Since we know our visitors include not just fabulous brides (and the occasional groom) but a plethora of wedding professionals and aspiring wedding professionals, we thought this giveaway would be fun!!

Sheffield School, which began as an interior design school in 1985, offers programs for people looking to gain knowledge in design-related fields. One of the courses they offer is Wedding and Event Planning! How fun?!

Since they wanted to share the wedding planning love, they have offered to give away a course to someone interested in the bridal biz! To enter, leave a comment below telling us why you’d love to take this course!

Here is a little more about the program:

The Complete Course in Wedding & Event Planning

This Course thoroughly addresses everything you need to know about the art and business of wedding and event planning. From creating a guest list, to hiring vendors, to creating a beautiful wedding design, we cover everything you need to orchestrate a memorable event.

Whether you want to become a professional party planner or just plan your own wedding like a pro, the Sheffield Wedding and Event Planning Course will teach you how to avoid common pitfalls, keep the planning process organized, and create fashionable events.

The Comprehensive Wedding and Event Planning Training Includes:

* Twenty complete lessons.
* Six Sheffield Study Guides that lead you step-by-step through your lessons.
* Six Workbooks that let you practice everything you’ve learned.
* Personal Student Advisor — a working party planner who is available to answer all your questions.
* Unlimited support from the Sheffield faculty of professional wedding and event planners who are willing to answer all your questions.
* Two Virtual Internship projects, which will be carefully evaluated by a working wedding planner.
* Three special supplements describing how to start a business and succeed in the professional world.
* Sheffield Graduation Certificate.

Read more about the program HERE, and check out Sheffield on Facebook while you’re at it.

NOTE: This giveaway will be open until Tuesday, September 14th, 2010. The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email.

These colors together just make me so happy! While they make me think spring and summer, using “dusty” or more muted tones of each color would adapt this combination perfectly to fall and winter events.

If you use these colors, look through all the “blue” options you have – there are quite a few out there. And make sure your yellow isn’t too…neon. While it would wake you up, it might be a little too much for the eyes.

Image Sources: {clay flower in blue jar} {two tier cake} {pearl and gem necklaces} {girls in yellow} {invitations suite} {yellow clutch} {yellow bouquet} {four tier garland cake}

I have such a soft spot for stationary. And, as luck would have it, weddings happen to require quite a great deal of it. Whether you buy online or at a local stationer, the process of designing and purchasing wedding stationary really is quite fun.

For those of you that like to keep things simple without sacrificing style, I must recommend Storkie.com Invitations. A new WeddingFanatic sponsor, Storkie carries full lines of wedding save the date cards, bridal shower invitations, and wedding invitations, (not to mention things like baby shower invitations and announcements, graduation invitations, and holidays cards). Ranging from traditional to modern, they have a little something for everyone.

The best part of Storkie HAS to be their iDesign studio that you can use to edit any design to change fonts, layouts, colors, and more. Let that inner creative genius out as you design the invitations for your special event! I’ve already spent hours creating my own designs and I’m not even shopping for invitations!

Check out a few of my favorite designs from the site –

Save the Dates

Bridal Shower Invitations

Wedding Invitations

Want to know more about Storkie.com? Here are some good to know tidbits. Most orders print and ship in 1-2 days (amazing, right?!). They have high quality cardstock (100-120 lb) and offer a variety of printing options – thermography, digital, and foil. Digital proofs are free, and are seen by multiple pairs of eyes before they are printed to ensure everything is perfect. The company has been around for over 20 years and prides itself on fresh designs and awesome customer service!

Hello all! I’m alive – promise! Just busy.

I just wanted to drop in to tell you about a promotion we have going on over at Gown Studio.

We’re working with a few bloggers and vendors to offer their brides one fabulous dress deal – any custom made wedding dress for $700! That’s right – any shape, style, closure, bead work you want – it’s yours for $700.

If you’re interested, please visit our website, click around to get to know us and see some of our work, then contact us to get started.

Please note: Some fabrics may be excluded due to availability. Offer is good for all dresses purchased during the months of August and September.

I’m so excited to share these faaaaabulous images from San Francisco based photographer, Erica Berger.

These shots are from Jen and Mike’s wedding at the Asian Art Museum. Don’t they look like such a fun couple (with superb taste)?! According to Erica, the super sweet, photography loving couple had a thoughtful wedding full of tears, lots of laughter, and just the right amount of color.

Enjoy this eyecandy!!

About the Photographer

“I have been a designer all my life. I have always loved photography and I would shoot the crap out of everything all the time. I was super passionate and obsessed with photoshop since I was about 12. My family has a printing press – so design and macs have always been around me. My dad got me my first computer at 13 because I would not share! I am super driven and focused. I went to the Academy of Art for three years for new media. I came out to San Francisco 7 years ago from New York. I always thought photographers were dreamers until wedding photography found me. As soon as I shot my first wedding on 7 – 7- 07, I was hooked and shot 2 a weekend for two years.”

Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Erica!! To find out more about Erica and her work, visit her site!

Hello faithful readers! I know it’s been a while – things have been crazy! But, when I saw this article about FONTS (something which I’m majorly obsessed with), from Melinda with Lion in the Sun, I wanted to share the font love with all of you! Read on to read up on what the fonts you use say about you!

What does your invitation font say about you? Whether your wedding vision is contemporary, traditional or vintage, there’s a font that can say it for you!

More and more, stationers are seeing brides and grooms who are interested in font driven design – meaning the entire design statement is based on your font choices.

The most important design element of the invitation is the font. While graphic elements set a tone, your words and how they are presented on the invite convey the biggest statement of all.

Navigate the vast sea of font choices with these suggestions!

Mixed (Most Popular) – Combine a print and script font for a vintage or playful feel. Serif is more formal, while san serif tends to be more contemporary. Be sure to choose two fonts that are very different from each other and no more than three. Use script fonts to highlight names and the date.

Big & Bold – Using fonts as your graphical element will give you a contemporary feel and make a big statement. It’s a clean look and frees you from committing to a graphical theme.

Handwritten – This is a huge trend right now in invitations! Actual hand written text can be converted to artwork on your invitation and presents a formal, elegant or colonial feel. You could also use a font that looks like handwriting or written with a quill pen complete with splatter.

For an extra splurge, use hand calligraphy to truly create a one of a kind unique handmade invitation.

Traditional & Elegant – Use a simple script, such as Bickham or Rook, for all the text. Usually, you will see the bride and groom’s names slightly larger and occasionally a more embellished font is use for the names.

If you have room in your budget or are planning a destination wedding, wedding weekend welcome baskets are a great thing to make (or purchase) for your guests!

I’ve always been a fan of putting together goodies to give away, and distributing these to your out of town guests are the perfect opportunity for you to get creative and do something nice for your guests that have traveled a long way to celebrate with you.

Here are some important pieces to make sure you include when building your baskets.

Munchies. After a long drive of flight, what’s usually one of the first things you want to do? Grab a bite to eat! Make it easy for your guests by including something to nibble on. Granola bars, baked chips (like the yummy options from Kettle), candy and the like all make great additions to the baskets – just make sure that if you include more than one snack item they aren’t all the same (too much candy, no matter how delicious, wouldn’t make the best post-travel snack). If you time the assembly of your welcome baskets right, try to include a piece or two of fruit! Extra points if you include local goodies!

Something to drink. Just as important as munchies, travelers need to stay hydrated! Include a few bottles of water – something simple or jazzed up, like juice-infused Twist water. Or, if you have a family with kids, throw in a few all natural juice boxes like the organic juice boxes from Apple and Steve.

Freshen up. Sometimes after traveling a long distance, your just feel gross. Help your guests freshen up by providing them with a small bottle of hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes like the alcohol-free, good-for-kids products from CleanWell.

Get around town. Since the guests that will be receiving these welcome baskets are the least likely to know how to get around town, give them a map to help them get from place to place and share ideas for fun things to do before and after the wedding and reception. We love the creations from Merry Maps that are not only informative and fun to look at, but would make great keepsakes for guests after the wedding (they are, after all, little works of art!)

Last but not least – don’t forget the basket! You can use boxes or bags or actual baskets to pull everything together. Add a personal note, a bit of embellishment (like a few ribbons), and deliver to the proper destination!

The old adage “April showers bring May flowers” might explain why May is such a popular month for weddings, but what happens when Mother Nature goes against Mother Goose? If rain is in the forecast for your big day, don’t fret: work with the weather by adding rain boots and umbrellas to your wedding party’s attire!

With cute rain boots and umbrellas, you don’t have to let wet weather put a damper on the festivities, even if you’ve planned to take photos outside or are hosting an outdoor affair. Rain boots in bright colors and fun prints are quirky, cheerful, and best of all, functional. You’ll stay dry and comfortable while everyone admires your ability to make light of a dreary situation.

These days, rain boots come in a plethora of styles, patterns, and colors so you can coordinate them with your wedding color scheme or make them your “something blue.”

For an adorable line-up at the altar and a great photo-op, put your bridesmaids and flower girl in matching boots and umbrellas. What’s the best part for your girls? These really are things they’ll wear again!

The rain may have been unpredictable, but you don’t want your guests to see your array of boots and umbrellas and think you were taken by surprise. Mismatched items look haphazard and thrown together. In order to keep everything sophisticated and elegant, it’s important to keep all the boots and umbrellas coordinated. They don’t have to match perfectly if that’s not your style, but keeping the hues in the same family will make all the difference.

Check out some of our favorites!

Fashion-Forward

Burberry Check Rain Boots, $195 || dav High-Heeled Fashion Rain Boots, $95 ||
Hunter Gloss-Finish Original Rain Boots, $115

Feminine

Kate Spade Randi Boots, $125

Something Blue

Hunter Original Gloss in Turquoise, $115

Plaid and Polka Dot

Zulima Bias Plaid Rain Boots from Target, $19.99 || Merona Zaney Polka Dot Rain Boots, $24.99 || Mod Dot Rain Boots from Target, $24.99

What could possibly be more exciting then planning your wedding? Planning your honeymoon! Okay, okay, I’m personally a fan of the wedding planning, but hey, if a project involves any sort of “planning”, I’m up for the challenge.

Honeymoons give you and your love the perfect opportunity to sit back and relax after the crazy few weeks (or months) leading up to your wedding. And, depending on where you go, they give you a chance to explore a new area with your best friend. What could be more fun?

So, if you’re about to start planning your honeymoon, here are a few tips to get you going.

Set a budget. If you’ve already started planning your wedding, you know a thing or two about budgets. Unless you have one of those magic trees that sprouts money in your back yard, you’ll have to determine how much money you want to spend on your honeymoon. Consider all the factors – plane tickets, hotel rooms, food, activities and in-town transportation, and anything else you want to do, along with how long you’d like to stay.

Do your research and pick a place. Europe? Mexico? Nappa Valley? What’s more your style? Are you history buffs? Love warm weather and soaking up the sun? Or maybe you just really, really love a great glass of wine. With your budget in mind, pick a place that has everything you want – the sights, the cuisine, the overall feel of the city or town – whether they are across the world or right next door to where you live.

If your budget is a small, consider going somewhere close so you don’t have to pop for plane tickets. Or, consider staying at home for a few days and trying something new (or visiting your old favorites) each day. Cook dinner together or get dressed up and go out.

Make reservations. If you have picked a location (or multiple locations, as it may be), decide on where you’d like to stay. Call or email to make sure there are no major functions happening at the same time – do you really want to fight a crowd of model plane enthusiasts in town for a convention? – and book the specific nights you want. Also arrange transportation if you’ll need it. Side note: Have a backup plan. Make sure you have a few alternate hotels in mind just in case there are any issues or last minute surprises at the places you have picked.

Make your To Do list. Alright, so…by now you’re probably sick of To Do lists. And, truth be told, you don’t really need an itinerary for this vacation, but it IS a good idea to have a general idea of the things you’d like to see and do while you’re honeymooning. Maybe you just want to sit by the beach for five days straight. Or, maybe you want to eat at this really great vegan place you’ve heard about after checking out some historic buildings around the city. Either way, by having a general idea of what you want to do before you get there, you’ll have to spend less vacation time hunting down addresses and directions and just getting things figured out.

Get ready. Oh traveling. Make sure you come prepared with your swimsuit, walking shoes, sexy dancing outfits – whatever you’ll be needing on your trip. If you’re leaving the day after your wedding, pack what you can before wedding-craziness kicks in (I’d say a week or so before the Big Day).

Also, be sure your passports are current and that you have all the other travel documents/necessities far in advance. As some of these can take weeks to obtain, you don’t want to leave things like this until the last second.

Go! Get ready to have a relaxing (or thrill-filled) time! Take lots of pictures to document the trip (yes, you’ll probably have a lot of one-person-in-the-shot photos), blog about your experiences, mail a postcard or two to your families (and yourselves), and enjoy your time together as newlyweds!

Want more information on honeymoon planning? There are tons of great travel sites out there to help you plan and coordinate your trip. Or, if you want a little more help in mapping out the vacation, turn to pros like Liberty Travel (“America’s Vacation Experts”) to help you make all the little details happen.