The real photos on your wall

Came across this on FB today and loved it!!!
You will take a lot of photos on your wedding day and while the more traditional ones will go to your mother and grandparents and his mother, the ones that make it to your wall probably be more along these lines!

42 Impossibly Fun Wedding Photos!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/impossibly-fun-wedding-photo-ideas-youll-want-to-steal

My 2 favorites from our big day are also posted below

I would love it if anyone is willing to share theirs

Brooke

Fabulosity

Kate did it with style…. gorgeous wedding shots from her event here in September!

It’s been awhile!

Hello!!!!
I have been the worst at keeping up with my blog! I just realized I haven’t posted since June, which is a good thing because we have been so busy but a bad thing because I have so much to share it will be weeks before I get thru it all!!
For today I want to pass on this awesome piece of advice I saw on the net….
It’s titled the most Important Photos to take at your wedding and after reading it I couldn’t agree more.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-almasy/resolution_1_b_2761883.html

Keep checking back, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to stay more on top of this thing

Brooke

Traditional or Outdated? You decide!

 

Still here and still opinionated as ever… check out this article I found below  

“7 wedding tradions that should die”
I don’t totally agree with all of these but I am firmly in favor of #’s 1, 2, 6 and 7. 

Next week, I give my reasons why!

As always opinions welcome!

Brooke

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/love-sex/7-wedding-traditions-die-212400755.html

The hairy truth!

O.k. so you have spent all this money on your dress (which looks amazing). You’ve booked a gorgeous space for the reception, you have kick- a*! shoes, he looks fabulous in his tux and you ask your girlfriend to do your hair and makeup!  WHAT!!!! ladies this is a major no-no…. unless your girlfriend is a licensed cosmetologist with a chair at a reputable salon or like my girlfriend Nicole… licensed but works from home, then what are you thinking!!!!!!!!!!  You just spent literally thousands of dollars on this one day and you won’t kick in the extra loot to ensure that you look amazing? crazy!

Your best girl that does your hair before you head out for a Friday night is not the person who should be handling your locks before your big day. Find a professional who specializes in nothing but hair and make a minimum of 2 appointments. The first is a run through of your big day (make sure to take pictures) and the 2nd is for the morning of your event. Don’t stop there, your regular make-up is not going to cut it for your wedding neither is your best friends stab at a “smoky eye”. Go and see a professional make-up artist to ensure you look as amazing as possible, throw down the extra money and get airbrushed so that way you look as good at 1am as you did at 10am. Your hair and make-up for your wedding day is nothing to mess with, you have to look at these pictures for the rest of your life do you really want to look back and regret you didn’t trust it to a pro? You have already scrimped and saved to make everything else amazing do yourself a favor and set aside a few extra bucks to make sure you look and feel smokin on your wedding day.

Trust me it’s worth it.

Brooke

 

How much is too much?

fresh off my wonderful vacation with the hubby and la familial and ready to get back to work! I had nothing but downtime and relaxation for the past 2 weeks and it gave me plenty of time to think. One of the family topics that was covered was what to do about our upcoming anniversary. As you my readers know we have decided to throw out the idea of a big bash and instead do a low-key bbq and housewarming party ( low-key meaning 75+ guests!!!!). I broke the news to my fam and it was agreed that we were making the best decision for us but that got me thinking bout weddings in general and the question going round my brain is how much is too much? When does a wedding stop becoming a celebration of your new marriage and life together and start becoming a way to one up and impress people you haven’t seen in years. I sit in my office day in and day out and am inundated with nothing but wedding paraphanilia and I gotta tell you sometimes even I think it’s over the top and ridiculous. In 2007 the average cost of a wedding reception was 28,000$ twice the amount spent in 1990 and currently the wedding industry nets 161 billion dollars annually!! 28,000$ for an event that lasts 1 day just a mere 14 hours, to me that’s crazy and this is what I do for a living. People ask me all the time ” don’t you watch the wedding shows on t.v.”? Honestly, NO! I can’t stomach it. I have a hard time watching a girl spend 7,000$ on a dress she will wear for less than 8 hours or 45,000$ on a reception site. 200$ a person favors.. really! people are just going to throw it out! Don’t get me wrong I am not against spending some money to have a great wedding with good food and good drinks with the people you care about, but when you start to get into the 10’s of thousands maybe you should reconsider how better that money could be used like on your home or a tuition fund for you children. No marriage should begin with a massive amount of debt looming over your head. Remember the most important part of that day is the seriousness of the commitment you are making to one another, not the chaircover color being the exact same shade as the bridesmaids dresses.

Keep it in perspective!
Brooke

Wide world of flowers

Today’s topic is for girls like me, let’s call us “Brides on a budget”. If florals are what you envision in your centerpieces than below is a quick and easy color guide to let you know what’ sin season during the month of your wedding. If you stick to these flowers your budget with your florist will be significantly lower. Anytime you order florals that are out of season or not grown local your price can skyrocket! A helpful hint get pics of things you like and a color scheme you want then let your florist do the rest. Remember they are professionals in what they do and they have a better knowledge of flowers and what will and will not work well. I walked into my floral appointment and said I want flowers in a long low rectangle shaped vase and I want them in all blues and whites, that was the extent of my involvement with the florals. I trusted my florist knew better than I did and below is the finished product!

My table before it was set

Summer Flowers
Alstromeria- Orange, pink, yellow and cream
Chrysanthemum- White yellow, orange and pink
Gerber Daisies- Pink, yellow, orange, red and white
Hydrangea- White, blue, purple and pink
Statice- Purple
Sunflower- Yellow
Zinnia- Red, Orange and Pink

Fall Flowers
Aster- White and pink
Chrysanthemum- White, yellow, orange and pink
Dahlia- variety of colors
Statice- Purple
Zinnia- red, orange and pink

Winter Flowers
Amaryllis- Red and white
Bells of Ireland- Green
Poinsettia- Red and white
Ranunculus- white, pink, red/coral, lavender/purple
Tulip- Many colors
Jasmine- White

Spring Flowers
Anemone- Blue, red, pink, white
Casa Blanca Lily- White
Delphinium- White and blue
Peony- Pink or white
Sweetpea- white, pink, red/coral and lavender/purple
Hyacinth- Purple, Pink or white.

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The list above are just a start, for more info on seasonal flowers check out http://www.datehookup.com type in seasonal wedding flowers. They have a more complete list.
Most importantly find a florist who listens to your budget and trust them to do the rest!

Have fun!
Brooke

Help!!!!!!!!!

The day I married my best friend!

Dear readers,
I know I am still fairly new to this blogging thing and I am supposed to be a wedding pro but I have come across a question of my own that i just can’t seem to answer. My husband Shawn and I chose to do a small, quick wedding back in June, we got engaged in the end of March. There were a lot of reasons to why we didn’t want to wait more than a few months to get married and to why we wanted to do a small wedding ( think 20 people small). I will never regret that decision and that day was the best day of my life but we did give up certain things and missed out on a few moments. That being said it’s been expected that we have a reception on our 1 year anniversary so that we can celebrate with the guests that didn’t attend the ceremony and also it allows us the opportunity to get back special moments ( first dance, toasts ect..) that we missed the first time around. When we first discussed doing a small wedding we always intended to hold a large reception a year later, that was the plan! However after over half a year of marriage it is starting to seem unimportant. Things like buying a house and having a baby are more pressing issues and I am having a hard time justifying the money for a reception when I am a year deep in my marriage. The problem is all of our friends and family that weren’t invited to the ceremony already feel slighted and I don’t want to cause anymore hurt feelings then I already have. What to do in a situation like this?
I find myself at a loss and considering I almost always have the answer when it comes to this type of stuff I feel like I am traveling foreign waters.
Comments and suggestions are most appreciated especially if anyone who follows has been in a similiar situation, and to my family and friends please don’t hesitate to be honest.

Thanks for the help!
Brooke

Freebies!

Ah a new year! How I love the months of January thru March… Such a busy time of year for me! Typically our phone starts ringing non-stop on the 2nd of January and keeps on until the end of March. That means that we aren’t super busy in the ballrooms but crazy hectic in our office. I love being really busy at work nothing is worse than sitting at work twiddling your thumbs and wondering when 5 o’ clock is going to come.
I’m not sure if all halls are like us but typically we are busy because of the different booking specials we offer which brings around to my blog topic for today!
Don’t wait to book if you haven;t decided about a hall for your event for this year take advantage of the deals that you can get by booking January thur March. Most places typically want to encourage same year bookings so if you are planning something special for this year now is a good time to do the research and consider where you will be holding your event. Take advantage of the freebies that you can get when you put a deposit down during winter months. Think of this time of year like a fire sale for halls and venues and take advantage of the specials that they have to offer.
Good luck in your shopping and have fun planning whatever might be on your calendar for 2013!

Brooke