Friday, November 19, 2010
Earlier this week, we introduced First Dance Pictures, a Nashville wedding videography company. First Dance videoed Courtney and Terry's classic Nashville-area wedding, one we're happy to share with you today.
Courtney and Terry - we will you the best in your life together! Thanks for letting us share your wedding to inspire other Nashville brides.
Featured Nashville Wedding: Courtney & Terry
This picture was taken to commemorate their 6th month of marriage! SO cute.
Bride ~ Courtney Sanders
Groom ~ Terry Cole
Wedding Date ~ May 29, 2010
Ceremony ~ Bethel Baptist Church, Lascassas, TN
Reception ~ Stones River Country Club
Guests ~ 300
From First Dance Pictures on Vimeo.
Wedding Style:
What was your wedding style? Modern elegance
What were your colors? Gray, ivory, and light pink.
What did you use for inspiration? I used the website Style Me Pretty for inspiration.
Wedding Scoop:
What was your budget? My budget was $15,000 but I ended up spending $24,000…oops:).
What was your wedding WOW factor? My guests love the love story that we debuted during the reception.
What did you give as favors to your guests? Bubbles
What did you give your bridesmaids and groomsmen? We gave the bridesmaids jewelry and the groomsmen flasks.
What was your most special moment of the day? Seeing Terry waiting for me at the end of the aisle. He was crying and I was crying…it was a very magical moment for the both of us.
Did you have kids at your wedding? What did you do for them? We allowed children at the ceremony but not the reception. It was adult only.
Did you Do It Yourself? Or, did you leave it to the professionals? We did everything ourselves. On the day of the wedding we did have Terry’s cousin Noelle coordinate the ceremony.
If you did DIY, what was your favorite project? Why? My favorite project was the wedding programs. They were special b/c I made them myself. I had help from 2 friends tying ribbon on the ends. They were just different and unique.
Wedding Vendors:
~ Planner: ME
~ Cake: Cakes by Pat. (Pat Robinson Murfreesboro, TN)
~ Caterer: Stones River Country Club
~ Photographer: Sara E. Rose (SaraERosePhotography.com)
~ Videographer: First Dance Pictures Bill and Deanna Vincent
~ Stationery: DIY
~ Bridesmaid Dresses: Silver cocktail dresses from The White Room in Lebanon TN. They wore light pink sandals to incorporate the pink accent color
~ Rings: Kay Jewelers
~ DJ: Jamie Scott
~ Decorations/Detail: My decorations were very simple and elegant. I used lots of candle light and flowers. I had silver tablecloths and white chair covers with silver ties.
~ Bridal Gown: I wore a strapless Mori Lee gown with a sweetheart neckline. This also came from The White Room in Lebanon, TN.
~ Tuxes: The tuxes came from Men’s WAREHOUSE. They were gray, with gray vests, pink ties, and black shoes.
~ Accessories: The men wore pink boutonnières and the bridesmaids carried light pink bouquets. Bridesmaids also wore pearl and rhinestone necklaces and earrings.
~ Flowers: Denise Bann from Green Finch Floral Design made all the bouquets boutonnières and flower arrangements.
~ Transportation: Platinum Limousines
Who were your favorites? I would highly recommend Sara E. Rose as a photographer, and Bill and Deanna Vincent [First Dance Pictures] as videographers. They were absolutely amazing to work with. They are nice, professional, and they always made me feel like our wedding was on their top priority list. We also received ours pictures and the video in a timely manner. Excellent people and I love love love them.
My Wedding Rewind:
What would you do differently if you could start back at the beginning? I definitely wouldn’t let other people stress me out. This day was about us and in the end all that mattered was that we were happily married.
What do you consider the biggest waste of time and/or money? Nothing
What do you consider the best value for the service and product? Photography and Videography. Their work was absolutely amazing.
What was the neatest thing you found for your wedding? The flower girl baskets. They were made out of pink pearls.
What was your biggest {and best} splurge? My wedding day attire. I spent a lot of money on the dress, shoes, and the veil but it was worth every penny. I loved it so much, I didn’t want to take it off.
Thank you to Sara Rose Photography (SaraERosePhotography.com) for the beautiful pictures. For more wedding highlights by First Dance Pictures visit their blog and let them know how much you love their work!
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
The White Room in Lebanon, TN has a huge range of bridal gowns and accessories, and what Nashville brides love about their selection is the range not just in styles but prices. The White Room owner Melanie sent us some new gowns they have that brides are just in love with from Pronovias, one of the lines The White Room carries.
Adela from the Fashion Collection
Brides, I am told, like Pronovias for its moderate pricing and quality material. "The gowns have great construction to them - they have a built-in corset so girls don't have to worry about strapless gowns shifting or falling off" said Melanie. Personally, that's a plus. I still have images of brides pausing to hike up their dress for fear of having a wardrobe malfunction so a built-in corset to secure the gown to your body is a great idea that lots of well-made gowns should have.
Left: Galante Right: Formentera
Famosa - A more Grecian style of gown.
Feria - Melanie pointed out that this one is very much like what Carrie Bradshaw wore in her first attempt to marry Big in the SATC movie.
Unlike most non-custom-made gowns, Pronovias manufactures the gowns in Spain where the beadwork and lace are different and have more of a unique look. Melanie added, "All the dresses have great boning, the lines on the gowns and the cuts of the gowns are made really well."
Lacier and frilled gowns. Left: Agosto Right: Fina
Alison - the one-shoulder strap is SO fun!
Left: Ferma Right: Festin
The White Room has plenty more gowns by Pronovias to suit your tastes. These are just few of the favorites Melanie wanted to share. We'll have more new gowns from The White Room again pretty soon so definitely check back! In the meantime, visit The White Room's blog for more bridal gown trends and to see the full line of what each store carries, visit their website.
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Posted by Tabitha |
Filed under: Attire & Accessories
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
This is my favorite time of year - everyone's having holiday parties! Mark your calendar for December 1st and join me and Ashley at the Southall Eden {an events venue} Holiday Open House! It'll be a good opportunity for you to see the venue fully decorated, meet some wedding vendors and to see the place for yourself especially if you're planning for a barn/country style wedding. Plus, you could win $1,000 off the cost of the barn rental fee for either your wedding or rehearsal dinner!
To qualify to win, you must first click here to register and R.S.V.P. for the Open House. Be sure to include your name and your fiance's name. Then all you do next is attend the Holiday Open House to see if your name was drawn! For more details on the giveaway and the open house, visit Southall Eden's blog.
We'll see you on December 1st!
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Posted by Tabitha |
Filed under: Contests, Giveaways, Specials, Wedding Venues and Locations
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010
At ABG, our goal is to make things easier for Nashville brides who are looking for services for their wedding day. We partner with local wedding pros, attend bridal shows and read blogs and share our findings to help you make a decision.
If you haven't hired your wedding videographer, today's feature might help! First Dance Pictures, a husband and wife team who pre-wedding videos, that you can screen at your wedding, and wedding day videos that allow you to relive you important day forever. It's nice to have options!
Nashville Wedding Resource Spotlight: First Dance Pictures
Contact Info
Name: First Dance Pictures
Main Contact {first and last name}: Bill Vincent
Phone Number: 615.473.2625
Email Address: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Twitter: @firstdancers
Facebook fan page: First Dance Pictures
Number of years in the business: 1.5 yrs
How did you get started in weddings?
Bill has a telecommunications degree with a minor in music. He has worked in the corporate world for over 20 yrs shooting and editing video with companies such as Deloitte & Touche and CMT. In 2008 Bill began seeking new business possibilities, and started looking into shooting weddings. When we looked at how much wedding videos had changed from our wedding (circa 1989) and how they had gotten so creative, we knew this was our calling! Deanna is a master at organization and manages the business, as well as getting very creative shots of the day along with Bill.
Bill & Deanna (owners of First Dance Pictures), photographed by Kristen Steele Photography
What do you like most about weddings?
We LOVE seeing the joy in our couple’s eyes on one of the happiest days of their lives. Bill loves being creative and designing a wedding film to match the personality of each couple with highlights of their special day. Deanna loves to see all the new and exciting things each bride brings to the day. Although some elements remain the same, each wedding is SO different. They never disappoint!
What’s your favorite wedding pic/video and why?
It’s very hard to name a “favorite” because we put so much of ourselves into each one! Each piece is reflective of the couple, the day, and the energy that the couple brings to their wedding. Plus, after spending so much time working on them they become like family – it would be hard to name one. However, we do work to keep our demo updated with current stuff, and we rotate clips to keep it fresh. We work very hard to make sure every piece we do would be something we’d be proud to display for future clients.
What is your service philosophy?
We work hard to get to know our couples as much as possible before the wedding. We enjoy getting to know each of our couples so that we can deliver a truly unique product. What we DON’T want (and what our clients don’t’ want either) is just another wedding video. There are plenty of budget videographers that will give you a no-frills video. Our clients are attracted to us because we are going to give them something more – more personal, more entertaining and stylish. Having said that, we also are very cautious in making sure we don’t insert too much of us into their day. The last thing we want is to have to edit out all the things we do or say! Our style is not to be in your face, because we know that having a camera around can make you feel uneasy - so we work to make you feel comfortable. We feel truly honored to be a part of each couples big day – we know how important their day is, and want to help couples enjoy it without being conscious of our cameras every second.
What are your strengths compared to others in your category? / Why should a bride hire you?
There are many new & upcoming wedding filmmakers/videographers popping up due to the economy, and the relatively low cost of starting up as a videographer. With that, you’re going to find that some of these companies really haven’t had a lot of experience. You’re also going to find fly-by-night companies who, when things get too busy, just stop answering their phone and move away, leaving a couple without anything. We are established in the community and are members of TWESA, WEVA, and maintain a high standard and good reputation with other vendors and our community. We are dedicated to professionalism and very high quality work. Anyone can pick up a video camera and say they are a wedding videographer – this particular profession doesn’t require a license, and you get lots of people who do it because they think it’s easy money, or because you don’t necessarily need formal training. It’s another thing altogether to have years of live event filming experience, knowing what to do if problems arise, and knowing how to treat everyone involved with the ultimate courtesy, respect, and professionalism. We do that, from the moment we meet the couple until the final DVDs have been delivered – but we have the added advantage of formal media training, years of experience, and a creative vision and passion for what we do. Plus, we won’t show up in jeans and a tee-shirt for your wedding!
My wife Deanna and I started this business not because we wanted to make a quick buck, but because we LOVE working with couples and have a passion for creating work that will hopefully be cherished for a lifetime. We want each of our couples to have a beautiful and unique vision of their wedding, and of themselves. It’s more than just a “wedding video” to us, and to our couples. Our clients have spoken, leaving us testimonials that we are very, very proud of – we plan to continue that level of service to each and every couple we work with.
Who are your 5 favorite Nashville wedding vendors – helpfulness, professionalism, style?
(Besides Ashley’s Bride Guide ) Amy Parman at CJ’s off the Square (Franklin, TN) – so friendly and professional with a fabulous event space
Sara E. Rose – Photographer – Sara is a sweetheart! LOVES her clients like family
Enchanted Florist – incredible arrangements – beautiful and very professional
Middleton Entertainment (Jason Middleton-DJ) – nice professional set-up with lights
Nashville Event Lighting – we love great event lighting!
What do you read/watch regularly to stay on top of wedding/event trends?
I tend to read blogs of all stripes, as well as geeky film sites and forums quite a bit. We also keep up on what others are doing in our area. ABG is a huge resource for us as well!
What have you discovered as a neat wedding find?
One of my “heroes” in the wedding filmmaker business is Kevin Shahinian – he’s an amazing director with incredible wedding films, travelling all over the world to make his masterpieces. We would love to work with a couple to do something even slightly like this someday! pacificpictures.net
For the budget bride, what's the one thing you think should always make it into a budget Video of course! When the cake is eaten, the dress is cleaned and put away and the flowers have wilted, the only thing left will be your memories. Pictures are a static memory of the day, but video tells the entire story of the day. There will be so many things that you won’t remember, or even see, so we capture those moments that you will treasure for the rest of your life. It’s one of those things that can seem so optional before the event, but after the event it’s forever too late, and so many brides realize too late that they should have done it. It is said that not getting video is the biggest regret that couples have after the wedding day.
For the platinum bride, what is the one thing you’ve always wanted to see? We really want to work with a couple that would like to do something really creative, such as a music video or a short film around them and their wedding. Especially in Nashville with all the songwriters and performers, we think there’s a good opportunity to get really creative and have a lot of fun – we just need to find the right couple who is willing to put the time in to do it! We feel like there is a Nashville couple that might want to do a Hollywood-style short film, and we would love doing that. If you’re out there and reading this, hit us up and let’s do something really different!
What advice would you give to brides on the wedding planning process in general? Hire a wedding planner! If you can’t afford one, then designate someone who can coordinate and “direct traffic” the day of the wedding. The day is stressful enough, so you don’t need to be worried about who is supposed to be where and when.
We hope you like the videos they've shared. You can watch more wedding videos on their website, and follow their blog to see the latest clips and highlights from weddings they've done. Let them know that you saw their spotlight on Ashley's Bride Guide if you decide to give them a call!
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Photography & Videography
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Monday, November 15, 2010
Two of my favorite Nashville wedding pros will be representing Nashville on TLC over the next month and I am sooo excited to see the episodes and to celebrate with them ...
I've believed in these two forvever and I am so delighted for the world to see them the way we do. These tv appearances represent more than just 15 seconds of fame. They are opportunities of a lifetime that have and will continue to shape their destiny. I'm happy to have seen their star shine before the rest of the world recognized their specialness.
First up - Hillary of Brocade Design Arts! I was lucky enough to participate in the nomination, filiming and of course, the surprise! Hillary is an amazing chick, great friend and wonderful floral designer. She was fabulous before but every time I see her now, I want to steal her clothes and her confidence. Tune in on 11/19 to see her on What Not to Wear.
Air Date: Nov 19 - 9pm central; TLC
(Kristin of Simply Stunning, Hillary pre-makeover, and me)
Next up is Jay Qualls of Maples Wedding Cakes! If you have attended a Nashville bridal show in the last 5 years, you've probably seen, tasted and fallen in love with Maples Wedding Cakes. Remember the Sour Cream Almond or the Orange Dreamsicle cakes? Yep - both were Jay's creations. Well, he has been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine (they are practically b.f.f's) and now he's on to primetime! The Cake Boss puts Jay and 9 other talented pastry chefs to the test on The Next Great Baker, a cake competition that airs Dec 6.
Air Date: December 6 - 8pm central; TLC
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Cakes & Catering, Details, Design & Florals
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