Pride and Marriage Equality

Photo Credit: KING 5 news

It's Pride Month for various organizations around the country, trying to teach tolerance and acceptance of the gay community. In the wedding world I am seeing lots of posts this week, especially after the legalization of same sex marriage in New York. Having just attended the Seattle Pride Parade, I am inspired and passionate about marriage equality and felt it was time to put in my two cents.

This morning I read a great wedding graduate post on A Practical Wedding as part of their pride week. Written from one of the brides perspective, it included a piece of their ceremony that made me want to stand up and cheer, and I hope they don't mind that I share a bit of it here (but seriously, go read the whole post because it is awesome. And while you are at it, check out their blog too).

"... to those who might oppose why we're here today, I have one thing to say: you've already lost. Our generation doesn't care. Despite all the sham and drudgery in this world, we realize that love, where it can be found, should be revered, protected, and consecrated. Period."

I love this. So much. Why in the world would we want to discourage people from loving each other? I will never understand the reasons those opposed throw out there. Who cares WHO you love as long AS you love. Bring happiness to this world, find a place to belong, a corner of the world where you are loved and cherished ... that's what its all about. It shouldn't matter to anyone who you curl up with at night, who you choose to sleep with, who you fall in love with - it shouldn't matter. As I tell my kids, "as long as the person you are with makes you happy, treats you with respect and isn't doing anything illegal, I will be fine with it".

This all hits close to home for me, because this weekend, as everyone around the country is celebrating Independence Day, my family will be celebrating the union of my sister-in-law and her girlfriend. We are coming together to celebrate their love; the fact that they are happy and willing to commit to each other for life. And who wouldn't want to celebrate that? It's going to be one hell of a party - because this family KNOWS how to throw a party. And what better excuse to party than to celebrate a marriage!

I found this on the APW facebook page, and I think it just sums it all up.

“Personally, I am very excited about “gay marriage”, or as I like to call it, “marriage”. Because I had lunch this afternoon, I didn’t have “gay lunch”. And I parked my car, I didn’t “gay park” it.” – Liz Feldman

I also loved how my sister-in-law, who hates the term lesbian, put it to her girlfriend (and I am paraphrasing here). "I just love you. Why does it need a bigger label than that?"

Word.

Cutest little flats under $100

I have a bride who is a little taller than her husband to be, so she wants to wear a shoe with no heel on her wedding day. She's getting married in the spring, and her colors are blue and green. In honor of her today, I bring you some of my favorite shoe finds of the flat variety, all under $100.

1. Custom Bridal Flats from Etsy shop HydraHeart

 

2. Gisenna by Chinese Laundry

 

3. Leona Satin Flat by Vera Wang

 

4. Kortship flat by Steve Madden

 

5. Reva ballet flat by Tory Burch

 

6. Festive flat by Corso Como

 

 

You have to check out Tom's wedding line too. I love their white glitter shoes and their grosgrain ... I can't decide which I like better. These are the most comfortable pair of shoes I own! And you can feel good about buying these shoes because for every pair you purchase, they donate a pair to a child in need. Love that.

A couple more that I found that didn't quite make my top picks, but are still noteworthy mentions.

Cute flats from Chinese Laundry here, currently on sale at Macy's for under $40!

Look at these cute ballet slippers for the bride, here. They even come in their own embroidered bag and are marked at $24!

Happy shopping!

Life lessons and your wedding

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone Neale Donald Walsch

~~~~~~

Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right Henry Ford

Wise words today, quoted on one of my favorite blogs, the Broke-Ass Bride. These quotes are in reference to a big, exciting happening over in Dana's world and you can read about that here. I love how she tied her current experience into her wedding planning experience. That girl can write, you have to check it out.


Stock wedding image from arbutusphotography.com


Planning a wedding is something you've most likely never done before. It's a lot of work. It's dealing with an industry that can be crazy overwhelming. It's a lot of stress.

But in the end, when the to-do lists are done, when the cake and the flowers and the officiant and the attendants and everyone and everything else has come together to make this happen, that's when you need to look back over the last few weeks or months realize what you did.

You stepped out of your comfort zone. You may have doubted yourself for a while. There were probably tears. But holy crap, check it out! You married the love of your life and you threw one hell of a party to celebrate it. Be proud of yourself, hold your head high and go conquer the world! This is your time now, you're new beginning. You earned it. Take the lessons and the love and the empowerment that you are feeling and live your life to its fullest potential.

Just remember to enjoy the moments.

Weddings Dresses under $250?!?

Wait, what?

You heard me right people, gowns under $250.

On my recent trip to the mall, after I found the most awesome sparkly shoes I mentioned in last weeks post, I was wandering through the formal wear section and realized there are a lot of dresses there that would be stunning as wedding gowns for those of you looking for something affordable and still amazing.

Check out the two I fell in love with on the Nordstrom website.

The one on the left, a JS Boutique Beaded Crisscross Matte Jersey Gown, retails for $178. The one on the right, a Calvin Klein Sequin Trim Mesh Gown, retails for $218.

For real guys, at Nordstrom!

Over at BCBG, check out these dresses I found in the sale section.

The one on the left is called the Haute Satin Gown and is marked down to $160.80 on their website. On the right, the Timona Strapless Silk Gown is marked down to $216.00. If you go up even $100-$200 here you get several more super cute options on both their new lines and the sale stuff.

By thinking outside the box a little bit, it is possible to have an afforadble, practicle wedding without comprimising on your style. At JC Penney, for instance, there were some cute and simple dresses under $100. How about this one for a beachy wedding (click on picture to go to their site)?

Give yourself time and permission to explore places you wouldn't necessarily think to look for wedding items and allow yourself to be creative. You never know what you will find out there until you try it!

Sparkly shoes

I was at the mall the other day (you don't even KNOW how long it's been since I've been able to say that!!) and almost squealed when I saw these shoes at Macy's. I just had to share them with you all because I know I'm not the ONLY one that loves me some bling!

These are the Danee Pumps by Nine West at Macy's. They looked all sparkly and pretty sitting on display, it was hard to resist them! But resist I did, sadly.

Then I hit the shoe department at Nordstrom's looking for some Tom's and checking out the sale racks. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a very excited woman wearing the most absolutely TO! DIE! FOR! shoes. Seriously you guys, she was so excited it was hard to miss her! Check these babies out!

Enzo Angiolini Smile and the Enzo Angiolini Sully at Nordstrom

I went online to find better pictures (the one I took on my phone didn't do them justice) and found the opened toed Sully ... I can't decide which I like better. But sure enough, I can see these in my future. I can also see them on a bride, or some bridesmaids ... somebody needs to get married in these!! They are so sparkly!

For a minute I thought I might like them more than my Jimmy's. But then I went back and looked at the picture and realized, no, I still like Jimmy better. But those Enzo's are a close close second.

I do necklaces for your newly engaged friends

Inspired by this piece here on Martha Stewarts Bride Blog, I went searching for necklaces on etsy that were similar. So many cute options you guys!! Click on the pictures for links to the etsy store where I found them.







Local shop betsyfarmerdesigns

  
 

etsy shop martywhitedesigns

 

etsy shop craftybabyxoxo



etsy shop youregonnalovethis



Loving this idea!! So sweet and fun! There are more to find on etsty, check it out here.







These are a few of my favorite things ...

I'm still sorting through the blogs in my google reader (I've found many more awesome blogs to read since my weekend stint at Bloggy Boot Camp; I've got 342 to-be-reads currently sitting in my reader ... I'll get to them all, I promise!). This week I wanted to share a few of the ones that have stood out to me.

Pictures from thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com

one
Over at Martha Stewart Bride (really Martha?? I love this side of you!!) they did an awesome write-up on jello-o shots (here). For real, JELL-O SHOTS!! How cool is that? The best part, there is a whole BLOG on this topic (here) - classing up jello molds ... oh, I'm a happy happy girl!

two
Knotty Bride did their own top ten list recently (here), and though I loved everything on it, you have to check out their number seven. Mixing real flowers with paper ones is just so flippin' awesome I can hardly deal!! I especially love the newspaper flowers - I'm thinking taking copied pages from your favorite book (I'm a book worm, forgive me!) would be such a personal statement. It could also be a great way to use pictures of those that you want to memorialize and carry with you (oooh, new idea!!!) Awesome!! Send me pictures!

three
Broke-Ass Bride (umm, could there be a better blog name??) wrote up a little bit about HONEST thank you cards (here). OMG, so funny. I highly recommend, in the middle of your thank you note writing frenzy, you write one or two like this just to get the sarcasm out of your system. My favorite line: "Thank you for the [xxxx]! I don’t remember registering for that, and I can’t imagine why I ever would." Love!

four
Over at A Practical Wedding, check out the story of a not-so-perfect proposal (here). I love this so so much, because not everyone has a story that consists of angels singing and soft focus perfection. Mine, for example, was wonderful but consists of much swearing. On my part. Before AND after the proposal. I would LOVE to hear your stories, oh faithful readers, of how you came to begin your journey to wedded bliss. As one reader on APW commented, "... any relationship that is solidified over a good temper tantrum is one that’s sure to stand the test of time."

five

Emmaline Bride is just the sweetest little blog, and sometimes they blow me away with their amazing freakin ideas. Check out their 'something blue hem' here. You guys, I even had to borrow a picture to show you myself. I think this might be the best idea EVER. I tweeted it, I facebooked it ... I seriously LOVE IT. You could go so many places with this one. You could stitch your name into it, or you could use your favorite color (ummm, hello hot pink!!); I might just pull out my twelve year old dress and add this detailing to it. LOVE IT.