2011 Color of the Year

Pantone LLC, is the world-renowned authority on color. They have chosen honeysuckle as the color of the year for 2011 because it is encouraging, uplifting, courageous, confident, and vital.
You are sure to see this reddish pink color in plenty of bridesmaid and flower girl dresses this year. As well as men's ties. We look forward to seeing it in the months to come.

Photo

Happy Holidays!

Photo

Cranberry Sparkler

If you are planning a holiday party this month, a simple yet delicious signature drink to serve is a cranberry sparkler. All you need is for ingredients are cranberry juice and champagne.
Directions: Pour equal parts into a chilled glass. Garnish with a cranberry and enjoy!

Photo

Peony

The peony, to me is truly the definition of romance. So when it came time for the letter P in our flower meaning series, of course I had to pick the peony. It has a large full bud. As you can see from the picture above, it is beautiful closed up or fully open.
Peonies are known to mean happy marriage. So it's the perfect choice for wedding flowers.

Photo

Mozzarella + Tomatoes

One of the perks of working in the wedding and event industry the last few years is all the delicious food I get to sample at tastings and events! Mozzarella & tomatoes is by far one of my favorites. It is a great light hors d'oeuvre to start with and your guests will love it.

Photo

Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo

Get Married's Time Square Wedding

As you may have heard, Get Married Media will host the first-ever wedding in Times Square on New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2010.
Bethany Phillips—the blushing bride-to-be, will marry her sweetheart-- Geoffrey Dubie, whom she met while deployed in Iraq. The two will marry in front of millions of revelers in Times Square, and millions more on TV, thanks to Get Married Media and the producers of the world famous New Year’s Eve celebration-- Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment.
Not only will the two marry in front of the eyes of the world, but they will allow America to vote on each and every detail of their wedding day—from the dresses, to the cake, to the flowers and the honeymoon.
You can vote on which David’s Bridal wedding gown Bethany will wear on her big day. Week after week, you can also visit GetMarried.com for more exciting voting including the bridal gown choices starting next week Monday, November 8TH.

Orchid Bouquets

We are up to O in our flower meaning series. So of course we wanted to talk about the orchid. Orchids come in thousands of different varieties. They are known to be delicate and exotic. Some of the meanings of orchids are love, affection, beauty, and refinement. It is a great choice as one of your wedding flowers, but it is beautiful enough to stand alone like seen here.

Photo

Flower Girls

It is tradition to have a flower girl included in your wedding celebration. The flower girl usually delights the wedding guests by dropping rose pedals down the center aisle for the bride to walk on. When they cooperate, they can be an adorable part of the ceremony.

One way to keep your flower girl from having the responsibility of tossing pedals, is to simple have her carry a pomander around her wrist down the aisle. These are wonderful for younger girls that may be a little frightened.

Here are some tips to help you choose the right little girls. Traditionally, flower girls range from 4-8 years old. The younger the girl, the greater the chance that she will be too frightened to perform her duties. Also, it is good to have activities during the reception to keep them occupied so that they won't get bored.

David Tutera & Diann Valentine

Over the past few weeks I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet two very talented wedding and event designers while they were in Atlanta. To say they are only designer would be an understatement though, because they are each accomplished authors and television personalities.



First up in September was David Tutera who spoke to his audience at Che'ne Rouge about creating a wedding with personal style. He also talked to us about his TV show My Fair Wedding. It was great seeing pictures from his many past events and hearing funny stories about upcoming episodes of his show.



Last weekend it was Diann Valentine. One thing I noticed about her was that she never stopped smiling. Anyone near her could see how excited she was about what she does for a living. She gave the crowd great entertaining tips and told us about some of her celebrity clients such as Usher and Toni Braxton.



It was wonderful meeting two people that I really admire. They gave us a chance to ask as many questions as we liked and it was fun taking pictures with them.



David shared exciting news about his wedding gown collection and Diann showed us samples from her invitation collection. I can't wait to see what they each have planned next!

Manzanita Trees

Manzanita branches have become an important part of event design in the last couple of years. One of the reasons for this is because they can be used in various ways to give you totally different looks and feels. One option is to spray paint the branches silver and have them dripping in crystals. Another option would be to hang flowers from the branches. Either way, it's a winner!

Photo

Fig + Prosciutto

I love...love...love fig wrapped in prosciutto! It's a delicious burst of flavor in your mouth. That makes it a wonderful hors' douevres for your wedding's cocktail reception. But don't just take my word for it, try it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Photo

Four Weddings on TLC

We all know that there are a lot of wedding shows on TV now. One show that I like watching is called Four Weddings. A new season premiers on TLC this Fridays at 10 PM. Four Weddings is a show where 4 brides compete by judging each other's weddings based on major details such as the venue, dress, food, originality, and overall guest experience. The bride that scores the most wins a four star honeymoon.
One of the reasons that I like watching the show is because I like hearing each bride's difference perceptions. It's very interesting to me how everyone can be at the same wedding and have totally difference impressions. Sometimes the wedding that I liked the best wins and sometimes I am disappointed at the outcome, but that's another reason that I like the show.

Photo

Lilacs

Another wonderful choice of a flower for your wedding is the lilac. Lilacs represent first love and youthful innocence. This is a beautiful choice in purple or white.

Photo

Wish Upon a Wedding Atlanta Launch Party

Last Thursday night, I attended the Wish Upon a Wedding Atlanta launch party.



Wish Upon a Wedding is the first non-profit wish granting organization that provides weddings for terminally ill individuals. The organization was founded in January by Liz Guthrie of California. Since then, many chapters have started in cities all across the United States.



The Atlanta chapter's launch was at The Mansion Elan. The board of directors put together a very entertaining event for attendees. The entertainment included aerial artists.



The guests, which included industry pros, volunteers, and future wish recipients, were also entertained by fire artists, and stilt walkers.



There were so many choices of hot food to eat as well as some great desserts. Including this tempting smores station.

Your Big Send Off

The way you leave your wedding or reception may be the last experience that your guests have with you of your wedding celebration. So how do you want them to see you off?
Traditionally, guests would throw rice. However most churches and venues don't allow this anymore. So here are a few options for you.

First up is rose petals. Who wouldn't want to be showered in petals?

A bubble send off is always fun. Get a bottle of bubbles in an adult's hand and fond memories of childhood come back to them. They usually have more fun with the bubbles than the children do.

Another great option, especially for night time, is sparklers. When guests find out that they get to hold sparklers, they get very excited. Have fun choosing!

Your Champagne Wishes Events on Get Married TV

This Saturday, Nicole from Your Champagne Wishes Events, LLC will be on Get Married TV! If you have been living under a rock the last couple of years, you may not know what Get Married is. Get Married is what we call a triple threat. They have a national TV show, magazine, and a great website with tools and tips.
Get Married airs every Saturday on We TV at 9:30 AM. Watch host Stacie Francombe help make wedding planning a piece of cake for brides and their families.

Color Inspirations

I'm not going to say much on this post, because these fabulous photos speak volumes for themselves no matter what your wedding color is!







Photos

Congratulations Katisha & Freddie

Last month, my amazing team and I had the pleasure of assisting Katisha and Freddie have the wedding of their dreams.

I can't say enough about the vibrant and bold colors our couple choose. The bride wanted to bring color into The Wimbish House. So we added pops of lime green and eggplant purple to compliment the touches of gold in the mansion.


The couple and their guests were all smiles when they were proclaimed husband and wife.


Our bride's gorgeous bouquet was a mixture of large and small white flowers. We choose classic roses with ranunculus and peonies.


The couple's dance lessons paid off as they entertained their guests during the first dance routine.


Here is a look at all the single ladies waiting for their chance to catch the bouquet.


The groom and I kept the planning of the horse and carriage ride a big secret from the bride. She was so excited when she walked outside on the porch and saw the surprise we had in store for her. Here's to another job well done!

Photos

ABC at Georgian Terrace Hotel

I love it when it is time for our Association of Bridal Consultants meetings. This time, we decided to go the the Georgian Terrace Hotel in Midtown Atlanta.

The busy hotel was recently renovated, but still remains a classic in Atlanta.

There are several ballrooms in the hotel and private dining rooms in the hotel's restaurant the Livingston to choice from for your next event.

A big part of our meetings is education. This week, our guest was Maxine from Edge Design Group who did a wonderful emergency flower demonstration for us.

Atlantan Bride at Mortons

I was delighted to receive an invitation when The Atlantan Brides Magazine asked the top wedding planners in Atlanta for an exclusive preview. Last Wednesday, we enjoyed a delicious three course dinner in the private dining room at one of Atlanta's finest rehearsal dinner venues, Morton's The Steakhouse.







Here are pictures of our dinner menu, our bouquet centerpieces, the cutest DJ I've ever seen (the cake), and the great view of outside seating by the fountain.

Hydrangeas Anyone?

We are up to the letter H in our flower meaning series. Another very popular wedding flower is the hydrangea. One of the meanings of hydrangeas is understanding. What more can you ask for from your new spouse?

Photo

Engaging!

Meet Katisha and Freddie. They are one of my favorite couples so far and I had the pleasure of working with them on their wedding celebration.

Here are the two having fun outside at their engagement photo session. Just one look and you can see how in love they are.

I can't wait to show you some fantastic photos from their wedding celebration. Stay tuned!

Photos