Barrister Bride to Be

I don't do this that often but I just wanted to spread a little love and say thanks to a fellow barrister BTB. I have a fabulous friend, J, who was the genius behind Barrister Bride and she not so long ago had her own e-pics taken so I just wanted to share these gorgeous pictures with you and show her photographer Joe Elario a little love!









All photos courtesy of Joe Elario


If you head over to his website you'll see that he's having a contest for the best engagement session of the year and J has been nominated. So if you love the photos as much as I do, you should vote for her!

Happy Saturday ladies!

It's Friday!

It's finally Friday and I have some BIG NEWS!!! I am a BEEEE!

{Wedding Bee}
I found out earlier this week that my application had been accepted but I didn't want to announce it until it was official! Well, its offical. I am Miss Pancakes! How appropriate is that!?!

Although many of my posts will be on the Bee from now on, there will still be a number of posts that I will save for my own blog that aren't necessary Bee-appropriate.

I know a lot of my newest followers are fellow Bee fans so I look forward to seeing you on the boards as Miss Pancakes!!

Happy Friday!!

Coolest Wedding Pictures ever

You may remember this photo that I posted over seven months ago. Back then I thought that it was the coolest wedding picture I ever! Boy was I wrong! While I still love that photograph I recently ran across these photos:


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Here's the kicker! These photos weren't taken in a day after shoot, these were taken DURING the wedding day. After dinner the bride & groom decided to go wakeboard for a little bit before the party started. Is it just me or do you feel like some people are just too cool!? I LOOOVE these photos. I love that this bride and groom are truly enjoying their wedding day. Instead of getting caught up in the fact that people weren't dancing yet, they made their own fun. Not only that, they were also willing to trust that their guests are grown-ups who don't need to be babysat the whole time and take a little moment for themselves. It is after all THEIR wedding day :D

We are one of those horrible couples that will be having a 5 hour break between the wedding and the reception. Well, we are really having TWO receptions but that's another story for another day. The truth is we really wanted to have time during the day to be together and be married. I would love to just play on the beach, eat, cuddle in bed for a little bit and just savor the day.

Have you scheduled any private time into your wedding day? What do you plan to do during that time?

She's here!

When I finally got the email from Bliss letting me know that my dress had arrived at the bridal salon I was so happy I actually squealed. Mr. came running into the room and asked "Good news or Bad?" When I told him my dress had arrived, he gave me a hug and said " I am so proud of you!" (Is it possible to over-train a man?? hehehe.)

Back to the news at hand. I immediately emailed my seamstress Susan to set up an alteration date. Susan is A-MAzInG! She was not only able to travel to my house for the fitting which was so crucial since I was right in the middle of finals but she also volunteered to store my dress for me while I'm in Amsterdam. Did I mention she is A-Mazing!?!

Within hours of receiving the email I was plagued with second-thoughts! The washed over me and consumed my every thought. I couldn't study. I could barely even think straight. What if it wasn't THE dress!?!?

My three doubts about the dress were (1)the neckline. The neckline isn't a true sweetheart neckline, which I knew when I bought the dress so I was just hoping it would be a pretty easy alteration. (2) I wanted an all lace dress but Mr. P and my Momma P hated all-lace dresses. (No, Mr. P did not go wedding dress shopping with me but we did look at a few dresses in magazines together so I could get an idea of what he liked.) Lastly, and most importantly, the bottom of the dress isn't very full. The reality is, I don't really remember how full it is and it was like 5 sizes too big so I can't really get a sense from the pictures of how the bottom will sit.

Once I bought the dress I tried really really really really hard to stop actively looking for dresses but now that the dress is here all bets are off! I immediately started googling mermaid dresses to figure out what I really wanted.

The reality is, I love a full mermaid skirt, I mean have you seen the size of Vera Wang's Spring dresses!


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However, it just didn't seem practical to try and get a dress that size to Costa Rica. Also I am not sure I'm tall enough to carry it off so I decided to focus on a more modest skirt.

I love the shape of this Jim Heljm and I think it's a good compromise size. I just think she's so elegant, romantic and feminine:

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However, I think that it's also really important to look at real brides to get a sense of the way different shapes photograph and move throughout the day. Here are three of my very favorite real brides.

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1. The fullest - I love this tiered skirt. My dress isn't tiered but I also love the shape this dress gives the bride. I think this skirt has the most crinoline and I kind of the love that it doesn't need to be messed with in order to get that great shape. However my train is a little longer than this one so I have to figure out how that would look.

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2. Medium fullness - I think this dress is the closest to my own dress shape and if it isn't then I think it's the shape that I want the most!

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3. No fullness - This dress doesn't seem to have any crinoline and still has an amazing shape. I think this has a lot to do with the brides natural shape and the tiers of the skirt.

At the end of the day, I think its gonna come down to my budget versus my obsession with having the "perfect" dress. I haven't even met Susan but I get a great vibe from her (aka she answered my emails while on a Caribbean cruise and even apologized for taking 48 hours to respond!) and I think she'll be really helpful in deciding which of these looks will be best for me. I hope that this process of looking at dresses has helped me collect my thoughts so that I can both articulate my feelings and be at peace with whatever decision I make.

**I am obviously also trying to keep open the possibility that I will just love her once I get her on and perhaps I did pick the "perfect" dress.

How much did you alter you dress? Were you like me and still trying to change the dress months after you bought her or was she prefect the moment you put her on?

Flower overload...

One of the hardest things about being a DW bride to be is that I don't get to see every single detail beforehand and I really have to trust my wedding planner to understand my vision and make executive decisions. This is insanely difficult for a Type-A, control freak, perfectionist like me!

While we were in LA for Thanksgiving, we were trying to think of a wedding related activity we could do that was (1)low stress and (2)low pressure. We decided that we should go to the Los Angeles Flower Market. As I've mentioned countless times, I am not a huge flower person so I don't really know what I like outside of orchids (which I LOVE).

This is what I learned:

1. When you look at flowers have a plan! This place was huge and it was a little overwhelming. Most of the stores carried the same flowers so it was really about finding flowers that I wanted to see in person and figuring out what colors/sizes they came in.


2. I love ranunculus. They are like a smaller, tighter peony... before I get too excited, I need to ask my wedding planner if they are available in Costa Rica.


3. Peonies are HUGE! I didn't realize what a big flower the peony is... They don't have them in Costa Rica so they aren't really an option but it seems like if someone was DIY-ing their flowers, a few strategically placed peonies would go a long way. They are also all pretty closed still at the flower market so I would be important to figure out how far in advance you need to get them so they are in their full glory on your big day!


4. I pretty much hate hydrangeas. They are definitely great filler flowers and super affordable but they just aren't my style. Of all the flowers they also seem to be the most wilt-y. That being said, I have definitely seen a lot of arrangements with hydrangeas that I do love so.... we'll see.


5. I still LOVE orchids. They are just so fabulous and elegant.


6.Last but not least, I love mums. I especially love the China mum. Look at how huge and gorgeous this flower is!


It turns out that I also don't really know the difference between mums and dahlias. Sigh. So much to learn and so little time!

Were there things you learned about flowers and your own taste once you saw the flowers in-person? Do you have any advice or suggestions about flowers that hold up in the Costa Rican heat and last all day?

Necklace DIY: Bridesmaids' gifts?

So yes, I am totally obsessed with necklaces right now. I have also been wondering what I should get my bridesmaids. I want to get them something that will be useful and can be individualized but perhaps could also be used at the wedding. In other words, I'd love to pay for something so that they don't have to... With that in mind, I've started looking at possible DIY bridesmaids' necklaces. I found a bunch of necklaces on Etsy that look DIY-able.

1. Simple and Understated

{Etsy - $44}

The thing I love about this necklace is it looks super simple to make, plus it'll be cheaper to make because it only uses 10-12 beads per necklace. I also think the flower looks pretty easy to make... you could also make if fancier by adding a crystal button to the center of the flower or adding a few crystal beads between the pearl beads.

Here is a flower DIY project that I've posted before that I think would work great for this necklace.

{DIY Instructions}
2. Feminine and Fabulous

{Etsy:Mara Necklace - $36}

This necklace has a little bigger pearl beads and the flower is a little larger. It is also more like a floral poof than a flower. The color makes it so hard for me to figure out this necklace. I think I like the general idea, but I would probably use smaller pearls.

Here is a floral poof DIY that I thought would work great for this necklace:

{DIY Instructions}

3. Elegance and Shine

{Etsy - $88}

I love love love this one. I love the crystal beads in between the pearl beads, I like the symplicity and bling in the flower and most of all I love that there are two strands of pearls. While this would be the most expensive necklace to make I definitely think it would be worth the extra $$.

I've also posted this chiffon flower DIY project before but I thought it would be perfection with this necklace, especially in the soft pink!

{DIY Instructions}
As for the beads, it looks like you can order beads for a reasonable price. At Fire Mountains Gems or Oriental Trading. If you prefer to pick some beads up in person I know that Michael's has a considerable collection but I think they are fairly pricey.

What do you think? Would you wear there necklaces? Would your bridesmaids?

Toddlers in Tutus

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I love tutus...obviously. I haven't given up on my own tutu dress dreams but I am now also obsessed with flower girl tutus. I know its pretty cheesy but adorably-so... in my opinion. Over Thanksgiving while, I was in Manhattan Beach I saw this Manhattan Beach wedding on Style Me Pretty.

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As per my modius operandi, I first looked for all the flower girl tutu wedding porn I could find:

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After looking at dozens of flower girls in tutus I realize that for itty bitty flower girls (less than 6-ish), I prefer the poofier tutus that stick straight out as opposed to the ones that look more like skirts. With this in mind, I started to do a little bit or research about where I could pick up a tutu for my own flower girl. It looks like tutus cost between $20 and $40. Tutu Girl has a great selection of solid colored Tutus for $34.99. Tutu Cute Baby also has a great selection of tutus in solid colors and mixed colors. Their tutus start at $24 but go all the way up to $114 for the red santa baby tutu dress (which is adorable by the way, but also a little sexy for a two year old...in my opinion. A cute black cardigan could fix that though!). Sweetie Pie Tutus also has a great selection of tutus for the youngest flower girls and their tutus start at just $19.

If you prefer the longer tutus check out Miss Priss Tutus. At $30 a piece the have a fabulous selection and a pretty cute website.

To be honest, I think that the longer tutus are totally adorable for flower girls who are a little older... or even brides for day after photos???? hehe.

Details:Paper Straws

{Source} I first noticed these fabulous striped straws when I entered SWMag's MMInk calligraphy contest. (BTW how much do you love Moya from MM Ink). Then I started to notice that they are everywhere...which was inevitably followed by this ache in my stomach for paper straws (which I didn't even know was a think two weeks ago!) It's embarrassing but true. I am such a sucker for cute details. I mean, LOOK:

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So here's the deal on these darling details. As far as I can tell they come in a few colors: red, green, hot pink, blue and gray. You can get them from Kikkerland and they come in boxes of 50 for $3 or 144 for $7. I am not sure how much shipping and handling is but Kikkerland is in the UK so it may be quite pricey.
Art Fire also has them in packs of 100 for $16.

There are also a number of sellers on Etsy and Ebay who sell these straws but they all seem to be fairly pricey. All the Etsy sellers I could find seem to sell them with the flags included so they are about $25 for 20!

While it seems like most people like to decorate the actual paper straws, I love this mix and match idea. How a-dorable are those stirrers??

The further along I get in the planning process, the more I realize that one of the best and worst things about a small wedding is that I am convinced that I can add/afford anything and everything....sigh.

Has anyone gotten these straws? Did you find any good deals?What other wedding details have you fallen in love with that you didn't even know existed?

***EDIT: Shipping from Kikkerland is $10.