Wedding Wednesday: Not That I'm Looking But...

I'm so in love with pave settings, they are so timeless and elegant 

I still get a funny feeling in my stomach when I catch a glimpse of my ring when the sun hits it just right  when sitting in traffic

Here are a few of my all time favorites!

 Image and Availability - HERE

Image and Availability - HERE

 Image and Availability - HERE 

 Image and Availability - HERE

Wedding Wednesday: My Dress!

"The" Dress...

I have dreams of my dress still, its lovely textures and layers - the layers (or labors) of love...

As I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to have my wedding dress made by my Mother and my Aunts

Being in design for years now, I am around so many fabrics daily

Trying on dresses in a couple boutiques made me appreciate the beauty of the fabric even more

Most dresses I tried on, I couldn't get past the poor quality fabric they were made up of

I did of course fall for two gowns that were priced upwards of $6,000 but even those weren't perfect in my eyes

For years I had admired a specific dress by Oscar de le Renta, however with a price tag of over $14,000, it wasn't for me and besides, it was from his 2008 line

I casually showed my Auntie Susie an image of it I found on ebay and she softly said, "we can do that"

Well, by "we" she was referring to herself and her counterpart, my Mother's sister, Priscilla (better known as "Auntie Cilla" to family and my close friends)

Auntie Cilla said, "with out a doubt, we can do that!"

When she said "we" she meant with the help of the other lovely ladies in my family

The dress is made completely of silk, specifically a Pinder and Pindler 100% Douppioni Silk called Diva in colour white

My Aunts spent endless days and nights working on every detail from wrapping me in duct tape to capture my exact measurements, shopping for fabrics, creating mock-ups, testing fabric, cutting, measuring, creating spreadsheets, shredding, gluing, pinning... you name it

My Auntie Cilla is the most selfless person I know, she calculated everything to a tee, she's the engineer in our family

Not only was she Head Seamstress, she also opened her home up for months to anyone willing to help

There is even a 'check-in' on Facebook for my aunt and uncles now, 'The Aunties Sweatshop'

Thank You:

Auntie Susie

Auntie Cilla

Mom
Auntie Lid
Auntie Nelli
Auntie Jan
Auntie Patty
Auntie Donna

*A special thank you to my loving uncle:

 Thank you Uncle Johnny for giving up your man cave to so many women for months on end!

I cannot thank you all enough for all the love you put into my wedding dress

I will cherish my dress forever, but most of all the memories

You have made me the happiest girl in the world
If that doesn't make someone feel special, I don't know what would!

I love you

Love,

"Tori-Bray" Schuler

Mac getting her pearls latched, the dress hanging nicely

MFD prepping the dress

Perfection!

All that detail!

Getting zipped up!

Full gown

The garment bag Auntie Cilla designed and made with Auntie Susie

This brought tears to my eyes, stitched into the hem of one of the layers of petticoats

My favorite picture

Lovely ladies hard at work:

Mom, Auntie Patty, Auntie Cilla and Auntie Susie all hard at work

Auntie Lid shredding silk for endless hours

Head Seamstress, Auntie Susie diligently confirming strip size to her spreadsheet, YES spreadsheet!

Planning!

Not only did they make my dress from scratch, they even made our ring bearer pillows, monogrammed our cake linens and handkerchiefs for Brad:
Cake table linens monogrammed in navy

The ring bearer pillows made of my dress material
They had our monogram on each of the pillows :)

Wedding Wed: Peonies

Picked our wedding flowers up this morning, I'm in love...

Four days...

Wedding Wednesday Take Two!: Our Invitation Set

Now that our invitations have been sent and the RSVP cards have all been received, I guess it's time to share them with my lovely readers (hi Mom!)

I searched for the perfect invitation at a bridal show, through the 8" Crane binders, and online for endless hours

We couldn't be happier with the beautiful design by April at Paper Dolls Design Inc, she was such a pleasure to work with and I highly recommend her for your wedding and party planning needs

THIS is the invitation I found and fell in love with, it was perfect!

I wanted something very simple and classic and I had always dreamed that my wedding invitation would be monogrammed

We chose a soft white heavy paperweight and a super gorgeous navy colour

April let me customize it to absolute perfection by darkening the navy, adding a navy and white ribbon to tie them together and let me select a different font

My only concern with her beautiful design was that to me the font seemed a little too fancy-pants for our style

I wouldn't call us fancy, more relaxed and classic

I just love our invites!

Thank you, April!

Wedding Wednesday: Our Engagement Pictures Have Arrived!

We are just thrilled with our engagement photos, I am so confident that our wedding photos will be perfect!

Next time I think a glass or two of champers would help ease the nerves, but hey, I just worked it

If you're ever in the need for photography, honestly I wouldn't hesitate to refer you to Kim and Niki of Kim and Niki Photography, they're wonderful and so pleasant to work with

www.kimandniki.com

Thanks ladies, we are so happy!

xo,

VRB

p.s. Eleven Days!!!!

Wedding Wednesday: Wedding Hair and Make-Up Trial

First off, I'm a pony-tail and mascara out the door kind of girl, so make-up, hair and I aren't BFF's

For our wedding I was convinced I would just do my own make-up and have my cousin KLW do my hair, but was convinced otherwise by my lovely bridesmaids

I want to look put together and glowing on my wedding day and have the lovely help of two nice young ladies, Kat and Nicole

They found the perfect balance of a loose and elegant braided up do and soft natural make-up highlighting my features, I'm thrilled with the results!

Hair Inspiration

Image - HERE

Image - HERE

Image - HERE

Experimenting with my hair

Make-Up Inspiration

Image - HERE

Image - HERE

Image - HERE

Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Shoot Outfit Ideas

I had NO clue what to wear to our engagement shoot on Sunday so did a little blog perusing last week to find JUST the perfect outfit to wear for our shoot

Most blogs suggested dark sold colours, and to avoid busy patterns... but if you open my closet, all you will see are stripes, floral, checks and more

So... this meant it was time to pop into Anthro and do a little shoppy-shop

I searched high and low at Anthro, Nordies, The Crew, Kate and Macy's for a solid sheath, shift or tunic dress in a fun colour but came up empty handed

Patterns are just plain in, why fight it?

I do see where they suggest wearing solids, patterns deter from the face, which should be your main focal point

In my case, I hope the stripes helped a sister out... recent stress has not been kind to my face

Side note: had an incredible facial today at Supple in Berkeley, I'm in-love!

I'm all over the place on this post, sorry working on 4 hours of sleep and bleach fumes from yesterday...

New roomie in the cottage, aka my best friend ACM - hooray!

Anyway, back to engagement outfits!...

If you're not trying to avoid pictures of your face, I mean come on, who is really, then here is a lovely dress to consider:

Came up with this steal on sale - $70

HERE

How adorable are these?

On sale at Nordstrom too...

Work the wedges, the elongate the leg, trust me

HERE

However, our photographers begged to differ on the patterns, they were all over this choice I arrived in, remember from my bachelorette?

Repeat, I know,  but why not work what works, right?

HERE

For our "casual" shots, I wore my new James Jeans and an orangey-coral gingham shirt I'm in love with paired with my navy and white Bonanno's - you just can't go wrong

BRS wore his new Naem Brad jeans and a cheerful yellow shirt, it was like Easter all over again

HERE

HERE

Bonnano's are on sale!

HERE