Jessica Rust Contest Winner
I am FINALLY ready to announce the winner of the Jessica Rust Contest. The question was…how has the Internet, specifically blogs, changed the way that you approach your own wedding?
And the winner is (drum roll please)…Julie! I will be honest, it took me a really long time to choose a winner. Everyone’s answers were so true, and so well said. And many of them had similar sentiments, each worded slightly different. To me, that means that Style Me Pretty along with the other brilliant wedding blogs out there, are really doing their job. Here is Julie’s response…
In starting out with wedding planning, I did what any bride-to-be does - go to Barnes & Noble and buy every wedding magazine imaginable and sit for hours near the wedding isle perusing through wedding planning books. While finding some informative tid bits on etiquette, wedding dress designers, and discovering just why Martha is so fabulous, I, like many other brides left my magazine/book adventure feeling overwhelmed and uninspired. Then I found Style Me Pretty’s inspiration boards and it wasn’t until then that the vision of my wedding came to life. Style Me Pretty and related blogs have become daily reading for me. I look forward to visiting these sites everyday to see what creative, practical insight they have to offer. While wedding planning has become SUCH a business and we are constantly overmarketed to, these blogs offer creativity that goes beyond the wedding machine and gets back to the heart of what this day is about. But the best part about it all is the power of all of these women coming together to help each other achieve the day we’ve all dreamed of. Even though I’ve never met these wonderful woman who take the time out of their busy days to impart some of their ideas, I feel a bond that we are all women of passion and that extends all the way from our personal lives, to our careers…to just something pretty.
I chose this particular answer because of this one sentence…”these blogs offer creativity that goes beyond the wedding machine and gets back to the heart of what this day is about.” I think that basically sums it all up. Blogs offer a respite from traditional wedding sites. They allow for a really intimate, and creativity driven environment that ultimately helps you to look outside of the “wedding machine” and instead, create a day that is a true reflection of you and your fiance.
I actually used this notion in a recent interview with Get Married TV! Which will hopefully explain the reason for the question! Thank you so much to all of you who participated. It was such a pleasure reading all of your thoughts and has completely motivated me to make Style Me Pretty your go-to site for wedding inspiration.
Congratulations, Julie! Very well said. Some of my other favorite comments were: "Everyone is so generous with ideas ...(from Rebecca). "Instead of being a practice in purchasing [the things and stuff of others], my wedding will be a culmination of collecting patterns, images, details, and supportive snatches of whimsy and swoon(from Stephanie). And my favorite: "Whenever I feel that family and friends are tired of hearing me talk wedding stuff ad nauseam, I know my blogsites will always lend an open ear, and even offer more advice and suggestions (from Linh).
Congratulations, Julie! Very well said!!!!
I love wedding blogs! I planned my own wedding in June and did not utilize blogs like I should have. I now work for a publishing company and we are currently putting together our annual Bride magazine, so now I spend hours doing "research" on various blogs. All the knowledge I've gleaned off the blogs makes me want to plan another wedding.
I know EXACTLY what you mean, Jessie!! When I was in NY doing the interview for Get Married, I bumped into Bee over at The Wedding Bee. We were laughing about how we really wish we could do it all over again. There are so many little things that we would do differently!!
Julie's last two sentences said it all! My mom was an interior designer and growing up I was always amazed of the combinations she would bring together on her design boards used to present her ideas to her clients. I love that individual brides and planners create boards now too! Over the last year, I have enjoyed seeing all the creativity and been inspired by the love in the preparations documented in the many boards I have seen on this blog. As a wedding photographer, this is what I adore - the expressions of love by the bride and groom and their loved ones from the little details to the grand gestures. It is what makes my job a dream come true. I swear if I didn't have to eat (because unfortunately I can't eat wedding cake all of the time) I would be willing to pay some of my wedding clients (I wish there was a better word since usually our brides and grooms become new friends) to witness their sweet celebrations. Abby, thanks for making this such an amazing place to visit each morning! Thanks, Kim Carpe Vita Photography Dallas, Tx