Southern Wedding Style Magazine {the blog}

I was once a southern bride. I was married in my hometown of Tallahassee, Florida almost seven years ago, so I can say I know a little something about being married in the south. I'm always so excited when I stumble upon something GREAT! The Southern Wedding Style Magazine blog is just that! The blog lays out wedding after beautiful wedding done in some of the most beautiful locations in the south. The photography is beautiful. The content is great. I'll be placing my order for the magazine this week! Kudos to the Southern Wedding Style Magazine crew. You are doing a fantastic job! This blog makes me want to re-do my southern wedding! :)

Bride asks, Liene answers

This morning I read a very interesting post from Liene editor of Blue Orchid Blog. I thought it was thought provoking enough to post here and link to her blog. Liene gave excellent advice to a bride who is currently having a problem with her wedding planner. This post pointed out a few interesting items:

• No matter how many weddings your wedding planner has during the wedding season, every time she meets with you, your wedding should be the most important! A bride should feel like their planner is just as excited about her wedding is as she is. This means she should know the little details!
  
• Sometimes you get what you pay for! Unfortunately, the price you pay for a service may give you an indication of how good the service may be. Wedding planners are popping up everywhere! We have tons of wedding planners here in Charlotte. Keep that fact in mind when selecting the right person for your wedding.
  
• Before you pay the retainer for the wedding planner, make sure you click with them. It's not enough that they know everyone in the wedding industry in Charlotte, you should be able to get along with them. You should actually like them!

But anyway, I won't retype Liene's entire post, but those are a few things that jumped out at me when reading the question from the bride. Click the link below to read the Q&A for yourself! I'm curious to hear what you think.
Ask the Wedding Planner :: Real Advice from the Pros

A Fashion Illustration

That's right, not just a bridal portrait, this is a fashion illustration! How gorgeous is that? Who wouldn't want a piece of art to remind you of how beautiful you were on that day! :)

Well the folks at All About The Dress can easily make this happen for you. All you have to do is send them 4-8 photos of you being the gorgeous bride that you were and voila! You have a classic piece of art that freezes time for you. The investment is $425 which I think is absolutely worth it! You also can add this to your bridal registry! What a great idea. So if you're looking for an interesting item to include on your registry, pick this one!

Strike Rattlers Strike!

I was so proud as I watched Jeopardy's College Championships tonight and saw that a student from my alma mater Florida A&M University (FAMU) was one of the contestants. We were cheering for her the entire show and she won and is now going to the semi-finals! Gabrielle McMahan represented us Rattlers well! Good luck Gabrielle!!

Fall Wedding Colors for 2008

I love looking at the new hot colors for every season and the fall 2008 color report has been released from Pantone. I've blogged about this report now for a couple of seasons and it's amazing how right on it is. I walk through the mall or browse magazines and the colors are there being worn in the season's most fabulous fashions. But these colors trickle down to weddings and event design also!


For instance, the Spring 2008 Report showed Daiquiri Green and Snorkel Blue as being two of the "it" colors for spring and here is an example of a spring wedding showing how beautiful these tones are together.








This wedding was done by none other than Terrica at Fabuluxe Events and photographed by the uber-talented Scarlett Lillian! Please check out her blog to see more of these beautiful wedding photos!

So brides-to-be, if you're still struggling with your fall wedding colors for this year, here's a little color inspiration! I'd love to see what can be done with these beauties!! You can download the full report here.

Bow tying as easy as 1,2,3!

Calling all grooms, groomsmen and fathers! Thanks to Tie-a-Tie.net I have the handy dandy step-by-step instructions on tying a bow tie! Now if this is your first bow tie, you should definitely start practicing with your tie well before your event so that you at least have an idea of how difficult it may be.



1) Place the bow tie around your neck, situating it so that end "A" is about two inches longer than end "B".





2) Cross end "A" over end "B".










3) Bring end "A" up and under the loop.










4) Now double end "B" over itself to form the front base loop of the bow tie.









5) Loop end "A" over the center of the loop you just formed.








6) Holding everything in place, double end "A" back on itself and poke it through the loop behind the bow tie.







7) Adjust the bow tie by tugging at the ends of it and straightening the center knot.






Also, brides I recommend you print this out for your binders just in case your hubby-to-be says he can tie a bow tie when he really means he can't tie a bow tie. :)

Wedding Gowns 101: Waistlines

Designers are amazing and they have thought of every possible thing to make you look flawless on your wedding day, but the key is taking your time and looking for the right gown. I want to show you what the most popular waistlines look like and how they may accentuate your figure. Knowing the wedding gown lingo should definitely help you when you go dress shopping. So let's look at the Basque Waist, Dropped Waist and the Empire Waist. Here are a couple of my favs!

Basque Waist: This particular waistline is natural at the hip and then dips into a "v" or "u" shape. It shrinks your waistline and helps you girls out who have a short torso. Here is an example.


Anne Barge

Dropped Waist: This waistline can extend past the hips and falls from your natural waist. This type of waistline can elongate the body.


Henry Roth



Danielle Caprese

Empire Waist: This particular waistline is right up under the bust. If your waistline needs a little disguising or if you have a medium to large bust this gown may be suited for you.



Claire Pettibone


Carolina Herrera

I am hopeful that these posts will be helpful to you. It's always good to try on even the gowns you think may not look good on you, because you never know. But it's great to know that if you need to hide a little tummy, the designers were looking out for you.

All photos from Kleinfeld