Last night I attended the Sassy City Chicks Fashion Bash event (my bff is head honcho of “The Chicks,” so thanks to her for helping me skip the mile-long line!), and in the midst of my shopping extravaganza, I happened upon the SoleSociety lounge. I was happy to find that an old friend was heading up the PR and marketing for this new site, so she gave me the skinny about how to sign up (for FREE) and then get shoes every month for $50 (I’m talking designer quality!). Plus, you take a fab personal style quiz so they can send you a personalized shoe “closet” with ideas of styles perfect for you. Consider it your own shoe stylist at your beck and call! Sitting in this shoe heaven made me REALLY excited for wedding shoe shopping. Oh, the possibilities…

I read somewhere recently that you’re supposed to “brand” your wedding. Seriously.

Given that I consider myself a brand specialist, you’d think this would be a no-brainer, but I’m really having trouble pinpointing our exact brand. So many of the couples I read about on blogs like Green Wedding Shoes or Utterly Engaged have such obvious brands (I’m talking as clear as the Golden Arches or Just Do It).

Mr. Right works in the tech industry so perhaps these cufflinks would brand us perfectly?

Oh God—I think I’m having a brand identity crisis! Are we Eco-Chic? Not quite. Modern? Yes, but not to the point where I’d have my wedding at MOMA. Country Chic. Definitely NOT. Can “Fun” be considered a brand? Because I think our brand is comprised of amazing food, good booze (lots of it!) and danceable music (we have a most fabulous “do not play” list running which I’ll share in a later post). We want the kind of intimate affair with only family and friends there that we actually KNOW. I guess our “brand,” or lack thereof, is probably fitting to the general theme of this wedding–”Our Day Our Way!”–maybe with a little “nature-inspired waterfront vibe meets contemporary design” thrown in!

A common trend I’ve been reading a lot about and liking is “Save the Date,” sending out a first “glimpse” of your wedding to your guests.

Now, how to take this trend and make it personal and unique to our big shindig? And make people excited about it and really want to come. Because that “first glimpse” can also be a taste of what’s to come, what the event is really going to be about. I think there’s actually a bit of “reading between the lines” when it comes to Save the Dates.

For instance, a Save the Date that’s too boring reads: “Come to our wedding where you will not know anyone and not have any fun.”

A Save the Date that’s tacky will tell your guest to prepare for hideous floral selections and monstrous bridesmaid dresses. A too-formal Save the Date might have your guests showing up in tuxedos, while something too casual may lend itself to flip-flops.

Er, no pressure though. None at all!

image courtesy of weddings.craftgossip.com

OK, so maybe I’m over-thinking this Save the Date thing and being slightly dramatic (hey, I do live in LA!), but I get paid to over-think these things for my clients—so naturally, it’s running over into decision about my own event.

Our wedding promises to be somewhere in between casual and formal, so I wanted something that conveyed that, plus–really spoke to our style and personalities. I spent some downtime browsing sites for Save the Dates, and it quickly turned in to an obsession. At one point, I sent Mr. Right an e-mail with 15 different choices (he made it to number three)! And then I found a life saver (and time saver) in a site called weddingpaperdivas.com. It has a ton of options, and the prices are amazing! We ended up going with a clean, classic beach flower theme. Not too formal, but definitely worthy of an upscale wedding overlooking the water. Hopefully, this Save the Date will say just what we want it to say (and everyone will come!).