My new obsession: Smoons

I recently discovered "Smoons" and I am OBSESSED. I found them at Malibu Market & Design (which by the way is amazing and really worth a visit, they also have a great location for cocktail parties and such at the very top of the property which I would love to use for my rehearsal dinner if it was a little cheaper).

Smoons are solar powered, can be used plugged in or cordless, are sensitive (you just touch them to turn them off) and waterproof, so you can just throw them in the pool. I think they are AMAZING, and I want at least 20 of them - except I believe they cost around $1,400 each!

I was hoping to be able to rent them, but I'm not having any luck so far in tracking down many U.S. retailers, let alone someone who would rent them, but how amazing would they be scattered around on the grass and under trees for my wedding?! Magical!!

I actually first became aware of them via a venue that I was interested for our wedding. They had smoons throughout the property, and it looked so great, as you can see from the photos below! I really wanted to have my wedding at this venue, but that's another story! I do by the way have the venue locked, in Malibu, did I forget to mention that? Yeah, a few weeks ago, and just in the nick of time!

By the way wouldn't that bougainvillea covered structure in the photo below have been perfect for us to get married under, surrounded by city lights? Not to mention easier and more convenient than Malibu? No regrets though right?!

Wedding Lighting

Apologies for the rather awful scan, but I'm intrigued by this lighting and I need to find out how expensive something like this might be, and whether it would actually work at our venue. I had hoped to get away with tons of fairly lights, lanterns and candles, but apparently it gets pretty dark at our location and that may not cut it, so this could be an interesting option...

1st Dibs - more things I want!

Absolutely swamped with wedding stuff, kind of un-fun right now, but I did find some time to browse 1st Dibs the other day, and thought I'd take a quick sec to post some of the items I'm lusting after!

LOVING this Chanel bracelet! $1,100:

This Pucci jumpsuit is amazing, $1,400:

These "ginko" earrings are from the 40's are lovely, $445:

This Traina "gauze summer evening dress" is so lovely, I would wear it tomorrow! $875:

This Chanel camellia cluster pin is gorgeous, $395:

This Pucci mini dress is adorable, $375:

White Birkin, insanely expensive at $17,500:

Lanvin 1970's Aztec print dress, $850:

Pearl & diamond earrings, price upon request:

Not my colors but I love this Geoffrey Beene 70's dress, $795:

Italian "Asian Goddess" Pendant with turquoise and coral, circa 1975, $8,500:

I love kimonos. I was tempted to have a white kimono like this as my wedding dress. John Paul Gaultier Black Silk Kimono, price upon request:

I LOVE these earrings. Har Egyptian Revival Earrings in gold, turquoise, ruby and pearl, from the 50's, sold:

I love Chanel costume jewelry, and the combination of gold and cobalt blue on this 80's necklace is stunning. $2,500:

Bridesmaid dress options

So I am still spending lots of time thinking (stressing) about wedding attendants, and leaning towards no (having none or just one each). Andy is leaning towards yes (having 4-5). Uh oh. Easier for the boys side though isn't it? Boutonnières are inexpensive, no hair or make up to worry about. They can wear an existing suit or rent one, and if they do buy one there's a fairly good chance they'll wear it again. Girls, not so much. We have to work it out in the next few days.

In the meantime, I've been doing some searching and have finally found a few dress options that meet most or all of my key criteria (floor length, empire waist, chiffon, very simple and classic, and available in a variety of bright colors).

I'm told that Thread are very likely to be able to meet my deadline, and are reasonable, and they do have some options that would work including Jasmine, shown below in tea length but is available full length:

The Anessa Long from Jenny Yoo is cute, and does come in some nice bright colors, though I would skip the optional contrast charmeuse trim:

I did spend some time trying to find non-bridesmaid dress options, which led me to this perhaps risky option from Victoria's Secret. It's ultimately probably a little too casual, and is very likely to be ill-fitting, but it does come in some amazing colors (including "ultra teal" below) and it's cheap!

I really like Amsale's crinkle chiffon options, especially as my dress is also crinkle chiffon:

They have some lovely blues (see "ocean" and "pacific" above), as well as a hot pinks ("flamingo" or "rhubarb"), orange ("spice") and purple ("cerise"), so that's one color each for five maids, and I'd be happy to have my maids choose a style from three the below (well, I have mixed feelings about the halter option but I could deal):

This style is also Amsale but is not crinkle chiffon, and instead I guess is a kind of jersey? The neckline is similar to my dress, and I love how simple it is. Less color options, but I do like their "poppy" and "peacock" colors (hot pink and turquoise).

Yesterday I found these Jim Hjelm Occasions bridesmaid dresses that I really like too, also in chiffon. Their colors are a little more muted than I'd like but they have some that would work including "Hot Pink", "Caribbean", "Papaya", "Fuchsia" and "Turquoise". Not totally sold on the wrap version but the first two options are great:

These two options from Alix & Kelly are also interesting, although I'm not sure I love the two-tone effect:

Unfortunately all of these seem to be in the $350 - $400 range, and ordering now would incur a $50 or similar rush fee per dress, if they can be made in time at all. Why can't J Crew have more than one long bridesmaid dress option!?

Floating Carnation Test

I had a feeling that the amazing florist who was working up an estimate for me was going to come back with an amount several times higher than my budget. And she did. About 5 x my budget. While I would love to spend lots of money on flowers (I really would, I am so into flowers that I still think about becoming a florist AT LEAST once a week!) it's just not in the cards for this wedding. And part of the reason I wanted to do a garden wedding was to avoid spending a ton on flowers.

So I may see if she wants to just work on the personal flowers instead and over the weekend I visited a local florist/ nursery in Malibu to see if they could order me carnations in bulk/ wholesale prices, which I could then make garlands out of of and scatter in the pool and on the lawn myself - enlisting friends and family to help of course which would save money and add to the feel I want of us really hosting this wedding and making it fun and collaborative.

The local florist was very helpful, and while I'm still waiting on a price, she did give me a great suggestion: do a flotation test first. She said sometimes when you see flowers floating in pools they're attached to leaves to ensure they'll float, and wouldn't it be awful to try it on the day and they all sink?

So I bought some hot pink carnations last night so I could do a test. The florist suggested pulling them open a bit so they were as wide as possible, and that turned out to be SUCH a great tip! I found that no matter what length you snip off the stem - really close or leaving on an inch or two - they float perfectly if you just pull them open a bit first.

See photos of my test below, I'm loving the combination of hot pink and turquoise!