I cannot believe I only have 172 days left. Whoa, once you take out the holidays, it will really be here tomorrow.

Let me tell you about the great veil experience I had! I should start by telling you that when I found my dress the sales woman gave me the perfect simple veil to try on. I loved it, just two pieces of tulle, not very puffy and a simple ribbon edge. As I was signing my bill I thought, wait, this does not add up. Oh, because she threw in the $450 piece of tulle. "My dear, this is a very good price for Manhattan", which made me think to myself "listen skinny little NYC socialite wedding fashion authority, then I will look someplace else!" (I say this with the disclaimer that I love and adore her, I just wasn't about to pay $450 for tulle that you can buy at Michael's)

Enter my mom who works in the garment district in NYC. There are fabric and trim stores everywhere. She works close to the famous Mood from Project Runway. My mom started looking around on her lunch breaks and stumbled upon Sposabella Lace. She told them I was looking for a fingertip length two layer diamond white veil with a simple trim. No problem! So I told my mom just to go ahead and order it and they told her that I had to come in, "your fingertip and her fingertip will not be the same length" duh, we didn't think of that!

So, when I had about 2 hours free in NYC last week we went in.
Here's the front of the store, nothing special, just a small fabric store. Its got some really bad flourescent lighting but you are paying a quarter of the price while getting it made specifically for you so you get over it.


I turned the corner and there were two rows of veils.

Its not overwhelming at all, just the perfect amount. See, there really are just a couple of basic styles and you work from there. You pick your length or general style (I wanted simple tulle) then started adding trim, picking the amount of "poofiness" by how much it is gathered, adding layers and the way it falls. The sales girl was great, I, of course, forgot her name but I didn't get the impression that there were too many people that work there.

I went with a simple double ribbon edge, which shockingly is the one I do not have pictures of! But, here's all of the trim you can look at! You can even bring in samples of your dress if there is lace and I can gaurantee that you will find a match.





In the end I went with a simple, two layer, simple gather (middle amount of "poofy", the technical term they used and wrote on my order form) with a double edge satin. It is like two thin rows of trim and just adds something to it. It is fingertip and diamond white. It is almost identical to the $450 one from Saks, instead it has a little extra with the edging. You know what I paid for it...$95!!! Hooray!!

Now, I haven't picked it up yet so I don't want to give them the ultimate glowing review but so far definitely so good, choices were vast, price was right and service was really friendly. I have to be back in NYC for work in a couple of weeks and will pick it up then. I imagine you can get it in about a week and you can have it shipped to you.

Here's the address and contact information for you NYC brides:

Tel: 212-354-4729
Fax: 212-391-4208
Email: Sposabellalace@aol.com
252 West 40th Street, New York, N.Y. 10018


Oh, one more thing before I forget. As tried on the different styles we (me and sales assoc.)would look at my mom for an opinion. She gave subtle opinions but nothing overwheming, the perfect amount of guidance a girl would want. The sales woman was so amazed by this and kept telling me I had a great mom. As if I didn't know that!:) :) And funny enough there was a girl in the store getting a lace and satin dress custom made (you can do that too!) and the mother was being SOOO pushy they were both almost in tears. I could not imagine!!! So yes, I know, I have a great mom!!!

More to come, I did get a beautiful hair piece, tried on my dress (no pics of that) and my mom got her dress! For now, I have work to catch up on but glad to be back!

Quick update!

So, I'm here in NYC and working like a dog but on Wednesday I had 2 hours of wedding shopping, my mother and I took this city by storm!
Heres what I got done:
Had a veil custom designed (which is a little bit of an exxaggeration considering how simple it is)
Bought a hair comb that I am in love with.
Tried on my dress and LOVED it.
Got a great idea for my flower girls.
My Mom got her dress and she got her dress for my stepbrother's wedding in August!

Anyway, I am off to a meeting but wanted to give a quick update so you don't forget me. I'm off to LA after this so I won't have much time until late last week but I did take pictures!

Fancy Find #7: A Find for Him!

I found these great cuff links on Thistle and Bee. Now, they are a little expensive (OK, I think really expensive) but that is why they are a fancy find, not for your everyday shopping. These fun guys range from $195 to $295 for the enamel animal ones but I thought they would be fun as a groom's gift, or maybe for the best man or even for your dad. There are tons more on the site with everything from fox to frogs, different color patterns and your classic silver monogrammed ones.

Just like I think every woman deserves at least one piece of knock your socks off fancy jewelry, I think guys should at least have one pair of nice cuff links.

Fancy Find #5 - Monogrammed Table Runner

Ok, here's something that I can categorize as a fancy thing I never knew I needed (You're right- I still don't NEED), wanted, or every really knew it existed! I love the idea of having a beautiful cake table with this table runner as a centerpiece of the wedding reception room. And one of the things I love most is that this is something you can probably repurpose, maybe use on an armoir, or make into a pillow?
I found this "Find" on Etsy - you know Etsy, right? Its from Etsy seller ArtfulBeginnings and she has lots of fun stuff on there and can help you coordinate your colors, monograms, etc.
I really love the idea of buying things off of Etsy and supporting small craft businesses. it just seems so much more personal for some reason.


Here's another cake table runner from Filigree Monogram Designs:

Unproductive but tan

So I spent the weekend on Long Island, FH came with. I thought for sure we would knock some stuff out this weekend but we got NOTHING done. FH said- we came here to spend the weekend at the beach not to visit vendors. It was hard to argue since we had 2 great days and one day that wasn't a beach day but we did a lot of exercise (In a way this is wedding prep, right?)

I did visit the hair salon while I was there and had a bridal consultation. one of the things I learned is that with the hair style I am thinking about, I need a veil that lays flat when the blusher is pulled down. The consultant explained this to me 4 times and I still do not know if I understood her completely. Either way, I know I need a metal comb, and the veil sewn with a straight line. Who knew?

One more dilemma. I have not been able to get in to see my hair colorist - our schedules were just not meeting up. So I went when I was back home and I LOVE the way my color came out. I can't seriously go to NY every time I want my hair colored! But now, I may have this girl color my hair a few weeks before the big day, I am sure I will have to be up in LI running errands anyway.