A glam package giveaway from Bonny Bridal

What's black, cream, full of glam and best of all....free? A wedding giveaway of epic proportions! Bonny Bridal has partnered with some amazing wedding vendors and are hosting a $1250 Vintage Hollywood Glam wedding giveaway - that ends NOVEMBER 30th!

One lucky bride will get all kinds of goodies including: The dress, a vintage handmade brooch bouquet, a Tessa Kim feather fascinator and birdcage veil, 25 couture wedding invitations, paddle signs and a wedding banner! There are only 4 days left to enter this fabulous giveaway! GOOD LUCK!

Anchors Aweigh - Nautical Theme Wedding Ideas

If you are planning a wedding on a boat - and what a perfect summer venue that would be! This post is for you! A friend of mine always tells us to "come out on his boat" and hopefully, this summer, we will be able to finally do that!! Also, living near the beach, I have known quite a few brides who planned weddings on yachts. One of the things you really have to be aware of - spaces (walkways) are small on boats! You do not want a big, train dragging around everywhere! So, I chose this gown - style 5918 from Bonny Bridal. It's an informal gown (meaning it does not have a train) and of course, I loved the colors (think about red shoes underneath!! cute!!). One other bonus to getting an informal wedding gown - cost. Yup, they are much cheaper! For instance, this wedding gown sells for around $450.00!

Some pretty fun ideas, don't you think? I love this bunting banner too! Because 
you get the PDF version, you could incorporate a lot of if the flags into other 
parts of the wedding - DIY invitations, candy buffet signs, wedding programs...so many uses! 

Win a Wedding Gown from Bonny Bridal

I am finding quite a few amazing giveaways to share with everyone! It's pretty exciting! Having a wedding costs A LOT of money! Saving here and there by entering and winning giveaways and contests allows you to put money in other areas - like a few extra honeymoon days!!! So, today I posted about the Etsy Wedding Diva $1000 Giveaway and now here is another amazing contest: the wedding gown of your choice from the Fall 2011 Collection by Bonny Bridal!

This contest is pretty easy to enter too! Just "like" Bonny Bridal on Facebook and then share your love story (must be 300 words). Anyone can enter this too - not just the bride! So, if you have a best friend or sister getting married you could SURPRISE her with the dress of her choice! Entry is through the month of April and then a live voting round will choose the ultimate winner. 

I am loving all these giveaways....and stay tuned because it's a new month - which means it's a new giveaway here on my blog too! I will be announcing it soon!!!

Cherry Blossom Wedding

I absolutely LOVE pink! That is why when randomly I came across this wedding blossom picture on Martha Stewart it got my mind going....this is what I found that I love:

This branch themed wedding wish tree can never go out of style! 

(Source: Martha Stewart)

Here are a bridesmaid dress shown in Petal Pink by Bonny Bridal Social Occasions, a gorgeous Cherry Blossom cake and a wedding invitations suite and Paper Source.

The delicate little flowers on this wedding gown made me think of Cherry Blossoms

I will end this post how it started, with the wedding guru herself, Martha Stewart! This do-it-yourself parasol is amazing and looks even simple for someone artistically challenged, like me!

Download the Petal Template

1. Download our petal template and print it onto a letter-size sheet of paper.
2. Accordion-fold crepe paper 8 times, folding every 4 1/2 inches. Trace template onto the crepe paper.

3. Cut along the traced line through all the layers of the crepe paper to create the petal tips.

4. Unfold the crepe paper completely, making certain not to tear it, and lay it flat.

5. Wrap the flat edge of the crepe paper around the cap of an open parasol, cinching it as you work.

6. Secure the gathered crepe paper around the cap using a rubber band or a thin strip of pretty ribbon.

 

Read more at Marthastewartweddings.com: Posy Parasol

Passionate Purple

I was inspired today by seeing this beautiful picture from Bobbette & Belle, a designer pastry shop located in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Their macaroon towers create a beautiful (and yummy) center piece! 

I remembered this past Spring I was gravitating towards this color palette and highlighted a wedding gown I was in love with - style 021 from the Bonny Classic Collection in my post called The Color Purple.

I absolutely love wedding gowns with color! I remembered the soft little, delicate flowers on the bodice of this wedding gown and I thought how easy this could tie into a dessert table with either cupcakes, petit fours or even small, mini cakes!

Source

Edible Flowers from SweetPetalBakery on Etsy

Purple and green also make a gorgeous bouquet combo! Here are 10 of my favorite wedding flowers in purple: Hydrangea, larkspur, delphinium, lisianthus, lilac, hyacinth, fresh lavender, anemone (these are my favorite flowers in black and white too!), veronica and campanula!

Blissful Wishes Ball

Last night, I attended the Blissful Wishes Ball at the fabulous Ebell Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles. This was a magical evening, filled with many memories and lots of fun! If you are located in or around the Los Angeles area prepare to be delighted by some of the wedding industries most creative, talented artists!

The gala was a fundraising event for Wish Upon a Wedding, a national organization that grants wedding wishes and vow renewals for brides and grooms who are terminally ill or facing life altering circumstances. I was asked to represent Bonny Bridal at the gala - which I was thrilled to do! It was a night filled with inspiration and tons of fun...all for a worthwhile cause.

Here's a picture at the beginning of the evening - that's me on the right and my "date" Jodi on the left. The "theme" for the evening was GLAMOUR & ROMANCE of the Hollywood Silver Screen - I sure think Jodi got it right! She looked amazing! (My hubby wants to extend a SPECIAL thanks for going with me - he was thrilled he didn't have to get dressed in a tux in our 90-degree weather!).

We walked the red carpet to the entrance and received our complimentary champagne cocktail courtesy of Barefoot Wines and Bubbly. They had this Blissful champagne creation...such a pretty color!

The grounds of the Ebell were magically transformed! Music was being performed by the Del Lago Trio (sweet music to my ears), there was a cigar rolling station ( had my husband known about that - he might have donned that tuxedo in our heatwave!) and I couldn't help but think of my mom when I saw the chocolate fountain station from Orange County Chocolate Fountains. My mom had a saying "Eat dessert first!" and when I saw this amazing set up BEFORE dinner, I sort of felt her there with me...a little angel on my shoulder. Oh! I can't forget to mention the photobooth that was set up! SO MUCH FUN! The people from Shutter Booth were awesome. The guy working it was super nice and friendly - I am now a firm believer that every special event should have a photobooth! Check out our funny little pictures:

Here are some additional pictures I captured from the night:

There are certain things that happen in an evening that you will remember forever. One of those funny moments was when Jodi and I read the menu for the evening. We were asking each other what certain things were - or how they were pronounced! It was so funny. I still could not tell you what most of these creations were but, I can tell you they were definitely creations that melted in your mouth! 

We had a very eclectic table group! I enjoyed talking with many of them! To my surprise, someone I had met during the cocktail hour was seated at our table. Her name was Ngoc Nguyen and she is the creative director and principal consultant for Skybox Event Productions. What a wonderful lady and so fun to talk to! She promised to help me find Alice Hu (someone I have been wanting to meet) but, unfortunately I never found her. I got sidetracked working on this post hanging out at Sky Box's website and then blog. You really need to check it out - my favorite, by far, was the Twisted Tea Party! Sitting next to Jodi was Lindsey Sinatra, owner of A Wish and a Whisk. Her creations are above and beyond anything I have ever seen! Check out this cake - yes it is a CAKE - that she created for the closing of the 20 year world tour of The Phantom Of The Opera in Los Angeles. Amazing. Finally, we ended the evening talking to Paula Dulan Estes from Petalos di Pauli. Paula specializes in Eco-friendly event invitations, greeting cards and more. I will have to spend more time talking about all of these lovely ladies! 

In closing, I would like to thank Bonny Bridal for the amazing opportunity to spend an evening getting to know more about Wish Upon a Wedding. I was moved when I heard the stories from founding member Liz Guthrie and President Sasha Souza. I was thrilled to see a slideshow of the first wedding wish granted by the Southern California chapter (Bonny donated the wedding gown to the bride!) and I was so happy to get to know the ladies I introduced you to above! I look forward to sharing some more of this magical night - I actually have a giveaway coming up from the silent auction held to raise funds - courtesy of Bonny Bridal so stay tuned for that! I urge everyone to check out Wish Upon a Wedding! They have a live auction going on now where you can get amazing deals on items you will need for your wedding - why not do some good by buying goods and services you are going to need anyway? It really is going to a great cause! 

Here's a picture of us at the end of the evening....it was a GREAT time!

Vintage Wedding

The vintage theme is still hot for modern weddings! I like the look and feel of the vintage touches added to weddings - the palettes are usually very soft and feminine. For example, this wedding gown has a gorgeous back with cascading ruffled lace:

Bonny Wedding Gown, Style 043 Price about $700

The gown looks gorgeous with the multiple strands of ivory pearls, but the back has a rhinestone clasp so either jewels would pair up with this gown. Some other favorite finds in this color scheme:

Peacock and Ivory Feather Hair Fascinator with a Vintage Crystal and Pearl Art Deco Jewelry Piece, Happily Ever After Gift Tags, Flowers (unknown), and Wedding Decor Cone

Also found this little cute FREE Vintage Save the Date card on WeddingChicks.com:

Vegas Bridal Market - Recap!

Ok, so I finally got everything organized from my Las Vegas Bridal Market Trip! I collected so much information while I was there! Here are my thoughts and opinions:

The market was held at the Rio Hotel and once you get over to the convention area and sign in you then walk down this huge corridor. Some vendors had private rooms...but we were on a mission to get right into the main showroom. We couldn't help but glance into one of the private rooms - the 1st company we came upon was PC Mary's. They had an interesting prom gown on a model, which I admit I did not like! Bright yellow with a zebra print - but hey...it made us stop and look! I was, however, very impressed with the bridal gowns! One stood out that I really liked: style 5283. It's a princess, ball gown made of Tulle. Princess ball gowns were once very popular - and Mary's doesn't disappoint in always making one!

Once into the main ball room, where most of the vendors were showing their new lines, we were hit with bursts of COLOR! Lots of prom and homecoming dresses were on display. If you are interested in these dresses - expect lots of wild, crazy prints and lot's of strange color combinations! Also, short mini dresses seemed to be everywhere. Alyce Prom had two dresses I absolutely fell in love with:

We got to the Casablanca booth just as their bridal show was ending (a bummer for sure!) but I was able to catch the last of their couture dresses - at couture prices. Ouch. Casablanca had such affordable gowns but their prices have recently jumped up! It's too bad...because I think they make a great dress. My preference on my blog is to find beautiful dresses priced at under $1000...and that just wasn't going to happen here. :(

One of my FAVORITE companies was showing for the very first time ever in the US! They are not new to the bridal world - in fact, they are very popular in Europe and trying to "break into" the US market. The name is Lucca - Scandinavian Design. They are based in Denmark. I think they will do well here and find a permanent home. Their dresses were GORGEOUS! I was in love with quite a few of them - and they hit the mark on my price point! The representatives were so nice and accommodating. Just an overall pleasant experience with them and I would certainly add them to your list as a "must see" in person. Fabrics are rich, design and quality are top notch!!

The dress on the live model is called "Charlotte". It comes in a light ivory with black swarovski crystals or you can choose a soft rose swarovski crystal. The retail price would be about $950.00

The dress on the left is named "Dina". This gown is in their couture collection. It was one of my favorites because of it's fabric - Silk Dupion! Awww....love it. It wouldn't be for every bride - it has a high slit going up the front of the skirt and it's very fashion forward. Price tag is a little steep at about $1350.00 - but again it's silk! The gown on the right, however, is stunning in person! It's Silk Satin and has a light Platinum silk satin band. The crystal brooch tying it all together is stunning in person! The retail price on this gown - about $815.00!! What a deal. They will be gaining more US stores (right now there is only ONE store in NJ selling them!)...so keep your eye out!

We also stopped by the Bonny booth! I didn't have a lot of time to chat with the girls there - they were pretty busy! I did snap a few pictures:

Most of the gowns I saw at market had flower details, ruffles and lots of bling! This dress is a more conservative style but still with a little edge to it - not too plain with the pretty flower details! The retail price on this dress should be about: $695.00

Here you can see some of the "bling" I was talking about! The beading really caught my attention on all of these dresses! Very intricate patterns and very expensive looking! This style was from the Essence line and the retail price will be about $1075.00.

You know me...and my love for anemones! So, this dress takes the cake in my opinion! :) 110% love it. The black band detail, the flower....the ruffle bottom....the silhouette. Love it all. My favorite dress by far. I say this easily because if I was getting married this would be my dress. For sure! :) Retail price $905.00. Can't wait to post this dress up on a design board with my anemome flowers....black shots....just wait! You will love it! Just be prepared! Ruffles galore! No more plain skirts!! Yay! Well, don't get too excited...some of the dresses still have the plain fabric full skirt!

I do have more to share - lots of shoes, accessories, and SHOES! We must discuss shoes next!!