WED // seattle luxe grunge wedding inspiration

nspired by local record stores and the Pacific Northwest's grunge rock history, Karrie (of Sparks Fly Events) contacted me with the idea to do a rock and roll inspired wedding shoot!  I was super excited about the concept and was 100% on board.  We were both disappointed in the lack of variety of "rock and roll" weddings, and in our research there was a lot of the same look.  Lots of black and red color schemes.  We decided to create a luxe-grunge wedding styled shoot with plenty of rock and roll cred, but with luxurious textures and a heavy dose of glamour. Glitter and Leather. Studs and Roses. Our "bride" is a truly rock and roll gal, a local burlesque dancer (she performed in Adventures in Oz with me, as the Tornado!), and the "groom", who can rock a serious man-bun, is a former coffee shop owner (my former boss, actually!).  These two are rad folks, but not in a relationship with one another, though it was fun to have them as our models!  Her amazing nails were actually my inspiration for my crazy emerald city nails for Adventures in Oz!  And you might recognize her studded jacket, it's one of my favorite pieces from my closet and a regular here on the blog in my outfit posts.

 



 
I was so in love with the braided faux-hawk the ladies at Embellish created!  Mae's grey hair was perfectly unconventional, yet chic, and the up-do gives homage to punk culture, while still being glamorous and pretty.  Her Elizabeth Stuart dress was classic and elegant, but the giant tulle skirt was so much fun and playful.  As we walked down 6th avenue, the huge skirt flowed out behind her in the wind.  I also loved how it was slightly blush, a departure from more traditional white and ivory dresses, but still decidedly bridal. We went with tons of gold and blush in the color scheme, and lots of sparkle.  Who says rock and roll isn't glamorous?

So many wonderful vendors contributed to the shoot, so scroll down to the bottom to see all the amazing talent involved!




 





Vendors:
Photography:
Liz Morrow Studios
FB | TW | IN

Florals:
Laurel's Floral Decor
FB

Dress:
Elizabeth Stuart
FB | TW | IN

Second dress:
Ivy and Aster
FB | TW | IN

Chalkboard art:
Colour And Dust
FB | TW | IN

Venue:
Events on 6th
FB | TW | IN

Design:
Sparks Fly events
FB | TW | IN

Hair + Makeup
Embellish Salon

the perfect day

ave you ever had one of those perfect days?  Where you're just beaming with happiness and feel entirely content?  Saturday was one of those days for me.  The weather was incredible, I started the day with an invigorating workout with a bunch of fun people, went home and weeded the entire garden to prep for planting new veggies, took Dusty to the farmer's market and bought veggie starters, got a little group of colorful cacti as a surprise gift for a friend, worked on my to-do list, ate taco truck tacos and mandarin Jarritos for lunch, blogged, took photos, planted flowers, watched Grey's and CSI, ate chocolate covered strawberries... I mean, it was kind of disgusting it was so perfect.  I'm grossed out just describing it.  I feel like it's important to celebrate the great days, though.  It can be so easy to just wallow in the stuff that sucks, or to live in a constant state of overwhelm, or just the feeling that you're not enough, not getting enough done, not making enough money.  For one day it felt amazing to not only feel the pleasure of amazing weather, lovely company, and yummy bites, but also feel productive and enough.   It's also important to enjoy those moments of perfection, because inevitably the streak of awesome will end.  While that day was amazing, it also ended with me not getting to sleep until 5am because Dan ended up with some crazy food poisoning.  So it goes!  Ebbs and flows.  Such is life.

 

dress(similar)/courtesy of modcloth :: sandals(similar)/thrifted necklaces/courtesy of tribe jewelry + joy dravecky jewelry flower crown/handmade :: photos by liz morrow studios

pretty things

 couple weeks ago I popped up to Seattle to visit BHLDN for a little wedding event they were putting on!  The Seattle BHLDN is located inside the Anthropologie store and I'm proud to say I didn't buy anything (even though I wanted to buy everything).  They had treats from local bakeries, apps and libations from local caterers, and a curated selection of wedding vendors including a photographer, handmade bow-ties, a calligrapher, a florist, and more!  I never did the whole wedding dress shopping thing since I wore my mom's dress, but I do get a little wistful for that experience I never had!  BHLDN has so many stunning dresses, it'd be so much fun to try them all on and feel like an ethereal goddess!  Though I'm sure it wouldn't be quite as magical as searching for the dress to wear on the day.  Still, I say life needs more excuses for dressing up and feeling like a goddess, eh?  Also: drinking champagne while shopping.  More of that.


 


 

#FLASHBACKFRIDAY // rituals + neutrals

lashback to the last time I had green hair!  This color combo was so fun.  I have ideas for what I want to dye it next, but I'm not quite sure yet.  Having full-on mermaid hair was awesome, but it sure was a lot of upkeep.  I've been pretty surprised how low maintenance my current green has been, I've been putting off re-dying it green because I want to do something new, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Even though this post was almost 4 years ago, my favorite thing is still morning coffee dates with Dan. Well, breakfast actually, but coffee must be involved. Our time dating was so involved with coffee dates that we gave bags of coffee beans to all our wedding guests as favors!

Rituals + Neutrals // June 7, 2011

Yesterday was a bit of a downer, and I was feeling like I needed to blow off some steam so I went for a run and ended up running two miles! And I actually felt good! I'm still trying to work out these two weeks before heading to camp. Consistency is my hardest obstacle to working out, so I'm trying to stay on the wagon this time! I'm not big into running, but I really enjoyed my run yesterday. Very cathartic. Afterward I felt great, got some good work done and then hung out with Dan for the night!

Something that has become a really wonderful part of my life is my daily coffee dates with Dan. Having a ritual like that has given me an anchor. Since my job currently isn't one where I have to clock-in/out, I love having that daily time that I have to touch base with him, drink coffee, talk, and kickstart my day. We also have a nightly ritual of going out and having a couple beers, or watching an episode of Battlestar Galactica, which I love too. Kind of like book ends for my day. Gives me just enough structure to my day that I don't feel completely scattered.

top & skirt/forever 21 :: shoes/thrifted :: necklace/gift

This is definitely one of my favorite outfits so far this summer. I have a feeling slouchy tees are going to be a staple this summer. I really love this lightweight, cropped, knit top from Forever 21. Paired with the most worn item in my entire closet, my striped skirt, also from Forever 21. I was in Forever 21 in early May and they still carry this skirt!

I like how this outfit is pretty neutral, color-wise. Now that my hair is brightly colored, neutrals seem more like a blank slate that can play off of my hair, rather than blank and boring. Speaking of bright colors, my hair matches these flowers now! Haha.

a delightful giveaway with megan silianoff

f you liked Megan's guest post earlier today, you should definitely pick up a copy of her book.  Megan is an amazing (and hilarious) writer, and I breezed through her book on my flight from Austin to Seattle after TxSC.  For those of you who don't know, Megan fought Ovarian cancer, which left her unable to have kids of her own, and her book is the (surprisingly lighthearted) tale of kicking cancer's ass, and the process of adopting her daughter, Macy.  Today is World Ovarian Cancer Day, and so Megan kindly offered to give away a signed copy of her book, 99 Problems but a Baby Ain't One, her memoir about cancer, adoption, and her love for Jay Z.  Yup.  Basically, she's awesome.  

Scroll down and enter to win her book, and if you don't win, you can still support Megan by purchasing her book here!

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