Here are a few shots of some of our small details, that I absolutely loved!

My bouquet... I never would have thought these things would be so heavy!

My jewelry, and yes ladies you all helped me pick out that cuff!

Can't get enough of my shoes! Photographed here with Dogwood Dude's and my rings.

The palm frond isle runner... although there was some pretty serious tripping going on.

Our engraved cake cutting utensils, a gift from my fabulous friend Lindsay.

Our guest book, a book of photos from the Florida Keys.

Wonderful photography provided by Emily Harris Photography, flowers by Blooming Design and Events.

Source: http://www.punchstock.com

Looking back, it was not one of my smartest ideas.  Once my mind cleared from the shock of Periwinkle Dude’s proposal, I was grateful that I escaped that bathroom sink without incident.  When I told Periwinkle Dude what I had done, he laughed and said it was a good thing I didn’t drop the ring down the sink, or swallow it!  We giggled over the visual — knowing it would’ve been pretty near impossible for me to swallow a diamond ring accidentally.  Well, after hearing about the mishap Matt Cawley and Stacey Scanlon recently experienced during their engagement, I’m even more grateful that my dumb impulse that night only made for a funny memory and didn’t cause a serious stir!  You see, Matt Cawley apparently tried to hide the ring he was going to propose with (a family heirloom might I add) by tying it to a sand dollar that he rested on a rock while his soon-to-be-fiancee wasn’t looking, and then bringing her attention to the hidden gem.  According to the article, “She grabbed the sand dollar, but the ring tumbled into the rocky nooks of the jetty — and vanished.”

YIKES!!!  Poor couple!  They searched and searched, but to no avail — they didn’t find the ring.  They certainly have a memorable engagement story, but I imagine they both wish the ring situation had worked out a bit differently.  Here’s wishing them luck in their new life together, despite their engagement mishap.

Did you experience any mishaps with your ring the night of your engagement?  Do you have any similarly memorable (good or bad) storied from your engagement?  Please share!

I noticed tons of tiaras, decorative combs, headbands, a other hair accessories on sale at several stores.

This headband is from Etsy seller Allofyou, but is similar to what I saw

I made my awesome find at Sears on a 30% off sale. I found my necklace, main set of earrings, a bracelet and a decorative hair comb.

Personal photo of my hair accessory

Personal photo of my necklace and earrings

What time of year did you find the best prices on accessories?

Roundabout Earrings by Bontia Jewelery

Trio Bracelet by Bontia Jewelry

These beauties are part of the Summer 2010 Collection from Bontia Jewelry, and there are plenty more items where these came from!  The designer, Caroline Bontia, has been making jewelry for years and really has an eye for style.  I own a few pairs of her earrings, and I can tell you from personal experience that her products are just gorgeous!  Caroline’s work is incredibly detailed, yet not “overdone” or gaudy at all.  Her designs are simple yet sophisticated, and all her work is affordable — making Bontia Jewelry the perfect accessory for any bride or wedding party!  Happy shopping!

And let’s not forget the accessories!  I already have my eye on a pretty wrap that I’m thinking of purchasing to wear with a certain green dress in August!  ;)  I don’t know about you buds, but I love the fact that more and more retail stores are getting into the wedding and bridesmaid dress businesses.  More competition means more choices, which means something for everyone out there!

Has anyone seen The Limited’s new wedding collection up close & personal?  I’d love to hear from any readers who could provide a first-hand review of the merchandise!

My logic is that this is the one part of the wedding that will be constantly present with for the rest of our lives. It is worth laying down the moolah for. And plus, every girl has her inner magpie, and I utterly enjoy the hours spent looking at shiny things. My ring has not been settled on yet, but we have found orchid dude’s.

He is fascinated by the idea of having my fingerprint permanently bound around his finger. He is not a flashy guy, and I have a hard time interesting him in something as simple as a decorated t-shirt, but he cannot stop talking about this ring. Love it.

That weekend also happened to be their wedding anniversary so they decided to make a commitment. Two permanent wedding rings.

Lilac Mom and her tattoo

Lilac Mom and Dad had several reasons for getting their bands tattooed on including safety concerns after some work incidents that Lilac Dad and his wedding band had encountered. But they also knew they were going to be together for the rest of their lives (they’re going on 27 years of marriage) so this permanent ring was a great symbol for them.

Recently friends of mine celebrated an anniversary in the same way. Theirs say, “I am my beloved’s” in Hebrew (it’s from a passage in the Old Testament).

What do you think? Would you ever tattoo your wedding ring?

If you’ve got tattoos on your mind check out my blog and the comments about body art on your wedding day!

Gelin & Abaci Tension Set Ring

My research on the tension rings uncovered that essentially there are two companies that can (safely and securely) make a tension ring, GelinAbaci and Steven Kretchmer. The stones are held in suspension by pressure exerted from the side, and there are no “prongs” like regular settings. One of the major benefits of this setting is the amount of light it lets in, because there is nothing blocking the light on either side or the bottom, it allows in much more light allowing for greater sparkle and whiteness. Above and below are my own pictures taken on the day Moon Dude proposed (please ignore the smudges, I was so over eager I forgot to wipe it clean before shooting ;-]). The style for the ring is modified from TR-182 and had the pave side diamonds removed. I had my heart set on this ring, and I am such a lucky girl that Moon Dude chose it for me.

Moon Dude and I Holding Hands

What kind of setting did you choose and why?

While I want a wedding band that matches well, I also want one that I can wear alone on trips or when I’m cleaning, working out, etc.  What seems to be the best fit from my “research” is the ring’s matching band. Thoughts?

Photo by Jay Kossman

Lilac Dude and I are looking at wedding rings right now. We’re weighing metals, stones and prices. Since we’re planning to purchase them in October we have time to decide what we want but we’re already checking out the facts about different kinds of rings.

Photo by Jay Kossman

Overstock.com had this article about different types of metals and their pros and cons that I found helpful.

What’s important to you with your rings?

A. JAFFE SAMPLE SALE

November 5th-6th, 2009
11:00am – 8:00pm

For more information, click on the image above or visit the Michael C. Fina website.

Happy shopping!!!

We switched our rings to our left hands during our ceremony, after we said our vows.

"With this ring, I join my life with yours."

Since I was fresh out of college and blew my savings on the trip to Italy where we got engaged, our rings were inexpensive sterling silver. We planned to upgrade to white gold before the wedding, but it got pushed aside in the flurry of all the other wedding stuff we had to take care of…

I ran into a few roadblocks in the process of upgrading my wedding ring. I was looking for a white gold band with no stones, but with some personality. I started by browsing online, and I liked these rings:

from goldandgems.com, kay.com, and ice.com

Then I took myself into a store with my heart set on the ring center above. And somehow, I walk out of the store having ordered this ring:

from kay.com

I really, really liked the ring, but after a day or two I was convinced that I had done myself a disservice because I didn’t even ask to see the ring I originally wanted. More than that, I “really, really liked” the ring with diamonds, but I didn’t love it, and I think I should love my wedding ring. I spent the week it took to get the ring with diamonds sized agonizing over my choice.

I ended up ordering the center ring above online so I could compare both rings. Now that I have both, I ended up loving the ring I originally wanted, so I will be returning the ring with diamonds.

The lesson here is definitely to trust your instincts and don’t let yourself be persuaded by a sales clerk until you have seen what you went into the store to see in the first place.

I have gotten a few “but you deserve to have diamonds in your wedding ring” comments from friends while making up my mind, but I had to go with my intuition. And I love it!

Our Sikh wedding and reception will be much less detailed than our western wedding. It is based more around celebrating the traditions of the religion where as our first wedding is based on a reflection of Orchid Dude and I as a couple – our tastes, our likes, our vision.

The colours for our ceremony are very traditional: I will be wearing a red and gold Lahenga and Chunni and Orchid Dude will be wearing a matching Sherwani and red turban. For our reception, I will be wearing a hot pink Sari and Orchid Dude will be changing into a suit.

Orchid Dude’s dad went to India to buy all of our clothing and jewelry so it was a complete surprise to me what everything would look like, but his choices were gorgeous. The rich colours and the beautiful detailing of the garments and jewelry is what inspired me for my latest board.

Photo credits: Project Wedding, Melissa McKinnon Photography & Kelly Vasami Photography

Michael C. Fina Sample Sale

According to their website, Michael C. Fina will be offering up to 70% off retail prices (wow!) during this event. Their designers include Tacori, Scott Kay, Hearts on Fire, Memoire and others!

While shopping for wedding bands, Periwinkle Dude and I stopped by their store front on 5th Avenue and 45th Street.  Unfortunately that was a looooong day of browsing and by the time we arrived the store was closing, so we didn’t have much time to check out their collection, which means I sadly can’t offer you any first-hand advice on the selection.  BUT, it might be worth a trip if you’re interested in a discount?!  I’ve never had much luck at such events myself, but this is a first for this company so they might make it worth your effort… you never know! 

Do you already have your engagement & wedding ring or are you still looking?  Are you planning to visit the sample sale next week?

Did you already buy your ring at a wholesaler or sample sale?  If so, were you satisfied?

Personal Photo

Wedding bands have been purchased although Dahlia Dude’s did not fit. I take full responsibility.   I did not read the fine print to see that men’s wider bands often need to be sized up because of the width. We’re fixing that now. My eternity band (purchased on ebay) is beautiful, and does fit. The picture does not do it any justice.

Personal Photo

Our hotel room block is almost completely booked. We did some early work to get important people in first, as our hotel has a conference that weekend. I meet with the coordinator to discuss another block this weekend.

I’ve also started my marathon training schedule. I’ve been waiting to run the NYC marathon for 4 years, and this is it. I can’t wait. Having done a few before, I know how much is still ahead of me.

Anyone else checking things off as we get closer to the fall wedding season?

Jill and Rob had their relaxed ceremony/reception in a downtown Toronto restaurant, which offered an intimate setting.  The ceremony was held at 7:30pm, with toasts, drinks and hors d’oeuvres to follow immediately.  What a great way to enjoy an evening!

Here are the wedding bands that they DIY’d at the Devil’s Workshop in Toronto.

Despite the casual cocktail-party setting, the bride and groom splurged on gorgeous flower arrangements, signature cocktails (the now legendary French Martini), great finger food, and an extremely talented photographer.  For anyone looking for wedding photos in the Toronto area, look no further than Tami McInnis Photography.

One of my favourite ideas (which I will be ‘borrowing’) is to use a signature cocktail list on the bar:

If you like my cocktail list design – you will soon be able to buy these online, I’ll keep you posted!

There were no other bridesmaids except me, which provided a nice intimate experience for the two of us.  Here’s we are:

Flowers by Toronto shop Pink Twig.

Jill looked absolutely gorgeous in her cocktail-length dress by Jenny Yoo.

This fun, relaxed setting offered up the chance to take some fun photos rather than the ’standard’ ones.   Jill got both her hairpiece and necklace from Etsy sellers.

An atmosphere like this is sure to turn into a great dance party!  Oh – why the crutch?  Rob fell off a ladder only a week before the wedding, breaking his foot!  You never know what can happen!  While many brides might completely melt down – Jill was the picture of cool.  Her wedding projects were done in advance, and Jill was able to play nursemaid, wedding planner, and bride-to-be (which she pulled off with amazing grace).

This wedding was a great success because it was personal and fun, something I hope ours is too.  I know it will be because I have Jill to help me plan!

Feeling quite passionate about my glasses, I searched through some of my favourite wedding forums and was shocked to find posts about brides who have worn glasses all their lives wanting to wear contact lenses for the day because they don’t feel beautiful or special enough in their glasses! My response was surely your fiancé feels in love with the woman that wears glasses? I asked Paradise Dude about this and he agreed, he loves me wearing my glasses and if I didn’t wear them on our wedding day then it wouldn’t be “me”.

With this in mind, I’ve found some photos of brides wearing their glasses that I wanted to share with everyone to show that no matter what, glasses can be the perfect wedding accessory.

So I’ve decided for our wedding, I’m going to look for some new frames to make wearing glasses feel that extra bit special. I’ll update you all once I’ve found them. And if there are any buds out there that are wearing glasses on their wedding day please share your ideas for frames.

I have to say that they definitely feel more meaningful because they have a similar design and are visibly a set.  His is made of gold and blackened steel while mine is a mix of white and yellow gold.

Mine doesn’t go too well with my engagement ring, but I’m not too worried about that.  I have already decided that I’m not going to wear my engagement ring on a day to day basis after we’re married.  I’ll probably just take it out for special occasions and I can wear it on my right hand at those times.  The rings are still at the store as they are getting engraved, and then they’re going to be mailed directly to Ohio so we don’t have to pay the sales tax.  Also so I’m not tempted to walk around the house wearing mine!

What did you guys consider when choosing wedding bands?

My engagement ring is a beautiful princess cut diamond on a simple band. I absolutely love it, but worry a bit sometimes about taking it on vacation. We just found out that our renters insurance policy only covers if it is stolen from our apartment, and not if I lost it, or if the diamond fell out (which happened to a coworker of mine). So, it makes me nervous to take it on long journeys where we’ll be swimming and hiking a lot (i.e. our honeymoon). When Cotton Bud said she was going to buy a simple band for such occasions, it inspired me!

www.zales.com

First, we’re thinking this for the everyday. My band is what they call an infinity diamond band or something like it. The diamonds don’t have an outside border, which sits nicely against my engagement ring.

www.eweddingrings.com

For Dahlia Dude, he wanted a substantial ring with no decoration. He was inspired by a photo spread of Robert Downey, Jr. and his plain ring. He would like a pipe band made out of palladium. In person, they are quite heavy, but pretty.

Once we get these figured out, I think I’ll look into a plain band for travel!

From aclutx70th.com

Cotton Dude and I received our wedding rings! Since we live in NYC, we went to the diamond district because we have a very, very helpful jewelry guy who gives us the best deals possible – we’re talking cost only. His office is upstairs on 47th Street in one of those strange buildings full of offices with full security and bullet proof reception desks. I guess it could be intimidating and scary for someone who’s not used to it, but it is fascinating and fun in my eyes.

From whiteflash.com

I knew that I wanted an eternity band with diamonds all around because I have a solitaire engagement ring, and I was encouraging Cotton Dude to get a thicker band with a few diamonds across the top. He has always loved my dad’s rings, which are very elegant and classy with diamonds, but Cotton Dude was very worried that it would come across as tacky. I assured him that a man with a real Italian accent who wears tailored suits and matching shoes and belt could never be confused with New Jersey (so sorry if anyone is from Jersey – its a stereotype). So, we decided that we would get these rings made – mine in white gold and his in yellow gold (which is considered more classic in Italy).

The other issue was Cotton Dude’s commitment to the standard thin yellow gold band for occasions when he didn’t want to be wearing diamonds – sports, swimming, lying on the beach, etc. He also liked the idea of having this traditional ring because that’s what his father and nonno (grandfather) have and had. This also got me thinking about the fact that I would rather have a plain band than not wear anything because I was nervous to lose them. We were very lucky because through our relationship with our diamond guy, he made us two plain, thin bands for nothing with our diamond rings.

SO…yes, we have four wedding bands…but it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg, and we’re happy to have the fancy and the traditional. I plan on wearing the plain band closest to my heart and never taking it off – just like my grandmother who hasn’t taken off her wedding band in 75 years!

From e-weddingbands.com

That is what a wedding band is supposed to represent anyhow…a never-ending commitment to the other person…

I needed to get her some balls!

This is my ring with her newly installed sizing beads.  These are commonly used for people with arthritis, large knuckles, and ‘top heavy’ rings.  They are quick to do,  inexpensive, and easily removed if my ring size changes.

Has anyone else added these?

I tell you, it took all the strength in me not to cause her bodily harm… Some nerve, right? Just because my engagement ring doesn’t follow tradition doesn’t make it any less “real.”

By Sargent Photoworks

Before I proposed to Calla Lily Dude, I did some research on engagement ring history and traditions to give me ideas since this was relatively uncharted territory…

Gladly, I discovered that it is a Chilean tradition that an engaged couple exchange wedding bands and wear them on their rights hands until the wedding and then place them on their left hands. Not only did I absolutely love this idea, it worked out perfectly because Calla Lily Dude is actually part Chilean (although he was not aware of the tradition).

In my research, I found there are many different traditions regarding engagement rings out in the world, not just my annoying acquaintance’s narrow definition of a “real” ring. For example, some European countries such as Germany and Norway wear their engagement rings on the right-hand. Chilean and Brazilian traditions call for both partners in a couple to wear engagement rings.

There are so many different traditions out there, and I took part in one, but I still have my reservations about engagement rings… And apparently, I am not the only one questioning this practice. This post actually sees it as an evil custom. This is an interesting article about the “trouble” with engagement rings and the thread in response to it as pretty rich as well.

I really love my engagement ring and the fact that Calla Lily Dude also wears a ring, but it is always interesting to see other perspectives on the whole thing.

1. Plan a ZeroCarbon wedding

Use CarbonFund’s carbon calculator to determine the level of carbon dioxide your wedding events will emit into the air and give your guests the opportunity to contribute to your ZeroCarbon Wedding.

From carbonfund.org

2. Go paperless

Send out digital save the dates and invitations to reduce your paper use.

From pingg.com

3. Select environmentally friendly vendors

In this day and age, many vendors are going green. You can find eco-friendly rings, wedding dresses, flowers, and wedding favors just to name a few.

By Morgan Boszilkov

What are some other ways you are going green for your wedding?

Image courtesy of The Devil's Workshop, Toronto

With a little assistance at The Devil’s Workshop in Toronto, in an afternoon you and your fiance can actually make your own bands (or each other’s) out of gold or silver.

Image courtesy of The Devil's Workshop, Toronto

Now if that isn’t the ultimate wedding DIY, I don’t know what is!

Take advantage of unique locations, like this one taken in Mexico

Equipment: I’m using a bare-bones Canon point and shoot, even better if you have an SLR.

Props: Grab your ring (sparkle it up a little) and some favourite items from around the house, for instance a teddy bear, meaningful ticket stubs, dried flowers, a pet or childhood toys.

Celebrate the day he proposed!

Lighting: Good lighting is crucial. Try to use a directional lamp, or take photos first thing in the morning when the sun is coming through your window.

Camera Settings: The most importan thing when doing close-up ring shots is to put your camera on Macro mode. It’s usually a little tulip (aw), and it’s on most cameras. Then, focus on that rock! You might want to experiment with other settings your camera may have such as sepia tone, black & white, or exposures.

You may not get professional results, but DIY photos give you the time to set up interesting and personal shots, it’s fast and fun!