...was gorgeous and incredibly fun. (As some of you may remember, I am a guest at three weddings this summer in addition to the one in August that I'm a maid of honor in - today was the second wedding of the season.)

The wedding ceremony took place in the lobby of a ballroom festooned with balconies and crystal chandeliers. Our wedding invitations were set up as if we were being invited to a move premiere, and the beautiful setting and red-carpet treatment from the staff really contributed to the vibe. I believe under 100 guests attended, so it felt very intimate. B., our friends, and I were touched to be included in the day. The reception took place in the ballroom itself, flanked with tall windows, and the tables were decked out with fake diamonds and tall pillars of white ostrich feathers. A jazz quartet including a female singer with a gorgeous smoky voice serenaded us with standard tunes.

Each table had a theme of a classic Hollywood star - Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier. Each of us had a placecard with our name and a trivia fact about the star whose table we were supposed to sit at in order to direct us to our place. (B. and I were at the Vivien Leigh table for our sit-down dinner.) The bride and groom from the wedding 3 weeks ago were in attendance, along with the bride from the wedding we're going to in two weeks, so we enjoyed having a chance to sit down and gab, and hear how everything was going.

The bride was a knockout in a fitted satin dress, bustled and with tiny buttons down the back, and a sparkly lace bodice. The best part is that the dress had a large cutout to expose the upper back. this isn't the exact dress, but the silhouette and look of the dress from the back is very close to what the bride wore. Her blonde hair was pinned up in waves of intertwined curls, and she had made her own tulle and feather fascinator. It was absolutely stunning! The bridesmaids, in long red gowns that were just the right color, and the groomsmen in suits and spectator brogues, looked equally fantastic. Many guests joined in the theme with zoot suits, spats, feathered hats and fascinators, and pearls.

I didn't quite go Old Hollywood - though many of the guests complimented me on my "vintage inspired ensemble" so I must have done okay! I really liked this experimental wedding guest outfit with my emerald/black marbellized Michael Kors dress with the ruched elbow-length sleeves, a black ribbon edged in white, and aqua pumps. For the wedding I decided to just change it up by adding layers of black beaded necklaces (pinning on the feathery/lace brooch that came with Angie's former necklace at the YLF swap), some black crystal chandelier earrings, and two-toned Commando fishnet hose. Red lipstick and a subtle smoky cat-eye makeup (unfortunately, the latter didn't show well in these photos) made me feel glam.

Originally I'd been really tempted to run out to a formal dress shop and buy some black elbow-length gloves. I think that would have upped the thematic dressing a lot, but it also might have been fussy during cocktail hour. In the end I felt perfectly fine in what I chose to wear, gloves or no.

I'm still trying to nail down what I want to wear for wedding #3 (a more standard semi-formal afternoon wedding.) We'll see what happens! We've had a blast at the first two, and #3 will include many of the same guests, so B. and I are greatly looking forward to it.