Red Lips Bride

So I’ve put out an Alchemy request for my wedding dress which can be found here.  I don’t know if this is a good idea or a horrible one.  I’ve seen a lot of stuff on Etsy that I love but just can’t afford so I though maybe someone out there would be intersted in making it for less.  I bought fabric a while ago and just don’t seem to have the time to make it myself, and realistically, I probably don’t have the skills.

So if you know someone who can design and sew, send them my Alchemy request and I encourage bids.

7 simple ideas to ‘green up’ your wedding day, a real story from an Ann Arbor couple

Did you know that an Ann Arbor couple ‘greened’ up their wedding party and you simply could do it too?

It was in August 2010, the Ann Arbor couple (Engel and Dyer) were married in a “green” outdoor marriage ceremony and reception near the Huron River fit to pay homage to their shared passion of the planet and the outdoors.

The trend toward green weddings certainly isn’t new, but industry professionals say it has evolved to allow lovers to incorporate their particular personal preferences and still afford their special day.

Most people are curious about a green wedding and once they hear about what it really entails, they find themselves going a different route. Our heroes Engel and Dyer considered they wouldn’t be able to keep everything perfectly green, but were going to try their hardest. And the most essential element was to make the day educative as well as fun for guests.

They projected the marriage ceremony at a science and nature center where tours were offered to guests in the hour before they walked down the aisle. The tour featured different water and energy conservation methods used at the center like the solar-panel arrays for electricity, solar-powered heating and water heater systems and no-flush compost toilets.

The couple also focused on little details they said make a big difference.

- Dyer wore an heirloom – a vintage green dress that had been her great-grandmother’s in the 1930′s.
- Her ring was made with recycled gold and had a beryl stone instead of a diamond.
- Her makeup was certified organic.
- Guests were given local lavender buds – rather than sachets of rice – to throw in celebration.
- Tables were covered with local wildflowers and locally sourced foods.
- Leftovers and unused food were recycled (by sending to local farms) or reused.
- They found a generator which was solar powered and able to make enough power to run the lights and the audio system they needed for the rock band.

For all their efforts, they still made some choices they knew weren’t the most eco-friendly options. While they served Michigan white wine beverages and a Michigan sparkling cider, they couldn’t find a red from the state they liked. So they decided to have a burghundy from the U.S. for that option. And they could’ve gone with Internet invites rather than printing and mailing invitations, but Dyer said she felt paper invitations were important – on recycled paper, of course.

So you? What can You do to ‘green up’ your marriage day?

While green weddings are becoming more popular, planning and pulling off the event is not as easy as one might imagine.

Sorting through claims of environmentally friendliness when shopping in the current marketplace is a big enough obstacle for standard purchases, let alone for such an emotionally charged and personal event as a wedding.

The best way to reduce the impact of an event is to participate in a life cycle analysis on different elements of the ceremony. For instance, where is that food coming from, how much energy is expended to produce it, how does it get to your plate and where do the leftovers go?

While meat typically takes more energy to produce than fruits and vegetables, considering how far some fruits and veggies need to travel might give them a larger carbon footprint.

The best way to lower an event’s carbon footprint is to cut back on the number of guests invited. Fewer guests mean fewer meals, fewer needs for centerpieces and other decor and fewer miles traveled to reach the wedding.

About the writer – L. E. Thomason posts articles for the event planning degree blog, her personal hobby website focused on ideas to help people be able to organize a green event to spend less energy and reduce carbon footprints.

Every bride needs the perfect pair of shoes to walk down the aisle in, right?!  I was approached by Lanalia Shoes, an LA based shoe company makes custom shoes.  Lanalia is the only shoe manufacturer in Los Angeles, CA, that handcrafts every pair of heels and personalizes them to fit every brides needs. Newly partnered with Swarovski, they makes shoes that can be encrusted with crystals and use a NASA-created Poron cushions that will make for a more comfortable walk down the aisle. Custom made shoes are made in 2 to 4 weeks, and off the rack can be purchased as well.

While I have not worn or seen these shoes in person, they are very cute and they offer a wide variety of styles which include some vintage inspired styles as well as classics. They also claim to be very comfortable using a specialized padding in the sole of the shoe, which is very valuable on a wedding day, to dance the night away.

The folks of Lanalia Shoes have offered readers of Red Lips Bride a 10% off discount using the coupon code REDLIPS10

So I just had the realization that my wedding is in 309 days.  Random number, I know (I had to use a calculator for that).  It wasn’t that it in 309 days that surprised me, but that its less than a year, its even in almost 10 months! Yikes! When I got engaged there was a little over 2 years (we formally got engaged on our 5th anniversary, and are getting married on our 7th, but the proposal happened a little before.  Now, over a year has passed and I’ve gotten a lot done, but it just reminded me I need to start working on it. 

Over the past, oh, I don’t know, 5 months, I haven’t even touched the wedding.  I am in school and working a lot, and I just had no energy to do wedding stuff… which is ironic because I continued to write here, although less.  So now I have to get back on track, but where did I leave off?!  I actually had to use an article on my own blog (written like a year ago) to see what I should be doing next.  It seems funny to me.  So, my list was originally posted in Wedding Timelines and now, I’m actually in that suggested time zone.

So here’s my state of affairs:

Around 1 year prior
- Set your Budget
- Make a Guest List
- Set the Date
- Locate and reserve ceremony and reception sites

6-9 Months
- Send out Save the Date cards
- Choose your wedding party (I have but my fiance hasn’t)
- Look for your Honeymoon destination (Looking at it now. We’re thinking 3 weeks backpacking in Europe)
- Book a: photographer, videographer (not doing), bakery, DJ and cater (both of these are close friends, which makes it really special)

- Order bridal clothing (ugh! I have fabric and I’m planning on sewing it myself.  I made this for my sister and I’m making this (seen on the right) for myself
- Start to look at invitations
- Reserve a block of hotel rooms for family (I swear, I’m going to call them back soon)
- Choose a florist and arrangements
- Start registries

4-5 months
- Set a rehearsal dinner if you are having one
- Finalize the guest list
- Make sure anyone you sent the save the date cards was definitely on the final list – its just rude not to invite them
- Book the honeymoon
- Choose and meet with the officiant
- Order Bridesmaids dresses
- Order Invitations
- Choose a cake
- Choose men’s attire
- Get wedding bands

2-3 months
- Book hair and makeup
- Make sure the bridal party has their clothing
- Mail invitations
- Order favors
- Choose a menu
- Choose music

So overall, not too bad, but time doesn’t stop moving, so I have to get a move on!  Priority 1: Booking a hotel 2: Start Sewing my dress!

There are a lot of online vendors out there, especially those selling wedding favors.  So what makes each one stand out? Well I guess that depends on what you’re looking for.  Price, selection, service ect.

For me, especially doing a wedding on a budget, if I had to compare two vendors that offered the same products and same service, it would of course come down to price.  I was approached by Sunflower Favors to mention them here, and its not something I’ve ever done before.  So before I went diving into “sponsoring” or vouching for a vendor, it’s important that they fit the Red Lips Bride central tenants (offer vintage and budget items).  After some fun perusing the Sunflower Favors site, I found some fun items that would really fit classical vintage or more rock and role as well.  I’ve pulled out a few of my favorites. Additionally, their prices are actually very good.  I’ve compared the prices to other and they are around the same cost, or a little lower and shipping costs are reasonable.

However, the icing on the cake it they have offered my readers a discount!  Use coupon code 10CPN2010 when you purchase for a 10% off discount.

Lastly, they have offered one reader a 50% off discount and if you would like to participate in this give away, which will be happening soon, become a fan on Facebook (see right ->) where we will be announcing the contest and administering it through.

Hope this was helpful!  If you know other vendors that you’ve had a great time with, send their name my way to redlipsbride (at)gmail.com.

*I have not been compensated financially or in merchandise for writing this review.

In the past year, since I got engaged and started to plan my wedding, I’ve talked to a lot of vendors, sales people, photographers, caterers… you name it, I’ve talked to them.  And I get a very mixed response.  It’s clear some people want your business and other don’t.  While I don’t have any real advise to give, because I’m still struggeling with this myself, I’d like to relay to you all some of my better and worse experiences.

The Business who doesn’t want or need your business:

These guys are SO irritating.  I just want to give you my money, is that so hard to ask?  My largest experience with this “type” of business was looking for a hotel for my guests to stay in during the wedding.  I used a variety of methods, like the group tool on Priceline.com and a few others to get quotes from hotels.  There was one hotel that was just perfect for our guests.  A 4 star hotel with good amenities, large enough for the group, and within walking distance of the ceremony and reception so I don’t have to worry about drinking and driving or transportation.  But I was not to be so lucky because their response to my request for a quote was “We regret to inform you that due to other hotel obligations we are unable to consider your request”.  Now I don’t know what type of obligations they’ve already got about a year before the date, but if they don’t even want to give me a quote, I don’t want my guests to stay there.

The Business who knows what you want:

My experience with this type of vendor came while looking for a photographer.  I understand how many vendors are experienced working within the traditional understanding of a wedding.  When presented with a more “alternate” wedding, some vendors are not equipped to handle that.  While my wedding is not too far from traditional, the photographer had a very hard time understanding that we had no interest in traditional photography.  No posed group shots, no pics of the hanging dress, no lame shots.  We wanted candid photography that expressed the fun and celebration of our wedding.  I guess we wanted photojournalism.  Maybe I was just talking to the wrong photographer, or maybe he just couldn’t understand what we wanted, but the signals were clearly crossed.  He was very excited about our location, UofT property, and was trying to sell me on the appeal of the traditional photos in those surroundings.

Whatever your challenge with vendors, remember, there is always another vendor out there who is eager to work with you, so with more research you can find someone who suits your needs.  Be sure to stick to your guns, and be sure of what you want.  Vendors generally want your business, so they are usually flexible, but if they aren’t that wont change through the process, so you don’t want to work with them.

So contest time is going to be upon us to celebrate the when Red Lips Bride on Facebook reaches 100 fans (which I know will be soon with your help.  I was approached by Sunflower Favours, offering one lucky winner a prize. 

Want to enter? Well, be patient. But you can help us to make this happen faster.  Become a fan (button on the right ->) and recommend Red Lips Bride on Facebook to your friends. 

Sunflower Favours has also offered a discount to readers of Red Lips Bride!  Use coupon code 10CPN2010 on checkout for 10% off your purchase!

So apparently I have a family that blogs… I guess I come by it honestly!  So I wanted to give them some credit!

My father Murray Van Halem is an artist and posts his work online!  He works in pastel, watercolor, pencil and photography.  His art was always around the house and I’m proud of his skill and passion for it.

My sister Emily Van Halem is blogger on the subject of food.   She has quite an interest in farming, local and sustainable food, urban farming and cooking for people with allergies and restriction.  Her blog, Feel Good Food, is a great read for any foodie.

• If you have a resourse you know about that would help our readers at RLB please share! http://bit.ly/bEX3xa #
• New post of DIY Fascinators http://bit.ly/cGCtDf #
• #FF @SensationalWV @theknot @pinupparlour #
• New post on understanding the vintage "look" and inspiration http://bit.ly/9bo8U5 #
• I posted 3 photos on Facebook in the album "Celebrity Fashion" http://bit.ly/bByu1k #
• I posted 2 photos on Facebook in the album "Celebrity Fashion" http://bit.ly/bByu1k #
• I never link sending the man off to work when I'll be alone. It makes me lonely #

Over lunch with my mother, she said inquired about what she should wear to our wedding that would fit the theme.  That got me thinking, that not everyone knows what I’m looking for when my wedding invitation say “Semi-formal, Vintage Inspiration Appreciated”.  So this blog post is dedicated to Bayla, my mother, and my future wedding guests who love me enough that they want to make this effort to dress up to fit the theme.  So thank you mom, I hope this helps!

The wedding is jazz, swing, cinema and starlet inspired.  This theme spans two decades, generally, the 1930′s and 1940′s.  You could take it as far as you wanted, really, so myself and my wedding party will be in the more 30′s slinky dresses, but my guests could dress it down a little and wear shorter dresses and simple suits with appropriate accessories.  I’ve pulled together a LOT of images to help my guests, and you the reader visualize your possibilities for my/your wedding.

The 1930′s was a decade wrought with financial despair.  The 1929 stock market crash let to a great deal of escapism into the cinema.  Movies now had sound, and they were stellar!  Most people clothing was simple at home, money was tight, but those with it spent it and looked good doing it.  Here are some names of stars in the 30′s with some inspirational photos.

1930s

Women

Ginger Rogers

Greta Garbo

Bette Davis

Jean Harlow

Marlene Dietrich

Joan Crawford

Mae West

Flowing lines

Defined waists

Art-Deco geometric detail

Bias Cut slinky fabric

Plunging backs and Cowl neck

Halterneck

Sweetheart neckline

Silk and “artificial silk” Rayon

White, Black, pastel peach, pink, green and blue

• Rhinestones and pearls  Cloches or headpieces Mary Janes, T-Bar strapsMenClark Gable
  

  Hot damn that's classy

  

  Jimmy Stewart

  

  James Cagney

  

  Gary Cooper

  

  Cary Grant

  

It took me longer than expected to compile the so the 1940′s will follow soon!