Sweet Seduction: French Macarons

French macarons are a sweet confectionery filled with a silky smooth butter cream or ganache filling, sandwiched between two soft thin cookie crusts. These versatilely flavored and colorful treats are light, airy and delicately delicious! French macarons make great wedding favors. They are also a scrumptious substitute to the traditional tiered cake or cupcake tower. These delectable little desserts will seduce any sweet toothed gourmand or cookie fanatic. I am a bit surprised that macaron madness has not swept the wedding scene.


Pierre-Hermes, creator of the World's finest French Macarons


Pom Pom Macaron Favor set by Sparkles Macaron via Etsy


Rainbow tower of French Macarons

Savvy Save: Bridesmaid Dress

The high cost of being a bridesmaid is something that is often overlooked. Weddings in general are expensive so the parties involved including the bridal party are expected to spend a good amount of money. After conducting a study that surveyed nearly 20,000 brides, WeddingChannel.com found that it costs about $1,695 to be a bridesmaid. The cost of the dress, accessories, travel expenses, wedding gifts and more (Bridal shower, Bachelorette party ect.) can really add up. Cost conscious brides can help reduce the cost of some of the bigger expenses. For instance figures and finance should be considered when selecting a bridesmaid dress. Since most bridesmaid dresses are worn only once, an affordable option should be made available to the bridesmaids. Also finding a flattering fit for all your girls is an important consideration. Shop savvy to find the right dress because you might find it for a lot less.

The bridesmaid dresses below are the same color, very similar in design and fashion from the same material (100% cotton) but the difference in cost is huge!


Fully lined pleated collar dress with side pockets by Amanda Archer $200


Fully lined pleated collar dress with side pockets by Ananya $60

Recycle Wedding

For the savvy bride looking for ways to minimize cost and maximize the budget, Etsy, Ebay and Craigslist are great places to score a deal or a steal! However, online wedding classifieds offer an ever bigger market place full of new and used wedding items from dresses to diy decor. Below are some of my favorite online wedding resources.

1.Recycled Bride
- Recycle bride's philosophy is that they believe every body's wedding stuff deserves a second chance to make a first impression. Members only, sign up is free, free to sell or buy used and new wedding items.

2.Ruffled Blog
- Another free wedding website that allows brides to sell and buy without fear of fees or commissions. Items listed are more defined. Brides can search by categories. There is even a WANTED section for brides looking for specific wedding things.

3.100 Layer Cake
- Similar to Ruffled except vendors are allowed to sell their goods and brides are allowed to request vendor services and browse vendor portfolio.

4. and 5.Wedding Bee Classifieds & Project Wedding Classifieds
- Two different website with the same concept. However, Wedding Bee Classifieds is updated daily - more frequently than any of the other sites. Serious sellers and buyers flock to the site to buy new and used items listed in categories with the most recent date at the top of the forum. Project Wedding Classifieds do not have subcategories, just posts made by brides which means you have to trudge through pages and pages of endless listings. Unfortunately brides do not always post pictures and prices on both sites. Sometimes a private message or e-mail is the only way to inquire.

6.The Knot Trash to Treasure Board
- A true treasure trove that is buried deep with endless posts of wedding listings - much like Project Wedding Classifieds there are no categories. However if you have the patience it is worth it.

7.Once Wed
- Primarily selling new and used wedding dresses, this site makes it easy to sell and buy a dress. Listings are free and the site is user friendly.

So while browsing some of the sites above, I created a high end bridal look below with some fine frugal finds.

Preowned Priscilla of Boston Vineyard "Drew" dress $950, retails for $2,000 via oncewed

NEW Twigs and Honey Silk Flower $85 via 100 Layer Cake

USED Mini Birdcage veil pouf by Tessa Kim $30 via Weddingbee Classifieds, retails $39

NEW Badgley Mischka shoes $100, retails $245 via Ruffled Blog

Dear Blog

Sorry I've neglected you. I've been preoccupied with my new found love - Pinterest. Don't worry though, I have not replaced you. But I did need to remind myself why I started blogging in the first place. It was to collect my thoughts, observations and obsessions; to create a diary of things that inspired me and this blog in particular was meant to document the wedding planning.

So I will make more of an effort to blog even if it is about the mundane details of my life. On a side note, the hubby thinks it is absolutely absurd and downright silly that I write to the blog. I like to think of this post as a sticky note reminder.
:-)