Thursday, July 14, 2016
Over the past few years, Nashville has turned into a popular destination wedding city. With many colleges and universities in the area drawing students from all over the U.S. to the Nashville area, students feels as though they have a strong ties to the city. As many relatives travel to Nashville, they may need some help navigating through an unfamiliar city. So why not show them the best Nashville has to offer by hosting a wedding weekend?
Photo by Delbarr Moradi from Style Me Pretty
Now, I know planning a wedding is very time consuming - especially when you're working, studying or raising a family. However, planning a destination wedding weekend doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether it’s a list of fun activities you provide to your guests, or several planned get-togethers, a wedding weekend is something your guests will appreciate! Here are a few ideas:
Start the weekend off with a cute gift basket for your guests in their hotel room like these from Wild Violet.
Photo from Nashville Petal Tavern
Friday Night:
Rehearsal Dinner! Think outside the box on this one. How about a progressive dinner? Start off at Sambuca, and make the rounds from The Gulch to Downtown Broadway. Petal Tavern after party? I’m in!
Photo from Tenn Green
Saturday Day:
Option A) Explore the outdoors. Nashville has many places to hike and explore. You can even plan a quick kayaking day trip. And it’s a great way for guests to get to know each other before the big day!
Option B) Are your guests more fond of the indoors? The George Jones Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame or even a trip to The Frist may be in order!
Next, take a breather and schedule a massage therapist to come to your house through Belle. You can also get your nails done. Or renta a Shasta camper for you and your bridesmaids for a pre-wedding primp session. At this point in the day, you’ll want to start getting ready to say “I do” and allow guests time to freshen up.
-It’s wedding time!-
Saturday Night:
Up for round two of honky-tonking? Or schedule a chill small group dinner at Bastion. Choose your own adventure. :)
Photo of Loveless Cafe brunch from Style Blueprint
Sunday Morning:
I don’t know if you've heard, but Sunday morning brunch is a thing in Nashville. ;) From Loveless to Biscuit Love, treat your guests to some good Southern comfort food before their travels home.
Need more ideas? Check out our ultimate list of 21 activities for your out of town guests.
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Posted by Alyssa |
Filed under: Destination Nashville Weddings!, Advice & Planning, Destination Weds & Honeymoon , After Your Wedding,
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Wednesday, July 13, 2016
I don't know about you, but I am obsessed with lipstick and lip glosses! I have DOZENS of them in my purse, in my desk, in my makeup bag... and basically any drawer in my house! Why do I have so many? Because I'm looking for the perfect one. The one that will stay on allllll dayyyy longggg. The one where I can look in the mirror once to put it on, and not worry about it the rest of the day. Well, maybe just one of the dozens I own will stay on all day. But! My dear friend Carrie saved the day just introduced me to LipSense.
LipSense is a lip color that molecularly bonds to your lips. When sealed with LipSense gloss you will have color that lasts anywhere from 4 to 18 hours! The more you use it, the longer it stays put! Loaded with Shea Butter and Vitamin E, LipSense will improve the look and feel of your lips! LipSense is a non-wax liquid lip color that stays on your skin and provides a natural shield from the sun. And all ingredients are natural herbs, antioxidants and minerals. No lead, animal by-products or wax! All you have to do is add 3 layers of your favorite LipSense color (or mix and match layers!), let each layer dry for 5 seconds and finish it off with the clear gloss. So simple for an all-day look!
Just think of all the kisses that happen on your big day - getting lipstick all over your husband's mouth and aunts' cheeks can be embarassing! Or even the dreaded lipstick on the teeth - eek! That's why LipSense is perfect for weddings - you can kiss, eat, and drink all you want without having to worry about smudges or color transfer. Plus, there's over 75 colors to choose from, it's a no-brainer!
Feel free to visit the website to buy your favorite LipSense color or join the Facebook page to find the latest and greatest news about LipSense. Thanks, Carrie!
All photos from LipSense website and Facebook page.
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Posted by Alyssa |
Filed under: Makeup, Hair, Health, Beauty ,
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Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Just 10 minutes from downtown Nashville is a hidden gem: The Old School. The name is exactly what it's history holds - the venue is a refurbished 1936 schoolhouse. Situated on nine acres of farmland, The Old School has plenty of space for your Nashville wedding. The Old School's Farm Bar serves as a restaurant by day offering farm to table cuisine grown right on the property.
The Old School's Music Room showcases local artists on the stage frequently. It also serves as a great wedding reception venue or rehearsal dinner space! With the prohibition-style bar, gunmetal chairs and farm tables, The Old School is bringing 1930s style and farm to table straight to your wedding.
Photo by High Five for Love
As a functioning non-profit, The Old School provides job training for individuals with disabilities. Every time you eat or drink at the farm, you are giving back to the community! It's a great place for the couple looking to make a difference by giving back to the local Nashville community through their wedding or rehearsal dinner.
I don't know about you, but I'm so down for trying one of those delicious looking farm burgers and seeing the historical space!
Find more information on The Old School on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
All photos from The Old School website.
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Posted by Alyssa |
Filed under: Eco-Friendly Weddings, Wedding Venues and Locations, Wedding Style - Rustic, Farm ,
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Monday, July 11, 2016
Finding mismatched vintage china for your Nashville wedding can take hours upon hours of shopping at thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets. Five years ago, I was one of those brides! I searched high and low for vintage china and ended up buying some off of Craigslist... never used it for my wedding since I was responsible for washing all of the dishes, and they're still sitting in my parents' basement to this day. Don't make the same mistake I did! Rent all of your beautiful plates from The Wedding Plate. Owner Lisa Shaklett has done all of the searching for you - and she will even wash your dishes after your wedding! Here's Lisa's story:
Tell us about The Wedding Plate!
Lisa: The Wedding Plate is a vintage china, flatware and glassware rental service company serving the Middle Tennessee area. We have a collection of more than 2,000 pieces of china and glassware. We offer dinner, salad and dessert plates, cups and saucers, and soup and berry bowls. Our glassware collection includes goblets (more than 250 clear and 150 colored) and pressed glass punch cups. We have silver trays and pitchers, so much nicer than those brown waiter trays for serving drinks and collecting dishes! Our inventory includes china serving pieces - trays, gravy boats (perfect for salad dressing), vegetable bowls, sugar and creamers, salt and pepper shakers. We also offer flatware, because you can't eat off china with a plastic fork!
How did you get started in weddings?
Lisa: The Wedding Plate began as a result of planning for my daughter's wedding that will take place on October 22. The wedding will be in a barn (The Grove in Murfreesboro), but Shelby wants an elegant, rather than rustic, atmosphere for her barn wedding. What's more elegant than china? So, I started collecting a piece here and there, from antique stores and estate sales, and realized that we could serve other brides and hostesses looking to add a touch of elegance to their event by starting a rental company. I've recently left a career in academia and needed to reconnect with my creativity that has been put aside for several years. This business allows me to combine my creative side with the love of antiques and special events into one job and I'm having a blast!
What do you like most about weddings?
Lisa: I'll celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary this September and I've never forgotten the incredible love and support that I felt as we drove away from the church on our wedding day. It's the only time in my life that literally hundreds of people came together to celebrate just me and Roger. All those people shared their time and love with us at one time and place. It was such an honor to be the recipient of all of that love.
The Wedding Plate is a celebration of love, with china gathered from brides who are now grandmothers, picked up in South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Utah. Each piece tells it's own story, like my granny's china purchased piece by piece at the grocery store. Or the Harmony House china, from sisters who married in the 50s, and mom bought their collections from Sears and Roebuck. China with stories as varied as the patterns and colors on it, will now be a part of countless weddings.
What is your service philosophy?
Lisa: The Wedding Plate offers brides a unique service that is affordable, memorable and hassle-free. In addition to delivery and pick-up, we offer staging services. Ariel is a recent bride herself and will set your tables so that the patterns compliment each other and the glassware. We pay attention to the details so that you don't have to!
Once your event is over, just have your caterer scrape the plates free of food and put them back in the crates. We will take care of the cleaning in order to retain the beauty of our special items.
What else would you like to tell brides about The Wedding Plate?
Lisa: The Wedding Plate is a boutique rental company serving Middle Tennessee brides and hostesses seeking to make their shower, birthday party, wedding or other event unique and memorable. Our collection is used for more than just weddings - a non-profit dinner, a high tea baby shower, a ladies luncheon, mom's 80th birthday - special occasions that need something more than plastic or paper plates!
Isn't this china gorgeous? All of these images are by Becka Edmonson Photography from a shower - they're perfect for a vintage tea theme! And any wedding would look so incredibly elegant with the vintage plates and glassware.
Visit The Wedding Plate on Facebook and Instagram to see more vintage beauties!
All photos by Becka Edmsonson Photography.
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Posted by Alyssa |
Filed under: Bridal Showers, Luncheons, Parties, Rentals, Wedding Style - Vintage,
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Friday, July 8, 2016
My heart skipped a beat when I saw Rojeen and Hamza's wedding photos by Stephanie Sorenson. A gorgeous couple in a gorgeous downtown setting - what more could you ask for in a Nashville wedding? I'll leave it to Rojeen to tell the rest of the story:
Rojeen + Hamza
5.28.16
Venue | Hutton Hotel
Photographer | Stephanie Sorenson
Rentals | Liberty Party Rental
Lighting and Draping | Nashville Audio Visual
Cake | Nashville Sweets
Flowers | Weddings by Kayln
Bride's Makeup | Artofficial Makeup
Bride's Hair | Babe Beauty Bar
Wedding Gown and Hair Piece | Olia Zavozina
Groom's Suit | J.Crew Mens
Tell us about you as a couple.
Rojeen: Hamza had no idea walking into the YMCA at Green Hills three years ago would change his life forever. He walked in, as he routinely did, to do some cardio and lift some weights. He had no idea that his future was waiting for him. He saw me working out and immediately knew there was something different about me. Three years later, we are married! I am a Kurdish-American kindergarten teacher. I loves many things, but my true passions are teaching (in any form), family and of course, fitness. Hamza is a Pakistani-American med-school student. He hopes one day to become a surgeon. Hamza loves to be in the hospital, watch and play sports and spend time with his family. We both still go to the gym together, go mountain biking, and enjoy sushi on the weekends. We have shown a commitment to each other within the last three years that many people do not get to experience in a lifetime. We were lucky to find each other that day at the gym and have never looked back.
Tell us about your vision.
Rojeen: The vision was to unite three cultures into one! We had to implement part Kurdish, Pakistani and American culture into the wedding to truly make it a night we could enjoy that represented us. At first, this seemed impossible. All three cultures are so vibrant and have their own intricacies in respect to weddings. We tried to find similarities between all three to try and tie them all together. I think we did an amazing job finally finding a great mix of all cultures. It was a night to remember with all the cultures coming together as one. Just as Rojeen and Hamza did.
What was their theme and what inspired it?
Rojeen: The theme was a combination of Kurdish/Bollywood and a traditional American wedding all tossed together. Dancing is a huge part of all cultures, but especially Middle Eastern. It is how people celebrate for the bride and groom. So the arrangement of everything had to be dance-friendly. We tried to have an elegant theme with a modern touch.
Can you share any special moments or highlights of your wedding day?
Rojeen: There were so many special moments. To list a few, I would start out by talking about the first time we walked in as a couple. It was grand! Everyone was around us cheering and dancing. It was definitely a special moment in a very happy environment. I think the speeches were also a very special moment. They were not rehearsed and from the heart. Those are always the best. All in all, the entire night was amazing! It was all one big highlight. I danced all night, so many pictures were taken, it was just a magical evening.
With 3 absolutely stunning dress changes, a beautiful city backdrop and soft, elegant decor, Rojeen and Hamza's wedding was definitely a night to remember!
All photos by Stephanie Sorenson Photography.
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Posted by Alyssa |
Filed under: Multicultural, African-American weddings, Real Nashville Brides,
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