I’m a detail-oriented person so I think as I begin to share the elements of the Lilac wedding with you, I’ll share some details first. Bring on the pictures….

Continue Reading

A bridesmaid gift is one of the best ways to say “Thank You!” to your lovely ladies.

Make it special!!

Your gift will say thank you for all the things you forget to say, such as, “Thank you for spending $300 on the bridesmaid dress you will never wear again!

One great idea for your leading ladies is JEWELRY! What girl doesn’t like jewelry!?

Here are my top picks!

1. First up is a cute little necklace from Dogeared.com ($26-$54)! Lots of different charms and colors to choose from with a poem that is way better than what you could ever think of on your own!

Continue Reading

I’ve decided that jewelery stores have the most ridiculous hours. I’m not sure if they close at 6 for safety/robbery reasons or if they just think they’re that special. In any case, it makes ring shopping a bit difficult.

But Orchid Boy and I took advantage of a fairly free Saturday and headed to Chapel Hill to check out wedding bands. We went to Grimble Jewelers at the recommendation of a friend who had just gotten married.

I had intended on purchasing an antique  to match my equally vintage engagement ring. Not only would it be cheaper, but it would be eco-friendly and unique as well. Plus, I’m a firm believer that anything made prior to 1970 is of higher quality since now everything is made with profits in mind rather than good workmanship.

Unfortunately, Grimble did not carry any antique weddings bands in their collection because they aren’t big sellers. The consultant also informed me that pairing platinum and white gold isn’t a good idea. Since platinum is more dense than white gold, the white gold ring will wear faster and become discolored. White gold already needs to be replated every so often to keep it’s color.

Continue Reading

I’ll be the first to admit that I hate shopping. I’m not much of a hunter when it comes to finding the perfect things. I tend to be an impulse shopper. No matter what it is, I can think of a million ways I’d rather spend my time than driving from store to store finding the perfect whatever. My wedding ring was no different.

I’ll admit that I only went to two stores. I browsed online a bit and then made up my mind that I was buying a ring from Brilliant Earth. I had been interested in their jewelry for some time now and was a huge fan of their mission statement. I loved that their jewelry was recycled and 5 percent of their profits go to help those in Africa who were affected by the diamond and jewelry trade. I mean, honestly, I don’t see too many companies donating their profits or doing anything good with their money other than just rolling around in it.

With the help of my customer representative, Jordan, I got myself a low-profile palladium ring. Poor guy had to deal with my emails for weeks before I finally called him to order the actual ring.

After it had been processed he sent me my order confirmation and tracking number and I waited anxiously for the Fed Ex guy to arrive.

“I’ve been waiting for this all day,” I told him when he finally showed up at 4:30. “It’s my wedding ring.”

“OH! That’s great!! Congrats!” He said handing me the tracker thing to sign.  As customary when receiving a package from Fed Ex or UPS, he asked my first and last name. Then, as he was leaving he asked, “What will it be?”

Continue Reading

So, yes, we’ve been together 5 years and the ring, to us, is a formality.

But sweet baby jesus… I got my bling, and I can’t stop looking at it, swooning over it and obsessing about it.  I feel so materialistic, it’s not even the slightest bit funny.

Anyway, he made me go on an Easter egg hunt through our new house and the last (and biggest) egg had my ring in it! Awwww shucks. If you want to read the whole entire story,  you can go here.  But, in the meantime, here’s a ring pic (sorry that I’m being one of those girls):

Continue Reading

It’s probably a hot topic in the wedding blogosphere so let me throw this out here: Prince William is not planning on wearing a wedding band.

I was listening to the morning show on my way into work and they were discussing his decision to forgo the traditional wedding band. Of course the man on the show was all for it and stated that he had no intentions of wearing one either.

{Image from Wedding Ring Site}

Boy would I be steamed if Lilac Dude announced his intentions of not wearing a ring. Luckily, I have one of those men who has strong opinions and likes to have nice things… including a wedding band. Hence my man has diamonds in his band.

Continue Reading

…my engagement ring is my favorite, but I’m a sucker for sparkly jewelry. And on my wedding day, I want to sparkle. I only have one maid of honor, but if I had bridesmaids, each of them would end up with something from this very sparkly and fabulous store: WalkOnTheMoon.

{This one is for Japan Relief, and one of my personal faves}

Continue Reading

I am in need of a reception dress. If it were only for comfort reasons, considering that it will be hot and humid at my wedding, I would still be hesitant to change out of my wedding dress. I absolutely love my dress, and as is obvious, I will only be wearing it for a short period of time. While I plan to extend that amount of time as long as possible, I will need to change into a reception dress at some point in the evening.

I say need because of a matter dear to my heart. Years ago my mother purchased two strings of pearls, one for my sister and I when we got engaged. The day she took me dress shopping, she gave me my pearls and oh how beautiful they are. I love them. My sister married her husband a couple of years ago and wore her pearls most of the days during the year or so she was engaged. I loved my pearls so much I got a little jealous that my sister could wear hers nearly every day and my job makes that somewhat not possible. Anyways, I wore them trying on dresses knowing they would be worn with the dress.

A couple months later, my uncle called for my mailing address. He asked if I would be wearing a necklace with my dress and if Kenny had ever bought pearls for me. I told him I would be wearing a necklace, and no, Kenny has not bought pearls. He informed me that he would like to give me the pearls that he gave my recently deceased aunt on their wedding day. He just knew they would look beautiful and that Aunt Linda would be so happy for me to have them.

Two very special, and very different looking, strings of pearls. The ones from my Freesia Mom are smooth and classic, the ones from Freesia Uncle are three strings of freshwater (thus varied in shape) pearls. Both absolutely perfect and beautiful, from two people with the sweetest of intentions that I would never want to hurt.

After much deliberation, and discussion with Freesia Sister, as well as a friend who happens to have 2 daughters around my age, I decided a change into a reception dress would be a perfect time to change necklaces. Freesia Mom’s pearls with the wedding dress we picked out together, Freesia Uncle’s pearls with the reception dress.

So, to find a reception dress within a reasonable budget. When I imagined my wedding dress, there were a few qualities that I thought of that did not end up a part of the wedding dress I chose. I’m hoping that maybe this will be a chance to incorporate a few of those qualities: something flowy, with an open back…and above the knee since it will be a summer reception dress. I’m aiming for less than $200. I have emailed a couple of dressmakers. One would make the dress for $250, but I’m concerned of the chance that it wouldn’t turn out. This is the “sketch” I sent (I know I’m no designer!):

"front", "back" option 1 or "back" option 2

Continue Reading

Let me know how you feel about this one.

I waited a long time for my ring. A conservative estimate would put it at about six years. And I love it. When it came down to it, Apple Sauce got it right, selecting for me an Asscher-cut diamond, set between two baguettes in a white gold band. Unique but classic.

Hello, beautiful.

Why such an unusual cut of diamond, you ask? Well, duh, for that very reason!
Continue Reading