Get a Perfect Wedding-Day Smile with Invisalign®

Those camera clicks have nothing better to capture than your perfect smile.

This is a sponsored post for Invisalign®.

The guy of your dreams has put a ring on it. Wedding bells are on the horizon. As you gear up for the biggest and most beautiful day of your life, what’s at the top of your priority list? According to a recent survey, 92% of brides said a smile is the most important wedding-day accessory.

Discreet, comfortable to wear, and removable when necessary!

My engagement lasted 15 months and even though it didn’t feel then that I had time on my side, most brides leave themselves only 13. Here’s the good news though — the average time it takes to straighten your teeth with Invisalign® is also only 13 months. Minor issues can even be dealt with in ten weeks or so. The bottom line is, this modern and discreet option for straightening your teeth will leave you feeling fresh and confident on your big day, with those nagging insecurities about your smile now a thing of the past. What better gift could a bride give herself as she embarks on her new life with her sweetie?

Engagement photos call for a glowing smile, too! Here’s one of ours, taken by Elisabeth Millay in Grand Central Station, NYC. I was so happy, I just could not stop grinning. You’ll feel the same way.

As you create your wedding budget, consider this. Invisalign® is not as pricy as you might think — treated like traditional braces by insurance companies, up to 50% may be covered. And, since the bottom-line price is comparable to traditional braces, you aren’t paying a premium for this discreet solution that lets you show off your pretty face without feeling like a preteen in need of a hiding place. Find a certified doctor here.

Radiate from within — straight teeth will let your joy do the talking.

Invisalign® is a series of virtually invisible, removable aligners made of lightweight plastic that gradually move teeth over time. In addition to those straight pearly whites, the benefits include no food restrictions and the ability to easily maintain healthy dental brushing habits. You’ll smile through every photo opp leading up to the big day from engagement sessions and parties to your bridal shower and bachelorette hijinks; all while your teeth are being straightened — and most people won’t even know it.

Our wedding-day smiles captured here by Elisabeth Millay.

Your big day will be punctuated by incredible moments you want to hold onto. I took a selfie while getting into bed with my mom for my last night as a single girl. Then in the morning, she snapped away as I got my makeup done. Of course, there’s the “first look,” the top of the aisle, the “I do’s,” and all the other fun leading up to the bouquet toss, cutting the cake, and those late-night turns around the dance floor. Your teeth are going to be center stage for all of it. Make sure you’re ready for your closeup with the gorgeous, straight smile you’ve always dreamed of. Let Invisalign® make it a reality.

Elisabeth Millay

I couldn’t be any happier with my wedding-day smile, and I want the same for you. Xx

A straight smile is the perfect accessory for your honeymoon, too. Here I am taking a selfie with my beloved on our last night at the Tuscan coast.

Engagement Photos: What to Wear

As you may know, Josh and I had quite the epic journey in getting our engagement photos checked off the list. Our first shoot was a disaster, our second one was cancelled due to weather and illness, and when we finally reached our third scheduled date and met Elisabeth in the city, it was pouring rain. But along the way, I was Pinterest-ing like a maniac, shopping like even more of a maniac, and figuring out the ingredients that go into a great shoot.

Were it not for the terrible weather, I would have loved to bring more than one outfit option. I think it’s good to go with something more casual and everyday like jeans and a cute little sweater and then something more dressy like a great LBD. Or, if your shoot is taking place in summer months, a sweet day dress or skirt with a white tee does wonders. Then, amp it up in something more flirty for the second set.

In any case, here are some pointers to get you through your engagement shoot. And ladies, if I had one piece of advice to give that’s more important than anything else, it would be: get a blowout. Now, back to the clothes:

For cool weather shoots, invest in a great trench that flatters your figure and will keep out the chill. She looks adorable, but I would swap out the Uggs in favor of something more classic.

This bride totally nailed it by selecting a dress that will stand the test of time. Her red wedges offer a pop of color without overwhelming the shoot. And, um, she clearly got a blowout!

A flirty, pastel dress is perfect. It is dressy enough to look like you two could be headed off to a fancy little dinner date, but it’s sweet and not stiff in the slightest.

Donna Karan once did an experiment: she put all of her models in black tights minutes before a show. Sure enough, they all reported feeling sexier in the clothes than they had before. You can NEVER go wrong with black tights!

White definitely works. She avoided being washed out with a smoky eye and a hint of color in the shoes.

On the flip side, some things I suggest steering clear of:

-Matching with your groom; both in blue, both wearing polos under sweaters, etc. It seems sweet in theory, but in print it looks tacky.

-Anything too tight that will make you feel constricted. Also, you’ll be bending, sitting, jumping, and so on. If you’re in a skin-tight dress, that will not be flattering.

-A very bold print. No matter how on-trend the outfit is, in photos it will overwhelm you and take away from the most important part — your faces! Prints, if selected, should be muted and should fade into the photo softly.

-Sky-high heels. You won’t be able to have as much fun on your shoot if you can’t walk in the shoes. Trust.

-Ripped jeans, empire waists, bubble skirts, or anything that is going to make you look sloppy, pregnant or thicker in the hips than you are. It might be a cute look for girls’ night, but it won’t work in your engagement photos.

-Neon nails, major fake lashes and other of-the-moment beauty statements. Again, you want the real you to shine. Save the drama for your Saturday night date.

8 Days and 7 Engagement Photos

Josh and I have not finalized our agreement on all our favorite engagement shots but since I downloaded some to use in our rehearsal dinner slideshow (a week from tonight, y’all!), I thought I would share them for interested parties. Until the rain soaked it through, I must say my hair looked pretty amazing. That is in thanks to the genius highlights at Sally Hershberger Downtown by my stylist Justin (book him now, before he gets too famous to see you), and a blowout at Haven in Huntington Village, LI.

As we braved the harsh spring weather arm in arm, things did frizz up and my makeup melted away. But we had a blast splashing about with our incredible photographer, Elisabeth Millay, and I can’t wait to show you more of these–and, ahem, our wedding photos too!

More on the Engagement Photos

We haven’t yet selected which photos we want to download and showcase on Facebook and beyond, but Josh and I are so excited about the shots we got on our New York day. Of course, I wish we’d had the opportunity to wear more spring-like clothes and flit about in the beautiful sunshine, but Elisabeth did the best she could with the circumstances and we couldn’t be happier.

Planning an engagement shoot or did one recently? What are your thoughts on locations, outfits, and shots? Any prepped poses, or just go with the flow? I had so many potential pictures in my mind but when we got there, we just went for it, and I think the results were spectacular!

Engagement Pictures… Finally

Well, if you hadn’t heard, we’re ENGAGED. Ok, I jest. But really, the engagement photos are supposed to happen pretty early on. They can serve as a generalized announcement, make a lovely graphic for the save-the-date, or just decorate your home while you bask in the splendor of your engagement. Or, like Josh and me, you can take nearly a year to get them taken care of.

By now you’re more than familiar with our engagement photo saga, but I’m happy to say things worked out in the end. We have yet to receive all the photos from Elisabeth, but her blog post of our shoot went up last week and it is truly amazing. Here is my favorite of the bunch… I will share more with you as soon as we have them!

New York in Paris

Bonjour! I’m writing from our more-than-beautiful hotel room, looking out on Rue Saint-Roch while my beloved gets a few finals snores in before we face the day. It’s been an adventurous trip and I’ll share all of that with you when we return to the States. Photos, too. But for now, in case you have not seen it, here is our official first “teaser” from last weekend’s engagement shoot in Manhattan. I think it’s safe to say that Elisabeth can make any circumstances turn out in a lovely way. And, um, my fiance is super-hot.

More to come… à tout à l’heure!

Showered in Love, Part Two

Coming off the super-high heels of yesterday’s post on my bridal shower, is Sunday’s rain-trodden engagement shoot. As you know from following this blog, Josh and I do not have the best of luck with engagement photographs. Our first batch was a disastrous mix of humidity, swollen extremities, poor wardrobe selections and terrifying camera angles. The second shoot, slated for December, was canceled due to a combination of blizzard and stomach flu. So, it should have been no surprise when I checked the weather on Sunday morning and saw nothing but rain all. day. long.

Still, I was resilient. I removed my brand-new and twice-steamed silk French Connection dress from its garment bag that hung inside my bedroom door at Fairview Street. I slipped into my cork-bottom, black patent peep-toe Cole Haan pumps that I’d preserved for the occasion. I booked a blowout. And a lash fill. And I checked the weather again.

And then I cried.

Why was this happening to me? Why could I not just have the stars align for two measly hours so that Josh and I could mark our engagement in style? We’ve both lost weight and worked hard to get ourselves in tip-top shape. We’ve combed the internet (OK, I’ve combed the internet) looking for style and pose inspiration. We have the photographer of our dreams meeting us outside the Plaza at 6pm on a Sunday. Can the rain clouds not just give us a break?

Luckily, our incredible photographer Elisabeth Millay agreed to meet us early while the sun was still (sort of) in the sky, and she reassured me that the photos would be beautiful. Her husband, a talented photog in his own right, would come along and even hold an umbrella over us at times to make sure we got everything we needed.

I hightailed it to Fox’s, the high-end designer resale shop in my hometown, looking like a drowned rat in an old sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants from high school (ahem, that was a while ago). “I need a long-sleeved dress!” I declared, aloud, to anyone who might be listening. At the onset of summer, finding a long-sleeved dress in a beach town that is neither black nor funerial nor both, is tough. But after many options were tossed aside, I found a navy knit number with see-through woven sleeves and suited up in that, black tights, and a borrowed pair of my mother’s pumps. And I caught a train. Weather, be damned!

We shot for about 20 minutes inside Grand Central Station, where Josh felt a little weird that everyone was looking at us. Don’t worry, your favorite attention whore here was just fine with all the stares! We then hopped a cab uptown and shot outside the Paris theater, the Plaza, and the adjacent fountain before making our way into Central Park.

After some playful shots and some more serious ones, we were all wet and tired and ready to call it a wrap. But, Elisabeth and her husband conferred–there was a clearing we had to get to. We made our way up the path and out onto a large slab of rock. Josh led me to the top as the rain was beating down on our crisp designer outfits and previously well-coiffed hair. He took my hand and we looked at the view–that iconic New York skyline with heavy fog at the top, and a park completely empty for only us to enjoy.

The smooching that followed will undoubtedly make for some great photos, and it doesn’t take a psychic to know I’ve been stalking Elisabeth’s blog like a junkie for the past four days waiting for a teaser. After our romantic, rainy shoot, Josh and I grabbed hands and headed south on Fifth toward Trump Plaza. Tucked inside, we ordered cabernet and French fries and laughed about the day. And that is what being engaged is about.

Here is my lesson from this seemingly less-than-perfect day. You cannot control everything, even when it comes to your wedding. No matter how many Pinterest boards you maintain and how many vendors you terrify into submission, dress fittings you attend or green juice smoothies you consume in lieu of a proper lunch… there will be things related to your engagement and wedding that just don’t go the way you wanted or planned. And this is okay. Because life, and marriage, will be the same way. So, when you get hit with a shower, you need to just turn it around, buy a new dress, slap on a smile and face it. Turning storm clouds into rainbows is something Josh and I will have to do for the rest of our lives together. We might as well start now.

here’s me, biting my lip and wearing a rain bonnet en route to the shoot in a slush-filled taxi. don’t i look pleased??

Engagement Photos: The Remix

You might have read here and here about our disastrous luck with engagement photos. So it goes without saying that I have a fair amount of nervousness surrounding our upcoming reshoot. Here’s the good news. Our new photographer, Elisabeth Millay, is an absolute genius who creates fairy tale- like art in all her work. We will also be shooting in our home city, where we fell in love, so finding memories attached to the locations (rocks and benches in Central Park, street corners where we’ve kissed countless times, etc.) will be easy. Additionally, I’ll have one of my hair trials for the wedding that morning, meaning my hair should look lovely from every angle, rather than dealing with the incessant fly-aways that reigned supreme at our last shoot.

But the bad news is that I don’t yet have an outfit. And I am conflicted about what to pick. The first time we shot, that voluminous skirted dress did not flatter at all. The punishing heat didn’t help, and while I was ok with my face, I honestly did not like a single shot of my bod. Sad! For our second scheduled shoot, I purchased a stunning Reiss number that hugs every curve in the best way possible– but its long sleeves and knee length hem are inappropriate for spring so as much as I love it, that’s out.

Without the option of black which is the standard, slimming, go-to, but inappropriate for a springtime engagement shoot in Central Park, I’m not sure what to do. A floral frock would be lovely but will it stand the test of time, or look dated and weird in ten years when we flip through the albums? Heels are a must, but how high? Open, closed? And while my Texas-sized closet is stocked with dresses in every color and style imaginable, I can’t help but yearn for something special and specific to this shoot… Something I pick out especially for these photos and treasure for evermore, attaching it to the memory of this lovely time. The jury’s still out on whether said purchase will be made. And with less than a week left, I probably need to get on it. But in case there’s any doubt about where I will be spending my free time for the next few days, rest assured I will be dreaming of fashion from inside the four walls of the gym. That’s one thing that definitely can’t hurt! Stay tuned.

PS. I recently purchased the above Free People dress and I absolutely love it… but not sure if it’s a tad too short for these particular photos? Other ideas include blue to bring out my eyes, a subtle floral, something all-pink rather than white… and, um, I am running out of ideas at that. What are your thoughts?

PPS. All engagement photos pictured above are courtesy of Style Me Pretty.

Engagement Photos: We’re Doomed!

Oh, faithful readers, I had hoped that the first post of the new year would be filled to the brim with exciting details about our romantic wintry photo shoot in Central Park and along Fifth Avenue. I was certain that the holiday lights and bustling crowd would make for a magical backdrop to the capturing of our New York love story.

I went to Bloomingdale’s and charged a black raw silk and chiffon inlay Reiss dress I have no business owning. Oh, and I bought the red suede pumps I tried on with it because I couldn’t stand to leave the store without them. I mapped out a route along which we would stroll, holding hands and stopping to smooch in front of the lens. I purchased a beautiful wool coat to the knee with gold buttons so that when I couldn’t take the cold, I could at least look pretty.

And then, the two worst things about winter in New York came crashing down on our plan: 1) weather and 2) illness.

Josh never gets sick. I mean never. I tend to be sort of almost-sick 98% of the time. There’s always some minor thing ailing me, I whine about it a few minutes each morning, and then get on with life. But when I tell you I have only seen my fiance seek one time before this past week, it’s true. And it was so alarming that first time in 2010 that I actually left my offices at the Wall Street Journal without telling my boss, burst out the front door into the 90+ degree balmy heat, and ran all the way across town in heels to his apartment to get to him. I was that worried.

This week wasn’t so dramatic, but it certainly wasn’t pretty either. We’d heard rumors of a stomach bug going around but were adamant we wouldn’t, couldn’t, get sick. At his birthday dinner, he mixed Airborne in our waters and kept a good distance from anyone who claimed to have been even remotely sick, even remotely recently. But on that fateful morning, December 28, 2012, my dearest one woke up with a nasty bout of stomach flu. And by noon, I, too had fallen.

Couple with that the wind-chill factor keeping the temp in the single digits, and you had two un-romantically inclined people on your hands. Luckily, our photographer will be in NY for most spring weekends and we had planned to go in May anyway for my dress fitting and other things. So, ladies and gentleman, we now have a third date lined up for the shoot. Let’s hope this one is the charm!