Vegas or Bust

It's official. I have decided that I will absolutely be attending the Wedding MBA Convention this year in Las Vegas! How exciting?!

I have dreamt of attending this convention since 2008 when I decided to start NoLo Weddings & Events with Nora. Every year I have received the postcards in the mail, gotten the emails about early registration and read all of the reviews and articles online. But this year I'm saying good-bye to the dream and hello to the reality :)

I'm sure all of you wedding professionals out there get it, but for those brides who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, it's a 3-day convention in Vegas about all things wedding. How to run a business better, how to organize better, how to market better, how to connect with brides better. Basically, take anything wedding related and by the time the convention is over, I'll be doing it better! I'm just so thrilled to finally have the opportunity to listen to some amazing speakers that have been in this industry awhile and to better myself as a wedding professional. And what better place than Vegas!

Oh, and over the weekend, we caught a bunch of these bad boys. So all around, I'm starting off my Monday well. Hope you're having a fabulous one too!

Suits vs. Tuxedos

Suits or tuxedos? That is the question.

I have to admit, I never thought that I would even consider suits for a wedding. I was tuxedos all the way. Formal wedding, garden wedding, backyard wedding; if the bridal party was dressing up then I wanted the guys in tuxes!

Now however, after selecting a barn as our wedding venue and looking at tons of pictures of both suits and tuxedos, my opinion has changed. Suits are perfectly acceptable. They are a great alternative for a causal wedding and let's be honest, don't look that much different than a tux. I'm no tuxedo connoisseur, but the main difference I see is the pockets on the jacket, and that's really not a huge deal to me. If you want suits, I say go for it. I'd be willing to bet that some people won't even notice, and those that do won't care. And after all, who really follows proper etiquette on absolutely everything anymore? No one.

Now, if you are having the most formal of formal weddings in a ridiculously elegant ballroom, I'd say stick to the tux. But Josh and I are getting married in a barn and the bridesmaids are wearing cocktail length dresses that are not super duper formal.

In case you are still a little worried that suits are not proper etiquette, a few more pros:

-The cost less to rent/ purchase.
-The little guy's tuxedo rental is usually the same price as the big guy's, so suits will benefit the ring bearer's family too!
-The guys actually have pockets, not those fake pockets (which Josh hates).
-You have a lot more options when it comes to a 3 button jacket (which Josh insists on).
-You can still pair a vest with a suit jacket to get more of a tux feel.
-But, you can also not have a vest and it still looks great! Think colored ties instead.


And here is the screen shot from the suit I found at Men's Warehouse. Really not that different, right?!

Have a great weekend :)

Wednesday Inspiration

"Being someone's first love may be great, but to be their last is beyond perfect."

I came across this quote this morning on tumbler. And to be honest, this is exactly why I continue to be so enthralled with weddings and planning them. I love to see this, plain as day, right there in front of me. The look on the groom's face the first time he sees his bride in her gown. The romantic gazes into each other's eyes during the first dance. The childlike playfulness of feeding each other cake. All of it screams love to me. And more than that, it screams perfection.

Nothing like starting off a Wednesday with a bit of inspiration and a reminder of why you love what you do :)

Using My Resources!

Hello all. I know it's been awhile. And I know this isn't the first time I've said that. But I promise, I'm back and ready to blog.

As you might know,  I'm currently in the process of planning mine and my wonderful fiancé's wedding. And of course, like a lot of brides I have a billion things pinned to my wedding board on Pinterest. One of my favorites? A centerpiece of vases set on top of a slice of tree. (I'm almost positive that "slice" is not the proper term to use here but it was the best I could come up with!) So, imagine my surprise when a dead tree had to be cut down right in our backyard. How perfect!

Now before you ask:

1. No- It's not going to be easy to cut them evenly, but I'm sure Josh will do great!

2. Yes- I do have to find a place to store 30 "slices" of wood until April.

3. Yes- I do have to transport them an hour away to our wedding venue.

But, like any good Girl Scout, I'm using my resources wisely! Imagine how much it would have cost me to purchase these. And as a bonus, something from my childhood house will be a part of our wedding! Sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

The lesson here: Anything is possible and you can save money by using your resources!

Original Wedding: Heather & Juan

If you are a bride looking for an awesome venue with tons of countryside, hills and scenic views, you should most definitely check out the Merriweather Mansion. Not only did the views make this wedding a fun one to work, but the bride and groom were just as lovely!

Heather and Juan looked stunning together. The wedding started off with a ceremony overlooking the vineyard and hills and ended with a sparkler exit that went off without a hitch. (Hint: Make sure you purchase the large sparklers if planning to do one of these-- I've heard horror stories about trying to coordinate a sparkler exit with the standard sized ones!)

Congratulations to Heather and Juan :)

Cake pops as place cards!

Texas Things!

So I'm back from Texas, and I greatly apologize for the lack of blog posts during my vacation! I was pretty pre-occupied with the touristy activities, wedding attending and getting engaged. That's right- getting engaged :) You know what that means, I now get to blog about wedding in general, but also the awesome and exciting journey of planning my own!

In the meantime, here are a few things about Texas that I greatly enjoyed:

Getting to witness a traveling "something". In this case, a Mr. Potato Head. It's hard to see, but the guy laying on the ground is definitely taking a picture of him with the Alamo!

The fact that my lovely fiancé was convinced these were "missile silos" when he was a kid.

There are baby horses everywhere!

That I got the chance to meet Katie and attend Stormy and Katie's wedding (of course). It was absolutely gorgeous and she is a doll!

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!