I’ve been to a few weddings in my lifetime and I have to say, for me the hardest part is always finding a gift! I’ve found that a lot of couples don’t really register anymore. And that’s totally okay with me (I didn’t register either!) but it does make it a tad difficult to find the perfect gift, especially if you’re not uber close with the couple. However, I kinda have found a full-proof go-to gift: art! No one can really ever say no to a really awesome original piece of artwork to adorn their walls. In my search to find the perfect photograph or painting for each of my friends, I’ve found 20 x 200 and Etsy to be most helpful.

For my friends who fell in love while living in Tuscany, I found this print on Etsy by Irene Suchocki to be absolutely perfect. I purchased it, had it framed and gave it to them as their gift. They love it and now have it hanging on their wall in their bedroom. I hope that when they look at it, their reminded of their time in the beautiful hilltop town in which they spent their early days. I’m glad that I got to contribute to that in some way.

And while I haven’t yet purchased a peace of artwork from 20 x 200 for a friend, I have purchased an original photograph from them for myself. The minute I saw this baby camel photographed by Sharon Montrose, I knew I had to have him. He now has a permanent spot in my entryway. And the great thing about 20 x 200 is that you actually have the option to purchase the print already framed which is super helpful because framing can get expensive! 20 x 200 offers so many different kinds of art that you’re sure to find something for just about any couple.

Another great idea? Commission someone to draw a cute little portrait of the couple. Many artists on Etsy will do this for an affordable price. You’d be surprised at the quality some of these lesser-known artists produce. I hope this has inspired you step out of the wedding-gift-giving box a bit and shower your friends with some great artwork. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t love a lovely painting or photograph hanging on their walls!

20 x 200 / Irene Suchocki / Sharon Montrose

So many types of lace, where do we start?! From Guipure Lace to Chantilly, there are many options. Which below is your favorite?

 {Guipure Lace, French Style Guipure Lace, Ivy and Aster “Sunflower”, Ivy & Aster “Morning Glory”}

Guipure lace is a needlepoint lace with heavy buttonhole machine stitching. French style guipure is because it’s a french bobbin lace.

 {Ribbon Lace, Spanish Lace Dress, Venetian Lace hairpiece}

Ribbon lace is a cord of ribbon used to pull together two opposite edges over mesh or netting. Spanish lace a Venetian needlepoint lace that the Spaniards imported from Italy in the 1700s with it’s signature of flat roses on mesh. Venetian lace has a combination of acute-angled points as one piece, and only linked together by a narrow band.

 {Classic Chantilly Lace, Elizabeth Dye “Notorious”, Delphine Manivet “Raphaelo”, Elizabeth Dye “Chantilly Dress”}

Chantilly lace is one of the most delicate and light laces. It usually consists of flowered designs on plain netting or organza.

 {Brussels Duchesse Lace, Duchesse Lace Dress, Leanne Marshall “Marlena,” Classic Re-Embroidered Alencon Lace}

Duchesse lace is a belgian lace made in Brussels and named after Marie-Henriette, Duchess of Brabant. Re-embroidered Alencon lace is one of the most popular laces. It is more a durable lace and usually carries more crystal and beaded embellishments.

Most of the pictured dresses above are ones you can find at Lovely!

Our Lovely stylists are experts in all things bridal…from dress styles to fabric, from timeline to tailoring tips. Our brides are bright and curious and ask a lot of questions (we love that!) and we get asked a lot of the same questions over and over again, so we thought we would put our answers out into the universe just in case any of you darling readers are wondering the same thing. One question that pops up quite a bit is “What exactly is a trunk show?”…GREAT question!

Because our Lovely shops carry so many designers, it is virtually impossible for us to carry every single dress from each one (especially since most designers come out with two collections a year!). So to keep our curated selection fresh and exciting, we only choose a few pieces from each collection to go into our stores. Here is the exception…a trunk show is when a designer sends an entire collection to our shop for a limited amount of time. During that weekend, you will have access to that entire line as well as everything else that we carry in our shop. It essentially runs like a normal hour-long appointment, we just have about 15 more dresses than we usually do! It’s a great way for you to see more styles from a particular designer that you may already like, or a great way to get the feel for a designer that you may not know much about! The best part is, we offer a 10% discount on any dresses by that particular designer during their trunk show…you can’t beat that! But it only lasts for a short time because we need to pack up the dresses and send them on to the next shop that is having a trunk show, so you better get your bridal booty in before it’s too late!

We have quite a few trunk shows coming up at both our Los Angeles and New York City stores, so check out our Trunk Show Schedule to stay up to date! Here’s what we have on the calendar so far:

Los Angeles:
June 29-July 8 ~ Theia
July 13-22 ~ Carol Hannah Whitfield
August 24-September 2 ~ Sarah Seven

New York City:
June 15-17 ~ Watters and WToo
June 22-July 1 ~ Sarah Seven
June 29-July 8 ~ Carol Hannah Whitfield
August 3-5 ~ Tara Keely

You can schedule yourself for any of these trunk shows by heading to our website!

Any questions? Email us!!!

Having an open bar can cost a lot of money. If you’re lucky, you’ll find an awesome venue that gives you reasonable prices for their open bar. Otherwise, you’re left with a few options: limited open bar, beer & wine only, or sometimes a cash bar. Making this decision can become difficult because you want your friends to be able to enjoy a few drinks but at the same time you have a budget to stay under and within that budget might be other more important areas you’d like to spend more money on. So I am interested, what did you have at your wedding and why? What were the reasons for your decision?

*Today’s post is suppose to be dedicated to Decor & Details. However, now that I am planning a wedding, I thought it would be fun to stray away from that every once in a while and ask our Lovely readers to help me out with some details!

Now that I’m engaged, I’m super excited to dive right into planning (obvi!) And, according to “The Bride’s Book Of Lists: Things to Do & Questions to Ask” (Note: Yes, I went out and purchased this planner/book. I may work in bridal but I have never planned a wedding so don’t hate!) one of the first things I have to take care of is my wedding attendants. You know, who will be a bridesmaids and who will not.

Back in the old days, weddings were a little less…pleasant than they are now. Since marriages were often arranged between tribes, the groom would head over to the bride’s tribe where he would kidnap her. Often met with resistance (you go girl!) the groom would enlist his best man and groomsmen to go with him and make sure everything would go smoothly. Crazy, right?

Now, I’m not one to stray away from tradition (Okay, I lie. Yes I am. But still!) but is it totally necessary to even have wedding attendants? When I was about 16, I told my sister she was not going to be my maid of honor when I got married. (I know–so mean. But knowing my sister she probably started it!) Of course, my mother overheard this and was super upset I would say such a thing to my lovely (if only my mom knew!) sister. I explained to my mother that my maid of honor would be someone I consider my best friend. Fast forward to 2012 and here I am–in the midst of picking and choosing. Now that we’re older (and live in different cities), my sister and I get along much better. Having said that, I still don’t know that I would pick her as my maid of honor. However, I don’t want to hurt her feelings. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Basically, I don’t want to choose which of my girl friends are most important to me and which get to sit on the sidelines. I just want my day to be about me and my fiance. Nothing else.

Now, I’m leaving this to you lovelies. What do you think? Am I crazy for not wanting wedding attendants? Should I stick with tradition or break the mold?

Photo via Ruffled.