Breaking the Silence

Happy New Year! 2008 ended very quietly for us. We received dozens of messages from readers wondering what happened. The truth is, we spent much of the fall traveling, including trips across the U.S. (Texas, Illinois and Florida) and also overseas (including Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco).

With all the traveling, it didn’t give us much of an opportunity to blog. Sorry about that!

We’re back. Hopefully we’ll get back on our weekly blog schedule soon. Thanks for your patience!

Black & White and read all overShopping inspiration

Today Michelle and I headed out to see if we could find a special table for Gwyneth Bride. We call her Gwyneth because she is so G. Paltrow its crazy. We adore her and her going to be off the charts gorgeous wedding. Back to shopping- I nearly had a meltdown when I got to my favorite shop because I realized I left my wallet at home. Ugh. Anyway, I was inspired by this months issue of Unveiled (I adore this magazine, its a must read). This issue is completely unique because its all about Black & White. Go get it.
So of course, I walk into the shop, and I find all this neat black and white that would be fantastic for a fun shower or bridesmaids luncheon. Best part- nothing over $4 a piece. Love that. These pieces might find their way onto a tablescape I'm doing next week.
While we didn't find the perfect table for Gwyenth bride, we did find these very cool 2.5 foot lanterns. These would be great at the beginning of a ceremony aisle with pillar candles inside and surrounded by big bushy peonies. Then we walked around the corner and found these monsters! I MUST HAVE THEM. Michelle is 5 foot, so you can see- these are big beyond big. I swear I could hear my poor abandoned wallet screaming, "come get me, I will buy them for you!". Michelle saved me by pulling me out of the shop with a Starbucks card. By the way, the new Tzao Vanilla Roobos latte is so good.

"Who won?"

I'll bet y'all thought we'd forget to pick the winner of Bouquet Chic. Nope, it just took us forever to choose because Michelle was talking me off the ledge at Homegoods (I'll explain this later). All the comments are awesome! Thank you so much for reading the blog, and keep reading for more giveaways in the future. And the winner is:
Lindsay TOAST:: Signature Celebrations said...

A tight round bouquet of pale pink peonies makes my heart sing. I came across an amazing peony pomander with pearls rather than ribbons as a holder and it was to-die-for!

Congrats Lindsay! Send me an email with your mailing address.

A Freebie and Giveaway reminder

{Heads up} I found a nice little surprise in my inbox this morning. You can get a free calendar from Shutterfly thru Jan 12th! The promo code is calendar12. More details available on their website.

What can you do with this calendar? Load in your engagement photos and use it for your planning calendar of course! As soon as you receive your calendar, fill in all your wedding payment due dates, perhaps a countdown (weeks left), task due dates (menus due, song selections due, invitation mail date, rsvp date, etc.), and appointments of course (tasting, alterations, floral consult, planning meeting, etc.).

Also, a reminder to enter the Bouquet Chic giveaway! We'll choose a winner later today.

Spotlight on: Impressions PhotographySummer Wedding at Sanibel Harbour

{Photography} Impressions Photography (Are they great at this or what?)
{Ceremony Venue} Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa (Best poolside ceremony location in Ft Myers)
{Reception Venue} Dolce Vita (You MUST eat here when visiting Sanibel)
{Cupcakes} Flour Cupcakes (I dream of these weekly)
{DJ} Clint Wiley (You guys know I adore Clint Wiley band)
{Band} Dana Paul & Joe McCormick (I still can't believe we had Dana Paul!)
{Floral} Weddings by Socialites (there is a story behind this- we aren't florists!)






This was one of the funnest wedding days ever. I think because it was a change from our usual calling of the ceremony on the beach and reception at the resort. Florida brides wedding started by welcoming their guests to the poolside ceremony with pink lemonade and mojitos and a selection of cool & refreshing hors dors. Cool and refreshing was key because it was HOT. Not hot, but HOT. As in , bring in the outdoor a/c. The hand fans certainly played a key factor in keeping guests cool as well. Before guests received their ceremony programs, we asked for their dinner selection. It was the first time we did this and it worked out perfectly! After the ceremony we had a champagne toast and then all headed over to Dolce Vita for the best dinner. It was spectacular. I adore restaurant wedding receptions, the food is always off the charts. After dinner the dance floor filled and stayed that way until the very last song. It was quite the evening. Oh, the flowers- read the story here: Ugly Bouquet.

Giveaway!

Yesterday I wrote a book review on Bouquet Chic. To remind you, in case you've read about 35 other wedding blog posts since then, I said I adored it. I think many of you would adore it as well, brides and planners alike. Anyway, the giveaway. This morning, the author, Kimberly Aurora Kapur sent me an email this morning and has given me a copy to give to one lucky reader. Simply comment with your favorite bouquet flower(s) and we'll include you in the drawing. We'll pick a winner on Friday.

This is one of the ribbon treatments that I had mentioned to Kimberly that I thought was more than photo worthy. I've always been a fan of monograms, and I can see this one being an item that would hold sentimental value after the wedding.Photo Credits: Jim Henkens

WeddingsbySocialites.com for iphone users

I love my iphone, however I hate that little blue box that shows up when I open a flash site. Drives me nuts. The good thing is that you can still view the Weddings by Socialites website from iphones! It does look a bit different (actually, alot different), but all the information is there and the pictures in the weddings pages look just as pretty. The address is the same www.WeddingsbySocialites.com
Let me note that not all the pictures are on the iphone version; you'll have to sit down to your computer to view them all. Happy browsing!