OOTD Help! (Wedding Edition)

I come to you asking for some help with what to wear for my weekend wedding!!  I ended up pulling two pieces from my closet to choose from - I've had these dresses for a while and they're just raring to go!  (Yep, my dresses are super excited!) Here's some wedding details that might help with your decision making process:

Start time: 4pm Location: Dana Point, CA (right on the water) Invitation specifics: "Dancing shoes required"

My two options are:

LOOK #1 - Long black halter with embroidery paired with black heels

New Dress A Day - What to wear to a wedding - black dress

LOOK #2 - Little Red (Erin Fetherston) Dress paired with aubergine slingbacks

(The camera doesn't do this dress justice, but to get a better idea the skirt is made of a crepe material and the edging at the bust is satin.)

New Dress A Day - What to wear to a wedding - short red dress

Long or short?  Red or black?  Can't wait to hear your thoughts!  (I'll post an instagram teaser shot when I get to the wedding so you can see which one won before the full post rundown!)

Oh and fear not...even though I didn't make these guys, I've remade a bunch of things I'll be wearing the rest of the weekend.

DIY Tie Dye Satchel

How was everyone's 4th of July?  I spent the day with my most favorite people catching up, eating burgers along with a fab quinoa salad (AK nailed it), and dipping my toes in the Pacific Ocean.  Yeah, I couldn't fully commit to going in because the water was too cold but I was thrilled to cheer on the people who took the dive! I showed the after shot of my tie dye satchel and wanted to give a full rundown of how I did it!

I started with this white hobo bag...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye

...and then started to get those rubber bands in place!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Rubber Band

I wanted to create a bulls eye design, so I grabbed a section of the bag near the top and banded the area as this was going to be the center of my bulls eye!

I continued to band my bag with an assortment of 1/2" to 1 1/2" sections left between each rubber band.

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Rubber Band

Once my rubber banding was complete, I took two Tulip dyes in red and teal (patriotic time!!)...

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Tulip dyes

...and began to color each section.  Before I added my dye, I made sure to get the bag completely wet.  This just helps the dye evenly blend into the sections.

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Tulip dyes

Once all my dye was added, I let my piece sit overnight to let the colors really saturate.  I love how they bled together in certain spots!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Tulip dyes

After letting the bag sit overnight, I trimmed off the rubber bands, rinsed out all the excess dye in the sink (I let the water run unti the colors stopped running), did a quick hand wash with Woolite, and then tossed it into the dryer to dry.

My new bag perfect for the 4th and perfect for the beach...

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye

I switched out the necessities from my everyday purse into this bag for the day and brought it on my beachy adventure!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Manhattan Beach

The picture below was taken right after I almost got hit in the head with a rogue volleyball.  Luckily I was saved by a gent who had quick right handed reflexes to deflect the Wilson when it came close.  The other dudes deemed him "gangster" for his skills which was hilarious - it was the ultimate bro-out moment which I'm sad to say I didn't get recorded or Vine'd quickly enough.  Oh Manhattan Beach...

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Manhattan Beach

The bag ended up being a fab cover-up for my sand-coated feet towards the end of the day as well!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye

Even though I wasn't able to video the bro moment, I was able to catch this amazingness.

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Satchel - Tie Dye - Denim Thong - Los Angeles

All I can say is, "Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream?"