Wedding MBA 2010 Convention

Today I am off to Las Vegas for the 7th Annual Wedding MBA Convention. I am super excited to go to this conference and learn more about the "business" side of weddings and to meet new people. Every time I go to a wedding conference I gain a wealth of knowledge, as well as meeting new friends.

I am thrilled to attend Wedding MBA because I have never been to Las Vegas. I am world traveler, but Vegas is one place I just haven't gotten to yet. I am so excited to see all that Vegas has to offer.

Au revoir...I'm off to viva Las Vegas!

Summer Celebrity Weddings of 2010

As fall is rapidly approaching, I was thinking about all of the fabulous celebrity weddings that occurred this past summer. The wedding that received the most hype was definitely Chelsea Clinton's wedding. I LOVED Chelsea's dress (a Vera Wang). Classic and timeless! Chelsea really looked gorgeous.

I also thought Carrie Underwood's wedding was beautiful. She looked great (as always) but I was a little surprised by her dress choice (a Monique Lhuillier). I personally, am not a fan of a lacy see-through corset bodice. I think it looks a little too much like lingerie. I love lacy wedding gowns but I think a wedding gown shouldn't shed too much skin. I personally love Pnina Tornai (that's who I thought originally designed Carrie's dress), but think her wedding gowns are a little too sexy and show too much skin. A lot of brides-to-be on TLC's Say Yes To The Dress buy Pnina Tornai gowns, but I just don't know if I'd feel comfortable walking down the aisle in a lingerie type bodice. To each their own I suppose!

What are some of your favorite celebrity weddings and gowns?

The Today Shows Throws A Wedding 2010

This has always been one of my favorite segments or contests on The Today Show. Thousands of couples send in their applications basically stating why they deserve a wedding and then fans pick which couple wins the dream wedding. The Today Show along with many generous vendors make the wedding happen! I love it! The couple chosen weds during The Today Show on Rockefeller Plaza. Fans (that means me and you) get to help "plan" their wedding from the rings, to the dress, to the honeymoon, and more. Today, I casted my voted for the Neil Lane wedding bands. Gorgeous!

This year's lucky couple are Missouri natives (and high school sweethearts)Melissa and Jeremy. Jeremy is serving our country in Afghanistan while Melissa is working on her Nursing Degree. What a truly deserving couple! They look like the sweetest couple! They will wed in October.

For more info visit http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38838949/ns/today-today_weddings/?GT1=43001

To vote and to take a look at ten years worth of Today Show Weddings visit http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37765605/ns/today-today_weddings/

Bridesmaid Dresses

This past Wednesday 2 of my bridesmaids and I went shopping for dresses. The trip was a success. We found a beautiful romantic and elegant dress! We were in-and-out of Bridal & Formal in 1 hour. We are master shoppers!

The consultants at Bridal & Formal were very helpful and we had a pleasant shopping experience. They even gave us a discount on the dresses (who doesn't love saving money!).

I knew I wanted my bridesmaids to wear a blush or light/pink elegant dress. I was initially open to both long and short dresses (sometimes short dresses are less expensive). We started looking at short dresses first. We quickly ruled those out. Either they weren't elegant enough or they didn't make my girls look their best (tea length dresses don't look quite right on petite girls). My wedding is pretty formal so we decided long dresses would be best. The styles of the long dresses appealed to us more anyhow. Sarina and Colleen only tried on a few dresses before we found "the one"!

We decided on the Belsoie L2021 (from the Jasmine Bridal label). The dresses will be in the New Shell Pink color. The dress is very figure flattering. Sarina and Colleen really loved the sweetheart neckline and how the dress elongated them. Don't you think a single strand pearl necklace would be just innately charming with the dress?!

So here is the dress (I've also included some pics of other contenders)...

Let me know what you think!

Bridesmaid Cards

Choosing your bridesmaids is a pretty big deal in my opinion. It's something that shouldn't be taken lightly. You should never feel obligated to ask someone to be in your wedding because you were in theirs, or because they are are family (however, it is a nice gesture), or because if you ask this person, than you have to ask this person.... These are the people that will standing up with you at the alter and supporting you and your marriage. These people you ask to stand up with you should be the truest of friends. I am very lucky to have a lot of great friends but 4 wonderful gals quickly came to mind: Emmy, Sarina, Kim, and Colleen.

Instead of just asking them over the phone or in person to be my bridesmaids, I decided to do something special. I made them very personalized cards and baked them my famous sugar cookie cut-outs. A lot of love and hard work went into these gifts!

I thought it would be funny to find pictures online of hideous bridesmaid dresses and paste those on a card and cut-out the faces of my friends with the saying "If I promise not to make you wear this"..... open the the card.... "Will you be my bridesmaid?" I also put a sentimental poem/note inside each card. Needless to say, the cards were a huge hit. My ladies loved the cards and we had a lot of laughs.

How did you ask your gal pals to be in your wedding?!

Teff/Carlson Wedding

This past weekend (08/14/2010) I assisted at the Teff/Carlson wedding. It was beautiful! Both the ceremony and reception were held at the Millennium Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The couple were so cute - they met at Miami University and thus, were college sweethearts.

We had a great team of vendors, the food was great, the cake delicious, and people were still partying on the dance floor past midnight. All in all, it was a successful event!

Their reception decor reminded me a lot of my own upcoming wedding so I thought I'd share some pics. Enjoy!

Reception Centerpiece Mock-Up

The other week we met with our floral designer, Kevin Ford (Ford-Ellington) to finalize our floral budget and further discuss floral details. Kevin was working on a wedding for that upcoming Saturday and since that bride had similar flowers as I have chosen, Kevin did a quick mock-up for us.

Now our floral centerpieces won't look exactly like the pic below, but you get the general idea... I really love varying shades of pink roses, hydrangea, and green hanging amaranthus (our centerpieces will not contain orchids). Lucky for Kevin, I knew exactly what type of flowers/design I wanted (inspired but the utterly fabulous Preston Bailey). I will elaborate more on my reception decor/inspiration in a later post.

We will be having a mix of varying heights of centerpieces: low, medium, and high. We'll be doing quite a few high because Music Hall has really high ceilings and higher centerpieces help frame the space. We will also be doing a mix of candelabra, vases, and flower bowls. We will also be using a lot of candles! Kevin's mock-up features the tall candelabra.