Bridal Trend: Trash the Dress (TTD) - what are your thoughts?

I am nowhere close to finding my wedding dress. In fact, I am not really even planning on starting to look for it until sometime this fall but I have been reading up on the Trash the Dress (TTD) trend and had to write a post!

So just in case you are reading this and have no clue what I am talking about let me just briefly let you know about this growing trend. From what I have gathered online, it was started by a photographer in Las Vegas over 10 years ago but has only recently gotten popular in the last 5 yrs. Basically at another time after your wedding you stage another photoshoot where the bride wears her wedding dress again and purposely ruins it during the shoot. Some brides will jump into the pool or frolick around a beach. Others run around in mud and dirt, or shred it up. I have seen brides who threw paint on their dress and even a very controversial shoot where the bride burned her dress (while still wearing it!).

FYI I believe this is a photoshopped TTD which might be a good alternative

From what I understand, the point of TTD is supposed to be a fun, different take on traditional wedding photos. It allows the bride to have fun with her dress, have different kinds of poses and change things up. One site I read said that it symbolizes your devotion to your husband since you can't wear the dress again. And as one former bride I know who has done a TTD shoot said "Since you only get married once its not like you will ever wear it again. So why not?". 

So what do you think of this trend? Would you do it? I certainly can understand the appeal and reasoning behind the TTD trend. And it definitely does look very fun but this is a trend that I personally will be skipping and this is why: 

1. I'm too sentimental: I still have the dress I wore in my Quinceanera (Sweet 15). My mom still has my baptism and communion dress. I come from a family who holds onto this type of stuff. For me, this is a very special dress that I want to keep perfect and show my children someday. It is sacred and important because of the commitment I made wearing it.  To spend so much money on a beautiful dress only to purposely ruin it seems to be a waste of money and disrespectful to the sanctity of the dress (to me at least).

2. Unforeseen dangers: Maybe I am being a little pessimistic but I have read about the bride who drowned wearing her dress in the river or the one who burned her dress while wearing it. The possibility that my safety can potentially be compromised for a photo is a huge red flag!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this post.  The next few posts will be coming soon as we near our 12 month countdown to the wedding.  I'm so excited and glad to know that this is just the beginning.

xo,

Michelle G

Blog Spotlight: CRAZYCOZYCHIC

*Blog Spotlight* 

I am always looking for fun and interesting new blogs to read up on. I recently got into contact with a really sweet fellow blogger, Karen from Ireland. She writes about product reviews, tags, hair and more! Please take a moment to check out her blog and show some love!

http://crazycozychic.weebly.com <---link to her blog! 

Now what?

I find myself asking this question all the time.."now what?"  I'm pretty sure this was the first thought in my head right after I said "Yes" to Pete and called some immediate family members to share the good news.  In my immediate circle of friends I'm the first one getting married.  I'm also the first grandchild getting married.  My childhood best friend got married last year and I flew in two days before to stand next to her as a bridesmaid.  To be honest, I have never planned nor been around someone who was planning a wedding.  So after those initial first moments of awe and excitement were over I realized that I was in over my head and totally overwhelmed.  I always thought I would know exactly what I wanted and that I would have the entire wedding planned out by the next day.  However, it's not the case!  There is so much to consider that I could never just plan something in a day! I think it's so easy to get caught up in EVERYTHING at once and get really lost and burnt out.  So I'm taking things one at a time.  There are a lot of wedding planner guides available in bookstores and online but even with those guides I am feeling my way through this process and going at my own pace.    We are about 3 months into planning and have set our wedding date and location.  That's it.  That's all I know so far.  People ask me all the time if I've done this part or decided on that and all I can tell them is "I don't know yet," because it's the truth.  I haven't gotten to that part yet because I don't want to jump around to different things.  So now that date and location are set...now what?


What I'm using to plan my wedding

Ok so first I should probably start out with what I'm using to get my planning in gear.

First thing I did when I started planning was buy a folder.  I needed something that I could use to hold onto important receipts, papers, contracts, etc. and take around with me when I go to visit venues and vendors.  I also signed up for a few wedding websites like The Knot and Wedding Wire to help me stay up to date with current trends, ideas, inspiration and venue choices.  Just beware of the reviews for the venues.  After reading through a bunch of them I realized that almost every review is written by a bride/groom who had their wedding at that specific location.  So of course the reviews will be biased because let's face it, they chose the place so of course they are going to love it!  Another website that I'm using is Etsy, which is an awesome website to buy handmade/original and really creative stuff through independent vendors.  I like going on this site to browse through various different bridal decorations, invites, favors, etc.  You don't have to order from the site to find inspiration and get ideas!  I'm also using Pinterest to get wonderful inspiration for the wedding through pictures.

The Next Steps...

1. Vendors: My goal for this summer is to find and book some of my vendors.  I'm planning to find a wedding officiant, DJ, and photographer/videographer.  I have a few others on my list but these are the ones I would rather book sooner than later.   
2. Workout/Diet plan: Because let's face it, we all want to look fabulous on our wedding day!  I was doing so well but fell off the wagon last summer.  I'm back on now and have been working out about 3-4 times a week for about 40-60 minutes doing moderate/high intensity workouts at home.    I'm doing both cardio and strength training with hand weights.  I'm debating on whether or not to officially join Weight Watchers but I'll probably just do it on my own.  I will post a different day about the exact workouts/diets I'm doing.  Also, Pete just joined a new boxing gym nearby.  I'm so glad that we are both making an effort to get in shape for our wedding! <3 
3. Keep pinning: Since I'm still in the early stages of planning I am still open to ideas and gathering inspiration.  I'm still very open to the many possibilities and this is such an important day that I want to make sure I plan every last detail.  I've been using the Pinterest app on my iPhone to pin images that give me wedding inspiration or an idea that I want to use.  

I think that about sums up where I am so far with everything.  Which isn't too far but I have more than enough time so there's no need to rush. I hope my next post will have more fun details! Stay tuned!

-Michelle G     

Let the wedding planning begin!!

The past 2 months have been pretty crazy and hectic for me.  I got engaged in April and ever since that day things have been a bit chaotic.  Between work, traveling and trying to plan a wedding this is actually the first moment I've had to really blog about it.  I've been toying around with the idea of blogging my wedding planning.  I think I'm just gonna do it.  I think it would be awesome to be able to look back at the whole process and have it as a nice memory.  So here we go... blogging about my wedding planning adventures.

Pete and I waited about a week or so before we started with our wedding planning.  Typical me even bought a special "wedding folder" so I could hold onto my notes, brochures, business cards and other important paperwork.  The first thing we decided to do was come up with a guest list.  We felt that the best way to figure out how big of a venue/reception hall we need is to figure out how many people we need to accommodate.  This would also help us come up with a wedding budget.  Since we both don't come from very large families we are able to keep the guest list down to closer family and friends.  At this point, our list is about 125 guests.  

The next step was finding a venue and choosing a wedding date.  In order for me to continue on with the rest of the planning I needed a place and a date/time.  The hardest part of this process so far was choosing the best place to have the wedding.  There were pros and cons to consider.  

POSSIBLE WEDDING VENUES

Here are the places that we looked at for our wedding <3 Since Pete and I are having the wedding ceremony at the venue we need to make sure they have a nice place for it to take place.  I only chose to look at 7 places because after awhile the prices are comparable and venues start to all the look the same.  I narrowed it down to these 7 places and attempted to make a decision based on that.  I was lucky enough to have found my venue amongst one of these 7 but had I not, I may have kept looking.  Our wedding day is set: 9/14/14 at one of these lovely venues listed below!

The Clubhouse at Patriot Hills

http://www.patriothillsny.com

The Clubhouse at Patriot Hills, Stony Point, NY

The Nyack Seaport

http://www.nyackseaport.com

The Nyack Seaport, Nyack, NY

The Colonial Inn

http://colonialinnnj.com

Colonial Inn, Norwood, NJ

The Estate at Florentine Gardens

www.florentinegardens.com

Estate at Florentine Gardens, River Vale, NJ

Old Tappan Manor

http://www.oldtappanmanor.com

Old Tappan Manor, Old Tappan, NJ

The Tides Estate

http://www.thetides.com

The Tides Estate, North Haledon, NJ

View on the Hudson

http://www.theviewonthehudson.com

The View on the Hudson, Piermont, NY

Engagement + Our Story

Beyond excited and blessed to be able to share such a wonderful announcement.  A few weeks ago I got engaged to my best friend, Peter.  We are so happy and excited to begin this new chapter in our lives together.  We have been through so much over the years and through all the ups and downs we have continued to make our relationship a priority.  I love him so much and I am ready to see what our future has in store.  

OUR STORY

I met Peter one evening in a restaurant about 7 years ago.  It was June and I was a few weeks into my summer break from college.  I had been working all day taking care of kids.  I was tired, messy and ready to spend my evening at home taking a nap.  My 2 friends invited me to get dinner at one of our favorite casual spots.  Since it was a casual hangout spot I didn't think to change my clothes (or put on more makeup).  I just went looking like a total mess.  

We got to the restaurant and sat down.  As soon as our waiter came to take our order I regretted not changing or fixing myself up.  As soon as I saw him I felt an instant attraction to him and I felt that I liked him right away.  I looked at his name tag, it read 'Peter.'  He immediately smiled and was very outgoing.  He said hello to my girl-friend, Keisha.  They happened to know each other from school.  They small talked for a bit (while I tried not to stare at him) and then he took our order.  From the get go I could tell he was really easy going, friendly and easy to talk to.  I secretly cursed myself for not having changed my clothes, combed my hair and freshened up.  Since when did this restaurant hire cute waiters?!  When he started flirting with Keisha, I figured I didn't have a shot.  So I just admired him while he served our food and refilled my drink.  I never thought anything would ever come from this encounter.  And nothing really did, but it was the first time our paths crossed and the first time we ever met.  

Pete in his waiter uniform.  This is basically exactly what he looked like the day we met.  

It might have been a few days or maybe a week later that I returned to the same restaurant with Keisha and another friend.  It just so happened that Peter was working there again that day and we happened to get seated in his section again.  This time I had come looking a bit more presentable.  Of course he started flirting with Keisha but then he also talked a bit with me as well.  He was so nice and friendly and I really liked him.  Keisha wasn't interested but I sure was.  At the end of our meal he left us a card with a link to his MySpace (this was back in the old days of social networking).  I'm not sure if he left it for Keisha or if he left it for me but I took it and friended him on MySpace.  I didn't think anything would come of this but I figured if anything maybe I could make a buddy to give me free ice cream lol. He messaged me right away that he recognized me from the restaurant and from there we started talking online, then on the phone until he asked me on our first date.  As they always say...the rest is history!

Me & My Love

He is my best friend.  I can tell him anything and share everything with him.  He loves me and accepts me.  I can be myself with him.  I feel safe and secure with him.  He makes me laugh, he helps me with anything I need.  If I have a problem, he is there trying to fix it with me.  He loves me and he loves my family.  He loves my dog too :)  He is a wonderful person and I am so blessed that I met him.

How Pete popped the question!

I have always said that I would never want a public engagement meaning I would never want other people to be present during such an intimate and special moment in your life.  This is just my own preference.  So places like a restaurant, sporting event or holiday parties are not my thing. Pete picked the best spot near our house to ask me to marry him.  When the weather is nice, Pete and I love to go to our favorite little park to have picnics and just relax and enjoy nature.  He took me for a walk to our favorite park and as we stood by our spot he had a guitar player come and start playing Bruno Mars "Marry You" in the background while he asked me.  It was low key, private and sweet.  The best part was that it was in our park at our favorite spot which made it very sentimental and thoughtful.  Of all the places near my house, this spot was the most appropriate I think.  And he did an amazing job picking out the ring!!

My gorgeous engagement ring!  I love the personalized birthstone added underneath! Aquamarine <3

I am just in the early planning stages of our wedding.  I am overwhelmed but also very excited to plan this important day with Pete.  I think I will be blogging alot more in the next few months as I make preparations for everything.  I hope to be able to share my journey.

xoxo,
Michelle G

A Recent Hilight

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a wonderful V-day!  I am posting a day late but hopefully everyone is still in the loving spirit.  Anyway, I have been quite the slacker when it comes to posting on this blog and that is simply unacceptable.  I am going to try very hard to blog more regularly.  I have been so busy since starting a new job that I barely had time to post.  I was lucky enough to get out of work early yesterday for V-day and so I took advantage and enjoyed a lovely dinner with my boyfriend.  Before we left, he picked me up and gave me my gift.  My boyfriend usually always gives me jewelry for this occasion so I was surprised when he came into the house with balloons and a Steve Madden retail bag.  I love Steve Madden shoes although I must admit that I do not own many.  Nevertheless, I have been eyeing the Steve Madden Hilight Sneaker for awhile now. 

Hilight in black

They are the sneakers with the hidden wedge in them that resemble an updated hi-top sneaker.  I know originally these sneakers came out awhile ago from Isabel Marant for over $800 but over the past few months many other brands have come out with their own version of this design that are a bit more affordable.  So I was really surprised when I opened the Steve Madden box and see these shoes!  At first I wasn't sure if I would like them on me but once I put them on I was surprised at how comfy they were and how cute they look with a good pair of jeggings!  Plus not to forget, if you are short like me

(5'2 and under) these sneakers elongate your legs and make you look taller and slimmer!  They come in other colors but for me I love to buy things in classic colors like black so that I can wear them with a lot of different outfits.  They function like a bootie but have the look of a sneaker and if you grew up in the 90's you will also love the retro hi-top feel of this sneaker.  I plan on wearing these baby's all through Spring 2013!  

What shoes will you be strutting in this spring?  

Get Jessica Burciaga's signature look!

One of my favorite models is Jessica Burciaga.  She's been on the scene for awhile now.  From what I know she gained popularity on Myspace (remember those day?!) and was featured on The Girls Next Door after Holly Madison discovered her on Myspace.  Anyway, the girl is absolutely stunning and flawless!  Recently, she's even begun to be compared to Jennifer Lopez.  I found her Youtube channel (MsJessicaBurciaga) and although there are only a few videos and snippets, I found this awesome makeup tutorial featuring Jessica.  Her makeup artist, Etienne Ortega, does an amazing job of showing us viewers exactly how he gets Jessica's signature smokey nighttime look.  It is simple and glamorous.  I have included the video below.  Feel free to check out the video and don't forget to check out Jessica Burciaga's channel!

xoxo, Michelle G