Wednesday, July 28, 2010

"I Do" Ideas: The Mens Attire!


This week I thought we could take a look at the different choices the groom and his men have for their attire.

Well where do we start? How about with the "traditional" groomsmen look: Tuxedos! A pretty common look is black tuxes with a vest and tie (or possibly a bow tie). Here, we have the groom in a lighter vest than his men and also a different tie to have him stand out.
Perhaps you'd love to have your guy in a tux but his unique style screams otherwise? By letting him pick his shoes (or other accessory) to his liking, you can come to a compromise. I went to a wedding once where the groom had given each of his groomsmen different color custom Air Force One's! It was a fun way to show their personalities. These guys opted for Converse's:
Now let's explore other options...
For one, suits! There are khaki or tan suits that are great for a summer wedding, or perhaps in a warmer locale.
There's also gray suits. These are slightly dressier than the tan suits but more casual than the black tuxes. This groom opted to add a hat for a fun twist.
Another suit color option is brown. This works lovely for Fall weddings. In this wedding, the groom chose an ivory suit to stand out amongst his men.
With all of these suit and tux options, don't forget to bring in your color scheme via a tie, bow tie, ascot and/or pocket square!

For a more casual look (with a "preppy" touch) try khakis, a white dress shirt and a blue blazer!
For an even more casual look, lose the jacket all together! Wearing matching shirts, ties and khakis still give the men a uniform look but in a much more relaxed setting.
For an island wedding or perhaps a backyard wedding, the most casual of options is a matching shirt with a pair of khakis. Here the groom wore a white button down, while his men donned teal shirts.
What we did for our wedding...
We did the "traditional" black tuxes for our more formal wedding. All of the men wore black vests and ivory shirts. (Speaking of ivory shirts... Don't forget! If your dress is anything but bright white, you will want your men in ivory shirts as opposed to white shirts. No one will notice that they are ivory instead of white, but if they were white and your dress was ivory, your dress would look "dirty".) The ties were of the Siena Paisley Collection by Jean Yves.

My husband wore the bali tan paisley tie (that was actually much more silver than tan!) with the matching pocket square.
The groomsmen wore the light fuchsia paisley ties and pocket squares.
Don't they look sharp all together?
The Dad's wore black paisley ties with ivory pocket squares.

All inspiration pictures courtesy of The Knot. My pictures courtesy of Zenobia Photography Studios. The men in my bridal party got their tuxes at Carl Anthony Tuxedo in Cranston, RI.


What did your groomsmen wear on the big day? I'd love to hear about it!


Don't forget to vote for the Wedding Stories blog at the Weddzilla Guru Awards! Thanks!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A Wedding Story: Sara!

This week's Wedding Story comes from Sara Seals, from southern Massachusetts. Two summers ago she got married at Providence College (where her and her husband met!). With that, here's Sara...

When did you get married?
August 17, 2008

The morning of the wedding, Sara had her hair and make-up done by Gina Joubert and Krystal Treanor, respectively.Where was your ceremony? Reception?
St. Dominic Chapel @ Providence College (ceremony), Kirkbrae Country Club (reception)

What made you choose that reception location?
We fell in love with the gorgeous view! It also helped that they were in the process of renovating KCC when we went to visit the first time!

Sara opted for a cupcake tower style cake - how fun and unique!What was your favorite aspect of your wedding?
Getting to spend time with my mom working on all of the DIY projects!

Sara's DIY place cards
What was the best resource you used during the planning process?
Definitely The Knot! It was great to chat with other ladies about their planning process, use the site as a sounding board/feedback, and share the highs/lows of wedding planning!

Frey Florist did all of the flowers for Sara's wedding.What's the one thing you would have done differently?
Spent more time looking at wedding dresses. In the end, I did love my dress, but I wish I had tried on more of a variety of styles to really know it was "the one!"

During the cocktail hour, Sara joined her band for a surprise performance of a couple songs! Needless to say, her friends and family (and husband!) went crazy when she snuck behind the keyboard and started playing "Love Song".
Any advice for future brides?
Don't sweat the small stuff, because it's not worth it! Make sure you have at least 1 person to help you stay organized (either a parent or a good friend). Remember that a wedding is just a day...marriage is for the rest of your life! Most of all, have fun and enjoy the whole planning process!

Having a point person to help you stay organized is excellent advice, Sara. My Mom basically knew every detail about my wedding planning. It was SO helpful having someone help keep you on track to plan your dream day!



All photos by David Bibeault Photography.


If you'd like to be a Featured Wife, please email me at legallybride@hotmail.com

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Stef and Jon

For all you Wedding Wednesday fans--this weeks segment appears right under this video clip.

Venue: Glen Manor House
Photog: DB Photograghy
DJ: Victor from PartyTime
Flowers: Golden Gate
Bride and Groom: Stephanie and Jon--fun.fun.fun!

Nuptial Trends: Red & Blue!

This week I thought we could look into a color palette trend that happens to correlate with the recent holiday: Red & Blue!

Check it out:

How to pull off this look...

In terms of bouquets, you can do either red or blue flowers; or a combination of both. Some popular red flowers for weddings are carnations, roses, chrysanthemums, dahlias and peonies. For blues, popular wedding flowers are blue anemones, cornflowers, hyacinths and even blue hydrangeas!

Here are a few samples:

One way to bring the scheme into your ceremony is to add a colorful aisle runner!
Other ways are chair covers,
or pew decoration!
Some ideas for the cake... you could do blue icing with red accents,
blue icing with red flowers,
or white icing with red AND blue flowers!
Another sweet dessert option is cupcakes,
or perhaps cotton candy! (Or a candy buffet!)
For centerpieces, you can use any of the flowers listed earlier either together in one arrangement or in individual vases.
You can also utilize one color for the flowers and then bring in the other color with ribbon or other accents.
For the men, I love the look of a blue tie with a red bout! A classic combo!
Bring your ring bearer into the color scheme with a red or blue pillow with the opposite accent. Like this adorable one:
For the girls, I personally love the look of blue dresses with red flowers. You can do aqua dresses,
or a darker, azure blue.
A way to bring the red in? Add a sash! Or even red shoes!
If you want to do a neutral color dress, you can bring in color with a pashmina, or even a bright necklace!
Signature drinks are a fun way to add color to your cocktail hour. Check out Stirrings to learn about some unique blue drinks, like a blueberry daiquiri or a Lady Bleu!
You can tie the color scheme into all of your paper products, ranging from menus:

Programs,

Escort cards,
and Favor tags!
Finally, for extra touches of color during your reception you can add lighting,
colorful napkins or accents,
chair decor,
table numbers,
and colorful seating!
Where do wedding trends come from? Fashion, of course! Check out these Red & Blue trends at:

Nordstrom,



Old Navy,
Macy's,


and Nine West!

What color palette did you use (or are you planning on using) on your wedding day?
I'd love to hear what you came up with!


All images courtesy of The Knot or websites listed.