The Wedding Blog by Blue Orchid Designs™ :: Real Advice from the Pros

New Bridesmaid Store in Chandler

2009-10-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

Twirl Boutique is celebrating the Grand Opening of their new store in Chandler and you're invited to join in on the festivities! Twirl is the original bridesmaid boutique and even has a blog especially for the bridal party. They have some other great announcements in store that they'll be unveiling later this Fall, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out!

Here is the invite. I'll be out of town for this event, unfortunately, so be sure to give Keri and Jenni big hugs from me:

Twirl is twice the fun now! Join us and come celebrate the grand opening of our second store in Chandler. There will be food, drinks and music for everyone to enjoy. Hope to see you there!

October 14th, 2009
5pm - 8pm

Twirl's NEW East Valley Location

2410 S. Gilbert Road Suite #4 Chandler, AZ 85286

Located in Watermark on Gilbert Rd between Germann and Queen Creek.

Take the 202 (San Tan Freeway) to Gilbert Rd (Exit 44)

Head south on Gilbert Rd

**Address does not work for GPS/online maps**

Here are some sneak peek pics of their new shop:

The window display:

The fitting rooms:

The entrance:

Congrats ladies!

Your Opinion Is Needed!

2009-10-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

We were recently contacted by Cristina, a doctoral student at the University of Virginia, who is doing a study on marriage. If you are an engaged couple, she needs your assistance! Here is the info:

Engaged volunteers needed!

I am looking for volunteers for a study of attitudes towards marriage and parenthood among engaged couples. The study consists of a 25-30 minute online survey. To qualify for the study, you must be 20-35 years old, live in the U.S., and plan to marry or have a commitment ceremony within the next 365 days. You and your romantic partner must not have children, and this must be the first marriage for both of you.

You can:
-Help a doctoral candidate;
-Increase the pool of scientific knowledge;
-Support research on marriage and families; and
-Spend some time thinking about your relationship!

I am working with Dr. Charlotte J. Patterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. This study has been approved by the University of Virginia Institutional Review Board #2009025800.

If you and/or your romantic partner are interested in participating or want further information, please email me at survey.couples{at}gmail.com. I will send you a link that you can use to access the study.

How to Make An Impact :: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2009-10-01T07:00:00.001-07:00

PinkFact: Four out of five women who are diagnosed with breast cancer do NOT have a family history of it.

Today is the first day of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and if you are in the wedding industry, I would like to encourage you to become involved with Pink Initiative.

Founded by wedding photographer Emilie Sommer, Pink Initiative is a collection of wedding industry professionals and private donors dedicated to funding awareness, outreach, education and research for breast cancer. After a nine month wait, Pink Initiative received it's official 501(c)(3) non-profit status in August (the effective date was made retroactive to October 2008, so all donations prior to August are still tax deductible).

If you or your company would like to be involved, please check out Pink Initiative's latest newsletter on how to do so, including some grassroots ideas from other professionals. You can sign up for the newsletter or make a donation to Pink Initiative on the website (a new website is in the works) and see who else is involved so far. You can also follow Pink Initiative on Twitter, which features daily WedFacts, PinkFacts or PinkQuotes.

A prevention for polio was discovered in our parents' lifetime, which up until then was a feat considered hopeless. Let's press on together so that we can say the same about breast cancer in ours.

Disclosure: I am on the board of directors for Pink Initiative.
Pink Initiative tag designed by Kelly Ashworth Design; photo by Darby Elizabeth Photography; photo shoot for Bride and Bloom Magazine.

Wedding Business Conference

2009-09-30T06:00:00.001-07:00

If you work in the luxury wedding market and haven't signed up for Engage!09 The Encore yet, get over to their website ASAP. Engage! is in less than two weeks, so do what you can to clear your schedules. Here are the details:

Before you sign up, please know that this is not a "how-to" conference: Marcy Blum will not lay out a step-by-step guide to being awesome and funny, Rebecca Grinnals will not give you the blueprint for how she built the Disney Fairytale Weddings brand, and Sean Low will not show you Excel spreadsheet case studies of his work with Preston Bailey. Engage! is designed to be a "thinking" conference: one that shifts your mindset, focuses your outlook on your business and moves you to take big, bold (and sometimes scary) steps to change what you are currently doing in favor of long-term growth. I have personally attended all three previous Engage! conferences, have spoken at two of them, and can attest to the difference it can make in your business in a very real way, including the accounting books.

Kathryn gave me a sneak peek at the guests and some of the wedding professionals attending, including several who spoke at previous Engage! conferences. Some of the people who will be at the Encore include Sylvia Weinstock; Marilyn Oliveira the editor of Inside Weddings; Tatiana Byron, founder of The Wedding Salon; Maria Cooke, founder of Ritzy Bee (and who helped me come up with my company name), Christy Weber and Blair deLaubenfels from Junebug Weddings, and Michelle Rago, whose relatively quick climb to success in this industry is truly inspiring.

You can read my previous recap posts about all three Engage! conferences here:
Engage!09 Recap
Engage!08 The Encore Recap
Engage!08 Recaps: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

You can visit the Engage!09 The Encore website to register and you can follow updates about the conference on Twitter by using the #engage09encore hashtag.

DIY Wedding Shower Favors

2009-09-28T06:30:00.006-07:00

One of the first Martha Stewart crafts I remember making were these little glassine Valentines. It was 1998 and a group of friends and I decided to make this project the subject of a Girls' Night In. They turned out pretty cute, as I remember, and were fairly low on the difficulty scale (and coming from me, you know that means super easy).

These would also make a simple and affordable DIY wedding project and could be used as bridal shower favors or even tucked into the wedding invitation. You could choose a cookie cutter that goes with your theme and trace that shape on to the glassine paper. Choose a thread that matches your wedding colors to tie the look together. Smaller stitches are shown in this photo, but using larger stitches would give the packets an updated, more modern look. The glassine paper was difficult to locate even eleven years ago, but we finally found a small independent art store that carried some.

Are you doing any DIY projects for your wedding?

Photo from Martha Stewart

Grand Opening for the New Kimberly Jarman Studio

2009-09-22T03:30:00.005-07:00

When I first met Kim Jarman, she was planning to move to Hollywood to make movies that meant something and I was learning Farsi in preparation for moving to the middle east to do humanitarian work. I remember one dinner party in particular where we discussed, over a bottle of Australian Riesling, precisely how husbands, babies and everything else we deemed important in life was going to fit in with our lofty plans. We were young and had big dreams.

We are still young and we still have big dreams. Needless to say, those dreams look very different now and I find it a bit humorous that we both wound up owning businesses in the wedding industry; something that had never crossed our minds. I remember when Kim told me she was starting her photography business "for real", I remember her complete excitement and subsequent nail-biting nervousness after she booked her first "real" clients (not family or friends or friends of friends), and I remember, in more recent years, her making the leap of faith to open commercial studio space.

Kim has now moved into a second studio, one more spacious than the first and one that will offer new opportunities as she continues to grow her company. In celebration of this milestone and of all the milestones that have led up to this point, she is hosting a grand opening party next week, and everyone is welcome to come celebrate with her. The event is being planned by the fabulous Heather and Jen of Outstanding Occasions, so you know that it will be, well, outstanding. Here are more details:

Join us for dessert, drinks, door prizes (including a free portrait session!) and more as we celebrate the grand opening of the new Kimberly Jarman Photography studio. The party will be going from 6:00-9:00 so make sure to stop by and check out our new space!

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

6:00 pm

The NEW Kimberly Jarman Photography Studio

126 West Main Street

Mesa, Arizona 85201

Free parking is available on Main Street as well as to the North of our building off of Pepper Street.

Please click here to RSVP.

Congratulations, Kim! I am so excited to see what else is in store for you along this journey!

photo provided by Kimberly Jarman

The Best Wedding Invitation EVER

2009-09-21T03:15:00.001-07:00

This is, by far, the coolest wedding invitation I have ever seen. Enjoy!

via Share Some Candy

Engagement Party Etiquette

2009-08-17T06:15:00.001-07:00

Newly engaged? Check out one of our previous posts on traditional and modern engagement party etiquette.

photo by Jennifer Bowen

Fabulous Daily Giveaways

2009-08-14T08:00:00.007-07:00

Have you heard of The Bright Side Project? If not, please stop reading our blog and click on over to theirs. Right. This. Second. Or as soon as you finish reading this post. Whichever.

The Bright Side Project was developed by two friends as a way to interject some daily sunshine into everyone's glum outlook on the economy. Every day, including weekends and holidays, they give away a fabulous product to one lucky reader. All you have to do to enter is answer a question at the end of the prize post that relates to focusing on the bright side of life.

You can check out The Bright Side Project here and follow them on Twitter here.

Wedding Chair Guide: The Chiavari Chair

2009-08-12T07:00:00.002-07:00

Chair Name: Chiavari (pronounced shih-vah-ree)
Pricepoint: $9-$12 and up

Chiavari chairs, often called wedding chairs or "cane chairs", are perhaps the most famous when it comes to wedding seating. They are both elegant and versatile at the same time and can hold their own in style or they can be dressed up with chair ties, floral or other elements.

There are two types of chair pads most commonly available for the Chiavari chair - a hard pad and a softer pillow pad. An example of a hard pad is in the lower center of the photo collection below - these pads velcro to the chair's seat to stay in place. The other three photos showcase the soft pad in various covers, which tie to the chairs at the back corners.

Chiavari chairs can be found through your local event rental company (Tri-Rentals, owned by Classic Party Rentals, is one of our go-to companies here in Phoenix) and I recommend using La Tavola Linen (they ship nationwide and have the best customer service, hands down) for coordinating all of your wedding fabrics.

Photos by Elizabeth Messina

Hidden Costs in Wedding Budgets

2009-08-11T07:00:00.006-07:00

Talking about money and budgets isn't the most glamorous aspect of wedding planning, but it's one of the most important parts because it means that you can actually get a handle on what needs to happen in order to make your wedding come to life.

Today I want to talk about one of the hidden costs in wedding planning - the plus/plus rate. I've talked about this before on this blog, but several of you are new here and it also seems that this topic continually catches couples off guard when it comes time to pay the bill.

Plus/plus stands for plus tax, plus service charge. These figures are in addition to the cost your venue or caterer will quote you for your wedding.

Let's say your wedding venue and their in-house caterer is charging $100 a plate. (For some weddings this is an extravagant amount, while for others it's a steal. Nonetheless, $100 is a nice round number to visualize and work with for our purposes here.)

The price on the quote you receive from your venue would look something like this:
Dinner: $100++

The plus/plus rates can range per city and per venue, but again for the sake of round numbers, let's say that sales tax is 8% and the service charge is 22% (both of which are not too far off from reality in many places).

So while the quote reads $100++ what it really means is $100 + 8% + 22%, or $130.

That's right, your $100 per plate budget just jumped to $130 per plate. This may seem insignificant while looking at the smaller numbers, but if you plan on inviting 100 guests, that's an additional $3000 that needs to be budgeted for. If you're inviting 300 guests (which is not uncommon for younger couples recently out of college), that's an additional $9000 on top of your $30,000 food bill.

Most venues and caterers will not volunteer what their plus/plus rates are in their sales literature. This number usually doesn't come up until the fine print of the contract when you're ready to book. Be sure to ask each venue or catering company while interviewing them for their rates so that you can make an informed decision when choosing a wedding location.

DIY Wedding Photobooth and a Contest

2009-08-10T07:00:00.001-07:00

I am completely smitten over this DIY photobooth featured on Classic Bride. Photographer Kate Headley set it up as a creative photoshoot for Maria Cooke of Ritzy Bee's new website. The shots below are of Maria setting it up (incidentally, Maria helped me come up with the name of my other company, Splendid Communications, so I totally think that everything she collaborates on is fab). You can get how-to instructions and a behind-the-scenes peek into Kate's thought process on the photobooth here.

In celebration of all the DIY goodness, Sarah Darcy from Classic Bride is hosting a DIY contest with over $1000 in prizes! Here's the scoop from Sarah:

If you're a DIY goddess, get your sewing shears and scissors out because we're looking for the crème de la crème of creativity! I want to see your BEST DIY project(s) . . . they can be big or small, elaborate or simple, so long as they are unique and original!!

Did you stage and style your own engagement photos (what a feat that would be!)? Make a music video montage to show at your reception? Create killer save-the-dates or invitations? Work tirelessly on constructing your own photobooth?

We want to see your efforts and ultimately, we want to see projects that make our jaws drop and have us saying WOW!!

To submit:
Send a step-by-step tutorial of your DIY project to theclassicbride{at}gmail.com. You will need to include written steps AND a series of low-res photos that walk us through your steps to be considered. Deadline is August 20, 2009 at midnight CST.

Are you doing any DIY projects for your wedding?

photos by Kate Headley

Makeup Tutorials from a Pro

2009-08-04T07:30:00.002-07:00

I am such a visual learner. Even if instructions are written out step by step, I like an image to go along with it to make sure I'm doing things correctly. This is why I was so excited to learn that Scottsdale makeup artist Corinna Cooke is offering makeup tutorials on her blog as well as via a series of YouTube videos. Brilliant.

Here are some tips on how to get a Summery look for your eyes - perfect for a bridal shower or engagement party:

Event at J Crew

2009-07-31T10:00:00.001-07:00

My friend Maria, who owns the event planning company, Ritzy Bee (and is also author of the Ritzy Bee blog - be sure to check it out if you haven't yet), is coordinating an event for J Crew on August 9th in Tysons Galleria as they launch their new Fall line. If you're in Virginia or the Washington DC area, mark your calendars to attend! Space is limited, so be sure to email Maria at info{at}ritzybee.com to RSVP.

New Wedding Blog by Marcy Blum

2009-07-29T07:00:00.003-07:00

Celebrity Eventiste and author of Wedding Planning for Dummies, Marcy Blum, has started a new blog and it is a must-have addition to your Google Reader. She is hilarious, witty and having been a wedding planner for over twenty years, has a perspective that is sorely needed in the relatively new wedding blogging community.

You can subscribe to her new blog, Adventures of Wedhead, here.

New Look for the Blue Orchid Blog

2009-07-28T07:00:00.015-07:00

The Blue Orchid Blog received a facelift over the weekend and I hope you'll enjoy the cleaner, lighter vibe. Along with the cosmetic changes you'll find some better functionality of the site. At the top of the main page you'll notice four spotlight boxes: our wedding vendor directory, free wedding planning ebook library, Pink Initiative - one of the charities we're involved with, and highlights of some of our recent press.

The wedding professionals directory is something I am particularly excited about because it will allow us to better showcase some of the best wedding vendors in Scottsdale and Phoenix (and some others that we've worked with from around the country). We are thrilled to be able to present to you wedding professionals whom we know beyond the photos on their websites. People who provide both creative, quality work and excellent customer service. This directory is unpaid and is simply a way for us to share the cream of the crop with you. The list will launch soon, so keep your eye out for that!

I'll also be publishing more of the wedding planning ebooks, each of which will be available for free download in our wedding resource library. If there's a particular topic you'd like to see covered, let us know!

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback yesterday. There are still a few kinks in the system here and there - photos that need to be rescaled to fit, for example - so please sit tight as they are worked out over the next few days. We also want to hear from you - what are you most interested in seeing on the Blue Orchid Blog?

Photo by Jennifer Bowen

Wedding Scrapbook For the Not-So-Scrapbooky Bride

2009-07-27T10:30:00.002-07:00

Confession: I am not a scrapbooker. While I may have the best intentions, let's face it: taking a blank album, cutting out strips of paper, interweaving it with bits and bobs of ribbon and buttons and other cute baubles just doesn't happen for me. This is precisely why all of the tangible reminders of the past fifteen years of my life sit tucked away in photo boxes on a bookshelf, sadly never seen and rarely celebrated.

Enter the Wedding Scrapbook by Darcy Miller. Darcy, probably best known for her work at Martha Stewart Weddings, designed a wedding scrapbook for people like me: people who would love to scrapbook all their memories, minus the tediousness of actually scrapbooking all their memories.

While the scrapbook was published in 2004, it is a classic that can withstand the test of time and makes a great engagement party gift or as a gift to yourself. Illustrated by Darcy herself, it has spots for you to incorporate photos, jot down memories of your wedding and planning process, and even a place to keep your letterpressed and monogrammed cocktail coaster and the other things that aren't included in the album you receive from your photographer. Think of it as a baby book, but for your wedding. And much prettier.

You can purchase the scrapbook at your local bookstore or online at Amazon (where it's currently a steal for less than $20!).

What did you do or are planning to do with the memorabilia from your wedding?

Photos from New York Social Diary and Amazon

Color Palettes for Weddings

2009-07-21T05:00:00.001-07:00

If you feel like you're in a design rut in the midst of your wedding plans, or if you simply want to be inspired, check out Colour Lovers - a social networking site for creative inspiration. Browse, create and share color palettes, patterns and more.

What colors are you using for your wedding?

Free eBook: Wedding Linen Chart

2009-07-17T07:00:00.004-07:00

Trying to figure out which size linens you need for your wedding reception? Need a handy way to keep your wedding linen order organized? Click here to download our free Wedding Linen Chart ebook. You can print it out and use a three-hole punch to keep it in your wedding planning notebook along with your notes, copies of contracts, and all the other odds and ends that go with planning a wedding.

You can also find other wedding planning ebooks in our free wedding resource library.

Free eBook: Wedding Vendor Hiring Guide

2009-07-14T02:00:00.005-07:00

Last year I wrote a series called Wedding Vendor Hiring Guide with helpful questions to ask your wedding vendors while you're interviewing them. Since it's a little difficult to print out a blog post, I've compiled those questions into a short twenty page ebook called Wedding Vendor Hiring Guide (as you can see, when it comes to naming things, we like to keep it simple). You can download your free copy here.

Special thanks to the forever-talented Laura Hooper for letting me dress up the ebook's text with her artwork.

I've created several free downloadable wedding resources and will be posting more of them in the upcoming days and weeks in our Free Resource Library. Be sure to subscribe to the Blue Orchid blog so you don't miss out!

Spend a Day with the DIY Bride

2009-07-13T07:00:00.007-07:00

Shanika of SJB Weddings and Events is hosting a workshop on DIY weddings with none other than Khris of DIY Bride (both the website and the books) as the featured speaker. Khris is one of my favorite people in the wedding industry - ridiculously talented, kind, funny, forward-thinking and always encouraging others to be their best self.

If you're in the Charlotte area, this is a fantastic opportunity to learn from one of the pioneers of the modern DIY wedding. You can learn more details and sign up for the workshop here.

Featured in Bride and Bloom Magazine

2009-07-03T19:15:00.001-07:00

Back in February, my friend Leila from Be Inspired PR sent an unexpected email asking if I'd like to do a feature for Bride and Bloom magazine. The catch was that we had two days to produce and shoot it and we had a big wedding the same week. Naturally, we said yes.

I always seem to have different favorite photos than the ones chosen for print, so I wanted to share some more of the photos from the shoot here and want to explain a little about our thought process that went into creating this tablescape.

We were assigned the color yellow (my fave) to work with, so my thoughts immediately went to a light and breezy picnic-type vibe. I also wanted to create something that could be easily recreated in every day life. Many times, magazine shoots are over-the-top and opulent and while they are fun to design and create, they tend to be unattainable in real life. After all, you shouldn't have to choose between paying your mortgage and throwing a beautiful bridal shower for your best friend.

I enlisted the help of the super talented Kelly Ashworth to design the needed stationery items. She created the invitations, menus and place cards. The direction I gave her was basically: yellows and accent colors, picnic-y, cute and left it at that. She decided to do the invitations as mini accordian style books. They are probably my favorite part of the entire shoot:

Next, Jeannie from White Poppy Floral came up with the flower arrangements and the direction I gave her was basically the same as what I had given Kelly. She used different vases of varying heights and used flowers she was able to get locally to create simple arrangements:

I opted for a simple table runner because I felt that a full tablecloth would detract from the outdoor look and the table was pretty enough on it's own. I originally wanted to do picnic benches with throw pillows for the seating, but given the short time frame, opted for chiavari chairs from Tri-Rentals instead. The buttercup yellow chair ties are from BBJ Linen (we're spoiled that Phoenix has one of the warehouses and I can pickup at will call and don't need to have them shipped) and the table runner is actually a chair tie as well. Planning tip: most linen companies don't stock separate table runners, so when you see them in photos or at weddings, they are actually always the chair ties unless they've been custom-made.

I am typically not a fan of wedding favors; I cannot tell you how many get left on the tables at the end of the night and I always get a little sick to my stomach when they wind up in the garbage. I do, however, love the idea of taking the money budgeted for favors and donating it to a charity that is important to you. I serve on the board of directors for Pink Initiative, an organization focused on breast cancer, so I chose to showcase them for the favors needed for the shoot. Kelly made little tags that denoted the gift made in each guest's name and we tied them to small lemonade bottles. Instead of setting the bottles at each seat, we grouped them in trifle bowls and incorporated them into the table's decor.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, we used a lemon tart that Danielle from Sweet Pea Bakery in downtown Phoenix made for us. We placed the tart on a cake stand and also incorporated it into the table decor as well. Sweet Pea is one of my favorite bakeries in the Phoenix area and all of their baked goods are to die for. They are also fantastic to work with on weddings.

Thanks to everyone who helped us pull this together and for being flexible on such short notice. Also, special thanks to Darby Elizabeth for taking all the photos.

Photos by Darby Elizabeth

Engage!09 Wedding Business Conference Recap

2009-07-01T20:30:00.004-07:00

This past week I spoke at a wedding business conference called Engage!09 in Grand Cayman. I know, my job takes me to really difficult places, but hey, somebody has to do it. Engage!09 is a conference for wedding professionals who work in the luxury bridal market and brings together the best of the best for education and networking. As usual, I am terrible at remembering to pull out a camera (or even bring one), so here are some photos of this year's event as seen through the lens of some of the other people there:

Harmony Walton, founder of the Bridal Bar and I in front of the welcome banner Rebecca and Kathryn had arranged to have at the airport as everyone arrived. Harmony and I only get to see each a couple of times a year, so it was fun being able to catch up with her on our flight from Houston to the islands:

On Sunday evening, there was a welcome party on the beach so that everyone could meet and greet before the sessions began on Monday. The party was designed by the uber talented and incredibly down-to-earth Michelle Rago. It was the perfect mix of chic and casual and if you're having a beach wedding, this would be a great event to draw inspiration from. Here is part of the set up before:

And with people enjoying it. I was so excited when Heather Crabtree and Jennifer Thinnes of Outstanding Occasions (facing the camera) and Teresa Wilson (in pink) from Camelback Flowershop decided to attend this year and it was fun bonding with them and staying up chatting by the pool until 3 am . . . .

On Monday I had lunch with Laura Novak, a photographer and brilliant business woman (we've decided it is now our tradition to eat lunch together at every Engage! event) who spoke on a panel on Tuesday and Darcy Miller from Martha Stewart. No photos of our lunch, but here is a shot of Darcy speaking:

Celebrity Eventiste Marcy Blum spoke on "Everything but the Wedding", but perhaps the most interesting part of her talk was the question and answer session when the topic of kickbacks and commissions came up. Bottom line: you can make a lot of money taking kickbacks in the short term, but they hurt you in the long run. It's best just to avoid the situation all together. Sean Low wrote a great post about the compromises wedding professionals may be tempted to make here.

Here is another shot of Marcy to better show off her yellow stilettos. I have no idea how she walked in heels that high:

I don't have any photos yet of the second day or of my sessions. The attendees were split into four groups and rotated to four different sessions, which meant that I, along with my fellow panelists Bee Kim of Weddingbee and Lara Casey of Southern Weddings, spoke four times in a row. It was interesting to see the varying dynamics of each group and how that shaped the questions asked (which were quite different each time).

On Tuesday afternoon we had the afternoon off and what was meant as a short twenty minute swim may have turned into five hours of ocean time chatting with new and old friends. The beach is totally my zen-like happy place and quality time is my love language, so I am so grateful that I was able to have that afternoon to combine both.

That evening, Jo-Anne Brown and her team from Celebrations Ltd turned the main ballroom at the Ritz into an island themed glam party. They used draping to cover the four large chandeliers that would have detracted from the look they were going for and to also create a natural flow in the room for the food stations and lounge areas for everyone to relax in:

Here is a photo of the lovely Stacey Kane, a photographer from Maine (and the person responsible for all the photos in this post, minus my mediocre iphone shot at the top) and Linda Murray, a fellow Pink Initiative board member:

Here is a video that Bee Kim from Weddingbee took of cake designer Sylvia Weinstock and Randy Fenoli, from TLC's Say Yes to the Dress fame and fashion director at Kleinfeld Bridal busting a move on the dance floor . . . at the beginning of the night:

Engage 09 Party Time!

On Wednesday, Sylvia spent about twenty minutes trying to talk me into using match.com because, and I quote, "where else are you going to meet anyone these days? I buy my groceries online from Whole Foods and they deliver them right to my door. You can get anything on the Internet today, even a husband." Thanks, Sylvia, I'll keep that in mind. You can now follow Sylvia and all of her wit and wisdom on Twitter here.

And here are the brains behind the Engage! events - Rebecca Grinnals (right) and Katherine Arce (left) of Engaging Concepts doing introductions on Monday morning:

These two ladies are quite possibly some of my favorites in the entire industry and I will forever be indebted to their foresight and on a personal note, their faith in me and my vision for my companies. I owe much of my career thus far to Rebecca as she opened doors for me that would have been near impossible otherwise. They have shaped much of the wedding industry as we know it today and have done so quietly from behind the scenes (Disney's Fairytale Weddings, anyone? Rebecca co-founded it). Of anyone in the industry who deserves to have an ego - it's them, and yet they don't. They are gracious, humble, and are truly people to learn from and admire. If you are a wedding professional and ever have an opportunity to work with them or to attend an Engage! conference, please don't hesitate to do so. They are worth every penny.

Photos by Stacey Kane; top photo provided by my phone (Stacey better watch out, she may have competition soon); video from Weddingbee

Behind the Cost of Weddings Revisited

2009-06-04T07:00:00.004-07:00

Two years ago I wrote a post called Behind the Cost of Weddings which explained some of the reasons weddings are expensive and what goes into the pricing of the vendors you hire. You can read that post here.

A recent conversation I had with a bride brought up a common misconception in regards to hiring wedding vendors and I wanted to expand a bit on that here since it wasn't covered in that first post. While we were discussing options for which band the couple was going to hire, the bride remarked that the price split evenly between the band members was a great salary for them to walk away with.

Please know that the price you are paying your wedding vendors is NOT their salary. The fee they are charging doesn't go directly into their pockets - it includes overhead (rent, utilities, business licenses, equipment, postage, etc), taxes, employee salaries and benefits as well as other costs of running a business. So, for example, if your photographer is charging $7000 to document your wedding, that total amount is not going into their personal account. Their full fee is not their full paycheck - not even close.

Wedding Dress Sample Sale in Scottsdale

2009-06-03T08:00:00.004-07:00

If you're planning a wedding in Scottsdale and are still on the hunt for your dream dress, be sure to stop by Mariee Gallery at the Shops at Gainey Village this weekend, June 5th-7th for their Champagne, Cake, Tapas and Fashion sample sale.

Every gown in the shop will be on sale to make room for their new arrivals, which means that you can potentially find your dress for 40-80% off! Some of the lines Mariee carries include Romona Keveza, Nicole Miller, Adele Weschler, and Elie Saab, among others.

To reserve your appointment, contact Mariee Gallery via phone at 480.946.4343.

Photo of bride at Mariee Gallery by Jane Zarzynski Photography.