Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009 Like many of you know, finding the perfect dress (within budget) is a challenge. Today, Louise shares more from her bridal gown dress search and hopefully her story will serve as a reminder that your dress is out there:). Louise certainly keeps it real - don't believe me - check out her blog. The girl is just funny. Oh - check out a great pic from a wine tasting at her home that I attended last week. We were sampling wines for her wedding. I know nothing about wine so I just followed Jonathon Campbell's lead. Good thing Louise didn't take me gown shopping with her. I am very agreeable.
fun night - thanks for the invite! I enjoyed meeting everyone - the time flew by way too fast.
Good luck with your gown search! Guest Post: Louise, a Nashville bride whose great blog can be found at The Thirty-Something Bride The Monday after my visit to The White Room, I started hitting the Internet hard. I found Faccio Bridal was near my office so visited them up one afternoon. While they have a beautiful store filled with gorgeous dresses, they were mostly $2000 and up. I didn't even try a dress on. Boo. Hiss. A week or so before, I had gone to another, smaller Bridal Show at The Frist Museum where I met A Bride's Storey shop owner, Melissa. I called her up and made an appointment at her uber-cute shop in Murfreesboro, TN. My appointment ran late, but Melissa didn't even bat an eyelash. She was incredibly patient as I tried on dress after dress. I loved these two gowns from Essense of Australia:
Essence of Australia style #CJ155, photo courtesy of essensedesigns.com
Essence of Australia style #D841, photo courtesy of essensedesigns.com
I left the store empty handed with a heavy heart.
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Attire - Bridal Gowns, Wedding Dresses & Accessories, Real Nashville Brides
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Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, May 9, 2009 I really look forward to seeing weddings by A Delightful Day. I kept asking ADD when they would feature a Nashville wedding. A few weeks ago, they featured Shannie and Craig's wedding but because the wedding was in Destin (vs Nashville), I didn't feature it. BUT it was a gorgeous wedding!
But, Shannie and Craig returned to Nashville to celebrate. What a great idea!! If you want a destination wedding but want to share your celebration with people unable to attend, return home and have a fantastic soiree. Your Nashville celebration can be as lavish or simple as you like. The key is to keep everything wonderfully you. I certainly considered a destination wedding and if I'd seen other brides who'd done something like Shannie did, I might have seriously considered it. Alas! A wedding celebration to feature by A Delightful Day! I know you will love it as much as I did. Today's Guest Blogger: A Delightful Day, Nashville Wedding & Event Planners http://www.ADelightfulDay.com I hope you enjoyed Shannie and Craig's intimate ceremony on the beach in Destin. Once the bride and groom returned, it was time to celebrate with all of their family and friends unable to come to Destin. The celebration continued at the University Club on Vanderbilt's campus with a cocktail hour and hors d'oeuvres reception. The day before was the devastating tornado's that hit Murfreesboro and we were so thankful that the weather was beautiful for their big day. To continue the colors of fuchsia, black with accents of apple green and polka dots, we created three different styles of centerpieces with lots of candle light, a must for the bride. Events Plus provided draping for the main ballroom to accent the decor chosen by the bride, Classic Party Rentals provided the chair covers, and lounge furniture was rented through Music City for the guests to relax. Amazing cakes were created by the wonderfully talented Maples Wedding Cakes incorporating the bride's colors and a custom groom's cake showed Craig's favorite thing in the whole world, muddin' as we put it in the south! Music City DJ's provided the entertainment and the bride and groom with their bridal party created the ultimate mix for a rockin' bridal party entrance dance. Enjoy the wonderful images taken by Evin and Jessica of Evin Photography!
We incorporated beautiful fuchsia florals containing hot lady roses, tulips, dahlias, Gerbers (the bride's favorite), and carnations. Each votive was tied with a coordinating polka dot ribbon and river rock was used to incorporate the black color.
(Ashley adds: Wow - this is a spectacular centerpiece - flirty, feminine, simple and fun)
The pink carnation was used to represent her college sorority Phi Mu.
This is the actual sticker that is on his 4 wheeler that the cake was modeled after! Too funny!
The monochromatic candy bar was set up with our candy buffet jars and scoops and adorably accompanied with black bags with a label of their monogram that is on the bridal party shirts and monogrammed napkins.
At the beginning of the song they were dancing for their "first dance" to Wonderful Tonight... Then:
It was awesome! Shannie and Craig did have a very sweet first dance later on in the evening to Brad Paisley's "It Did".
I love the ring shots... especially this one with the rock candy sticks off the candy buffet.
Thanks so much Shannie and Craig for allowing us to be a part of this wonderful day! We had a blast and wish you two many, many years of happiness and joy! It was a delightful one! ~ Mary Alice, Nashville Wedding Planner http://www.ADelightfulDay.com
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Real Nashville Brides
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Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 I can attend bridal shows, find great bridal finds but the one thing I can not do is re-walk in a bride's shoes...or gown. My bridal gown fitting days are long behind me. Thankfully, there are blogging brides, like Louise, willing to share their Nashville dress shopping experience! I am so grateful that you take the time and have the desire to share your wedding planning journey with me (and thousands of my closest friends). Guest Post: Louise, a Nashville bride whose great blog can be found at The Thirty-Something Bride The Dress - Round One So, my original dress budget was $850. Go ahead, laugh. I know. For those of you thumbing through all the bridal magazines, dreaming of your gown in all it's glory....don't get too worked up. ALL those gowns are mind-boggling expensive. I know because I've tried them ALL on. I swear, every single last one of them. At least it feels that way. Now, I have to give props to some incredibly patient and thorough saleswomen who did their best to find "the one." First, The Bride Room in Green Hills was my first foray into gown selection. I fell in love with this Reem Acra gown.
Photo courtesy props: Dan Lecca, Brides.com
I did not fall in love with the $$$$ price tag. I tried on about 15 dresses and none truly suited me or had me gasping at my bustled image. One the way out, they offered me a wonderful cupcake from B. Jackson's Bakery. I swear, it was one of the best cupcakes I've ever had. Since we are still in search of a wedding cake, this is still an option. The Dress - Round Two The following weekend, I was all set for round two. I hauled my cookies out to The Bridal Warehouse, somewhere on the outskirts of Nashville. Please note to brides over 30 - make sure you DO NOT visit this shop (or any other, for that matter) during PROM season. I felt like a wrinkled up prune in a bowl full of grapes. This Allure gown was all bling and lace and I was loving it. The price was right too!
Allure style #8488, photo courtesy bestbridalprices.com I also loved these Casablanca gowns. These too were in this Thirty-Something Bride's price range!
Casablanca style #1785, photo courtesy bestbridalprices.com
Casablanca style #1859, photo courtesy bestbridalprices.com However, none of these came to fruition. The more I thought about them, the less I liked them. Onward, ho. Three weeks in and nothing to show but a frustrated bride. I needed reinforcements. Since I am not from Nashville originally, my family is not here to go shopping with me. The girlfriends I trust the most to give me sound fashion advice are also scattered far and wide. It was a tough call, but my young-ish, hip, excitable and fun-loving friend Alecia was up to the task. We headed out to The White Room in Lebanon, TN. Kirsten-Michelle, our northern-but-taking-a-southern-break-saleswoman was just who I needed: a tad brash, no-nonsense and smart as a whip. I choose something like 25 dresses to try on. She looked at me hopelessly and informed me she had only scheduled an hour for our appointment. I told her to stand close with clips ready, that I wasn't messing around. I think she enjoyed the process as much as I did. I tried on the most gorgeous St. Pucchi gown! Sadly, it too was out of my price range.
Sposa by St. Puchhi style #Z195, photo courtesy of brides. com
These were the final contenders when I left that day:
Maggie Sottero Jasmina, photo courtesy jaysbridal.net
Maggie Sottero Harlow, photo courtesy brides.com
Mori Lee style #2215, photo courtesy brides.com
Do you see any relationship whatsoever between any of these dresses? Other than a lace overlay theme, I didn't either. I was loving the tulle pleats at the bottom of the Mori Lee. I loved the slightly vintage look the lace gave the dress. Alecia loved the Mori Lee too, but nothing was just fabulous about any of them. Desperation was settling in for a long winter's nap.
 Stay tuned....
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Attire - Bridal Gowns, Wedding Dresses & Accessories, Real Nashville Brides
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Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009 Nashville brides and wedding vendors - Are you blogging? If so, I want to know! Simply comment on this post with a link to your website, grab the ABG badge (see below) and I will add you to my link love page so others can find you. In my search for great Nashville bridal blogs, I've realized that Nashville's got talent! We have some of the best bridal blogs around. Every few months, I am going to do a blog roundup, to introduce you to truly "bookmarkable" blogs - some new, some just new to me. Here's a start:
Thirty Something Bride
I so love Louise welcomed perspective on weddings, given from a thirty-something bride. I like her blog so much that she is now a guest blogger on ABG.
Budget Savvy Bride
Now a blog veteran:), I still had to include Budget Savvy b/c it's super hot and always a favorite. I heart this blog sooo much. And, with Budget Savvy getting married on Saturday (yes she is now a Mrs.) I so hope that she returns to keep us in the loop. (Congratulations!!!! and thanks for all of the link love.)
Chelsea - The Future Mrs. Smith
Adornments - Part Laura's bridal blog / part adornments custom jewelry blog
Planning Sarah Elizabeth - Sarah Elizabeth's blog is chock-full of bridal info. This girl covers everything!
Nashville Marriage Studio - Marie, a newlywed and marital counselor, has one of the best blogs you will find on relationships.
Down South Delights - I am so glad to see that Rita of DSD is blogging b/c on those days when I am hungry, I can check out her catering blog to get my e-fix. I know how great her stuff tastes and love to see what's new in catering. She also gives some great advice on saving money, menu planning, specialty drinks, etc.
Maid to Maiden - Liza is on to something with bridal coaching. Between Marie and Liza - runaway brides can slow down and replace those running shoes for some silky satin Jimmy Choos. Her blog is new but is uber helpful already.
Chef's Market
You've got to check out this amazing gallery of some of their spectacular catering. I don't think it's on their blog but it certainly should be b/c their work is hot!
 
Simply Stunning Nashville
Kristin, a wedding planner and bride-to-be recently launched her blog and it's off to a great start! She has some great upcoming weddings so be sure to bookmark it b/c you'll get lots of ideas and inspiration.
The Bride Room - recently relaunched their couture blog and it's super fancy and yummy.
Something Blue Nashville
Be sure to pay a visit to all of these new Nashville bridal blogs. If you are blogging, be sure to let me know so I can link to you and be sure to link to ABG. (I'd appreciate it).
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Real Nashville Brides
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Kristin of Simply Stunning Events is back to give us an update on her wedding! Be sure to check out her last post on selecting a Nashville wedding venue to get a great insider's perspective.
Guest Post: Kristin of Simply Stunning Events is a Nashville, TN-based wedding and event planner who is currently engaged to Brian Kaplan, a Nashville wedding photographer. Greetings! When we last left off, my fiance and I had chosen a reception venue, The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Now we needed to focus on how to decorate it. First up, a color scheme. I always tell brides to look around their homes for some inspiration on possible wedding colors, chances are, if you like certain colors enough to use them in your home, you'll probably like to see them as part of your wedding. Also, consider the season and location of your wedding; it is much easier to work with the colors that will exist in nature at the time of your wedding and in your venue, rather than against them. For our wedding I knew we had to have some bright green since it's my absolute favorite color and Brian doesn't mind it. In fact, much of our home decor is in shades of green. And since the Hall of Fame has a beautiful brown wood floor we decided to use that color as well. To accent the green and brown we looked to nature! Since our wedding date is in the early stages of autumn, we figured bright oranges and reds would compliment the green and brown nicely. We had an official color scheme!
(our wedding colors)
Next up, my favorite aspect of wedding planning, decor! I spent a few months searching for and collecting images online of ideas and flowers that seemed to work with our colors and then sat down with the immensely talented Hillary Robson of Brocade Designs to make some decisions. We studied the flowers in the images and decided to work with a variety of green hydrangea, green cymbidium orchids, white dahlias, white hydrangea, red dahlias, yoko mums, orange roses, green and amber spider mums, orange calla lilies, and red James storey orchids. These flowers all provided a good range of color and the modern, unique vision I was aiming for. We then broke down each aspect of the ceremony and reception decor and came up with ideas for the bouquets, boutonnieres, church decor, and three different centerpieces in a range of heights to bring some interest to the reception hall. After the wedding I'll reveal the final look since I don't want to give it away with six months to go!
(our inspiration board)
(detailed picture of our decor inspiration)
To sum up, when choosing your decor, find inspirational images online that spark your interest and bring them to your floral meetings so your florist and/or event designer can get a feel for your style and the look you're trying to achieve. Work with the colors that are available at your venue and during your wedding season. And don't be afraid to think outside of the box, especially if you are on a budget. A good florist will work with what you have and make affordable suggestions to keep you from spending a fortune. Hillary and I decided to do a very large, elaborate centerpiece on only some of the tables to give the room a big impact but keep the rest simple to save money. I cannot wait to see the final result in September!
(more ideas from our second inspiration board)
Kristin - thanks for sharing your insight on choosing wedding colors and decor. Brides - contact Kristin with questions regarding your wedding and also - check out polyvore.com - a great way to create your own inspiration board and save your favorite visual ideas.
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Inspiration & Trends, Real Nashville Brides, Wedding Planners & Coordinators
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