I Guess I Do

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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Stella & Dot Giveaway

It's time for another amazing I Guess I Do Giveaway! Monica Romero, a personal stylist for Stella & Dot, is giving you all a chance to win their popular Maya Pendant! I love simplistic jewelry and think this would work for any day-to-day look or would make a great bridesmaid gift!

My obsession with Stella & Dot began when I saw Jillian wear it on The Bachelorette. I would scour the internet trying to find what she wore each week because I loved her style. Yes I know, I have issues.

You know the drill. Comment on the post below for your chance to win this Maya Pendant from Stella & Dot by Monica Romero. Winner will be announced on the blog Thursday, August 1st. 

Best of Luck Un-Brides!

August 1st, 2013 - Congrats to our winner Sheri. She is sure to rock her new amazing Maya Pendant from Stella & Dot by Monica Romero!

This Giveaway is now closed. 









Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Favorite Cakes

While my wedding cake experience may have been a bust, that doesn't mean yours has to be! Below are some of my favorite cakes I've seen lately, and yes... they are all round, square, and stacked!



1. Sweet Tiers  2. Sweet and Saucy Shop  3. Sweet Bloom Cakes  4. Sweet and Saucy Shop  5. Wild Orchid Baking Company  6. Sprinkle Bakes  7. Cupcakes Couture  8. Vanilla Bake Shop


Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sukey & Bob : Melissa Koren Photography

Meet Sukey & Bob. Sukey is a wedding blogger herself and is by far one of my favorites - a blogger bestie if you will! Her site Dress for the Wedding is a styling blog devoted to finding the perfect wedding attire. And better yet, it was inspired by her very own I Guess I Do moment! You never know where you'll find inspiration! See what inspired Sukey to start her own guide to wedding fashion and enjoy her story in her own words below.
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My husband and I have so many happy memories of our wedding, but behind the scenes there was certainly our fair share of chaos. We had no-shows, wildly unpredictable weather, and --while we were saying our vows and posing in golf carts -- our refrigerator water line broke, sending water all over the new wood floors of our kitchen. As I was busy becoming Mrs. Murphy, Murphy’s law was already well at work.
In retrospect, I realize now that the I Guess I Do moments actually make for some of the great stories you’ll tell over and over about your wedding, build your strength as a couple, and in my case, have actually given me inspiration for my blog Dress For The Wedding. Much of the motivation for founding Dress For The Wedding came from wanting to help other brides and wedding party members avoid the frustrating fashion experiences I had at my own wedding.

To set the scene, my husband and I decided on a short 7 month engagement so that we could have a summer wedding where we grew up in New England, which is 400 miles from where we live now. So with a short timeline and the constraints of planning from afar, we automatically added an extra stressful layer to everything. Because of the timing, we had already missed the window for many vendor services, so I decided to DIY the invites, flowers for the tables, favors, and lots of votives and signage. This was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and thankfully resulted in very few disasters. These made for some of the pretty picture moments!
There were many, small I Guess I Do moments along the way, but one of the most major was the drama over my mom’s mother of the bride dress.

My mom is very frugal and also an enthusiastic do-it-yourselfer, so it was no surprise when she suggested she might make her own dress. To her credit, she is an accomplished seamstress, and successfully made a flower girl dress for me when I was 9, made wonderful prom dresses for me in high school, and handled bridesmaid dress alterations for my nieces who were in our wedding.



But, my mom is also a procrastinator. With every dress she has made in the past, I also have memories of her staying up all night sewing trying to get it done at the last minute. So, when it was clear she was going to attempt this make-your-own dress stunt, for my own peace of mind, I found a few inexpensive options and asked her to please order them. She did, but since we were planning from afar, and she didn’t own a digital camera, I never saw them on. Over the phone she told me they didn’t look great (a little “nightgowny“) and I think it really pushed her further into the “I’m sewing my own dress” decision. Resigned, I asked my mom to please have her handmade dress ready at my bridal shower about a month and a half before the wedding. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but this did not happen.

Instead, she promised she was working on it, and a mere week before the wedding (which also happened to be my birthday), she showed me a partially sewn cotton fabric “draft” of the dress with some semblance of a wrap bodice, and lots of unfinished pieces and threads hanging off it. It was actually quite dramatic in a way that would be perfect for the Star Wars wardrobe department, but it looked very odd on her; and the color, style, and fabric were all very weird, not to mention the “real” dress hadn’t even been started with 6 days to go. Instead of the one thing I had asked for, (i.e., a completed mother of the bride dress), she and my father also randomly gave me a window air conditioner for my birthday. A strange gift made totally bizarre when coupled with the knowledge that my house already has central air, and that I thought we were in agreement that we were urgently in need of a mother of the bride dress. It was all too much. To say I flipped out would be an understatement. There were lots of tears.

When I calmed down, she tried on the fall-back dresses, which were indeed very nightgowny on her. So, we did what we’ve always done in my family for Halloween costumes, or other times when fancy vintage attire was needed. We headed up to the attic to find the wardrobe relics of my fashionable great aunt. In the end, my mom wore a long silk floral print gown that my Aunt Florence had worn to parties in the 1970s. It actually matched the wedding colors perfectly and had slight vintage Lilly Pulitzer vibe. It probably was the perfect dress, but I could have done without the series of events that required us to use it.
This I Guess I Do moment still gives me empathy for the wedding fashion stressors that I address on my blog, and I’m always particularly thrilled to help a mother-of-bride find the perfect dress. However, it should come as little surprise that I don’t recommend sewing your own, I advise that the mother of the bride should always make sure her dress meets with the bride’s approval, and I insist that the mother of the bride find her gown many, many months in advance!

Dress: Jenny Yoo  Mother of the Bride Dress: Thanks Aunt Florence!

 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

BHLDN Store Opening & Giveaway

I'm very excited to be showcasing one of my favorite stores BHLDN on the blog today! BHLDN is Anthropologie's sister store and is my go-to for everything wedding related. I am constantly sending all of my engaged fellow Fashion Police co-workers to their site!

Whether you're the bride, bridesmaid, mother of the bride, or a guest, BHLDN is a one stop shop for all of your wedding needs. From wedding dresses, to vintage accessories, to decor, their pieces are definitely for those brides looking for something different and unique.

And now everything you may have fallen in love with online can be seen in real life!

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of the new BHLDN Beverly Hills store which is celebrating it's grand opening today! Located in the heart of Beverly Hills on Beverly Blvd, this marks their third bridal shop in addition to their Houston and Chicago locations. 



The second floor of the existing Anthropologie store is now dedicated to everything BHLDN. It was like I had died and gone to wedding heaven. The store showcases some dresses before they can be seen online, and has a great selection of one-of-a-kind vintage jewelry finds. And now one lucky follower will win a piece of jewelry from BHLDN's latest collection!





You know the drill. Comment on the post below with with piece of jewelry you'd most like to win - the Gerbera Studs, Cabrini Bracelet, or Forsyth Hair Clip. All are stunning and can also be found at their Beverly Hills store! After a random drawing, the winner will be announced Friday July, 12th on the blog.

So all of my LA Un-Brides be sure to show BHLDN some love on Facebook and stop by and browse their new Beverly Hills bridal shop or set up your appointment with one of their bridal stylists today!

Best of Luck Un-Brides!
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Friday, July 12th -

Congrats to our BHLDN Giveaway Winner - KATHLEEN C.! Your new Cabrini Bracelet will make the perfect last touch for your August nuptials! Please message me with your info at raquel@iguessido.com

This giveaway is now closed.


Sunday, July 7, 2013

Jen & Anthony : Craig Evans Photography

Meet Jen & Anthony. Although these two have been married for years, while at her house for dinner, Jen shared her I Guess I Do wedding moment with me, and I just knew she had to tell it to all of you! Enjoy Jen's story in her own words below...
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Well, a few days ago Anthony and I (Jen - please remember these names for future reference) celebrated our 9 year anniversary. When Anthony and I (again, Jen) got married, we were married in a Catholic Church because it was highly important to Anthony's mother. We had the church coordinator on our tails about everything: no extra flowers, no changing any of the "decorations" & ONLY 15 minutes for pictures after, no exceptions! If we went over the time, the church would charge us a ridiculous amount. Trust me, we all just wanted to get to the reception anyway.

Anyhow, we were assigned a priest to marry us and were required to meet him several times before the wedding. It dawned on Anthony and I (yes, Anthony and Jen) that this priest seemed to be a little forgetful. When my mom called the head priest, he reassured her that everything would be fine, he just had the very first phase of Alzheimer's. Worried, my mom repeatedly asked this priest his condition, but he was 100% confident there would be no problem.

May 22, 2006, Jen met Anthony down the aisle. A quick note, Anthony does not like the nickname Tony: never has, never will. The priest started by introducing us: Jennifer and Tony. At this moment, I gasped! Oh no, this is going to be bad! But I was wrong, it was worse than I thought. The priest heard my gasp, stuttered, and "fixed" his mistake by saying: "oh, oh, I mean Anthony and Stephanie!" It was the crowd's turn to gasp.

Throughout the wedding, he repeated these names. The second time, the gasps were less and the giggles were transpiring and I supposedly stomped my foot. By the third time, the church echoed with laughter.

Long story short, the coordinator gave us all the time we needed for pictures; how generous.

Back track, a week earlier, we closed escrow on our first home (another story for another time). Fast forward, when we returned from our honeymoon, I took the liberty of going through our new mail at our new home to find our phone bill addressed to: Mrs. Stephanie Innocenti. Seriously?

What is the universe telling us? 


Thursday, July 4, 2013

Fourth of July



Sandusky, Ohio - I spent years dreaming of how to get out of this town, now only to find myself counting down the days until I can come back to it. 

After a crazy June at Fashion Police, we were fortunate enough to have this week off. I made it back home for a college friend's wedding in Bowling Green and am spending the week of the fourth with the fam. 

Yesterday, Kyle and I took his nieces and nephews, along with my mom, dad, and brother to Cedar Point. We closed down the joint and rode every single coaster. I felt like a little kid again, although my body is still aching, and every time I got to the top of a hill, I would have a slight panic attack. 

But some things haven't changed. Despite my age, I still managed to spill chili and cheese fries all down the front of me and get shit on by a bird. Shocking, I know...

Don't get me wrong, I love LA, but there is something so refreshing about coming back to Ohio. Maybe it's the fact that driving a BMW isn't considered normal and that having llamas in your neighbor's yard is. (I came home from college one summer to find this perplexing situation)

Either way, I'm glad to be home and surrounded by the family and friends that I love the most. No matter where I end up, or what I accomplish, this town will always remind me of my place in this world - as the girl who worked at the country club, but whose family never belonged to it. 

Happy Fourth of July Un-Brides - may this day bring you much fireworks, food, & laughter!