Tuesday, September 7, 2010
We love real weddings where pretty much all the vendors are ABG favorites. Why? Because we know they will deliver above the bride's expectations and create a spectacular wedding - from design to photography. Today's real wedding couple really made full use of the fabulous resources we have here in Nashville and had a wedding day that was just simply beautiful. Photographed by Kristyn Hogan, lifestyle photographer, here is a look into a lovely summer wedding at the Governor's Club. It's filled with the most delightful details. I LOVED the bride's shoes. Enjoy!
Real Wedding: Leigh & Mica's Southern Summer Wedding at The Governor's Club
Bride ~ Leigh from Madisonville, KY
Groom ~ Mica from Austin, TX
Aug. 7, 2010 at 6:00pm
Ceremony and Reception at The Governor's Club, Brentwood TN
Guests ~ 110
My wedding style? Casual and fun
My wedding colors and why I choose them? Purple and green. We were going for a colorful, summery feel.
My wedding theme? Southern
Wedding wow factor? Our venue - Pleasant Hill mansion at the Governor's Club is beautiful.
Wedding favors? Individually wrapped monogram cookies. Heba from Dream It Up Cookies did a great job designing them to match our invitations. dreamitupcookies.blogspot.com
Personalized touches? Mica and I have a pug. He couldn't make the trip with us to Nashville, but we found ways to include him in our wedding day. For example, instead of a traditional ring pillow, ourring bearer carried a stuffed pug with rings tied to its collar. Mica and I also used pug salt & pepper shakers to designate our seats at the reception instead of place cards.
We also personalized our ceremony music. Mica walked down the aisle to a string version of Don't Stop Believing, by Journey, and I walked out to a string version of Time After Time. Our recessional was In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. We love 80s hits!
Gift for bridesmaids? Bridesmaids - jewelry boxes from Z. Gallerie, sparkly bottle openers, also from Z. Gallerie, and metallic gold wristlets
Groomsmen? Beer glasses, personalized bottle opener/key chains, and coolers
Most special moment for me? Definitely the vows. We went with the traditional vows, and I'm so glad we did. It was by far the best moment of the day for me.
My wedding team:
Planner - Mary Alice from A Delightful Day did an awesome job!
Cake - The Bake Shoppe did our wedding cake and our groom's cake. Both were beautiful & VERY delicious.
Florist - Enchanted Florist. Caprice is amazingly talented and lovely to work with.
Caterer - In-house catering at the Governors Club. The food was delicious! I wanted a very Southern menu, and they did a great job fulfilling my requests for things like sweet potato casserole, mac 'n cheese, and fried okra.
Photographer - Kristyn Hogan, lifestyle photographer. The photos I've seen so far are beautiful!!
Invitations - Minted - minted.com They have great customer service.
Dresses - I bought my dress, the bridesmaid dresses, and the flower girl dresses at bridal boutiques in Austin, Texas.
Music - Cosmo Creations. Brent did a great job! cosmocreations.com
Draping - Blue Nova Designs
Specialty Lighting - Nashville Audio Visual nashvilleaudiovisual.com
Leigh + Mica's wedding team, including A Delightful Day + Kristyn, in action!
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My favorite wedding vendors - I highly recommend all of the vendors listed above.
What I would do differently if planning again? I would send someone out the week before the wedding to drive the route from our hotel to the venue to make sure there were no last minute problems. All of our guests were from out of town, and we found out the night before the wedding that the road between our hotel & the venue was closed. I don't live in Nashville, so I had no way of knowing this in advance. Apparently, our venue manager had known about it for months but didn't bother to tell me. This caused me a LOT of unnecessary stress the day before my wedding, as I tried to figure out how in the world to tell 110 people that the directions I'd painstakingly written and mailed to them in their invitations were not in fact going to get them to the venue.
Also, if your venue has its own tableclothes, make sure they go all the way to the floor. We used the Governors Club's linens, and we didn't find out until the day of the wedding that they didn't go all the way to the floor. I don't think our guests noticed, but my mother was horrified.
Biggest waste of my wedding budget? I honestly can't think of anything that was a waste of time or money. Everything we put into planning this wedding was worth it. 
I will point out a potential waste of money that I avoided - rented table runners. I was quoted $345 to rent 16 table runners. I bought them online instead for less than $60. The quality was great and the color was perfect, so I was really happy with that decision.
Best value for the service/product? Definitely the lighting. The specialty lighting really added a lot to our reception, and the price was very reasonable. We used Nashville Audio Visual and they did a great job.
Neatest wedding find? I LOVED our invitations. I felt like they perfectly represented the theme and tone we were going for. We used a firefly & mason jar design by Minted.
Advice for Nashville brides - I have a tip for brides - Don't forget to pack flip flops to change into for dancing during the reception! I loved my wedding shoes, but towards the end of the night my feet were killing me! Other than that, my only advice is to enjoy it. It goes by so fast!
Thank you Kristyn Hogan, lifestyle photographer for the gorgeous wedding pictures and special thanks to Leigh and Mica for sharing your wedding day with us.
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Posted by Ashley |
Filed under: Luxury Wed Finds1 comment »
Friday, September 3, 2010
From September 11th through the 13th, The Vanderbilt Breast Center presents Brides Against Breast Cancer, a fund-raising event for the Making Memories Foundation which works specifically to help people who have Stage 4 breast cancer.
Brides, if you haven't found your wedding dress yet, plan to attend as you will have an opportunity to help others while finding your dream bridal gown (for less)! The event will feature hundreds of beautiful gowns including designer and couture gowns available at discounted rates.
Brides and breast cancer supporters will travel from all over the state to attend so be sure to tell your friends that the Airport Marriott is offering a special room rate of $99 for brides and guests on Saturday September 11th and Sunday September 12th. For more details visit our bridal events page or Brides Against Breast Cancer.
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Posted by Ashley |
Filed under: Attire & Accessories1 comment »
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Earlier this year, I learned that my friend Tori was engaged! I was so happy for her. We went to lunch and she shared her "how we met" story and all of the juicy details, including her plan for a Florida destination wedding. I don't know much about the Florida wedding scene so I hoped she was in good hands. But once she said she'd hired Photographix to shoot her wedding, I knew she'd at least have amazing wedding pictures! She was off to a great start.
I strongly encourage all Nashville brides who are planning a destination wedding to take your favorite Nashville wedding pros with you. One of the easiest to take is your photographer! If you are a destination wedding bride who has yet to hire her photog, you are in LUCK...
Photographix is giving away free wedding photography to a destination couple! The contest ends on 9/13 so visit their blog asap to learn more about the contest.
Florida Destination Wedding for a Nashville Couple, Tori and James
Wedding images + story courtesy of Photographix
Tori and James got married in Rosemary Beach Town Hall in Florida. The setting was perfectly perfect and couldn’t have fit them better. Christina Gshwandtner of Fete Weddings & Events, designed the whole event and it was beautiful!
The ceremony was small with only about 60 people in attendance. Most came from Franklin, but some as far as New York as well. We loved meeting everyone, they were all so nice and inviting.
The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and the town of Rosemary is just adorable! We could have spent the whole weekend photographing them. Every nook and corner was different, it was really hard to choose just a few spots!
Wedding Planner: Christina Gshwandtner – Fete Wedding & Events (feteevents.com)
Photographers: Photographix
Flowers: Fisher’s Flowers
Catering: Dine by Design
Tori's Dress: Judd Waddell
James’s Suit: J. Crew
Tori's Shoes: Steve Madden
Location: Rosemary Beach Town Hall
Hair & Makeup: Two Fishes Artistry
Wedding Cake: Confections on the Coast
Tori's Pearl Necklace: Buki Designs
If you are planning a destination wedding and haven't hired a wedding photographer, run over to Photographix for their free wedding photography contest!
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Monday, August 30, 2010
Wedding dress trends are everywhere - magazines, websites, blogs, we just love our gowns. What about our grooms? Don't we want them to look good too? For the longest time, we kept hearing one name mentioned from the mouths of brides whose grooms have looked sharp at their weddings - Street Tuxedo. We are really excited to shine our spotlight today on Street Tuxedo, a locally owned and operated tuxedo rental company whose goal is to make the wedding experience enjoyable and easy for your groom.
There are many reasons that I love Street Tuxedo (and invited them to be an ABG sponsor). They take care of Nashville couples. They have great inventory which is all available locally (so they can respond faster than places that have to order.) When you go to their stores, they take care of you like family because it's a family-operated business. They are accessible, with 3 Nashville-area locations: Cool Springs, Murfreesboro and Green Hills. Added bonus - If your groomsmen are not in Nashville, Street can also serve them - via their partners - from coast to coast. They should be your first stop for attire for your groom, groomsmen.
Company Name: Street Tuxedo
Website: http://streettuxedo.com
Locations: Cool Springs, Murfreesboro, Green Hills/Nashville
I love this photo by Joe Hendricks Photography. Disclaimer - this picture is from a real Nashville wedding not a party at Street Tuxedo, even though that would be one way to encourage him to go!
Ashley's Bride Guide goes one-on-one with Meghan (Murfreesboro location) of Street Tuxedo
Number of years in the business: 26
How did you get started in weddings? Mr. Street bought Kornman’s Department store in Madison, TN in 1984. He rented tuxedos there as well as sold mens clothes (jeans, underwear, etc.) He realized that a lot of the profit was coming from the tuxedo sales and rentals. So he decided to sell off all of the random men’s wear and focus solely on tuxedo sales and rentals. And here we are 26 years, 3 locations, and thousands of weddings later.
What do you like most about weddings? I love when the bride and grooms come in to pick out their tuxedos. The bride’s entourage watched her try on countless gowns now it is her turn to sit back, relax, and watch the groom model different looks until the perfect one is found. Another thing that we always enjoy is when all of the groomsmen and the groom come in to pick up their tuxedos. The camaraderie and fellowship with each other is so fun to watch. Everyone is so excited to be reunited for the happy occasion.
What’s your favorite wedding picture and why?
I love this picture because of the pure joy you see on both of their faces. They are a lovely couple.
What is your service philosophy? We have to remember that although we see multiple weddings done each weekend, the brides and grooms that come into our stores are doing this for the first time. And we have to stay excited and fresh about what we do. Each Groom has a different idea of what he wants to wear on his special day and we will try our best to help him find his perfect look!
What are your strengths compared to others in your category? First: We are family owned, therefore we care about what we do and treat our brides and grooms like family. Second: We have tuxedos in stock available for try-on. Why should your groom pick his tux out of a catalog? Third: We go above and beyond the call of duty when necessary (taking a set of studs and cuff links to the church just minutes before the wedding begins) Lastly, we have the largest selection of styles and colors in Middle Tennessee.
Who are your 5 favorite Nashville wedding vendors? We work very closely with the ladies at The Bride Room and I think that the brides and grooms appreciate the convenience of the 2 stores being so close. We have so many photographer friends and wedding planners that we love working with that it is hard to narrow it down. I must say that the Nashville Wedding industry has some top notch vendors. Nashville brides are so lucky to have such fabulous people to choose from.
Who do you recommend when you’re not available/not a fit? If we do not have what they are looking for then it must be something really off the wall so I usually recommend GOOGLE!!
What do you read/watch regularly to stay on top of wedding/event trends? I watch the awards shows - ESPY’s, Oscars, Globes. We may not always agree with what the celebs are wearing but they have a big influence on the current trends.
What trend do you love?
I love the grey tuxedo look…it is very versatile. It can be used in casual weddings as well as semi-formal weddings…and it looks great with all dress colors.
What trend do you hate? I don’t hate any of our tuxedos….but I am tired of BROWN! I have been there, done that….about a million times! We still get calls about brown tuxedos all the time.
Which trend are you glad to see go? Long tuxedo coats!!
Which trend are you sad is gone? I think the wedding industry has gotten away from formal weddings. We are seeing more and more neck ties, suits, even no coats at all. I miss the days of the ultra formal weddings…so classy.
What are your favorite wedding websites? I love to look at photographers blogs: Gray Photography, Kristyn Hogan, Jonathan Campbell, Evin Photography, Gambill Photography and of course Ashley’s Bride Guide!!
Neatest wedding find? Neatest wedding find is the new Fantastic Flipbooks, they were at a recent bridal show and after a long day of speaking with brides the Street Tuxedo crew went to their booth and made a flipbook, HILARIOUS!! It’s so much fun! Love this idea!
I KNOW! My niece loves the flipbooks. She makes me flip the books over and over. She likes the pictures and the nice breeze the flipped books provide on her face:).
For the platinum bride, what is the one thing you’ve always wanted to see? Being a tuxedo shop, we love when the bride and groom “make it formal”, meaning white tie and tails for the wedding party and all guests in tuxedos as well.
What is the biggest misconception about your industry? There are a few..COLOR! We have every color imaginable. Not everyone knows that you can also RENT SUITS, it’s not just tuxedos. Also, tuxedo shoes get a bad rap…the manufacturers have started making tux shoes more comfortable, we get compliments on the comfort all the time! Another misconception is if you have out-of-town groomsmen they can go get measured at any tuxedo shop across the country. It is a courtesy we all do for each other!
I'd also like to give a shout-out to Rachel Street (member of the Street family who serves grooms/brides at at the Green Hills location) who is engaged!! I love that her wedding will be intimate (15 people!) and all about what's important to her + her fiance. Kudos for sticking to your own priorities.
You can view more info on real Street Tuxedo weddings in our inspiration gallery or on their Grooms/Groomsmen Facebook photo page.
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Posted by Ashley |
Filed under: Attire & Accessories, Grooms1 comment »
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Very simple post today: If you have yet to hire your wedding photographer, you are luck! Here's a great one to check out: The Collection, a fabulous wedding company comprised of Krystal, Erin and Jessica. Visit their website and blog, then give them a call. If you book by 8/30 and mention ABG - you get a free iPad to display your wonderful wedding photos wherever you go!!
The Collection photographers are incredible but the iPad limited offer makes them even more delicious!
Call them asap and be sure to check with them regarding specific offer details.
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Posted by Ashley |
Filed under: Photography & Videography0 comments »
