win a monique lhuillier gown worn by america ferrara

girls, you know i love monique lhuillier, and i know you do too. so how would you like the chance to win a monique lhuillier wedding dress worth almost $7,000? you'd love it, right?

now, what if america ferrera (of ugly betty) actually wore the dress in the upcoming wedding movie our family wedding? could you stand it??

well, it could happen. our family wedding (in theaters march 12) partnered up with weddingchannel.com to give away this one-of-a-kind wedding gown that monique custom-made for america’s movie character, as well as a $3,000 bed bath & beyond bridal registry gift card. now, WHY didn't i know about this stuff when i was getting married?

not only can you enter to win these amazing prizes but you can also check out a personal wedding website that weddingchannel.com created just for the movie. it features the main characters’ love story, proposal story, wedding details, and an opportunity for fans to leave well wishes in the guest book. total fun.

good luck, girls. :o)

design chic • a modern backyard office

i've recently been spending a great deal of time and effort attempting to redesign my new office space. considering i spend so much time in this room — writing, drawing and designing — it's critical to me that i make it a true sanctuary.

of course, all of my delightful progress was blown out of the water when i discovered this modern modular office being offered by kithaus. how chic is this?

the ingenious prefab module allows homeowners who desire new living space for a studio, office or meditation room — but don't want the pricetag of hacking into their existing structure — almost unlimited flexibility.

what i love is the ability to plop it in your garden or a shady area of your back yard and make the outdoors your office space. why didn't i think of this before?

website couture by wang, lhuillier and weddingchannel.com

picture it — you’re wearing a vera wang gown and laser-printing the fabric pattern onto your wedding cake. want to have a vera wang-designed wedding website to go with them? now you can.

weddingchannel.com recently announced the launch of more than 100 new, free personal wedding website design variations, including ones inspired by a-list designers vera wang, monique lhuillier, lela rose, and oscar de la renta. four of my faves.

i absolutely looove the idea of choosing a motif or signature element — like peonies or a modern damask — and then carrying it through the entire event, starting with custom invitations. so why not coordinate gowns with websites?

"brides love tying in a signature detail throughout the entire wedding to create a chic, cohesive look," said sharon stimpfle, deputy site director of weddingchannel.com. "we’re thrilled that oscar de la renta, lela rose, monique lhuillier, and vera wang are working with weddingchannel.com so brides can incorporate their favorite wedding designers in their personal wedding websites too.”

on top of selecting an exclusive “couture” wedding website inspired by these celebrity designers, brides can also utilize an array of new, hyper-personal tools and features with 33 different weddingchannel.com wedding websites.

for more info, visit weddingchannel.com to explore the fabulousness for yourself.

hot pink + lemon yellow = joyful chic

this bold color palette was inspired by a very dear friend — andrea boudewijn of superfine bakery. hand-cut pink hydrangeas against mod yellow fondant were an immediate favorite, and i instantly saw an entire wedding design in the first glimpse of her original work.

deep fuschia paired with screaming yellow may not suit everyone, but i know many brides out there who want to stand out on their magnificent day, who understand the importance of being personal and expressing joy in all their choices. what colors say joy more than these two?

design & photo credits

first row — cocktails • photo via brides, flutes by vera wang; bride with bridesmaids • photo by kate benson photography

second row — plumeria bouquet • bali wedding; wedding cake • superfine bakery

third row — beaded clutch • judith leiber

fabulous pieces

since this blog is about all things fabulous, i absolutely had to share my latest find with you all: the wonderful, eclectic, i-can't-believe-it-took-me-so-long-to-find-it gem of an vintage-esque store called pieces.

i say vintage-esque because it's really a modern store that features mostly vintage items that have been brought back to life by founder lee kleinhelter (who opened pieces when she saw a gap between the high-end antiques and mass produced items offered in her home of atlanta).

though vintage, everything seems to have a clean, contemporary feel. you really get the best of both worlds — something that has been loved, but then reborn into something fresh and new.

here's how it works. hop on the site, and there's this gauzy, dreamy navigation bar that lets you search by things or by colors. i wanted yellow lamps. i found these. yummy.

one of my favorites is this moss green antique english server. it's sold, but i can still drool over it. i'm redecorating my office, and i think i just found some grey pillows that i can't live without.

what can you find?

always a bridesmaid, never a dull dress

okay girls. the ever-in-the-know amy shey jacobs of chandelier events recently tipped me off to a fabulous new design company that i simply had to blog about. pretty, chic, rewearable bridesmaid dresses? seriously?

it's true. 57grand is a hip new line of bridesmaid dresses — inspired by nyc — and it is the 2010 answer to the ugly bridesmaid dress. they come in awesome colors, luxe fabrics, and are all $200 and under. crazy, right? gowns are made in 12 weeks in new york, and their website makes it super easy to shop. they're also big on promoting recycling their looks (tonight the wedding, tomorrow the cocktails is their motto). they even offer suggestions on how to rewear their looks. very clever.

even better, in march they're hosting a bridesmaid dress drop where ladies can recycle their gently worn frocks by giving them to teens who need them for prom through operation prom. they promote operation prom year round, but they'll be collecting dresses that week in their nyc showroom.

what's not to love?