Otherwised Engaged

Please excuse my absense for the next few days as my future in -laws are thowing us a lovely engagement party/bbq. There will be lots of bar-be-que, Italian food, and of course family. I promise to share all the pictures and stories. Have a great Labor Day!!

Our Bridge

Earlier in the month I revealed our weddings "theme". I thought I would begin to explain why the bridge holds such sentimental value to me and the Mr. I grew up in the shadow of the bridge and spend many nights on my rooftop gazing its golden lights and their reflection in the East River. Early on in our relationship we spent a Sunday in the Prospect Park. We decided the cap off the evening by a walk on the promenade and ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory when the Mr. asked

"Wanna walk over the Bridge?"

In all of my years in Brooklyn, I had never walked over the bridge. I was thrilled by the idea.
It was the Mr.'s spontaneity and willingness to take on little adventures like these that made me fall deeply in love with him. From that day on we were both enamored by the Great Bridge. We would make a point to walk over the bridge anytime we were in Brooklyn. On our first anniversary the Mr. suprised me with this beautiful illustration that now hangs in our living room.

Nothing tugs at the heartstrings like sexy artist who make things personally for you! Our love for the bridge grew as our relationship developed and soon the bridge would become the scene for one big celebration!

Ribbons Matter

I now have another item to add to my list of "things I never thought I would have such a strong opinion on". Its funny how weddings make you care about so many little previous unnoticed things! I have heard through the "blog-vine" that you could find beautiful vintage style ribbon in different Etsy shops. I always assumed I would pop in to Michaels or a crafting store and pick up any old thing, but once you see the vintage ribbon....swoon. Here's some of my favorites:

wildheart515

These would be gorgeous tied around little favor bottles like these

Or gauzy soft ribbon to tie around bouquets and vases:

Assorted ribbons!

jenniferpriest

Stripped Ribbons

ScapwithStyle

perfect for recreating this beauty

I love, love, love when I find new things that really matter.

La Inspiration

Inspiration comes in many forms and many places. Sometimes in places you totally forget about. Sometimes you give yourself credit for a great idea- or in my case - a color palette when in reality you really had nothing to do with it at all!

I already admitted my original ( however embarrassing) celebrity wedding inspiration. Recently the Mr. and I recently cemented our full palette. It looks something like this:

I saw a inspiration board on Snippet & Ink that really captured our colors but not necessarily our style.

The Mr. was thinking of yellow and navy but the whole thing seemed to preppy and nautical for us. I kept returning to this bright yellow and beachy turquoise blue. I hadn't seen a lot of palettes like this on the blogs and I wasn't quite sure where I had gotten the idea. I chose to believe I was a GENIUS. A wedding planning MAVEN. Clearly the ARTISTIC one in the couple.

Flash forward to two nights ago we were invited to a small birthday gathering in Hoboken, NJ. While I am a fiercely proud New Yorker, I will confess to living three great years in Hoboken. In fact, me and the Mr. met and feel in love in Hoboken. For us it was the perfect post- college, affordable, semi-urban environment to start our "adult"lives. Its chock full of restaurants and pubs, and me and the Mr. made an effort to wine and dine at all of them. We took the birthday gathering as an opportunity to return to one of our all time favorites, La Isla, for a quick bite.

La Isla is tiny ten table and counter- top Cuban Lunchenette that consistently puts our delicious Cuban favorites as well as gourmet fusion inventions. Back in the day we could be found there four or five times a month. As we were chowing down on black beans, yuca, and empandas we noticed something familiar.

Our Palette!!

Go figure. I'm not a GENIUS. The beautiful bright colors of Cuban seeped in my self conscious like the sweet scent of plantains. Our wedding palette was inspired by a Cuban Luncheonette!