Friday 20 May 2016

#Flashback Friday - Team Winona Forever!

Young love....young, beautiful love
Via therelist.com

Ahhhhh #ThrowbackThursday.... What started as such a cool way to look back at celeb weddings took a real turn last week. We recently looked back on a couple that I have a soft spot for, one of those low-key celebrity couples that didn't court the paparazzi or flourish on Instagram. But last Friday, James McAvoy and Anne Marie Duff announced that they were divorcing after nine years of marriage. When Kim K's marriage to Kris Humphries disintegrated after 72 days, it was not a huge surprise. At all. But this McAvoy-Duff split was genuinely shocking. So, in an attempt to not cast any bad juju on current marriages, we're gonna let #ThrowbackThursday take a backseat to Flashback Friday where we'll look back at some of our favourite celebrity couples that we hoped would've made  it down the aisle, if for no other reason, than to see just how they would've looked like on their big days! You know, those couples that were beautiful, sexy, cool and so so hard to look away from. So, what better way to start than with my favourite celebrity couple of all time.....

Winona Forever: Johnny Depp + Winona Ryder

If you were in high school in the late '80's, there's a good chance you watched 'Edward Scissorhands' and were totally taken in by the unlikely love story between Depp's misfit and Ryder's popular-girl-with-a-heart-of-gold.

Via moviehaku.com

And there's an even better chance that loved them together off-screen.  They were a couple that had it all - they were both achingly beautiful, exuded this inately cool vibe, were tactile and demonstrative and appeared deeply in love.

Via studybreaks.com

Via deppmania.net

Via savekate.wordpress.com

They first saw each other at the movie premiere for 'Great Balls of Fire!' in 1989 and the attraction was instant so shortly after, a mutual friend got the two of them together to hang out and from there, they became inseparable.  Johnny was divorced with 2 broken engagements behind him and had a reputation of being a wild child; Winona was 18 and the polar opposite in terms of her relationship history and her temperament, being introverted and shy.  But they grew close very fast and by 1990, within six months, they were engaged and living together.

Via Pinterest 

Johnny and Winona were pre-Twitter, pre-Instagram, in those days before the Internet, so there were no gossip sites to report on every aspect of their up-and-down relationship and maybe that's what kept the optics of their perfect couple status intact. What we got instead were magazine spreads and articles with devastatingly romantic and passionate declarations of love. And we were hooked!

Via Pinterest 
Via thewhitereview.com

They were serving up fierce love and set the bar pretty high for future celeb coupledom.

Via theredlist.com

By 1993 though, the intense, all-consuming, deeply loving, tumultuous yet fiery could had arrived at a crossroads. Winona was too young to marry and the couple went their separate ways.   By the following year, Depp would be in another beautiful pairing with Kate Moss

Via elle.com

.....while Ryder dated David Pirner from the band Soul Asylum followed by a high profile romance with Matt Damon.

Via eonline.com

Via lazygirls.info

But no relationships after had quite the sparkle - and spark - as Winona and Johnny.  #Winoforever!

Via ladymadonnaxxxx.tumblr.com


Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Wedding Wednesday: Devon Still + Asha Joyce Edition!

Let the celebration begin! A special dance by the newly married couple to get the party started!
Via rollingout.com

I reference 'Sex and the City' a lot. Both on the blog and in real life, SATC crops up A LOT. The movies make me cringe (the second one more so than the first one, but still) but the series, well, the series holds a special place in my heart.  For all the fashion, bed-mates (I'm looking at you, Samantha!) and Carrie-isms that are now part of the pop culture landscape, at the heart of it, the show followed four vastly different women and their friendships with each other.  They were different in their approaches to dating, relationships, even the types of weddings they had.  Charlotte had classy, upscale affairs with Trey, then Harry; Miranda and Steve married in a community garden; and Carrie had a simple ceremony at City Hall, in a vintage ivory coloured suit,  followed by an unfussy, unpretentious brunch with those closest to her heart....eventually.

Sweet and simple, less is more
Via Pinterest

Her first planned wedding though, was quite different in tone, setting and scale.  The wedding wasn't to take place,  but had it gone to plan, it would have featured a show-stopping Vivienne Westwood dress (goodbye, sweet little suit!) and would have taken place among a literary who's-who including William Shakespeare, Robert Frost, the BrontĂ« sisters, Mary Shelley, Joseph Conrad and J.D Salinger  in absentia, at the New York Public Library.

Beautiful bride, gorgeous wedding party, stunning venue ... But no groom!
Via Pinterest

Both of Carrie's weddings - the almost-wedding and her eventual wedding - as different as they were, are right up my alley. As someone who loves literature, a wedding in a beautiful library would feel like a sort of homecoming; as someone who's fairly reserved and shy in big crowds, a low-key affair is the way to go (and the way I actually went, 21 years ago!)  So while we didn't get to see Carrie and Big's ultra-glam wedding, we do have a gorgeous New York Public Library that just took place - and delivers a happily-ever-after for NFL star Devon Still and his now-wife Asha Joyce.


Tears of joy from the sweetest flower girl as she lights the way to a new future
Via dailymail.co.uk

The happy ending to their story - and the beginning of their lives together! - is partly due to a truly beautiful wedding but also their cancer-free daughter Leah.  Devon shared Leah's battle with stage 4 neuroblastoma two years ago on social media and took time away from football to be with her throughout. She was declared officially cancer-free in March 2015 and once her health was on the right track, they began planning this big day in earnest.  Fast-forward to this month, when the happy and healthy family celebrated their nuptials with a picture-perfect wedding ceremony and reception and you've got a story that is non-fiction story-telling at its finest!!  Here's a closer look at this special day:

*~Devon Still and Asha Joyce's wedding at the NY Public Library~*

Congratulations to newlyweds Devon and Asha! And way to go Leah, on being a fierce and enchanting flower girl!

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April

Monday 16 May 2016

Say YES! to Wedding Etiquette!

To post or not to post....that is the question!
Via thesocial.ca

Wedding Etiquette, aka Weddiquette is always a topic of contention. I blame the need to constantly define what is socially acceptable/unacceptable on life in the year 2016 and in the Age of Social Media; we are social creature but through our phones and apps. When mom and dad are Instagram and Twitter, real life away from the 'rents has become a little skewered.  Add in our worship at the church of celebrity and you got the potential to run into a lot of star culture/real people confusion. Case in point: BeyoncĂ© and Blue Ivy decked out in white at a wedding last year, pictures splashed across the Internet and giving everyday brides who want their wedding dresses to be the only white dresses in room a much weaker case.  So it just seemed fitting that as we head into prime-time wedding season that we bone up on some common wedding issues that might crop up in the next few months, and what better way than with Etiquette expert Lisa Orr who delivered some wedding etiquette gold on 'The Social' last week!

*~ Wedding etiquette to guarantee you won't be blacklisted! ~*

Now go forth and wedding-guest responsibly!

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April

Monday 9 May 2016

Destination You: Pumping The Brakes (Occasionally!) on Wedding Planning

Spinning plates, aka the likely autobiographical tale of a many a bride-and-groom-to-be!
Via thecircusblog.wordpress.com

There's one thing that April and I advocate to all our our brides and grooms-to-be and it's quite simply this: take time for yourselves, time away from any and everything wedding-related! Most folks planning their weddings are doing that while they're juggling school or work, family, friends, and lives that are pulling them in a lot of directions.

Via Pinterest

And there can be moments when excitement seamlessly transitions to frustration and stress, prompting you to ponder the merits of a quickie Vegas/City Hall/Niagara Falls in lieu of having to meet yet again with your florist/stationary designer/decorator for what feels like the umpteenth time.

Vegas weddings: where Sharpie moustaches and kitten-face makeup are an option!
Via sheknows.com

Before you start searching for red eye flights to Nevada, take heart and check out this great collection of ideas to save your sanity and give you a well-deserved (and stress-busting) mini-break from wedding planning insanity!

*~Brides and grooms to be tell-all: How they're keepin' it real (and SANE!)~*

Be it a class at the gym, a beauty treatment that gives you some time alone and pampered if even for a little while, a floating session in a pod where you can be soothed by blocking out the outside world for an hour, or a hard-and-fast ban on wedding talk at specific times of the week, there are ways you can gently extricate yourselves from planning so that you can decompress, unwind and come back stronger than ever and ready to tackle yet another meeting with your florist/stationary designer/decorator - well, you get the idea!

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Fantastical Weddings: Harry Potter Edition

Matrimony managed!
Via newsoneplace.com

If you are a Potterhead, November 2016 will be your Christmas......


"Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" is coming to give us all life and feels again!!! Having a young Muggle milling around the house (and not-as-young Muggle, April, who LOVELOVELOVES all things Harry Potter) I fell in love with the magical, mystical, fantastical world J.K. Rowling created - Hogwart's holds a special place in my heart and I was gutted when the dust settled after watching "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" amd realized we would never take a trip on the Hogwart's Express again.  I'm an admitted Faux-Potterhead, as I'm a movies-only girl and haven't real all of the books but that is on my must-read list this year and by dog, I will read the series from beginning to end!

In the meantime, I will be poring over the details of this Harry Potter wedding!

Via buzzfeed.com

We've seen Harry Potter weddings in all shapes and sizes but they are always so lovely, so beautifully curated and thought out and realized and this one is no exception! So, Potter fans, magic mavens,  literature lovers UNITE.......

*~After all this time.... I always swoon over a Hogwart's wedding!~*

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~



Lisa and April

Monday 2 May 2016

My Way Or The Highway: Being Your Wedding Day Boss

No school like the ol' school.... Or is there?
Via emilystyle.com

If you were to ask anyone what they associate with the word 'wedding', it'd be safe to say that the responses would be wild and varied, based on everything from cultural to personal experiences.  A recently divorced person might have some sage and bittersweet word associations,  recent bridesmaids might have strongly positive or (yikes!) negative contributions, based on how awesome/awful the experience was, but somewhere in the middle of a vast field of descriptors, there will be a few constants like 'bridesmaids', 'beautiful dress', bachelor party', 'first kiss', 'ceremony', 'garter toss',  etc. It feels like these concepts are almost non-negotiables!

The odds are NEVER in your favour...#weddingbouquetHungerGames
Via onewed.com
Going in for the garter kill - time for an 11th hour appeal?
Via onewed.com
I ran across an article from a bride-to-be who is taking bridal party expectations and tossing them on their ear. She's written about what traditions are getting the kibosh, and why:

*~Bridal Party Re-Write: One Bride's Guide to Making Your Own Rules~*

Now this I can co-sign! Matchy-matchy wedding details don't match with every couple-to-be, so instead of trying to fit the details of her day into a mould that doesn't quite fit, the writer Ally
Hirschlag has decided to change the record and dance to the beat of a different drum.  April and I have racked up a substantial number of weddings between us and I can tell you that we have loved them all. But I can also tell you, nothing makes me more emotional and unexplainably fist-pump-y than seeing those touches that are unique to each bride and groom, like seeing a groom's sister who he's incredibly close to showing the love and wedding day support as a grooms person.

Via bridalmusings.com
Via lorussostudio.com

Or seeing a bride's cousin, who has always been like a brother to her, representin' in the bridal party.

Via bridal guide.com

And maybe because we just lost our Billy, I think I would lose my ever-lovin' mind if we had a wedding where the happy couple's fur-baby was part of their day. For serious.


Via bridal guide.com

These are the touches that always reinforce our belief that there is no 'wrong' when it comes to weddings; only 'right for you' - and the beauty of this concept is that 'right for you' takes away the pressure of following rules to a tee!  So go ahead, make your day (whatever you want it to be!)

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April