Bridal Party Style

With end-of-summer and fall weddings upon us, I’m sharing some style secrets to getting the most out of a wedding party’s attire. 

I’ve recently written an article about adding depth, color, and individual style to your wedding while considering body shaping and skin tones of those in your bridal party; creating a picture perfect look while staying true to your style, and incorporating the comforts and style of your individual bridal attendees…

It seems as though wedding season truly has no end and no beginning and a bride planning for her big day may feel like it’s a never ending saga of colors: the flowers, dresses, tablecloths. It’s a sea of style that can become overwhelming.

Even under all the pressure to see her day become a reality of what many dream as the fairytale story to a life of happiness, a bride puts in a lot of thought making sure her day is picture perfect.

When working with brides, I’ve found that the one thing she often overlooks in her planning is the individual body shaping and skin coloring of the bridesmaids, which is just as important to completing the bigger style picture. Of course, this isn’t something intentional, but one of those factors that can really make a difference to the overall bigger picture and literally the photography of the day.

Of course, if this is about bringing a fairytale to life, you can bet brides mull over their color scheme, but I don’t know many brides who consider how those colors or dress styles will flatter her maids.

As important as who’ll be standing beside her on one of the biggest days of her life, so is the color scheme a bride chooses for her bridal party. However, those two things are often decided independently of each other.

When considering those factors together, a bride can essentially have her cake and eat it too. She doesn’t have to forgo her favorite color because it may not flatter one or two of her maids, but rather mixing and matching allows for more style, color and depth in a wedding palette. She’ll add a gorgeous, modern and ever-so stylish twist; an alternative to the matchy-matchy days of old. Not to mention, choosing contrasting dresses in different lengths and cuts is a fantastic way to cater to different shapes and colorings of a wedding party.

Here are a few tips to pulling off mix-and-match bridal style when selecting colors, tones, fabrics, and styles.

1. Don’t choose one hue. A hue is the same as saying the color of the dress. When deciding on colors, rather than opting for all blue dresses or green gowns, discuss tones. A tone is the color family, like champagne tones. By opting for the same tone, you’ll find a beautiful palette of dresses in the same color scheme.

2. Introduce patterns, sequins or lace for a very fashion forward take…

Read further for tips to styling your mix and match bridal party here.

September Wedding

tank // skirt via // clutch // necklaces here and here // similar heels

So September isn’t really a great month for me. I try not to get too personal here, since this is a style blog after all, but I lost my dad 6 years ago September 12th, and my grandmother a week later. Fast forward several years and my uncle passed as well within the first 2 weeks of September, so death this month is something we’re all too familiar with. 

It was a nice change of pace when my cousin from my mom’s side married a few years ago, and now another cousin from my dad’s side married this month as well… in fact, both cousins married the same day! Just different years.

Wedding style, to me, is so personal. Yes, there’s etiquette, but you also have to wear what you feel confident in. I chose brights because I just always feel so happy when I’m wearing them. Because we’re on the cusp between the end of summer and the beginning of fall, this gorgeous orange was a definite; a popular color for this coming season and verging on neon {neons will be a big trend carrying over to fall}. I had some ideas in mind when I set out shopping, but when this skirt turned up I instantly fell in love and knew I had to have it. 

Style Note: Go neon for a sophisticated yet bold statement. Wearing neon can be tricky, but pairing it with a neutral like white or ivory keeps it fresh and modern. And mixing in another complimentary neon color gives you a style statement completely your own. This orange is popular and you can bet you’ll be seeing more of it this season, so give it your own twist to stand out from the crowd.
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Wedding Season

The doors to this session’s STYLE ME will be closing THIS Friday, don’t miss out. You can register here.

coat via // blouse // skirt c/o // clutch // similar heels // ring // necklace 

Hello, loves! I hope you’re beating the Monday blues. Me? It’s all about spring in the studio as I gear up for the spring Style Me session. And I’m excited to be moving in a spring wardrobe for a client. But it’s not all work, I can’t wait for a little overnighter this week to the central coast.

I’m back today chattin’ about wedding season. When setting out to style the perfect look for a wedding I attended a few weekends ago, I had a vision of pulling together a classic look, while adding interesting pieces and textures. In fact, I had this fab black and white patterned coat that become the base around which to build the look.

Style Note: Black and white? I say classic. You really can’t go wrong here. Why it works? Black and white defines elegance. The combination is timeless. Though this color combo isn’t groundbreaking, this spring, designers are raising interest by playing with textures, silhouettes, and patterns. I was pleased to see it as a choice among celebrities on the Oscar’s red carpet. Both Reese Witherspoon and Patricia Arquette pulled this combo off stunningly. And it’s the perfect backdrop for a color pop ;). Get ya some!

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Tuesday Twinning

jessica ann dress {similar, similar} // similar sandals

Happy Tuesday, lovelies!

It seems more rare occasions when I can actually get this girl to stop and smile for the camera… it’s definitely on her terms. But a week ago we headed north to a wedding and wound up twinning on accident.

I picked up a Ralph Lauren dress for the occasion and little miss A had this dress in her closet so it just wound up we matched! 

I can’t resist this face!

Hope y’all are having a great week…

Wedding Style

my outfit deets:

ralph lauren dress via nordstrom {similar} // floral heels c/o reflections {similar} // earrings {splurge, save} // cuff c/o angl {splurge, save}

Amélia’s outfit deets: {she’ll be on the blog Tuesday!}

jessica ann dress {similar} // sandals {similar}

Well, it’s been real. 

A little over a month ago my grandmother {on my mom’s side} passed away, and exactly 1 month later my mom’s brother passed. 

This past weekend we attended our dear friends wedding, a beautiful ceremony for two people we love dearly. 

So I feel like I’ve been living in this roller coaster of emotions… happy, sad.

I chose a brightly colored dress for the wedding for a couple of reasons… 1) it’s still so ridiculously hot in California. I couldn’t even escape it up north, so summer colors for the win! and 2) I don’t usually do this color, so it was such a welcomed change. 

Friday’s service for my uncle really had me thinking. I’d just seen him at my grandmother’s service and later that afternoon shared a lovely meal with him. Then, gone. I was thinking back and the last thing I remember was squeezing him tightly and telling him I loved him. I am so glad because sometimes I know we all get busy, hectic schedules, kids, family, lives… and I know I take for granted the next time will come around…

Please hug those you love every chance you get. 

Excuse me if I’m feeling like the ratio of happy to sad is a bit out of balance. Life is really put into perspective sometimes… I cherish all the memories these days. 

Hope your weekend has been full! xoxo