Lovely in lace

This weekend was doubly exciting as a bride to be! Not only did I try on my dress for my mom, but I also had an appointment back to back with my darling friend and got to see her lovely lace leading pick! My friend in her beautiful lacy, fitted gown is today’s inspiration.

And if you haven’t noticed, lace is definitely trending this wedding season. So whether you’re going to be donning a delicate, lace dress, or just looking to add some dainty details, you’re sure to find gorgeous ways to do so! Here are just a few of my favs…

{1} One of my absolute to die for favorites this year has been the beautiful garders showing up on Etsy, La Gartier and of course Pinterest. Emily Riggs Bridal starts us off with a gorgeous lace garter with jewel detail, which takes my top pick, because who doesn’t need a little extra bling to match their ring?

{2} But if you’re really going to embrace lace this year, you have to get it in full length. This dress has been all over Pinterest and is sweetly romantic with its edged sweetheart neckline and slight flair. THANK YOU Watters for bringing us the Natalia.

{3} And every bride needs some fabulous hair flair to complete their ensemble, especially for after the ceremony when the veil will no longer be worn. Number 3 is near and dear to my heart as the exquisite creation of Sally Crew, a local Seattle designer with talent for miles. And she just happens to be one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet! Seriously contact this wonderful designer. She works wonders to capture your full “vision”. Customized. Brilliantly beautiful. What’s to consider?

{4} StudioWedbyMirela. Get ready to show some leg ladies, because these yummy designs are obviously meant to be seen. And you can kiss the garter toss goodbye – these are keepers!

{5} DIY + Lace?! These envelopes are a bride’s holy grail of lace love.

{6} Why leave the lace to the wedding day? Don’t forget to style up your Rehearsal or Bridal Shower with this stunning lace cocktail dress by Vera Wang. Or this one from Asos.

{7} Manolo Blahnik. That is all.

Saving before you’re engaged? That’s crazy talk!…Or is it?

One thing that Pinterest continues to remind us is that all women were once little girls with big dreams. Dreams about their perfect wedding day. About the beautiful ring. About their knight in shining armor. And about The Dress.

So we all plan our whole lives and then we wait. Wait until the day we meet The One. And then we wait some more. We wait until The ONE  asks us to be his wife. And THEN we frantically scramble to pull off the jaw-dropping, fairy tale wedding of our dreams within ONE YEAR!

But.

What if we didn’t. I don’t mean stop dreaming and scheming about the big day (that’s just crazy talk). I mean what if we didn’t wait until we were officially engaged before we started saving to make the wedding of our dreams a reality? Again. CRAZY LADY.

Or not.

Just think, the average wedding was almost $27,000 in 2010 – not including the honeymoon, and seriously who doesn’t want a killer honeymoon!? With the average engagement lasting 14 months that means you need to save NEARLY $2K A MONTH. That doesn’t even factor in vendors that require up front deposits (which you haven’t started saving yet).

Ironically the first time I heard about the idea of saving for a pre-engagement Wedding Fund was from a guy(Ramit Sethi in I Will Teach You To Be Rich). Then again, maybe it’s not ironic since most women are afraid of seeming crazy by having a “Wedding Fund” without even having a man. But what’s crazier? Starting to save a couple hundred a month in college or when you land your first job? OR waiting until you get to save $2K or more per month? [Note: No judgement here. I didn't read Sethi until post-engagement, when my fiance and I started talking about finances - oh the irony...So that places me firmly in the latter group. Bring on the Top Ramen dinners!]

Not only will you be cutting out one of the biggest stress factors of a wedding. Planning early means you can still enjoy those Starbuck’s lattes and splurges along the way (hello facials and shiny new shoes I obviously need for my bachelorette party…and bridal shower…and honeymoon). Or if you need to skip a month, you can without hitting your carefully set wedding budget.

Maybe it’s not for you. Maybe you’re afraid he might think you’re crazy. But do you seriously think his reaction will be, “I’m out! She’s nuts. Wedding Fund!? What is that!?”.

Or do you think he’ll be all like, “Dude, SWEET! I’m the luckiest man on the earth. Not only is my fiancee super hot, intelligent, witty and A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. in bed. She already has a Wedding Fund for us. Woot! Woot! No living on Top Ramen for a year!”…It will be something like this. Trust me.

P.S. You can check out an overview of Ramit’s wedding budgeting break down on his blog here.

P.P.S. GUYS (and girlfriends who love their guys and big, shiny engagement rings) – You should also think about a pre-engagement fund. Because unless you seriously think you’re never getting married, when you finally know - you’re going to want to immediately get that girl off the market. So why not already have enough saved to buy the woman of your dreams the ring of hers.

[Photo Credit: 1.) Pinterest: A place of imaginary weddings and kids - Pinned via Web/Jessica Martin 2.) Infographic on the True Cost of Tying the Knot - Credit Sesame]