One of my favorite wedding details is the bride's shoes. Typically a detail only a few notice, the idea of cute heels that provide a fun pop of color under my wedding dress is just perfect. Fancy shoes like Christian Louboutin had my heart, but my wallet belonged to something more budget friendly. And with such lovely and inspirational shoe photos, I definitely could not pass up rockin' my own colorful pair. 
While visiting my family in LA last weekend, I picked up my lovely wedding shoes.
May I introduce you to Cole Haan Carma Open-Toe Air slingbacks in fuschia patent leather. A 3 1/4" heel with a mini platform, fully lined in leather, and oh so beautiful. 
Although our wedding colors are purple and yellow, pink is my favorite color and I just had to have pink wedding shoes.
A close up detail of the open toe shows the textured detail in the leather.
And Nike Air Technology, concealed quite beautifully under the pink logos, makes these heels both functional and fashionable. 
I love a new pair of shoes. And I love that my brother works for ColeHaan/Nike, which gives their employees' family and friends a generous discount.How did you decide on your wedding shoe? Did you consider function or fashion?
Blog title is from lyrics by Paolo Nutini
When news broke that Polaroid was discontinuing their line of instant cameras and film in June 2008, there was a scramble to find a camera and collect enough film. At that time I had just begun wedding planning, and while I loved the idea of a Polaroid guest book, purchasing a camera and plenty of film was not yet a priority. With plenty of guest book inspiration from various wedding blogs, I was sure I'd find an idea that I really liked. Yet, I always seemed to find my way back to a Polaroid guest book.Polaroids are just so interactive, fun, instantly gratifying, and encourage guests to get creative when making these keepsakes :)The cameras and film had become more difficult to find, luckily Polaroid created an POGO Instant Mobile Printer. It plugs in to camera phones and digital cameras printing 2" x 3" sticky-back prints. The prints are a bit smaller than the traditional Polaroid prints, but work just as well :)While contemplating whether to purchase the printer, and I was very pleased to find that Polaroid is premiering a POGO Instant Digital Camera this summer! With stats like a 3" LCD screen, built-in editing tools, and SD memory, it produces 2" x 3" sticky-back, fade-resistant prints :) Looks like our Polaroid guest book is back on the list. I can't wait to purchase one!What kind of guest book will you be using?Blog title is from lyrics by Outkast
I had been holding off on scheduling our engagement session because I wanted beach weather, warm sunlight, and a tan. The months of July and August being the most ideal. With the start of summer and longer sunny days, I am getting antsy to have the session right now. But before I contacted Sarah to schedule a date, I scouted a few locations.Since we live in Santa Barbara and Sarah resides in Orange County, this gives us the opportunity to shoot here, there, or anywhere in between. We have plenty of landmarks, grand buildings, and beautiful beaches to choose from. I would love an e-session in SB. We can take shots at our venues, and it will give Sarah the chance to see the sites before the wedding. With our knowledge of the area, locations we love are plenty: the Mission, UCSB, any of the great beaches, bluffs, the wharf, courthouse, downtown.The Santa Barbara Courthouse is a popular spot for engagement and wedding photos.OC is another great location with their many beautiful beaches. Since Sarah is from the area, she would know all the great locations and secret spots to shoot.LA is also amazing for photos. It's filled with all kinds of neighborhoods, architecture, nature, styles, beaches, and is in between SB and OC. We would love to be photographed outside Staples Center by Lakers posters, at the beautiful Getty or Griffith Observatory, LACMA, or Santa Monica Pier.The Getty Museum is one of my favorite places in LA. There's free admission (just $10 for parking), great city views, great architecture, and plenty of natural influences. Their garden area, my favorite part of the Getty, is quite beautiful.LACMA is another great location with fun architecture. Their urban light display is a sea of uniformity and depth that would be fun to get lost in.Newly remodeled, the Griffith Observatory is great for photos in and around the building. The view of LA is unbelievable.Although the NBA season is over and taking photos inside Staples Center comes only through the best connections, it is one of my dream locations since it is home to the Lakers.After some email with Sarah about her location thoughts/preferences we decided on Santa Monica. Our only must-have regarding our engagement session are a few sunny beach photos, and a July day in Santa Monica would provide that. The beach is our favorite place. We love the casual feel, ocean air, and taking long walks with the sand beneath our toes.We can have some fun by the pier. Sarah mentioned bikes and balloons as fun props, yay! Where did you decide to shoot engagement photos? Did you do it in your home city or elsewhere?
Blog title is from lyrics by 3eb
A cherished childhood memory was taking home party favors after friends' & relatives' birthday parties. Favors wrapped up in themed goody bags, filled with lots of yummy candy. I loved the treats just as much as the bags/boxes they were packaged in. Yet, as we grew older, the parties remained but the favors departed. Well until weddings. Through the beginnings of my planning process I fell for cute favors like shot glasses, golf balls, candles, and mini photo frames. They'd come personalized with names and the wedding date. Beach themed favors were topping our favorite favors list, given our beach side location. But my mind keeps going back to beautifully packaged favors. Boxes, pillow boxes, takeout boxes, and bags. We could decorate them with printed paper, cut-outs/stickers/decal, or our monograms. Each box could note a sweet saying, a "thank-you" from us, and our wedding colors.Pillow boxes have a fun shape and can be filled with a lot of goodies.My favorite style are take-out boxes. With a familiar shape, these are reminiscent of taking home yummy leftovers from your favorite restaurant. Paper Source was having a huge sale on take-out boxes about a month ago so I picked up a few in varying purples and yellow. Also picked up brads in the aforementioned colors.
Next step is decorating the outside and figuring out what to put in them.Will you be having favors at your wedding? Are you considering favor boxes?Blog title is from the Sound of Music
The Los Angeles Lakers are, once again, World Champions.My emotions are a flutter, my mind is still racing, my google reader is overflowing, and my heart is happy.It's no surprise that I love the Lakers. I have blogged about them here, here, here, here, and here. The fiance and I are quite happy that we chose purple and gold as our wedding colors. After all, the Lakers are our team.While watching the Lakers parade and rally earlier this week, coach Phil Jackson said something that struck me. He mentioned the team's goal was winning the championship ring and stated, "The ring... It's not just this band of gold, it's the circle that's made a bond between all the players. A great love for one another. A great feeling." It's such a beautiful thought and sentiment we can carry over when thinking about our wedding. Through all the planning, budgets, shopping, and meetings, it's important to not lose sight of the goal we are working towards: our wedding and our marriage.
Blog title is from lyrics by Randy Newman
While visiting my family in LA last weekend, I picked up my lovely wedding shoes.
May I introduce you to Cole Haan Carma Open-Toe Air slingbacks in fuschia patent leather. A 3 1/4" heel with a mini platform, fully lined in leather, and oh so beautiful. 
Although our wedding colors are purple and yellow, pink is my favorite color and I just had to have pink wedding shoes.
A close up detail of the open toe shows the textured detail in the leather.
And Nike Air Technology, concealed quite beautifully under the pink logos, makes these heels both functional and fashionable. 
