Love, Freddy & Ma

A few days ago we posted about the new service for brides at Freddy & Ma, and now they are offering our readers 20% off any of the bags on their site from now until the end of September with the code FAYEGREER. And brides always get 20% when you order 5 or more of their clutches. If you are stumped on which bag to go for, check out their blog for some great ideas- we especially love the "Bag of the Day" where Freddy & Ma style a whole outfit around one of their bag designs!

Hamptons Style

It's labor day weekend! Feeling inspired by the prospect of a lazy and long weekend, I keep going back to look at these pictures from the Hamptons taken by The Sartorialist for Style.com. Click here to see the full slideshow.

{L to R: Eva Prinz, Lauren Bush, and Mandy Moore from Style.com}

Wouldn't it be fun to be a guest at wedding with this kind of laid-back elegance- sort of like a Gatsby-style event with croquet, melon balls, and lots of women wearing big, floppy hats (for Faye, she loves hats)? That is the kind of country club wedding I would actually want to go to...

{Top: Brides, invitation from Bird & Banner, MS Weddings;
Middle: croquet set on Oh How Charming!, Calico cake from MS Weddings, bouquet by Ariella Chezar;
Bottom: picture from Style.com, dress from MS Weddings, melon balls from Martha}

Enjoy your lazy long weekend!

Martha Stewart Photo Galleries

This might be old news, but over the weekend I noticed these little photo galleries from Martha Stewart Weddings where the pictures are not so itty bitty! Some of the content of their website is so small you can't see the painstaking details (which MS is all about), so we are happy to have these slideshows to browse since we are the unlucky few without back issues to sift through. They are a little difficult to navigate though, so we thought you might like links.

A Slice of Heaven- includes couture cakes, china cakes, and cakes decorated with flowers
All in the Details- includes guest books, seating cards, and place cards
Bridal Bouquets- includes roses, pink bouquets, colorful bouquets, and ribbons, wraps & details
Take One, Please- includes cookies, other sweet treats, and pretty packages
Style & Substance- includes tea length dresses, ball gowns, and slim sheaths
Gorgeous Gowns- includes photospreads Portrait of a Lady, Fashion A to Z, The Dress Atelier, and In Perfect Shape

These are non-wedding focused, but cute none-the-less...
Cutest Cupcakes
Summer Parties

Freddy & Ma Weddings

Many of you have seen Freddy & Ma's custom handbags in magazines like InStyle and Lucky, and also recently on the arms of The Hills' cast! So Faye and I were excited to hear that they are expanding their custom handbag services to brides-to-be and bridesmaids, offering special customization services from helping brides design their own purse for the big day to providing pretty purses for your bridesmaids.

As part of this new service geared towards brides, they will offer exclusive colors you won't find on their website, or if you are really into matching colors, you can send them fabric swatches and they will find complementary hues to recolor any of the 750 existing prints (in the past some prints have even been designed by Oh Joy!, seen here and here) to match your palette. In addition, specialty custom options are available if you want to create custom variations of their prints to make each bag as unique as your bridesmaids. If you want to keep it subtle, they can line each bag in a different color. Or you can add Freddy & Ma to the guest list for bridal showers and bachelorette parties, and they promise to "coax out the inner handbag designer in everyone, and help friends and family design their very own purses" (limited to NY, San Francisco, and LA). Oh, and they are just really cute!

{email brides[at]freddyandma[dot]com for more information, or call 917.514.5155}

On the short side

Faye and I both flipped for this BCBG dress in the store, but unfortunately the one color dress I could not buy was white since I was shopping for a wedding. But seeing the dress again here reminded us of how cute it would be for a casual wedding or a re-commitment ceremony (which I hope my parents do!). This bride makes the dress look chic, sophisticated and perfectly wedding-day appropriate. See more short bridal dresses on Brides.

{photo from Paul Johnson Photography}

Nesting

{moving card by Elum via Greer Chicago}

So, we are moving next week and I am getting more and more excited about setting up our first home together, but I was even more excited when I read on the Blue Orchid Blog that Abby of Abby Jean Press and Style Me Pretty is working on Style Me Domestic, a blog for the style-obsessed dweller! Awhile ago, she transformed a living room into a wedding so we can't wait to see what she comes up with in this new venture. In the spirit of nesting, here is my current wishlist for our new home...


{Dwell Chinoiserie Bedding}


{all products from Anthropologie: owl salt & pepper shakers, rooster timer, bluebird grapefruit sugar bowl, yellow rose canister}

Whitney Port

One of my favorite guilty pleasures, The Hills, is starting a new season tonight- what a nice birthday night this will be for me! Whitney Port, one of the girls on the show, seems surprisingly grounded and always looks so pulled together, read more about her style here...

{photo from Who What Wear Daily}

Simply Vera by Vera Wang for Kohl's

Hits stores September 9th, what do you think? I've actually never stepped foot into Kohl's...see more photos from the "Wizard of Oz" themed ads on nitro:licious.

{photo via nitro:licious}

Sweet Trinkets by Lustre

Loving this etsy seller's necklaces and earrings with a vintage heirloom feel...


{photos from Luxe Deluxe}

Fall at J.Crew

We are both loving J.Crew's fall colors with new dresses in alpine green, deep indigo, and spiced wine. Feeling so much inspired that we made a little inspiration board for a wedding with these colors. Enjoy!

{Top: bouquet by Sarah K Chen Photography, reception from The Knot, invitation from Mr. Boddington's Studio;
Middle: photo from Brides, cake by Natasha Goellner, photo from Brides;
Bottom: centerpieces by Tapestry Flowers, dresses from J.Crew, flowers from The Knot}

Tim Gunn

Saw a preview for Tim Gunn's new Bravo TV show called "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" and I literally squealed with joy. I love that man so much- during each season of Project Runway, my favorite treat is to download Tim's podcast and go for a run, I could listen to him forever. So on Thursday, September 6th, at 10pm I will be glued to the TV wearing this:

(I'm not joking, best birthday gift ever last year.)

Bridesmaid Dresses

I had to laugh when I read this post by SocialDesign a few days ago because they are so right- the entire bridesmaid fashion industry is a total rook! The truth is that there are so many better alternatives if you just do a little research. Trust us, sometimes non-matching bridesmaids can look eclectic and really cute.

Both of these brides chose colorful bridesmaid dresses, but be careful with this idea- you don't want to end up with a jelly-belly wedding:

{photos from The Knot from Rachel & Mike and Brianne & Derek}

Here the bridesmaids looks are more uniform but still do not matching exactly; in the first wedding, the bride chose a mix of nutmeg-brown and antique gold dresses and in the second wedding, the bridesmaids wore dresses in shades of green.

{photos from Brides from Rebecca & David and Katrina & Jason}

We decided not to have a traditional wedding party because my new sister-in-law is 16 years old and I have one cousin who is 15, so we thought it would be perfect to have the two girls in the wedding with his sister next to him and my cousin standing by me. After researching bridesmaid dresses on the internet, Faye and I were both appalled not only by the style and quality of many of the bridesmaid dresses we looked at, but also the styling of the pictures online- almost all of them feature ridiculous cleavage and windblown hair to the point where we sometimes felt a little dirty just looking at the pictures! With only two bridesmaids, we knew they should probably match, and because they are so young, we quickly decided to look elsewhere like J.Crew, Ann Taylor, White House Black Market, E-Dress-Me, and Nordstrom. Finally, we found the perfect dress for everyone's comfort level at Anthropologie of all places, which actually has a nice selection of both patterned and solid short dresses. We chose the Crosswinds dress in nautical blue, made from summery crinkled gauze with a v-neck and a smocked waist, and for only $88. I should add that I liked this dress so much when I modeled it for my fiance, that I bought one for myself! I know both me and the girls will wear this dress over and over again.

{photo from Anthropologie}

If you are absolutely bent on having your bridesmaids match, one good option is for you to choose the fabric and color and let them choose the best style for themselves.

{photos from Brides}

Finally, we agree with SocialDesign's recommendation to look for designer dresses that will often be less expensive than traditional bridesmaids dresses and will look so much better. Check out these foxy Catherine Malandrino dresses with metallic sandals- if the bridesmaids must match, make sure they all look and feel beautiful and comfortable!

{photos from Brides}

Art Deco Earrings

I finally tracked down my art deco style Adriana Orsini earrings for the wedding. I first saw them here and then here, but they were never in the store! Finally, I found mine at Saks Fifth Avenue (the third Saks I went to). So excited to wear them!

Shopping for the Mother of the Bride

As long as my daughter Greer has expressed dreams about getting married, I have visualized what a lovely bride she would be. I could see her in a wedding dress with a handsome man, the whole event, and of course, me looking fit and fashionable. Within a few weeks of the official engagement, we had already secured her dream dress in a small bridal boutique and reserved her and her fiancé’s first choice for a casual outdoor garden wedding on a summer evening. Everything seemed to be moving along fast but smoothly with the color scheme, and therefore my dress, still a work in progress.

Every mom wants to look lovely at her daughter’s wedding; after all, Greer may see some similarities between us in 30 years. Having poured over all the etiquette books that were dropped off by friends shortly after the engagement, I started shopping with only two rules in mind: 1) the MOB will not clash with the wedding colors or embarrass the bride (no frumpiness and “No Talbots!” exclaimed the bride) and 2) avoid all black or all white. Simple enough!

I soon found out that there is a lot more to shopping than finding something you like. MOBs cannot shop for an outdoor summer wedding in the winter unless they plan to dress in cruise attire or so many sequins and bugle beads that they become strobe lights (violates 1st rule- would surely embarrass the bride and self). After 3 months of us both searching, Greer spotted a wonderful royal blue silk chiffon dress from Nordstrom. The dress did not come in petite sizes (petite for short, not invisible). We ordered two sizes and I found out why petite sizing is so important: the neck and shoulders produced a hump back that startled me and scared my seamstress. Add rule #3: Alterations cannot perform miracles. Do not expect seamstresses to correct misaligned armholes, incorrect zipper closures and an uncomfortable waist. Sigh, back to the drawing board.

Since it was clear that I needed a petite dress, Greer and I decided to exhaust all our petite-sized options at Ann Taylor and J. Crew, but still no Talbots. We loved a pale pink halter-style dress from J. Crew but would have to order petite sizes online. I fired off the catalogue picture to moms who had inquired what the mother of the bride will be wearing to the wedding. Low and behold, their comments flooded the phone wires and my inbox and I quickly retreated with a fourth rule that seemed strikingly less flexible than my previous rules: “No bare shoulders!”

Then came my trusty Talbots catalog for spring, which I happily devoured that afternoon without thinking once about my non-existent mother-of-the-bride attire…until I saw the perfect dress for me: a solid ice pink silk and linen sleeveless sundress and matching short jacket. I hesitated to tell Greer and bravely ordered in my petite size. When the suit arrived it needed no alterations, it wasn’t frumpy, it wasn’t sequined, and it had a jacket to cover my shoulders. I excitedly modeled for my husband who can be quite opinionated about color, but he loved it. I paraded through the house, modeling the dress for his brother and almost any visitor; I was getting “definitely-yes” responses!

But the label violated Greer’s # 1 rule: it came from Talbots. Should I cut the label out before Greer saw it? I thought it best to broach the subject in person, so I waited anxiously for her next visit home. When I was finally ready, I mentioned casually that there was a Talbots dress I liked for the wedding in the latest catalogue, and perhaps we should give it a chance? She grimaced a little, but then said “Well, let’s see it!” Surprisingly, she loved the dress in the catalog as much as we all did, and much to her surprise, I ran right upstairs and put it on!


{Top: (L) pink aster sundress and jacket (the one!), (M) blush dress and bolero, (R) mica skirt suit;
Bottom: (L) sand dollar dress and jacket, (M) sateen sundress and bolero, (R) dress and bolero}

Things I learned: shop where you normally shop (if you have a favorite store for everyday, it is natural to look there for special events, too), fit trumps all rules (if you are petite, buy petite- don’t count on alterations fixing everything), and don’t be afraid to break some of rules (even if set by the bride). However, I would still try to avoid all black or all white, especially for long dresses. Black & white ensembles, though, can be really lovely (see two of my suggestions above). Finally, stretch the rules to fit your style and needs- I needed something sleeveless because an outdoor wedding at the peak of summer might get too hot, but the indoor reception might be too cool, so I chose to have both options and will try to cover my shoulders during the ceremony. If I need to take off my jacket to cool off, I’ll do it without thinking twice. What I think Greer learned: Talbots does not equal frumpy, and you have to trust people to know what looks best on their body and what they are most comfortable in. Weddings are not necessarily the best time to get out of your comfort zone.

A few weeks later, Greer and I were shopping for engagement party dresses at Bloomingdale’s when we spied a woman wearing a very loud white dress with bright large navy flowers unflatteringly stretched across her crotch. She immediately ran over to us and whispered “I can’t trust this saleswoman- she says this dress is perfect for the mother of the groom, what do you ladies think?” Inside both our heads: “Nooo!” Instead, I explained that I recently went through the same thing, and my best advice is to follow your gut and buy something you are comfortable in. I pointed out that she seemed hesitant and didn’t look comfortable in that dress, to which she exclaimed “You’re right- I’m not!” So here is my best advice: shop where you like to shop, find something you love and feel comfortable in, and trust yourself - you know best what looks good on you. As for me, I am thrilled with my quartz pink Talbots suitand can’t wait to wear it out of the closet, label proudly intact.

Nordstrom also offers a great selection of mother of the bride/groom dresses for petite to plus sizes and every size in between, although they primarily focus on long dresses. So if you are shopping for a formal evening wedding or even an outdoor garden wedding where it might be a little cooler, here are some options for every budget:


{L to R: ivory lace dress with bolero; short champagne lace dress with bolero; champagne shantung dress and jacket}


{L to R:platinum charmeuse gown with beaded jacket; platinum bustier gown with bolero; hazel blue brocade jacket and taffeta skirt}

For more formal options for the mother of the bride, read Abby's recommendations on her blog, Style Me Pretty.

Thanks for reading! ~Faye

Turq Bridal Jewelry

We love the online bridal shop for Turq Jewelry because you can shop bridesmaids' necklaces by color, and they offer a 10-15% discount when you order 3 or more of the same necklace. For a bridesmaids' gift, I would be excited to get one and I would definitely wear it again!

{Miss Mills aqua necklace by Turq Bridal, photo from Brides}

Perfect Party Dresses

We are loving these BCBG Max Azria sundresses (from Nordstrom)- they are perfect for a bridal shower, casual engagement party, or any summer party! If you have never tried BCBG, their dresses fit beautifully- especially if you are petite (under 5'4"), although you can find several of their dresses in petite sizes at Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom.

{Top: (L) embroidered cotton voile sundress, (R) cap sleeve dress;
Bottom: (L) cotton voile strapless, (R) surf cotton voile sundress}

Check back with us tomorrow for some beautiful dresses picked by Faye for every mother, figure, and budget!

The Most Perfect Wedding Shoe

J.Crew has these Darby suede wedges in Pale Gold back in stock in select sizes. I finally tracked down a pair for my outdoor wedding and am so happy with them: the color is more champagne than gold, the heel height is comfortable (2 3/4"), and the wedge is perfect for outdoor weddings where a traditional heel would sink into the ground. When I brought the shoes in for my fitting, everyone at the bridal shop agreed- they are truly the perfect wedding shoe. If your size is not available online, call a J.Crew Special Occasions Coordinator. They found a pair for me and shipped them overnight the same day from New York so that I could have them for my fitting. Faye and I both are J.Crew customers for life now, their customer service really went above and beyond so give them a chance!

{photo from J.Crew}

Summer Colors

Paper Dolls Design recently predicted six summer color palettes by drawing inspiration from J. Crew dresses and their own wedding invitation line. I like all of them, but these are our top three:

{Palette 1: Playa strapless dress by J.Crew, Provence by Paper Dolls Design;
Palette 5: Sarah keyhole silk faille dress by J.Crew, The Biltmore invitation by Paper Dolls Design;
Palette 6: Marybeth dress by J.Crew, Sophie invitation by Paper Dolls Design}
{images from Paper Dolls Design}

The colors they put together here look subtle and modern- we love the idea of bringing colors in through invitations and bridesmaids' dresses, but don't forget to tie them into other elements like your cake, flowers, and in little details throughout. That is what we love about all of Tara Guerard's weddings- she weaves color into subtle elements that may seem insignificant but when taken together make a huge impact. Here are some of our favorite color details by Tara at Soiree Charleston:

{Top: photos from The Knot; Bottom: photos from Brides}