Monday, January 30, 2012

You Know You Love Me

Happy 100th episode to our favorite guilty pleasure show, Gossip Girl. Tonight's long anticipated episode features the wedding of Blair Waldorf; where our Queen Bee will marry Prince Louis and finally become the princess she's always dreamed about.  But, sneak previews show Blair fleeing with a somewhat panicked look.  Will she go through with it?  We'll have to wait and see.  But, one things for sure, noone does elegant events better than Blair and her wedding is sure to be full of soft and beautiful, super feminine touches.  Here's a few details we found we'd expect to see at a Blair Waldorf Wedding:


XOXO
Gossip Girl  Jen & Saira

Friday, January 27, 2012

Hairstyle Look Book: The Bob

The bob is a classic hairstyle that will never go out of style. Popularized in the 1920s, it was a symbol of female independence and vitality. In more recent memory, it's been brought to the forefront of fashion by Victoria Beckham, and perfect by Katie Holmes (and Suri Cruise!). It can look both youthful and mature, and can be sleek as well as shaggy. While you can definitely work a bob with different hair textures, it's optimal for those with medium to fine straight hair. You can definitely add some waves to a bob, but there's nothing quite as stunning as a shiny sleek bob. One day we will be bold enough to rock this look, until then we will satisfy ourselves with this gallery of babes with bobs.



XOXO,

Jen & Saira

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Color Day: Tangerine Tango

Every year we love to check to see what Pantone's "Color of the Year" is.  Last year was the cheerful and feminine Honeysuckle Pink. This year we are delighted to see Tangerine Tango, a vibrant, edgy, and sexy shade of reddish orange.  We're big on the red/orange color as we think it's fun and energizing and perfect for a Spring or summer wedding or to spice up your wardrobe for the new year! Added bonus to choosing the color orange for your event: it really goes a long way in the lighting department to create a warm, cozy, and romantic glow.

Tangerine Tango Color Inspiration Board


XOXO
Jen & Saira

Monday, January 23, 2012

Deeply Yours

Is it nearing the end of January already?! Valentine's Day is approaching which for some means adding an insane amount of red to your wardrobe. Our snarky side hates color coding holidays, but then we go ahead and do it anyway. If you want to be a little festive but not seem over-the-top-weird, then forego the candy red and instead try on a deep, rich red / maroon / burgundy for a more mature and professional look. The rich full color adds drama to any outfit, but is still understated enough to wear in the office. Plus, the deep red hue tends to look good with every skin tone.




XOXO,

Jen & Saira

Friday, January 20, 2012

Real Wedding: Lauren and Gil (Part 2 of 2)

Ready for more Lauren and Gil?!  Check out some of there cute, personalized details! Lauren's handmade dress featured lace from her mother's wedding gown, their friend (and groomsman), Carl, performed for the guests during cocktail hour, they had a photo board featuring photos of them and all of the guests at the wedding, and the basket of flip flops was a serious life saver.  Also, the ice cream wedding cake and sweet little cupcakes were fantastic!  And, we particularly loved their guest book!  It was a beautiful and creative idea that now, instead of sitting on a shelf or in a box, can be displayed as a sentimental piece of art. Plus, it went right along with their fingerprint motif (which we helped to inspire!). And, speaking of fingers, did you see the rings?  Lauren and Gil try their best to live an eco-friendly lifestyle so, naturally, their rings are from Brilliant Earth.  Here are some of our favorites:
















And, some words from the bride:


What was your wedding "theme" / inspiration? Gil and I are simple, sentimental, and we love the beach. We wanted an understated beachy theme, keeping things as simple as possible, and making sure to add in special, personal touches along the way. For example, my dress was handmade using lace from my mom's dress, I had tile pictures of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents attached to my bouquet, we made two large photo collages on fishnets with a picture of every single guest at our wedding, etc.

 What was the most important thing for you when planning your wedding? The most important thing for us was to try to incorporate as many personal touches to the day as possible, to try to make it meaningful to us and our guests and try to avoid the "factory" type wedding as much as we could. Due to certain restrictions, we couldn't have the reception under a tent like we wanted, but we were able to have it at a semi-casual venue on the water!

What made you decide on your gorgeous (and handmade) dress? I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a dress, and the one I had my eye on was too much. Visiting a few dress shops for ideas just turned me off to the idea even more. Plus, I had the idea to use the lace from my mom's dress on mine, so handmade was the way to go! I had met a great tailor who used to own a bridal shop, and the rest was history...I ended up with a great fitting, very meaningful dress that was custom yet similar to the one I had in mind all along, and was able to pay tribute to my mom and my parent's marriage in the process!

What was your first dance to? We chose Jack Johnson's "Better Together" Hawaiian version. Jack has had a hand in our relationship from the beginning...it was only fitting.

What was the most memorable moment for you? I remember what Gil's face looked like when I was walking down the aisle, my dad humming to keep from crying during our father/daughter dance, the bus ride with our wedding party to the reception, my mom dancing like crazy to the Black Eyed Peas. I tried to soak in as much as possible, but the day goes by so fast!

Anything else? I think one of the best things we did was host a brunch the morning after the wedding. It was really great to see most of our guests again and discuss the day! I had a chance to sit down with people I didn't really get to spend enough time with at the wedding, and I really appreciate having that opportunity! I recommend it to any future brides :)

Photographers: Matt Catalano and Erik Fawcett
Wedding Dress: Shirley Gilinsky (handmade and amazing)
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bill Levkoff
Suits: Calvin Klein
Venue/Food: Martell's Waters Edge, Bayville NJ (great people to work with, beautiful venue and views, and the chef was super accommodating to dietary restrictions)
DJ: The Pros
Flowers: O'Briens, Point Pleasant NJ
Hotel/Brunch: Holiday Inn, Toms River
Rings: Brilliant Earth
Hair/Makeup: Salon Du Monde
 

Special thanks to Lauren and Gil for allow us to share their special day with you.  Best wishes to them for a very happy marriage!

XOXO
Jen & Saira



Monday, January 16, 2012

Real Wedding: Lauren and Gil (Part 1 of 2)

What better way to bring us into the new year than with a fantastic real wedding!? This past October two of our very favorite people got married and we've been dying to share their wedding with you. We were busy during November and December with holiday posts and vacation but now we are back and ready to share the wedding of our friends Lauren and Gil.  

Lauren and Gil met at a Rutgers pre-college "Connections" program in 2002 and while Lauren was instantly attracted to him, he was seeing someone at the time and the two went their separate ways.  Flash forward to our sophomore year of college when the two had their first kiss after Gil happened to crash a holiday party that Lauren was having.  Lauren and Gil officially start dating until February of 2004 and they have been together ever since! Gil popped the question on the beach on November 5th, 2010 and the couple quickly got to planning their wedding for the following fall.  Lauren and Gil are a fun, laid back, and thoughtful couple and their wedding certainly reflected those qualities.  From the beachy feel and sentimental details, to the Jack Johnson first dance and basket of flip flops we really felt totally relaxed and free to kick back and have a great time with our friends.  Here's a look at some of our favorite shots of the bride and groom getting ready and of their beautiful ceremony.:













(The groomsmen left for the ceremony and forgot the groom!)


(Luckily he made it in time!)





We hope you enjoyed Part 1 of Lauren and Gil's wedding. Be sure to stop by on Friday for more shots of the happy couple, bridal party, and reception!  Also, we'll have info on the vendors and some words from the bride about her wedding planning experience and inspiration.

XOXO
Jen & Saira



Monday, January 9, 2012

Happy New Year!

Hi, dolls! Happy 2012. Hope you all had a excellent holiday break. We sure did! 

But, now it's back to the real world and we've been busy working, running errands, taking down Christmas decorations, planning bridal showers, trying to squeeze in the occasional snowboarding trip, recovering from colds and more. We hope you're not missing us too much and promise to be back soon with some inspiring posts and maybe even a real wedding or two to kick off the new year!   

Until next time,

XOXO
Jen & Saira