When I’m looking for the perfect hostess gift, birthday present or a little something for myself Red Flower never fails to make my loved ones feel special!

What’s your favorite candle? We’d love to hear from you!

The Church in Italy and Europe adopted of this luxury fabric for church furnishings and ceremonial robes. By the 16^th Century, lace making had spread beyond its origins in Flanders and Italy. As demand grew beyond the Catholic Church, the art of lace making was established in virtually every European nation. Lace was desperately craved by the nobility during the Renaissance as a way to showcase their immense wealth, appreciation for beauty, and their sense of style.

Photo: The Lace Center

The romantic and traditional qualities of lace have become an indispensable part of fashion design as well as art and interior design. We are seeing lace not just in wedding veils and dresses, but also incorporated into table design, dessert details, stationary and flower accents. As Coco Chanel wrote: “unlike many other precious objects which, owing to industrial progress, have lost much of their luxurious quality, lace, adapting itself to the economic and industrial requirements of our age, has kept its main characteristics: precious elegance, lightness and luxury”.

We love how lace adds airiness and texture at the same time. Here are some of our favorite lace-inspired photographs:

Photo Credits: Etsy / Alice W /Vintage Wedding Style / Oh My! Creative / Etsy / Martha Stewart Weddings /
Martha Stewart Weddings / Style Me Pretty / Outstanding Occasions / Girls In Heels / Southern Charm /
Belle the Magazine / Pintereset / Pinterest/ Tuula Vintage

Adam and I returned home after our dreamy beach elopement and began enjoying our new married life together. We wanted to have a party with friends and family to celebrate and were able to put together a casual and fun evening on a small budget with the help of our families.

Both of us were working at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College that summer and our employer made an incredibly generous offer – we were given 50 tickets to a performance in the Spiegeltent, an amazing venue that is brought in each summer for the Bard SummerScape and Music Festival. This beautiful tent features a wooden floor and an interior lined with mirrors (“Spiegel” is German for mirror) and provides the festival with dining, music, cabaret and a nightclub.

The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College

The Spiegeltent

I worked with the caterer at the Speigeltent to set up a champagne toast for our guests in the garden before the performance. There would also be regular audience members attending that evening, so we decided to give boutonnieres to all of our guests so that staff of the restaurant and bar would know not to charge them for drinks and food. The same florist who designed my bridal bouquet arranged flowers for the tables which we color coordinated so that each guest’s boutonniere flower color would match the flowers on their table. We distributed them in the champagne glasses with the tickets to the performance as guests arrived.

The caterer also provided table service for us with a simple menu before the performance. After dinner and a cabaret show there was dancing with a DJ that was part of the regular programming for the evening.

There is nothing like dancing in a Spiegeltent!

My dear friend Cathleen Mallette of Feral Cat Photography photographed the event for us. I will mention that a post-elopement party is not the same as a wedding, and you may not get the same turnout as you would for a more formal event, especially if guests have to travel. My father gave us a lovely toast, although I wish I had asked some of our best friends to prepare something to say as well. Both Adam and I worked that day and then went straight to the party so there wasn’t much time to prepare but with help of family and friends and some extra advanced planning every thing went very smoothly and our guests had a unique and unforgettable evening! We had a wonderful time celebrating our elopement in this unique venue and it was the perfect kickoff to our new married life together.

Considering Eloping? We’d love to hear from you!

Rainbows have been used as symbols for as bridges, messengers, an archer’s bow, or a serpent. According to Genesis, after Noah saved the animals from the Great Flood, a rainbow appeared representing God’s promise never to send another flood to destroy all of the earth. For Buddhists, the rainbow is “the highest state achievable before attaining Nirvana, where individual desire and consciousness are extinguished.”

For romantic purposes, a rainbow is a bridge between two people, a beauty created in the stillness after the turbulence of life’s storms that touchs earth and reaches towards heaven. Containing all colors, they represent diversity and unity at once. Rainbows are also a is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community.

We love how rainbows create a visual surprise by tying colors together in harmony. Here are some of our favorite photos of rainbow-inspired design – a real pot of gold!

Photo credits: Wed Loft / Weddingish / My Harusi / Next Tote Bag / Bridal Guide / Live the MMA / Etsy / Incredible Things / Chickabug / Green Wedding Shoes / Brides / Offbeat Bride / We Heart It / Fast Company Design

What’s your favorite way to incorporate rainbows? We’d love to hear from you!

Adam and I knew we wanted to get married on a beach, and wanted a progressive, non-denominational and meaningful ceremony. After some online research I found Reverend Donald Towne of Beach People Weddings. I liked him right away and after an email correspondence and a few phone calls I knew he was just the crusty old beach hippie I was looking for.  He and his wife worked as a team to officiate and photograph our wedding. Our choice of location and date was determined by their availability, so we chose April 5, 2007 at sunset on Sunset Beach in North Carolina. He recommended the very nice and reasonably priced The Winds Hotel on Ocean Isle Beach for our stay.

We ordered our eco-friendly wedding bands (click here for a previous post about Green Karat), I bought a dress that I had had my eye on for a while, and Adam chose some clothing for himself. I was able to enjoy wearing my dress again when I was maid of honor at my best friend’s wedding. As we prepared to leave for our 4 day trip, a friend who happened to be a very talented floral designer insisted that she make a bouquet and boutonniere for us as a gift (we had planned to just pick up something along the way).

We left snowy upstate New York and spent the night in a hotel on the way. The next day we got our wedding license (North Carolina issues them in 24 hours) and spent the day exploring the area. The next morning we picked up our license, went out to lunch and then came back to the hotel to get ready. I asked Adam to wait outside so that seeing me in my dress would be a surprise – and it was!  We drove out to the Beach and met Kathy and Don there. It was so exciting to be sharing every moment together!

My dress was by the designer Nataya. I had previously worn a different style Nataya dress for my brother’s wedding and the vintage tea dress look of this one was exactly what I wanted.

Our big moment! We had a traditional joining of the hands ritual as part of our ceremony, and Adam and I read vows we had written to each other. We both felt something so magical and powerful on the beach that day. Reverend Towne snagged 2 passersby to act as witnesses.

Our gorgeous recycled titanium rings!

Pure bliss….

Mr. & Mrs.

This is my favorite photo, it really captures the day for me!

Thank you again for reading, this has been such a fun way to relive my wedding day. In our next installment I describe and post photos of the post-elopement party.

If you are considering eloping it can be very valuable to hear the real details of an elopement experience. In Part 1 of this series I’ll give you some background information about us and how we met, and how we decided on a planned elopement. In Part 2 we’ll explore the chronology of our elopement trip and wedding day. In Part 3 we’ll cover the post-elopement party we had 4 months later. I hope you enjoy our story as much as we loved living it!

Adam & Elena: A Circus Romance

The Big Apple Circus was the backdrop of our relationship when Adam and I met. I had just started my new job as Executive Assistant to the Founder and Artistic Director, and Adam was the Maintenance Supervisor. We hit it off right away, and had many fantastic adventures together.

After three fun-filled years at the circus we decided that we wanted to stop touring and moved to Saugerties, New York. It was a big leap of faith for both of us – would our relationship survive once we left the tight-knit circus community that had become our family and home? We did just fine, and our common interests: art, music, animals, cooking and antiques blossomed. One day Adam he returned from a business trip and in a moment of passion asked if I would be his wife. I was thrilled and said yes!

In many ways we were still getting used to life off of the road. At the circus there was always an audience in some form or another, whether it be the general public or our circus friends and family. When we talked about our wedding day, we both felt we needed a setting where there would be no crowds, no audience and no distractions. With all of Adam’s traveling and the hectic schedule of my new job working as the Box Office Manager at a theater, time to ourselves was precious. We started discussing elopement as a serious option.

Our main reasons for choosing to elope were:

• Privacy – We wanted to be able to focus on ourselves without having to worry about anything or anyone else. Our marriage was going to be a lifelong commitment between the two of us, and that felt like something we needed to do alone.
• Control – I wanted to be barefoot on the beach. We also wanted a relaxed schedule that included being spontaneous and wearing, saying, eating and doing exactly what we desired.
• Finances – I didn’t want my family to overextend themselves paying for a wedding, and our budget was limited.
• Religion – I am Jewish, and my husband does not identify with any organized religion. For me idea of not having a Jewish wedding was uncomfortable, and I felt equally uncomfortable asking Adam to convert to something he didn’t believe in. Eloping was a way to go beyond these issues.
• Scheduling – because we both worked in entertainment with heavy schedules and traveling, planning a big celebration produced a lot of anxiety. An elopement with less advanced planning required was a much better fit.

We decided to go ahead with a planned elopement and told our families. There was definitely some disappointment and sadness expressed, but also a lot of understanding and encouragement. We considered, rather insensitively, visiting my mother-in-law in Florida and having the ceremony there but without family present and this idea hurt her feelings. After an  apology we chose to have the wedding in South Carolina and she was very supportive.

Except for those few small hurdles everything else went beautifully and we had a unique experience that both of us treasure. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week where I’ll share details and photographs of our elopement.

Do you have an elopement story to share? We’d love to hear from you!

We love how they to welcome guests into the church when hung on church doors and pews. A wreath is a great way to draw attention to a guest book or dessert table. They are the perfect way add a little love to trees, walls, gates, chairs, windows and doors. Here are some of our favorite wreath designs!

Credits: It’s a Bride’s Life / konfetti / Polka Dot Bride / Ruffled/ Pinterest

What’s your favorite Wedding Wreath style? We’d love to hear from you!

Before the thrill of committing to lifelong love with your soul mate becomes wedding fever be sure to celebrate this tender time – your engagement. So many couples rush through it but the sweetness and excitement of this phase of your relationship is prime time for romance and fun! Here are our top 5 ways to celebrate:

1) Picture Time – find an old fashioned photo booth and take goofy pictures of yourselves. Don’t forget to bring silly props and costumes!

2) Wedding Movie Marathon – snuggle up with popcorn, candy and your betrothed and spend a night laughing, crying and comparing notes with classic wedding flicks. Our favorites are Father of the Bride, The Wedding Planner, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Wedding Singer.

3) Kiss at the top of the tallest building you can find.

4) Reminisce – write down the story of how you met – including all of the sweet details and inside jokes that you will want to remember forever.

5) Taste Test – Plan a sampling session to find your favorite bottle of champagne, then buy a bottle and celebrate!

What’s your favorite way to celebrate being newly engaged? We’d love to hear from you!

Here are some of our favorite needlepoint details:

Credits: The Crafted Sparrow / Love My Dress / Onewed / Lovely Wedding Day / Nordstrom / Etsy / Bridesmaid Trade / Julia Usher/ Etsy

You were happily dating and then your sweetie popped the question – bliss! Now you are engaged and almost immediately it seems you are way behind in planning the wedding. Even if you thought you knew exactly what you wanted already, planning the guest list or the budget can put you in panic mode. These sensitive issues are much harder to navigate than cake tastings. Relax – Something Fabulous has got you covered. With over 20 years of experience in supporting engaged couples and their families, owners Jennifer and Kimberly are sharing their top 5 Things to do Before you Pick a Date. Getting everyone on board with the basics at the start will assure you smooth sailing on your wedding day!

1. The Engaged Couple – it starts with you. Discuss your vision and expectations for your wedding day together. Write down what is most important to each of you.

2. The Bride & Groom’s Families – make a special date with each the bride and groom’s families to discuss the wedding. If you are not able to do this in person, schedule a conference call or Skype session. Share what’s important to you as a couple and listen to what’s important to your families.

3. All Together Now – Get the bride and groom’s family together to discuss the wedding. Perhaps they have met before, or this may be the first introduction. Ideally you would get everyone together in person – it’s worth it even if you have to travel. Have fun with it and go out for a special meal, cook a big feast or order in pizza. If that’s not possible, arrange a Skype or conference call. Share your vision and expectations, and listen to stories of your family’s experiences and traditions.

4. Guest List & Budget – now is the time to discuss the guest list and budget. Whether you’re dreaming of a backyard wedding or elegant soiree, the guest list determines what you will spend.  While you have everyone together it’s best to have a frank discussion about how many guests you want to have, and how the expenses will be covered. Remember to smile and breathe! The sooner you address these important issues the less likely there will be misunderstandings and hurt feelings (drama) later.

5. Feeling overwhelmed – If you are already envisioning tears and fights you may need an expert to help facilitate your planning. A third party can help you communicate in a calm, objective manner and this is where a planner is instrumental. If a professional planner is not in your budget, look to a close relative or family friend who has been through this already for advice.

What did you do before you picked a date? We would love to hear from you!