Archives for October 2009

Fabulous Flower Girls

For my first wedding related post, I’ve decided to tackle budget-friendly flower girl fashion. My inspiration for this post came when my daughter was asked to be a FG for a wedding that was a couple of weeks away. Once the bride chose the dress, I tried to find one in my daughter’s size and was told that it should have been ordered 12 weeks in advance…and I was sent away with my tail between my legs!!! I had to shop, and shop hard! The first place I looked was David’s Bridal, where I found a few cute dresses, but they were all too big for Chloe. At that point I was forced to draw upon my inner craftiness and decided to hit the streets of downtown LA’s fashion district – and BINGO, I hit the jackpot!!! I was pleasantly surprised to find TONS of stores with lots of formal & dressy children’s clothing. I was looking for something simple, flowy, and girly. I found a beautiful organza dress for only $25 bucks! Seriously! Next on the list were the shoes and again, I found lots to choose from. I ended up buying her a pair of adorable ivory ballet flats – super comfortable – for only $9!!!! Lastly, she wanted a fancy tiara for her hair. It took me a little longer to find this item at a good price and most of the ones that I found were too gaudy. But again, I succeeded in finding just the right one, for only $8!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get business cards for the exact stores that I shopped, but they are all bunched together around Pico & Maple in Downtown LA. Don’t be deterred by stores that are advertised as wholesale, just ask the salesperson if they do retail sales too. I haven’t found one in a while that is truly wholesale only. This a definitely a great resource for those of you in the LA area, right??? While you’re there, you should definitely make a day of it and check out the discount party décor – you can get great favor ideas, supplies and even find shops that will custom make them for you at a great price. I’ve seen lots of great deals on other hair goods and headpieces, costume jewelry, adorable beaded handbags…the selection is exhausting!

If going straight to the source isn’t an option for you, I’ve found a site that also has adorable, inexpensive dresses. Pink Princess is an LA based store that offers free shipping, free returns, and same-day shipping on most orders PLUS a great selection of dresses…and even a pretty large sale item section! There’s even a great printable checklist to help you organize your flower girl shopping and another page that teaches your how to tie the perfect bow!!!

I can’t wait for the next wedding!

XOXO

Etsy Update

Here’s what I packed up today!

I was featured in a treasury list and got a sale! There’s also a pending transaction coming up too!

Tomorrow I’ll be adding these babies on my Etsy shop!

For a beachy feel…I know summer is over, but doesn’t mean you can’t have a beach themed wedding right?

You’ve seen Mr. Lovebird before!

This one I like a lot. Fleur-esque, even damask-esque!

My ultimate favorite new tag thus far! Imagine having cupcake favors and sticking this pretty tag on it! Boom!

Giddy up and head to my shop!

Friday Inspiration

Fridays are always a picker-upper! I’ve had so much to do, it’s not even funny. What’s really funny is that there’s a lot MORE to do. It’s always good though…especially on a Friday!

Here’s some eye candy!

Via Atrero Photography

This bride is totally rockin’ it! I was looking for photography inspiration and these guys are great! Go see for yourself!

Lazy Sundays!

This just in! My friend Rob over in Tampa sent me this link and I fell in love! Hurry and click!

HERE!

I’m still working on my TTD and this just started a whirlwind of ideas! PLUS, the camera used in the footage is a Canon 7D! Score! This is what I have to look forward when I get my 7D baby!

For the sweet-toothed!

It was for a minimal number of guests, thus the small quantity! It was definitely an unexpected hit! We will be offering candy buffet services as well. The website launch has taken longer than expected…mostly because of moi! I know, I know. I can feel it in my blood that this week will be productive though! There are two events we’re attending and a FOR SURE website launch! Proposal season is coming yo! Bring on the ♥! I’m ready to make your dreams come true!

Teaser!

I’m happy to tell you all that our website relaunch will be next Monday! I’ve waited some time because I wanted to get some nook and crannies smoothed out. So to celebrate this, I’m having a special blog series! You’ll have to come back for more but for now, I was thinking about the beginings of these big bashes of love we have! What momentous begining precedes a wedding?

The Engagement!

Engagement Series – Wendy & Jesse

The following post was written by the hubs himself! Take in mind, he HATES to write! Thank you lovah!

“It was a freakin’ cold day! I couldn’t believe I was really gonna do this thank when the weather was horrible! Wasn’t that gonna ruin the memory and moment? Nah, because I had a plan. I decided to take my then girlfriend Wendy (from the now world-famous Just Wenderful) to the Santa Monica Pier. When we got there, not only was it freezing cold and windy, the skies were grey and the air was foggy. But, I thought to myself, “She’ll never expect this…especially on a day like this!” We walked over to the very romantic Bubba Gump Restaurant and as usual we ordered a brew or two. We then ordered the worst salmon I had ever had. After our sub-par lunch, we galloped over to the shopping area of the pier. In my mind, I started wondering if I should relly go through with it now that I had the bad weather and bad food against me. I decided to tread on and suddenly it hit me…I’ll do it on the ferris wheel! We had our first kiss on a ferris wheel years before that and the romantic story would potentially write itself! We walked over to the photobooth to buy some ride tickets and for some reason, Wendy doesn’t wanna go on! I try to convince her but to no avail we walk away, We go over to the docks and I try to find a private place but the ocean breeze is so cold that all I could think about is how nice it would be under some warm covers. We walk back to the ferris wheel and amidst the resistance, I buy the tickets! I see that my love is cold so I give her my sweater.

Tun-tun-tun. <—- That’s me!

While on the ferris wheel, my nervousness grows with each revolution. I’ve known that I always wanted to marry this beauty but at that moment it was like we were on that first ferris wheel all over again. We stop at the top. Perfect! Now everything got real slow and I thought “C’mon man! Don’t laugh or say something dumb!” I pull out the box from my pocket, look her in the eyes and pop the question! Wait for it…what? No response, what’s going on? Her face is saying yes but I don’t hear anything! Suddenly, she answers yes and I swear those 4 seconds of nothingness felt like years. Needless to say, we got married this past July and I’m looking forward to spending my life with her…along…the coast!”
Note the sarcasm and the big-ups to The Coast radio station. This is why I love this man, his sense of humor! Well, one of the many things. I went back through this blog and I noticed I never shared any e-session pics with ya’ll. Here are some of my favorite!

THE END!

*These pics were taken byRob from ZoArt! I post-edited some more because I was playing around in Lightroom and couldn’t help myself!

Little Lovlies…

Happy Friday Everyone!

We have a busy weekend ahead of us, but I thought I would leave you with a little inspiration this weekend. I definitely think that greatness lies in the little, unexpected beauties that pack a big punch! Just take a look at these amazing handmade ringbearer pillows I found browsing ETSY!

This one from Hey Miemie has a great vintage feel…

Or this uber-romantic little pillow from EVIES

…how about this one from Flowers For Thought for a nature inspired wedding?

I think they’re all lovely!

MUZEO finds!

A quick recap of my fav. items from the Muzeo event this past Wednesday.

C. Salt Gourmet makes the most awesome brittle ever! If you’re having a dessert bar, this is definitely a must! It’s so delicious! I apologize I didn’t get any pictures! I totally regret it! Especially because the way she had it set up was gorgeous! She had vintage books stacked all over. On top, there were cake stands with the brittle nicely laid out. There was also not just the regular plain ole’ brittle. Can you imagine a a dark cherry peanut brittle! Yum! She had GOAT CHEESE truffles as well. You might think it sounds kind of weird but it’s not! The goat cheese give is it a cheesecake flavor but moussier if you catch my drift. Yum is all I can say!

Now feast your eyes on this bouquet!

Amanda Heer of Fantasy Floral Designs makes them! Imagine a vintage-inspired wedding with the books and these brooch bouquets! I can see it come together perfectly!

As you can see these pictures have been taken by Alice Hu, who I met at the event as well! Check out her blog here!

SoCal Dream Wedding Giveaway!

Last night was the Southern California Wedding Giveaway in Rancho Las Palmas in Moorpark! It was awesome meeting new vendors. I also finally got to meet Dana from the Broke-Ass-Bride and her fresh hubby of LA! They are both so sweet and cute! They rode in style rockin’ some bright colors! Dana: love those neon orange flats!

So, it was exciting to be part of the launch party as I’m a SoCal Dream Donor! I offered to do a candy buffet for the winning couple, but that was taken so Percy took a look at my tags and loved them! Look under Dream Donors, page three and you can find us there!

Vendors and sponsors got to set up around the venue…here was us.

Here’s what the buzz is all about!

Thanks to the generous support of our Dream Sponsors™, Dream Crew™, and Dream Donors™. The Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway is giving one lucky Dream Couple™ the wedding of a lifetime. This wedding will take place on Sunday, June 27, 2010 at the beautiful Rancho de Las Palmas in Moorpark, California with a wedding ceremony and reception for up to 100 of the winning Dream Couple’s™ guests. Everything will be taken care of for the Dream Couple™! This wedding will be a “Platinum Affair,” with an estimated cost of $100,000 provided by over 50 of the best wedding and event vendors (Dream Crew™) in the industry. The winning couple will be working with their own personal wedding planner and designer as well as the Dream Crew™ to customize and create the wedding of their dreams. The contest is open to all legal US resident that is 21 years old or older. The contest officially begins on October 18, 2009 at 12:00 p.m PSTand closes on January 31, 2010 at 11:59 pm PST. The winning couple will be chosen on Valentine’s Day 2010 by our Dream Sponsors™ and publicly announced on Monday, February 15, 2010. Goodluck to all our Dream Couples™! We can’t wait to hear and share you stories. Let the “Road to the Aisle” begin!

For all you ladies who want to enter, go here and wow us with your story!