Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I couldn’t wait to share Belle Bride’s blog on wedding day makeup. She’s obviously a cutie w/o makeup but her trial wedding makeup session (which I highly recommend) is simply breathtaking. Her makeup artist might be a good option for you too. Plus, Belle is so funny…enjoy!

A few weeks ago, I had my makeup trial run with the sweet Angelisa Farmer of Bridal Artistry (615-426-9713 or [email protected]). She has been a most excellent vendor. She returns phone calls and emails promptly - in fact, she will email me whenever she has new pics of a bride, or she’ll just check in to see how plans are going. She has a wonderful personality to boot.

I don’t have a certain look I’m going for, unless my request of “Do whatever to make me pretty” is considered a specific look. I completely trust Angelisa to know what colors are going to best complement my skin. We decided to do the trial run at my photographer’s studio because I was doing a bridal shoot. Here’s the prerequisite au natural shot.

Now you know why this girl rarely leaves the house without a little Maybelline Great Lash black mascara. Angelisa decided this wasn’t somber enough, so we had to give it another go. This time with ruffled hair.

Is it me, or does anybody else think that I’m quite possibly Tom Petty’s love child?

Angelisa worked on me for about 40 minutes, carefully smoothing out my skin tone, applying pretty neutral shades to bring out my eye color, and using a pink gloss for the lips. My favorite part was when she added eyelashes for that extra drama. Check it out.

What do you think? I actually took this picture after the shoot, so Angelisa had applied heavier color. My makeup won’t be quite this powerful for the wedding. She may end up using shades of purple for my eyes rather than browns for the big day, also.

I really like how she made the blue in my eyes pop. I was ready to go out on the town, flashing my eyelashes and what not. Then I remembered I have an amazing fiance….

So there you have it. I enjoyed having my face done professionally for the first time. A girl could get used to that! Thanks for the lovely work, Angelisa!

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Fabuless and Belle are Nashville brides2be just like you. They have joined our team and will blog regularly, sharing their amazing wedding planning journey - from great vendor finds to tough wedding decisions.

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Monday, April 7, 2008

Hey everyone, Join me in welcoming our newest blogger, Anna!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have invited real Nashville brides to take us on their wedding planning journey. You’ve met Stacey, our Fabuless Bride. Today, I am super psyched to introduce Anna. I have enjoyed Anna’s blog for weeks now. Her wedding is in May so she’s at a different point in her wedding planning than Stacey. I am certain that you will LOVE Anna’s blogging; she’s an amazing story teller and has chosen fantastic vendors.

Without further delay, meet Anna, another fabulous Nashville bride…

Last October, The Mister and I had our e-pics taken by Krista Lee Photography. I chose to go with Krista because she has a sunny disposition, is easy to work with and has very reasonable rates…. and hello, she is an awesome photographer, which is my #1 priority!

We decided to pick our own location since we didn’t want the traditional hug-a-tree-and-look-at-each-other-awkwardly pictures. We chose an area off of Murfreesboro Road which is mostly Hispanic. The Mister and I had a great time posing in front of Mexican restaurants and laundry mats. The colors were very bright and cheerful. This was also a good opportunity for us to become more comfortable posing for Krista.

Don’t these colors POP? Yowza. That orange will wake you up! We also lucked out with the weather. The ENTIRE week there were thunderstorms, and for our session, the clouds actually parted to reveal a little sunshine. And 30 minutes after our session ended, it started raining again. True story.

Overall, The Mister and I were pleased with the shots, given the fact that we had only an hour to do it on a Thursday during our lunch break. I wish we had done a few more where we were simply hugging and smiling into the camera, but alas… there’s only so much you can do in 60 minutes.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Welcome Today’s Guest: Southern Fancy is a bridal blog written by Anna, a Nashville bride2be and a true Southern belle.

Even though The Mister and I are getting married right outside of Nashville in Franklin, Tenn., it feels more like a destination wedding. You see, all my family is in Mississippi and his is either in Arizona or Chicago. Plus, our closest friends are scattered about the country. So any way you look at it, our guests are traveling from near and far, and they’re having to pay a pretty penny to do so. To welcome them from a long day of travel and to show them our appreciation, it is only appropriate for us to give each person (or couple or family) a basket of goodies when they check in at the hotel.

First things first, I searched online for some inspiration. I looked no further than Kate Parker Weddings. She has the perfect welcome basket for cities like Dallas, Chicago, Boston, NYC, San Diego and San Francisco, among others. And as fate would have it, she has one specifically for Nashville weddings.

This fabulous basket includes:

* 1 3-pack of cookies from The Christie Cookie
* 2 packs of Goo Goo Clusters (which are made in Chattanoga)
* 1 tin of tea from Nashville Tea
* 2 (11oz.) bottles of Fiji water
* Custom map including 4-5 points of interest for the wedding weekend (rehearsal, ceremony, reception, etc.)
* 1 Map of Tennessee from the Tennessee Visitors Bureau
* Medicine Kit including Advil, Tylenol, and Pepto-Bismol.

At the price of $34.00 (plus shipping), I think this is totally worth it; however, I am in need of about 30 of these bad boys, which would cost me a little over $1,000 total. Soooo, I decided I could create something similar and set a budget of $10 per basket.

Here’s what I plan on including:

* A Franklin-area brochure (free)
* Copy of The Nashville City Paper or The Rage (free)
* Custom map of the wedding location and directions (paid $10 for custom design from Etsy seller MTK Designs. The price is now $15. Again, totally worth it.)
* A pack of Goo Goo clusters
* Tiny bottles of Dickel Tennessee whiskey (made in Tullahoma; about $1.50 per bottle); You could also go with small bottles of Jack Daniels (made in Lynchburg).
* Bottled water
* Either a pack of orange slices or apple rings from Apple Barn Cider Mill (this is a place in the Opry Mills Mall that has lots of yummy food and candy made in Tennessee)
* Can of Altoids or packs of gum
* One Spirit of Nashville postcard ($12.99 for a pack of 29). Y’all, these are so awesome, you have to see them now.

Ashley Adds:

Want more ideas for your Nashville wedding gift baskets? Follow this topic on our message board.