Koru Kate Finds: 6th Edition

I was on a Shopping Mission yesterday to find a new, fun outfit for RZ's birthday.  Sadly, I was unsuccessful & recycled an outfit for the happy occasion.  On the bright side, I found pretty, well-priced dresses for my dear readers in Wedding mode.  These sweet dresses are perfect for Bridesmaids for Wedding, Guests for Wedding or Bride for Rehearsal Dinner.   

First, I offer you the soft berry Faux Wrap Sleeveless Dress for only $60:

Next, I give you the warm iron Carla Flutter Sleeve Sheath Dress for only $65:

Last, I present my personal favorite, the fresh olive Ruffle Front Sleeveless Dress for only $65:

Images via Ann Taylor Loft

Add a cool statement necklace, fun little belt &/or fabulous shoes & you're good to go!

As much as I enjoyed my experience at Bella Bridesmaid & I loved my Bridesmaid dress, I wish I had gone the off-the-rack ready route for my Bridesmaids.  The process of finding, ordering & altering those traditional Bridesmaid dresses was my least favorite experience of my wedding planning.  Hindsight! 

If you're willing to hunt & compromise on color, you can find a perfect dress for a good deal!

You're So Lovely

"You're So Lovely"
says Lovely Bridal Shop

I finally, finally had the chance to retrieve my wedding dress from Lovely Bridal Shop. It arrived one month early & I was unprepared. I hadn't found my wedding shoes yet! Not to mention, I didn't have a spare moment for a trip to Manhattan. Lovely assured me that my dress was in good hands & good company so I let time fly by. Finally, the time came to claim my wedding dress.

My Sister of Honor & I made our way to Lovely Bridal Shop on a beautiful Fall evening. Very, very unlike us, we arrived early. We ducked into Cafe Cluny, the adorable cafe across the street, to enjoy a glass of wine & share a cheese platter. An hour of good conversation later, we crossed the tree-lined street for my pick-up appointment at Lovely.

At long last, I was in the dressing room with my wedding gown. The dress was better than I remembered, much more beautiful than the sample dress I'd fallen in love with months ago. It was surreal! My wedding dress was here, really here! Right. In. Front. Of. Me.

Next thing I knew, I was staring at a Bride in the mirror. She was wearing a perfect, pretty wedding dress. I could hardly believe that Bride was me!

Floral Hint

Carnation photo via Hey Gorgeous!

To be honest, it's very, very difficult for me not to share every last detail of our winter wedding with you. I'd love to post a photo of my wedding dress, our wedding invitations, our cake, etc. It's so tempting! Then I remember it's most important for our treasured wedding guests to be surprised & delighted at our wedding. After our quickly-approaching wedding, I will have plenty of time to share with you. Reason wins.

Mostly.

Except for the flowers. Planning & creating our modern, winter white wedding look with my fabulous florist Liz has been one of the most enjoyable parts of wedding planning. Then to not be able to share any of the details . . . so unfair! I have been bursting to show you our perfect, sample centerpiece ever since I laid my eyes on it. But I resist.

Then I stumbled upon the above photo of a simple, white carnation bouquet on Hey Gorgeous! yesterday. I couldn't resist the golden opportunity. After all, I have written about my love for underrated carnations & my plan to use carnations for our wedding so I can say a little more. Right? This isn't an outright sneak peek, it's more like a sneak hint. Our wedding will feature flowers similar to the photo above from the bouquets to the ceremony to the reception. Sweet & romantic.

That's all I can write & show you for now!

Oh So Lovely

Someday soon, I shall be headed to this quaint spot in the West Village of New York City . . .

The Great & The Lovely-
Lovely Bridal Shop

I got the unexpected, happy news that my wedding gown is HERE! One month early!! Thank you, thank you, Lovely Bridal Shop for the great surprise!!! Be still my racing heart, the good news just keeps coming.

Lovely's line-up of pretty, pretty dresses

Now I really wish I had my perfect shoes to try on with my wedding gown!

Yes to the Lovely Dress!!

I'm at Lovely Bridal Shop to get my wedding gown!

There are sweet touches everywhere you look,
including this Lovely banner on the second floor landing

The lovely first floor at Lovely Bridal Shop

Every Bride has a unique story when it comes to finding their wedding gown. Many told me they tried on the first gown & purchased it. Some mentioned long & hard searches including several bridal salons & hundreds of dresses before they found their wedding gown. Others fall somewhere in between those two extremes.

Here is my story.

I was (somewhat) patiently waiting for my Mom to visit from California before I started looking for my wedding gown when I came across a new bridal shop opening in the West Village of New York City called Lovely Bridal Shop. Lovely is striving to do something different: offer romantic dresses, reasonable prices, sweet atmosphere & a lovely experience. I started following Lovely's blog & researching their designers, becoming more & more excited to shop for my wedding gown.

I lost any & all patience to wait for my Mom when Lovely hosted an Elizabeth Dye trunk show, a designer I liked. On the beautiful spring day of my appointment, RZ & I headed into the city together & he dropped me off at the doorstep of the renovated brownstone that is Lovely Bridal Shop. I was semi-nervous that the hype may be greater than the reality but as soon as I walked through the door, all my fears fell away. I breathed in the calm atmosphere & took in the gorgeous decor which is beyond beautiful. And those racks of gorgeous weddings gowns- incredible!

For the next 45 minutes, I had a ball playing dress up as a Bride. In some ways, after so many years as a wedding planner, I could hardly believe I was the Bride in the mirror! I told the owner Lanie about my wedding, my style & my budget & she pulled several dresses for me. She was great about styling the dresses with ribbon sashes, brooches & flower pins when appropriate. All of the gowns were stunning; a few were definite contenders. I was drawn to two gowns the most & I decided my Mom could help me decide when she came with me.

Fast forward to a beautiful summer day one month later. My Mom & I returned to Lovely for the final selection. The plan was to show her my favorite dresses & maybe try on a few more gowns to give her the Lovely shopping experience that I had adored so much the first time. This time, we were helped by the kind Victoria who pulled the two dresses I liked & my Mom found three dresses for me to try on. My Mom sat back & relaxed downstairs while I came down to model each dress for her. We had fun playing with accessories like veils & headpieces to complete each look. I nixed Dress #1 because I didn't like the long version & I pretty much thought Dress #2 was the winner. Dress #3 & Dress #4 were fabulous, just not winners for me. Then I tried on Dress #5 & I fell in love instantly. Romantic. Simple. Me. This wedding gown was everything I had wanted & more- it blew me away.

I bought the last dress I tried on at Lovely Bridal Shop. That is my story of finding my wedding gown.

The First Dress

I tried on this dress . . .

and this dress in a different color . . .

and this dress too! Plus about 13 more!
All images from Macy's

I bought the first dress I tried on!

No, not my wedding gown.

My Mom is visiting from California for our engagement party next weekend & we have tons of fun, wedding-related activities planned. The first item on the agenda was finding a dress for our engagement party. I needed a party dress that was cool for the summer heat & comfortable for a backyard party.

We started the day at the Olive Garden for their lunch special of soup, salad & breadsticks- yum! We needed the fuel for the big shopping day ahead. The hunt began at Macy's; the store was chock-full of beautiful, summer dresses. My Mom & I grabbed anything & everything that caught our eye. I ended up in the dressing room with at least 15 lovely dresses. I grabbed the one I liked the most & tried it on. I adored it- the fit was perfect & the style was unique. My Mom agreed. But I went on to try & model the others.

Much like Brides who buy the first wedding gown they try on, I bought the first engagement party dress I tried on. I couldn't top the look or feeling from that dress. As if I wasn't bursting with excitement for our engagement party before, I am positively brimming with anticipation now. I can't wait to celebrate with our family & friends!