Black & white wedding

In honor of the release of "The Great Gatsby", I wanted to come up with a 1920's-inspired black and white wedding theme.

Let's start at the top and work our way down.
The Royal Wedding brought the fascinator to the forefront of fashion. I love the idea of a fascinator in place of a veil. You still get the veiled effect without looking like a snow beast. Black piping on the edges of a white fascinator ties into my theme perfectly.


ModCloth
Next, we want to add just a hint of sparkle by adding some sparkly, black button earrings. You want to keep the the earrings very simple so as to not detract from the dress and fascinator.


ModCloth
Then, we have the dress. I absolutely adore the idea of a tea-length dress for a wedding. A tea-length dress has such a fairy-tale feel to it and anytime something makes a woman feel like a princess, she should take full advantage. Especially on her special day.


ModCloth
And last but certainly not least, a simple pair of shiny black and white spectator pumps. Again, the shoe should be somewhat simple so as to not detract from the dress and fascinator.


ModCloth
For the hair with this ensemble, I think a simple, low chignon would work best. For the makeup, I suggest a clean eye with just a clean sweep of black eyeliner on the top lid only and a light coating of black waterproof mascara. Follow that with a light berry cheek and a long-lasting crimson lip.

As for a bouquet, I would suggest a simple, round arrangement of creamy white roses accented with black sheer ribbon and a little bit of black sparkle.

This theme is perfect for the non-traditional bride who may be planning a black and white evening wedding.

Beach wedding

Lulus
Summer is drawing near and 1 or more of you may be considering a summer beach wedding and I have put together a great look for you! First off, I suggest going barefoot, as long as you can do so safely. If you cannot do so safely, a cute flower-trimmed sandal would be perfect. (I do not suggest flip-flops as they would just flick sand everywhere.)

If you're planning a daytime service, this dress would be perfect because it has a slightly more casual feel to it. If you're planning an evening or sunset ceremony, replace the shorter dress with a tea-length dress. A full-length dress may not work on a beach nearly as well.

In place of a veil, soft, beachy waves (as shown in either picture) interwoven with flowers or butterflies would make a gorgeous and appropriate topper. You could use different types and colors of ribbon to suit your look. But I do suggest that you use some sort of ribbon or a specialty band when you're making your hair trellis.

For a bouquet, you could carry light-colored gerbera daisies in a small round arrangement accented with the same ribbon you used in your hair.

As far as your makeup, keep it very soft and ethereal for day - soft pink blush and gloss, light mauve eye shadow and light mascara. For evening, you can go slightly heavier with your makeup but you still want to keep it very natural - berry blush, medium mauve lipstick, wine eye shadow and 2 coats of mascara.

Complete this look with no jewelry for the day or simple, dainty, sparkly jewelry for the evening.

Wedding unique

I love to browse the web and imagine different outfits in my head. This idea was particularly fun since it is a bridal idea. There are many brides who do not want to wear white for their wedding or that just want something unique. This dress and these accessories would be ideal for such a bride. This look isn't all that expensive. The dress is $277.99 at ModCloth. Unfortunately, I didn't get a price on the accessories.

The only thing I would make any adjustments to would be the Melinda Rose veil. The net portion would be a beige or grey and instead of a bow I would have some peacock feathers, a jeweled pin or even nothing.


ModCloth


Melinda Rose


GoJane
This outfit was styled with an outdoor evening wedding in mind. This idea would be absolutely gorgeous with a smoky eye and nude lipstick. Finish it off with a pair of large pearl or colored gemstone (blue diamonds would be stunning) stud earrings. Keep your flowers very simple - a small nosegay of sterling silver roses with lots of greenery (no baby's breath) would look fantastic. You could also opt for no flowers at all. Your options are endless and it's your day so go crazy. Just make sure that you make your day YOU.

My Royal Wedding tea party

If you remember, I TRIED to stay up all night so that I could watch the Royal Wedding live but ended up falling asleep about an hour before it started. I also had plans to get all dressed up with a fancy hat and everything.

Instead I had to watch recorded coverage online in my pajamas. But I DID still have my Royal Wedding tea party by myself. lol

I used a set of fine china. I purchased that china at a thrift store for $11 for 4 complete place settings. The reason I had purchased it was because I thought that it had such an Irish feel to it with the green and gold.

On my menu was vanilla chai tea, pecan shortbread cookies and an assortment of sugar-free chocolates including English toffee squares. Now that I'm typing this, the menu sounds just a little dull.

I just wish that I had planned a much larger tea party for my friends and we all could have dressed up and everything. Maybe when Harry gets married . . .

Bllliiinnnggg!

I'll admit it - I am easily distracted by shiny objects. It's true! I looooove jewelry. So I was really excited to see what Kate Middleton was going to wear for her royal wedding. So here is a picture of her wedding bling.

The tiara is the Cartier "Halo" tiara that King George VI purchased for his wife in 1936 and was given to Queen Elizabeth for her 18th birthday. The Queen loaned it to the Duchess of Cambridge for her special day.

The earrings were a gift from Kate's parents. The dangle in the middle of the earrings is an acorn - from the Middleton family crest.

And, of course, there is the ring. The beautiful 18-carat saphire and diamond ring that Prince Charles gave to Princess Diana for their engagement. It was then presented to Kate Middleton by Prince William as his "way of making sure that my mother didn't miss out". I haven't heard anything about the actual wedding band that the Duchess of Cambridge wears but I believe it to be either a gold or platinum band - simple and just like Diana.



The Duchess didn't wear any other jewelry for her wedding. She is truly a classy, elegant, yet simple lady.

The "other" royal wedding

I just couldn't resist posting this picture of Princess Diana and Prince Charles after they married. She must have been so happy at this moment. I will always remember watching this wedding over and over. I guess I can officially consider myself a "closet royalist"!

Disneyfied royal wedding

I stumbled across the pictures below of the Royal Wedding . . . Disneyfied in Cinderella fashion. I thought they were absolutely adorable and just a little bit humorous.


Prince Charming and Catherella

The Princesses as Catherella's stepsisters

I would imagine that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are absolutely lovely girls and nothing like the stepsisters. After all, I did read this morning that the bid for Princess Beatrice's royal wedding hat is up to $30,000 ! ! ! Again, my suggestion is to put the royal wedding portrait in the center. The bids will sky-rocket!

More hats

Here are Carole Middleton, Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at the royal wedding. I love their hats. They are much more conservative than Princess Beatrice's hat but still have that Kentucky Derby vibe. I probably would have added some sort of feathers to Camilla's hat just to add a little more interest though.

I adore big sunhats and cute conductor caps and interesting beanies . . . that sort of thing. I am a hat person. I buy hats and I wear hats. Why don't more people wear hats?

The HAT

And I don't mean as in Cat in the . . .



Though I suppose you could put a cat in this hat and no one would probably even notice!

This is Princess Beatrice's hat from the royal wedding. This hat is exceptional! It is incredibly bold and extremely interesting. I know that it's a little over-the-top but it added a little flavor to the royal wedding. She did keep the hat in a nice neutral color and coordinated it to her outfit to keep it from entering Mad Hatter territory. Could you imagine if this hat were red?!



I just read that she is now auctioning the hat off on ebay. It will benefit charity though I don't know which one. My recommendation - put an official wedding portrait of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, in the center opening. It's sure to fetch a much higher price!

Her ACTUAL nail polish

I stumbled across an article that listed several of the style items from the royal wedding. Princess Catherine layered 2 different nail polishes to achieve her wedding day look. I can't remember the name of the one from Bourjois but the other was from Essie called "Allure". Amazingly enough, Essie polishes are now available at your local Walgreens for $8.

I am really liking Princess Catherine. She seems to be so down-to-earth. She wears affordable things that are attainable by the average woman. She did her own makeup for her wedding. She wore a very simple wedding dress. She wanted to look like herself for her wedding. She just seems to be a young lady with her head on straight. I love it!

What was she thinking?!?!?!

I took one look at Victoria Beckham's royal wedding outfit and nearly died. What in the hell was she thinking??? It looks like she found a navy blue gunny sack (oversized, of course) and cut holes in it for her arms and head. It was so shapeless. Victoria normally has such good taste. I think it must have been the pregnancy hormones that led to her poor choice. But I will give her kudos for the sky-high heels that she wore while being pregnant. As far as the hat, I'm still up in the air on that one. But her arm accessory (I mean, husband), now that is something I can get on board with!!!


THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE!!!!!
I absolutely love the simplicity of Catherine's gown and the angora sweater she wore over it. She looked so chic yet regal. It was absolutely exquisite!

It finally got here!

The Royal Wedding finally got here and whizzed right by me! I'm sad to say that I actually fell asleep before the wedding so I didn't get to watch it live but I did watch it after I got up.

I stayed up all night. I read, I did crossword puzzles, I watched crime shows, I did everything I could but, alas, it did not work. But moving on . . .

Could this wedding or Catherine Middleton been any more perfect or beautiful?



Catherine Middleton was one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen! Even more so than Princess Diana, I think.



Her dress was so simple, yet it was incredibly regal.



Everything was so appropriate, including her bouquet, which was a flower called Sweet Williams.



And her Prince was so dashing and handsome and regal and so much his mother.



He even blushed a little bit after the kiss(es) on the balcony.



And just the incredible love and comfort that they share with each other is absolutely amazing!

They were so natural and relaxed around each other, even though you could still see that they were both nervous (even after all these years together). Prince William winked at his Princess. They shared loving glances and smiles. Their waves were not the typical small circle like Queen Elizabeth II uses. Catherine was so regal and composed the entire time. And I was EXTREMELY impressed to learn that she had done her own makeup!

She didn't want Prince William to see her in her dress until she arrived at the altar and he honored that request. He actually ended up being the last person to see her in her dress. But I bet, it was worth the wait. She . . . was . . . stunning!

I'm so excited!!!!!

I'm about to burst here! I can hardly wait for the royal wedding to begin. I have my website up and I've got tons of snacks and, of course, tea. I'll be getting out the china soon and making up my tea party food.

I am going to be the only one in attendance for my tea party but I'm still gonna love every single minute of it.