Destination Inspiration: Bali

Bali has so many architecturally interesting poolside retreats tucked amongst its lush foliage. This inspiration board combines natural textures and of course lots of color, to represent the effortless beauty of this tropical island. Anyone else ready to pull up a lounge chair?

(photo credit)

Clockwise from bottom left: bouquet, Real Simple; drink urn via Real Weddings; cake stand via Fric and Frac; lounge furniture, B-alance; "Fiorella" pleated gown, Nicole Miller; mossy escort cards via Economically Chic; headpiece, etsy seller pompandplumage; napkin rings, Deck Dock; tealight holder, Expressions Emporium; placemats, Stonewall Kitchen; pendant, Blue Nile; candle holders, Aspen Country.

Spotted: A Bride and Balloons in Washington Square

Just happened to be walking by as this wedding party was in Washington Square, setting up for some fun photo op's with their big pink balloons...

Two Web Belles: Serving Up More Tasty Treats

1. We heard about the Lemonade Wedding contest going on down in Florida, and thought it was a really sweet (pun intended) idea. They'e looking for couples who may have fallen on hard times, and will gift one with an intimate wedding at a historic estate. Besides that, the pink, yellow, and gray website design is totally eye catching. Anyway, we were going to throw together a mini lemon-inspired board to include with this write-up, but turns out one of the contest sponsors, event designers studio six eleven, already did one. And did it really well (see below). Totally summery and laid back and...makes us really want to sip some lemonade during outdoor cocktails.

2. You know we get a kick out of offbeat wedding dresses - remember the one made from cake? - so when we saw this frock made from Whiffle balls we thought we'd share. There's a train people would definitely see coming, right?

3. DC area brides in the market for a caterer - RSVP Catering is hosting a tasting event for brides next Tuesday, June 8th. (Here's an invite). RSVP has working relationships with many of the DC metro area's premier venues, and they offer menus that change with the season. Large scale tasting events like this one are the best way to gauge a caterer's potential for your reception. Serving dozens or even hundreds of people visually appealing, well prepared, and most imporantly delicious food is no easy task. An intimate trial run for just you and your groom may be nice, but it isn't representative of all the skills a caterer needs to pull off a seamlessly executed wedding reception service. Plus, you won't have to worry about what to have for dinner next Tuesday.

4. Usually we stay on the bargain hunting end of the shopping spectrum, but we ventured over to luxury e-tailer Net-a-Porter's wedding boutique, and were blown away with the options for a fashionista bride. Imagine sauntering (yes, when you're this well-dressed, you saunter) down the aisle in this Temperly London Gown.

We were surprised to find many of the dresses are comparably priced to the wedding gowns in a standard brick and mortar bridal boutique. The site also features accessories, lingerie, and bridesmaid or mother of the bride/groom dresses. Apart from the shopping options, we LOVE the mini wedding magazine on the site. The "Four Weddings and a Dress" feature is like the beautiful baby of your favorite high fashion magazine layout and the inspiration boards that are a fixture on basically every wedding site across the blogosphere. Each of the spreads have a unique "theme" (country, beach, cocktail, and city hall) but are stylistically edited so they all come across as timeless and decidedly un-themed. (Pretty sure we just coined that phrase).

5. 632 on Hudson is one of Manhattan's most unique and intimate venues. This weekend the stunning restored historic property will serve as host to the Illegal Wedding Fair. The event is an opportunity "to celebrate love for all", and will feature gay-friendly vendors for all the commitment ceremony essentials. It is hard to believe in one of the most liberal areas of the country, same-sex couples are not afforded the same marital rights as other couples. We think this event is a great way to bring attention to the cause, and love the attention grabbing name. Tickets here.

Wedding Recap: Erin & Ryan, Getting Ready

Some of the newer followers of Two Wedding Belles may not know that one of the Two Wedding Belles duo is a recent bride, and the other is recently engaged! No wonder we have weddings on the brain. Oh wait, that started wayyy before either of our guys put a ring on it.

I did a couple recap posts without photos over the winter, but I'm back with the professional pics and so excited to share them with readers and friends!

The wedding was January 2nd, one of this brutal winter's coldest days. We were married in my hometown - a small city in central Pennsylvania. If rain is good luck on your wedding day, what good fortunes must freezing temperatures and more than a little snow predict? We picked a January date for a few different reasons, and although we got some strange looks when we started spreading the word, I loved our winter wedding. I was able to incorporate the season into a lot of the projects I put together for the ceremony and the reception. I'll share all of them with you, but today's post is about getting ready.

I rented a hotel suite for the bridesmaids and had two hairstylists on hand. These stylists were fantastic and had four bridesmaids, a bride, and a mom ready to go in under two hours! We had lunch and some champagne while we took turns in the hair chair. The suite was great because my bridesmaids were all from out of town and stayed at the same hotel. In fact, all of our out of town friends and family were staying at this hotel. We had quite a few drop-ins at the bridal suite- aunts, cousins, college friends. It was happy for the chance to catch up with everyone who came by, because I live pretty far from most of them and don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like.

(personal photo)

Embarrasing picture below, but this was the one point in the day when I shed a few tears. I am a crier, so I was proud of myself for keeping it (basically) together. If you're wondering what set me off, it was Phil Vassar. Just listen to "Love is a Beautiful Thing" on your wedding day and try to keep a dry eye. I love sappy country songs. When the song ended, I asked the girls to play it again. In fact, I'm listening to it right now.

(personal photo)

During the beauty session, the florist arrived with the bouquets and boutennieres. We went with all white flowers and I was so happy with how these turned out! The white carnation bridemaid's bouquets were my favorite, they looked like snowdrifts. We used Long Lane Flower and Garden, which is a small mother and daughter operation. I would highly recommend them to anyone getting married in the area.

(personal photos)

The bouquets were wrapped in satin ribbon, and mine had a special touch. My mom's cross necklace which was passed down from her grandmother, to her mother, to her, to me.

(personal photo)

I found this great cropped (faux) fur jacket and vintage snowflake-esque pin separately on Ebay. Ebay is a great resource for wedding finds if you know exactly what you're looking for. Otherwise it's a little overwhelming. My veil was handcrafted by Jessica. I wasn't willing to spend big bucks on a piece of tulle at a bridal store so I asked her to make one for me. It turned out even more perfect than I expected and I loved wearing something made by one of my best friends. (The veil looks crooked in the photo, but it's just caught on my arm. It was elbow length and completely symmetrical.)

(photos by Roger Shoemaker)

(Gratuitous TWB pic!) That's my sister/maid of honor wielding the DSLR.

(personal photo)

I don't have many of the guys getting ready downstairs... but according to Ryan (the groom) they spent the morning figuring out a few tux snafus, watching HBO, and even managed to pack in a few sandwiches from Arby's, courtesy of the best man.

(personal photos)

Here's my handsome guy!

(photos by Roger Shoemaker)

Next week I'll share the trip to the church and the ceremony. I can't believe it's been six months already!

Two Web Belles: Bridal Bits Before You Hit The Beach

1. J.Crew has opened it's flagship bridal boutique on Madison Avenue!

To celebrate, the retailer is teaming up with Martha Stewart Weddings for the Say "I do" J.Crew sweepstakes! Enter between now and June 30th for a chance to win a weekend trip for two to New York, a wedding consultation with matrimony maven Darcy Miller, and $2,500 to spend during a private shopping experience in the brand new boutique! With that cash you could pick up this creamy confection, and outfit your 'maids. Silk chiffon in vintage blue is pretty much universally flattering. Just saying.

2. Memorial Day weekend is finally upon us and the start of summer means we want that sun-kissed golden bronze look. A tan can really give a nice glow, especially in a white wedding dress, but the risks and damaging effects of the sun aren't worth it. The Belles have collectively tried pretty much every self-tanning product on the market, ranging from discount drug store finds to pricey "designer" skin care products and spray booths (think Ross on Friends). One continues to come out on top: L'Oreal Sublime Glow. It works as a moisturizer, building up a natural looking, gradual color when you use it each day. The kicker is the subtle pleasant scent, which few other products have mastered. (Nothing worse than the tell-tale tanner stench that lingers for days). You can find it at drugstores or mass retailers for around $10.

3. This might be a controversial posting for a wedding blog, but the site my ex's wedding dress was sent to us this week and we got a kick out of it. Honestly, even happily married couples have no practical use for the pricey gown in the back of the closet. The site is a web-based book proposal for a coffee table book of 101 tongue-in-cheek uses for a guy's ex wife's wedding dress after she asked for a divorce. Recent postings include coffee filter, Christmas tree skirt, and drop cloth. If you want a laugh, check it out.



4. The flash of the bulbs. The screens, inks, and papers. Yes, we're talking about Gocco. Not sure what that is? Well it's an at-home, mini version of a silkscreen printer that comes from Japan. Hardcore DIY'ers have ordered Gocco kits to try their hands at creating original paper goods, and have posted numerous accounts of their successes and failures around the web. How do we know? We've read a lot of them. A LOT, a lot. But it wasn't until seeing this tutorial from Massive Empire that we actually could follow the process easily and (finally!) understand all the steps involved. Are we brave enough to try Gocco now? If we were, it would surely warrant an entirely separate post. Stay tuned.



5. And today we leave you with this, the drool inducing buttercream wonder captured by Such Pretty Things that nearly had us ready to lick our laptop screens. So light, so fluffy, so NOT helping the beach-ready (or wedding-ready) mentality, if that's what you're striving for. Hey, a Belle can only have so much sugary restraint, no matter what season it is.




Happy Memorial Day Weekend!