Ok, not the most eloquent title and I’ll admit that I am a little biased, but I think these wedding photos are amazing.
Aharon and her assistant Jackelyn were a great team and captured Lar and Matt’s wedding perfectly. Check out the rest of the first batch of photos on Aharon’s blog – they make me so happy!
The big day has arrived!! As promised, I wanted to do a quick post before all the craziness starts. There’s still so much that needs to be done.
I forgot to mention this in the last post, but Lar and Matt became legally married on Wednesday. They got their marriage license at the oh-so-romantic DeKalb County Courthouse. Look, the courthouse is also a fallout shelter!
I don’t think the marriage will really feel official until the ceremony today. Matt and Lauren are still saying things like “This is my fiancé, I mean wife/husband.” I think it’s so sweet. Gah. Listen to me getting all sentimental!
Here’s where they officially became married – in a hallway of the courthouse, by a judge with a stack of marriage license in his hands. It happened so fast that I had to run over and snap a quick pic in less that 5 seconds. Did I mention how romantic the whole thing was?
To celebrate the trip to the courthouse, we had a few drinks afterwards at Leon’s. There was a rake by the bocce ball court so I made Lar and Matt recreate American Gothic. Their version is a little bit happier and slightly more indie – I think Grant Wood should have used them as models for his original painting.
Lar’s dress is from Squash Blossom Boutique in Decatur, shoes are Nine West and the cardi is vintage. My mom made the beautiful flower arrangement and boutineer.
I promise this will be the last wedding post with amateur photos. The talented Aharon Hill will be taking photos from here on out.
By the time I post again, Lar and Matt will be on their honeymoon!
Thank you to everyone who commented on the last post. I’m so glad dress #4 is a hit!
Believe it or not, this post is not wedding-centric even though Lar is getting married in two days AND she and Matt just got legally married today at the courthouse (I’ll post some photos soon of them signing their marriage license).
Instead of wedding talk, this post is about what Lar and I were up to last Saturday. Can you spot us in the photo below?
Yep! That’s us on the left at the judges table. Impressive, no?
The folks over at Lenox Mall invited us to be judges for their Model for a Day contest. It was a pretty sweet gig considering all we had to do was sit at the judges table, maintain a look of importance and judge the contestants on a scale of 0-15. Actually we suck at looking serious and just ended up grinning eagerly at all the contestants. Anna Wintours we are not.
The other judges were really nice. In the photo below that’s Vinny (on the left) from Bare Escentuals, me, Lindsey from Banana Republic, Lar and not pictured is Anne from the Lenox Mall.
The reason for judging? The winning models get to walk in the upcoming Banana fashion show on April 2 that will be part of Lenox Square Mall’s Simon Fashion Now – a weekend of fashion on April 1st and 2nd. If you’re in the Atlanta area, click here for more info.
All in all it was fun pretending to be a judge and it was so nice to have a break from wedding planning.
A big thank you to Jordan and Mary Elizabeth with BRAVE PR for thinking of us!
(All images courtesy of BRAVE PR)
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Things are getting a little hectic here for the wedding – especially since our mom is home sick with a fever – but I’ll try to get at least one more post up before the wedding. Thank you all for being so supportive and sweet!
Almost two months ago you all helped me choose my bridesmaid dress for Lar’s wedding. This one won out and I love it, but then I found this one (pictured below) last month on J.Crew’s sale site. It’s the perfect color and super flouncy (I’ll steam it before the big day).
I’ll be wearing it with the Manolos I found for $30 and this gorgeous necklace I got at Vivid Boutique in Decatur. At first I was worried that the gold necklace and silver shoes wouldn’t work well together, but somehow it does. What do you lovelies think?
I’m keeping the first dress to wear to the rehearsal because it was so close to almost perfect and so many of you liked it. And of course there will be lots of pictures of both.
Wedding decor update: Lar and I are almost done with hanging all of the tissue paper flowers we’ve made and my mom has made party hats for all of the busts in the house.
And just to add to the sweetness of the whole wedding decorating fun, Erica from Tinsel & Twine sent over some wonderful decor goodies. Here’s a preview:
Lar will show you guys the rest of the goodies in the next post.
Less than a week before the wedding! Matt’s parents have just flown in from Africa and we still have a huge to do list. Gah!
A quick outfit post for the middle of the week. It was depressingly chilly and rainy today. I blame the weather for making Lar and me unmotivated to workout. Not working out is usually not a big deal, but we’ve both decided that it might be a good time to start getting in shape for her wedding – which is in 11 days! Never too late to start, right? Eep!
Lar’s outfit: secondhand shirt, Blank cords, Frye boots and secondhand purse.
As you know, Lar and I are twins, so that means we have quite a bit in common. One of our similarities (apart from the obvious)? We’re both blind as bats, both have glasses so thick our ears start to ache after wearing them for an hour and because of that, we both wear contacts.
One of our differences? Lar’s eye are much more sensitive than mine so she can’t always wear her contacts. And as much as I think she looks great in her glasses, she always takes them off for outfit pictures (evidence above).
Outfit details: Target blazer, Michael Stars t-shirt, H&M jeans and Payless shoes AND. . . my new Kate Spade purse – woot woot!
I’ve been looking for a work appropriate bag for a while and finally found this beauty online during the Kate Spade sample sale. It’s the first time I’ve invested in a bag and I’m so happy with it!
And because no post would be complete without some wedding info, I’ll leave you with with these decor details: some tissue paper flowers, a sweet sign, the library shelves and a thrifted candled stick.
One more thing. You know this post about choosing a bridesmaids dress? Well, the ModCloth Exhibit B won out and I returned the others. However, I’ve found another dress that I love even more. Stay tuned!
Two weeks ago my friend, Lena, and I threw a surprise engagement party for Lar and Matt. We tricked them into thinking they were coming to Lena’s housewarming party. Little did they know. . . . .
This was the first time I ever got to throw a surprise party for Lar and it was so much fun. She had no idea and couldn’t believe that I kept the secret for so long. It’s definitely not easy keeping a secret from your twin sister!
Before the party, I took two photos of Matt and Lar and had them blown up at Kinkos. Then I printed out some paper rings and mustaches so everyone could play Pin the Ring on Lar and Pin the ‘stache on Matt.
We also set up a photobooth using my Mac and some dollar store props. It wasn’t until the end of the night that I realized Lar and Matt didn’t make it over to the photo booth together. Whoops. Party planning fail.
Not including the photobooth images, our friend Dexin took all the party photos. She’s in the last photobooth row in the red coat above.
The best part about the party was all the delicious food that everyone brought. Lena’s bf made Ritz crackers with Parmesan cheese wrapped in bacon. My friend Meredith made an amazing cake, another friend made Kahlua brownies and my mom made the best homemade whoopie pies ever! All in all a great night.
And the official countdown is on. Only 13 more days until the wedding! I took some photos of the decorations we’ve been working on and will post those sometime later this week.
Hope all of you have a great start to the week!
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my one and only smoochywoochy (I know I’m going to hell for the baby talk) and future Mr. Lauren Lee, Dr. Matthew M. Crane. A newly minted doctor as of today!!! So the next time someone says “Is there a doctor in the house?!!” He can confidently announce “Yes!” And then gently let them down explaining that his doctorate is in bio-engineering with a focus in microfluidics and he can’t in fact stop the hemorrhaging. Huh? Exactly. I am so proud of you, Matteo!
We celebrated post-defense with some bubbly and then a stop by Superpan. What is Superpan? Well, my friends, all I can say is you have not had a sandwich until you have eaten here. In fact, locals, if you are still reading this instead of arranging your next lunch schedule around Superpan, I don’t think we can be friends. No! I don’t mean that- I’m extremely fond of you, but seriously, these sandwiches will make your toes curl with each blissful bite. Please go as soon as you can, and feel free to invite me. I don’t care if I look like a stuffed sausage in my wedding dress. These sandwiches are worth that.
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About that wedding countdown. so there are 16 days left. 16. Gulp.
Remember that bride-zilla request of mine to have all the books in the library/ceremony room white? Done. Done because my amazing mom and fiance dutifully watched “Pushing Daisies” and “South Park” reruns while covering hundreds of books over the course of three weekends.
Some new do-dads I just got came in the mail this week (I love packages!):
1) This gorgeous flower head thingy from Mignonne Handmade via Etsy
2) My “wedding” earrings by Darleen Meier also via Etsy
3) And this faincy cuff from Kenneth Jay Lane via Shopbop
And I’ll leave you with two more photos from our engagement shoot with the amazing photographer Aharon Hill. (pst- so that last photo, I reallly wanted to order the funnel cake and not the cotton candy, but I look way less cute with powdered sugar and grease all over my face. The spun sugar isn’t my best look either but it beats me shoveling down fried dough I guess- yummmm).
Happy Friday, lovelies! Tell us what you’re up too (you too, Cath, since I’m sure everyone would like some non-wedding news ;)). xoxox, Lar
And it’s probably fairer to say “melt-down” rather than “count down.” Have I mentioned that I’m getting married at the end of this month? This teeny wedding is causing me more heartburn than I care to relate here. I’m also a little nervous about, you know, getting married. To be clear, I’m not nervous about my man or being legally tied to another human being, but the fact that I’ll be A Wife this time next month freaks me out a little. A lot-tle, actually.
So, I hope you don’t mind that this post will be wedding-talk free. In fact, you should enjoy it because it is probably the last post in the next three weeks free of wedding updates. By the end of March you’ll all just be like “get married already, Lar, and shut your pie hole about it! Sheesh!!”
This is what Cath and I did this weekend when I was pretending that I didn’t have other more pressing things to attend to:
Took a tour of some gorgeous historic apartments right in the heart of Atlanta:
Danced outside the apartment building on Peachtree St.:
(Thanks for the photos Troy and Lena!)
Ate cookies at (a replica of) Robert Burns cottage:
Long-time readers know that Cath and I are nuts about anything Scotland. What are the chances that our “home” town of Atlanta would have the only replica of Burns’ home?! A bit of Scotland just 20 minutes south of our front door(s). It has been the home of the Burns Club of Atlanta since 1910! Sadly, we weren’t inducted into said club even though we tried to explain our Scotophile enthusiasm, but they did take us for a tour inside (usually visits are for club members only).
How did we make it inside this tartan-festooned club and the swanky apartments of yore? Phoenix Flies of course! Presented by the Atlanta Preservation Center every year, they offer free (FREE! – my favorite word) tours around the city every day through March 20. Cath and I hope to hit a few more tours before my wedding.
So how was that for a wedding breather?
Thank you so much for all the sweet comments about my engagement photos! You guys made my week!
We apologize if we are slow with commenting and emails in the forthcoming weeks. Apart from my self-centered wedding brain, Cath is applying to grad school and slammed with work, and my bf fiance is defending his dissertation this week (woohoo- go, Matteo!!!). Do keep in touch though! We love reading your comments even if we can’t get back to you as soon as we would like.
Hope you had a gorgeous weekend, readers!!!
So not only do I have two wedding dresses, I also have two sets of engagement photos. For a girl who claims to be scared of big weddings and spending lots of money on one day, I sure do sound like a hypocrite, don’t I?! (If you missed the first set of engagement shots, Cath posted a few here. They were done by Matt’s uber talented sister on Tybee Island a day after we got engaged.)
These gorgeous photos were shot by my wedding photographer Aharon (pronounced like “Erin”) Hill. And boy am I glad I found her! Not only are Aharon’s prices uber reasonable, she also happens to be an absolute genius. She makes a teeny parking lot carnival in the burbs of Atlanta and a grassy patch behind a Checkers drive-through look like heaven. I don’t think I could photograph heaven to look like heaven.
Oh and the other serendipitous bit of this shoot? I had my favorite make-up artist Amy Weissenberg of Smink do my make-up. I was planning on doing my own and having Amy show up for my wedding day, but she will be out of town (ahhh boohoooo!!!) on the day-of, so she offered to do my make-up for this shoot. I’m so glad she offered because 1) I have learned all my make-up skills from growing up putting on stage make-up for Nutcracker perfomances and YouTube tutorials (that combination is probably not ideal) and 2) she is amazing!!!
About the clothes:
On Moi: I took my Rodarte for Target dress and tied a red ribbon around it. The shoes- ahhh the shoes. I’ve always wanted a pair of ruby slippers (“The Wizard of Oz” has been my favorite movie since I was 1.5 years old), and I finally found them for $13 at Burlington Coat Factory. So the brand name is “Bumper” (yikes) and not “Louboutin.” I think they’ll still take me to the wizard either way.
On Matt: I think I spent much more time thinking of what Matt could wear because I get tired of looking at my worn-out closet duds. He ended up in a H&M blazer and jeans, Frye boots, and a shirt by some company I’m totally forgetting, anddd the piece de resistance, a ribbon bow-tie! I love the ribbon bow tie on a man. I haven’t seen this done too much, but when it’s done right it makes me swoon. It takes all the stiff, overly-pert-ness out of the regular bow-tie. What do you guys think?
So after this shoot, you know what happened? Cath threw me a surprise engagement party! I’ve never had a surprise party before (it makes it difficult when your best-friend shares your birthday and, you know, your DNA). It was the PERFECT end to an already wonderful day. Kitcath, thank you soooo much. Sharing that evening with you and all of our wonderful friends made all the stresses of the wedding melt away. XOXOXOX
Okay, I’ll stop babbling and just let you guys look at the photos. You can see all of them on Aharon’s blog here. Let us know what you think!
Hamish Macbeth 1990s fashion:
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that Lar and I are a bit obsessed with anything and everything that has to do with Scotland. A couple of months after I returned from studying abroad in Edinburgh in 2004, I discovered ‘Hamish Macbeth’ on BBC America – a 1990s adaption of M.C. Beaton’s mystery novels set in a small Scottish town. Fast forward to today: not only are Lar and I proud owners of the whole ‘Hamish Macbeth’ series on DVD, Lauren has actually been to the town where it was filmed!
I know this post is sounding incredibly nerdy and I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve here, but it’s worth it because I wanted to show you all the clothes in the show. Lar and I were re-watching season 2 the other day and noticed how the women in ‘Hamish Macbeth’ were wearing clothes that, without a doubt, would be snapped by any self-respecting street style photog out there.
For example, this white shirt above. I doubt even The Row could create such a great, weighted shirt. It makes me want to go back to 1996 and snatch up the wardrobe from the whole show.
And look below! Chambray! In the 1990s you could buy a chambray button-up for $10. Now they sell for $80+ at Madewell (this one is on sale for $48!).
I know it’s not really groundbreaking to say that 90s fashion is back in style, but I love how unpretentious and modern-looking it appears in one of my favorite shows.
L’Intrus “the intruder”:
Before this post gets too long, I want to include a video that my talented friends created for a school festival. It was shot in one day and my bf did all the sound editing. Warning: there’s part of it that’s NSFW. So at the very least, watch it with the sound turned down if you’re in a cubicle.
PS: I threw a surprise engagement party for Lauren and Matt this past weekend. I’ll post photos soon!
