Encore Bride Style

I've been very busy lately planning my first wedding as an event planner. In the process of getting some inspiration I came across these fabulous gowns I think would be great for an Encore bride, from the sexy shapes to the different gown colors. I saved them on Pinterest, of course!

Source: marthastewartweddings.com via The Encore Bride on Pinterest

Source: amouramour.com.au via The Encore Bride on Pinterest

Source: akissonyourmolteneyes.blogspot.com via The Encore Bride on Pinterest

Do you agree?

Oh Spring How I've Missed You...

How do you do Mr. Spring? So nice to meet you...

You can find it here

The Honeymoon is over!

Dear bloggy friends, please excuse my prolonged absence, I've been trying to set up a routine and figure out what's next now that the actual honeymoon is over (I hate that!). Now that the wedding is over I am considering what to change around on the blog and what to do next on a personal level.

We did get a chance to escape to warmer weather and headed south. We enjoyed a trip to Epcot Center (Disney) since Mr. E hadn't been there. It was tons of fun!

Changes are hard but they are oh so good for you, who knows what direction the blog will go, all I know is that I want to keep in touch so I'll stick around.

Are there any posts topics you would like to see around here? Any changes you can recommend? I'm all eyes!

Sneak Peak: My Dress

I realize I hadn't posted pictures of my dress. As you may recall, I ordered this dress, sight unseen since I was in Iraq at the time. I wanted something other than Ivory/White and decided to go with a Light Gold, in reality it's more of a dark ivory though.  As you can imagine, it was a huge risk ordering like this. I was so worried about the fit and color and whether I was going to like it.

Lucky for me my future sister in law and her husband own a bridal and tux store in their town. I was able to email her and let her know the designer, style and size and she ordered it for me. The dress was suppose to arrive around the first week in December but instead arrived around Thanksgiving, not bad! The only opportunity to pick it up would be Christmas weekend while we were there and we picked it up the Monday after Christmas and I must say, it is the one!

Here it is on me, please excuse the poor iPhone pictures taken by Mr. E and my sister in law.

Hmmm, I think we can tell which ones were taken by Mr. E and which one was taken by my sister in law....


I love my dress and can't wait to wear it next week!

9 Days To Go!

9 days to go and I just received my mom's dress, 'cause we do stuff late like that! Since many stores don't deliver straight to PR (what's up with that?) I have to re-package it and mail it to her. I just hope it fits! Here were the contenders:

Adriana Papell

Adrian Papell

J Kara

Pisarro

In the end, she liked #1 but hers will be sleeveless (meaning we have to find a gold cardi or something). I'm running around today but have to get back home early as I'm expecting the delivery guy with more wedding related stuff.  Thank God for free shipping and 2 day shipping!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for so much, as usual I am thankful for finding The One, our families and friends who have been incredibly supportive while we've been away. I'm thankful to God for giving my mother the strength to deal with her mother's loss very gracefully. I'm also thankful for those that were part of my life that are no longer with us. Their presence helped shape my life and become who I am.

Many Thanks

 Etsy

This year has been an amazing year, were were both deployed, ended up in the same place and we were safe even in the midst of the many attacks we've had. Thankfully this is not Iraq circa 2007 but it's still Iraq. I also want to thank you, although my post frequency has been reduced considerably I often think about you guys and all the things I would like to share with you.  

I already had my Thanksgiving lunch and it was great, now back to work...there is nothing else to do around here.

Love you guys and please share, What are you thankful for this year?

How We Did It-Recap

As I planned to write the series I realized the way we chose our vendors was the same every time. Word of mouth from other brides, I would check out their website and hopefully their blog. I would email them, wait for the response by next day (since I am ahead of Vegas by 10 hrs), ask for what I wanted, wait for a quote, compare and make a decision. Wash, rinse and repeat for all the vendors.

I know vendors know this, they know word of mouth is worth more than any ad they can pay for. Having a nice website and hopefully a blog (not to mention participate in other social networks) is very important especially in this time and age of technology. The fact that they responded quickly was high up on my list. As an Encore Bride I was not hung up on the simple details.  My focus was having what we wanted, a nice ceremony along with a wonderful steak dinner among family and close friends.

We wanted and talked about eloping but I wanted to give everyone a chance to attend, to my surprise many of my friends had made reservations before we even sent their invitations!

To recap, this is how we did it:

1. We spoke to other brides getting married in the same area.
2. We asked for references
3. We checked vendors reviews and feedback
4. Emailed vendors to inquire about their services
5. Waited for reply
6. If they did I would go in the detail of what I was looking for but I let them do what they do best, offer the best suggestions for our event.
7. Agree to a price
8. I received all contacts via email, I signed them, scanned them and sent them back
9. DONE!

Who said it couldn't be done? We are planning a small, intimate but elegant wedding for 30 in beautiful Las Vegas and we did it all in about 3 months.

Now if Uncle Sam could only assure me that I will be there, it would be alright!

How We Did It Part I-Location and Date

 We were originally planning a wedding around November of 2011, 11/11/11 to be exact, location TBD. Our families are in Puerto Rico, Mississippi, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado and California. The big question was where and we didn’t have an answer for that. We considered Puerto Rico but it wasn’t a firm decision.

To make matters more complicated we knew we would be moving as soon as we returned from this deployment but we didn’t know where. We were still waiting for the Army to make a decision. The Army finally gave us a location about a month after the engagement; Norfolk, VA. We started planning the move but we quickly realized that if we wanted to move in together in military housing we would have to be a lawful wedded couple…

One day he walked in my office and I said, “That’s it, we’re going to Vegas as soon as I get back, we’ll let our families know and if they want to join us they can if not we’ll still love them the same”. He said with a grin on his face, “OK”! 

The only request he had was that it must be in a Chapel, with God present. “Ok”, I said, “deal”.  Next thing you know I went online and “googled”: Chapels, Las Vegas.  I came across an article on the best Chapels in town and one came across with many glowing reviews, Chapel of the flowers. 

Victorian Chapel 

The Chapel’s website was elegant, informative and easy to use (hint, hint). I was able to take a look at the different chapels within the property, package prices and even book a date, all online…easy peasy.

Next up, I had to choose a date, well, January 1^st would’ve been great for us but not for our family and friends, not to mention that I would have barely made it back to the US.  The next long holiday in January was the weekend of Martin Luther King, January14-17, 2011. Well, then January 15^th it is. We booked the Chapel for that date with a $100 deposit. We are going places here.

Magnolia Chapel

Photos: Chapel of the Flowers

In the end, we ended up booking with them because of their rave reviews, beautiful branding and appealing website and most importantly, convenience.

I Miss Him So Much

He left this week and I miss him so much. I know we have been extremely blessed to have been together most of this deployment but I can't help it, he's such a big part of me. If you met him you would understand, he has a big personality, there's no one he ever met that didn't like him. He's the kind of guy that makes everyone feel good about themselves.

He's a southern gentleman and he has that charm, sometimes he can lay it on too thick if you know what I mean but I just laugh. He tells me every chance he gets how beautiful I am (even when I look like the above picture), how excited he is about us and that he can't wait until I become his wifey poo. His words, not mine :-))

Although I'm sad I'm also content because it means I can finally start counting down the days until I get home. It won't be long...Until then I will miss him with all my heart.

It's Coming Together-To Do List

I love my To Do Pads from Etsy

It's been a while since I've posted any updates around here. Sorry my friends, working all day everyday doesn't leave much time to organize one's thoughts outside of the work realm. The wedding planning is coming along, in fact is almost done. Here's the list:

Ceremony-✓

Reception-✓

Save The Dates-✓

Flowers-✓

Cake-✓

Dress-✓

Shoes-✓

Hair/Makeup-✓

Block of Rooms-✓

Photographer-✓

His wedding band-✓

The invites are done but I am waiting on the calligrapher to send back the envelopes. I still need to make our travel reservations to Vegas to include which rooms we want to stay at and when. The last thing I'll book will be the shuttle for the ceremony to the reception once I found out how many guests will be joining us.

I am still looking for are a headpiece; I found a few I liked only to find later they were way out of my price range. I found a great Etsy vendor who is preparing my favor stickers, table numbers, place cards and menus for the reception. Not necessary but convenient and affordable since we're having such a small guest list.

Not bad eh? It took me about 2 months to get this done from the moment we decided to move it up and go to Vegas. The worst part has been the fact that I am 10 hrs ahead of Vegas, most of the time it would take a day or two to hear back from someone, not bad at all though.

I think my list is pretty much done. Am I forgetting anything? Any recommendations on what I should focus on?

Inspiration Board

Now that you know which dress I chose it's time to reveal the look we're going after, the only way I can describe it is: Old Hollywood Glamour. I think it's the dress and Mr. Encore's uniform. We chose the colors based on the peacock feather and I hope to have a peacock feather here and there.

I'm still trying to decide on a veil or no veil...I know, this encorebride is considering a veil....yes I am. What type of veil do you guys think will work with the dress?

It's Coming Together-Invites

The chapel and reception dinner restaurant are booked. With the two major vendors out of the way I can now look for the details such as invitations. We are still going for a peacock "theme" but we are on a budget and sadly at $7+ a pop these are over our budget. We are only going to need about 25 but still, we can use that money somewhere else. I haven't seen too many peacock invites that I liked so I may have to go the DIY route. Of course there is this minor thing called distance, as in, I'm-in-Iraq distance. But that's OK, I'll find some space around the floor to print, cut and glue these bad boys!

Etsy

Do you know of any invitations web sites I should take a look at?

There's a Date and Place

Not only do I have my ring, we also have a date and place. It is only weeks after I return home so there will be a lot of planning from here, not to mention there will be no DIY projects. So, without further due...we are getting married in:

Yes, wonderful Las Vegas, we'll have the ceremony at the Little Chapel of the Flowers:

 Little Chapel of the Flowers

The Chapel is much nicer than I thought inside and we will have a small dinner with the few family and friends that make the trip.

Any recommendations on where to eat, stay or play?

Dreaming of Thailand

Another resort I've had bookmarked on my favorites for a very long time is the X2 Kui Buri Resort in Thailand. It is 3 hours south of Bangkok, located on a desolated beach in a farming village. The design and architecture of the place is wonderful and your room is open to the ocean. See for yourself!

As you can see the beds are facing the ocean, I could lounge here all day! 

Has any one been to Thailand before? How was your experience?

The Encore's Couples Session

We just received the pictures from the couples session and I thought I would share a few more with you. All photos were taken by the fabulous Ashley Brokop!

I love this one, we couldn't stop laughing!

Here I'm doing my best ANTM pose!

We had to showcase those boots!

This one is Mr. Encore's favorite...he said it looks like it belongs in a magazine, I think he's referring to his Harley!

Trying to do our best bad a** impression!

All photos by Ashley Brokop (please do not copy)

Mr. Encore was still talking about our session 2 weeks later, we had a blast! If you haven't had a photography session with your better half you should schedule one now. For me it was very important to have one done especially with him being sent away. I wanted something I could hold on to when I had my bad days (and the good ones too). Every time my screen saver comes on I always get a big smile looking at those pictures. I miss him so...

The Encore's Couples Session

While planning for our couples session I've been looking at tons of great pictures from awesome photographers, apparently the vintage treatment is very trendy right now. While it looks very nice and I intend to give my photog creative freedom, I do want timeless photos. I don't want them to look dated once the new trend rolls around. Below are a few that I really really like, from the composition, to the backgrounds, color hues and editing techniques. Click on photos to enlarge.

Photo: Allan Zepeda


Photo: Mayfly Photography

Photo: ha! Photography by Heather Ahrens

Photo: KT Merry Photography

I loved this last one, wish I had a barn close by!

The Encore Bride Style File-NYC Fashion Week II

More beauties from the catwalk, up first designer Naeem Khan; his line was one of the very few that had many special occasion gowns. I love the beading on his fabrics and the heavy on details fabrics and shapes. This one was one of my favorite collections.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Style.com

Next: Monique Lhuillier, this collection was not one of my all time favorites from her, mostly due to the lack of serious evening wear. She still managed to have a few interesting dresses though.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Style.com

J. Mendel's collection was "dreamy" it had enough chiffon ruffles and gathers to feel like you were floating along with these beauties. The colors were also very sweet, perfect for a daytime event.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Style.com

Lastly, the Halston collection did not stray far from their roots: easy, wearable caftans. Their chiffon dresses were effortless and would make a lovely entrance at any daytime wedding. What do you think?

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Style.com

Have you looked at fashion to gather inspiration for your event, what about your day of style? If so, what designer are inspired by?

The Encore Bride Style File-Fiji Elopement

Just when I thought elopements didn't get enough blog "exposure" I'm finding beautiful pictures of wonderful elopements all over the net (and the world!). Check this beautiful elopement in Fiji recently featured on Polka Dot Bride. Photos are from Isoa Tokalautawa of Tokman Images.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

The groom helping his bride get dressed; Where else can you see this sweet moment?

Awww

Isn't this an amazing shot?

Photos: Isoa Tokalautawa of Tokman Images

Hop over to Polka Dot Bride to see the rest of the beautiful pictures. I can't wait until we decide where and when!

The Encore Bride Style File-Nantucket Elopement

Isn't this a beautiful elopement? The couple came from China via London to elope in Nantucket. Zophia Photography captured these beautiful images of the occasion. I love how much thought, care and love the couple put into planning this event. No one said you couldn't have a beautiful unforgettable, planned elopement?

Before the Ceremony
(click on photos to enlarge)

On their way to the ceremony, more here

The Ceremony, more here

After the ceremony

At their private dinner, more here

Credits: Zophia Photography

Unfortunately many blogs don't feature many elopements but we should see more of them. Eloping allows you to focus on the most important aspect of a wedding, the act of promising to commit yourself to the person you love and plan to spend the rest of your life with. Don't you think?