Inspirations.

I know I have to post about the reception, the aftermath, and the honeymoon - but catching up is hard to do! So here's a quick one to tide you over. In case you were wondering, here were some inspirations -

I'm sure this was a surprise to no one... I don't care how trite it's become, but I still adore her. My grandmother had a collection of golden era celebrity biographies that lined her shelves - I read most of them - but Audrey was always my favourite over Grace, Katharine, Marilyn...perhaps only tied with Bette.

I saw the dress online last year, and it was the only one I'd seen that I really liked. (Remember my tirade on the overabundance of strapless dresses?!) So Kells tracked it down for me so I could try it on and I was right from the get-go: it was the one! It's by Kitty Chen Couture. I loved the details, the empire waist, the cap sleeves (how very Austen, too) and I truly fell in love with it when I saw the back - it seemed glamourous and just a touch modern.

However, I was really not feeling the hairdo of the model in those pictures - my hair would not hold for hours in the August heat just loosely gathered. I needed it out of my face - and so I turned to the 60s and modern interpretations.

Originally, I wanted all violets - until I learned that violets aren't very sturdy, and they don't grow in August. Bah! So, I went with my make-up artist Kristy's suggestion: dahlias! I really knew nothing about flowers before planning a wedding, now I can at least recognize the pretty ones!

Also, to anyone planning a wedding, a HIGHLY recommend the following book by Mindy Weiss - I picked it up because she was Gwen Stefani's wedding planner, but it really contains the answer to any question you might have. As someone who had only been to four weddings, was never in a wedding party, and without many close married friends, it really helped!