Happy Thanksgiving, lovely readers! I hope you have a wonderful day of family, friends, and lots and lots of fabulous food! : D
Palm Springs Life
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From the monthly archives:
November 2008
Palm Springs Life
I love pretty things. But then again, who doesn’t?! Weddings are all about pretty things, no matter what a couple’s exact tastes are. But most of all I love the “pretty” that can be found in the unexpected. If you’re a wedding professional, you know how important it is to showcase your previous work to potential clients, whether it’s on your website, brochures, other promotional items, or simply your portfolio. To really impress those potentials, try taking your portfolio presentation to another level. That’s where ChrisQ’s Luxe Slipcovers comes in.
Christina contacted me about the creations she designs and makes, that have become really popular with photographers. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for fabric (having worked at a fabric store during high school and loving to sew). So when I saw the little works of art, I asked if she ever did them for wedding planners (because hey, we like to show off our work too!). She liked the idea, and created one just for me! See it just below. And on another note, I told her my company uses shades of pink and circles a lot – and look how cleverly she worked both in!
Is it not just the classiest, yet fun and chic, thing you have ever seen? I wish you could feel it. The fabric is thick and luxurious (I believe a nice upholstery fabric for the outside and a lining of dupioni silk – to die for). When I pulled it out of the fabulously wrapped packaging, I couldn’t put it down!
So let me tell you a little more about ChrisQ. Christina started making these slipcovers for her husband’s clients (he is a fabulous photographer in the DFW area). They were a hit with his brides and she has been creating them ever since. If you’re wanting to get your hands one one (which you should!), check out her selection of standard and deluxe slipcovers. Want something different? Something that you and you alone will have? Go custom. Christina makes the process simple.
Here is a photograph of the designer herself. I definitely recommend contacting her if you’re looking for a way to showcase your work (for the wedding professionals out there) or if you want something extra special to keep your memories in (for the brides out there). These would also make wonderful gifts from photographers to their brides or just to a couple from a loving friend or family member. Check out her site, ChrisQ.com, or shoot her an email, christina_quintanilla@yahoo.com. You won’t regret it!
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I am SO EXCITED for today’s giveaway. I’m even more excited, however, to share with you Jaime Kae Paper Studio!! JK provides “original handcrafted stationery for life’s special events”. So true! Jaime takes each client’s event details and builds a design around her (or his, or their) specifications.
Jaime began sharing her invitation and stationary fabulousness with others after designing her own wedding paper ensemble. You can see more of her work throughout her site on the Floralies, Luxe, Voyages, Letra, and Bebe (for tiny new additions to the family) pages. You can also find a detailed outline of the process Jaime’s clients go through when designing and ordering their invitations.
Enter the Jaime Kae Paper Studio Giveaway by submitting an original inspiration board with your wedding ideas in a collage format. Use MS Word, Publisher, Paint, Photoshop, Illustrator, or any other program you prefer to create a file that can be submitted for judging (please send your images to us in .jpg format). Be sure to provide your sources for all images. Check out this example Jaime sent us – an inspiration board with a red and pink cherry blossom and Chinese double happiness wedding theme.
Hair: www.hubpages.com/hub/Wedding_Hairdos
Cherry blossom cookies: www.dianescakesandmore.com
Invitations: Jaime Kae Paper Studio www.jkpaperstudio.net
Parasols: www.theknot.com
Tall floral centerpiece: www.scentboutique.co.nz/
Shoes: Anne Klein New York www.instyleweddings.com
Cake: GrowsOnYou
Chopsticks: www.weddingfavours.ca
Wedding gown: www.beatecouture.com
Short floral arrangement: www.kabloomofsandysprings.blogspot.com
At the close of the contest the first prize winner will receive 50% off their entire custom wedding stationery package by Jaime Kae Paper Studio and two runners up will recieve 20% off their stationery packages. That includes everything from save the dates to thank you cards and everything in between. Jaime Kae will use your inspiration board and wedding vision to create a stationery package that is unique and exclusive to your wedding.
Contest will end on December 5th. We will be judging the entries and posting them as they are sent to us (via email: weddingfanatic {at} gmail {dot} com).
Good luck to everyone and feel free to contact Jaime Kae if you need assistance with your inspiration board!
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Carnations totally get a bad rap. Let’s admit it, they do! And it’s not always fair. True, they may not be the most pleasing to the eye flower, and perhaps they don’t smell the best (though I don’t think they smell bad in the slightest!). But, they can be used to create some absolutely fabulous arrangements. Check out a few of these ideas.
These simple arrangements add a chic element to a reception space. Group together enough carnations so that the flowers will rest on top of your glass containers. Tie the stems together, cut to desired length. Fill the bottom with stones, marbles, rose petals, etc. and finish off with coordinating ribbons. Image from Beginning Two End.
And here we have Martha with a lovely heart arrangement. I love this idea. No, the arrangement doesn’t necessarily need to be a heart (a circle, square, cube, and even letters work well too). These can be hung on doors, propped on easels, rested against pews or an alter, or laid flat to hold rings (a much smaller designs, of course) place cards, candles, or anything else your creative brain can dream up! Image from Martha!
Here we have a bouquet-turned-centerpiece. It would definitely be something great to send the girls down the aisle with, and can be easily incorporated into the reception decor (I hear money being saved as we speak!). Image from ProFlowers.
I adore these “bloom spheres”. They look great with a number of different flowers, especially carnations. Construct some of these (or pay someone else to do it for you) and put them everywhere! Okay, not everywhere, but they can be placed in a good number of places. For example, atop glass cylinders like the one pictured above. Have just one arrangement or form a group. Line the aisle with them. Hang them from shepherd’s hooks with ribbon. Place a few on or under the altar. The possibilities are nearly endless.
Found on flickr.
Here is another pretty from Martha. A very simple arrangement that can be transformed into something modern, elegant, even “gothic”, with the right container.
To end on a delicious note, look at this fabulous cake stand! It ads so much to a simple cake and is something different – not your average round, silver tray. Although I didn’t find it there, I believe this is also Martha!
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I won’t lie to you – I have a sweet tooth. A big one. In fact, I probably have more than one. And although I tend to prefer the fruity candies, I do love some delicious chocolate from time to time (you know, for all of its “health enhancing” qualities ; ).
Enter : Choclatique. This fabulous site is all about chocolates. From their information on chocolate, detailed flavor guide, and customizable chocolates boxes, you can find what you’re looking for!
The site offers a variety of products, not just chocolates! Try marshmallows, nuts, sauces, ganaches, beverages, and even sugar-free goodness! And if you’re really fanatical, you can join the Club de Choclatique to received monthly chocolate deliciousness!
If you happen to be looking for something for a wedding or anniversary, they also have some items you should check out. Yum!
Now for the really good stuff. Choclatique is giving one of our readers an 8 piece Love assortment (pictured above). Doesn’t it look delicious (and almost too good to eat)!? To enter, simply tell us what you think looks like the best Choclatique goodie. We’ll randomly pick a winner at the end of the week.
And congrats to Erin E. from the Invitation Consultants’ custom stamper giveaway!
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Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion. Just because you want to make the people you love happy does not mean you have to cover up what you think and feel. If you really don’t like orange as your main wedding color, but your mother-in-law to be keeps telling you it would make everything look even better, then just tell her the truth. Of course, you don’t have to be mean about it! Simply tell her something like, “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I really just think the color pink (or green or blue, etc.) would reflect our personalities more.” If she keeps talking up orange, you know you tried and don’t have to feel bad when you don’t use orange on your big day.
Don’t be afraid to put your foot down. It can be hard, it’s very true. But putting your “foot down” is something you need to learn sooner or later! Do you just plan to pay for an overpriced cake? Are you going to “just this once” let your mother decide which dress (or tux) you’ll buy (or rent) or what flowers you’ll use? What about wedding party members that don’t like the way you have the day scheduled? You’ve put a lot of time and effort into making your wedding day the way you and your love want it (we hope), so don’t let other people change your mind or make you second guess yourself. Put that pretty little foot down and say “NO”!
You can’t make all of the people happy all of the time. If you’re a people-pleasing person, you’ve hopefully already come to terms with this. You really can’t make everyone happy all of the time (even though you may try and try). It’s just not possible. All you can do … is do your best! Make the decisions you feel are right and stick to ‘em. If someone gets upset about a tiny detail, you did what you could and that’s that. Don’t let yourself feel bad about it!
You may regret or resent not fighting for what you want. If you don’t at least try to get what you want (within reason) for your wedding day, you may regret it. If you end up with flowers you didn’t like (but your mom did) and bridesmaids dresses that just weren’t that great (but your girls loved them) and your hair…well, let’s just say you can’t believe you look like this on your wedding day (but your stylist said it will be perfect), you may be overcome with disappointment – on one of the happiest days of your life. And the last thing you want to be thinking about as you walk down the aisle (or as you’re waiting at the end of it) is how you should have just said “No” to this or that or “Sorry, but we’re doing this instead”.
Bottom line : It’s your wedding. It’s true. If you and your man (or woman) are happy, then that’s what really matters.
-Don’t really feel comfortable stating your opinion or saying no? Hire someone to do it for you. That is just one of the many ways a wedding planner can come in handy. If you feel comfortable enough telling her (or him) what you do and do not like, she can help you get what you want and save you from putting up with those things that you don’t want.
-If there are a lot of people around when you’re trying to make a decision, it can get rough and tricky to say what you really want to say. For instance, if you’re meeting with your florist and mom, future MIL, and three of your BM are there (and they all want different flowers), ask if you can chat with the florist alone for a few minutes (or tell her you’ll call her back with the final order). This way, you can be honest without being afraid of hurting anyone’s feelings.
-Do some wedding planning alone or with only your future spouse. You can make decisions together. After all, the wedding is a reflection of the two of you.
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Special lighting techniques can really add a lot to your reception (or wedding) space. They can help hide ugly walls or accentuate pretty ones. They can make a space more elegant, romantic, crazy or fun! They can truly transform an ordinary space into an extraordinary one.
So, if you’re looking into having some special lighting brighten your big day, here are a few basic lighting techniques you might like to know about!
PIN SPOT Think of this as a spot light … but a very tiny one. It shoots a beam of light at one particular object, lighting up only that object. These work perfectly for cakes and centerpieces.
This great shot is from Pacific Weddings.
LED These great little numbers are fabulous for weddings. They come in a number of colors, emit less heat and use less electricity than regular light bulbs, and can easily be used for light color changes. Sometimes, wireless LED lights can be used, meaning they can be placed almost anywhere. If you’re looking to spice up a room with some color or just accent a particular area, look into LED lights.
Below is an example of a LED color change, from blue to pink, to help give the area a different ambiance during different parts of the evening.
These images are from Our Wedding Plus.
COLOR WASH A color wash is basically a technique that fills the room with a particular color, transforming a white room, perhaps, into a green, purple, or pink room. This is perfect for a lounging area near the dance floor or another space where people aren’t really trying to see what they are eating (at least in my opinion).
GOBOS These stencils can be custom made to fit your specific needs (monogram, special designs, etc.). They can withstand extreme heat, which is fabulous considering they are placed over light that project their image onto a wall, dance floor, or some other service. Check out this video with a bunch of great examples of what gobos and do.
Here is one last picture from Bridalwave using a combination of lighting techniques – very visually stimulating! See how much it transforms the space? On its own, the space looks like an elegant area, but with the lights we get something that looks more like a club. Love it!
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Sorry I didn’t get this to you yesterday! Crazy day.
Let me tell you about MyInvitationLink.com, a fabulous online wedding invitation creator. It’s definitely something you should look into if you’re wanting to forgo the traditional paper invitations or if you’re looking for a way to be extra environmentally friendly.
So how does the site work? Once on the site, start by selecting a template (there are more than 40 to chose from). Next, upload photographs from your computer – engagement shots, your favorite “sweet” pictures, etc. The next step is to add text slides – tell your love story, share wedding day details, whatever you want to share with your guests. After the text slides, you can add music by choosing from a selection the site already has or uploading a tune of your own. Next, organize the slides in the order you want them, finalize everything, and create and send! Easy as that.
And just because we’re focusing on the wedding-related aspects of the site, many of the invitations can be used for showers, engagement parties, and even new babies!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS: We will be giving away two free accounts! Yippie! MyInvitationLink will host the invitations for three months (the winners don’t have to create accounts right away, however). To enter, simply post a comment sharing with us your favorite eco-chic invitation alternative or other earth friendly wedding favorite.
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Talk about an interesting concept. I saw this post over at WeddingBee by Miss Sea Breeze. I could not help but to investigate further.
Imagine dining with twenty two of you friends or business associates, getting married, or just watching something entertaining 120 (or more) feet up in the air. Interested? Then you should check out Events In The Sky. This company hoists people up into the air via crane, in numerous locations around the world, for a few hours of dining, wedding, or entertainment in the sky. No worries, everyone is strapped to their seats or attached by harnesses so there is no falling off the platform!
The company has a few divisions: Dinner in the Sky, Meetings in the Sky, ShowBiz in the Sky, and Marriage in the Sky. “Sky” events can be found all over the world, but as far as finding some locations in the US? Currently, your options are Orlando and Las Vegas.
Check out their main site for more info! Any readers out there participated in an Events in the Sky production?
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Okay, maybe not everything.
But, they definitely work on wine bottles! Wine bottles are cool enough on their own, but slap a personalized label on them and they suddenly become very “you”. Let me share with you PersonalWine.com, a great site that where you can customize your own labels, get them put on bottles of beverages of your choice, then order a case (or two, or three, or four … or more). Look at the little pretty we created:
You can chose from reds, whites, blushes, champagne and sparkling, in a number of prices from a number of places (Napa Valley, Italy and France to name a few). You can even order mini bottles! And to make it better, the site is really easy to navigate and use. Just hop on, select the label design you like, edit, pick a bottle, order and pay! Voila. You can use your custom labeled wines as favors, welcome gifts (for out of town guests), or just to serve during the big day.
And if you’re just into wine because, well, you love wine, check out their sister site, Wines.com. You can purchase wine or accessories, join a wine club and read and post on forum!
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