Planning a Nashville wedding?
Join Now | Login
 
Own a Nashville business?
Add Your Free Listing
 
   
 
 
 
1 Get Smart
 
 
2 Get & Give Ideas
 
 
3 Find Vendors, Venues & More
 
 
4 Manage My Wedding
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




Get Inspired with Amazing Inspiration Boards from Nashville Brides

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Hey Nashville brides,

Sorry today’s post is so late. I woke up around 4am to the sound of noise - wind and what sounded like feet running around my car. I hopped up, expecting to find kids vandalizing my car (because I’m dramatic) and instead found that my Curby recycle and trash bin had been blown over by the wind and the noise that I thought was kids was actually trash ALL over my yard and the yards of my neighbors.

Since hubby (aka my personal trash guy) is out of town, I got dressed and spent the next hour picking up trash and devising a clever way to keep the trash cans closed until the trash was picked up. I rummaged through my garage, found a heavy table and laid it across the cans to secure.

By the time I fell back asleep, it was time to wake up! But all is well that ends well…supergirl rescued the neighborhood from a trash takeover while protecting her family from identity theft.

Today’s post will be short…because I suspect I’ll see more debris now that the sun’s up…Check out some of these amazing inspiration boards that I have received from local Nashville brides. Nashville brides are super creative and I just love their unique vision. I’ve also included my wedding board and one that I love from A Delightful Day. So, take a second to make comments.

Hopefully, these boards will provide some inspiration as you plan and remember it’s not too late to share yours…

Stacey’s Board (aka The Fabuless Bride) - Classy Beach Blues

Anna’s Board - Southern Charm

Beth’s Board - Modern Minimalistic

Jess’ Board - Classic Black and White plus Red

My Board - Spring Things (Post Wedding)

A Delightful Day - A Spring Fling




Seeking Nashville’s Best Inspiration Boards; Time to Share Yours!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Hi Nashville brides,

I know that you guys are using The Knot, STL wed bios and other resources to create your wedding profiles and inspiration boards. Share them with ABG’s Nashville bridal community and exchange ideas and tips!

Simply send me links to your bridal blogs, profiles (wherever they are) and I will create a shout out board, linking to all of the bridal profiles/blogs. If you don’t have a profile or blog, send us your inspiration boards so we can feature them on our site and inspire other Nashville brides.

Here are a few that I have enjoyed from Jess. Her site is amazing and I always love seeing her updated boards.

Jess’s colors are black and white (super hot this year). Here are some of Jess’s inspiration pictures:

Her first inspiration board

 

Her newest inspiration board - She’s so organized!

If you haven’t created your inspiration board, I highly recommend you do so. They are lots of fun, help you visualize your wedding plan and details and keep you inspired and excited. Oh - I used Big Huge Labs to create mine but I am sure there are tons of sites that have tools you can use.

Whether it’s a board or profile, we’re looking for Nashville’s most creative brides! So share yours now.

I’ve added my wedding board below. Can’t wait to see yours!





Beachville, Tennessee?? It Can Happen!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Hey everyone, I am introducing a few new members to our bridal community over the next few weeks. So now, in addition to inviting local wedding pros to blog, I am also opening up the virtual mic to Nashville brides-to-be, bridesmaids and others involved in wedding planning.

It is my hope that these blogs will provide something of interest to our entire Nashville wedding audience. So, these blogs will be filed under Ashley’s Guests and Real Nashville brides. If you are blogging, please let me know as I’d love to follow your blog too!

I’ve chosen this blog by Stacey because she stopped by my bridal show booth on Saturday and told me all about these wonderful lanterns she’d found to complement her beach theme. I think every bride should have a theme, one that reflects what is important to you (as Stacey has done). So, I share in her excitement! YAY! It’s kind of a big deal to decide on your wedding theme.

You can learn more about Stacey and her wedding at Daisys Favorite Things. Enjoy.

Starting my beach theme!

If you know me at all…you know two things for sure- I love the beach and I love the color blue!! Therefore, these two things are going to be part of my wedding theme, of course! Since we’re no where near the beach and it’s pretty impossible for me to do a true beach wedding if I want lots of people to come, I’ve decided to subtly decorate with classy, sophisticated ocean tones and accessories! I haven’t gathered much yet, but am thinking pretty shades of blue, seashells, and sand.

My apartment has been a big source of inspiration. It’s my oasis from the crazy world filled with beach pictures, real and artsy ones, shades of blue and brown, and seashells abound! I created a couple of these awhile ago, and thought about doing them on a bigger/better scale for table centerpieces at my wedding…..

Candle

Then last night on my way home from spending lots of time brainstorming with Chaundra about wedding plans…and asking all FIVE of her kids to be in my wedding (Gabby, age 3, promptly said “No!” when I asked her to be the flowergirl, but after I explained what that meant, she said, “Ok!”), I decided to shop at Kohl’s! Partly to remind myself that I can- because I don’t have 5 kids tagging along with me, and partly to search out their special deals for the early bird/nightowl specials going on this weekend (you know…in case there was anything wedding related!!). I’m as about as obsessed with their clearance as I am with Target’s. Maybe even more so, which is why I’d avoided going for a long time- I can’t go without scouring the whole store for something on sale/clearance!!

To my surprise, I came across the PERFECT wedding centerpieces!! They totally fit my original idea- but also surprisingly another object I’ve seen and loved, but didn’t know how to make them work together! I’ve loved the “wrought-iron” lanterns I’ve seen lately, but didn’t know if they would fit with my theme!! Well, these aren’t wrought iron but are perfect….AND come with sand, shells, AND candle!! They’re on sale too! At $25 each, I’m probably saving myself a lot of time finding each different element separate! I probably would’ve wanted one even if they weren’t on clearance…but knowing me, I’d have waited to see if they stuck around until clearance time! Instead, armed with a new debit card for my wedding account, I promptly called my mom to share the great find (and ask her to search her Kohl’s for more!), and then headed for a shopping cart and loaded up all 4 that they had!!

In the package-

Lantern 1

Had to take it out as soon as I got home….it was all neat and orderly!

Lantern 2

Here’s what the stuff inside looked like. The sand looks a little more like salt (the margarita kind) but it should work! It actually looks better than what it looks like in the pic!!

Lantern 3

So…here’s to actually getting something accomplished this week!! I’ve got my dress, and my centerpieces picked out and that’s about it!! I have soooo many ideas, but I haven’t been able to find that perfect place for the wedding, or the perfect dresses for my maids!! After those two things, it should make lots of the other pieces easy!

Hopefully, I’ll find more of these lanterns to actually use one on each table, but even if not- I’ll still use them in some way at the reception and/or wedding!! :o) So exciting!

**Update** My mom went to the Kohl’s near her yesterday and bought 4 more!! So we should just need 4 more to have enough for the tables. If we don’t find more or end up with more tables, we’ll just use something else,maybe closer to the original idea on the rest of the tables! I think spending $300 on these is plenty!! :o)





Signature Reception Cocktail & The Cocktail Bouquet

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Today, I will keep it short and simple so you can enjoy your Valentine’s Day. Oh - congratulations to all the ladies getting engaged today! We can’t wait to hear all the proposal details.

Ok…back to today’s post.

Signature drinks are all the rave these days. The last wedding I attended had the most wonderful strawberry lemondade concotion ever, available with or without alcohol. The color popped and was probably the yummiest I’d ever tasted.

Have you created your signature wedding drink? If not, here’s some inspiration:

Recipes -

- Tennessee Peach, perfect for southern gals!

- Pinky Vodka drink assortment - I don’t like vodka but I am loving these very girlie drinks

- Banana-Peach Martinis look yummy and you could probably do a virgin option easily

Tips for designing your cocktail:

1) Get colorful - choose colors that complement your wedding palette or vivid colors that pop

2) Complement the wedding theme or season

3) Keep it simple so the bartender can have it readily available for your guests, something easy to mix

4) Represent your unique style

I also ran across these these “Happy Hour Bouquets”, from 1800-flowers. They don’t offer them in Nashville yet, but, I am so sure that very talented, Nashville event florists, like Rhonda Patton Weddings (615-579-3255) or Sherrell Florals (615-289-5211), could help you repllicate this look.

I am not sure if I love the cocktail bouquets just yet. They are different. What do you think?




Local Wedding Planners Make Nashville Weddings Fabulous!

I love inspiration boards and asked A Delightful Day to share one of theirs. This is their “Spring Fling” inspiration board. Below you can see how they brought it to life at their bridal show booth. This could be great for a garden venue or a bridal shower luncheon!




Tara’s in Town & I’m Missing All the Fab!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Sammy, my husband John’s best friend, came to town this weekend to spend time with us. I rarely see Sammy and my husband works Saturdays so Sammy’s hanging with me. My plan was to go to the bridal show today but after considering that Sammy probably wouldn’t enjoy the event (just a hunch) and $50 is a lot to spend on someone who wouldn’t enjoy the darn thing anyway, I’m home with him. (Hope I don’t regret this forever! John - you owe me one:)

As I steal a few minutes to blog today, I am a wee-bit jealous of all the fun that everyone is going to have at today’s Nashville Lifestyles Bridal Ball. It’s taking place at The Hermitage Hotel, one of my favorite Nashville wedding venues. I really wanted to go because Tara Guerard is speaking and she is oh-so-talented. She’s like the Ace of Cakes guy, coming to your town, live and in person. If you aren’t familiar with Tara, she is a top ”event producer” and author of Southern Weddings. (I’ve got to find a fancy way to describe what I do:).

My friends at A Magical Affair are going to take tons of pictures and promised to share every single detail. Hillary say I’ll be there in spirit. Expect a fabulous update next week.

Now, more highlights from my fabulous event on Sunday, the Nashville bridal break. (Tara - you can add these fantastic Nashville wedding finds to your preferred vendor list. I’ve checked them out and they’re good to go.)

The Personal Touches - What’s an engagement/wedding without a celebration of who you are and all the wonderful aspects of being engaged? These two vendors do just that - bring “you” to everything they do.

Selah Shop by Kat of Selah Style and Events - Kat is one of the most spectacular chicks I know. She does stunning event (wedding) design but she has a very strong fashion background. The combination is truly magnificent. She is in the process of launching a line of bridal accessories/attire and debuted pieces of her line at my bridal event. She brought the cutest bride tees, bridesmaid tote bags and adorable “underthings” as she calls them. Her goodies make great gifts for your bridal party or great indulge items for this special time in your life. Let everyone know you’re a bride; these items keep you cute even when you’re being an ugly bridezilla.

Designs in Paper- Yes, I’m always talking about Designs in Paper but I think they are the neatest things since…since forever! Donette (pictured chatting w/brides below) and Steve approach every project with a blank slant and come up with something completely custom to express your personality, theme, etc. For instance, for my party, they created Happy Valentines Day confetti and gave a bag of confetti to everyone who attended. DiP (as they liked to be called) made “The Future Mrs.” buttons to every bride2be, which the brides are still raving over. They even made AshleysBrideGuide.com confetti for me, which I picked up after the event and plan to use again and again. (So you will see it at the Opry Mills show and the Perfect Wedding Guide show!)

They made some neat confetti for the Lipstick Jungle premiere on Thursday and it was soo cute. They made mini lipsticks with jungle prints. They never cease to amaze me. And, the good thing is - they are paper experts so they can create paper around all aspects of your party or wedding theme - from save the dates, invitations to confetti and t-notes.

If you have an enviable wedding budget, head over to The Hermitage to meet Tara and Nashville’s top vendors for the high-end Nashville bride.

Well, that’s a wrap - back to the couch for more b-ball with Sammy! I love Sammy but John owes me big…it’s going to be a great Valentine’s Day.




 
 
© Copyright 2007  Ashley's Bride Guide about me | contact me | faqs | tell a friend | advertise | terms of use | privacy policy