Chatty Brides Blog http://www.chattybrides.com/ Chatty Brides Blog en-us BM Attire, coming along! by NearlyMrsK http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2524 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2524 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:27:00 GMT
So a while back, I posted about our Bridesmaid's Attire. I had a hard time finding a dress that I liked, that would also look good on all the girls. So I left the decisions up to my girls, giving them a bit of direction; the dress they choose had to be a hue of blue and above the knee.

I'm happy to share that we're about halfway through the purchases, and I have to admit, it's been so fun seeing it all come together. I'm in the process of trying to get a swatch for all the dresses, that way I can have a bit more hands-on fun w/ them (on a board of some sort), versus my current Microsoft Word document.

I've definitely been involved in the purchases though (even shopping w/ them), and as asked, all girls have been running the dresses by me prior to purchasing, That way we are sure to obtain the "sea of blue" look, etc. I'm also limiting the navy (aka, the black of blues) purchases to a total of four. Currently, there are two more navy's up for grabs, one of which belongs to my MOH. I do have a couple BM's that are currently pregnant, may be pregnant, etc.......so they are waiting a bit longer to purchase. :)

So here they are so far, the official dresses purchased! The first 4 of the 5 dresses were purchased from JCrew. JCrew has been wonderful to us, providing swatches in addition to having great sales that the girls have been able to take advantage of! The dress to the far right is a Bill Levkoff (style 378) dress, and it looks so great on my BM. The color isn't exactly what it appears online vs in store, it's more of a royal/steel blue.


Doing the math, there are still 7 more girls to purchase! I excited to see all 12 dresses together! I love showcasing each girls' personal style, and above all, I love that they love their dress! Knowing that makes the decision I've made on the BM attire that much more worthwhile.

On a separate note, Mr K ... I are working hard this week to get our Save the Dates in the mail Saturday am (thank you Mindy from Beaucoup de Papier)! This is a big to-do(ne) for us as there has been a lot to accomplish up until this point! We've finalized our informative wedding website for our guests on Nearlyweds.com via Wedding Paper Divas, completed our wedding guest list ... have obtained all names (first ... last, no longer "Uncle Bob ... Aunt Mary", aaaah, the relief) and we've also confirmed the hotel blocks at two hotels in the Falmouth area for our guests. Yeah!

Next up, I'm in search of a spa in the Falmouth area to accommodate some of my girls the day of, any suggestions ladies?

]]> Faith, Trust.. and a little bit of OCD. by CapeCodCoordinator http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2523 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2523 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:41:00 GMT
We are officially at the 60 day mark. Holy. Crap.

On the bright side of the 60 day mark, here are some things that I accomplished today:

-Lined up a local business to rent a sound system from for our DIY music.
-Ordered and paid for our Paper Napkins (more on those later!)
-Ordered color swatches from the company we will be purchasing our linens from (Hello purchasing and re-selling!!)
-Purchased all the little pieces I need to make a mock-up of our centerpieces
-Chosen a down-do for the big day
-Found and paid for a GREAT deal on fake flowers from a WeddingBee classifieds seller
-Narrowed down a timeline for our crazy Maypole ceremony
-Received our first "Regretfully Decline" RSVPs from close family members (long and intricate and not all that great history behind these family members, but I was really hoping they would come!), got upset about it, cried about it, then got the Heck over it and moved on (if they don't care enough to want to celebrate with us, then they don't care enough!), or at least that's what I keep telling myself
-Picked a date to visit the venue with my family to have them help make a map, scheduled this With the venue
-Picked a date for a "Music Summit" to put together our DIY music playlist
-Reached out to our Photog to set up a date for a get together to go over shoot lists and a potential surprise gift for my FH (more on that later also!)

All in all, I think that it has been a fairly productive day, and once my little terror... uhh.. i mean angel.. goes to bed, I can keep on trucking!!

Did the 60 day mark hit you like a ton of bricks? How did you handle it?


]]> East Greenwich Wedding Walk by Editor's Corner http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2480 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2480 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:58:00 GMT
Saturday September 18th from 12-5pm 30 businesses on Main Street in East Greenwich, RI are holding a wedding walk.The fun begins at Dugan Custom Jewelers at 164 Main Street with a raffle for the bride and friends of bride. A tote bag and map to all the locations will be provided there, and gifts inside the bag include candy from Chocolate Delicacy and more.

There will be cake tasting, jewelry cleaning, and tips for wedding planning just to name a few.

Some of the confirmed participating vendors include A Healthier You, Angel Photography, Bags by Iris, Balancing Touch Massage, Bridal Garden, Chocoalte Delicacy, David Dadekian Photography, Dugan Custom Jewelers, EFD Creative, East Greenwich Bridal, Erina Bridal, Face 2 Face, A Fitting Experience, The green Door, Paper Moss, Sassy and Classy, Scribe Calligraphy, Springs Florist, Thorpes Fine Gifts, Tuxedo Shoppe, Zenobia Photography Studios and Zu-Zu's petals with many more coming!


]]> I know what boys like... by CapeCodCoordinator http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2522 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2522 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:04:00 GMT
Groomsmen, holy moly what are we to do!!! We are having some serious issues with the groomsmen's attire!

My FH and I recently Settled on what we figured would be an acceptable color palette, and chose tux pants, ivory dress shirt, and then vests and long ties that we hoped would look good together. Unfortunately, the price for this ensemble seems a little high given that we don't need a jacket or shoes for Any of our guys.. On top of that we are not in love with the dress shirts they have there, and there is apparently only one other Type of dress shirt that they have in ivory, and it involves ruffles, No Thank You!

The newest debacle is that the shop has taken over 2 weeks to get back to me on whether or not we can get samples in of the vests we chose, and to be honest, I don't really feel comfortable judging off of a one-square-inch piece of cloth in a shiny book, and then have it come in a few days before the wedding, hate it, and be Out Of Luck.

So we've been toying with backup plans!

I have a few inspiration pictures that I have drawn from since realizing that our original plan might not happen...


Love these summer suits, but the downside is that None of our groomsmen (and I am completely serious and factual when I say this) would Ever wear these again. At least not in the next 5-10 years....


Ahhh Kilts. How I love thee!

For those that immediately want to ask, I am of Irish, Scottish and Welsh descent, and my FH (with the dirty blond hair, green eyes, and red beard) is of Irish and English descent. We were actually able to trace his heritage to about 1455 using Ancestry.com

We both really like this look, we were thinking of doing the black kilts and socks as shown in the photo, with a pair of black converse sneakers (not sure yet whether to go with high or low tops) and then dress shirts as show above. My FH would probably be in a similar sage green, and the rest of the guys would be in colors to work with the bridesmaid dresses.

I am really on the fence about this. Cost is similar to renting an outfit from a tux shop. Our wedding is noon time, outdoors, November 6th. It is non-traditional, and we are having a celtic handfasting and maypole at our ceremony.

Chattys, what should we do! What should they wear?!!?!?

]]> Dress Shopping! by sparklefins http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2521 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2521 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:21:00 GMT
]]> Get with the Program! by GlamourBride http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2520 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2520 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:19:00 GMT



]]> Real Wedding: Amy and Andrew by Editor's Corner http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2517 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2517 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:30:00 GMT Generations Cinemastories has kindly shared the day of Amy and Andrew with us. Take a peek at their highlights and also at their beautiful love story that has spanned the globe!

What started as a friendship during college led Amy and Andrew to a rock solid relationship that stood the test of time and distance. During their courtship the couple traveled together to Florida, California, New York City, and the country of Panama. Amy studied abroad in Spain and Andrew flew across the sea to travel the country with her. Andrew graduated and moved to San Diego as he was stationed there serving in the US Navy, but no matter, Amy quickly moved to California to be with him even though much of their time there was spent apart. Andrew was then deployed to the Persian Gulf and to Africa, but emails and phonecalls kept the two close, and their love grew stronger. Amy's sister was living in Italy and a trip to Tuscany seemed like the perfect place to propose. Andrew got down on one knee in the rain an a hill overlooking Florence, and Amy accepted. Swoon! Now, that's romance people!

A wedding on the Cape seemed like the perfect place, as the couple had summered there together and Amy had enjoyed many summers there with her family as well. The Chatham Bars Inn, just steps from the sand, was chosen for its relaxed vibe and beachside bonfires complete with s'mores.

Holding their wedding in the fall, autumn colors were used but highlighted with pops of purple, pink and green. Wine bottles were signed in lieu of a guest book, and the couple plans to open the bottles of wine on their 10th and 25th anniversaries and reminisce about their day together.

Take a peek at the fantastic wedding of Amy and Andrew!

Amy and Andrew from GENERATIONS cinemastories on Vimeo.





]]> Templates to Share by NarragansettBride http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2518 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2518 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:23:00 GMT
So I know we have loads of DIYers on the site. I thought to post some pics of my stationary-related items that I created for our wedding. I created each using microsoft word and took everything to Kinko's (my official best friend for the previous 18 months leading up to the wedding!!!). Most items were photocopied/printed by their staff on Paper-Source Stardream metallic cardstock. Hint - in order for the cardstock to get through the copier you must ask them to use one of their color copiers (even if your job is black and white). It's the only machine that will take the heavy cardstock.

If anyone is interested in any of the templatesto tweak further just e-mail me at sakerele@hotmail.com. Only request is that you post your final product for us all to admire :-).

Here are a few pics of the final products.

The first is our welcome letter/wedding brochure which was a double sided, three panel folded brochure which gave the weekend itinerary, things to do in Newport and Narragansett insert, and restaurants in Narragansett. I worked really hard on researching things for the insert and it provides a brief description of major sites in Newport on one side and Narragansett on the other.


Our ceremony programs were six panels containing information on our wedding party (two panels); ceremony program; wedding celebration info.; thank you and info. on when/where pics would be posted; and cover panel. It was a lot of work I will warn you. I would recommend designing and copying them yourself, but take them to a place where they can make a template to die cut them.


Here's a pic of someone reading our program at the ceremony.


Here is a pic of our menu cards. I really loved these.


Another pic of menu card


Picture of table


Guests and our family really loved our table name cards. They were double sided and contained names of places my fiance and I or our parents had lived. It also contained a brief summary of fun facts about our relationship with the location.


Last but not least - our invitations. Note - these were not DIY!!! But I am including them here since I seem to be covering all stationary. The invites were designed and produced by a company I found on the internet - Renaissance Writings. They were amazing to work with and I highly recommend them. They send you proofs of everything on a real time basis (they have a niffty program where you can actually receive a pdf of your invites the way they would look). I


A second picture showing the inside of our invites...


And last but not least - all pictures were taken by our fabulous photographer Joseph Prezioso. He's based in MA but came down to Narragansett and spent the whole day with us. He was fantastic. I will post a list of our Dream Team as far as vendors go sometime in the next week or two!

]]> 9 days to go before the bash! by BritishBride http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2519 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2519 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:54:00 GMT
I know I said I wasn't going to post any of me DIY, but in an effort to feel like I've been doing something substantial with my days at home besides going to the beach... I've got a few of my projects to share. Hope you like them! And this picture is of my great aunt on her wedding day, my gram is wearing the hat :-)


These are the OOT 'bags' for the 18 month olds from England. I used to be a librarian, so I kind of go heavy on the books. Inside are board books about the beach, animal crackers, etc.


Our card basket is a quohaug basket:


I made a wedding banner to hold in front of the church and it will be used on the stone wall by our outside cocktail hour. I hid what it says in case my family is lurking ;-)


The menus.... 3 different designs, and I'm folding the napkins just because I'm like, waitress extraordinaire lol. This one says London Transport for all Seasons under the napkin fold.


Turn your computer to look at the menu ;-)



Party basket for the kids (again, I'm obsessed with books). I put in books about New England like Dory Story, Good Night Rhode Island, the Pilgrims, the Red Sox and English books like This is London. And of course, you have to have a soccer ball and Paddington Bear with English guests. There is also some messy stuff (heehee). That'll be in a separate area by a comfy couch.


Welcome bags for the little ones for the wedding (I am a firm believer in a happy kid = happy parents = happy friendship!).


Sweets basket for our late night buffet loaded with gummi lobsters, salt water taffy, pop rocks, buttons, reese's pieces, pixie sticks, nerds; classic candy from childhood more or less including edible lips and mustaches! It's kind of our play on the candy buffet, an opportunity for the Euro guests to have American candy and a blast from the past for my friends. And, we already had our yo-yo favors, so we got the candy in this way!



Ok, there is a lot more, but I think that's a fair teaser for the other DIY chatties.

Meeting last night with florist, today final meeting with Jen Leatherwood and Jim Kennedy at Confections for our cake!

Ok, there is a lot more, but I think that's a fair teaser for the other DIY chatties.

Meeting last night with florist, today final meeting with Jen Leatherwood and Jim Kennedy at Confections for our cake!

]]> The Eye's Have IT~! by Editor's Corner http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2514 http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=2514 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT
Stylist and Make Up Artist (and recent bride herself!!), Jennie Kay Murphy, gave me some tips on favorite products to emphasize the eyes. Not only has Jennie made up the faces of brides all over New England, she also has done make up and hair for movies, Broadway shows, runways, celebrities, and magazines. Don't be afraid of lashes either. Dramatic eyelashes won't look awkward in photographs, they will look sexy and chic!


Photo of Jennie Kay by Daniel Gagnon Photography .



To start, Jennie recommends an eyelid primer, like Mac Paint pots either in Soft Ochre if you skin tone has more of a yellow undertone or Painterly if you skin tone is more pink. Urban Decay's Primer Potion is her new favorite.

"A primer is going to help the shadow adhere better to your lid making it crease-proof in order to last all day this goes on first. Less is more and apply this from lashes to brow bone with a sheer application.This cream shadow base will dry to a powder.  Close the lid tight or the product will dry out!



When going for shadows, Jennie recommends sicking with mattes, as she believes they photography better than shimmers. Just a touch of shimmer in the corners and the brow bones make eyes sparkle, but too much can look unappealing.

Though she uses shadows from a variety of brands, she likes MAC or the brand Makeup Forever Matte Shadow which has no shine!


Liners are tricky. Jennie Kay prefers using gel liners over pencils for wedding day make up as the brush allows her to really control the line. Dipdown and BlackTrack by MAC are favorites for outstanding eyes. Stila's Kajal pencil in Topaz allows her to cancel out redness on the inner lash rim, just a touch will open up the eye.

Tip from Jennie: "I like to pat the brush on the back of my hand after I dip it in the product to make sure the brush hairs are compact and that we don not have any stragglers. Make sure to close the lid tight so you do not dry the product out"


Curling your lashes before applying mascara, like Stila's Convertible Mascara, is the way to go. Jennie loves the Shu Uemera Eyelash Curler (and recommends buying a new one as soon as the grip goes). Jennie says, "I lightly coat the bottom lashes with this as well and it does not fall onto the face like most mascaras ".


Lashes are probably the trickiest part of your wedding day look. Jennie starts with the glue. " I put a bit of the glue on a palette. Then use a very very little bit let the glue dry and get a bit tacky (the tackier the glue the easier this will make it on you. I usually wave it around a bit to dry it off faster or you can blow on it) then place the lash on the outer corner of your eye right on the natural lash line. I then go over to the other eye and do the same thing. This helps me be consistent with the placement on each eye as well as the number of lashes I put on. The last lash I put I cut on an angle to make sure it blends with the natural lash."

The number of lashes used will vary person to person, but Jennie recommends five as an average.

Finally for the last step, go in and use mascara very lightly to press the natural lashes into the false ones for your perfect eye!


Tell me about your eye makeup look! Dramatic or Neutral? Long lashes and lots of liner or are you using your natural talent?

All Photos are Jennie Kay's clients. You can reach her at:
www.jenniekaymurphy.com
jenniekaymurphy@gmail.com
(401)230-5346
Or check out her new Beauty Parlour, it's vintage-chic and totally fun!

Jennie Kay , A Beauty Parlour
855 Aquidneck Ave, Unit 1
Middletown, RI 02842

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