mess the dress

October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 | circadee

We are off to a quiet start to the week which is much needed after this weekend. It consisted of a lot of fall festivities with friends and family plus a photoshoot, a milk paint demo, a girls night out, a Halloween party & parade and a baby shower. Well now that doesn’t look like that much listed here but I can assure it was and I’m beat so let me just tell you all about our photoshoot on Friday.

Earlier this year I met Philadelphia wedding photographers Cathie and Al from BG Productions. We chatted about our mutual love for all things vintage and repurposed as they dig that style too. Then I started following their fun and active facebook page where Cathie posts lots of gorgeous wedding and family pictures. I love her shooting and editing styling. She captures a certain mood and depth in the colors. That is the best way I can describe it.

When they posted a contest for a Mess the Dress session, I was all in! I particularly like the fact that BG Productions calls it Mess the Dress as opposed to Trash the Dress because I really don’t want to trash it, tear it, paint it, burn it or do anything crazy to it. I love my wedding dress and look for opportunities to wear it again like, say, out canoeing.

Or fishing with my husband.

Hiking past a covered bridge.

Or people watching in the park.

Cathie and Al nailed our Mess the Dress session and they are fun to work with! We’ll certainly treasure these along with our actual wedding photos. That concludes our year of posing for professional photos as a couple which began last fall with our engagement shoot. Now we just have to get around to creatively framing and displaying our multitude of photos. I wonder how many pictures of yourself is too many to have in your own house?

accessorizing the bridal party

August 5, 2013August 5, 2013 | circadee

Hello! Hello! How was everyone’s weekend? We are enjoying some unseasonably cool weather here. It is like a fall preview. I LOVE it. But enough of the small talk. I’m sharing more pics and deets from our wedding along with another DIY.

Today we are chatting about accessorizing your peeps with flowers. When to go fresh and when to go fabric.

In the name of organization, we knocked out a few boutonnieres months prior to the big day. If you are a Circa Dee diehard, you may even recognize some of the fabric used. I didn’t get crazy about sourcing the perfect fabric for these flowers. Instead, just pulled scraps from previous upholstery projects in blues and neutrals that would complement the color scheme. Bridezilla? I think not.

Hunter, our ring bearer, and Wilson’s escort has a more playful color palette with a splash of pink and aqua – kind of like the centerpieces. His seersucker vest is from crewcuts.

Wilson opted for a more traditional look with a matching seersucker bow tie and leash from etsy.

He decided he’d like to take a seat during the ceremony rather than stand up front. Seriously, I know.

I’m obsessed with this dog. Judge me if you want. But first, just look at that face…

Oh, hey! Look at these dapper guys. They went fresh in the flower department.

Shawn, the best man, sported a throwback baby’s breath boutonniere that matched Leigh’s bouquet.

That was a bit of a vintage spin on the personal flowers. The baby’s breath bouquet and boutonnierre were easy to DIY. I gathered a bunch and constructed them with floral tape covered with ribbon just a few days prior to the ceremony.

What’s a wedding without a little air guitar? Huh? I can only imagine some Journey was being belted out of my gaping open mouth. Don’t stop believing, friends.

So Ryan and I went with fresh flowers. (I’m really tempted to say “fresh to death” here because we were at the Jersey shore after all but I am refraining. Or am I?) Anyway, a fresh flower bouquet of with a pale color palette of thistle, roses, lisianthus, sweet pea, ranunculus and seeded eucalyptus…

to match Ryan’s ranunculus boutonniere.

These I cannot take credit for. Our flowers were created on our wedding day by my very talented friend, Renee.

She also helped construct the fabric boutonnieres months prior (among many other things!).

Now for the DIY… we simply cut long fabric scraps – say about 2 feet x 2 inches. Twirled the fabric tightly round and round, hot gluing with each pass and strategically folding the fabric over to create the look of a blooming rose. We garnished each a little differently with either lace ribbon (left from the invitations), mossy green wire or green raffia wire to create “leaves”. Once complete, it was glued to felt backing and then to safety pins. Easy. And not just for weddings. This DIY can totally be used to deck out kids backpacks, hats, etc.

I leave you with this image. Aqua chucks. The must have reception accessory for my dad. For those who know him, you know Chucks are absolutely his style. The aqua part is all mine.

Photos by Love Shack Photo

glad you’re here

July 31, 2013February 11, 2014 | circadee

Hello! Hello!

Thanks for popping in today to see what’s happening at Circa Dee. While I’ve been in the midst of blogging about my love affair with my own wedding and all of its vintage details, it seems Kelly of Eclectically Vintage has taken note. Pop over to her blog to see what she has to say! You’ll see that Kelly and I are both the kind of people who get heart palpitations over a great vintage find.

Side note: I was crazy jealous over Kelly’s vintage wallpaper table that she scored last year…until I recently found my own. Now, if only I had a place for the 6 foot console-style table.

wallpaper table

In other news, ok BIG NEWS, the fine folks at Philadelphia magazine paid West End Garage a visit recently. They liked it enough to feature the shop in their current Best of Philly issue! When I read that they mentioned Circa Dee for vintage goods, I most certainly danced like Phoebe Buffay in my living room.

True story, friends.

What’s new with you? Will you be visiting some of the best shops down the Jersey shore this summer as highlighted by Philly mag? If you find yourself in Cape May, you better look me up!

And if you’re just finding Circa Dee, stay awhile, won’t you? You can check out what we’re about here and where we sell our goods here.

Oh yeah, one more thing…as a Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint Retailer, I am hosting a workshop in a couple of weeks. Check out the deets here. Maybe you’ll join us and we can all dance like Phoebe Buffay.

That concludes my public service announcements for today. Thanks for joining us!