Bridal Happy Hour

Attn: All Brides!

Need a caterer? Florist? Printer? The American Visionary Art Museum (a very cool place to get married) is holding their 11th annual Bridal Happy Hour! There will be numerous vendors there. Go check it out and find what you're looking for. The best part? It's FREE for you and a guest. Who doesn't like free things? Bring your fiance, a friend, or even your mother :-)

Here are the details:
Where: American Visionary Art Museum - Jim Rouse Visionary Center
When: Thursday, March 29, 2012 5:30 - 8:00 pm
RSVP: to Michele Goldberg at (410) 244-1900 x 228 or rentals@avam.org

For more information, click here.

Go and let us know how it is. Keep a lookout for Jenny and say hi!

Pop in a Movie

There are so many wedding movies and so many lessons to be learned from the movies. Below are three of my favorite wedding movies and the lesson you should take away from each one.

*Warning: May contain spoilers*

1. Bride Wars

starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway

Two best friends accidentally have weddings booked at the Plaza on the same day at the same time. This leads to an all out war between the two and a lot of sadness and tears. Eventually, the two friends make up and understand the importance of having one's best friend and his/her support throughout the entire wedding process.

Lesson Learned: As the wedding planner in the movie says, "Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what. Maybe you will find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding. But there's also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who's been standing beside you all along." Planning a wedding is a very emotional process. It's important to have someone there to support you, and who better than your best friend?

2. 27 Dresses
starring Katherine Heigl

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Heigl's character has been a bridesmaid 27 times. As expected, her dress in each wedding made even the 5'9" blonde Hollywood star look bad. She waits for her Prince Charming (her boss) to sweep her off her feet and dreams of her own wedding dress, one that won't make her look as if she's attending a costume party, all while rebuffing the advances of the gorgeous James Marsden.
 

Lesson Learned: There are two lessons from this movie. 1. Don't force your bridesmaids into hideous dresses. Get their input and pick out something that your friends are excited to wear. 2. Never rebuff the advances of James Marsden. Are you crazy??


3. Sex and the City: The Movie

starring Sarah Jessica Parker

Carrie Bradshaw finally is engaged to be married to Mr. Big, the man of her dreams whom she's been dating for ten years. What first starts out for a simple ceremony for 75 of their closest friends, soon turns into a huge extravaganza. Her fiance freaks out before the wedding and can't go through with the ceremony.
 

Lesson Learned: Carrie "let the wedding get bigger than Big." She forgot what the wedding was all about and didn't once get input from Mr. Big. Don't forget that it is a big day for you, but it's also a big day for your fiance. The wedding should be a collaboration of both partners and a celebration of your love for each other.

So, these are my favorite wedding movies. What are some of yours? Let us know!
 

*All images are from imdb.com

Shape Up

Happy Valentine's Day! It's a day filled with love, flowers, and of course, chocolate. You might feel guilty eating chocolate when you know that you'll have to fit into a wedding dress in a few months. Don't fret! Below are some great workouts that can get you toned and looking gorgeous in time for your wedding, so go ahead and eat those yummy chocolates!

Fitness magazine's workouts are designed to get you wedding dress ready in six weeks. With these toning exercises twice a week and cardio three times a week, you'll be looking fabulous on your wedding day.

Fitness Magazine

Shape magazine will have you looking sexy in no time:

Shape

I personally think the arms are the most important body parts to get toned for a wedding - think of all those strapless, sleeveless, and backless dresses.

My personal favorite is a series of exercises that only takes eight minutes to tone your upper body:

Upper Body Exercises

And of course, who wouldn't want to have arms like a Victoria's Secret Model.

Doutzen Kroes
starpulse.com

 Click here to see how VS angel Doutzen works her arms.

Indulge a little this Valentine's Day. You can work it all off with these great exercises. Do you have a personal favorite workout? Let your fellow brides to be know!

The Silver Platter

picture courtesy of juliejourneys.blogspot.com

So the new trend right now, and one I am ABSOLUTELY loving, is food trucks. I don't know what it is, but there's something just fun about walking up to a truck and ordering food.   

facebook.com/thesilverplatter

I talked Damian, the owner of Baltimore's very popular food truck. It's called The Silver Platter and is so popular that people wait in the rain to get delicious plates of food at very affordable prices. 

Here's what Damian had to say about The Silver Platter:

How did you come up with the idea for your food truck?
-->  We wanted to open a food truck that would offer on par with a nice restaurant but served out of a truck at a lower price.

What are the best selling items on your menu? 

--> The lobster roll, lobster mac & cheese and the brisket, also the pit beef we cook every day in the truck in our smokers.

Do you have any experience catering weddings?

--> We have been asked to do private parties but not a wedding yet. Our chef has a catering background and a culinary degree. We would consider a wedding and we would offer a full menu.

Since the chef has experience catering, The Silver Platter is an excellent option if you'd like to add a unique twist to your wedding. While your guests are waiting for you to arrive at the reception area, why not have a food truck there to serve your guests fun finger foods, like potato ribbons and truffle fries? Check out The Silver Platter's facebook for their full menu and more info!

If you like the idea of a food truck, but don't want one to cater the entire evening, consider having a food truck to serve your guests just a few items, like ice cream at the end of the night. Food trucks are versatile and can be incorporated into your wedding any way you'd like!

            

Music to My Ears

So the big day has come, and now it's time for you and your husband to take your first dance! Picking the song for this special moment can be tricky though. As with the rest of your wedding, the most important part is that it reflects both of you; it fits your styles and personalities. So with this in mind here are some great suggestions. some are old classics, some are newer songs with an acoustic twist (a great hint in my mind if you have a favorite song that isn't dance appropriate in its original version).

Classic Songs
At Last- Etta James
Everything- Michael Buble
Have I told You Lately- Van Morrison
Days Like This- Van Morrison
The Way You Look Tonight- Frank Sinatra
A Love That Will Last- Renee Olstead
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
I'll Be- Edwin McCain

Country-esque Songs
I Need you- Tim McGraw
Then- Brad Paisley
Making Memories of Us- Keith Urban
How Do I Live Without you- Leann Rhimes
Me and you- Kenny Chesney
Look At Me- Carrie Underwood
Always and Forever- Shania Twain
Mine (Acoustic)- Taylor Swift

Modern and Original Songs
Love you Till the End- The Pogues
She is Love- Parachute
You and Me- DMB
Lucky- Marc Broussard
Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's
Ray LaMontagne – Hold You In My Arms
Runner Runner – Can’t Hardly Wait
So High- John Legend
First Day of My Life- Bright Eyes
Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight
Uncle Kracker – Smile

I hope these lovely tunes inspire you to find that perfect song of your own. Let us know what song you'll be dancing to at your wedding!

Adorn Your Hair

I was watching the Sex and the City movie the other day and I was completely in awe of Carrie Bradshaw’s beautiful blue accessory in her wedding hair…and then I remembered it was a bird. 

Regardless, I personally loved the shade of blue and thought it fit SJP’s character perfectly. If you want to accessorize but don't want to do anything as extreme as sticking a bird in your hair, there are many other options. Take a look:

Kim Kardashian wore a diamond studded headpiece
as she said her vows to Kris Humphries
eonline.com

Pandora from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills complemented
her wedding dress with an elegant headband
hollywoodlife.com

Khloe Kardashian opted for the more traditional
floor length veil when she wed Lamar Odom
 OK! Weekly

You could also employ flowers or feathers. And of course, you can always opt to keep it simple not accessorize at all! No matter what, your hair will be absolutely gorgeous, as long as it reflects your personality. Do you plan on using any accessories on your wedding day?

A Lace Obsession

For the last five years I've been in love with TLC's show "Say Yes to the Dress". And, ever since I began watching, I've been in awe of every single lace dress that a girl puts on. So in honor of all things dainty and lace, here are some of the most gorgeous gowns I've ever seen from some of the world's best designers.

 Sarah Nouri

           Style Me Pretty

If you haven't checked out this site yet, hurry on over! You'll faint over how gorgeous these weddings are                        

 

 

Jenny Yoo

 Modern Trousseau

 

Lela Rose 

Will you be wearing a lace gown to your wedding? Know any other gorgeous designers who make lace gowns?  We'd love to hear from you!

The Big Day!

Did I ever tell you how much I love the Superbowl? To me, it’s like another holiday on the spring calendar, mainly because it’s filled with good friends, family, and some of my favorite foods.  So let this great tradition inspire you, and give your guests football themed welcome bags! Maybe your hubby is a huge Ravens fan, or maybe you met at a football game, or  maybe you’re even getting married over Superbowl weekend? Whatever it is, let your guests share in your love for the great game and surprise them with this great way to enjoy the sport.

 

 Give guests a taste of your town with a local   Beer

(Boston themed for this weekend)

 Give guests one of their favorite gameday treats- nachos! These individual sized Chips and Salsa are perfect, and adorable!

Salsa is available on Etsy, one of my favorite sties these days.

For something sweet...

 

 

 Fan Gear!

I hope these goodies inspire you all! Enjoy the game! Anyone have any fun plans or other football inspired ideas?

Get Inspired, Get Organized

In my opinion, a woman in love is a woman inspired. When people are in love, everything around them can inspire creativity and originality, so it's no surprise that engaged women, and even men, have an abundance of wedding ideas. Getting inspired isn't a problem - getting organized is. One of the best ways to get organized is by creating an inspiration board, like the ones seen throughout this post.

Courtesy of blushingbrideblog.com
A Purple, Pink, and Gold Inspiration Board

A Fruit Themed Board

An inspiration board (you may have heard of them as wedding boards or mood boards) can give you a visual as to how all your ideas will look together. Not only will it help you, but it will also help your vendors provide products that will mesh flawlessly with the theme and colors you have in mind. 

    

A Peacock Board

Although there are plenty of sites you can use to create inspiration boards on your own, like at the Wedding Wire website or by Shardi at http://www.blushingbrideblog.com/, it wouldn't hurt to have a professional, like Jenny of jpb designs, to help you finesse and perfect your board, leading to the wedding of your dreams.

A Tented Affair

This unseasonably warm weather in January has made think that springtime is just around the corner. Thank goodness! I want to be outside, take a nice walk, and enjoy the sun. But this weather did inspire me to post about one of the biggest debates many brides have when planning a spring/summer wedding: to tent or not to tent? Most people think a tented wedding becomes super expensive, super quickly.  And, in fairness, they can be right. But, with some research and some planning, a tented wedding can be the most beautiful affair.

Let’s start by talking about types of tents. There are three typical coverage options when it comes to big tops, if you will. Check out this helpful diagram from New York Weddings:

CENTURY TENT
Steer clear if using super-long tables. Everywhere there’s a peak, there’s a pole.

 
FRAME TENT
Smallest and least attractive. Outdoor venues tend to supply Frames.

 
STRUCTURE TENT
High-end. Aluminum I-beams, instead of poles, ensure an open party space.

When choosing a tent, it is important to think about the venue, number of guests, desired layout, and cost. Most of the best tent companies are incredibly supportive and will work with you to determine exactly what you need and want to fit your unique wedding style.

One of the best aspects of a tented wedding is that it is literally a blank canvas on which to display your design elements. Whatever your style, a tent can accommodate. Who wouldn’t want their reception to look like these?

 Skyline Tent Company

WeParty.com

Skyline Tent Company

Skyline Tent Company

Capers Catering Blog

 

Sperry Tents

This is my absolute favorite!

Tented weddings have been some of the most gorgeous and elegant affairs I’ve ever seen. Definitely check out some of these local vendors, whose expertise and support will help you throughout the whole design process

Skyline Tent Company

Sperry Tents

Sugarplum Tent Company

Are any of you planning on tenting your wedding? Tell us all about it!

1st Birthday Party

In addition to enjoying all wedding details and organizing just about everything -- yes, this is why I love coordinating wedding -- I absolutely LOVE planning my children's birthday parties!  Love it!  Scouring pinterest, digging through the clearance section at Michaels, I try to match the theme closest to the likes of my children.  

This one year old's birthday theme:  Raspberries & Roses. 

I knew I wanted pink and just had to have roses, and so the planning began! 

Because I enjoy a good DIY party, I did all the decor myself.

To begin with, I found a paper rose tutorial online where I needed to swirl paper to make a flower.  When I tried this, it looked awful.  Absolutely awful.  So, I tried a little pink felt flower instead.
Much better!  

These felt flowers ended up on branches in a mason jar as a centerpiece, on a yarn wreath for the front door, and on the birthday girl's headband. 







To match those cute little roses, I splurged when I bought a pink petticoat/tutu from My Little Stinky on etsy and found a tank/sweater twin set from Target.

Our food and drink were centered around the raspberry theme -- we enjoyed raspberry bellinis and salad with raspberry dressing among many other delicious items on the brunch menu.





I designed all the printables through Microsoft Publisher.



And...I even made her happy birthday banner that hung over the fireplace along with her big R.



We made a smash cake for the birthday girl and white cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting for the guests.



I found the cake bunting in the Michaels clearance bin for under $1!





Above the cake table hung the birthday girl's picture banner.  Each month on the date of her birthday, I took a picture of her with the appropriate corresponding number in the picture.  It was neat to see how much she has grown over the year.



The birthday girl had a blast!
To send off our guests with something thematically memorable, we made some homemade raspberry jam  in these mason jars with R & R labels for Raspberries & Roses.



We cannot believe our little girl is already one!  The brunch was a perfect way to celebrate!
And now on to planning our young man's birthday for this summer -- he wants a tractor party, so I'll be looking for ways to make it original.  Any advice?