Bundts of Steel: Living the Dream at The Cream

I don't gush about personal experiences here too often, but today is a "Dear Diary" kind of day. I hope you don't mind a break from the food nerd chatter, the beauty product recommendations, or favorite tv show ramblings. I want to walk about 2 subjects near and dear to my heart: weddings and friendship.

If you know me, you know that I loooove weddings! I love the flowers, getting dressed up, watching the groom when the bride walks in (especially if he tears up!), watching the bride when she lays eyes on her groom, the gown...oh the gown! Being engaged is a time like no other. I grew up planning my wedding in my mind (and maybe in a binder hidden deep in the recesses of my closet), but when I got engaged planning my wedding for real was pretty, well, surreal. I knew pretty early on what kind of wedding I wanted and what I wanted it to look like. When we booked our venue, it really solidified my wedding vision (check out how it turned out on Style Me Pretty)

During our engagement I definitely felt an outpouring of love from family and friends at all the wedding related events and that was something so special and I'm grateful to have experienced. However, planning a wedding is not all cake tastings and ring shoppings, this comes with an incredible amount of stress- at a level I have never before experienced and sustained for such a prolonged period of time. SO.MANY.DECISIONS and people you'd like to make happy through this process. Even with all the stress, I loved planning our wedding. I really knew the feel and look I wanted the day to have and really enjoyed picking out every detail and component to create that experience. On that wedding day, when all of that stress melts away, you're left with this unbelievably gorgeous event filled with the people you love, a showstopping dress, hair and make up like you've never had before, but most importantly, this incredible spouse who is better than anyone you could have ever dreamed up!

My wedding day, image by Heidi Ryder

Watching my friends get engaged is such a great feeling and beyond exciting! Recently, one of my best friends and my maid of honor got engaged. This is an incredible couple who surprised us and their other friends at their New Years Eve party by announcing their engagement (from the week prior!) and I think I jumped out of my skin with excitement! I cannot wait to see her on her wedding day as I know she will be a BEAUTIFUL bride who is marrying a man completely deserving of her.

As a lifelong wedding lover, I am always happy to help my friends in anyway possible plan for their weddings. Last night S and I went to The Cream at the Book Bindery in Culver City which is hands down the wedding event of the year (really, no other wedding event tops this one). It was so much fun to drool over decor, meet new friends (Hi Amanda!), snack on nibbles and sweets, sip on cocktails, gawk at some seriously swoon worthy floral arrangements and tablescapes (if you follow me on Pinterest you know how much I love a good tablescape-- LOVE!), ooh and ahh over gowns, and spend the girliest of times with S. S is not the girl who had a wedding binder or who stayed up late talking with girlfriends about the kind of wedding she would want someday. While she has been with her fiance for years, she never really caught the wedding bug. But, now that a ring found it's way onto her finger, I can see the wedding sparkle come alive. I am excited about the creativity S is bringing when envisioning her wedding and I know this will be a wedding like no other with a bride like no other!

Let's not end this on such a sappy note- you know I wouldn't leave you out in the cold and hold out on pictures from The Cream, enjoy and get ready to loose your mind!!!

Swoon worthy Florals and covet-able decor