Mad Men Inspiration

Dress (brides.com), gloves (weddingaces.com), birdcage veil and shoes (Snippe
and Ink), groom (Style Me Pretty), cigars (Style Me Pretty), oysters (Style Me Pretty), typewriter (Style Me Pretty), Christina Hendricks and bridesmaids (In Style Weddings)

We are loving "Mad Men" and cheer the return of gloves, birdcage veils and pill box hats (and although we love the look of cigars, we could do without the era's chain smoking). What better way to infuse a little glamour and style into your wedding than with some vintage chic (like using an old typewriter for a guest book)! Hope you enjoy a little 1950s inspiration.

Alison and Laura

And the Winner Is . . .

Wahoo Wedding! Congratulations Wahoo! Shoot us an email (laura@engagingaffairs.com) with your contact info within the next 48 hours and we will get you set up with your free Coco Myles dress. Thank you to everyone who voted and took the time to look at all of our inspiration boards and dress designs. We had a lot of fun and hope you did, too.

We have some fabulous new inspiration boards for you this week so be sure to keep reading. And if you'd like to see an inspiration board about a special theme or look, let us know.

Vote, Vote, Vote!

Today is the last chance to vote on your favorite Coco Myles dress creation and wedding fantasy! Just check out the posts from last week (from "Lavish, Lavish, Lavish" through "South Beach Chic") and vote on the post you like best. One lucky voter will win her very own Coco Myles dress! We will pick a winner first thing tomorrow morning and post it. Stay tuned and good luck!

Peacock {Blue} Wedding Inspiration

credits, clockwise, from top left: LoveLifeImages, Style Me Pretty, In Style
Weddings, In Style Weddings, Style Me Pretty, Style Me Pretty, Flights of Fancy,
Style Me Pretty, Martha Stewart Weddings, Flights of Fancy

Lately, we have been using peacock feathers a lot. We've tucked them in menu cards, used them to tie on chairs and even made an entire table topper out of them! I love the luxe look and decadent colors. Peacock blue and vibrant green look amazing together but the feathers even look great with shades of orange. Enjoy this peacock-inspired inspiration board!

Laura and Alison

South Beach Chic {Christine}

I designed my Coco Myles dress based on my dream wedding.

The setting…South Beach

The mood…Sexy South Beach Chic

My bridesmaid’s dresses are fun and flirty which reflects the fashionable beachfront hotel the wedding is being held at. Knowing that my guests will want to party and have a good time, the dresses need to be light weight.

Let me set the tone of the wedding for you. During a ceremony being held over the plexi-glassed pool, the warm wind of the ocean blew. Cocktail hour was held in a white curtain draped lobby where guests listened to live Latin music and smoked cigars rolled by a Miami native, guests reconvened by the pool to enjoy passed tapas and danced all night to the sounds of one of Miami’s best DJ’s. The color schemes of the wedding day mimic the Art Deco design of South Beach’s Ocean Drive.

Christine

So now you've seen all of our Coco Myles dresses and fantasy weddings to go with them. To recap, we have Alison's "Lavish, Lavish, Lavish," Laura's "In The Pink," Sara's Yellow Vision, Grace's "Autumn Fantasy," Amy's Orange Italian Riveria Vision and Christine's "South Beach Chic."

So let us know which is your favorite (you can vote just by commenting on your favorite post) and you'll be in the running to win a free Coco Myles dress of your very own! We will extend voting through Monday so everyone has time to read all of our fun posts and then we'll pick a winner on Tuesday morning. Happy voting!

What's That? You Want An Option That's Not So Ordinary, You Say?

Let's just say, if I had my chance at choosing bridesmaid dresses again I would definitely go BOLD. I can be a definitive extremist sometimes in my fashion style but for my own wedding, I had some trouble determining which color to put my ladies in. And I am certain, if you are a bride of a similar nature to myself, you carry a sassy bridal party with you which makes the decision that much harder.
I hear you, I hear you! The gowns out there to choose from are pretty, no doubt. But somewhere inside they just don't have quite enough, what's the word... PERSONALITY. So in keeping with the name of the game, here is my ultimate fairytale wedding!

First, think Amalfi Coast in Italy. Moving on from there, we have the rest of the details falling right into place from the invitations to the bridal jewels. Now, how could we possibly say no to these fabulous, one-of-a-kind gowns for your ladies?

{Click on the Inspiration Board below for larger view!}

Oh, and leave the traditional getaway cars for the traditional brides. Your getaway car... well, let's just say that we traded up...


Happy Planning!
xoxo,
Amy Lorraine

Autumn Fantasy {Grace}

All photos Martha Stewart Weddings

Since Coco Myles dresses can also be beautiful wedding gowns, I have chosen to create a dream wedding dress!



Imagine an autumn wedding with the leaves slightly falling in rural, wine-country Virginia in the month of October. You booked the most beautiful outdoor wedding under a clear-top tent and all the candles are glimmering in the last few winks of sunlight. The autumn season nip-in-the-air is just cool enough as you take a deep breath in the crisp evening. Everything in your tent is covered with flowing flowers from the ceiling to the wall; as far as the eye can see, there are white roses. This is what you imagine heaven to be as you make your next steps down the aisle. Your bridesmaids are standing ahead smiling, some tearing up as you hold tightly to your bouquet of cascading stephanotis. As your husband-to-be smiles, it's everything you have hoped for because he is looking at you just as you have always imagined. Your sweetheart neckline, satin gown swishes like a bell along the petals on the ground as you approach your love. What a perfect day!

Your vision of the reception is everything you have dreamed. As your bridesmaids enter the room in their auburn-colored dresses tied ever so slightly in the back with a thin taffeta bow, you look ahead at the glowing centerpieces placed strategically over the rust-colored linens. The centerpieces are filled with dark orange and red calla lilies, dark green leaves, yellow sunflowers and long curly willow branches. From each branch hangs a small, dark yellow, flickering votive which sets the mood of the room to warm and romantic. You grab your husband's hand and approach the dance floor thinking of how much you love this day and how magical it is to sway around the room in your beautiful, perfect, wedding dress.

Grace

Bridal Event of the Year Rescheduled! {Engaged! Magazine}

For all you lovely brides out there hoping to score some face time with the major players of the DC wedding scene, today's your lucky day! The Engaged! Magazine Bridal Event of the Year has been rescheduled (due to the terrible snow storm last weekend) for Sunday, March 28th.

Make sure you check out the website for more details and to register if you haven't already! Find out more HERE.

Hope to see you there!
xoxo,
The Engaging Affairs Team

Pick ME! Pick ME! {Sara}

I KNOW, I know, I know. I am TERRIBLY uncreative. Well, you think my dress is at least. Especially given the fact that this dress is strikingly similar to the canary colored frock my very own bridesmaids donned just a few short months ago. And, this is SO upsetting to me because I desperately want you to vote for my Coco Myles dress as the best. So, let me paint the picture for you.


Different in every way from the DC wedding I planned for myself, I imagine an island celebration somewhere in the Pacific. Some may think of this as "the wedding I didn't have". Thirty guests, our closest and most dear, gather on a powdery beach before sunset (I think at sunset is so cliche) and the breeze coming off the ocean blows every lovely ladies hair in just the perfect way (how we all want to be photographed). And now the dresses. As you will notice from the above picture, yellow seems to look beautiful on everyone! Coupled with the fact that we are standing on a beach and given the loose flow of the fabric and beach appropriate length, I'd say we are all set!

And what, you would ask about, about being practical and choosing a dress that your bridesmaids can actually wear again? I give you the following as my appeal. Happy voting!

Sara

In the Pink {Laura}

Photo credits from top left. top row: Martha Stewart Weddings, MSW, Sophia sparkling wine, MSW

second row: all MSW

Bottom row: Jessica Peterson, Laura Hooper

My Coco Myles bridesmaids' dresses are fun, girly and flirty. Just like my pink Summer fantasy wedding! The tone-on-tone pink wedding features bridesmaids in two shades of pink carrying fabulous bouquets packed with roses and peonies in hues from blush to fuchsia. The bride's dress is even a pale pink!



This wedding is a little bit retro, a little bit vintage and very fun! I envision the June ceremony taking place in late afternoon in a rose garden with rows of fragrant blossoms followed by a reception in a white tent strung with pink paper lanterns. High and low cocktail tables are draped with white hemstiched linens and topped with a vintage pink glass bowl filled with white and pink blooms.

Since my favorite parts of any meal are the hors d'oeuvres and dessert, the reception will be cocktail-style. Guests will sip Sophia pink champagne and strawberry lemonade as they sample amazing hors doeuvres and small plates (all locally-sourced) then enjoy the elaborate dessert buffet (complete with pink cotton candy on sticks) and stunning pink fondant wedding cake. The 80s cover band The Breakfast Club will keep guests dancing late until the evening when a retro pink convertible whisks the bride and groom away! Ah--if only I could get married all over again!
Laura