chatting about fleurs...

Apparently, I'm just like Fancy Nancy.  Everything sounds prettier in French.  Thus, flowers become fleurs, and oh, so pretty!

Before You Go...

You might have heard the old Southern saying, "Don't arrive empty handed."  Well, going to your florist is no different. Don't go empty-handed!  Your florist cannot event begin to think, design, or create what you will like without having some idea of what your vision for your flowers is.

Pin It.

Have fun pinning away and make yourself a board or, you can go the old fashion route and clip out from magazines.  Your florist will be thankful for pictures, either way.  As you pin, you will begin to see a trend with colors and arrangements, that will help to show what your style is.  (Don't take mine as an example of similar tastes and styles...Mine is the opposite...it's a starting board for finding out which ones are clients favorites, so that then I can begin to narrow down which ones are their style.)  But, just from looking over a few pictures, you can begin to see which style and colors you like the best with flowers.

The last thing you want is to have your flowers show up at your wedding and be completely off from what you were thinking your flowers were going to look like.

So, if you're in the middle of planning, that's your homework...find pictures of what flowers you absolutely love, so that you know you're all on the same page.

Myth 3. I Can't Throw a Party Because I Don't Have Any Money.

The other day, my daughter and I were having a fun date and as I was fixing my coffee, I looked up and saw this.


I was shocked that here in plain print, I was being told that the only way I could "throw a perfect dessert party" was to buy these things and spend over one hundred dollars, and not even including the food!  As you can see, I was so irritated, I had to take a picture.  I wanted to hold it up and say, "NO YOU DON'T! Don't buy these things, and have an even BETTER DESSERT PARTY!!"  But, thankfully for my daughter, and my reputation, I refrained.

I say all that to say, even though you can feel overwhelmed by all that's out there that you could have at your parties, there are really only a few things that are necessary to make a party awesome.  And, surprisingly enough, money isn't one of them.

Of course, like anything, you can go spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars to hire a band and a caterer and all that's in between, but let's face it...who has that to throw around?  Not me!

So, instead of spending tons of money to make your party amazing, why not keep it simple?  Here are a few tips to remember when you're trying to save on your budget:

1. Have friends each bring a food item to share.  You can designate what type of food you're hoping they'll bring, but that way, you don't blow a ton of money on providing all the food, or on hiring a caterer.

2. If you want the most bang for your buck when it comes to decor, grab some fresh flowers.  They're the most beautiful thing you can put on your table, and take no time to make (and you don't get paper cuts from crafting all day).  Even if you don't have the budget for a bouquet, simply cut some fresh greenery from your trees and plants in your yard.  It's amazing what a difference bringing plants in can make.

3. You don't have to provide alcohol.  People ask me sometimes, "Do you think it's okay to just have water or tea?"  The answer is absolutely yes.  You can check out my favorite way to spruce up your water here.  And, people go crazy for some fancy water, let me tell ya.  Just let people know to BYOB (bring their own beer or wine) when you invite them.

4. Keep the menu to a minimum.  Rather than feeling like you have to do every course, just stick to the basics. You can get away with making it as simple or extravagant as you want.  To keep it less expensive, just limit what you have.  All you need is something to munch on, and something to drink.  You don't need to have appetizers, salads, entrees, dessert, and coffee.  You could just have drinks and apps.  Or just dessert. Remember, this is your party.  Make it what works best for your budget.

There are lots of things you can spend money on to make your event one to remember, but I'm not convinced that money is what makes that happen.  I'm pretty sure that it would be well remembered simply by having it.  You don't have to break the bank to have your friends over and have a good time.  So, why would you?

A Little Flat?

So, you know how you always dream about what shoes you might have worn (or might wear) for your wedding? Ok, maybe YOU don't. But, I totally do.

Shoes are a tricky thing. Because as much as I'd love to rock these for a fun special event, let's be honest. I know as well as you do, that after an hour, my feet would be mis.er.able.

With the reality heels bring, many times, brides would rather wear flats.

The other day I went with one of my brides to look for flats for her big day, and I couldn't believe all the fun options out there. I mean, soooo many cuties!! And super reasonable (especially with a DSW in town!) These two were my favs for this time of year...

So maybe choose the heels to feel pretty coming down the aisle, but take heart, if you switch to flats...your feet could still look (& FEEL!) amazing.

Not to mention, you can get plenty of use from them later...

even in jeans. heehee.

photo credit: http://www.onewed.com/bridal-shoes/blog/bridal-shoe-trends-in-the-making-what-2012-brides-want

10 min. LOVELY home makeover

Who says holiday decorations have to be what you see at the drug store hanging up that cost too much money and are plastic, tinseled, and tacky. (did i say that out loud?) Why not use things that you already have, and just think of them in a new way.

If you haven't found this out about me yet, I'll go ahead and spill the beans...I like projects that are inexpensive and easy to do. This applies to cooking...cleaning...decorating...gift wrapping...and on and on. So, yesterday I had the urge to bring in a few Valentine's day pretties, without the fuss. It took a few minutes to shop the house, but with using the base decor that is already here, I added a few things that I simply love.

Here are my 10 minute makeovers for {lovely} home decor.

At Christmas time, my living room sitting table centerpiece was filled with evergreens leftover from the tree trimmings.

I took the evergreens outside, and replaced with my big red candlestick and some fresh greenery. I'm not a huge pink person, so my V-day color is primarily red. (because that's what I have more of!)

I love mixing the sullied silver with the texture of the wood and paper flowers. Even though this centerpiece is a little more understated, it has a naturally romantic look that I love.

While I'm spilling the beans, I guess I should also tell you that I'm not a big heart fan. (gasp). But, the kids of course love decorating with hearts this time of year. So, I found a way to incorporate them, without having them take up the entire house. Their little hearts can be strung around the house in ways that are celebrating their artwork, without giving me twitches from all the hearts.

In another corner of our home, I have this old drop leaf table that I've turned into a desk(ish) of sorts. It's a quiet little reading corner, and I love all the books that came out of my hubby's grandparents home. So, with a few books about love, and a pretty sign my sweetie made me, now I feel like it's spruced up for the season.

My bunting from a former wedding was perfect to hang in our kitchen doorway. I like it so much, I might just leave it there for good!

Buntings are more involved, I know...but a really fun way to make them with the kids is to do them with scrapbook paper. You can cut out the triangles from pieces of paper you have, staple them over a piece of twine or string, and hang them up to create a beautiful doorway design for any season!

If you have chalkboards, change out your quotes or scriptures to focus more on love. That's something I need to be reminded of no matter what the season is!

What do you have at home that celebrates this season?

Roaring 20's Wedding

I knew this wedding would be fabulous from the moment I started working with the bride to be. The bride and groom decided to go the more intimate wedding route, choosing a roaring 20's theme! Though this wedding was on a smaller budget, it was not lacking in style! This fun crowd had a blast dressing in 20's fashion, and partying the night away. The wedding was held at the bride's sister's house, which was a perfect fit, being an early twentieth century home.

We used the foyer to accommodate the guest book area, along with many vintage furniture accents to create the 20's feel from the moment you walked through the door.

The tables were adorned with oil lamps and arrangements of peacock feathers and art deco accents. They added a bit of the Speak Easy Tavern feel to the reception time.

The bride carefully chose her gown, shoes, and jewelry to

all reflect her style as well as the period she was representing. She completed the outfit with bright red lipstick and a 20's styled hairdo. It was brilliant.

I designed an old time Candy Store using period sweets on a sideboard.

Guests had been asked to come dressed in 20's style, but for anyone who needed a few more touches to their outfits (or just for the kids to play dress up) we had a few extra accessories on hand.

We used silver painted sticks to create an altar area for the bride and groom. We lighted the sticks and hung crystals to give a more enchanted effect. And, of course, being the 20's, the peacock feathers couldn't be left out!

It was so fun to see how everyone participated in the theme of the wedding and truly had a blast celebrating...20's style!

Special thanks to Laura Redd for helping me make this event one to remember!

Go Big or Go Home?

Most of the time when you think of weddings, you might think the best way to go is...well, big. What's ironic though, is that many times when I ask people what they would have done differently in regards to their weddings, the answer I hear the most is that they would have made it smaller. More intimate. More intentional with fewer people.

This is also a way to cut costs tremendously. If you are in a place of needing to keep things economical, the best way to keep expenses down is to decrease the number of guests. I realize it can be a tricky thing, because many times, families are so big, and friends are so numerous, there's no way to figure out how to lessen your head count. However, if it means being able to go ahead and tie the knot, it might be best to find a way to have fewer people, in a more quaint venue. instead of going big, consider going home.

Some of the sweetest weddings I've had the pleasure of being a part of were held in homes. A home allows for an intimate setting and very comfortable atmosphere for the guests. Sometimes at a bed and breakfast, or other times at a home large enough to have 50 or so guests enjoying being together. Just like at most receptions, you don't need seating for everyone. People like to mingle and stand with small plates of appetizers. If the weather is nice, garden weddings are completely enchanting. Instead of paying the pretty penny for a big name venue, begin to see the possibility of having an exquisite venue in your own backyard.

Sometimes going big isn't possible...

going home always is.

Come back tomorrow to hear about my most recent boutique wedding done in a 1920's home. It might just encourage you that it can be done!

picture credits: http://www.oncewed.com/32639/wedding-blog/real-weddings/a-diy-wedding-at-home-ii/

a time for everything

One of the first decisions that you make when planning your wedding is the time and date. If you're trying to cut corners, one thing to think about is what time you will set for your wedding. If you set your wedding to be at 5pm, that means that you will have your reception right at dinner time...which also means you will be suggesting that you will be serving dinner. Meal times = lots of food.

I have a sweet couple that I'm working with right now, and they are trying to keep things as simple as possible...in every way. So, one thing they decided was that they would have their wedding after lunch, but before dinner, so that they wouldn't have to feed their guests an entire meal. They'll still have a few little things that are easy to pick up and eat while mingling, but they won't have to spend a ton to feed everyone a meal.

The food for the reception can sometimes use up to half of your wedding budget! Think outside of the box...if you know that you need to cut back, think about ways that you could schedule the reception to be at a time that you could get away with not feeding everyone quite so much food.

Remember, selective menu does not mean that it will be dull. Check out these beautiful, but simple receptions...

vintage picnic wedding

(one o'clock ~ three o'clock)

(quilts for ceremony and reception seating)

high tea reception

(two o'clock ~ five o'clock)

fun storyboard with this example

dessert reception

(eight o'clock ~ eleven o'clock)

There are ways to be economic and creative while entertaining your family and friends. Whether or not you have dinner, you can still have a fabulous affair!

picture credits: http://theweddingcommunityblog.com/2011/10/17/afternoon-tea-wedding-reception-moody-monday/, http://stylishperfection.com/?p=519, http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/2008/09/26/reader-question-dessert-reception/, http://www.brides.com/wedding-ideas/wedding-meals-drinks/2010/09/alternative-wedding-reception-ideas-dessert-receptions, http://www.mywedding.com/blog/nggallery/page-6055/image/11281/page-1/, http://bluelilyevents.blogspot.com/2011/05/vintage-picnic-wedding-inspiration.html

The Choice is Yours...

You might remember back when weddings were just something done at church on Saturday afternoons...with nuts and mints...and if you were being really extravagant...a cake. What was celebrated wasn't the wedding...it was the marriage.

We've come a long way since then. Yes, weddings are more personable than ever, and are able to be designed to fit exactly who the couple is, but many times that means more expensive than ever.

The question of doing it on a dime seems like a lost phrase when it comes to weddings. However, even though they have become wonderful celebrations filled with personality and glamour, there are still ways to save.

Just because you can do more than ever these days, doesn't mean you have to. It will still be beautiful...and it will still be your wedding.

I think sometimes, the biggest hump to get over is feeling this obligation to please the people coming to your wedding. I hear all the time people say,

"But, will it be nice enough?"

Not to rant, but if people are coming to your wedding to judge whether or not it's nice enough, they probably shouldn't be there to begin with.

The permission to cut back, is yours to take hold of, and more worthwhile than you might realize. At the end of the day, you will be married...and you don't want to start your marriage with thousands of dollars in debt just because you wanted to show your friends a good time.

Hear me clearly, I'm not saying to just forget about hiring professionals. I'm saying, choose wisely where you put your money. I still stand behind my principles to have people who know what they're doing be in charge of your day. Even the most economical weddings that I have done, have had families that say over and over again, how thankful they are to have someone else in charge of the details of the day. That's a must. You still want good photos to capture the day, and you still want to love the celebration...but this doesn't mean you have to spend your life savings to make that happen.

Choosing the things that are most important to you are key with knowing where to save. If you want to skimp on flowers because they're not that important to you, that's ok. Or, if you absolutely love photography, and you want to spend a bigger part of your budget on that, you can choose to do so. Spend time thinking about the things you care most about, and prioritize those things within your budget. That way, you will know how to proceed with other decisions. The choice is yours...just remember to choose wisely.

picture credit: http://aweddingrunsthroughit.blogspot.com/2010/03/old-timey-tuesday-recessional-and.html , http://www.fashion-era.com/Weddings/1927-old-wedding-photos.htm

No Money to Get Married...

Lots of times I'll meet women who are engaged...but are still in waiting.

By "in waiting" I mean, they don't have the money to get married. It's a tricky thing. You're in love, you desperately want to get married, but you don't have the money to make it happen.

You might think since I'm a wedding planner, I always have clients who have plenty of money to throw together a fancy wedding...you couldn't be more wrong.

Most of my clients are trying to do things economically...and some really have to be creative to find ways to pull together their weddings on little to nothing.

Is this ringing a bell? (no pun intended!)

There are lots of ways to save when you are planning your wedding.

One thing I love about working with clients is that you have to get real. I'm a real kind of girl...I love being able to encourage the fun details and pull out ideas that will represent my couples, but I also challenge my clients to stay within the parameters of their budget...which is where creativity comes in!

Over the next couple posts, I'm excited to share with you a few real weddings that have been beautiful, simple, and affordable! There are still ways to hear those wedding bells ring...even when you have little budget to work with!

The Simple Trip

Over the holidays, we took a little roadtrip.

Except it wasn't little...one bit. We drove approximately (or exactly)...

When my big sister and her kids moved down to Baton Rouge, I knew it was far...but I don't think I realized HOW far it really was. It's a long way down, y'all...and I'm already down South! (not to folks down there...I was called a "Northerner" at least once...you know because North Carolina has the word "North" in it, apparently that makes me a Yankee...heehee.)

After researching flying prices, and train travel, I realized that we would have to drive it. I was less than thrilled. All I thought of was fighting, feeling irritated, and grumpiness that might consume our two day venture down there. But then, I started to remember.

When I was a little girl, my family took lots of road trips. We had no DVD players, no iPads, no mp3 players...am I sounding ancient? You might remember a time such as that. Anyway, we lived in California when I was young, and we would drive from San Diego to Virginia, and back, a couple times a year. Then, we moved to North Carolina, and we would go back to visit Californina, by way of road trip. Or other fun places like the time we drove from North Carolina to Montana. I loved our road trips. Yes, my sister and I would often have squabbles, or be scolded, but those trips were some of our best family memories.

We knew for our own safety and sanity, we'd have to break it into two days. We planned our trip by having lots of car activities. As we traveled I thought how unusual it was to have unplugged life for a little while. How wholesome it felt to just have an old school road trip.

So, I started to make a list. A simple list of all the things that we had with us, or the kids did to stay entertained for 20+ hours in the car. I thought if any of you have big trips coming up, it might feel encouraging to know that it can be done...and actually is pretty fun. Instead of dreading it, know that it can become a fun way to spend quality time with your family.

the excitement of little things (like our pit stops) became pretty funny

So, here's the trip list. It's kid friendly and budget friendly.

1. Snack Bags. Pack kids their own snack bags filled with lots of options. You have no idea how much time and money this saved. I got a lot of individually wrapped things (granola bars, pretzels, goldfish, raisins, etc.) so that they could each help themselves as they needed. Include a water bottle for each kid - NOT juice boxes - unless you want to add about 500 pit stops to let them use the potty.

2. Spiral Notebooks. I got the cheap kind from Target. Grabbed some of our many many crayons, colored pencils, and markers and put a bundle in each kids bag. They could draw, play games with each other, write down things we saw, etc. Options of a fresh notebook are endless.

3. Activity / Sticker Books. Our sweet neighbor gave the kids these as a present right before we headed out of town...God bless her! They helped a lot.

4. Duck Tape. I mean, who knew!?! We had a blast making bows, rings, key chains, and just ripping it into smaller pieces. It did help that it was hot pink.

5. Bop It. Ok, if you're one of those who can't stand the noisy toys, this might not be fun for you. BUT, I will say, it made my kids just laugh until their sides hurt. They would put it on "quiet" mode, and pass it back and forth...sometimes with a parent in the rotation, sometimes just the two of them. But, it was a fun way to have a little game, but still not anything with lots of pieces to fall everywhere.

6. License Plate Game. We did the old school license plate game, where you try to find all 50 states. We came up a few shy, but still loved looking and finding ones we could.

7. Lacing Game. A while back we were given lacing cards, and the kids had so much fun for a while working on those. Then, they were silly and put them up in front of their faces. Apparently, I thought it was pretty funny, too.

8. Twenty Questions. Kids loved playing this with us.

9. Books, books, and more books. Kids each had a ton of books in their individual bags, but our favorite was reading aloud Andrew Peterson's On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. A tip for the books, though, let the kids pack paperbacks if possible...they can fit more in, and it's not as heavy.

10. Be Silly. This was definitely the best part. The kids laughed so much together on this trip. They made up characters with ultimate silly names, and then would make up the voices and story lines to go along with them. It was so cute hearing them cackle in the backseat.

Any great road trip memories to share? I'd love to hear!