When photographer Amber Weimer sent these photographs to me, I nearly swooned! (Yes, I just used the word swooned. I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl). If there is one thing I love, it’s anything that has the elegant glamour associated with Old Hollywood. And do these photos ever!!

If Sinatra and Crosby make your heart go all pitter-patter, then prepare to be just as bowled over as I was by the gorgeousness that is Jackie & Jang’s wedding…

Doesn’t this image just say it all? Wow. 

How did you meet?
I was doing an internship at the law firm where he worked. I was dating someone at the time, so Jang would always be really friendly but I wasn’t more than just cordial to him. He told me he’d find excuses to come into my office and talk to me. Then things ended with my relationship and I started to really take notice of Jang. One day in particular we were doing our brackets for March Madness and I told him I “needed” his help. He helped me for over an hour and at the end of the day, he asked me out. 

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Technical difficulties got in the way of yesterday’s post, so this week, “Maids Monday” will be on Tuesday!

I love clutches. Adore them. I’m dangerous around them, though…after the fifth time I left one sitting someplace and forgot it, my husband threatened to hide every purse of mine that doesn’t have a strap!

If you have a little better luck with keeping track of clutches than I do, consider adding them as a great wedding accessory for you or your bridal party.

For brides with a style that is more modern, there are many great (and customizable!) choices available from sellers like BeeGee Bags and Red Ruby Rose.

I love the graphic style and pop of color in the lining of BeeGee’s Noir Peony bag.

{Image from BeeGee Bags}

Similarly gorgeous is the unusual Scots pine print on this clutch from Red Ruby Rose. I absolutely adore this bag! It would be perfect for a modern wedding with an outdoor motif!

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Today’s wedding was submitted to Modest Bride by the lovely Karen of Karen Schlink Photography. Karen is one of the most genuine and enthusiastic wedding photographers I’ve ever met, and she truly loves what she does (she tears up at every wedding she photographs!).

How did you meet?
Ben and I met at our church and were friends for a year before he approached me.

Tell us about the proposal…
On a gorgeous and warm winter day we went to our favorite park that we spent most of our time at. We hiked up to a flat area on the mountain that had a little granite bench where we went the first time we went to the park. Ben then proceeded to tell me how blessed and thankful he was that God brought us together and since we had been courting he was seeking for God’s will to be done in our lives. Then he told me that without a doubt he knew it was the Lord’s will for us to be together, and the absolutely gorgeous blue sky and 45 degree day in January was God’s blessing upon it. So with that he said there was only one thing left to do then he got down on one knee in the snow and asked me to marry him. I obviously said yes, then he placed the ring on my finger. God has greatly blessed us and been with us every day since.

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If you’re like me, the thought of the “traditional” *ahem* “night out on the town” for your bachelorette party never even crossed your mind. It turns out that a growing number of women are, in fact, choosing something a little less risque for their pre-wedding celebration.

If you’re looking for an interesting idea for your bridal shower or bachelorette party, how about taking the road less traveled with one of these great ideas?

Truffle Bar

Photo via Style at Home

Eden of Sugar and Charm recently posted this great idea on Style at Home. If you and your favorite women are all chocoholics, why not have a truffle bar in lieu of traditional desserts? In fact, if you really love chocolate, why not a whole chocolate night? If it’s winter, start with ice skating and hot chocolate. In summer, how about canoeing and s’mores? Main entree? Mole’ chicken, of course! To finish out the night, and your chocolate feast, recreate Eden’s truffle bar, with some for everyone to take home! Check out all the details here.

Flower Arranging

If chocolate isn’t your thing, get a jump start on enjoying gorgeous wedding flora with a flower arranging class! For amazing inspiration, check out the gorgeous class that the gals at 100 Layer Cake dreamed up. Kraft paper and calligraphy make everything better!

Photo via 100 Layer Cake

If you’re interested in hosting a floral design party of your own for a bachelorette party or bridal shower and are in the NYC area, contact Sarah of Blossom & Branch (the floral genius behind the 100 Layer Cake party) for more on their private floral design parties. Outside of NYC, check with your local florists to see if they offer flower arranging classes for private groups.

There’s something so terribly sweet and innocent about carving your initials into a tree, and yet…the poor tree!!

Photo by Gail Fielding

Well, now there’s an app for that. Country Living has created the “Treemail” app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

You can choose from a range of different options for your carving, and then share the result digitally! Voila! No sad tree!

What would you carve for your sweetie?

App photos by Country Living

Every Monday on this blog, we’re going to honor the women who cheer the loudest when you say “Yes!,” who talk you down when you’re stressed over wedding details, and who stand up with you on your big day: your bridesmaids.

With the average engagement lasting a year or more (and even when you clock in at a speedy six months or less, like I did), there’s a lot of time between “Will you?” and “I do,” and your bridesmaids are there for every moment. Why not take a few moments to let these special women know how much they mean to you?

This card from Remanenets says it all, with a little glitz and glitter to boot.

Or you could remind your best girls just how much you have in common with this collaboration between Satsuma Press and Neither Snow.

If you and your girls adore all things vintage, check out these Vintage Bridesmaid Hankie Gifts from L. Elise Created.

And if you never miss a StoryCorps broadcast (I cry every single week), consider having the good people at Audio Heirlooms help you create an audio keepsake to share special memories with each girl.

{Photo via Giver’s Log}

Whatever way you choose to remind your bridesmaids how special they are, just make sure they get the message that their involvement makes your special day even more so. After all, who else would wear pink taffeta for you?

{Images from their respective owners unless otherwise noted}

Who says modest dresses have to have puffed sleeves? Adoring this regal dress by Joan Shum, via Poppies & Posies.

Wonderful real wedding, featured on Avenia Bridal’s blog, Fashionably Wed.

No, you’re not weird.

Let’s just get that out of the way to begin with. As the song goes, “you say potato, I say potahto…”

Maybe your preference is related to religious standards. Or you’re shy. Maybe you’re one of those people who’s always cold. Or you just want to keep a little bit of mystery alive. For whatever reason, you prefer a wedding dress that has more coverage than the “average” wedding gown. And that’s ok.

“Modest wedding gowns” have been given a bad rap, poor things, and the sites that feature dresses that must have been rejects from an 80’s prom don’t help. I know, having had the experience myself, that as soon as you start talking about a wedding dress with more coverage, things get weird. “Oh, well…” sales people say, “the style is really more for strapless dresses.” Well yes, thank you. Next news flash, please? Nothing against people who choose that style, but it wasn’t for me, and if you’re reading this blog, maybe it wasn’t for you, or you know someone who’s had that experience.

Here’s the big epiphany about weddings, though: NOBODY wants a cookie-cutter wedding. Nobody. Whether it’s that you want succulents instead of flowers, will wear a pink wedding dress, or plan to have a mix of bridesmaids and bridesmen, everyone wants to put their own stamp on their wedding. Choosing a modest wedding dress is just one more way to make your wedding yours. As far as I’m concerned, that’s not any more weird than having a vegetarian reception or using your dog as your ring bearer.

So here’s what you won’t see on this blog: diatribes of any sort, not even about choosing a a modest gown. Your wedding, your gown choice. Nor will you see exposés on terrible, scandalous wedding dresses. We’re more of a happy wedding place around here. So what you will see are lots of wedding tips, DIY features, bridal beauty ideas, gorgeous flowers, yummy food and cakes, and beautiful wedding attire (which, as a side note, happens to have sleeves and doesn’t bring the girls out to greet everyone). And the occasionalfriendly dialog about modesty. 

I hope you’ll enjoy, laugh, share, and chime in occasionally. Now, a little Louis for the road (all together now), “…you say tomato, I say tomahto. Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto”…let’s call the whole thing “on!”