SoleMates Spotlight: Engaged Wedding Library

The concept of a one-stop shop for brides to collect an array of wedding-related information is not totally unique. What differentiates the great from the good is the quality of the editing that takes place on the local level.  There is so much information out there - quite literally, too much to handle, so having a talented & experienced taste-maker is crucial.


One such resource that we absolutely love is the Engaged Wedding Library out in Granite Bay, California. If you are lucky enough to call this area home, we implore you to check them out!  Special bonus - browsing the wedding planning resources is free!

In their own words, 

     

     With a picturesque location overlooking a pond, and an elegant interior with comfy seating areas, Engaged is a place where brides can feel free to spend hours, not only researching and planning, but also reveling in the special beauty and excitement that only comes with being engaged.

     Engaged Wedding Library lives up to its name with every wedding book and magazine imaginable for brides to browse and read on site, as well as portfolios and videos of local wedding professionals, and an area to meet with those vendors as well. Brides are free to browse on their own, or enlist the help of the Engaged “librarian” to help clarify and simplify the huge task of planning their Big Day.

     In addition to the library of information, brides can also shop at Engaged. Items have been especially selected to make perfect gifts for the wedding party, fiancé, and even for the bride herself. There is a beautiful and fun selection of  goodies – ranging from oversized diamond paperweights and beautiful scented soap to heart shaped egg cookers and bridal shower party games. 

(oh gosh, and here they are plugging the SoleMates High Heeler...how kind!)

      The most practical item available to purchase at Engaged is the SoleMates heel protectors, and once brides hear about how they work, they all think it's a great idea. You can almost see the lightbulb going on as they realize that walking on soft or wet grass is an issue that deserves a solution as great as SoleMates.

     

     Engaged Wedding Library is located at 5530 Douglas Blvd., Suite 130, Granite Bay, at Quarry Ponds, 916-783-1100, www.EngagedSacramento.com.

iPlanning - iPhone and iPad Wedding Apps!

With today's launch of the Royal Wedding iPad application, we thought we'd share some of the other wedding related apps that may be worth exploring if you are planning a wedding (thanks Weddingistas). Let us know which apps you prefer!

Top 5 Wedding iPhone Apps

In this day and age, it would be silly to think that half of you brides aren't continuously planning your wedding while on the go. And with over 20 million people using the iPhone, I'm sure some of you are looking for ways to keep your wedding plans organized at all times. We have scoured the net and come up with the top five wedding iPhone apps, all to make your life easier!

5.) Brides Dressing Room (FREE): How could we have a top iPhone app list and not have an application devoted just to dresses? This application comes to you from Brides Magazine, one of the best wedding publications out there. This app lets you search for bridal gowns as well as bridesmaids dresses, all while sitting in the waiting room at your doctors appointment! You can browse through dresses by silhouette, brand and price, or if you had something particular in mind, search by neckline, skirt style and length. You can also find where your dream dress can be purchased near you. The best part of this application? Their concierge team will book an appointment for you to try on your dress and confirm the appointment with you via email. Shouldn't shopping always be this easy?

4.) Wedding Envi ($1.99): This is the mother-load application for those of you who love to look at other people's weddings! Whether it be research for your own wedding, or just because you love to look at pretty things, this application has thousands of photos for you to check out! You can look at wedding bands, hairstyles, wedding dresses and more! Simply select your category and sit back and relax as a slideshow of images appears at your fingertips! See something you like? You can pause the slideshow, save what you like, and even share it with friends! The perfect application for wedding inspiration.

3.) My Wedding Concierge (FREE): This application allows you to search for vendors in a given area as well as allow vendors to contact you. There are a number of categories for vendors that you can browse. When you select a vendor to view, you can look through additional images. You can make notes on the vendor and even rate them if you'd like. There is also the ability to add them to your favorites, where you can easily see all of your "favorite" vendors for easy referral. They are constantly adding more and more vendors to their list, so be sure to check back if your area doesn't have too many just yet!

2.) Weddings 911 (FREE): From the wedding gurus from The Knot, comes this extremely helpful advice application. The folks at The Knot understand that you are busy and don't always have time to sit in front of the computer to look up wedding advice. So, why not have it in the palm of your hand? You can browse through over 150 wedding questions and answers from etiquette to reception ideas and everything in between. You can also post your own questions for real brides to help answer. It's like your own mobile wedding community!

1.) iWedding Deluxe ($9.99): This application has it all, and then some. There are fully customizable to-do lists, multiple ways to organize your guest list and help with managing your budget. You can upload photos so you can keep track of things you like while on-the-go. It is like your own personal wedding planner in the palm of your hand! You can customize just about anything with this application, even the color of the title bars. There are also links to inspiration items, so that you can always look for fresh new ideas. I love the integrations with Twitter and Facebook, so that you can keep family and friends up-to-date with your planning process!

Happy planning!

Dry Bar (with borrowed prose)

I don't typically copy & paste blogs from other sites, but this one was so clever & well-written (and well, mentions me), that I felt it was best shared verbatim....

The genius behind the prose is one of my best friends and the proprietor of the greatest home store that I've ever visited (and other than browsing and shopping for shoes, I'm obsessed with home design, so I see a fair amount of stores).

Check out her blog, visit her site and next time you are in Old Greenwich, please visit her store (and naturally, the SoleMates HQ)!

http://foxtrotmusings.blogspot.com

dry bar

Winter Woes...when it rains or snows

The northeast was easily mistaken for the north pole for most of the last few months. The snow was insane. I actually forgot that we had a lawn - or what grass actually looked like. It seemed that people couldn't gather in one place without whining about how cold it was, how much snow there was, or how annoying their days were because of the arctic blast that had invaded our day-to-day routines. 

But, as we look forward to spring (it's still a little ways off, no matter what the calendar says), I thought it was time to reflect upon the good part of winter. And so, on this dismal, stormy, and horrible northeastern day, I am going to dedicate a blog entry to the things that are great about winter...

Christmas, obviously (or if you don't celebrate the actual day - you still get the benefits of the 'holiday' season).

Boots - namely, Uggs. I dont care if you think they are ugly - they are life changing and wonderful. How easy is  it to jump into Uggs with a pair of skinny jeans, sweater, and coat, and be well-dressed for the elements? They take the question out of "what is a comfortable & warm pair of shoes that isn't totally heinous?"  They take the guilt out of "can I wear these in this weather? Or will they get ruined?"  That knowledge and peace of mind is priceless!

Warm & cozy sweaters. Admit it, you were excited when it was finally cold enough to wear them again and you know there is that one that is so insanely soft and warm that no matter how brutal the weather, you are secretly happy that you have a reason to be enveloped in such decadent splendor!

Forgive the image - it's not the "blazing fireplace" that I was going for, but we do what we can. Regardless, how happy are you when you get to cozy up next to a roaring fire? Good book, cup of tea (maybe wine)...heaven. 

Board games are best played on cold winter nights (or, in the right setting, on screen porches at old summer houses). That's just sort of accepted, right? Playing Scattergories in the fall? Playing Risk on a rainy April night? How random.  No, board games are best enjoyed in the winter. And enjoy them I do!

Paddle tennis - only enjoyed when the mercury drops. (Skiing, Snow shoeing, skating... are obviously other great winter-centric sports).

Dressing pets in marginally inappropriately preppy jackets. The love of my life, a black malti-poo named Max, sports a black watch plaid jacket.  He also has a red shell (remember patagonia's in the early 90s - that's what his "rain" jacket is like). He wears it with style.

But by far the best part of winter is when it is beginning to end -  and we see those early signs of Spring. I cant pretend that I didn't smile ear-to-ear when I noticed the first signs of life in my garden as tulip stems emerged from the dark and dormant space!  I can wait a few more weeks.....I mean, I don't really really have a choice!

#trending now.....

What do Costco, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and J. Crew all have in common?

They are all head-over-heels for all things bridal!

Costco is the last one to the (bridal) party in this case, having just announced that they are going to be carrying wedding dresses ranging in price from $700-1400!  How cool is that? Picking up Peanut Butter to last you through the 2nd coming? Looking for pizza rolls for a party of 300? Need a wheel (like, the whole wheel) of cheddar cheese? Add a gown to that list and voila, you have snacks for the reception and a dress to go with it!

While my tone may sound sarcastic, I think this is seriously great. Economies of scale at its finest.   The dresses will only be sold online. Apparently they also sell coffins online, so now you can really take care of a lot of life's biggest moments with one transaction. Efficiencies come in unexpected places...

Check out what they have to offer  - as the style is thematic (think Disney princess) and inspired. They are all from the (highly regarded) collection of bridal designer Kirstie Kelly. Being sold through Costco, their prices are 40-60% below retail. That's amazing!

Here are some useful links:
http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201001?pg=117#pg117

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/03/08/Costco-stocks-wedding-dresses/UPI-50601299573000/

(speaking of too-much-cheese to handle...)

Put some Spring in your step!

It was a long and brutal winter. Had I not, from time-to-time jetted off to LA & FLA, I think I would have melted....well, frozen. 

Now that Spring is (sort of) in the air and the thermostat has risen above 40 (wahoo) while the sun has shined for more than two days in a row in southwestern Connecticut, we can be cautiously optimistic about what is to come...namely, Spring!

While the styles have been around, taunting us since last Fall, we can finally look at the amazing shoes that are for sale with some real interest. 

Now, these are sort of amazing because if you look at the platform, it's actually a mis-matched espadrille. I would totally wear these. The ankle strap intimidates me for a few reasons though. Namely, I feel like it looks like noose from which my limp foot (post breaking my ankle from wearing these), would hang.

I like these so much that I almost didn't post them (I dont want them to sell out). If I were a lady who lunches, I would want these because they, without question, would one-up everyone else's shoes. You could be wearing the simplest of simple outfits and these ever-so-subtly amazing shoes would just be like, wow, omg, amazing. Sorry, my words are not really flowing. Im thinking about my credit card balance. (Prada)

These are shoes I own. I purchased them last year (yes, we wear flats sometimes) and within 2 weeks both of my style-savy older sisters had purchased them too. Rarely were the three of us together without our matching shoes. It was cute and totally weird. Anyway, they are WITHOUT QUESTION, the most amazing flats one can buy. The sole is rubber so they just feel SO good when you are walking around.

Mine are a little shot after a summer of too-much wear. The question is...do I buy another pair? They aren't totally ruined and I dont think their damage is cobbler-able...but to spend the money again? Err...it seems sort of wrong. (Jimmy Choo)

What do you think? What shoes make you want to SPRING to the stores? Shameless, I know.

Brides Against Breast Cancer

While I don't regret buying my wedding dress, the investment in a one-time purchase has always sort of troubled me. I wore it with glee (and hopefully a little grace) for a total of 9 hours on May 19th, 2007. The cost per minute is sort of staggering. I thought about reselling it, and there are some great options out there, but collecting 10 cents on the dollar didn't seem worth it. It has been professionally cleaned and is currently sitting in a sealed bag, in a box, in my parents' house.


I recently discovered an organization based in Milwaukee, Oregon that accepts bridal gowns for donation (you decided on the value of the donation for tax purposes) and then resells them to other brides (at a great discount from their original value, but at a 100% profit to the organization). The proceeds are then used to support those who have been afflicted with breast cancer. In their words, 


"It is our intention to “make a difference” in the lives of those suffering from this devastating disease. Our wish-granting service helps put the realities of this terminal illness aside, if just for a few days, while providing the opportunity for a family to spend quality time together. Our hope is that every metastatic breast cancer patient will be able to pass from this world comforted with the joy of having left his or her family a final beautiful memory—something the family will look back on and remember for a lifetime."


So, should you have a dress that is doing nothing but collecting dust in your parents' attic, or should you be a bride who is looking to stretch her dollar (and make a difference), I strongly encourage you to check out this organization. The process is simple, easy, and highly effective. 


http://www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org/index.html