What to wear, what to wear...

A lot of people have been asking what they should wear to our wedding. I realize that for a lot of my family in the Northeast, simply telling them "hill country chic" is not going to cut it. Here is a comprehensive guide to our dress code, complete with full-color photos!

Simply put, "hill country chic" means "dressy western." Everyone is encouraged to wear a nice pair of cowboy boots, but it is certainly not required. There are actually a lot of great vintage stores in Austin that sell some great boots for pretty reasonable prices (how does 40 bucks sound?) and a lot of them haven't even been worn all that much. If you want to wait til you get to town in March, here are some places to check out:

Cream Vintage - 2532 Guadalupe Street - www.creamvintage.com
Prototype - 1700 South Congress Avenue - www.myspace.com/prototypevintage
Uncommon Objects - 1512 South Congress Avenue - www.uncommonobjects.com

If you want a huge selection of brand new boots in a great range of prices and sizes I suggest Cavender's. There are a few locations in Austin and all over Texas but you can also order from their website.
www.cavenders.com/storelist.asp

UPDATE 7/23/12: www.countryoutfitter.com also has a fantastic selection of boots and western wear at some sweet prices!

I put together a few collages on Polyvore to give everyone some inspiration. *HINT: Click on any of the following photos to go to the Polyvore page and find out where to get each item. You can also click here to see a few more of my collages.*

For the ladies, there are tons of great dresses out there that would be perfect for this occasion and venue. Obviously knee-length works best for showing off those fab boots. Modcloth.com is one of my personal favorite sites for cute dresses.

The menfolk will be pleased to know that jeans are acceptable at this wedding! Why not mosey on over to Amazon and order yourself of Wrangler Cowboy Cuts? They are very reasonably priced!

Top it off with a nice pearl snap shirt and you'll be feeling like George Strait in no time! A nice sport coat is optional (Although I don't recommend a hat, even though they are in the photos below. That might be just a little TOO western.)

These are of course just guidelines. Anything that falls under the category of classy casual is really just fine but it is fun to have a little western flair sometimes! If you need any advice on buying the right western wear you can absolutely consult me or Derek directly. Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Adventures in rummaging

A couple of weeks ago I dutifully got myself out of bed on a Saturday morning and logged onto Facebook. I patiently waited for 9 a.m. to come around, signaling the start of the Country Sugar rummage sale. I have to say this was quite a unique experience as they chose to conduct their sale entirely through the social network with a little help from PayPal. 

The event coordinating company, based in San Antonio and Austin, sold off some really great pieces that were left over from weddings they had coordinated in the past. One of the great things about my "vintage western" theme for our wedding is that fulfilling the "vintage" part is very easy to do using secondhand items. I managed to snag some really sweet pieces that will make great accents to our event design. 

                                  

I was especially excited about this green vintage tackle box. Derek is an avid fisherman and fishing has been one of his favorite hobbies from a very young age. It's what he does to relax and escape to the outdoors. I think it's really important to have elements that represent each of us incorporated into the wedding. I think this would be a great piece of decor for the groom's cake table or even on our sweetheart table. Not to mention I absolutely love the olive green color. It has a great rustic look with just the right amount of wear and tear.

I recently decided I want to incorporate birdcages into the wedding design. I just love the intricacies of the wrought iron that you often see in birdcages. They can be very functional as well. I think they will look awesome with some flowers poking out the sides either on the dinner tables or in random spots throughout the venue. I bought these as well as three others!

Brandi, the owner, even threw in these cute little birdies, along with some other pieces that went well with what I had purchased. She was really great throughout the whole process! I was the only customer in Austin so she arranged to meet me personally so I wouldn't have to drive to one of their offices in Buda or San Antonio.

 This whole shebang only set me back 50 bucks! I was so excited to find such great antique-y pieces for such great prices. I think I may have caught the rummage sale bug. Luckily for my wallet, not all rummage sales are as convenient as Country Sugar's unique Facebook sale.

Popping another big question...

One of the side effects of having lived in multiple places is that I now have close friends all over the country. My bridesmaids are pretty spread out and only one of them lives in Austin. It was pretty much impossible to have them all in one room to ask them to be my bridesmaids at the same time.

Luckily I came across this very cute idea on Pinterest! It was a link to another bride's blog explaining how she used an adorable DIY project to ask her maids to be a part of her big day. 

Bethany used unfinished wood cigar boxes from the craft store to make cute little keepsakes for her girls. I came up with a similar plan using jewelry boxes. After visiting six different Hobby Lobbys from New Braunfels to Cedar Park I gathered the right amount of boxes and all of the craft supplies I needed to create the perfect little messengers.

I used pink acrylic paint, crocheted doilies, some stickers, stamps, gift tags and gold ink to make boxes that were both fun and functional!

Inside the boxes I placed paint chips to match my color scheme (swiped from Lowes), cards outlining some of the pertinent information about the wedding and the bridesmaids' dresses and a little name tag for each girl stamped with a gold cowgirl boot. I also used some scrapbooking supplies to create greeting cards to write each girl a personal message.

Soon enough the boxes were dropped off at UPS (or in my suitcase) and on their way to California, New York, Pennsylvania and even Hawaii! It was so awesome hearing from each girl as they received their box in the mail. 

Thanks for the inspiration, Bethany! I don't know you personally but you sure are one creative gal.

It was a very involved task but it was fun nonetheless. Plus, my girls are totally worth it! I am so excited to plan with them over the next 10 months...

Just carryin' on an old family tradition...

I went back to NY for a visit last weekend and my mom gave me this little guy:

I was so excited! This little swan ring holder has been somewhat of a tradition in my family for the past 25 to 30 years. It started when my mom's co-worker gave her one as an engagement gift. My mom then gave one to each of her nieces (my cousins) when they each got engaged. Not quite the same tradition Hank Jr. was referring to, but still a pretty good one nonetheless.

The swans are not actually available from Lenox anymore, but with a little help from my Aunt Jeannie, my mom was able to track one down on eBay for me!

It has now made it's home on my bathroom counter and I use it to keep my ring safe every time I take a shower. It means a lot to me to be part of this tradition. As a little girl I idolized my cousins (still do!) and wanted to be just like them when I grew up, especially when I became a bride myself. 

My mom definitely wins the prize for best mother of the bride ever! I cannot thank her enough for everything she has done for me and everything she is doing to help me with the wedding, even from 1,800 miles away. Did I mention she bought my dress for me?! Thanks Mom, I love you so much!

Save the Date quickie

Yesterday Derek and I headed up to Georgetown for a super fun save-the-date mini shoot with our wonderful photographer Kelly Cameron! She posted the sneak peeks today and they are fabulous...

I'm pretty sure Kelly was the first vendor I picked for the entire wedding. I met her back in November when my mom came to visit. My mom, Debbie (my future mother-in-law) and I went to a bridal expo in San Antonio. Of all the vendors there, Kelly made the most lasting impression of all. She is friendly, quirky, energetic, sweet and most of all, incredibly talented! Her work is absolutely amazing (which I suggest you visit kellycameron.net to see more). She has an artistic style and works very hard to capture the true personality and essence of her subjects. Aside from her amazing work, she is one of the nicest, most fun people you will ever meet. Personality is very important in a wedding photographer as you will be spending quite a bit of time with them leading up to and during the wedding. Shooting with Kelly is like hanging out with a friend! I am beyond excited to have her as our photographer. Check her out, she is truly awesome:

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Save-the-date blog post

Always a flower girl...

Growing up, I was a professional flower girl. Or at least I thought I was. 

I was bit by the wedding bug at only 2 1/2 when I was a flower girl in my cousin Kristen's wedding. Even as a toddler, I loved to party. I wasn't supposed to go to the reception, my parents had planned on dropping me off with a babysitter soon after the church. They tried to get me to go to sleep first by driving around, but I was not having it. I knew there was a party about to happen and I sure as heck wasn't going to miss it! They ended up canceling the babysitter and had to bring me along to the reception. And you can bet your behind I was leading the "New York, New York" kickline at 2 a.m. My mom likes to say I put the grown ups to bed that night.

From then on, if there was a wedding, I wanted to be a part of it! If I heard that someone was getting married, I asked if they needed a flowergirl! Even if I didn't know them.

When I was 5 I got to be in two weddings!

I was in my cousin Lauren's wedding and I actually still have some very vivid memories of it! I remember dancing to the Spin Doctors (It was 1993 after all) and watching my dress twirl. I had a band-aid on my chin because I had split it open a few weeks earlier (for the second time, mind you) and I remember my mom got me to cut my ratty, long hair by telling me that Lauren said I couldn't be in the wedding unless I did. I wonder if Lauren and Mike knew back then that one day I would ask to move into their guestroom in return for my services as flower girl...

A few months later my cousin Ed married Grace! I remember being so confused that we didn't have to get on a plane for this wedding. Before this, all the weddings were in Houston and Pittsburgh, but Grace was from Long Island so we got to stay close to home for this one!

For my cousin Lynn's wedding, I graduated to junior bridesmaid. I was all of 7 years old after all. This time I actually had a bouquet instead of a basket, which was a HUGE deal to me. My sister Jeanine was the flower girl and you can bet I passed on my infinite wisdom to her.

When my cousin and godmother Susie married her husband, Bill, I was a junior bridesmaid again. I was 8 but my partner, Bill's nephew, was 13. Being super awkward, I got shy when it came time to dance with him and started crying. Lauren had to fill in for me (I am still eternally grateful). Susie and Bill just had their 15 year anniversary this past September!

When I was 13, I was a full-fledged bridesmaid in my cousin Bill and Lynnann's wedding. I was the only bridesmaid with braces! Since this wedding, I was the next cousin on my mom's side in line to get married. Next March, the Hald clan will finally have another wedding to go to!

Thank you to my cousins for all of these photos and for the practice (now that it's my turn, I feel incredibly prepared)! They flooded my Facebook wall a few days after Derek and I got engaged :)

I said yes to the dress!

I've known for quite awhile now what I wanted my wedding dress to look like. Perfect, right? Not necessarily. I was really starting to worry that the dress I envisioned didn't exist. I had already tried on a lot of gowns in my time, since I modeled bridal as a teenager (weird, I know). There were some that had the bodice I wanted but not the skirt. Then there were others that had the perfect skirt but not the bodice. Although the idea of having a gown custom made for me by Vera Wang herself is quite appealing, it wouldn't exactly be realistic or economical.

Luckily for me, I came across this ad in Martha Stewart Weddings.

Tara Keely by Lazaro Spring 2012

That was my dress! I knew it! All it needed were cap sleeves and a keyhole back (which I learned from previous experience would be a simple fix).

I did some research and found out they had it Blush Bridal Lounge, right here in Austin! I couldn't get myself in the store fast enough to get that dress on my body.

I made an appointment and my friend Sarah came along with me (she took the photos!). I went in with an open mind. I didn't want to get my hopes up in case for some reason it didn't look as great in person or on me.

Erica, the owner suggested I pick out a few other dresses to try on first. So I did.

Let me just say, every gown in that store is absolutely stunning. Each one I tried on was beautiful, but I knew none of them were my dress. 

The time finally came to try on the dress I came in for. They even had a mock keyhole to demonstrate what it would look like with my redesign:

It was perfect!! I knew it before Erica even had a chance to zip me up. This was my dress, I was done shopping!

The even cooler thing about this dress was that Blush's sample was a different color from the standard. The gown is meant to be ivory, but they ordered theirs in a color called "vanilla" which has a slight peachy-pink undertone to it (very subtle!) which is perfect for me, the queen of pink!

My mom is visiting in April and we have an appointment to go back so she can see it. Then we'll be placing the order! I am so beyond excited to own this dress. I can't believe I found it!