Fall Vintage: October Styled Shoot
Laurel Avenue organized, styled and hosted a fall styled shoot!
Hooray!
First things first.
Our vendors, y'all.
Ashlea Rosado, Make Up Artist
Madison Ties
Macon Bridal Consignment
Strong Tower Fellowship Church
Johna Castro
Davis Wholesale Floral
These vendors were the absolute greatest to work with. Beyond generous, punctual, grateful, enthusiastic....I could go on. Take a peek at the collaborative work we created!
Adding some sprigs of chocolate mint leaves from the backyard was a GOOD decision. The brides gets to smell it all day! Flowers styled by Laurel Avenue.
And our two beautiful models:
Tierre & Maxwell.
Total stunnas.
Can you believe this dress is on consignment? You can go to Macon Bridal and get mint-condition dresses for a fraction of their retail price...like this size 8 Allure gown.
Fellas I know you're drooling over this handmade bow tie. Madison Ties is our girl. She makes trendy vintage bow ties like none I have ever seen. We were literally itching to feature her. She takes orders too, y'all.
This stunning, natural make-up glow was created by Makeup Artist Ashlea Rosado. She was so versatile and willing to provide exactly what we needed for Tierre.
Strong Tower Fellowship is the perfect place to get married. It somehow captures the darling chapel feel, but also has vaulted ceilings and stained glass. Absolutely consider having your wedding here.
God was so good to us. We had an amazing Sunday. We got every shot we wanted and even ran right on schedule. It could not have gone any more smoothly. We were so blessed with beautiful weather, and no hold ups. So excited and thankful for His favor on our styled shoot.
Johna, my love, your photography makes the world look its most beautiful.
Wonderful work, everyone.
Thank you.
Show our vendors some TLC and like them on Facebook!
One For The Road: Kansas City
Hammerpress, KC
Okay, Middle-Georgia bride. I did some scouting for you.
I'll be honest, I couldn't have labeled Kansas City on a map before this week. Now I'm not sure what I did without this thriving little metropolis of 6 million.
I've come a long way in 4 days from googling Missouri history & culture from my row 26 window seat.
It's true, I've fallen hard for KC.
Hammerpress, KC
And sometimes, when we live in little southern towns we gotta get serious about shopping local...not-so-local.
I have made it my mission to locate some Missouri vendors that my Georgia brides can fall in love with, without ever getting on a plane.
This is not an exhaustive list, it's just my 4-days-worth of walking and business-card-swapping.
1.Hammerpress
{ http://hammerpress.net/ }
Why you need it: Printed Products
How genuine are these people? They're a letterpress shop and everything is custom. From handshake, to customization, to product, they're the real deal. And guess what. The swell gentleman at the desk said they are happy to design custom wedding invites!
Hammerpress, KC
Their aesthetic is super trendy and they said they've worked with lots of brides. It seems like they make the process pretty easy start-to-finish, and you have a hand-made paper product to be proud of sending out. They are on the higher end of invite pricing, but count on it being a work of art.
2. Christopher Elbow Chocolates
{ http://www.elbowchocolates.com/ }
Why you need it: Favors or Parents' Gift
This right here is the precious little box of two that the sweet girls behind the counter showed me. They do this one a lot for wedding favors. This is certainly a fancy wedding favor because I'm thinking this vendor would be dynamite to order that box of 21 for a mother-of-the-groom gift!
3. Birdies
{ http://birdiespanties.com/ }
Why you need it: Shower Gifts/Personal Pampering
Now, y'all know I'm not one for fancy pants. I would describe myself as a sale-rack-bra kind of a girl. But THIS place is probably the only place on earth that could charm me into trying on lacy fancies. Danielle provided me with the very best customer service. She guessed my 34C size right, first try, and wouldn't let me out the door without trying on at least 9 or 10 unmentionables.
I'll be honest, she could probably hear me blushing from outside the dressing room, but suddenly I want a drawer full of these flattering beauties.
While the experience at Birdies was charming, I would definitely call these girls for a lingerie shower gift long-distance. You won't be finding things this comfortable/flattering/fancy at your local panties chain store. Specialty, ladies.
^ Finally figured out how to use my iPhone panorama so that's a plus.....
Next, a life lesson: leave your hotel room.
Don't sit in there.
At the computers in the hotel lobby, I met a lovely gentleman by the name of Wayne Heflin. He happens to be a fellow southerner, and the owner of Cross Canvas { www.crosscanvas.com }, a custom bag company. He chatted with me about our respective businesses, and he will be sending me a complimentary custom bag, along with the promise to be a wonderful Asheville connection, should I ever visit the Carolinas! GET. OUT.
Ladies, he says he's done several wedding-favor-style totes before. I'm thinking- bridesmaid gift?! Love!
Westside Local, where I had lunch with the loveliest in the business.
4. { hitched planning + floral }
How much do I love the owner, Jessica Corbett, for taking time out of her week to meet with me, a stranger from Georgia. This gal has FIVE WEDDINGS to put on this weekend. While you may think she sounds like a maniac, I think she sounds like a super-woman. And she is. We had lunch and I got to hear about her beautiful business and successes. She provided me with wisdom you can't buy. So excited to have made this connection.
I told Jessica, "It's my life goal to discover the next burlap of weddng trends"
and Jessica said,
"Oh, I can tell you, it's.....{Come back next week to find out. I'm gonna do a whole blog post about it} :)
Until next time, Kansas City.
You were good to me.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
El Anatsui's metal textiles
Engagement Season Is Here
Engagement season is in full swing. Pumkin spice lattes = crisp weather, big sweaters, and lots and lots of rings.
But my question is, dear ladies, is - are you ready? As a wedding planner, I spend a lot of time and energy around other people's romantic relationships, so I thought it was time we talked about the ugliest joy thief: comparison.
I wanted this post to be accurate, so I have interviewed 10 women in who are all very different, all of whom I respect SO very much and consider to be great sources of wisdom. I asked them questions about how we as women compare ourselves and our relationships. Their answers were profound, beautiful, and strikingly similar. We all compare. It always hurts.
The following is an open letter, from ourselves, to ourselves, as women in the pre-marriage life stage.
Dear Single,
You are wise. You are beautiful. You are every bit as worthy. You will have your turn, pinky promise. And don't use the term "Forever Alone". Waste no time on self pity. Strong women don't need to make jokes about how Netflix is their boyfriend, because they see ahead with clear eyes and steady heart. First things first, because the boy that finally discovers you will have found a novel in a sea of magazines, my love. You are tired of the questions from your family, tired of the prompting from friends, tired of striving. All you need to do is be completely yourself, happy in your skin. And in the mean time, you are a whole person. Be.
Dear Dating,
Sweet heart full of love. What will comparison do for you, but steal your joy? Lift your chin, count your blessings, and enjoy this beautiful season of lightheartedness. Don't make your relationship like a marriage. Save the responsibility and intimacy for later. The best thing about this season is hope. Hope for your future, but don't hold any claim over it like it already belongs to you. Hope for your relationship, but don't control it. Relax. Resist the urge to try and persuade your friends that your guy is great. If you think he's great, then......great! Your relationship will progress without you flooring the gas. Don't rush him! Go out to dinner, walk in the park, swing after dark, surprise him with tickets. These can be the good old days.
Dear Engaged,
Don't be afraid. You aren't ruining someone else's happiness by being engaged. You are so very much worth celebrating! Don't forget that you will have lots of visitors to your Facebook profile during this season, so take this major opportunity to post uplifting, life-giving things (hint: sometimes choose topics other than relationships) but don't be afraid to be openly thrilled with engagement. This is your moment, sweetheart, soak up the joy! People are happy for you. Don't get overwhelmed, but know that a friend you call will feel remembered and honored because engagement brings a small degree of social celebrity.
Dear Women,
We all have a little fountain of celebration inside of us. The one thing that can shut off the tap to our reservoir of celebration is jealousy and comparison. Don't let any voices in your head make you bitter at her over that ring. Set your sternest face against envy and rejoice for her. WITH her. When was the last time you were so overjoyed that it affected your face, your attitude, your tone, your thoughts. Is that how you feel for your friend when you see her post about the best boyfriend ever? Women, sometimes we hurt each other way worse than men hurt us, and on top of that, we're sneaky. Don't stew in the poison of pride and comparison. Delight with your girls.
You want to see a strong woman?
Look for the one that can genuinely celebrate another woman's gain.
Lovingly,
Elena