Project Wedding Blog

Stylish PW girls take note! I just talked to Anya Sarre, the celeb stylist responsible for the daily looks of Mary Hart and Lara Spencer on Entertainment Tonight and The Insider — and she says yellow is the IT color for spring and bridesmaids! One of our faves? Genius designer David Meister! Is this yellow grommet tie front dress not that most adorable thing you have ever seen? 

According to Anya,  ”Yellow is a happy color that really pops in photos. Yellow looks great on blondes, brunettes and red heads. Everyone smiles when they see yellow at a wedding.” And while we are talking gorgeous dresses, take a peek at David Meister’s modern, white jersey siren gown with beads — can you say dream bride?

Tags: David Meister.

Smoky eye make up is the perfect way to get your bachelorette party or that night on the town sizzling. We wanted to know how to achieve that smoldering look ourselves, so we enlisted the help of Vivian Tran from All Made Up. The results? See for yourself below!

All photos by Cynthia Gregory.

How to Achieve Smoky Eye Makeup:

1) First, clean face with make-up remover and tone skin. Next, moisturize face with oil control lotion, and let it dry for 1-2 minutes.
2) Prime face with make-up primer base (long lasting makeup and oil control). Dilute cream or liquid foundation with primer to reduce thickness and make coverage last.
3) Apply concealer under the eyes and on uneven skin area. Finish by setting foundation with loose powder (kabuki brush).
4) Fill in eyebrows with eyeshadow and enhance and define brow shape arch and tail with sharp eyebrow pencil. Highlight underneath/above eyebrow with matte cream eyeshadow and prime eyelids with eyeshadow base (cream shimmer).
5) Set eyelids with cream matte shadow. Apply small amount of black eyeshadow along the eyeliner and then gradually move up towards eyelid crease.
6) Slowly blend and increase black eyeshadow intensity at eyeliner and crease area (top and bottom lashes). Use fingers to blend in dark harsh lines along eyelid crease area, use makeup sponge to clean excessive shadow smearing.
7) Use creamy black smooth eyeliner pencil and smudge in with q-tip (top and bottom lashes). Trim full strip eyelashes according to eye size, massage eyelash strip create easy crescent.
8)Curl eyelashes with eyelash curler in three locations (base, middle, and tip for even curved crescent curl)
9) Apply one sweep of black mascara on top of the lash and bottom of real lashes for nice lash shape. Use dark tone color eyelash glue, let dry for 2-3 minutes and wait for tacky consistency before applying on eyeliner
10) Apply full strip eyelashes, right above natural eyelashes, and let dry for 5 minutes. Dab a small amount cream blush at apples of cheeks and blend out with fingers
11) Set blush with blush powder by applying in small circle motions on apples of cheeks.
12) Highlight with face with lighter shade of concealer/foundation on t-zone area, underneath eyes, laugh lines, then blend with fingers). Use powder brush to set highlighted only areas highlight with translucent powder
13) Line lips with neutral color lip liner, then fill in whole lips liner for long lasting color.
14) Apply nude color lip color with lip brush on lips, and then peach lip gloss
15) Make sure eyelashes are fully dry and apply black liquid eyeliner with eyeliner brush over eyelashes to define eyeliner line and cover excessive glue
16) Wait for liner to dry, 1 minute, then apply 1-2 coats of mascara underneath eyelashes and press both natural lash and false eyelashes together for better bonding with fingers and natural look.

Make-up tools and products:
Tools:
-Make-up Sponge (MAC sponges)
-Q-tips (make-up Q-tips with flat end and pointy tips)
-Eyebrow razor trimmer (disposable brow razor)
-Kabuki powder brush (MAC)
-Blush Brush (MAC)
-Blender brush (MAC)
-Med. crease brush (MAC)
-Sm. highlighter brush (MAC)
-Concealer brush (MAC)
-Foundation brush (MAC)
-Lip brush (MAC)
-Eyeliner brush (MAC)
-Eyelash curler (MAC)

Products:
-Oil control moisturizer (t-zones) (MAC)
-Base primer (face/eyes) Sephora Base
-Foundation (cream/liquid) (MAC)
-Cream Concealer (cream/liquid) (MAC)
-Loose Translucent Powder (light and medium) (MAC)
-Brown (medium color) eyeshadow (eyelids/brows) (MAC)
-Cream matte eyeshadow (brow highlighter) (MAC)
-Cream shimmer shadow base (liquid/powder) (MAC)
-Black matte eyeshadow (powder) (MAC)
-Black creamy eyeliner (liquid/pencil) (Twoface)
-Full double layer lashes (full strips) Sephora
-Black mascara (MAC)
-Neutral lip liner (MAC)
-Nude Lip color (MAC)
-Peach lip gloss (MAC)
-Blush (peach cream/powder) (MAC)
-Dark tone eyelash glue (Ardel)

Tags: Beauty, DIY, Makeover.

In this case, it’s what a bridesmaid wants! I thought these adorable, personalized pendants would be a fantastic bridesmaids gift. They are thoughtful, personal, all about her and can actually be worn after the wedding - what a concept! Did I mention that several of my friends gave me earrings that matched my emerald green bridesmaid dress or my coffee brown bridesmaid gown as my gift? Seriously, when could I possibly wear those again (not that I wasn’t grateful for the kind gesture!) OK, so now you know where I am coming from! These pendants, by Dillon Rogers, are 18k gold plated and sell for $72 at Intuition boutique.

Tags: jewelry.

The gals from the premiere celeb boutique Intuition are completely dialed in to every trendsetting style and adorable trinket in Hollywood – and they just happen to have some precious bridal shower gifts!

Things we love:

Bridal Shower Bingo! Includes everything you need to form a little friendly competition with your best friends including bingo cards, jeweled markers and a master sheet!

The Tears of Joy Tissue Holder: A perfect accessory for the mother-of-the-bride or the sentimental bridesmaid!

The Bridal Shower Bow-quet: A sweet keepsake for the bride to have forever!

Tags: bridal showers.

We all love a little J.Crew in our lives, but its not always so easy on the pocketbook. Well, we did a little digging and have found a beautifully economically-saavy ensemble not only for you, bride-to-be, but also some very cute ideas for your bridesmaids that won’t break the bank!

For the bride…total cost under $850.00

Silk tricotine Sophia long dress, $295.00

Carmen Satin Peep Toes, $265.00

Pearl Garden Bracelet, $75.00

Pearl Stud Earrings, $55.00

And for your Bridesmaids…each outfit is under $150.00!

Option One:

Silk chiffon Sophia dress, $49.99 (regularly $165.00!)

Martine two-color satin heels, $79.99 (regularly $245.00!)

Option Two:

Strapless Florence dress, $59.99 (regularly $250.00!)

Martine two-color satin heels, $79.99 (regularly $245.00!)

Option Three:

Silk chiffon twist-tank dress, $49.99 (regularly $170.00!)

Tabitha T-strap satin heels, $79.99 (regularly $235.00!)

And there is even something for the little darling of the bridal party…and under $110.00!

Girls' cotton eyelet Liya dress, $69.99 (regularly $158.00!)

Girls' Millie satin ballet flats, $39.99 (regularly $118.00!)

Want a coordinated look? J.Crew has got you covered!

Grenada palm pleated halter dress, $139.00 (regularly $198.00!)

Girls' silk palm-flower Beatrice dress, $59.99 (regularly $158.00)

Happy shopping!

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You appreciate your best friends being there for you as you embark on your journey towards wedded bliss — wouldn’t it be great to treat them to a special bridesmaids gift from the designer who has a special place in every gal’s heart, Marc Jacobs? I had to share this quilted baby blue evening bag from his latest line, Marc by Marc Jacobs. It’s adorable, perfect for Spring and the best part? The cost! At $35, this expense won’t push you over the wedding day budget!

Tags: bridesmaid gift.

It’s time to announce the five finalists of our DIY Wedding Challenge and vote on the winner of the $500 grand prize and the $250 runner up prize!

We had an overwhelming response with over 160 gorgeous do-it-yourself entries from our lovely brides, each one filled with amazing creativity married with personality and style. I couldn’t possibly choose the finalists by myself, so instead I enlisted the help of the most inspirational people in the world of weddings, design, and entertaining: the ever so sweet Bee from Weddingbee, the fabulous Grace from Design*Sponge, the lovely Mackenzie from Something Old, Something New, the oh so stylish Emily from Once Wed, and the modern chic Jennifer of Hostess with the Mostess.

A very big thanks to our celebrity guest judges and all the incredible brides who entered! The finalists are announced below, after which comes the fun part… choosing a winner! Don’t forget to vote for your favorite DIY entry for the $500 grand prize and the $250 runner up prize! Voting ends on Monday, March 30th at 5pm PST.

Good luck everyone!

Bee’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Panel Pocketfold Invitations because they look fantastic and can be easily customized to fit your color scheme.
2. The Lantern Centerpieces for the awesome instructions and fabulous yet affordable look
3. The Personalized Matches for its simplicity and personalization.

Grace’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Personalized Match Boxes because it’s inexpensive, easy to do, and can be customized in such unique ways.
2. The fabulous Bling Letters because they look so professional and very inexpensive to create.

Mackenzie’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Lace Escort Cards because it’s a romantic look that anyone can do.
2. The dramatic Cascade Bride’s Bouquet

Emily’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The inspirational DIY Calligraphy, because it’s just so hard to resist a way to achieve perfect handwriting and invite wedding guests in a beautiful and inexpensive way.

Jennifer’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Message in a Bottle Invitations because of the over-the-top creativity and meticulous attention to detail. Fromt the drops of mango scented oil and tiny sea shells to the clever “old style map” motif and raffia ties that made it easy for recipients to get the message out. Every aspect of these invitations is amazing!
2. The Bouquet with Feathers and Beads because it is just so stunning
3. Sliding Nugget Favor Boxes because they are absolutely adorable and can easily be tailored to any color palette, theme, or occasion.
4. Cake Box Card Holder because the concept is so clever and makes for a great bridal shower centerpiece as well!

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I think I have found the perfect bridesmaids shoe.

This bridesmaids shoe comes in soft gold made with a combination of satin and fine leather. The heel is the perfect height - 4 inches for those of us who need a little extra oomph in the vertical height department. And best of all, this bridesmaids shoe is surprisingly comfortable, so much in fact, I just ordered a pair for myself for my best friend’s wedding in August! It’s on sale for $20 on Amazon (down from $70).

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Earlier I blogged about the four wedding dresses from the final four designers on Project Runway. Later this week (Wednesday to be exact!) the four designers will show their final collections at New York Fashion Week. Well, if you don’t already know, the collections are already up on the BravoTV website! There are some gorgeous dresses in the collections that could easily translate into unique, fashion forward bridesmaids dresses with style that will stand the test of time.

The top left is a blue bridesmaids dress designed by Kenley. Top right is a gorgeous teal dress by Korto, with green beads and a fan to offer from texture and interest. Also, did I mention that fans are a really cute alternative to a bridesmaids bouquet? The bottom two dresses are from Leanne’s collection, gorgeous and flowing while still maintaining her signature architectural style.

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Did you know there are over 1500 images of blue bridesmaids dresses in the Project Wedding photo gallery? Even better, you can search by the most popular to the newest pictures added by our members. Here are the top three images on Project Wedding for blue bridesmaids dresses…

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