I am digging this dress by Schone. A little expensive for bridesmaids, but I think it could make an awesome less traditional wedding dress for a casual outdoor wedding (it’s also available in many other colors.) Or, alternatively, it might be the perfect piece to buy just so that you can live in it all summer?*
I’m definitely having a non-white wedding dress moment these days, and sea foam green seems like a sort of particularly lovely option, no? Also “The skirt is draped so perfectly that this gown literally dances with each step you take” kinda sounds like a lot of fun.
And yes, this breaks most of the regular rules of dresses I like (both over $1000 and strapless!) but maybe let’s just agree that there are no rules when it comes to gowns that dance as you walk.
I have a lot of recent weddings to blog (I’m still waiting on pro-photos for most of them) but wanted to put up these images from Ruchi & Dave’s amazing Hindu-Jewish wedding this past Saturday so that you all had something to look at other than my manicure while I was on vacation.
Ruchi and Dave are an awesome couple, and their wedding completely reflected this – it was one of the ceremonies this year that made me cry the most. It was also a perfect example of how wedding can be big and fancy, but still sane and practical (something I intend to write about in length sometime during the off season this winter.)
I’m heading to New York tomorrow night to see friends and celebrate my birthday (four different friends are flying in from different parts of the country for the party on Saturday, and my many New York based friends have been helping pull things together like champions. I am so lucky to have the friends I do – my people rock.) I’m pretty sure this is the first time in nine years that I’ve taken a trip without bringing my laptop with me, and I know that it’s the first time in over two years that I’ll have taken more than two days off in a row. It’s a little scary for me, but also very needed.
I’ll be back on Tuesday with undoubtedly a lot of photos to share!
I first saw Ryan Adams play live in 2002 at the Warfield. To this day, it remains one of the best (if not the best) live shows I’ve ever seen (and I have been to a lot of good shows.) I was 18 and watching Adams, who was in his late 20s at the time, smoking cigarettes and drinking on stage, in his super skinny jeans and boots, while just playing his damn heart out remains a seminal moment in my understanding of what exactly rock and roll can be.* Several years (and several Adams shows) later I experienced Adams at one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen – he was seemingly so drunk/high that he couldn’t remember the words to his own songs. It was, rather obviously, a depressing moment to witness.
And then he got sober, which was obviously the best possible thing for him as a person (see: the infamous “Ryan Adams Didn’t Die” NYT headline,) but I will admit that I was one of the people who worried that he would never make music at the same level post-sobriety as he did before. Because before, when he was on fire, it was magical. And the first time I saw him play after getting sober, he was good, but that spark was missing.
But then I heard Ashes & Fire, and most of those worries went away. This album is brilliant, albeit in a quieter way than some of his earlier albums. Less rock and roll, lots of beauty, a sort of perfect album for winter. I’m not sure I would have made “Lucky Now” the first single (I’d probably have gone with “Chains of Love”, although my favorite track off the album is actually “Kindness”) but they did, and as of now it’s the only track with a video, so here you go:
Buy this album, put it in your car or on your iPod, and listen to it over and over again.
*call it alt-rock, call it alt-country, call it alt-country-rock, call it anything you want, but Ryan Adams was rock and roll personified in his early career.
How is it November already? Somethings that have been going on/catching my eye
I love Caitlin Wilson Textiles new collection (pictured above), and just need to decide which of the pillows to buy for the sofa in my new office.
This OBB post on having an “unplugged” wedding isn’t new, but it’s worth drawing attention to again. I personally strongly encourage people to think about taking this route.
Speaking of weddings, I have a whole bunch that need to be blogged once photos come in (and I get a chance to slow down and catch up!)
Also on the topics of weddings, I helped put together a “reverse sanity pledge” over at A Practical Wedding, that’s designed to help couples who are getting married be the best clients they can be. I’m super lucky, because my clients rock, but both I and other wedding vendors I know have had some bad experiences with clients in the past. Read it and keep yourself from being one!
I love this print (and the nailpolish color in it!)
Speaking of nailpolish, Deborah Lippmann’s Boom Boom Pow was the only thing I bought for myself on my last trip to New York in August, and I have worn it almost every day since. It looks great over every single color of nailpolish out there. The shine makes it hard to photograph, but at some point I’ll have to write a whole post on it.
And speaking of New York, I’m heading there again next week for a quick birthday trip!
I’m setting up a new office (photos probably won’t be ready for a few months, as I just ordered a sofa that’s going to take 10 weeks to arrive) and so have been spending my precious late-night non-working hours browsing the internet for accessories. Though they’re out of my price range, I’m really loving these refurbed vintage lamps from etsy shop EarthSeaWarrior(however, I kind of wish she would rethink her shop name.)
The colored cords are a brilliant contrast to the vintage lamps – and I love cords that are meant to be displayed instead of hidden away (so much easier!) Ursula will also work with you to revamp the cord on an existing light you already own, which is an option with some awesome potential.
Last weekend I wrapped up my year’s main wedding season (I still have four to go before 2011 ends, but they’re spread out. Also, last weekend’s wedding was absolutely stunning – look for a post on it soon) and pretty much immediately headed out of town to catch up on email, paperwork, and sleep. All of which are so much better when done at the beach. Workcation – it’s a good thing.
My little sister Alexandra made a movie, and it’s US Premier is next month in San Francisco!
Alexandra is the lead actor, shares the story credit with the writer/director Joshua Moore, and performs several original songs that she wrote and recorded for the film (um, it’s not a musical, but there’s lots of music in it.)
I Think It’s Raining will be opening this year’s San Francisco Film Society’s Cinema By The Bay Festival on Thursday, November 3rd, and tickets just went on sale this morning! If you’re interested in checking it out you can buy tickets here (it’s actually pretty great, albeit very artsy & French New Wave-y – it premiered in Europe this summer at Karlovy Vary and you can read reviews here and here) – I’ll be attending the 7pm screening and the following opening night party, but there’s also a second screening at 9:30PM. Would love to see you there!
It started raining right on time this year, and I’m left feeling a little like I don’t know where exactly summer went. This wedding season has been an amazing but intense one for me (it’s was my first one doing events full time… this weekend will be my 12th wedding in the past 10 consecutive weekends) and I’ve fallen behind in other areas, like keeping up this blog. Some things I’ve seen around the internet that I loved over the past while:
This piece on “What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently” has been making its way around the internet for a while, but it’s brilliant. If you haven’t read it yet, do it now. “The women who could answer positively to the questions above had, on some level, simply decided that they were going to be happy. They made that choice.” Yes, yes, yes.
Name Changing, APW community style. It’s a great and important conversation.
I’m looking forward to having a little more time to read, work on personal projects, and see my friends as we go into the off season (although, the truth is that it won’t really be very “off” as I’m already working on a ton of weddings for 2012!) And, as always, I’m going to be working on trying to find something to enjoy about colder, wetter, weather, which is always a big effort for me (because if I was the queen of the universe, every day would be 75°F and sunny.)
Hey! I'm Elizabeth Clayton, and I'm an event planner & coordinator in the Bay Area. I think that there's little in life that's better than a really good party, although a really good pair of party shoes can sometimes come close.
Click here for my full bio.
Adele bridal gown, $878
