Texas Dreamin'

After a hectic and crazy last few days, tomorrow finally starts my 2 week vacation in Texas! Although I'll miss my lovely family and friends here in Maryland, these are the things I'm excited for:

#1- Exploring all of the shops and restaurants on the San Antonio River Walk. And the Alamo! I absolutely love everything historic!

#2- Good ole' southern relaxation. These 2 weeks will surely do my hectic schedule some good.

#3- Attending an evening wedding on a lake. (Obviously) It's no secret that I love weddings and this one happens to be the best friend of my significant other :)

#4- The surprise dinner that Josh has planned for us. I love surprises more than anything, but I'm terribly hard to surprise and always seem so find things out on accident. So, I'm thrilled because I have absolutely no idea where we are headed!

That said, you can look forward to another "original wedding" blog post when I return (and probably some fun posts in between!)

Jasmine Inspired Cupcakes

I can often be a perfectionist. As great as a trait as this can be, it can also be really frustrating when I'm doing something that I'm not great at- like decorating cakes. Although I love doing it, I always have a picture in my mind of how the end result should look, and it never quite looks that way. This weekend however, I made cupcakes for a friend's daughter's Jasmine themed birthday party and they couldn't have turned out better! I'm so proud and just wanted to share :)

Not to mention, Brooke did an excellent job with the party decor. Just check out the table set-up! There was also a "forbidden cave" and "candy market". Children's birthday parties are always so much fun to plan!

Even the cupcakes themselves turned out perfect!

Edible Glitter by Wilton = Brilliant

Awesome table set-up for the kids! Imagine it with only the twinkle lights lit up- it looked amazing!!

Carol Ruth Photography

One of the things I love about the wedding industry is meeting other wedding professionals. From my experience, we all (yes, I'm including myself, I can do that right?!) have a certain charm about us. Something that just lights up when talking about work and projects. It's so great to see a group of people passionate about what they do.

That said...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Carol of Carol Ruth Photography. Now I already knew Carol, from WPOC's first dream wedding contest. She was the first bride to win and I, as a sales representative at Michael's, worked with her on her reception. However, that was almost 2 years ago and yesterday evening's get-together was for a different purpose. Carol now does wedding photography, and is very talented! This is evident in the numerous pictures posted on her website and Facebook page, as well as the sheer passion that shines through when talking with her. Her most recent projects have been local weddings and some sporting events, but this month she has the opportunity to shoot a destination wedding in Jamaica! How fun?! I absolutely cannot wait to see those pictures posted online because I know they will be fabulous!

If you are looking for a photographer, definitely check out Carol Ruth Photography. She offers very affordable pricing and will be happy to work with you on any event. Carol also does maternity, baby, family and lifestyle photography.

P.S. Check out her "What to Wear" page. So clever!

Rehearsal Dinner Resource

Just a short & sweet tip for today...

I recently discovered on Open Table that you can search for restaurants, specifically with private rooms, for a rehearsal dinner. What a great resource! You pick a city, click "Rehearsal Dinner Restaurants" and voila. The site provides you with a list of restaurants in the city of your choosing, complete with capacity information for each or their rooms, price ranges, reviews and more. It's an easy way to browse through a bunch of restaurants in your area that can accommodate rehearsal dinners without all of the extra Googling. You can even reserve the room right there on Open Table!