Friday, October 30, 2009

Vendor Pick: Luke Skywalker Laser Engraving



I met Zenia, 1/2 of the Luke Skywalker Laser Engraving duo, at a fabulous vintage Halloween party on Tuesday. She and her husband create amazing laser engraved wooden and acrylic invitations, place cards, table numbers, etc. And they can engrave almost anything including toasting flutes, picture frames, and even an iPhone. They're prices are also extremely reasonable for what they offer and you don't have to meet a minimum order for these amazing works of art.






Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Vintage Halloween

I went to a fabulous networking event last night at Franklin Canyon Park dressed as a gypsy with my good friend Lina, of A Stunning Affair, who was Marilyn Monroe for a night. The food was great and the desserts were WOW.

We met Calligraphy Katrina who did the programs and all the paper goods for the night and she is super sweet and her prices are unbeatable. If you need a fabulous calligrapher, Katrina is your gal.

These photos were taken by the lovely and super sweet Meg Perotti. She did an amazing job with really capturing the essence of this party.

And the decor...truly unique and vintage and fabulous as done by the always impressive Carissa of JL Designs. 





These desserts were sooooo good. I had the pumpkin pop (lollipop with pumpkin cake and white chocolate coating) and it was so delicious. Plus, each peice of pastry heaven created by My Sweet and Saucy looked like a work of art.

Great vendors I partied with:

A Stunning Affair
Beth Helmstetter Events
Amber Events
Jennifer Jasso Photography
Christine Ciszczon Photography
The Broke Ass Bride
Luke Skywalker Lazer Engraving
Waveform Events
Jasmine Star Photography
VCS Photo
Papercut Industries
Lauryl Lane

Accessory Wednesday: Bella Umbrella

I know that I'm not the first to find this amazing resource. Who says it needs to rain for you to sport a fabulous and even vintage umbrella??? Say hello to Bella...Bella Umbrella that is.


They create the most fabulous umbrellas I've seen for rent or for purchase. If you're looking for that little added touch, Bella is the place to go, and for umbrellas that start at just $10 to rent, it won't break the bank to look that much more fabulous on your big day!!!













Monday, October 26, 2009

DIY: Invitations

I love that the Wedding Chicks have FREE DIY Templates. And these invitations look so good that guests will think they're from a fabulous stationary store as long as you have the right type of paper.


Click here to download this gorgeous Crown Invitation. You can also see the Wedding Chick's original blog post here.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Accessory Wednesday: NightLight Design




Through NightLight Design, women are making beautiful jewelry from silver, semi-precious stones, pearls and decorative beads.

NightLight Design provides an economic alternative for women who previously had no hope of freedom from their circumstances. When you purchase these products you are securing the freedom of women who have been exploited or were at risk of exploitation in the bars of Bangkok, Thailand.

Women working at NightLight Design:
-Function as managers and designers
-Learn skills in accounting, quality control, inventory and marketing
-Receive medical benefits, a savings plan and annual salary increases based on performance
-Participate in classes offering English and life skills training

NightLight employees are given the opportunity to receive scholarships for continuing education. Their children are born into a safe haven where the risk of exploitation and abuse is greatly reduced.
Every piece of jewelry you purchase provides direct support for one of the artisans. You are helping to break the cycle of abuse by making a lasting difference in a woman’s life, giving her dignity and a meaningful way of supporting herself and her family.


Don't just get or give a gift, give another woman hope in this world.
Help give them the freedom they deserve by purchasing this gorgeous jewelry.

You can make a difference!!!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

FREE MAGAZINE!!!



I just got my first issue of Get Married Magazine, for FREE. If you go online you could get a free copy too. The cover was shot by the talented Elizabeth Messina, and floral decor by Mark's Garden.

G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S

There's a ton of eye candy in here to delight any savvy bride and tons of resources of where to find what you see in the wedding design inspirations throughout the pages.


But, my favorite feature has to be the GET TAG. On the bottom right of almost every page in the magazine is a tag that you can scan using your iPhone and it links you to the Get Married website to see where to buy the items you see on that page. I don't know why magazine peeps haven't thought of this sooner. Kudos to Get Married for being the first...first one that I know of.



I couldn't have said it better myself...



On twitter I ran across this amazing link to an article that says everything I've always wanted to point out to bride's who say they don't need a wedding planner. Now, I realize that everyone has different budgets and limitations, but after wedding photography, I think the biggest investment you can make to ensure peace and calmness on your wedding day is to hire a professional. Now, that doesn't mean you need to shell out the big bucks for top names like Mindy Weiss or Mary Dann if you don't have the resources to do so, but there are hundreds if not thousands of wedding planners that would love to help you with your wedding planning.

Take a look at this article written by the lovely Leila Khalil, PR extraordinaire, and wedding blogger of "Inspired by This". I couldn't have said it better myself...
“For some reason I think its common knowledge… I mean haven’t we all heard from someone, stories at some point of things that didn’t go right at a wedding. They happen at every single wedding no matter who is in charge. I know brides are working with a budget- especially these days but everyone seems to think they can save on costs by “doing it themselves”. I have an idea… Lets invest in a great photographer to capture the moments and the details, lets hire a floral designer to make everything look pretty, lets spend money on linens, favors, and a dessert bar but when it comes to getting a professional wedding coordinator to pull together all the details I just mentioned so all of them work in harmony.. lets skimp on that? Lets invest all of that but then on the wedding day as a bride you can worry or pawn it off on an aunt, mom, or wedding party member (which lets be quite frank-they will be way more frazzled than you). Just to be clear.. I am not saying I am against DIY. I’m not! I like that style BUT I am a huge advocate of bringing someone on board who knows what they are doing to put things at ease no matter the scale of the wedding.

After being in the wedding industry and planning or attending as many weddings as I have, I’ve seen it first hand time and time again. However, the experience I had several weeks ago at a friend’s wedding was so unbelievable.

I now feel it is my duty to share. She got married at private estate and decided to go with the venue coordinator/catering liaison because they ensured her they would take care of everything she needed on her wedding day. Ummm…, NO! I’m mean I was so upset with the way this catering /venue representative treated the bride and the extreme lack of poise, class, and knowledge that I am going to list for you some specifics of the disaster that ensued:

You may want to hire a wedding planner or else:

1. Your “day of stand in coordinator ” could forget to place an order which then leaves it all in the hands of the bride on the day of her rehearsal so that she and her parents are 30 minutes late.

2. Your “day of stand in coordinator” could decide to make a change on one of your vendor contracts leaving you to pay the difference for their error and then when the vendor calls you the morning of your wedding to tell you and you verify it with your “coordinator” they may say, “you are ruining their day?” Really?? Who says that to a bride?

3. Your “day of stand in coordinator” may forget to send the shuttle to one of the hotels and leave 30 guests behind minutes before your ceremony is about to start. Then when confronted with this situation may say “ I don’t give a f***k. Tell them all to take cabs! I am not starting this ceremony late!” OMG!!!!

4. Your “day of stand in coordinator” may not really know how to run a real ceremony and forget to cue wedding party or heaven forbid the musicians to know when the bride should walk down the aisle! What a disaster that can be as the guests all wait while nothing happens but the same song plays over and over again. Oh also they may forget to remove the ribbon that blocks off the center aisle so guests don’t go through it, but when its time for the ceremony procession to start its wise of them to remove it so that a guest from the second row doesn’t have to run in her heels sinking in the grass all the way to the back of the aisle and remove the ribbon seconds before the wedding party walk through while photo and video are rolling.

5. Your “ day of stand in coordinator” who in this case is also the venue coordinator and caterer- might run out of certain types of food and wine because of poor planning AND not even offer a certain dish that is listed on the menu and just tells guests “ Oh, we don’t have that tonight- I’ll just give you a plate of mashed potatoes and veggies instead”.

Can you believe that these elements really did happen all at one wedding? And these were just the highlights? Do you have any stories of your own?

One piece of advice: You get what you pay for! SO when you don’t pay for a friend who is helping you out as your “day of stand in coordinator” OR you find one that is only a couple hundred dollars…. guess what- it may not be that good of an outcome.

I have written this as an ode to all the professional wedding and event planners out there. There is a huge difference between a venue coordinator and a legitimate wedding planner. They have their responsibilities and strengths and wedding planners that actually service brides as a business and not as a hobby are indispensable. Do your research OR you can also check out some of these blogs who have credible vendor directories and recommendations for wedding planners in your area.

Hollar to all planners who know their stuff. You are fabulous and deserve big props but most importantly you deserve to be paid and respected. You help facilitate one of the most memorable days in a couples’ life.

Thank You!!”

Accessory Wednesday: Pin Me Up Couture


I was browsing through Etsy and came across these gorgeous birdcage veils. In my opinion, the birdcage veil is classy and chic and reminiscent of days gone by. Plus they are also sassy and flirty and damn sexy. Pin Me Up Couture can custom make any birdcage veil for you or you can choose from their fabulous collection.