Archive for March, 2007
Guest Blog: Haile Parker McCollum
Haile Parker McCollum, owner and creative director of Fontaine Maury, has very sweetly offered to share with us some really great, tried and true tips for planning a successful wedding. Haile is the epitome of style and elegance, and aside from her planning own wedding, she is a pro at hosting fabulous parties. So, listen carefully because she knows her stuff!!! Take it away, Haile!
I have a few simple pieces of advice for anyone planning a wedding. This is not an exhaustive list, just some pointers that come to mind.
So sorry for my tardiness today…I have been on a fun work trip and didn’t have a spare minute to put up today’s post, which is actually super useful and fun. Sonya, editor of Daily Candy Dallas, is telling us all about her reception details for her upcoming wedding…so here she is!
Once my fiancé and I had some basic ideas in place about the wedding ceremony, we set to work on the reception. Naturally, I wanted something wicked small. And, naturally, my beloved wanted to invite what seemed like the entire city of Dallas. So we made started by making a guest list. In Excel (I’m crazy that way), which we revised many, many (Did I mention many?) times before we ever made another decision. After settling on a figure (200), it was pretty clear to me that my hopes of having it at someplace small was out of the question.
Sonya Castex, editor of Daily Candy Dallas Edition
Today’s guest blog is written by one of my favorite people in the world…Sonya Castex, Dallas Editor for Daily Candy. Yep, you read it right, an editor at Daily Candy. How much better did this day just get!?!
So, I am going to quickly pass to pad (as in key pad) over to Sonya so she can you all about her wedding details…
I was never the girl who wanted to get married. Don’t get me wrong, I always liked the idea of finding someone to share your life with, but the idea of wearing a frilly white dress with long veils and blah, blah, blah always made me cringe. So when the other little girls were playing dress up in their white Easter dresses and pretending to live happily ever after with the family dog, I was busy envisioning myself as, well, anything else.
Okay, I am sure that the last thing you want to hear about on this lovely Tuesday morning, is how to improve your bod in time for the big day. But, just like you probably had to learn to love broccoli, the bridal workout is another those must-do things.
Here are some really great companies that have short term programs and that are PERFECT for whipping you into shape in no time flat…
The Bar Method The Bar Method is a kick your butt, fall on the floor from exhaustion, can’t walk for 2 days kind of work out. Trust me, I’ve done it. But, and this is a big but, it really does work. The women that I was taking classes with were tiny and toned with perfect little booties and sleek sculpted arms. No bulky muscles at the Bar Method.
Being an indie designer, I sometimes stumble upon people that are so incredibly creative, it just makes me swell with pride. I know that sounds strange, as it’s not actually my own creativitey that is making me swell, but rather some other person’s and often times, my own competition. But it’s true. There have been times that I actually have a physical reaction to the great work that is being done by small designers (read…butterflies in the stomach, large goofy smile spread across my face, and even an occasion “yay” while clapping my hands and jumping up and down…it’s rare, but it happens).
Today, I am super excited that Rhonda, creator of Our Wedding Plus, is going to guest blog all about the Soolip wedding event that happened this past weekend in LA. I am so jealous that she got to go, but she’s promised to give us all the highlights! And, here’s Rhonda…
Hi everyone! It’s Rhonda from the Our Wedding Plus wedding planning blog. I love reading Style Me Pretty every day and definitely get a lot of my inspiration from Abby’s creations! So as you can imagine, I feel greatly honored to have been asked by Abby to give you a compilation of my experiences at A Soolip Wedding last Sunday.
Today’s inspiration board is for my best friend, Katie. This could be the most difficult board that I have done thus far…and I say that not because we are so different (which we are), but simply because I know her so well. Katie and I met when we were 11 years old and cheerleaders in the seventh grade. I couldn’t stand her. She was loud, and goofy and a bit odd. Now, 15 years later, she is the only girl that can make me spit coke out of my nose because I am laughing so hard. She is the only girl that I can call when I have absolutely nothing to say. She is my best bud, and now she’s getting married.
I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don’t have an inspiration board today. To be honest, I just wasn’t that inspired. When I actually started writing the piece, I felt like the ideas that I had just weren’t coming together. I was almost forcing an inspiration board to happen, even though I really didn’t feel like the pieces were fitting together. That’s the bad news.
The good news, on the other hand, is that I have had one of my very rare “WOW-that’s-so-true” thoughts.
Sadly, this post has made me gain exactly 3 pounds…in one sitting. But, it was worth it. These cakes are so over-the-top gorgeous, they just might make you jump in your car and head to the nearest bakery.
Oh-So-Cute Cakes… Chic, Architectural Cakes…
Tradition with a Twist Cakes…
Precious Mini Cakes…
Print and Patterned Cake…
Today’s inspiration board is for Marisa, who is getting married in what sounds like a fabulous affair. The wedding is going to be held in her parent’s backyard garden under two oak trees (um…jealous!) and the reception will follow at this incredible restaurant in her area. Although the ceremony will be sweet in tradition and elegance, Marisa really wants the reception to be a time of celebration…a down right party. With that said, she wants to make sure that the two environments translate and that the overall wedding style moves fluidly from one portion to the next.
I am sure that most of you have already heard about A Soolip Wedding, but I wanted to write about it as I think is it such a wonderful thing…and, it goes along so nicely with the Green Wedding post from a few days back!
Soolip puts on a wedding event each year, bringing together the most elegant & stylish vendors that share similar aesthetics, into one space so that brides and industry professionals can see the wedding as a fabulous, cohesive whole. This year, the focus is on the eco-conscious bride and groom who want to create an elegant, sophisticated affair without comprimizing environmental values. Environmentally sustainable elegance…which in my opinion, is the new little black dress.
Check out these great wedding favors that I found over at Bliss Weddings Market…
The owner of Bliss emailed me a while back and I only recently had a minute to take a look at the site…I love her stuff! I am sorry, but those nests could possibly be the cutest favors I have seen in a while. A lot of the items are “assemble yourself” (but not “make from scratch,” which is a really good thing), so her prices are very reasonable. Although there is a lot to sift through on the site, there are some really great/non-cheesy favors and packaging ideas to be had!
Okay, let me preface this by telling you that choosing a winner in the Sephora contest was MUCH more difficult than I could have anticipated. And I don’t mean that as a beauty pageant answer, I am being completely honest. I was telling my best friend, Katie, today that part of the reason this world works is simply that there is such a wide array of ideas & opinions. It’s why our economy keeps on kickin, it’s why there are always plenty of best friends to go around, and ultimately…it’s why we are able to find that one person that makes us smile.
From a Living Room to a Wedding!
First and foremost…make sure you answer the contest question from yesterday! I am going to choose a winner tomorrow night and with a Sephora gift certificate at stake, there is nothing to lose!
As most of you know, I love Domino Magazine. And, one of the sections that I love the most is where they transform a single outfit into an entire room. Every time they do this, I am completely shocked at how dead on it is. And the best part…you see a clear sense of their inspiration (the outfit) without it being overly matched or coordinated. Exactly what good design is all about.
It’s giveaway time! This one is a bit more of a challenge…
First, the question…as a bride or a groom, where do you find your inspiration?
See, although this is a wedding blog, this blog is ultimately about inspiration. It is about those everyday details that when brought together, create something spectacular. I find inspiration in the most mundane things…the hummingbird that sometime floats by my window, the incredible antiques that my grandfather restored, the great magazines & books that I spend way too much money on. I find inspiration in architecture and artwork, in clothing and in nature. I will be the first to admit that I find it on television, on the web, inside of stores, outside of stores, traveling and staying put. I find it everywhere.
