Engagement and Wedding Photo Props

Every wedding is individual. Which is why you may see something that has been done before by someone else that you love. Does that mean you shouldn't use it for your own wedding? NO! There are loads of sites with all kinds of wedding inspiration and sure, all of these things have been done before but, NOT BY YOU! I stick by the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" so, if you are inspired by something someone else has done in their wedding, and you love it, by all means...make it yours!! The following items have been done before...over and over. That just means it must be a good idea! When you look back at your engagement and wedding photos, years down the road, I bet you will still love that you used some of these ideas!

Mr and Mrs photo prop signs - these have a dual use because on the back, it also has Thank and You! Sold by pertyfultings on Etsy

This photo was taken by Abigail Seymour - her work is amazing (seriously I looked at every page on her website!) She is based out of Greensboro, NC. You can just tell by her images that she has a gift. Love her work! Check it out...you will be inspired, trust me!

This photograph was also taken by Abigail Seymour from the wedding of Jen and Craig. The table signs (I just loved the saying so much I had to share!) and the Mr and Mrs photo props were made by Pertyfultings

Pertyfultings has some really great things in her shop! Prices are great and options are endless! Love that! This "Just Hitched" photo prop is also double sided (for twice the use!) with a Thanks Y'all on the back! $9.50 

What do you think? Would you love to win your choice of sign from Pertyfultings? Let me know....

Banner Art

Talking about the two new banners from Lisa Leonard inspired me! I went on a hunt to find other banners that could have many uses for a wedding (and then can be used after!) - I love how they add a personalized aspect to weddings. If you are a crafty, DIY bride you could probably make these but, for me? I would much rather find something that LOOKS like I made it! I am just not good with scissors, sewing, and paper...thankfully, others are! I love the look and feel of having homemade items to personalize your wedding! I also love that these can be used in your home after the wedding! There are so many things you purchase for a wedding that are "one time use" so, anything you can buy for a wedding that has a use AFTER the big day is good for me!  Here are some fun banners I was able to find:

String of Words Alphabet Discs - 12.99

From Mod Cloth - buy here!

This set has many uses! You get 36 thick, sturdy paperboard circles printed with letters reproduced from Victorian wood type and equipped with metal grommets, as well as a ribbon to tie these letters together! Make anything you want....over and over! Perfect price for a banner that you can use at the wedding, reception and then at home!

Love Red Glitter Burlap Banner - 26.00

From Etsy seller Funkyshique 

I have blogged about this Etsy store before....and even hosted a giveaway with her! So, you know I absolutely love her things! (I giveaway things I am in love with and would want for myself! ;) haha). Anyway, I just think her designs are great! They are all handmade and from working with her in the past I can tell you she is SO NICE too!

MR. and MRS. wedding chair hanger signs - 10.00

From Etsy seller CowCountryCreations

Fun Mrs. and Mr. chair banners have a vintage look and are accented with little rhinestone details. The ribbon colors can be changed to match your wedding theme. I thought the price was perfect for two!

Pennant Banners by Lisa Leonard

Had to share another new design by Lisa Leonard - the pennant banner! Each pennant is hand-cast and then hand-stamped with a large 1" letter. Price starts at $44 and includes 4 pennant flags, each add'l flag only $9.

Today TWO people will win a hand-stamped pennant banner with up to 6 flags! Click here to enter!! Good luck (and let me know if you win!)

Wedding Dresses For Any Season

When you are getting married it is important to remember every detail in planning your wedding. It is important to take into consideration what season your wedding date is set for and choose the perfect wedding dress for that season.

Fall wedding dresses

The fall season can be a very tricky month; it can be warm during the day, and freezing cold at night. It is important that you choose the right dress. Wedding experts have recommended that wearing a strapless wedding dress will allow you to be comfortable during the day, however if you get chilly toward the end of the day, you can wear a shawl, wrap or even a stole to stay warm. These accessories will accent the look of your gown.

Summer wedding dresses

Summertime is the most chosen season for weddings. There are many different options for wedding dresses for the summer season. It is important that you decide well before you choose a dress where the wedding will be held. It is equally important that you choose a dress appropriate for the location. You do not want to wear a full-length wedding gown if you are getting married on the beach or in some other casual setting. Summer wedding gowns should be made out of lightweight materials like silk, chiffon or crepe. The lightweight material will allow you to stay comfortable in the summer heat and during the festivities.

Winter wedding dresses

Winter is perhaps the most difficult season to choose a wedding dress for. Although the traditional long white wedding gown is recommended for winter weddings, many people choose to go with other colors that reflect the season. Green blue and even red colors are all wonderful choices for a winter wedding.

Read more.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Wedding-Dresses-For-Any-Season&id=1027263

New Lisa Leonard Designs

I absolutely adore Lisa Leonard designs so, when I saw an email from her today announcing a new decor line I immediately wanted to share!

 Fairy wands, banners, magnets and bowls

 Adorable to use in engagement sessions, at your wedding and then in your home! Banners are $46 for four hearts, each add'l heart only $9. You get to choose your ribbon color, too!

Perfect for your flower girl right? Fairy wands are $26 and can be personalized with a name or special phrase up to 16 characters 

Act quick to get this special discount (valid until Mar 26th): use coupon decor20 for 20% off your entire order!


Also, I know you will be interested in this....Lisa Leonard is hosting a giveaway right now for an oval wall hanging!!! (love it!)

Giveaway Thursday

I LOVE giveaways! I love hosting them, I love entering them and I especially love winning them! I have been scouring some giveaways today that might interest my followers! Some are ending quickly so act fast!

Win 50 invitations and a pair of earrings! Ends Mar 25th!

Win a personalized hanger! End date Mar 31st!

Pick the Fall 2011 catalog cover for Bonny ends April 1st

Win a Ring Bearer Bloom Bowl end April 1st

Cake pops are popping up all over!

Last week, I arrived back in Southern California from a trip to the Mexican Riviera. My first stop: Starbucks! To my utter surprise and delight, cake pops! Seriously? Oh yes. 

The plan was hatched to unveil these babies as part of their 40th year celebration! There is a cute little story on Starbucks blog where they talk about cake pops. I absolutely love the honesty about how hard these little babies are to make - I have tried and failed many times! So, if you haven't seen these in stores yet, here is the deal: 

You get three flavors:

Birthday – Vanilla cake and icing, dipped in pink chocolate and fun white sprinkles.
Rocky Road - Chocolate cake and icing dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in mini marshmallows and roasted almonds.
Tiramisu – Vanilla cake and Starbucks® coffee icing, dipped in mocha chocolate and topped with a chocolate coffee bean.

I have personally tried the Rocky Road and Tiramisu. The Birthday Cake must be the most popular! It is always GONE by the time I make it into my Starbucks! My favorite of the two, hands down: Rocky Road (but, it's my favorite ice cream, too!). The Tiramisu, they say, is made from Vanilla cake but, it's a flavored cake - not just vanilla. It was a little on the sweet side for me. All three pops are under 200 calories and they are just enough to have your cake and eat it too! 

Of course, my brain went straight to the price! I have seen some bakeries selling cake pops for $3.00 each! Starbucks has them priced at $1.50 each, 2 for $2.50 or 6 for $7.50. My thought was that cake pops are now affordable for wedding showers or even dessert stations at weddings! I have yet to ask my local store if you ordered even more if you could get a better price....but, it couldn't hurt to ask right? Even if the answer was no, the lowest price would be $1.25 each and I think that is pretty affordable! Have you tried them? What was your favorite flavor?

We have a WINNER!

I spent a cold, rainy afternoon going over the entries for the March giveaway and am happy to send a little sunshine out to...SHANNA!! Your comment was chosen by our handy, dandy friend random.org!

We will contact you later today to get your information! Congrats again! And for those of you who didn't win, there is still a 15% discount code (good till the end of March!) you can use in Tessa Kim's shop: GLWTK11. Also, don't worry....a new giveaway is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! Get ready for a SPRING TIME SURPRISE! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Will the luck of the Irish carry over for you? Our March giveaway is coming to a close and our lucky winner will be chosen in just TWO DAYS!! I am pretty excited about this beautiful ensemble! A feather fascinator and a birdcage veil from Tessa Kim. I also happened to locate another Tessa Kim giveaway going on and I wanted to let you know - because there is also a 15% discount code attached to it, so even if you don't win the giveaway...you are still a winner!

ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY HERE! 

So, if you love Tessa's designs as much as I do make sure you also enter the giveaway at Grey Likes Weddings for $150 store credit! And, that's not all! Love & Lavender ALSO has a giveaway going on for a $100 store credit to Tessa Kim's website!! They are also picking a winner this Saturday! Wahoo!

Find a special wedding dress

Your big day is round the corner and you are still wondering where to get the stunning wedding dresses from? Wedding day is the most special day in everyone's life. Because of its importance, bridal dresses gain a lot of attention from the would-be spouse and all the guests. But finding that gorgeous dress is a Herculean task!

Choosing A Wedding Gown

Confusion is often caused because of lack of information about clothes, as this is a designer's territory. A wide variety of fabrics is available in various stores, but which one to choose is tough to answer. So many colors to choose from too! So it is wise to stick to traditional white gowns. Once you decide to go with white or a specific color, still there are many more important decisions to make. Which design and cut would be the best? Where will I find the best designer? These are just so many questions haunting a bride.

In fact delaying in choosing wedding dresses would leave you biting your nails. As bridal gowns are an important part of marriage ceremonies, many times choosing a wedding gown is the responsibility of relatives and friends of the would-be-bride.

Answer to all your doubts and queries regarding bridal dresses can be found on internet. You can visit these websites and have a look their picture gallery, compare their prices which gives you an opportunity to choose from the displayed gowns. These websites will give an idea about bridal jewelry, footwear, hair styles, tiaras, gloves, veils. Some of these websites have the alternative to choose whether you want to buy a worn wedding dress or you want to sell a wedding dress. But these websites and boutiques need some time to prepare custom-made dresses.

You could ask any of your friends and relatives who got married recently for suggestions. You also need to pay attention to the details whether they had a themed event or not. If it was a themed event like "beach" they might have opted for beach wedding dresses which might not be suitable for your wedding theme.

Read more.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Search-Of-Gorgeous-Wedding-Dresses&id=1199325

A slice of (paper) cake

It's been awhile since I have checked in on one of my favorite Etsy sellers: ImeonDesigns. In fact, it was in November of last year! You can read the post here. She creates beautiful paper cake boxes that you can order by the slice or as entire cake. Each design is completely handmade - including all the paper roses. Since I last checked in, Noemi has created more stunning designs and I love them all:

You want something unique and breath-taking to hold little thank you gifts for your bridal party, for the bridal shower or for the wedding. And then you see it; a gorgeous chocolate cake with colorful flowers delicately decorating each slice. It’s perfect! Each slice is $4.75 or you can message her for the entire cake!

You mean cakes come in another "flavor"?? Oh yes, they do....this creamy cake slice is a favor box with delicate and lovely blue toned flowers! The price for one slice is $3.50

Each cake slice is cut, pasted and put together by hand. Each flower starts off as a flat piece of paper and is twisted and turned until it comes to full bloom....and they do bloom....beautifully! I just love these. Very different, very special and something your guests will treasure as a thank you! Contact Noemi (her Etsy shop name is her first name backward!) and have a chat! She is a super, duper nice woman! I know this because we had an opportunity last year to do a giveaway with her and it was such a huge success! I think we are going to have to do something similar soon...what do you think Noemi??

March Giveaway is in full swing!

Our March giveaway is in full swing! Have you entered to win yet?! We are giving away a beautiful feather hair fascinator and a 9-inch birdcage veil to a lucky bride! The giveaway will end on March 19th, 2011 and remember that you can get up to 8 ENTIRES! Just follow our instructions on the blog post and make sure you leave ONE COMMENT for EACH item that you do (it makes our job a little easier when we are picking the winner).

Click here to enter now!

Crate and Barrel $100,000 Ultimate Wedding Giveaway

Crate and Barrel's $100,000

Ultimate Wedding Giveaway

Crate and Barrel is doing their $100,000 Ultimate Wedding contest again! To enter the contest you need to create a registry at Crate and Barrel. That shouldn't be too hard - they have everything you need (and I personally LOVE their stuff). If you already have a registry then you just need to: Click here and have ready: 

Three photos to upload of you and your fiancé and answer these three questions in 100 words or less:

1. Tell us your love story.
2. Get down to the nitty-gritty and share three important details of your Ultimate Wedding.
3. Describe how you'd design and decorate your dream home.

The deadline to get this all done is: March 31st, 2011. Then you will need to enlist your entire group of family and friends to vote because the top 100 couples will move on to the next round! The winning couple will be announced in June!

Bridal Gowns - Favorite For Every Girls

It's an old saying that the marriage is fixed in the heaven, only
the formalities are done on the earth. Some say after marriage
life is hell, but few say life has just started. Whatever is the
case of life after marriage, but in any case, bride and groom
dress well on their wedding day. But, on the wedding day the bride
is the most beautiful girl looking among the guest girls who have
visited for the wedding.

As the wedding days come closer, the most excited person among the couple is the woman. The excitement is not only for the new life but also, for looking the most beautiful girl on that day. The most important is the wedding gown for any women.
Nowadays, girls try to look more stylish and want to have many things ready for their wedding and this is the most important thing in her life. For the fulfillment of the bride's wishes there are many designs and bridal boutiques available. The bridal boutique not only consists of couture gowns but also many bridal accessories such as the bridal jewelry, bridal bags, bridal bracelets, bridal brooches and many more.When women go for the shopping, they are very choosy, and want to buy the best for them, this same goes for the bride, as she has many manipulation in choosing her gown, because the wedding day is her most favorite day, so she won't let go by normal way. Its definite she is going to choose the most expensive and the beautiful dress for that day. It's not only the dress she is gong to buy but a complete set of bridal accessories.

Few general tips while choosing the gown:

1. Be frank with measurements of your body. Don't buy a dress that is smaller than your physic. If you are choosing a designer for the gown then provide the designer with accurate measurement of your body.

2. Try to be stylish. It would be disappointment by you if you bound yourself in the beginning. Unlock your mind for the stylesthat you have never considered and tired. Trying a new style it won't cost you anything, it would be more comfortable to choose the perfect one.

3. Try to hide the flaws with some simple styles. A simple style will mask the flaws of your physic.

4. The best help can be given by your wardrobe. The wardrobe can be the key element in selecting as it consists of many of your favorites which can provide you which color and what all things can go with you.

Read more.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Bridal-Gowns---Favorite-of-All-Girls&id=3784099

My Little Cupcake

Let me introduce you to my new must have item: My Little Cupcake Pop mold. It's a no-bake mold that allows you to create adorable, sweet treats. The owner, and inventor of My Little Cupcake Pop mold, is Jeannette Facey. She even has her 3 little children show you how to make cupcake pops in a video...could it really be THAT easy? It would be hard to make a lot of these treats with only one mold so, I suggest ordering a few - they are sold individually for $5.95 or you can buy a party pack of 4 for $23.80

Would you wear a black wedding dress?

Oh my DARING brides, where are you? A new color is on the horizon in wedding gowns: black. I actually see enough white wedding gowns to actually LOVE colored wedding gowns! Black is dramatic. Black is bold. In some cultures black is actually worshiped as the color for innocence, new beginning, new life, matrimony, sacredness, purity and chastity....but would you wear it? Could you pull it off? It's the wedding gown runway dream...

Jill Stuart

What do you think? Is too far fetched? Maybe we have to ease into this color...with just using black as an accent color:

Bonny Bridal

Allure

Unforgettable by Bonny Bridal

Pretty bridal dresses by Japan bridal boutique Micie

The Micie bridal boutique in Tokyo, Japan (Aoyama and Motoazabu) makes the prettiest gowns that range from simple and chic to glamorous. I picked some of the gowns pictured below for their intricate detailing, particularly on the bodice and back. Feast your eyes on the following wedding dress eye candy.

The puffed sleeves and belt give this classic gown a retro feel.

I love the interesting and unexpected back detailing on these gowns.

Frothy layers at the back give this gown an element of fantasy.

A playful bow gives this strapless gown a pretty focal point.

The interesting draping on the bodice gives this strapless A-line gown a unique twist.

Fancy detailing at the back gives this gown a playful element.

Pretty in pink A-line gown with an elegant shirred bodice

A gown that's a simple bustier in the front with a surprise at the back.

Beautiful lotus-inspired detailing on the bodice

Kimono-inspired obi and back detailing

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