Wordless Wednesday: Jubilation!

Courtesy of 643 Photography

Journey to the Altar: Busy Little Bee

by Brittiny,
who is planning her nuptials and other people's weddings, too!

I had two large weddings last weekend, and prepared the mockups for a few other weddings I have. Let me know what you think. All flowers were purchased from Wal-mart, the jewels from Sav-On Crafts, and the feathers from Hobby Lobby. I would suggest not purchasing flowers from Wal-mart, to say that I was disappointed with the quality is a severe understatement. The flowers weren't properly hydrating and were dropping petals like nothing I had ever seen. I usually order my roses from a secret source and never had that problem before, but was feeling under the weather and decided to go to Wal-mart. I was NOT happy.
Here's the centerpiece Mockup, but there will be about half a dozen to a dozen more flowers in it.


Here is another thing we did over the weekend. My assistant put the buckets together with my design inspiration etc. One of my brides has 8 children coming to her wedding and we did individual buckets for them all.



Here are some pix from this weekend's wedding, where I did all of the decor:


The bride and groom were married on a bed of roses and a backdrop of hanging orchid strands.

Wordless Wednesday: Hello? Yes, We Did It!

Courtesy of Angelica Glass

"You Saved Me" Giveaway

Have you heard about this new groundbreaking documentary? "You Saved Me" was created by Essence bloggers and the creators of BlackandMarriedWithKids.com Lamar and Ronnie Tyler. It features African-American couples and the greatest love stories ever told. You Saved Me is the the follow-up film to their best selling debut Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage.

Now here is the best part: Lamar and Ronnie are great supporters of our site and they are giving away two copies of their new movie to TWO of our readers. Just leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway. Winners will be determined using a random generator so join in. This documentary is going to be important for years to come!

Now this weekend the movie will premiere in over 25 cities, so check here for listings. Find the trailer below.

Journey to the Altar: Baby's Breath

by Brittiny

Today I fell in love with baby's breath once again and became so inspired that I decided to use it as a centerpiece for my bridal show today. It is definitely more organic and sassy than the inspiration pieces but still me. Let me know what you think! I think the polka dot ribbon wrapped vase definitely lends a bit of my sassiness into the equation.

Inspiration Pictures



Now, here is my take on the baby's breath.




I think next time I'll definitely shape it up a bit more, but I sort of love the unruliness of it and allowing the organic nature to shine through. The fragrance is intoxicating and everyone leaned over to smell. I do think that these will be an adorable addition for a shower or a casual wedding.

Wordless Wednesday: At Last!

Courtesy of Blue World Studios

Journey to the Altar: Invite FAIL

- by Brittiny

It all started at Office Depot. I was in a rush to get my things printed and someone asked me if I did invitations and of course I say no and begin telling them about my job etc. The clerk interrupted me and asked me if I wanted my invite trimmed I said sure. She cut the damned thing down so far it looked like an oompa loompa's invitation. I fought back tears because I realized I had only ordered ONE sample of this paper and messed it up. So I, being resilient, squealed that's okay we can just use the RSVP since it's not cut down. I mean I just wanted to see what it looked like on the paper, right? Well that's just the beginning. I get home with my invitation sized RSVP and my oompa loompa sized invitation and show Mr. Mocha. His response was "what's wrong, I don't see anything wrong with it". I looked at him dumbfounded. Then I decided I was going to go ahead and do the stamp. Lo and behold, I forgot AGAIN to get new ink and inked it with the dullest ink on the planet. While I was pondering over the ink conundrum I stamped the second chandelier CROOKED! (Laughing yet? I was). I then go and get my handy dandy pink glue gun, Frenchie, out (from Grease remember the pink hair lol). Now Frenchie had never ever let me down. Until today :D. I quickly stick in the glue wax faux sticks and la dee da wait for it to heat up. I then dripped 3/4 of an inch or so onto my ribbon after an okay practice run on a sheet of paper. That went not so well. I dripped a huge glob from the glue stick onto the right hand corner and proceeded to do the wax seal. Well I put my wax seal in olive oil and push it down, I swear it looked like Mt. Helen erupting with the wax running everywhere. I am 100% sure I didn't wait long enough for it to cool. Want to know the best part? You cannot even tell it's our initial at the end. I then go to put the damned monstrosity into the envelope and - you guessed it - it's too big to fit. By this time I am laughing my ass off at myself and I just take the silly thing and trim it down to size.







Here's what I learned today:

* Don't let the person cutting your sample out of your sight
* Don't dwell on an incorrect cut while stamping
* Wait the full 1-2 minutes on the faux wax seals
* Don't take yourself too seriously. I mean, um, crying at a counter at Office Depot when my wedding isn't even for another 10 months is a bit "much" to say the least.
* Thank goodness I have 10 months to perfect this. At least my envelopes look good!

Have you had any funny stories with your invites?

Wordless Wednesday: Sometimes...

...even little girls get choked up at weddings.
Courtesy of 643 Photography.

Dessert Divas Serve Up Unique Wedding Confections

-by Erica

Brides-to-be are always searching for new ways of doing old wedding traditions. Those who want to offer their guests something other than the usual wedding cake can take some inspiration from Southern Girl Desserts.

Two native Floridians, Catarah Hampshire and Shoneji Robison, started Southern Girl Desserts in Los Angeles almost three years ago, but they're already serving up scrumptious delights for the who's who of L.A. What sets them apart? They replace everyday reception desserts with southern favorites - such as red velvet cake, pineapple obsession, banana pudding and their signature sweet potato pie cupcakes - and make them elegant enough for a wedding.
Hampshire and Robison found themselves in the national spotlight last year after their red velvet cupcakes were served at the wedding of Essence Atkins and soon they will be shipping their creations nationwide.