RED, BLACK & ENGAGED

It's been a while since I've been in this corner of the Internet and let me be the first to say, a lot has changed since my last post! The last part of summer became a total whirlwind because on August 3rd, Andrew asked me a life changing question. After 8 and a half years together, we're getting married and we're SO excited about it. We've got a date and most of our important vendors booked. September 2018 has never looked so good.

All that to say, my life became consumed with sharing our news, soaking in the excitement of it, and getting our preliminary plans in order. We didn't want a long engagement, so we knew a 13-month timeline was ideal for us. Now that we've got most of our big vendors locked and loaded (so excited about our photographer and videographer!) we've had some time to kick back and let this all sink in.

Admidst all of the wedding chaos, we attended the wedding of some really great friends of ours over the weekend. I wore this dress (despite it being 40 degrees Celsius with the humidex!) and had many, many messages on Instagram asking me where it's from! I figured there was no better excuse to put it back on and share the details with you! In case you'd like to see more of what I wear day to day, you can follow me on Instagram. The stories feature is one of my favourites for sharing quick snaps of my outfits!

I bought it thinking, since the wedding was on the second day of fall after all, that the temperatures would be cooler. Little did I know we'd get a recording breaking September heat wave. Determined to wear this dress, I suffered through. That being said, it's actually quite light and breathable. Believe it or not, this dress is from H&M. I saw it on the mannequin when shopping with Andrew's mom and knew I had to have it. Since the store I was at wouldn't take the size I needed off the mannequin, I knew I had to get back to Ottawa to try to find it. H&M Bayshore pulled through for me and I left the store as one happy girl (and it was only $65 - what a steal!) It's not listed online but I only bought it two weeks ago so it's likely still in stores!

I typically shy away from the red and black colour combination - it's not something I'm usually drawn towards. The subtly romantic floral pattern, bell sleeves and pleated skirt had me sold, though. I love how soft and romantic this dress feels. It looks high fashion but it's an affordable price point and it's versatile. Can you imagine how cute it would look with a pair of black leather combat boots? Going into the cooler months I'll definitely be layering it with my leather jacket for extra warmth. I can't wait to whip it out again for a small family celebration at the end of October!

I've got some exciting wedding content coming your way, but don't worry, I promise this won't turn into a wedding blog. We're not doing a DIY wedding so there won't be much of that, but we are putting plenty of thought into every detail to ensure it's our dream day. Hey, even if we got married in a field wearing paper bags, it would still be my dream day because I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. Cheesy, right?

Dress: H&M (not sold online, similar skirt here) | Heels: Call It Spring | Leather Jacket: Forever 21 (old) | Purse: Kate Spade Cedar Street Maise