Air Tran 10% Discount on Flights to our Wedding!

I read online that some airlines will offer special rates for groups of 10 or more. After some research, and calling up a few airlines, I found that Air Tran offers the best rate and deal by far. So I set up a discount for everyone who is flying in to NYC for the wedding:

Air Tran is offering our guests a 10% discount on flights to our wedding between November 9 and November 15. To redeem, you just call up the Air Tran Airways Event Savers desk at 1.866.683.8368 and tell them you're booking for the Elhaam & Mat wedding. 

You must call in to get the discount. The offer isn't valid online, but you should go ahead and find the flights you want online to make it easier on yourself. Then call the Event Savers desk to redeem your 10% discount. The event code is LGA111210

In addition to the 10% discount, you will also receive advance seat assignments, confirmed upgrade to Business Class (when available) for passengers booking at the "B" and "Y" fare levels,  and a one time waiver of change fee for any name or itinerary change.

Plus, for every 30 passengers who book, Mat and I will get a free roundtrip ticket....hello HONEYMOON!

Air Tran Airways

www.AirTran.com

Event Savers Desk: 1.866.683.8368 (cannot book online)

Event: Elhaam & Mat Wedding

Event Code: LGA111210

10% discount on lowest air fare available

For travel between Nov 9 - Nov 15
For every 30 guests who book, Mat and I get one FREE roundtrip ticket :)

Probably A Bad Idea...

...But I do love this song and video. It's got the wedding vibe and set in November, although it has a sad ending, so I think it's not quite right for walking down the aisle.

Next Day Brunch Dress?

Someone please find me Dakota Fanning's stylist! She is always dressed in something so sweet and girly. This is an Elie Saab dress. I tried on a few of her gowns back when I was wedding dress hunting, but it's her couture line that I really covet. Oh and how amazing are these Loboutins? 

Date Night

Mat rarely gets a day off, so when he does, we try to make the whole day really special. Friday was no exception. We started the day off with a gorgeous picnic in Central Park and then he took me rowing. Our good friend Semi joined us and took some photos we'll be posting more soon.

After Central Park, we took a long walk around the city, holding hands and discovering new shops, eventually ending up at Friend of a Farmer for dinner.

On our way home, we ran into my friend James who snapped this photo of Mat and I together. 

Finished the day off with a movie at home. We watched She's The Man. It's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

Fantasy Movies and Fantasy Hair

I'm a big fantasy movie genre fan. The movies I grew up with definitely influenced my aesthetic over the years. Some of my favorites beyond The Labyrinth were: Legend, Never Ending Story, Willow, Drop Dead Fred, and most of the Disney movies. Fact: Disneyland still is my favorite place on earth.

Mat's seen most of these, although not all the way through. He was a huge fan of Drop Dead Fred though. He was super into Ghostbusters, Tim Burton movies, Roger Rabbit, and Little Shop of Horrors; something else we have in common.

I can perfectly remember feeling bewildered by David Bowie when I first saw The Labyrinth. The hair, his make up, those tight pants. I knew something was going on. But it was Sarah who was my obsession. 

I remember pretending I was her and running around in my backyard. She was so pretty and dressed so cool. That one ballroom scene...swooon. I wanted her dress. I wanted her hair. I wanted to dance with David Bowie.

I know it's probably pushing it to do my hair like hers at the wedding, but I did find this really great designer on Etsy who makes pretty handmade hair pieces. I sent her photos of my inspiration and she's created two darling hair pieces for me. 

One is a comb with vintage brooches and tulle ribbons and the other is a pretty headband with gems and crystals. Here's a photo of the headband.

Legend was another huge favorite of mine and I initially thought of doing a white, wintery look for the wedding based on this film, but nixed that idea since there are too many winter themes these days. Plus it wouldn't work with the vibe at Capitale.

I do love this movie though. I used to wish I could be Lily. She had curly hair, so I felt a definite affinity with her. She hung out with Tom Cruise, played with Unicorns, and wore pretty gowns. I don't think I could pull off a hair cap like hers, but the loose curls are very romantic.

After Party Dress?

I'm not sure if I agree with the "after party wedding dress" everyone seems to be doing now. It's highly doubtful that I will have one. Think about it, you're spending a fortune on a gown and only want to wear it for a couple of hours? I don't think I'll want to ever take mine off. BUT, this dress is so yummy. Sigh. Where do I find it?

Bridesmaids Outfits

If you recall from the "history of weddings" post I did earlier, I never planned on having my bridesmaids in the same dress. Rather, I've found some really talented designers who are making custom dresses to each of the girl's specifications. The only requirement is that they all be short dresses and in shades of blue. I'm a little jealous.

Masha, Shayda, and Maggie are each wearing a custom design by James Coviello who has a shop on our block. He's a Parson's School of Design graduate and has created a collection for Anna Sui and Anthropologie among others. His style is very vintage and his new shop features his retro inspired ready to wear line.

Sarah Seven is another designer we're working with. My bridesmaid Sarah will be wearing a ruffly draped dress by this amazing Etsy designer. Her line is very romantic with a bit of whimsy. Lots of beautiful draping, ruffles, petals, and layers of silky fabric. How dreamy.

I am coveting these dresses by former Project Runway designer Kara Janx. I think the blue velvet capped sleeve one is perfect for the rehearsal dinner! She's tailoring it to my exact size and even getting me the belt to go with it. So excited!

Cosmic Love Match

My birthday is September 27, making me a Libra, and Mat's is April 16, making him an Aires. I've always been into horoscopes, so when Mat and I first began dating, I checked out our Astrological charts to see if we were a match, and to my initial surprise, we're polar opposites on the Zodiac, but that makes us a perfect match.

Libras are represented by the Scales and ruled by Venus, the Goddess of Beauty, while Aires is ruled by Mars, the God of War, and represented by the Ram. Call it cosmic or mythic, but when archetypes like these meet, something magical happens. Mostly because these two signs are so true to their achetypes, Aires and Libra quickly become enamored and consumed by one another.

Their compatibility is due to the sheer fun these two have together. Aires is daring and bold; always ready for excitement, and Libra is the perfect compliment and audience to Aires' antics. As a combination, they're well balanced. The charming Libra prizes harmony in a relationship and will go to great lengths to maintain it. Aires is very decisive and can teach indecisive Libra to rely more on intuition for answers.

Both tend to be active, dynamic, mobile and assertive. These signs each lead something of a charmed life, and are usually positive, competitive, flamboyant, and life affirming people. Despite these similarities, there are differences between these two opposites, but opposites do attract.

Like any old saying, there is much truth to this. When Aires, the fiery Ram, rushes to embrace the polar opposite sign of Libra, the Scales, Mars and Venus come together in a passionate encounter. Libras can be swept up by Aires delight in new adventure. But will the adventure last? 

Mat on Fox 5 Atlanta

Mat and I could have met so many times, but I think it was planned from above for us to meet at that Razorlight gig. When Mat's band Your Vegas opened for Duran Duran, I was at that show, but missed Mat's performance due to the rain. And when Your Vegas performed live on Fox 5 Atlanta, I was already living in NYC. Who knows how many other times we could have met! Check out the video

Here's me interviewing Your Vegas for my radio show, but sadly, Mat couldn't make it.

Our Dream Garden

Mat is a very outdoorsy type of guy. He grew up hiking, camping, and is definitely in tune with nature. I appreciate pretty views, but bugs, wind, and humidity are more than enough to keep me indoors. So when Mat and I first began dating and he told me about his love of nature and wanting to go camping one day, I definitely got that "uhhh....I don't think so" look on my face.

But, as we all know, relationships are about compromise, and last fall when we took our first romantic vacation together to the Catskills, I agreed to go on a hike with Mat. He took me on a 5 hour hike up a mountain. I wanted to kill him. He did carry me up most the way, so I guess I can't complain too much really.

Living in New York City, you do start to crave trees and grass after a while, so Mat and I will often escape to Central Park to have picnics and go rowing (he does the rowing, not me). I have a balcony that I never use, so Mat has made it his personal mission to fix it up into a dream garden.

This is more a fantasy, but maybe the second photo could be a possibility?

We're very excited to be living together soon, and I know he's got some big plans to fix up my apartment and make it our home. He seriously amazes me sometimes with all his generosity and hard work. He works two jobs full time (carpentry during the day at a roof top club, and then band practice most nights), and still finds time to build trellises and planters for the garden.

Seriously, he's outside right now on his ONE day off, building the planters. I'm so lucky. PS, how cute is he!

Meet The Bridesmaids

Introducing my gorgeous bridesmaids: Shayda, Masha, Sarah and Maggie.  These ladies are smart, well dressed, artistic, and so much fun. They're my dearest friends and I'm so lucky to have them in my life.

They've been a huge comfort in the planning thus far and integral in my wedding dress hunt, when I was battling the choice between two dresses. I know I can trust their judgment, and they've been great about reassuring me I made the right dress choice and overall keeping my stress levels low.

Shayda

My pretty younger sister Shayda, is the artist in the family. After graduating from SCAD University, she began working full time as a graphic artist and I'm sure you've seen her designs around town (those Bodies exhibition posters are her work!).  Shayda loves coffee ice cream, and has a crazy cat called Chloe. She loves to travel to exotic places and has a knack for putting together amazing travel itineraries. I've put her and Mat in charge of the honeymoon plans.

Masha

My roomate Masha and I met via a highschool friend of mine who suggested we be roomates. She was right, as Masha is one of the most fun girls I know. Hailing originally from the Ukraine, we share some similar cultural background and bonded quickly. Masha is a total smarty pants, working with accountants and on hedgefunds and all sorts of big mathematical things that make no sense to me. She's also a foodie and is literally everyone's go to person for the best new places to eat around the city.

             Sarah

Sarah and I met in a dingy corner of the VICE Magazine offices, peddling indie bands to young impressionable DJs and bloggers. Even after we both separately moved on, we remained good friends and have since traveled across Eastern Europe together, running from Czech policemen, feeding alpaca, and scaling snowy mountains. All true by the way. In addition to being a great friend, Sarah is also a very talented artist and paints huge works of art that you can view and purchase on her site www.sarahmoran.com

Maggie

Maggie and I were introduced to each other on a dance floor in Los Angeles as the "LA and Atlanta version of each other" and have since spent a huge amount of our friendship on dance floors in several other cities. Originally from California, Maggie moved to New York to get her Master of Fine Arts degree in Poetry from the New School University. Once here, we painted the town in glitter and formed a forever friendship. We had a sad farewell when Maggie moved to Paris for a year and then to London, but she is back now in NYC and ready to take it over again!