gorgeous women wear my veils!

…seriously. ashleigh from ashleigh jayne photography contacted me recently to get her hands on a voluminous birdcage veil for a day-after session with one of her brides, and DAYUM. beautiful bride + beautiful photos = love.

photos by ashleigh jayne photography

veil giveaway — ends tomorrow!

run over to sourismarriage.com and leave a comment on this post — we’re giving away one of my voluminous birdcage veils. the winner is announced tomorrow, so go ASAP!

another wedding task, done.

well, yay. i think i may have found my wedding necklace today:

$39 on rue la la. score. i was originally thinking something wide and very statement, but i think this is funky enough to work (and a lot less expensive than i was banking on).

photos from a vintage glam giveaway winner

hi. long time, no see. time flies when you’re churning out custom items and trying to land a new day job. 

one of my favorite things about running the etsy shop and this blog is that i get to interact with some lovely people (you included). one of those lovely people is brittany, the bride below, who was a winner in my giveaway with vintage glam weddings, which was recently rebranded as ruffled. she was kind enough to send me a photo of her wearing her ivory voluminous birdcage veil on her wedding day, and the whole look is so gorgeous that i had to share it with you.

photo by abbey feldkamp photography

doesn’t she look timeless and lovely? i love her whole wedding look.

to check out more photos from her wedding, check out this post on the abbey feldkamp photography blog. they make me wish that abbey were nyc-based.

inspiration: watters birdcage veil

i’ve always got my eyes peeled for inspiration for new pieces for the shop, and this veil from a watters ad jumped out at me from the pages instyle weddings fall 2009. isn’t the volume and drape interesting and fresh? i love seeing french and russian netting used in ways beyond your classic birdcage veil.

COLOR!

i rarely get worked up about real wedding posts, but the colors in this one on the always aspirational brooklyn bride just made my heart go “YES!” 

all photos via brooklyn bride

we’ve been tossing around the idea of using lemon yellows, deep blues and white, with touches of green and orange, but sometimes color combinations can be hard to visualize (and using one of those online color swatch tools, the combo screamed “O HAY, 70’s!”). it’s great to see it executed so beautifully and effortlessly here, and it gives me hope for executing it, myself.

happy weekend! xox

big sale! 20% off of everything in the store

hello! i’ve missed you all, but i come with great news: every piece in the one little dove etsy shop is on sale until 9/20/2009! move quickly to get 20% off of each item in the store, because there’s a catch: the sale price only applies to the first of each item sold. for instance, only one buttercup veil will be sold at the sale price of 20% off–after that, it will revert to regular price.

get them while they’re cheap! head over to the etsy shop here to see all 17 veils and fascinators: http://onelittledove.etsy.com

if there’s enough interest in this sale, i’ll consider doing another one in the future. don’t be shy with your feedback.

xox

melanie

how to wear a birdcage veil when your hair is down

hello! sorry to go MIA on you. two weeks into living at the new apartment, we still don’t have internet access, and work has been crazy. we’ve all been there (and if you haven’t, then i am jealous).

back on task: liz from chic on the cheap asked a great question about fitting birdcage veils:

hey lady. how does a girl get a birdcage veil to stay on if she’s wearing her hair down? i’m thinking about getting one for the reception.

you and i are in the same boat. i’m thinking about wearing my hair down as well, so i’ve given this some thought. there are a few ways to approach this:

1) match the volume of your birdcage veil to the volume of your hair. if you’ve got a huge headful of curls, go with something voluminous; you don’t want to have triangle head, because your veil is squashing your hair. if your hair is thin, go with something that fits closer to the head; it can be hard to keep a really pouffy birdcage veil anchored to fine/thin hair that’s not twisted and sprayed into an updo. 

2) try a headband veil. it’s one of the easiest styles to wear, as you just pop it on and go. it gives you the look of a cap veil, which is worn over the top of the head, and secures with two combs next to the ears. the only problem is that when you wear medium-to-long hair down, the combs don’t have anything stationary to grab onto. the headband veil helps you get this look, without worrying about anchors.

3) look for a birdcage veil that attaches with two combs (see my three styles with two combs). veils with one comb don’t give you enough anchor points to the hair when it’s worn down. two-comb styles give you more options for positioning the veil, and a little added stability when your hair is loose and free.

4) if all else fails, use 4,000 bobby pins. for thicker hair, any kind will do, but for fine or thinning hair, scunci makes great curved bobby pins that really help hold veils to fine hair.

hope that helps! ladies, feel free to send me any other birdcage veil questions you have, and i’d be happy to help answer them.

oh my god, shoes.

if i weren’t wearing cobalt blue, sweet baby jesus, i’d be wearing these with my wedding gown. $110 on hautelook today. le sigh.

anna. i wish that they shipped overseas, because these puppies are calling your very magenta name.

a groomsmen gift that doesn’t suck

i’m back… sort of! moving was grueling — i will never, ever attempt to refinish three pieces of furniture in the week leading up to a move ever again. commuting is almost as hard, but it’s great to be coming home to manhattan again. it’s so reassuring to be inspired by my surroundings again. how can i complain? oh, wait. i have a whole blog about complaining. i’ll find a way.

daveed and i have been mainly preoccupied with unpacking (we actually have way less than we thought), rearranging, and getting settled into new routines (and for him, a new job), so we haven’t had a lot of time to discuss wedding stuff lately. but lunch breaks were made for wedding blogs, so i’ve been peeking in a little bit over the last week, and got a huge kick out of offbeat bride’s post on unexpected groomsmen gifts. my favorite? this hand grenade-shaped soap.

granted, soap isn’t the manliest thing to give to another man, but if you’re going that route, at least it isn’t shaped like a flower, or doesn’t come with a loofa. BOOSH.