So, its’ been well documented here how much we just LOVE Heather Waraksa and her work. But Heather is not just a photographer, she is a true artist, in the best sense of the word. She pushes herself, is creative in every aspect of her life, has an open and sensitive heart and very high standards. She’s an outstanding photographer. So, when she and Jonathan got engaged, after we asked what we could do to help, we of course asked “Who are you going to have shoot it?” Not surprisingly, she chose the incomparable Angelica Glass, just named to American Photo’s Top 10 Wedding Photographer’s of 2012. We are working with Angela on a destination wedding this summer and, when I saw Heather’s engagement shots, I just got so excited! They absolutely CAPTURE Heather and Jonathan’s personality and style AND they are totally outside the box, sexy and rock and roll. Some selects below, but Angelica Glass’ site has the full gallery here!

Have I ever told you that Mayra is really cheap?  Oh. My. Goodness. She practically squeaks!  And, while it’s good for business (“What’s wrong with the calculator we’ve got? “That’s a great idea, Xochitl, but you’re going over their budget, so… NO.”). It’s admirable and annoying all at the same time: admirable, because I am completely lured in my “luxury” anything, and her ability to see if something is “worth it” or not, is fantastic.  Annoying, because when planning her wedding she gave me Phaedra Parks Side Eye over every little freakin’ thing I wanted to “add on” to the wedding.

And, actually, her wedding was an enlightening process for me because, I had almost forgotten how, no matter much you prep and plan, the last few weeks before the Big Day you remember about a hundred tiny details that all can add up to another few hundred or even thousands of dollars.  Special Earrings, the BAG you are going to carry, flutes you want to toast with, how you will display your cake.  So, I often have recommended on this blog $800 earrings or (just last week) a $4,000 clutch bag….but as Mayra said to me during her wedding planning “You know what Xochitl, I’m tired of spending money and I frankly don’t care if I have a photo of Christian Laboutins, so please shut it.”

All of this is to say that when I started getting little email blasts from Edisen, and I would notice these fabulous accessories, shoes, hair pieces and delightful entertaining items, I made a mental note to check it out.  Then, the other day, I saw this amazing little pin of a hot hair balloon, clicked to open the site and was STUNNED at the prices!  Not just for the little adorable pin, but of nearly everything on the site.  The designs, style and simplicity of their offerings make it the perfect place to stock up on little “extras” that you maybe don’t want to break the bank on, but you also care about not looking cheap or trashy.  Here are a few of my favorite finds! And when I tell you, the PRICES! The clutch, $48; The hair clip $16.. even the shoes are less than $100! If only I would have discovered this site before Mayra got married….

Fantastic, right?  Totally “pin” worthy!  Speaking, of, starting today, you can find our items from the blog on our Pinterest Board “On Always a Blogsmaid”, to make for easy Re-pinning! So be sure to follow us, or follow our board!

Our office is around the corner from the NYC Marriage Bureau, a.k.a. “City Hall”, so when I say to you that we are literally always surrounded by Brides, it’s actually true!  In fact, sometimes when the weather is nice, we get tacos at the taco stand by the Brooklyn Bridge and “wedding watch”- sit around and watch all the cute and adorable couples of all ages heading to or coming from tying the knot.   I love City Hall Style, so I was particularly excited when not one, but SEVERAL of my friends emailed me this, touching, adorable Refinery 29 Slideshow of City Hall Weddings… made even more exciting because we RECOGNIZED one of the couples! She was so very cute, and and looked just a little nervous, and her adorable face was burned in my memory!

For the full slideshow (a must view) click here. For my personal favorite highlights, see below. All photos by Winne Au.

The adorable couple we were observing en route to Pongsri. So sweet!

I am mildly afraid of sweets: a by-product of my fear of carbs, but what I am NOT is afraid of Gorgeousness!  And, while Amy Atlas’ new book “Sweet Designs: Bake it, Craft it, Style it” is CHOCK full o’ sweets and recipes bakers will fawn over, it’s more than anything choc full of inspiring ideas for any designer, baker or planner of parties large scale or small.  It’s desserts, but it’s more than desserts. It’s a book of ideas that will surely get your mind spinning.  It’s the PERFECT gift for a young mother embarking on planning her first birthday party, and a perfect gift to yourself if you love pretty things and love to take the simple and elevate it to the sublime.  I present to you, the table “Perfectly Preppy” as photographed by Johnny Miller.

So much to take in, and find inspiring!  The Pink and Blue color combo, the use of ties in the tabletop design, the fabulous mix of solids and stripes and subtle dots.  It’s just too much fun!  Of course, the book then goes on to offer all the recipes for the cake, cupcakes, the delicious cups of moose (the ribbon is used to affix little spoons to the glass cups!), the truffles and cookies (called Pocket Squares!).  It teaches you how to make the Argyle backdrop, the “Tie” tied favor boxes.. the works!  Amazing!

But, this next table LITERALLY took my breath away:  Forever Chanel.

What to say? Again, I’m not much of a baker, but I DO love amazing tabletop, and I saw this and thought: “Oh My Goodness, why hadn’t I ever thought of that before!?  “Chanel” tweed as a table linen, wrapping flower containers in the same “family” of fabrics as the line.. GIANT bow around the table!   And of course, Amy walks you through every dessert, display and detail.

I LOVE this book. I also just love Amy, and her personality and warmth shines through the pages of this gorgeous book.  At $28,(on special right now for only $17) it’s a must add to your library.  You can buy it at Amazon now, or at your local bookstore.  Or, better yet, buy yourself a copy and a friend a copy…. you will both have a lot of fun with it, I’m sure!

I know most people love the weekends, but I REALLY love them. It’s not that I don’t love my job (I do!!!), it’s just that there were several years (like, literally consecutive YEARS) where Mayra and I worked each and every single weekend, often for weeks at a time with no days off. It’s all part of building a business, and we learned and grew a lot during those years. So, when we started to have weekends again, I began to cherish them, CHERISH, with all caps intended.

One of the things that I love to do on the weekends is to get my nails done. Friday afternoon I saw Rebecca from Scratch and Vane from Brooklyn Bride at Stone Fox Bride’s Foxy Friday event.  Rebecca had Ombre Nails and Vane had a neon green french manicure. I was admittedly a bit jealous of my “Saturday Special” : cherry red toes and a buff and shine. SNOOZIES!  So, I asked for a grey and yellow french on my toes. The ladies at my nail salon tried DESPERATELY to convince me that this would be hideous, while I tried to tell them about a wedding tabletop I’d done once for a photoshoot.  Ultimately, they shrugged their shoulders and did what I wanted and ultimately gathered around my little toes to remark on how surprised they were but it “actually looks really pretty!”

I, of course, wasn’t surprised because I worship this color combination. In fact, I’m putting it out into the universe that we can do a party with this color combo soon! And not really Yellow and Grey, I love the richness of the grey with yellow. The pop on the darkness. It’s just so appealing. So, here is my Grey and Yellow mood board to put it out into the universe.

From top left and then clockwise: Plate via Juliet Loves Romeo, Awesome living room with zebra chair via Rusty Hinges Blog, patterned shoes with yellow poufs via United with Love, Manicure (that I’m going to get next time) via Mis Renaissance, Wallpapered living room via Room Envy, Grey Room with Yellow and Hot Pink via Rusty Hinges, Stripey Ceiling via Room Envy (love it with the cow print!), Chevron clutch with flower via Etsy, Awesome sweets table via Juliet Love Romeo, Grey dress with yellow bouquet via Aisle Style.