We are thoroughly impressed with White House | Black Market's new bridal collection, one that is perfect for brides, bridesmaids, and fashion lovers alike. We also love the couture look for the not-so-couture price:
These wedding party dresses will definitely be worn again:
And these accessories are fabulous:
{Sources}: 1. The Victoria Bridal Gown, $598 2. The Audrey Gown, $698 3. Ruby Satin Rosette, $178 4. Ruched Satin Rose Dress, $178 5. Satin Chiffon Floral T-Strap, $108 6. Multi-strand glass/pearl/crystal Necklace, $98 7. Glass-pearl charm wrap bracelet, $44.
~Happy Planning!
White House | Black Market: The Wedding Boutique
Feature Friday | Cacao Sweets
The other week we got a lovely email from Candice of Cacao Sweets introducing herself and telling us about her sweet treats. We loved her ideas for cupcakes, truffles, and the addition of some sinful ingredients to boot. And we'll admit, we are not hiding the fact that we accepted a sample (cherry rum brownie pop, anyone??) with a smile.
Candice and her company has such great ideas that a Feature Friday was naturally in order!
How long has (Cacao) Sweets been in business?
(cacao) sweets & treats started about a year and a half ago. It’s been swirling around in my head for years, but it was time to get to it!
What's your favorite thing about weddings?
I love taking stress away from the couples. Making them feel comfortable and trusting so they know that once the project is in my hands, they don’t have to think about it again!
Tell us one thing we'd be surprised to learn about you?
I have a graphic designer on staff who handles all of the custom tags and print materials for our clients.
Favorite Color? At the moment, grey and lavender
Tully's, Moxie, or Starbucks? My own personal tea kettle!
Recommend a book we should read? I haven’t had time to read anything except for cookbooks lately, so what do you recommend?
What (or who) can't you live without? (product, article of clothing, personal item, person in your life, etc)
My wooden spoon, most definitely. My husband for being the best cupcake delivery driver and my massive collection of aprons for keeping me clean!
Tell us about a time you either made a mistake & learned from it, or felt fear or doubt (either in your personal life or business) and overcame it?
Things can get stressful being a one-man-show sometimes, but it’s oh-so rewarding at the end of the day. I’m very particular and a bit of a control freak so I love seeing a project through from start to finish.
(Cacao) Sweets features goodies from gourmet cake truffles to brownies to even boozey cupcakes (think Guinness, Blue Moon, Wine, and other specialty flavors). These treats make fabulous favors for a wedding or shower, gift ideas, and Just Because special desserts. Check out the website for all the product features and flavors!
Many thanks to Candice for taking the time to share a little bit about herself and her sweet company.
~Happy Friday!
We're A Little Black Book Member!
Yep, we're so excited to say it's true...Soiree has been invited to be a part of Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book of Vendors! Not only does this mean that someone out there thought we were great enough to recommend to the editors at Style Me Pretty, but also that the wedding planning super site was able to add Idaho to the list (finally!).
So thank you, anonymous referring person, we really appreciate it. Check out our listing and be on the look out for more great things to come!
~Happy Planning!
Wedding Wednesday | Sherbert Pastels
I love love love some of the newest color combinations, especially this marriage of coral, pinks, and oranges. It's flirty, yet understated, yet sophisticated all at the same time.
We first saw the perfect example of the pretty color palette at the bridal shower for Be Inspired PR's Leila Khalil:
And have since come across other fabulous examples of the colors in play:
Makes us want to grab a creamsicle!
~Happy Planning!
{Photos}:
1. Inspired By This
2. Via Pepper Design Blog
3. Via Snippet And Ink
Trending: Newest Twists On Wedding Flowers
Tissue and paper, book pages for later, crepe, raffia, and poms oh my! There's no missing the trending on paper and fabric flowers for weddings. Martha Stewart, David Stark, and DIY brides all over the country are cashing in on it. For the crafty at heart, the look is personalized, detailed, and a nice touch to both your wedding and your budget. If you have the time, the pay off is lovely.
What are your thoughts on the trend? By the way- the first photo is of designer David Stark's Purely Paper Flower Shoppe. Yep everything you see is made out of paper!
~Happy Planning!
{Photos}
!. David Stark Sketchbook
2. Style Me Pretty
3. The Bride's Cafe
The Aisle New York: Luxury Bridal Fashion Becomes Approachable
Luxury and couture bridal fashion has always been a little iconic; mostly reserved for those that had a gold-plated budget. If you were a bride that was brave enough to handle the stampedes of a sample sale for the likes of your favorite designer, or spent countless hours on discount sites looking for the name brand you've determined is THE designer that will make an appearance on your wedding day, you know it's not easy to find a deal on luxury bridal.
But that all changes now that bridal fashion guru Mark Ingram has found a way to open the couture curtain just a little further to include more bridal budgets. The Aisle New York is a membership-based website designed to bring an array of prestigious designers together all in one place at once-in-a-lifetime prices.
Set to debut this fall, gowns, accessories, headpieces and more will be showcased from some of the world's top names in bridal such as Monique Lhuillier, Reem Acra, Angel Sanchez, and Oscar De La Renta.
Further plans for the website also include tabletop items (a possible registry option?), bridesmaids, and more.
And with that, we ask, what more could a girl ask for?
Pre-register for your spot on the coveted website here: The Aisle New York
Potentials And Professionals
It's a fantastic combo, really. Potential Customers normally love to work with Professionals. Professionals love meeting Potential Customers. So why would someone who considers themselves a professional throw that away at an event? I mean, if you ask me, I think an event is almost like a customer breeding pool. Kind of sounds weird, but it's true. Imagine all the to-be-engaged, all the whispers of "this is who so and so is using", and "wow, I need THIS" going on.
Let's just say this post is born out of a recent event, one where the DJ was absurd. First, he wore jeans. Second, his undies hung out. Third, he just shouldn't be able to emcee at a wedding. Ever Again. I consider myself pretty easy going; a roll-with-the-punches type of gal. But I was smacked up side the head at the vision unveiling before me. And it all started leading up to the event...calls weren't returned, emails left unanswered. Totally unprofessional all around.
The moral of this story is this: I don't care if you've known the family for 12 years. Or maybe you're just great friends with the bride and groom, and cutting them a break. There are still 200 other individuals attending, watching, and flat out judging your professional business. Don't throw it all away by being unprepared and unwilling to deliver 110 percent.
For more rants on this subject, read this post from way back in 2008. My thoughts haven't changed!
And here's to all those vendors out there that are truly professional in every sense of the word. Happy Tuesday All!
Indoor or Outdoor?
A few weeks ago I got a phone call regarding an article featuring the pros and cons of choosing outdoor events over indoor wedding facilities. We chatted for a while over rain, spacing issues, bugs, and preferred catering lists. So I was thrilled to get the email this weekend saying the article was published in the Idaho Business Review's Event Planner Guide 2010. I think they did a great job, and chose great industry specialists to fill in the article. Here's a scanned view of the article if you don't have access to the actual guide:
Stacie & Tim's McCall Lodge Wedding-Part I
Stacie and Tim's destination wedding happened two weeks ago in our beautiful McCall, Idaho. And while we are used to having at least one McCall wedding per year, this one was definitely going to be different and have the work cut out for us!
See, we weren't going to be marrying a couple on the lake. We wouldn't be basking in the backyard of a lakeside cabin either. Nope, we were going to be treating Stacie and Tim's guests to a party in a lodge...an unfinished one at that. Named Blackhawk Lodge, the building was originally planned to be a spacious, luxurious center complete with a spa and ginormous fish tank (we're not kidding..we could see where the tank would have gone). But when the economy tanked, the funds petered out and there it sat, not even an inch of drywall in site.
So when Stacie and Tim came to us, telling us that we needed to design their "Bohemian meets Traditional" themed wedding amongst nails and sawdust, we jumped up and down with glee. Then immediately grabbed a hammer.
And without further adieu...part 1 of Stacie and Tim's McCall wedding, the details. Once we receive the professional photos we'll post part 2!
The main part of the lodge.
Another view- you can still see our ladders in the background! We got a great leg workout on this one...
Here's me working on the finishing touches for the cake backdrop. We hand-made and hand-strung all these tissue flowers. Then we added the crystal strings, and we thought it was a pretty cool statement against the plywood!
And the finished product:
We loved how it was subtle, yet gave it just that tiny pop that it needed to let the cake stand out.
Stacie loved the pinks and platinum color scheme, and added orchids all over for that bohemian, relaxed touch. The cake was gorgeous, wasn't it?
And finally we couldn't forget these. There was limited lighting in the lodge (but a July wedding proved it would be light for much of the evening anyways), so we wanted to bring in some more of the pink somewhere. We hung these glowing pink votives all over along the walls inside...they turned out to be quite the hit!
And so the day turned into night, and the party proved to be a huge success. We were able to achieve the relaxed, yet not-too-casual look in an unfinished lodge....and I think it looked pretty neat, if I do say so myself! We'll be back with more of Tim and Stacie's story, complete with professional photos!
~Happy Wednesday! And thanks for putting up with our photography skills.
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