Remember when you were little and you tried to make your own flip book of a stick figure walking or a plane flying? Ok maybe that's just me but I've always loved the concept of flipbooks. That's how cartoons were back in the day and I thought it was just the coolest thing!
When Ashley and I saw the Fantastic Flipbooks (FantasticFlipbooks.com) booth at the bridal show I (confession) squealed a little because it just took me back! What a retro adaptation of an old school innovation! It was high-tech back then and now that it's 2010 Fantastic Flipbooks has managed to take it to a whole new level.
Fantastic Flipbooks will transform a 10' X 10' space and electricity into a great activity that will keep your wedding or party guests happy. This is sure to put a smile on anyone's face and it's so easy to do. Plus, the cute books are a great momento that will serve as a party favor that will not get trashed! Ashley and her niece enjoy flipping through the books of complete strangers (because they are so much fun to just see) so imagine how much fun one featuring you and your bff would be!
They describe the process like this: "We start by taking sixty super-fast pictures of people being fabulous in our booth. They can dress up, perform a skit using our props, be silly or sweet or just flat out crazy. Then in less than two minutes, we print and assemble a cool take-home video (no batteries required) in a paper flipbook. You can even add a message or graphics on a custom cover."
The books can also be customized - They will "work with one of our designers to create a custom cover that matches the theme of your event. Include logos, names, dates or pictures - just about anything you want! We can also have a personalized message scroll across the bottom of the pages like a news ticker."
If you're interested in having them at your wedding, definitely give them a call or email them at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Definitely visit FantasticFlipbooks.com to watch a demo video, and to find out more details on how it works and what your options are! This really would make an awesome favor that you and your guests can take home and enjoy for a long time.
So why are we all in love with Thistle? Because Thistle Farms is a great Nashville non-profit that supports local women while offering great gifts for women, bridesmaids and wedding guests!
About Thistle Farms
Thistle Farms is a non-profit business for women who have survived lives of violence, prostitution and addiction. Thistle Farms creates bath and body products that are good for your body and that support and empower our sisters - from Nashville to Rwanda. All of the proceeds go directly to the women in the program for transitional living, counseling, job skills, etc. While based in Nashville (located on Charlotte Avenue), they are changing lives in our backyard and the entire world!
My Visit to Thistle Farms
To learn more about the group, I was invited to visit Thistle Farms, a day that was life transforming. The day started with a meditation session where the group of recovering drug addicts, prostitutes, visitors (like me, Tabitha, Louise and the Jonathon Campbell Photography crew), volunteers and staff shared life affirmations. Listening to their trials, experiences made us all realize that regardless of our backgrounds, our human story was the same - our lives were parallel and that self-love and survival are universal goals.
The topic of the day was secrets and how their existence keeps us imprisoned while our release frees us. After sharing my love story last month, I could totally relate. I could also relate to a group of women working together to raise one another, thereby raising humanity and the Nashville community specifically.
Pictured above: Carolyn (a Thistle Farms volunteer who invited ABG to visit) + wonderful survivors showing me how the products are made.
Words will not do my visit justice so I encourage you to 1) visit Thistle Farm yourself to learn more about the organization and unique opportunity to help other Nashvillians by introducing your church, girlfriends, fellow bloggers or out of town gift lovers to TF and 2) consider being a Thistle Farms bride/supporter!
5 ways to be a Thistle Farms Bride / Supporter!
1) Leave a comment, spread the word and we will donate!
The easiest way to support Thistle Farms is to leave a comment + spread the word! When you share today's post on Twitter or Facebook, ABG will donate $1 to Thistle Farms. How easy is that? Just share this post on Facebook or tweet the link and mention @weddinggirl and @thistlefarms and link to this article (here's the shorten link - http://bit.ly/beMN3W). Simple!
2) Purchase gift baskets for your bridal party, birthdays, new baby or any occasion where a fabulous gift is needed!
For the select few people you've invited to be a special part of your big day, consider personalized gift baskets from Thistle Farms. Filled with your choice of four fragrances (tuscan earth, citrus vanilla, lavender healing and tea tree mint), pick the size of basket filled with handmade bath and body products that fit your needs and pocketbook. Each basket will also contain a personal note from the bride and groom."
We loved this! it would be a great gift for your bridesmaid to pamper them during your hot summer Nashville wedding!
3) Give your wedding guests Thistle Farms favors - from lip balm to scented satchets
Thistle Farms Lip Balm is a perfect one to use at a wedding!...Pick from five scents of handmade lip balms (tuscan earth, citrus vanilla, lavender healing, tea tree mint, unscented – or let us choose a mix of scents), which will be attached to a keepsake postcard with the Bride & Groom’s names and wedding date."
4) Host a Thistle Farms bridal shower
Instead of a typical bridal shower, host a unique Thistle Farms Bridal Shower. Two of our trained employees will come to you, share their personal stories of hope, and tell you about our products. Sample our divine Body Polish...or smell our naturally fragrant candles. Celebrate your special day with women and products that truly say 'Love heals'.
3) Consider a {donation} wedding registry in lieu of gifts
Donating funds to a charity in lieu of giving guests favors is a very socially responsible and heartfelt way to thank your friends and family for sharing in your wedding. Thistle Farms will create a beautiful framed piece of artwork on thistle paper to let your guests know that a donation has been made in their name to the organization.
4) Buy every day products - from geranium spray (aka bug repellant) + candles to shower gel - to pamper yourself!
5) Volunteer and give of your time, love!!
AshleysBrideGuide.com is proud to support them and excited to share the many ways that EVERYONE can support this wonderful Nashville jewel. Special thanks to Carolyn Snell who is a wonderful person and the Thistle Farms volunteer who invited me to visit and to Jonathon Campbell Photography who took time out to not only capture my visit but to meditate + share this incredible experience.
To have or not to have favors? This is a question that I've often pondered. Many times, the favors brides give their wedding guests aren't exactly the most useful and end up as clutter in your guest's home (or in their trash bin). Finding a favor that are appreciated and memorable can be a challenge, but it's not impossible.
Latrice Cushenberry of Opulent Couturier is an event stylist, wedding planner and my go-to retail shopping guru! She knows how and where to find tfabulousness for your wedding (or wardrobe) and has a flair for wedding favors. She sent us some of the best selling favorites from her online bridal/baby favor store, Opulent Favors. I must say I love everything she sent and think you will find them a great option for your wedding, bridal shower or even baby shower guests.
Opulent Couturier treated our Sex and the City party guests to these stemless wine glasses. They were a hit with everyone and how could they not be? They're a simple, classy gift that pretty much everyone can use.
One of my favorite Opulent Couturier goodies is the diamond wine stopper below. Opulent Couturier treated our ABG brides to these at our party and I wanted one but couldnt get my hands on an extra!
Add a little bling for your bottle with these adorable favors!
Surprise, surprise, I love receiving edible favors! And you can't have enough mints! Especially when they come in such pretty packaging.
I absolutely adore damask. These candy boxes are by Kate Aspen, one of the lines Opulent Couturier carries.
The pink mint boxes are from Kate Aspen; The mod monogrammed bottles and boxes as well as the brown boxes are from Event Blossom.
If you have a garden party or outdoor wedding planned, your guests will love you even more when you give them something with which to cool down. These fans by Event Blossom (available via Opulent Couturier) are utterly pretty and come in a variety of colors.
Form AND function! We know how hot it gets here in the summer!
I do appreciate candles as favors. It's something lots of people will take and use. The tins are also from Aspen Grove and aren't the Event Blossom birdcage luminaries just adorable?
These are a couple of the lines Opulent Couturier carries but if you're looking for the perfect favor that will fit your vision definitely get in touch with Latrice. Aside from what she already has available, she will also work with you to find the favor that best suits the theme of your wedding and event.
As a Nashville wedding resource, our goal is to help you find great services and products for your wedding that are available locally. We love Nashville and know that just about everything we need can be procured in our amazing city!
When we learned about Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Co, we just knew their gourmet chocolate would be a great wedding favor option for brides. They make their own stone ground dark chocolate in a variety of flavors that not only are beneficial to you* but also taste really really good.
Customize your own chocolate wrapper with your initials and message to your guests.
We heart Olive + Sinclair
They were kind enough to let provide chocolate bar swag to our SATC party guests (which they loved!). And just the other day, Ashley sampled and swooned over Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Gelato at Brave Gelato. Can you say delish! If that weren't enough, when Gwyneth Paltrow was in Nashville filming a movie, she visited Olive & Sinclair and gushed on her site, GOOP.com that "the chocolate itself is some of the most flavorful we've ever experienced and the combinations were amazing"...It's good stuff!
The company
Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Co. was founded by Tennessean Scott Witherow who was the generous source of the chocolate bars donated to the party. Scott is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef whose resume boasts several of Nashville's most innovative restaurants with skills excelling in the pastry department.
Made right here in the heart of Nashville, Olive & Sinclair's chocolate comes in delicious flavors like Mexican Style Cinn-Chili, 67% or 75% dark chocolate, coffee (which has bits of coffee beans in it - so good), salt & pepper and my personal favorite, sea salt. In fact, I'm nibbling on some right now for inspiration**! They produce 330-600 pounds of chocolate a week in their McGavock Pike factory and store and you can get the chocolate there or at several local stores!
The bars each come wrapped in a chic, stylish wrapper and the entire package is a visual treat. The wrappers are designed by local printing company, Spirit of Nashville and are just stunning. Each time I buy a bar I feel this urge to frame the wrapper! It's that pretty!
Custom wedding chocolate bars for favors or gifts
What Ashley and I are most excited about is Olive & Sinclair's wedding chocolate! The rich, delicious dark chocolate flavor which is sure to please everyone who has a bite. But the special part about this is the wrapper which has a bride and groom on it, and a place where you can print your initials and a message for your guests. This is such a fantastic gift for out-of-town guests and/or wedding favors to really give your guests a personalized piece of Tennessee to take with them.
They need at least three weeks notice to get the bars ready so for those of you who haven't picked your favors or haven't thought of the perfect item for your gift bags, get in touch with Olive & Sinclair to discuss.
I'll leave you with video of Scott and his team at Olive & Sinclair hard at work, creating the bars from start to finish. Visit the Olive & Sinclair Blog to see what else they've been up to and find out what new flavors they're going to have for us later this year. I, personally, can't wait.
Video courtesy of Josh Anderson
* Did you know that dark chocolate can be good for you? According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, dark (not white or milk) chocolate contains high levels of antioxidants and has been shown, in some cases, to lower high blood pressure. And we all know about pressure when it comes to planning a wedding! Decision made - chocolate favors it is!
For his birthday, your anniversary or wedding day, you could get him a tie, another DVD/video game/golf club/shirt even his favorite bottle of scotch. But let's face it, there's no better gift for your man than YOU! Better yet, beautiful, glamorous pictures of you compiled into an album for him to always enjoy when you're not around.
So... You've been toying around with the idea of having a Boudoir Shoot, huh? Well, know that just about every girl I've worked with has stated, "I NEVER thought I'd be doing this!" In other words, you're not alone! So, I thought that from time to time I'd post an idea of how to prepare for your shoot!
One thing I can't stress enough, is to pay attention to the details and have some fun with your outfits! This is not your everyday photo shoot, so why not bring the spice level up a notch!? I worked with Mrs.B a few months back, and she brought along these FABULOUS red boots! Are they not TOTALLY amazing!??! My jaw dropped when I saw them, for real. I had so much fun at this shoot, and the beautiful Mrs.B's now-hubby LOVED his wedding gift.
I also spoke to Noelle and got a bit more helpful information for you!
How would you describe a boudoir session to a girl who's never seen or done one?
A boudoir session is a romantic, classy, sexy shoot - a supermodel shoot. It’s a personal and private gift for your husband or husband to be. The goal is to create this album that’s a classy piece of art to give to your husband/husband-to-be. It pushes confidence in women and hopefully it’ll be an exciting thing to give to your man. it’s a great way for a woman to come in and celebrate how you are today. I see girls get so excited and they end up wanting more pictures than what they get in their album.
Sounds like fun, I think I'd want to lose a few pounds first or tone up!
A lot of people think they have to lose weight first but you should do it as you are. I'll never make you pose where your least favorite "problem area" is showing. When girls sign up I send them a questionnaire to find out more about what they are comfortable with. There is no nudity - it’s really classy. I encourage girls to really think outside the box and don’t just show up with something simple. You’re never going to do a shoot like this again or at least not very often. Go get the most glamorous eyelashes! Had a girl come in with thigh high patent leather boots - not something she’d normally wear but it was like a fun costume just for the session.
We had a girl whose husband is a guitarist so we used a guitar as a prop.
So anyone can do this?
None of the girls on my blog are professional models, they're girls like you and me. They are brides-to-be or wives. All the girls on the blog have given me their permission to share their pictures but I won't ever show your picture unless you give me permission.
Every single girl who's come in for a session has been like, "I can't believe I'm doing this but I'm so glad I did." They come in really timid but leave really confident - I want girls to feel beautiful when they see their pictures and look as confident as they did when they left the session. I coach them through the poses, and I creat an atmosphere in the studio that's relaxed and so the girls feel comfortable.
To book your Boudoir Session with Noelle, give her a call or send her an email. After you confirm your session with her she will send a document your way with details on what to bring, how to visualize your session and she'll also provide a list of her recommended make up and hair stylists who are closer to her studio.
For more details and some gorgeous boudoir session pics, visit the McCoy Made Blog!
At Ashley’s Bride Guide, we’re always on the lookout for innovative and exciting wedding ideas.
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