Grace and elegance...

Audrey. Graceful. Elegant. Her life and style inspire me.  She was kind, generous, talented, creative, and lovely.  I strive to be these things in my life.  Currently, daily life is crazy - juggling work, planning a wedding, and home life.  Note that I said crazy, not hard or busy.  I am consciously avoiding using words like hard, busy, stressful, because my life is none of those things.  My life is full to the brim, and I love it, but today had it's disappointments.  And I will leave it at that.  With 4 months and 3 weeks to go until the big day, Audrey will be my reminder to channel grace through my wedding day and beyond.  Ciao, Natalie.

Coming to a mailbox near you...

Our the save the date postcards were dropped in the mail today!  They are going to our nearest and dearest in places like California, Texas, New York, Oklahoma, and as far away as Italy.  My next post will be all about the creative process behind our the save the dates.  Ciao, Natalie

P.S. A very special thank you to our friend and photographer Sharon Wharton for agreeing to brave the early morning cold to capture this shot.  You're the best, Sharon!

The Coco by Amsale

The Coco by Amsale is a wedding gown that I am in LOVE with.  It is playful, and it has pockets which are such a fun, unusual detail on a wedding gown.  Why not this one?  When I tried it on, I felt that it was a touch too revealing up top, and I did not want to be self-conscious about my gown on my wedding day.  I still think is is lovely, though.  Ciao. Natalie

More from Amy....

Originally uploaded by amypigliacampo

She'll look gorgeous in the buttercup yellow in this style...

Lela Rose

Originally uploaded by amypigliacampo

Photo of the bridesmaids dresses by my future sister in-law tried on...

Not A Wedding Planning Post...

Some of you might be wondering what Anthony of Anthony + Natalie is up to.  This past year Anthony started ModMarket in Boulder, CO.  ModMarket is a healthy, fast food restaurant concept serving whole grain flatbreads, or as I like to call them "pizza without the grease," fresh salads, and soups.  When he's not at the counter serving good food, he is blogging at Dishes from the Blog, outside being active, or playing with Beefy Smith - our dog.  I thought it was so cool when I saw that Taylor Phinney, pro cyclist on the Trek Live Strong Team, twitter about eating at ModMarket: http://taylor.bikecamp.com/2010/03/13/twitter-updates-for-2010-03-13/.  He has 14,286 followers!  Talk about awesome word-of-twitter marketing!  Ciao.  Natalie.

P.S. Anthony has been helping with the wedding.  He has been key to the save the dates production!  He is the best.

The Dress that Got Away...Juno by Junko Yoshioka

Trying on wedding gowns was the coolest experience of planning our wedding so far.  Because I loved the wedding gown search so much, I wanted share with you some of the gowns that I tried on.  The beautiful Junko Yoshioka gown featured in this post was originally “the Gown,” but I ended up racing back to Anna-Be to try it on again as well as another gown that I was so-so about.  I changed my mind and went with the “so-so” gown. Gasp!  I know exactly what the ladies who were with me that day are thinking "but, she the loved that dress so much" including Anna of Anna-be.  Anna was fantastic through whole ordeal.  She is exactly the type of person you want holding your hand through wedding gown remorse.   Looking at these photos that I found on Anna-be's blog, Shop Talk, I still find myself loving this dress.  The train is just stunning.  Why would a bride turn her back on such an amazing work of fashion?  Easy, you know that feeling all of the brides get on the Say Yes to the Dress show when they have found “the gown”?  It is the bridal feeling that says “I am marrying the man of my dreams, and he will love me in this gown”, and as brides we are just so sure that he will love it, too.  Well, I thought my very design, forward-thinking fiance would love the Juno gown.  When I showed him the photos of all of the gowns that I tried on and told him to tell me which one he thought I chose, his remark, verbatim, was "Good lord, I hope it is not that one, and I hope that it is this dress (the so-so dress)."  Tears ensued.  Though he had crushed my wedding gown vision, he acted quickly and came up with a great solution.  He asked that he go with me to see what they looked like in person.  This is not for all brides, I know, but when I slipped into the “so-so” dress, which, by the way, is so far from being “so-so”, his reaction was EXACTLY what I wanted on our wedding day. He loved it, and I truly felt the "feeling."  Done. Sold.  As for this wedding gown, I am sure some very beautiful brides will be wearing this amazing gown, and their grooms will no doubt be blown away. Ciao.  Natalie 
    

Wedding Experience: Bridesmaid Dress Shopping, Part 2

Finally, photos of my lovely maids dress shopping at Anna-Be.  Sorry it has taken me so long, ladies!  My favorite bridesmaids dress designer is Lela Rose.  The 2010 line of Lela Rose dresses have fun details like romantic ruffles, interesting necklines, and lovely rosettes, and they come in a very pretty gray taupe (my colors are gray and yellow).  My favorite fabrics are the crinkle chiffon and guaze which seem perfect for a summer wedding.  The Lela Rose dresses will serve as a main point of inspiration as my bridesmaids head out to find their dresses. 

P.S. Good luck shopping, ladies, and I cannot wait to see your dresses!
 
Top left photo: Maid of honor, Brittany in a lovely yellow and not sure of the designer.
Top right photo: Matron of honor, Megann, in Vera Wang.
Bottom Left photo: Bridesmaid, Amanda, in Lela Rose.
Bottom Right photo: Amanda, in Lela Rose; Brittany, in Lela Rose; and Me in Vera.