recent posts

Veils are very beautiful, but do not match every bride's style.  Especially in summer, when the weather is hot, using a non-veil headpiece is a fashionable alternative.  Here are a few fun eco-friendly options.

Today, I would like to talk to you about square wedding cakes.

Square cakes have been around for quite some time. They are once again becoming very popular. The clean architectural lines, with subtle decorations seem to appeal to the contemporary Bride.

The cake itself accents varied choices in the overall reception appearance.

For example, the wedding shown above used very subtle square elements throughout the reception. Utilizing a square cake displayed as shown, brought out the angles of the reception area, and left a very modern look that didn’t overwhelm, or take away from the beautiful ocean view. 

If you’re utilizing larger fresh flowers, like peonies or simple gerbera daisies for your event, a square cake is the perfect palette.  The larger surface area really emphasizes the bloom.

 This shape also works very well with a fresh fruit garnish.

  The square cake can be very sophisticated and very romantic. It can also be very whimsical! The important thing, as always, is to make it personal!

Well I did it! Yesterday I summed up the courage (i.e. drank lots of wine) and stripped down for a camera. The soon-to-be Mr Bekapaige is going to DIE when he sees the pictures!!!

So when I was thinking about doing these, I really wanted to hear what the experience was like. So I'm going to share mine- and don't worry, when I get the photos back, I'll share a few of those too :)

I was very nervous the night before and the morning of but a few glasses of wine helped with that. I know a lot of girls loved their male photographers but I was a million times more comfortable having a female photographer. While I was nervous when the session first started, by the time we were ten minutes into it I was starting to feel glamorous! Sorry to get Fergie stuck in your head at such an early hour.

Seriously though, this is coming from a less-than-100-pounds, bony-hipped, flat-chested person: I felt incredibly hot. It's amazing what some lighting and carefully applied bronzer can do!

I bought quite a few new pieces for the shoot but several of them were just things that I already had and liked. I definitely felt most comfortable in things that I loved, and my comfort level showed in how well the photos came out.

I think the last thing that I came away with yesterday was how important it is that your photographer and you have the same vision for the photos. My photographer definitely got my vision: pretty not trashy. Now hopefully the photos come out well!

Have you had these photos taken? Are you thinking about it?

{the above photo was taken by Skyeblue, I really liked this photographer's website for getting ideas of poses/outfits/etc}

So after weeks of pleading from my mom, I looked into weddings here in Oregon.

Being in the heart of the Columbia Gorge, you'd think that there would be a lot of beautiful locations, right? Well, techinically, you would be correct, but all of them cost over $3000 for nothing but the scenery. Being a babe on a budget, I need a little more bang for my buck.

After spending the day searching the internet, one of the most obvious venues smacked me in the face. Timberline Lodge. The beautiful place that I spent most of my teenage years, riding down the beautifully carved slopes on my snowboard, eating chili fries and downing hot coco by the gianormous fireplace, and raising hell around the hallways with my punk a*% friends.

I look back at the weekends spent there and I really didn't step back and see the beauty and elegance of the place. It is truly breath-taking, even when the snow isn't grazing the roof line. The yellow and purple flowers bloom late in the spring, when summer is just around the corner because the snow keeps them from growing, though there are still little patches of the white stuff. The sky is bluer than any blue you can comprehend and the temperature is perfect. The kind of perfect that is warm enough to go without a jacket, but still a cool breeze graces you with fresh mountain air. It's also that creepy place where Jack Nicholson goes insane.

Heeeere's Johnny!

Anyway, let's get to details. Timberline offers awesome wedding packages for any one on any budget. They also offer quickie weddings for anyone who wants that sort of thing.

Almost all of their packages offer a wedding cake and some sort of catering. They have a few different locations for the ceremony, including two of the rooms that have outdoor options and an ampitheatre if you have a pretty large wedding. For the ceremony, I want the Raven's Nest room, which has a beautiful arched ceiling

Jason and I are going up next week to talk to the wedding coordinator to discuss dates and look around. It's been years since I've been up there, I'm really looking forward to it!

Hope you all enjoyed!

Loves!
Jenn

Timberline Lodge website

Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love…though for the wedding I did this particular weekend, it certainly felt like the city of true love for my bride Joanna and her groom, Michael, as they celebrated their wedding in a fabulous floral paradise at the historic Park Hyatt Hotel in the heart of downtown.

Joanna and Michael came to me wanting an over-the-top floral experience for their wedding—which I was happy to hear! There is nothing quite as stunning (and enjoyably challenging) as using an incredible abundance of flowers in unique and original ways to create an elegant fantasy ceremony… and when I say abundance, I do mean abundance—to create the most romantic and opulent ceremony and reception for Joanna and Michael, we brought in the most floral my company has ever purchased at one time for an event: over 10 acres of white roses were shipped from Ecuador to create this unforgettable ceremony for one truly elegant bride.

Below, take a look into the wedding ceremony of Joanna and Michael held in Rose Garden Room:

The perimeter of the room, draped in white fabric, created a blank canvas for all the details of this elaborate garden setting to come alive...A custom, hand-painted aisle runner included the couple’s custom monogram, and was bordered by rose petals increasing in color intensity to meet the alter (a great idea for your own wedding!)

I created three archways of various shades of pink and white roses along with white carnations studded with crystal accents. The foundation of each archway was created from simple garden gazebo structures, which were then covered with Styrofoam to hold several hundred stems of floral: white and pink roses, white hydrangea, tulips, calla lilies, and sprays of white phalaenopsis orchids. Crystal garlands were inserted to give the design some added sparkle and a subtle modern twist.

Hedges of all white roses framed the seating area, adorned by glass candleholders holding white pillar candles, dripping with crystals. The hedge décor on the end of each row defined both sides of the aisle. Candles and pave carnations in all white (with a special inlayed design made using cream colored roses accented with crystals) created an ethereal garden pathway, guiding the bride down to her waiting groom.

Each guest’s chair was dressed with a sheer, champagne organza fabric cover. Rose petals held in cones were tied with matching pink ribbon around each chair back for an overall romantic setting, and a pink rose and program was placed at each seat to welcome their guests.

The bride’s bouquet of all white stephanotis flowers was modeled after Jessica Simpson’s famously elegant wedding bouquet. To make it Joanna’s own, I had the center of each rose hold a diamond crystal (continuing the detail from the hedges and the arches of her ceremony) and her bouquet handle was wrapped entirely in a diamond crystal-encrusted trim for the ultimate luxurious bridal bouquet. The bridesmaids carried white calla lilies with matching crystal accents with stems wrapped with ribbon and an accent of a crystal buckle for an extra touch of sparkle.

Next week, come back to see Joanna and Michael’s unforgettable wedding reception. For now, here is a sneak peak!

Our host, celebrity event designer David Tutera joins us for a weekly post on his insights, inspirations, and incredible adventures in event planning. David is not only the host of Get Married, but the owner of a highly successful, award-winning company that boasts celebrity clients, a partnership with Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, and a recent expansion into retail florist and gift shops. His work has garnered oodles of national and international press including features on Oprah, the Today Show, GMA, and CNN among others. David is the celebrated author of four party planning and entertaining books, and is a frequent guest and contributor on The View.

His impressive client list includes Star Jones' wedding, Jennifer Lopez's Still perfume launch, Matthew McConaughey, the Official Post Grammy Parties in New York City, Elton John, Barbara Walters, the Rolling Stones, Vice President Gore at the White House, Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger, Susan Lucci, The John F. Kennedy Center, as well as countless film premieres and celebrity parties for royalty, politicians and socialites.

And if all that doesn’t keep him busy enough, David will stop by weekly to share all his planning and design ideas with us! A must-read every Monday morning!

A lot has been written about Xeriscaping - the practice of creating landscaping that requires little or no water. But what about xeri-decor? One environmentally conscious wedding trend that I love is using low-impact centerpieces and displays. In addition to being environmentally friendly, the results are often strikingly unique and memorable. Here are a few great low-impact looks:

If you live in a place where succulents grow naturally, a few succulent cuttings wrapped in leaves creates an exotic organic feel (and the cuttings can be replanted after the wedding!).

Image above and below: Organic Elements for the Water = Life exhibit at the San Diego National History Museum.

Branches or twigs stacked together also create a dramatic look. These work particularly well for a winter wedding because if you place flowering tree branches in water a few weeks ahead of time you can have fresh local blooms in February.

I also love the way riverstones look in vases with candles. It is simple, elegant and earthy. For our wedding, my husband and I gathered stones from the beach near our home and he made little table fountain vases full of them. After the wedding, we returned the stones back to the beach.

Photo Credit: California Wedding Ideas

Dried flowers are another good choice, and can be reused at a friend's wedding or around your home. You can pick flowers that are in bloom in your neighborhood (with permission) throughout the year and hang them upside down to dry in a cool dark room.

Photo Credit: Flowers and Homes

Shopping for your wedding gown has got to be the most daunting task of planning a wedding - it's one the one thing that we have to get right! As the bride we are the center of attention for the duration of the wedding - not the flowers, or the table setting, not even the groom lol.

Most women are under the impression that you have to go into bankruptcy to find a quality gown that will make you a knock-out on your big day. I'm here to tell you that you can look like a million bucks on your big day for under $1000. Quality fabrics adored with Swarovski Crystals - styles ranging from the informal to the over the top!

Ladies, let me introduce you to Casablanca Bridals!

This is one of the designers featured in the store that I work in, and for a lot of the brides that I work with it's a dream come true. 98% of their gowns retail for under $1000 dollars, and the 2% that aren't are less than $1200.

They have styles for every bride without draining their bank accounts. What's even better about this designer is that you're able to customize the gowns any way you want (add more detail, less detail, change the neckline, etc.)

& yes, I will wearing a Casablanca on the day of my wedding but you'll have to wait for my pictures to see which one I chose.

If you would like to see more of their collections and find a store near that carries this designer visit casablancabridal.com.

...I'm always looking out for my fellow brides on a budget :)