Wedding Guest Vibes

The end of February means we are right around the corner from wedding season. True wedding season that is. (I feel like wedding season is all year now.) If you have a bunch of weddings on your calendar this year I have the perfect dress for you to wear no matter the time of year! I originally bought this dress for my engagement photos and the way I justified the price was by telling myself I'd wear it to a ton of weddings. (Ok, not a ton, but at least a couple.) I originally wanted it in the green color, but my photographer suggested the navy instead. I'm kind of glad I went with navy because it's so classic.

The dress itself is also very classic, but the slit makes it a little edgy/sexy. I just love it. If it's a spring or summer wedding you are good to go with a pair of heels and a pair of statement earrings. If your wearing this to a fall or winter wedding you can add a fur coat or stole and it will look amazing. I've linked both below just in case.

Dress: Anthropologie | Shoes: Steve Madden | Lipstick: Jeffree Star Cosmetics VelvorLiquid Lipstick in Mannequin, Skin Tight, & Hunty | Fur Coat: here & here | Fur Stole: here

What's your wedding schedule look like this year? As of right now we only have one and it's this upcoming weekend. 

Thank y'all for stopping by and reading. I hope you have a great week!  

Pleated Engagement

Happy Thursday! 

It's been a long week and I am so happy tomorrow is Friday!

Today I wanted to share one of my outfits from our engagement photos last weekend. 

This was our second look, but the one I had to put the most thought into. (The first one came really easy. haha I'll be sharing that one in the next couple weeks too.) 

Since our first look was really dressy I wanted to keep this one a little more casual... but not jeans and a tee casual. I have a similar skirt in gold and I love it so I thought I would try and find a similar one. I searched for a while and finally found this one. I was a little worried the metallic would seem to Christmasy, but I think it worked out perfect! I wanted to keep the top neutral so I went with this off-the-shoulder gray sweater. (I asked for help on Instagram in choosing between this one and another one. I linked both in case you voted for the other and wanted the link.)

Once the outfit came together I knew immediately what shoes I would wear. They are really old, but definitely one of my favorites. 

We had a really great day shooting photos in North Carolina. Our photographer was awesome. I'm hoping to share some of our engagement photos with y'all soon. (Only if J agrees.) 

Top: h&m (gray sold out. similar here & here) | Skirt: Lulu's (similar here & love this) | Shoes: old (similar here & here) | Sunnies: Quay Australia | Earrings: Baublebar old (similar here,  here, & here) | Lipstick: Bite Beauty Matte Crème Lip Crayon in Glacé with bareMinerals Gen Nude Patent Liquid Lipstick in Major

Picking engagement outfits can be tough. I will definitely share some tips in an upcoming Wedding Wednesday post on how to pick your outfits. (It was a learning experience for me since these are the first professional photos J and I have taken.)

Engagement Story

Hi friends!!

I’m sorry I have been MIA for the last 2 weeks. If you follow me on Instagram you probably know why. If you don’t, I have some BIG news to share! About 2 weeks ago J completely surprised me and got down on one knee and we are officially engaged!!!! I could not be happier and today I thought I would share the full story with y’all! (Because who doesn’t love a good engagement story? I know this gal does.) So, let’s get to it shall we?

As most of you know I went to NYC a few weeks ago, and spent the first weekend in the Hamptons. J was out there working so, my bestie & I thought we would take full advantage of a Summer House moment. Fast forward to Wednesday, and I was back in the city; and J was heading home to Florida. (Or so I thought) He was texting me all day standard texts like "made it to the airport” & “just boarded my flight”. My best friend had also texted me around 11am that day and said “Change of plans tonight. I’m skipping my volleyball practice, and we are going to this rooftop in Brooklyn. My co-worker told me about it, and they do live music on Wednesdays! Dress cute and we’ll do a shoot for the blog then head there. I’m also getting off early so meet me at my office at 4:30.” I literally thought nothing of it, and just said, “Sounds good. See ya at 4:30.” I went about my day then went home to get ready and meet my friend. On the way to Brooklyn I was starving and really wanted Shake Shack. There’s a Shake Shack right there so, I kept begging my friend to go when we got off the train. He kept saying no which I thought was kind of weird, but finally he was like "Let’s just eat at the rooftop. My co-worker said the food is good." I agreed and dropped my Shake Shack crusade. (I think I skipped lunch that day.) When we got to Brooklyn we headed straight to the water and walking around the dock for a few. We decided the other side would be better for a shoot and made our way to the other side of the bridge by the carousal. There were a ton of prom kids taking photos so; we finally found a more secluded spot, so I could take blog pics without anyone in the background. We started shooting and maybe 5 minutes in, I saw a guy out of the corner of my eye that looked like J. I immediately did a double take and confirmed it was him. As soon as I knew it was him I looked at my best friend and said "What the $@*! is J doing here?!?" He just smiled at me and put down my DSLR camera and whipped out his phone. I started to walk towards J and lost it. Full on ugly cry with hyperventilating included. He walked me back toward the water got down on one knee and I could not even begin to tell you what he said other than I was his best friend and "Katie Helena Baird will you marry me?". I immediately said yes and the crying continued. Thankfully I was wearing sunglasses, so we were able to snap a few pics together before we toasted with a bottle of rosé, (J snagged a bottle right before he met us. Such a sweetheart!) and FaceTimed/called all our family & friends. J only told his parents, my dad and my best friend so it was really nice to tell my mom, brother and friends and have them be in total shock as well. It was a day I will never forget and I'm actually tearing up as I write this. (I can't watch the video without crying.)

I have dreamed of this day for so long, and it could not have been more perfect. New York is my favorite city in the entire world, and to have the skyline as the backdrop to my proposal was something I have always wished for. To say it was one of the most overwhelming feelings (in the best way) is an understatement. I think I was shaking for a solid 30 minutes after it happened. I was totally not expecting it which makes it that much sweeter.

As for the ring he proposed with his grandmother’s ring, which was absolutely beautiful. I did decide to get it reset and I have included a photo of both below.

Original ring

New ring

Dress: Target old (similar here & here) | Shoes: Target | Purse: 3.1 Phillip Lim (currently on sale) | Sunnies: Lulu's | Earrings: Target | Lip Color: NYX Butter Gloss in Praline 

P.S. J still isn't ready to make his debut on the blog. These were the photos we were taking before he got there.

P.P.S. The last 2 photos are when I realized J was there.