I love cute fun ideas for bridal showers, and have recently seen a ton of cute French inspired bridal showers on blogs.  We just threw my cousin a really fun “divalicious” bridal shower with hot pink, black, white and zebra stripes, and cute sparkly masks as favors.  It was adorable and really fun to plan.  I’ve seen really unique bridal showers and I heard about this one and wanted to post some pictures of it… it’s a real Gossip Girl inspired Bridal Shower, and you can see it here on Hostess with the Mostess blog.

Here are some pics…  I think this would be a fun one to recreate,*hint hint* bridesmaids!  🙂  And, I am totally gossip girl obsessed.  This bridal shower even has hints of a Chanel inspiration, with the black, white & pink.

I love the fluffy flowers and the DIY board that says it’s her bridal shower.  I think they had a guest book next to this table setting.

Here’s the full tablescape!  I adore the fluffy pink peonies, the sparkly candle holders, and the intimate long-table setting.  I think long tables are so ideal for an intimate party.

I love how simple yet elegant this concept is.  It’s a round vase wrapped in an aubergine fabric filled with beautiful pink peonies… which happens to be Blair Waldorf’s favorite flower.  Credit goes to event planner Carolyn Chen of The Special Day.

I also really like these candle holders with the added gem bling to give this party and Upper-East Side Flair.

And above, you can see the attention to detail they put into this bridal shower with the bustled chair covering on the bride’s chair to liken a wedding dress.  Super cute.

This bridal shower is beautiful and the bride is so lucky to have had it!  You can see more photos on the Hostess blog.  🙂

I would also like to take this inspiration to my wedding florist for ideas on centerpieces for my own wedding.  The round vase wrapped in aubergine fabric filled with just peonies is so beautiful and simple, yet also very elegant.

Enjoy! 🙂  I will also update on how my photography meetings went this weekend, and post photos of a really gorgeous and fun wedding I went to this weekend!

Since I am now just sitting to plan my wedding again after my Sept-Jan hiatus (4 long months!), I have seemed to have lost track of my vision for my wedding.  In September, I was ready to book everything, and I just forgot everything I wanted and envisioned.  It slipped away, and I have to get back on track!

I met with a florist today, Flower Allie, and what I LOVED about them was that she literally asked me a million and one questions to peg my wedding idea.  She really wanted to understand what I wanted and how I wanted my wedding to feel, and she gave me good pointers to get to that place.  She was honest, real, and she also does ridiculously incredible work.  All her florals are on point!! Super perfectionist!

Here are some pix….Anyway, she’s really good.  I have another florist I’m also considering, and then of course, I am also considering the Desi florists.

But I guess the first thing I have to do is really peg down my style and vision for my wedding!

I’ll be making a TON of inspiration boards now to get my style down. ahhh

A great thing that came out of my meeting, peonies are not pricey during my wedding date!  I also found out that I’d be able to get orchids in my centerpieces if I wanted them too! 🙂

I also need to narrow down a vision for my mehndi, on the next blog, I’ll post pix from my cousin’s mehndi!  Oooh also I might even post pix of my mehndi outfit– it’s something that Nomi Ansari designed and showed at Bridal Couture Week 2010 in Lahore.  He also showed it at the Sunsilk Fashion show in Pakistan, so it’s not a brand new collection, but it’s gorgeous!

When you leave your wedding, the only memory you walk away with of the day are your photographs. Be Inspired is a wedding PR website that lists tons of vendors that are incredible at what they do and their blog posts have been a source of inspiration to me during this planning process.  I peruse their preferred vendor list and dream of being able to afford some of them.  I was so surprised to find out the first photographer I sent an e-mail to starts his packages at $8,000…. he is incredibly talented and his photographs are art, but since I’ve e-mailed him, I’ve been on the hunt for photographers with a similar style.  I don’t know if I’d pay $8,000 for photos, as important as they are to me.

Jose Villa is quite possibly one of my most favorite wedding photographers, he calls it Fine Art Photography, and it truly is.  Here are some of his photos:
So incredible… honestly, he does really natural shots and he doesn’t post enough to his website to really do his work justice.

Here’s another from one of his engagement shoots:
These people look like models, not real people!!

Anyway, he’s one of the photographers I ❤ right now.  Another is Ashley Rose, and I am going to schedule a meeting with this incredible photographer 🙂

Some wedding details above, and some more cute photos of her’s below:

Anyway, here are some shots from a photography company I am meeting with this Saturday, Harvard Photography. I like them because they’ve shot a ton of Indian weddings, and it truly gives them an edge.  Anyway,  I LOVE this photo of the bride!!

And then there is this one that I like a lot, and think is really cute that they did it with an Indian couple.  I love these kinds of photos in general:

Anyway, above is just a glimpse of the types of photographers I like and that I would love to have shooting my wedding.  🙂  I am finally starting to interview photographers, and am so excited to find one to shoot our day.

And a note to brides to be–photography is SO important! You cannot choose a crappy photographer to shoot your wedding day… it’ll be the only thing you have left after the wedding, so choose wisely!  You also have to have an idea of the type of photography you want…. I want natural photos and quirky photos… nothing posed!! I know too many photographers that do cheesy posed photos and they are ridiculously tacky.  My cousin’s photographer said… “ready, steady, say chees” (with a heavy accent).  No joke!! It’s important to be careful who to choose to capture your day!