Shoe Love

Shoes haven't really been a priority on my wedding to-do list. I wear flip flops at the first sign of spring and wear them until the first sign of winter. When it came to shoes for the wedding, I kind of just assumed I'd wear flats or flip flops. Newport Mom and Sister Newport are the complete opposite of me with shoes, they love them, especially heels. They told me I have to wear heels. I said "we'll see".

When the dress came in, I tried it on and......it's too long. I know I could get it hemmed, but my favorite part of the dress is the beautiful detail on the bottom (I would show this, but I'm keeping my dress a surprise until the wedding day). I can't bear cutting it off. So, Sister Newport and Newport Mom are getting their wish....I'll begrudgingly wear heels on our wedding day.

I've looked and looked for shoes, but nothing sparked my interest, until I browsed the Neiman Marcus website and found these amazing heels from Giuseppe Zanotti.

They are so gorgeous and would look so fun with a short after party dress! I absolutely love them. I thought for a second that I found my shoes.....until I saw the price tag and it's just not happening. Now I compare every shoe I find to these. This is a typical trait of mine. I find something I love, but completely out of my price range and fixate. It's the reason why I couldn't look at dresses at Priscilla of Boston and the reason I should have known to stay away from Neiman Marcus.

Now it's back to the search.

Any other brides who fixate on items out of your budget? What was the biggest disappointment?

Dressing for the Occassion

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks for the Newports! This upcoming weekend we are heading to the Jersey Shore for Shower #1. FMIL Newport is hosting a bridal shower for us at a beautiful water front restaurant. Then Shower #2 is the following week at a cute New England Inn, hosted by the Newport Bridesmaids and Newport Mom.

So what does a girl wear to a Jersey Shore Shower and a Boston Tea party? I've looked for weeks for white dresses, I have some crazy idea that I need to wear white to every wedding event, I thought this for our engageemnt party too and ended up in silver. Well after many shopping excursions, I only found one white dress, which I can't wear for both showers.

So here's what I've come up with. I love them both, but feel like the "rope dress" isn't bridal enough.

I love the back on this one!

Source.

Source

Other than being white, I had one other thing that I wanted from the dress- I have to wear it again! Luckily, I love them both and they are perfect summer dresses that I can wear a lot over the next few months. I bet you can guess what dress goes with each shower!

Did you have trouble finding a dress you loved for your shower? Anyone else feel the need to wear white to everything?

Special Delivery

When Mr. Newport and I were first talking about marriage, I was pretty sad at the thought of no children in our wedding. There just weren't any kids we were super close to at the time and we didn't want to choose random kids to be in our wedding.

Source (If you can't tell, the bib says "I heart my auntie")

The week after Sister Newport got engaged, Brother Newport who lives in another state called the family to let us know Sister Newport would have a little ring bearer or flower girl in her wedding (and yes, that is how he announced his baby to our family). It was an amazing surprise! At that point we weren't engaged, but I knew it was coming and I knew it meant we'd have a special little person in our wedding, too. It just so happend that a few weeks after Mr. Newport proposed, our little flower girl was born on Halloween. Exactly five years from the day Mr. Newport first asked me out. October is a good month for the Newport!

Brother Starfish asked me to be Little Newport's god-mother. Little Newport is one of the loves of my life. I'm so excited to have not just a flower girl in our wedding party, but to have the specialist little girl in our lives walk down the aisle in front of us. Or knowing her...she may be running down the aisle!

And while she is running down the aisle, she will be in style! I found the cutest dress at the Stationery Studio. I originally wanted it in navy, but it literally was discontinued the week I placed my order, after having been available for a year and a half. But that's probably a good thing. I'm excited that Little Newport will be in white, and her parents will be in navy. I hope my photographer gets an awesome family photo! Are you having any kids in your wedding party?

Bridesmaid Surprise Savings

So recently, I updated letting you know, that the girls had found their dresses. What I forgot to mention was the fact that right before we placed the order, we got a great surprise....

Sister Newport and Bridesmaid L (in one of my favorite dresses)

Our bridesmaid consultant at Flair called to get the last bridesmaid's measurements and surprised me by saying the fabric I chose was being discontinued. Normally this could be a bad thing, but she said we will have enough time to get the dresses ordered, and they will now be at an even bigger discount!

I'm more excited that my bridesmaids are saving money than if my own dress were getting a discount! I feel guilty having my friends spend so much money on me, so it was awesome to get a surprise savings.

Did you have any great surprises with cost savings during your planning?

Dresses for the Girls, 2

After narrowing down a few ideas for the bridesmaids dresses, I decided I was in love with the simplicity of the Alfred Sung D446 on the Dessy website. Which is the dress on the right.

I called up every store in MA and RI that carries Alfred Sung. At the time, the Spring collection just came out and I could only find one store that carried the D446. So I booked an appointment at Flair Bridesmaids.

Well apparently I know nothing about fabrics. I had decided early on that I want the girls in a casual and comfortable fabric, nothing with a shine (I have it stuck in my head that shine equals fancy). So when I got to Flair I was surprised to find out that the D446 only comes in a shiny fabric called Dupioni. If I had clicked on the swatch on the website, I would have easily realized that this was a fancy fabric.

When I looked through the store, it seemed like everything was in fancy fabrics. But I explained to my consultant, Leah, the vibe and feel I was looking for. A bit casual, navy cocktail length, something that looks very "Newportish". Leah came up with a few options, some shiny, some not. I had Sister Newport act as a model and try on quite a few dresses. I ended up liking a few, but the one I loved was a dress by Coren Moore. It is absolutely perfect!

The Newport Girls will be wearing the Coren Moore "Courtney" dress in cotton sateen. To have my MOH, Sister Newport, stand out a bit she'll be the only one with a sash. I can't find an exact match, but here it is in silk. After narrowing down the choices, the Newport Girls and I booked a second appointment for fittings. Luckily they all loved it, or at least that's what they told me...... but seriously I think they really do! Which is so awesome. I was really stressed about finding something that they would all feel comfortable and look good in. I was so happy after each bridesmaid tried it on, it was super flattering on everyone! A couple even said they will wear it again and will have to schedule with each other so they don't all show up at the same event wearing it.

Did you stress about finding the perfect bridesmaid's dresses? Did your girls end up happy with your choice?

Dresses for the Girls

My first bridesmaid dress shopping experience was with Sister Newport when looking for her bridesmaid's dresses. We went to Priscilla of Boston and I was in love with their dresses. Sister Newport chose to do a few different styles and the dress I fell in love with was one of them. I told her I loved it so much that I asked if she would mind if I used it for my future bridesmaids. She said go for it.

Michael Sparks Keegan photography

Funny enough the only girl who ended up wearing it, also happens to be in my bridal party, Bridesmaid M. I was in love with the dress because of one amazing detail....the bow in the back. Bridesmaid M is modeling it in the photo above.

I fell in love and was pretty sure it was the dress, but the more we planned, the more our vision became defined. Coastal, laid-back, elegance seemed to be the theme and a shiny satin material just seemed a bit fancy.

I decided to look around. I decided it had to be navy, cocktail length and a more relaxed fabric.

I deicded to check out Ann Taylor, as most of my work clothes end up being from there. Which is how I know they contstantly have 40% off one item promotions going on. I was looking for a deal. I found a gorgeous dress in navy, but it seemed like every time I went to the site, they only had a few sizes. I also realized it was an online only option, which meant we'd have to pay for shipping to try them out, unless I could find a 40% off and free shipping sale at the same time. It also didn't have the more relaxed fabric I was looking for, but it stayed on the back burner.

Sources (Clockwise from top left): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The Ann Taylor dress was such a favorite, it ended up in our attire inspiration board.

As I was debating on the Ann Taylor, Alfred Sung came out with a new spring line. I checked out the Dessy website and fell in love with a couple of his new designs.

These were the top three contenders.


Did you have a definite look when picking out your bridesmaid's dresses, or were you pretty open when going shopping?

The Dress that Almost Made it

After my first trip to Madeleine's Daughter, I needed to plan a second trip, to bring my bridesmaids to help me make a big decision. Which dress to choose? I was never able to find a date to get us all up there, so in the end it was myself, Newport Mom, Sister Newport, Newport Aunt K, and three of my bridesmaids.

When we arrived in the store, eight months since my last visit, they no longer had samples for me to try of the two dresses I was deciding between. I was left with only my pictures and memories of how I felt trying them on. Luckily I did have the pictures. One of the two is shown below. I had thought this was the one. It wan't until getting home and staring at the photos of the two dresses, that I knew I made my choice. I loved this dress in person, but after looking at it in photos, I felt the bottom half was a little too flowy and not as flattering as the other. I thought I had made my decision.

Because I had asked my bridesmaids to travel a state away, I asked Kerry, my bridal consultant if I could try on other dresses for fun. She pulled about 10 dresses. I tried on dress after dress feeling confident in my original choice. I tried on a few different styles just to see what they were like, since I was a little more specific with styles in the past. I tried on mermaid, trumpet, and ball gowns.

When I tried on the last dress in the group, I looked at myself in the mirror before going out to see my friends and family. My initial reaction was Newport Mom is going to love this. If any dress sways her decision, this will be it.

As soon as I walked out jaws dropped. Everyone was saying this is "the dress". Newport Mom especially. All of the sudden, I was confused . I went from assurance that I was choosing the right dress to completely clueless. I had been waiting throughout the whole shopping experience for a reaction to a dress like this, but the reaction happend to the wrong dress, not my dress, not THE dress.

When I asked what they liked more about this dress Newport Mom said, "the other dress is so you, it's something expected, but this dress WOWS you.".

I loved the reaction so much, I started to think it was a contender. I did feel beautiful in it, but I never wanted a princess gown. It wasn't lacey, no cap sleeves, no flower details, and definitely not flowy. It was actually overwhelming with material and hard to walk in. Plus it had a train and I was against trains from the beginning.
I stared back and forth between my camera (looking at photos of the dress, the one that I thought was THE dress) and the mirror. I was agonizing. Did I want the dress I loved, or a dress that would get this kind of reaction. I went around and asked everyone's opinion. When I got to bridesmaid E, she said "I do love the princess dress, but I can tell you love the other one more". Although she wouldn't have chose my choice, it was nice to have someone stand up for it. After that, the rest of the comments were similar. My mom had to pull me aside because she knew I was agonizing. She let me know that although she did love this dress, I had to feel confident with my choice. I am indecisive and she knew I'd stress if I chose the wrong dress.

I ended up following my heart and going with the dress I had loved and stared at on my digital camera for the last eight months. I couldn't even talk about dresses for the rest of the day. Bridesmaid M let me know on the way out that she was happy I chose that dress. I think they all realized how much I loved it. I just nodded. I literally was still thinking all day what if I made the wrong choice. They tried to reassure me that they are both beautiful dresses and either one would be a good choice, so I couldn't have chosen wrong.

It wasn't for another two days that I finally felt like I had 100% made the right decision. When I look at the dress I do like it, but I don't love it. I don't stare at it and think, this dress is so me. When I stare at the other one, I think "this is the dress, this is my dress, this dress is so me." And that makes me happy.

So where is THE dress? Well it's a surprise, I'm keeping it to myself, my bridesmaids, Newport Aunt K, and Newport Mom until the wedding. So you'll just have to wait and see!

Did you have a tough time deciding between two dresses? Did you choose something against the opinion of others?

Searching for the Dress

While on my quest for the dress, I felt like I was struggling. I couldn't find any dresses that really stood out to me. I kept coming back to dresses with four characteristics, although never on the same dress: cap sleeves, lacey, flowy, or flower details.

After a year of looking, I felt like I was never going to find "THE DRESS". Then, I went to a Wedding Show in Boston and came across Madeleine's Daughter, a boutique in Portsmouth, NH. A little out of the way, but they had this dress:
I was instantly in love. I loved the lace and the flowy bottom. I'm partial to empire waists, so it had extra appeal. Shortly after the show, I had booked an appointment a state away. I dragged Newport Mom and Sister Newport along.

We got there and I wasn't impressed with the dress. I liked it, but I didn't LOVE it. I also was annoyed by the silver sequin swirl on the top of the dress, it seemed out of place and really bothered me. I worked with Kerry, my sales consultant at Madeleine's Daughter.

I gave her my budget and the four things I liked. I showed her some pictures and pretty much said everyrthing I liked and didn't like about each one. She ended up showing me dresses I never would have thought of and I was starting to actually think I'd find "the dress".

She brought out dresses with cap sleeves, lace, flower details and dresses that flowed:
She brought out one dress with amazing flower details, but it was less modest than I would like. I realized quickly, I did not want a v-neck. The dress was shot down quickly, although I really love the flower details on the top: I then tried on a dress with cap sleeves. I loved the top of this dress, but wasn't crazy about the bottom. It was too form fitting for me. Although I did love the laced up back. I thought it was different. I then tried on a flowy dress. It was a dress by Emerald Bridal. They were having a sample sale, so the dress would be 15 % off and under my budget. It was simple, and I loved it when I tried it on in the store.
I thought it was the one. By the end of the day, I thought a couple dresses were the one. I went from having the dilemma of not loving any dresses to having the dilemma of not knowing which dress to choose.

Did you have a hard time finding a dress you liked?

Running of the Brides

Running of the brides was quite the experience. It is something that is crazy, hectic, insane, and totally fun. I was planning to go to Filene's Basement's Annual Running of the Bride's (it's actually bi-annual in Boston) for my wedding gown. We had done it for Sister Newport's gown and she wasn't just successful in finding the dress, she was successful in finding the dress(es). The prices were so great she got two styles. One for the ceremony and photos, and a second for the reception.

When deciding on whether or not to do ROTB, I ended up having my decision made for me. When I was starting to look for dresses, Filenes had been bought out and there was a pretty big rumor going around that there would be no ROTB in 2009. With that in mind, I headed to another bridal shop, fell in love and put down a deposit. Only to find out a few months later, the August Running of the Brides was still on. For awhile I debated on whether to lose my deposit and go for it, but I figured I already found "the dress" and didn't want to feel pressured into getting a dress I may not love as much because of two possibilites: 1. finding a cheaper dress that I liked may tempt me, and 2. buying a dress out of guilt for having friends and family use vacation days to attend and waking up at the crack of down to stand in line-only to have me say ehh, I think I'll stick with the one I already put a deposit on.

Despite my decision to skip on my own ROTB Experience, I thought I'd share my experience from a supporter's side.

Typically, a bride cuts out a few pictures to prepare for a dress appointment. This is not really the case with ROTB. Sister Newport did have a few photos to share with her "entourage" (as we named ourselves), to get a better idea of what she was looking for. The more important way to plan isn't showing pictures, it was actually strategizing - yes there was strategy in the approach to find the dress.

Bridesmaid M, had watched a documentary on ROTB and took notes. She went on and did a little research and came up with a power point presentation. She eneded up printing it off to go over with the entourage the night before ROTB.
Strategy 1: Plan ahead.

Strategy 2: Coordinate. It makes it easier to find each other in the crowd. Bridesmaid M and her sister, bridesmaid E had shirts made for us, that said "Jenn's Entourage". For the male member of the group, they made a special shirt:

Strategy 3: Dress appropriately. Other than coordinateing, make sure you wear comfortable clothes and shoes. When the people start to run, you need to be ready. If you do the winter ROTB dress warm, you may need to wait in the cold for awhile. Make sure the bride wears a body suit, or something she's comfortable changing in, in front of other people.

Strategy 4: Bring lots of people. The more people you have, the better. When you get through the doors, it is a mad dash for dresses. The more arms you have to grab=more dresses.

Strategy 5: Get there early. We got there at 3:00 a.m. and were about the 4th or 5th group in line. Shortly after the lines started to grow quickly.

Strategy 6: Designate "jobs" to each person. First, a job for running in, and a second job for when the dash is over. Make sure you choose people based on their strengths. A few examples of "jobs": Dress grabbers- this should be everyone during the dash, except for two people who run to "claim" a spot, Dress helpers- someone to get the dresses on, another to get them off, dress guards- people do try to steal them, packers and unpackers- the dresses come in big bags that need to be unzipped, then get the dresses of the hangers and handed to the dressers, bargainers- the bargainers need to take the rejects and find other brides to trade with.

Strategy 7: Create "alliances". While we were in line, the male member of the entourage started forming alliances with other brides. He found three women in front of us, the bride was a different size and wanted a different style than Sister Newport. He told her if we found anything like what she wanted he'd have us give it to her, if they'd do the same. A few hours later, he found a dress, brought it over to her. Within about half an hour, she came to find him and told him that he had found "the dress". By the end of the day, he had found "the dress" for three different brides. All of whom helped us out, too.

Strategy 8: Never stop strategizing. After seeing that alot of people were wearing pink, our way of standing out didn't seem so unique. So bridesmaid E came up with an idea that really made us stand out......She did all of our hair so that we'd be able to see each other across the room. It worked, not only could we find each other in the crowd, but so could everyone else. We ended up on a few different news stations, radio stations, online publications and made our way into the Boston Globe. (Side note: later that day, bridesmaid E & M's brother was at work, while a coworker called him over to look at "these crazy people" online, only to find out the crazies were his sisters and cousins).

Strategy 9: Don't discriminate when grabbing dresses. The more you can grab, the better. Just because it's not your bride's size it doesn't mean it won't help her out.

Strategy 10: Trade, trade, trade! Take any dresses the bride rejects, and have your "bargainers go out and trade for dresses in her size and style. The two dresses Sister Newport ended up with, both came through trades.

Strategy 11: Bring man power. Our M.V.P. of the day was the one guy in our group. He was able to grab an entire rack of dresses by himself in the beginning. We were so lucky to have him. He was the one who grabbed the most dresses, made alliances with other bride's groups, and found one of the dresses Sister Newport chose through a trade.

It was definitely a learning experience for him though. When he was going out to trade, he had no clue what Sister Newport meant when she said she wanted something lacey or Grecian, but he tried. He was also a little gullible. He traded a gorgeous dress at one point for a pink dress because the woman he traded with said it was a great trade and the bride would love it. He came back so excited and felt taken when he saw Sister Newport's reaction to ther dress. He came back with quite a few interesting dresses including the purple dress below.

Strategy 12: Enjoy the bonding experience. It was a blast and such a memorable experience. Even Newport Mom loved it, other than the last 15 minutes before you go in the door, that scared her. We had so many laughs from that day.

Strategy 13: Treat your supporters/friends to a great breakfast afterwards. We were pretty exhausted and starving by the end of the experience. Newport Mom and Newport Aunt K took us out to lunch afterwards.

If you don't like crowds, if you come back later in the day, there are still plenty of dresses. Many of the people who come in the morning are supporters and not actual brides. After "the run", dresses start to get put back on the racks. As you can see in the "celebration" picture above.

Upcoming 2010 Running of the Brides Events
Columbus : Friday, Jan 29
New York City : Friday, Feb 5
Boston : Friday, Feb 19
Atlanta : Friday, March 19
Chicago : Friday, July 23
Wash DC : Friday, July 30
Cleveland : Friday, Aug 27

Have you had a ROTB expereince? Was it successful?

Mother of the Bride

When we first got engaged, we had a vision. We knew what we wanted our wedding to look like, the feelings we want to evoke, the stlye, the colors, the atmosphere. It was all planned out from the very beginning.

This led to an early planning craze. I was so focused on our vision, that if I found something that fit the vision, it was bought. This happend with the Mr. Newport's tie, Newport Mom's dress, oot bags, bridesmaid's gifts, just to name a few items. I was worried I wouldn't like these things by the time our wedding rolls around, mainly because our engagement will be about two years. A lot can happen in two years. But luckily, here we are, and we are still overly excited with our choices.

One of my favorite of the choices we've made is "the look" of our wedding. We want our wedding to represent us- simple. fun. casual. To get this vibe, we opted for the men in navy blazers and khaki pants, the girls will be in coktail dresses. Then came the mother of the bride dress.

I didn't want a typical mother of the bride dress, I wanted something again, that would evoke simple. fun. casual. I knew it had to be cocktail length, but classy. I am super specific about things, and I want my mom to feel gorgeous on our wedding day. Newport Mom's friends have had trouble in the past finding mother of the Bride dresses. So shortly after the engagment, I started looking casually. At the time, she was also looking for a mother of the bride dress for Sister Newport's wedding.

Then on a random trip to the Talbots website, I came across this dress. Simple.fun.casual. - yet still classy. It was perfect. I love that it coordinates with the wedding party look. Our colors are mainly navy and white, but since the groomsmen are wearing khaki, I think this outfit will coordinate perfectly.

Did your mother find a dress early on? Was she still happy with it by the time the wedding came?

A down payment on a dress????

When I first went dress shopping, I found a dress I loved and put down a "down payment". I was so excited, as soon as we left the store, I sent Mr. Newport a text (he was at work). My text said something like: "I found the dress! I put a down payment on it!". Shortly after, Mr. Newport called extremely stressed out......

He wanted to know what I meant by down payment, so I said "you know like a deposit?", confused as to why he sounded so stressed. As soon as I said deposit a sigh of relief came. I was so confused. Apparently there is a difference between a deposit and a down payment. He assumed I was financing the dress, which means it is expensive and not in our budget. He was extremely relieved to hear the dress was in our budget and I was not going into debt to finance a dress!

Has anyone else stressed out their fi by using the wrong terminology during the planning phase?

Engaging Outfits

About a month before our engagement shoot, we still don't know what to wear. We were hoping to use the pictures for a few different DIY projects related to the wedding, so the one thing we knew for sure is the color of our outfits. We wanted to stick with our white and navy color scheme to coordinate with the wedding.

My dream dress for the downtown pictures was the navy Betsey Dress from Lilly Pulitzer's Spring 2009 collection.

Another option was J.Crew's Pique V-Neck Ruffle Dress. I love it in Navy! It is cheaper than my dream Lilly dress, so I was leaning more towards the J. Crew option.
We were hoping for variety, so we each wanted 3-4 outfits. We came up with a plan for each outfit/area.

Downtown Shots: Something a little more sophisticated/classy, maybe a Navy Cocktail length dress
Beach: Something flowy, that will look pretty against the ocean, either a Maxi dress or white knee length dress
Campus/Cliffwalk: Something more casual, jeans, flats and a navy or white plain top
Beach or Campus addition: Jeans with sweatshirts from our alma mater! We want to include our love for Salve! We are already doing campus shots, but when we first met I lived in hoodies, so I think it will be fun to have a few pro shots with our alma mater hoodies.

How did you decide what to wear on your engagement shoot? Any great tips out there?

The Look

I'm not totally sure what bridesmaid dresses I want, but we have a definite look we are going for. Very nautical and Newport. My fiance is extremely laid back and was pretty excited at the idea of wearing a navy blazer and khakis over a tux. When we first started talking about weddings, he told me he wanted to get married on the beach in shorts and a Hawaain shirt. I wanted something a little more formal, so this seems like the perfect compromise. More casual for him, but formal enough for me. I think the look is more "us".

I can't wait to pick out my flower girl a.k.a. my god-daughter's dress! How adorable are these kids?
Top 2: Bello Photography
Bottom 4: Snap! Photography

I think this "look" screams relaxed and casual, which I think leads to a relaxing and fun day. Don't these people look like their having a good time?

What "look" are you going for?