Summer Staples

Good Morning! I am guest posting over on my friend Elle's blog, Living in Color Style, talking about my top staple for Summer! Check it out here! 

{ outfit 1 // 2 // 3 }

A Pre-Pinterest Wedding

Hi! I’m Sarah, Jessica’s sister, and I blog over at The Adventures of Ernie Bufflo. I’m thrilled to be sharing a post here with you at Here & Now while she’s off on her honeymoon! We are absolutely joyful to be welcoming Tyler into our family, and I was particularly proud to contribute the two cutest two-year-old flower girls there ever were to the big day.

Watching Jessica plan her wedding over the last year has made me think a lot about the time I spent planning my own wedding, almost 8 years ago. For one, I can’t believe it’s been that long ago already! For another, I can’t believe I planned a whole wedding without one of my favorite things in the world: Pinterest. I’m kind of a Pinterest addict, and find it not only a super happy piece of the internet, full of pretty outfits and tasty recipes and all sorts of inspiration for my crafty side, but also a super useful tool for everything from keeping track of sewing patterns to meal planning to throwing birthday parties for my twins. And somehow I planned the biggest party of my life without Pinterest? With only a pile of bridal magazines and a lifetime reading my mom’s Martha Stewart magazines to inspire me?

And yet, in a way I’m thankful. While it has been so helpful to coordinate bridesmaids dresses from afar with Jessica and all her maids, and while I love browsing hand-lettered cocktail menus and handmade photo backdrops and cute, crafty signs for ring bearers to carry, I can also see there being a lot of pressure to create a Pin-spiring, Instagrammable affair. Back when I got married, it was still not unheard of for people to put disposable cameras on tables for guests to snap photos of the festivities for the bride and groom to develop and look at later. Now you just decide on a hashtag and snag everyone’s photos from social media!

I also think Pinterest could have been a distraction in what was a rather hastily-planned affair. We had 4 months total between our engagement and ceremony, because while we had planned to get engaged and get married a year later, as I graduated college and my husband graduated med school, after talking to our parents, we decided it might be a less-stressful beginning to our marriage to have a year of just being relatively carefree students together, instead of starting a marriage as my husband started a grueling medical residency and we moved halfway across the country, away from everyone we knew and loved. I am absolutely grateful for the wise counsel that led us to our moved-up wedding date, but it certainly didn’t leave much time to plan a Pin-worthy wedding!

My bridesmaids’ dresses weren’t chosen after an exhaustive search but after one visit to one store that was available in each state where my bridesmaids’ lived, after finding out what could be fitted and ordered and altered in time for the ceremony. “What can you get us in 3 months?” was my biggest consideration, although in retrospect, Tiffany Blue taffeta is certainly not something any of my maids will be wearing again. (Sorry, guys.) Even my wedding dress was a $99 off the rack special, though I’d love to go back in time and make an NYC shopping weekend out of that one-- totally jealous of my sister, there.

In the end, what made our wedding great was that we couldn’t have done it on our own. We did it without Pinterest, but we had the help of amazing family, friends, and church family who made my 21-year-old-self’s vision of “Audrey Hepburn throws a garden party” a beautiful reality. Who needs Pinterest when you have people who, for example, when your flowers don’t arrive at the ceremony, can in five minutes’ time, whip together bouquets and boutonnières from leftover reception décor and get you walking down the aisle toward the man you love most in the whole wide world?

But…can I use Pinterest to plan a totally Instagrammable 10^th anniversary vow renewal? Please? I’d just love to get to dress shop again. But I’m keeping my groom.

Jessica here, reminding you that I actually DID wear part of my bridesmaid dress again (as seen here)! Also, if you are looking for a mommy blogger that breaks the mommy blogging mold & has the two cutest two year olds ever (totally NOT biased), you should definitely be following along with The Adventures of Ernie Bufflo, my sister is quite the writer!

Summer Citrus

Hello lovely Here & Now reader! I'm Elle, I'm a personal style blogger at Living In Color Style! By day, I'm a Kindergarten teacher to seventeen bright and shining faces, and by night I'm a grad student and self-proclaimed fashionista/blogger. I'm super excited to be writing this post on Jess's blog because that means she's either getting married soon or she's already married and on her honeymoon! What an exciting time! I'm super honored that she asked me to guest post on her blog because Jess is one of my favorite style gurus.

Living in Color Style is the blog for the every-day, working girl; therefore, I would describe my style as budget-friendly, classy and feminine. I love styling different prints, patterns, and textures, and of course I'm a sucker for the perfect color combination. 

I chose to rock this citrus dress by Bar III [one of my favorite budget friendly brands from Macy's in a very simple manner by pairing it with a contrasting turquoise colored statement necklace! I had so many comments on the contrast of these colors when I wore this outfit that it inspired me to buy two other tops in neon just to pair with this necklace. That's when you know you've got an amazing statement piece! Besides, one can't wear too much neon during the summer months!

Wearing: Bar III dress (similar) | INPINK Turquoise Calypso bib necklace c/o | Macy's sandals | Forever 21 sunglasses (such a good deal!) | Revlon 'Kiss Me Coral' lip color

If you like this outfit and want to learn more about me, click here to visit my blog or contact me to say hello. I love making new friends! Big thanks to Jess for asking me to guest host! It's been fun, lovelies! xo.

Top 5 Wedding Guest Tips

Hey y'all. My name is Helene and I'm here to take over while Jessica is doing God knows what. JK. Getting hitched!! Whoo hoo! You should know, I get excited. I blog over at Helene In Between and I enjoy piña coladas and long walk on the beach. But mostly, dancing.

My favorite thing in life is to break it down. Anywhere. Anytime. No drinks needed. A great place to dance is at weddings.  But sometimes it's hard to get the party started. People are nervous. They don't want to be the first on the floor. I get it.

That's where people like me come in. People that have no regard for embarrassment and will just start bouncing.

There was no shortage of dancing at my wedding. I even rapped a little Nicki Minaj. But then again, I also just got on a cruise ship and danced for a full minute and a half without a drop of alcohol.

But, if those types aren't on hand, then you need a few things:

1. Alcohol.

Liquid courage is sure to help you out if you are nervous about showing everyone your moves. Liquor makes people weird and when they get weird they like to dance. Period.

2. Line Dancing Music

Ok yes, it's annoying. But If you play the cha cha slide, the wobble, electric slide and that gosh darn Cupid Shuffle, you are sure to get the party moving. Everyone will get up and do these dances. Like it or not. If I never hear the Cupid Shuffle ever again, then it's too soon. But I know to get a party going, it works like a charm.

3. "SHOUT"

No one can refuse dancing to "Shout" by the Isley Brothers. This song is a classic. Get a little softer now, the entire crowd- old and young is getting low and waiting for their chance to scream.

4. Put the lights down low.

People feel more comfortable if no one can see your moves! Lower the lights or just keep it on mood lighting.

5. If All Else Fails- Dance By yourself.

It will eventually get others out there with you. And you'll end up being the life of the party. What's better than that?

Or they may stare in horror.

Dancing solves everything. So act like no one cares and get you're booty out there!

Thanks so much for having me Jess! And stop by blog sometime and say hi! There's plenty of dancing posts.

Wedding Planner: to hire, or to not?

Hey guys, as you all know, I decided to forgo the professional wedding planner & did it all myself. Were there times that I wish I could have sold a kidney for some help from the pros? Sure. But now that it is all said & done, I don't think I would have changed a thing. That being said, I did sit down and have a lovely chat with a local Nashville wedding planner. Tiffani had some great insight into how a wedding planner can not only save you on stress, but on the overall budget too. Tiffani was so friendly & knowledgeable, I just had to have her share her perspective from the professionals in today's blog post. If you are a Nashville bride, I highly recommend the services of Tiffani & her team (Creative Designs & Events).

As a professional wedding planner, I've only attended a couple of weddings as a guest. I know the importance of having professional wedding vendors at an event. I attended a wedding & here was my experience. 

After waiting more than 10 minutes for the wedding to begin, it took everything I had not to get up and see what was going on and get everyone lined up. As I sat there having to fight back the urge, my friend was praying that I didn’t get up. I am a very impatient person, I hate to wait and I think it is very rude to make people wait. Finally at 3:35pm, thirty minutes after the wedding was to begin, it finally began. As the wedding party walked down the aisle, I found myself saying, “Smile!” , “Drop your flowers.”, “Walk together…”, Why is the ring bearer coming down now!”, and much more.

My friend who is unmarried could not understand all of the details that were going wrong and making me crazy! After the ceremony, The bride had no idea that the majority of her guests left after waiting over 30 minutes in a crowded lobby, with no food or drink, as the ceremony area was being flipped. Finally at 5:10pm, someone announced we could move into the cocktail area. “What?! We are not going into the reception? Why weren’t we in the cocktail hour this whole time?!” So after we waited in line for hor’douves for another 20 minutes, while I think, “Why isn’t this a double-sided buffet?”. Mind you, there are about 200 guest in attendance. We finally got our food, at 6:00pm they open the doors to the reception, where there was another buffet line that had formed…also not doubled-sided. After eating our hor’d ouves, we left, my friend and I could not take it any longer. As we walked to our car, the bridal party was still outside taking pictures.

After leaving I thought that it could have ran more smoothly if the bride had hired a professional wedding planner and not tried to have friends and family handle her wedding details. Family and friends do not know the proper wedding etiquette or how to coordinate a wedding efficiently.

Having a professional wedding planner that knows what they are doing will cut down on lots of problems or issues that may occur. A wedding planner knows the ins and outs of planning a wedding, it's what they do for a living, they know exactly what each vendors services are and how they can help you. I would love to see every bride in Nashville with a wedding planner, no matter what your budget is, there is a wedding planner for you.

Enjoy your wedding day and the time to spend with your family and friends, hire a professional wedding planner even if it’s for just the Day of the wedding, you will not regret it!

Tiffani

Owner of Creative Designs & Events

Wedding Guest: Maternity Style

Hello lovely Here & Now readers! I'm so excited to be guest posting today for Jessica while she enjoys her wedding and honeymoon. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Lauren, the blogger behind Fizz and Frosting. 

As an expecting mommy gearing up for wedding season, I've had some difficulty with finding chic dresses that not only flatter my bump but also don't break the bank. Empire waist cuts are always flattering on a pregnant figure, so I was thrilled to find this grecian-style maxi dress for under $25 at Marshalls! The best part? It doesn't scream "strictly wedding attire." With some glitzy accessories, it dresses up perfectly for Spring and Summer weddings, but it will also be a permanent fixture in my everyday wardrobe.

Want to get the look without breaking the bank? Check out my picks (under $50) below!

And if you'd like to check out more maternity style, be sure to pop by Fizz and Frosting!

Budget Friendly Wedding Makeup

Hi, Here & Now readers!  I blog over at Rebecca Lately, where I write about my own personal style, my favorite makeup products, and my thrifty finds!  I also have a beauty YouTube channel.  While Jessica is away on her amazing honeymoon, I offered to create an affordable wedding makeup look. And while I geared this tutorial towards weddings, this would definitely be a great look to wear to work or on a date.

I am so excited to bring you an affordable wedding makeup look today!  Most brides have a budget, and this look is so affordable!  When I got married, I did my own makeup because having someone else do it made me nervous.  Sometimes you can apply your makeup better than someone else, don't you think? Anyways, if you're on a budget or just want to do your makeup yourself, I have a few tips for you.

First, use a primer under your foundation.  If you want to really up the ante, use a primer with a long-wearing foundation, and use a setting spray.  Seriously, your face will thank me.

Second, go natural with the bronzer, blush, and eyeshadow.  It will be very flattering.  You want your friends and family to see you, not your makeup!

Third, I recommend using a lip stain so you don't have to worry about reapplying throughout the day.

If you'd like to see all the products I used, watch the tutorial below!

blush + navy

Hi! I'm Katie from Pearls & Twirls and am so happy to be guest posting for Jessica while she's off enjoying her honeymoon!

Today I'm sharing a few of my favorite spring pieces. I always love a good classic color combo and really love the combo of blush and navy for spring. I actually lived in this Nic + Zoe top all winter and couldn't wait to pair it with some of my lighter colored pieces to remix it for spring and this perforated blush faux leather skirt was just the perfect piece.

Get the look: Nic + Zoe top | Anthropologie skirt | Jewelmint necklace | Boutique 9 pumps (love the Kate Spade version)| ASOS clutch (old, but love this one)

sweet & short

Hello there Here&Now readers. I'm Becky and I blog over at The Pumpkin Spot. Jess and I join forces monthly in the #BloggersWhoBudget collaboration and I'm flattered to be here today on her beautiful space. As you know, she is getting married (cannot wait to see the photos!) and then taking off for her honeymoon. While she is gone, let's discuss the short suit.

One of my favorite looks right now is a drapey blazer over a pair of trousers or shorts. I wear scrubs to work, so I get really excited about work inspired pieces that transition to everyday wear. It's easy to do with the right products and looks pulled together and modern. Here's how I wore it.

When J.Crew came out with these Pleated Crepe Shorts (on sale), I knew I had to make them mine. I prefer a looser fit on a short and these fit amazing. There are so many colors to choose from and they are really well made. I paired my shorts with this Chelsea 28 Layered Chiffon Tank. If you haven't scoped out this new line at Nordstrom yet, you must put it on your to-do list. The line is feminine, modern, and the price point is great. My blazer is from Madewell and it works with everything. The lean tomboy fit is perfect for layering with shorts, jeans, and just about anything hanging in your closet. Throw on your favorite pair of heels, grab a sleek clutch, and you are done.

There you have it ladies, my take on the short suit! Many thanks to Jess for having me over today. Swing by my blog or tweet me and let me know your thoughts!

Photography by Ariana Clare

Get the goods.

all the statements

{ What I Wore: hat ℅ Surf Dome // ASOS leopard jacket // oversized sweater ℅ Front Row Shop // Windsor Store leggings // Steve Madden boots (similar) // purse ℅ Yes Walker // necklace ℅ iSanctuary }

{Get the Look for Less}
hat {$47.50} + leopard jacket {$95} + camel sweater {$42} + liquid leather-look leggings {$36.90} + over the knee boots {$62} + black cross body purse {$25} + statement necklace {$42}

Ok, so apparently this outfit is a culmination of all the "statement" pieces I am drawn to these days:

statement jacket - check

statement hat - check

statement boots - check

and statement necklace - check

(pretty sure a sweater this oversized could be considered a "statement" too - like a "hi I stole this from my boyfriend" kind of statement)

But the necklace is more than just a stunning piece, it is a statement of support. 

Since 2007 iSanctuary has been employing & supporting the survivors of human trafficking through the sale of products handmade by the survivors themselves, in both the US & India. 

(the "i" stands for International)

Their shop promotes "purchases with a purpose" - an idea of conscious consumerism that has been heavy on my mind this season especially.

Why not give two-fold during this season of spreading love?

Ok, just one more statement - today I have the great pleasure of co-hosting the Spotlight of the Week link-up with Elle & Jacqueline. This week we are spotlighting Statement Jewelry… so pile on your bling, & link up after the page break -->

Glitter & Gingham & Floral & Leopard

Hey y'all! I am Shelby from over at Glitter & Gingham and I am so excited to be guest posting for Jessica today! 

Tee: J. Crew (no longer online, similar here), Skirt: F21 (here), Bag: gifted k.Slademade, Shoes: Jack Rogers (here), Sunglasses: Rayban (here), Watch: Michael Kors (here), Bracelets: J. Crew Factory, David Yurman, Lily and Laura, and Sarah Chloe (here)

All summer I have been gravitating towards easy outfits! I think its the heat, but there is just something so refreshing about throwing on something easy and breezy. Despite the floor length fabric of this maxi, its super comfy and easy for summer. The best thing about easy summer outfits? Mixing prints can be easy too! Find two pairing that go together easily-- t-shirts and shorts, blouses and skirts- pair two different prints in easy pairings and ta-da, you have the perfect easy look! 

Come and see more of my everyday style on my blog here :) 

Dress Accordingly, 

xoxo

Shelby