Mismatched Men | Engaged & Inspired

If you’ve been keeping up with my planning, you already know that my bridesmaids will be wearing mismatched dresses.  Well, we’ve decided to go down that path with the groomsmen as well.  The decision came about more out of necessity rather than desire because all 4 groomsmen will be traveling to the wedding (2 from Austria, 1 from Illinois and 1 from California) so it was impossible to get them all together to try on suits.  The rental options for our desired color (grey) were slim to none and we did not want to pick out a suit that each guy “had” to buy since they’re already paying for travel related expenses.

We tossed around the idea of having all groomsmen wear black since they all had their own black suits and then hubby-to-be would wear a grey suit.  We imagined it looking something like this:

or possibly even like this

However, I wasn’t really sold on this idea because I didn’t think black suits would look as nice with the bridesmaids in their blush/nude/softer colored dresses.

We then decided to just ask the guys if they already own a medium grey suit- luckily, two already did and two had no problem finding one to buy (and for less than a rental, score!).  They’re not all the same color but hopefully they will all compliment each other.  I don’t think they’ll vary as much as the colors below but even if they do, I think we’ll be okay since these guys look fabulous, right?!

Full post and credits can be found here.

{Christina’s Wedding} Updates | Engaged & Inspired

Hello everyone! Yes, I’m alive…sorry for being MIA but it has been a crazy couple of weeks on this end. My fiance and I flew from Austria to Illinois on February 20th, spent a few days with my family and then started the 3 day drive to Arizona. We were promised by our contractor that the renovations to the home we bought in October were finished but had the extremely unpleasant surprise of arriving to a disaster zone. We spent a few nights in a hotel, then a few nights on an air mattress in what was supposed to be the living room of our house, almost an entire week fighting with the contractor to finish what we paid him to do and also dealt with some lovely surprises with the home (ex: the sewer backed up into the shower drains and the AC unit broke the second day we slept in the house)…just to name a few things that went wrong. Needless to say, I had zero time to think about the wedding during the last couple of weeks which stressed me out even more.

However, I am happy to report that things are finally starting to settle down and I am slowly switching back to wedding mode. My grandmother gave me some wonderful advice that really put things into perspective. She said “Christina, you’ll always have a house to deal with but you will only have one wedding!” She’s totally right and with only a month to go, I am glad she was able to snap me out of my funk.

I had my first dress fitting last week and that it went great! My worries about not liking the dress vanished as soon as I put it on. The fit was almost perfect and the dress doesn’t even need to be hemmed!

I also had a 2nd hair trial before the fitting that went well but I’m not sure if it’s the look I’ll end up choosing.

If you remember, the hairstyle I chose for my 1st trial was this:

For my 2nd trial, we went for this look:

I liked the look in person but I am not sure if I will love the way it looks in pictures. So, I plan on styling my hair like this before my next dress fitting and hopefully I’ll finally be able to make a decision!

images via

For more of my posts, please check out Engaged & Inspired!

{Christina’s Wedding} Invitation Sneak Peak| Engaged & Inspired

Here’s a litte sneak peak at the digital proofs of our invitation suite. Check out my post at Engaged & Inspired for more info 🙂

(the invitation suite set up)

(front of the rsvp card)

(back of the rsvp card)

The Proposal. | Engaged & Inspired

In honor of hitting the six month mark of being engaged (or as I like to call it, our “engaged-iversary”), I dedicated this week’s Engaged & Inspired post to our proposal story.  Head on over and check it out if you don’t know the incredible details yet 🙂

The Out-of-Town Bag | Engaged & Inspired

Head over to Engaged & Inspired for my weekly wedding post.  This week I shared my ideas for the Out-of-Town Bag for our guests.  Check it out here!

 

To Toss or Not to Toss? | Engaged & Inspired

What do you think about the bouquet toss?  Check out my post at Engaged & Inspired and let me know!  images via 1, 2, 3

Incorporating Culture: Austrian Style | Engaged & Inspired

Check out Engaged & Inspired to read my post about our plans to incorporate our Austrian heritage in to the wedding…without looking like The Sound of Music! 🙂

{His Ring} He Doesn’t Want to Wear One | Engaged & Inspired

Hello readers, I need your help this week.  My hubby-to-be does not want to wear a wedding ring! Please check out my post on Engaged & Inspired and give me some advice.

images via our amazing photographer, Trevor Dayley.  Check him out!

{Bridal Beauty} Hairstyles| Engaged & Inspired

One of the biggest things left to cross off of my seemingly endless “to-do” list is to determine how to have my hair styled on the big day. Originally, I planned on a fabulous fishtail braid pulled off to the side (similar to the two pictures below). I think the braid looks soft and romantic but still a little edgy.

Back in October, I had my hair trial on the same day I went dress shopping so I was able to see how the braid looked with my favorite dresses. Well, as you might know, I ended up with a totally different style of dress than I’d originally anticipated.  Unfortunately for me, my beloved fishtail just didnt look right with the dress I ended up choosing. It was back to square one. My fiance has always said he loves it best when I’m wearing my hair in a ponytail so I’ve started looking for some pony options that might work for the wedding. My question is, is a ponytail too “everyday” for such a big occassion?

As an alternative to a ponytail, I have also really started to like the look of small headbands paired with high, messy buns like the pics below. I especially like the double or triple band styles and I think it would be easy to find some dressier headband options.

A last option I am considering is a version of a down do. I really love the side swept waves in both of these pictures but I can imagine being worried all night that my hair will “fall” and that the style will be flat and lifeless by the end of the night. That’s definitely a hair dont!

You may have noticed that I am not looking at any down do’s…I really wish I could but the back of my dress just BEGS for an up-do or at the very least, for a bare back. How did you wear or how are you wearing your hair to your wedding? Any advice for a girl like me who’s struggling with narrowing down her options?

All images can be found via my Pinterest and my original post can be seen over at Engaged & Inspired.

Mismatched ‘maids| Engaged & Inspired

The mere utterance of the words “bridesmaid dress” can evoke cringe-worthy images of dated dresses with tacky fabrics, unflattering colors or ill fitting styles. Of course, this is (usually) not the case anymore as bridesmaids’ dress fashion has come a long way over the years. There are many wonderful dress options to choose from these days but I’m not quite sure that the promise of “You can wear it again” will be able to regain its credibility any time soon…what do you think?

Luckily for me, I have no desire to follow the tradition of having my girls dressed the same, so I’m letting them select their own dresses. That means the pressure of having to choose a dress that everyone likes is off… *phew!* My girls are all beautiful, unique and fabulous in their own ways and I want their dress selections to showcase that. I’ve given them a few basic “guidelines” to follow when selecting their dresses but other than that, it’s up to them.

The pictures below make me absolutely giddy and represent my vision for my mismatched ‘maids. Check out my Pinterest page for more bridesmaid dress inspiration!

My full post and picture credits can be found here.