{BrideLOVE} Let's Get Started And Plan Your Wedding

Welcome to all the newly engaged :) Whether you have been engaged but have been putting off planning until the new year, or if you are one of those lucky ones with a brand new rock on your figure, it is time to get started in planning your wedding! I know it sounds likes a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be, not if we tackle this wedding stuff together!

From one bride to another, let's get started! So what is BrideLOVE? We start out by defining an overall budget and creating a budget outline so you know what you can expect to pay, and how to be smart about it so you don't go over! Then we define your style and create an outline, do color palette development, and create an overall blueprint for your day. Following that, we go over venue recommendations, vendor recommendations and answer all of those questions you have to get you started.

At the end of this consultation you will have a solid foundation to get your wedding planning started.

Ok, getting excited now? I know you are. So let's get started! If you are from the San Francisco Bay Area, let's grab some coffee (or a drink if you are so inclined) and we can hash out all the fabulous details to get you started without overwhelming the heck out of you! E-mail me to schedule a time and date. And in case you are wondering the price, for the month of January we are offering these consultations for Free!

To schedule: E-mail allison@engagedandinspired.com with the subject titled "BrideLOVE". Include what times are best for you (i.e. weekend, weekday mornings, weekday nights, etc. etc.) And we will find a time that works!

If you don't live in the area, don't worry, we can still help you! E-mail me and we can schedule a phone chat to get you going and on your way.

To Invite, Or Not To Invite {The Guest List}

Yep. I'm going to talk about it. And by "it" I mean the one thing that often causes tension and drama between families when planning a wedding. The guest list. Who makes the cut and who doesn't? If you haven't argued about this, then good for you... and please share your tips. If you have had arguments about this, or at least a tense convo with your mom about who is on her "must have" list of friends and co-workers, then let's talk about solutions.

At first I hesitated about writing about this topic. But thanks to the encouragement of my friend, Mrs. Jessica Haro, I felt compelled to write. After all, there could be many of you out there dealing with this right now! Originally, it felt a little taboo to speak about such a topic on such a light and happy blog. However, this is the reality of the situation: There are some people in your family and friend groups that just wont make the cut. Period. Not to mention inviting children and offering a +1 to your single guests. There many reasons why not all of the people you want to be at your wedding can be there. The main reason for me (and most) is the cost. We have a very conservative budget, and every person means more food, drinks, tables, table cloths, silverware, chairs, etc. etc. etc. And on the "plus 1" topic, I think it's great if one of my single friends is all of a sudden dating someone super special, and in that case they should bring a date. But if they're not seriously dating someone, then I am not offering a plus one. What are your thoughts on this?

Back in September when Vinnie first proposed, we joked about how big our wedding would be because he is Italian and I'm Greek/Irish. You've seen my Big Fat Greek Wedding right? Well there's a scene where the parents of the bride say, "we're just having the family over for dinner." Then over 100 people show up! Well, at our engagement party we had 50 friends and family over for a casual bbq/brunch. We joked about how if that was any hint as to what the head count for our wedding we may be, then we're in trouble.

Well, the time has come to confirm the final list (we are 10 months out) and I'm happy to say it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated. Both of our parents have been very cooperative. And thanks to some fantastic resources online, and friends' advice the process has been fight-free (knock on wood). Here are some guidelines that helped me from weddingplanning.com

Simple Wedding Guest List Steps Recapped:

• Determine how large or small you want your wedding to be

• Determine how many wedding guests you really can afford by estimating the wedding costs and the "per guest" expenses like catering

• Determine how many guests your wedding ceremony and reception locations can hold

• Compile the "Big" list of all of the guests that you would like to invite to your wedding

• Edit the "Big" wedding guest list down to meet the established budget and capacity limits - This will be List "A"

• Create a "B' list  of wedding guests that you would like to invite but could not

• Send wedding invitations to the "A" list of wedding guests

• As "A"  list RSVPs come in you will be able to determine how many guests from the "B" list you can invite

Or you can follow this formula :)

What I also have to be prepared for are guests who RSVP with a plus one when it's not offered. If that ends up happening I plan on just being upfront and honest about our headcount. These are our friends and family and I expect that they'll understand. I have heard funny and uncomfortable stories from brides that had guests bring a date and multiple children without asking! Does anyone have a story they'd like to share and how they handled the situation?

Now let's talk about something a little more light :)  Because this fabulous blog is photo inspired, I will leave you with some place card inspiration! If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a little non-traditional; I love finding unique personal touches.

photo credit Style Me Pretty

Photo Credit Style Me Pretty

The inspiration below reminds me of the color palette of my venue, The Hotel Maya. I'm loving the mosaic tiles with guests' names. And the clementines would be a super easy and cute DIY project!

Photo Credit Style Me Pretty

And of course, I had to throw in some succulent inspiration. Notice how the grey and yellow keeps popping up.... I think I may have found my favorite color inspiration.

 Thanks for reading! If you have a funny story about your guest list experience, please share by leaving a comment! See you next Tuesday!

B-Maids, Bridesmaids, Bestmaids

My bridesmaids, bestmaids, are my very best friends from high school. I love each of them completely for being so adorably unique that I always knew I wanted them to each wear a dress of their choice. I gave them a color scheme and let them pick and things have gone even better than I could have imagined. Each dress looks like the friend that picked it, which is exactly what I wanted (how often do you and your friends get to dress up fancy and take tons of pics? I want them to all look GREAT). Three of my four besties have their dresses already:

one, two, three

Don't the colors look great together?! I'm in love, so sun-washed summer!

However, my fourth bestfran is still looking for her dress. We're thinking something in a caramel, warm brown color, but we're having trouble finding anything online that you can easily return for money back if it doesn't fit right. Let me know if you've seen anything you think would look great, because we're struggling!

My girls are all wearing neutral-ish shoes, but the accessories are what I'm currently excited about! The J. Crew champagne colored dress is going to be paired with a gold belt like this, and probably no necklace. However, I want my other two girls to wear some neat statement jewelry. I've been scouring the web for big ol' (affordable) statement necklaces for my friend in yellow and slightly more subdued ones for my friend in orange, but I just can't make a decision. Here are some of my faves, what do you think? Have you seen something better?

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four

We're also on the lookout for a belt or sash for the orange dress, pretty please send me anything you think would look good!

Happy New Year!

Next week I'll be sharing my Save the Dates because...I'm getting married THIS year!

Happy Wedding Year!

Dan and me at a New Year's Wedding

Happy New Year! I cannot believe that 2011 has flown by so fast! A lot has happened this year- I became engaged, earned a Master's degree, and have my first real job. But the best thing about 2011 being over is that Dan is halfway through his time in Korea!! In about 5 more months, I will have him home and in about 9 he will be my husband. Being only 9 months from the wedding is crazy, and means that my New Year's Resolution is this: start (and finish!) all of the DIY projects that I want to do for my wedding! So, if I share them with you, you promise to make me do them, right? Here is the list:

1. Lanterns

I want to do white lanterns in our tent. I love the look and the glow of them. But instead of just paper lanterns, I want to do different textures, like coffee filter lanterns, doily lanterns, and balloons. I also want to DIY a "light installation" centerpiece for over the dance floor.

coffee filter, bunch, balloon, doily

Instead of just having the lanterns hanging randomly around the tent, they will be in a certain pattern, so I should be able to calculate exactly how many I need. And then I need to make LED lights to light them! Hopefully, this is the biggest project on the list.

2. Cake and Cupcake Stands

Cake stands are expensive! I plan to have a few one layer cakes and cupcakes, so that adds up. I want them to be presented nicely, so I am going to DIY stands. This way, they are exactly what I want, and much less expensive!

credit

3. Photo Booth

The photo booth craze is amazing! I think I have figured out what I want... just need to execute!

 credit

Other projects on the list: wood table runners, programs, direction signs, & escort card displays. What do you want to see me DIY? Hopefully my ups and downs can make things smoother for you! One project a month is my goal- and I will show you the results.

Succulents & Latin American Inspiration {que colores}

I have completed the most difficult and daunting task on my wedding planning list, thus far. We have officially locked down our venue! HOORAY! Vinnie and I will be getting hitched on November 4, 2012 at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California. Originally, we wanted our date to be October 20th, which is a Saturday, however, that changed when we saw the premium places charged for a Saturday evening wedding. (FYI, for those of you brides out there scouting out venues, you can save close to $10,000 just by switching your celebration to a Friday or Sunday.) We opted for a Sunday and pushed back our date to the first weekend in November, which gave us an additional 15% off... Score! Now that we have our venue, I've realized that my color scheme may have to be tweaked a little bit. What I know for sure is that I LOVE succulent plants, so my palette should complement that cool sage green. I also want to have some bright colors to add to our killer outdoor ambiance at the Maya. The decor and vibe there is " Mayan Mystique meets Urban Chic.... alluring fusion of Latin American and Southern Californian style."

You might be reading this thinking, 'wait a minute, didn't Taya say her dream wedding would be in Palm Springs?' Yes, you're right. In my last post I wrote about how I fell in love with the Colony Palms Hotel in the desert. Well, when I got back to Los Angeles I decided to reach out to a friend of mine, Laura, who also happens to be a wedding planner. She and I met for a glass of wine and french fries (that's how I roll) to brainstorm other locations that had a vibe I wanted, and were more affordable and easier for people to travel to. I told her how I loved the old Spanish charm of the Colony Palms, along with its cool mid-century chic vibe, and that I envisioned getting married somewhere unique... somewhere with palm trees that felt like an escape. She recommended the Hotel Maya.

Long story short: I went on my own to tour the grounds. Later that week Vinnie, his parents, my MOH and I enjoyed Sunday brunch there, and that pretty much sealed the deal. (PS, the food is AMAZING!) The hotel is owned by Hilton and they recently had a $10mil renovation. The secret is slowly getting out on what a fabulous location it is for an event. In 2009 they had about 45 weddings, last year almost 100, and in 2012 even more!

Side note: When Vinnie's parents got married in San Pedro 30+ years ago, his mom wanted to spend their wedding night at this hotel!! Even though they ended up staying somewhere else, she always remembered how special the location was. It was cool to hear them reminisce about it ;-)

Now that we have our venue it's time to send out save the dates, design invites, etc.

So, what's my new challenge? Setting the tone and vibe of our wedding through COLORS. It's likely that our save the dates will be similar in design to our invitations. I've let my creative juices start flowing over the holiday weekend and this is what I've been inspired by so far. I want something modern with a hint of Spanish/Latin American influence.

As previously mentioned, I LOVE succulents! They will definitely be  in my floral arrangements and table centerpieces. I'm also really digging the grey and yellow. What do you think?

I feel like picking your colors is the last big step in getting the ball rolling. Am I right? I'd love to hear how this part of the planning is going for you! Do your save the dates look like your invites? Once you picked your paper goods, did you feel pigeonholed into a certain color scheme? Have any advice or words of wisdom for me?

The Wedding Suit

For me. it was never a question of suits vs. tuxes, it's simply always been which suit (or suits...I'm not in to the boys matching, so I'd like them to each have their own unique suit). In my dream world, all the boys in the wedding would look like this: However, I know that JB is so far from being in to these kind of suits that for him to even glance at this picture would be a miracle. So, I've pulled myself away from hoping that the boys look as if they stepped out of an Italian magazine and am beginning to try to find some more reasonable suit inspiration.

With my whimsical theme and just general taste, I won't be having any black at the wedding (I just don't really do black). So that means brown, camel, khaki, beige...suits for the men, which are a little harder to come by than a nice fitting black suit. Here's where I need your help, where do I find great, slim fit suits for my boys? I've seen Indochino.com (which is SUPER neat) but their color options are limited. Do you have any other suiting suggestions?

It's VERY important to me that the boys' suits fit them well, (I mean, slim cut shoulders, skinny legs, shorter blazer), but it is hard as heck to find suits like this for a reasonable price. Let me know what you've found, because I'm floundering in the world of Men's Warehouse without any luck!

Here is what I'd like the boys to look like (in my *slightly* more realistic dreams):

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four

Do you feel the same way? Have you struggled to find reasonably priced, modern suits for the men in your wedding. Are you having the boys match, or simply giving them parameters for a mismatched grouping?

P.S. The dress fitting was GREAT! It was the correct dress, all of my accessories worked flawlessly and there are only minor changes to be made. I was starting to think I had buyers remorse, but when I put the dress on, I loved it all over again.

Merry Christmas to All...

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, happy Sunday to those who don't! Although my wedding is in September, there is something magical about the darkness of winter and the festiveness of the holiday season.

From decorating with ornaments:

Top right; top left; bottom

To an elopement on the beach...

elopement

To the romantic ambiance of string lights, which will definitely be utilized in my wedding:

top

I hope to capture  the happiness, togetherness, and love of the holiday season in my big day. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Transportation Inspiration

I've got transportation on the brain this week.  My fiancé and I decided that a "must" for our wedding would be to arrange buses to shuttle our guests to and from the venue so that no one has to drink and drive, as well as limos for the wedding party to get to the venue. I knew it might be a tricky task trying to organize it but I was not prepared for just how frustrating it could be.  We assumed it would cost us about $1500 total...imagine our surprise when the first quote we received was for over $3800! Luckily, I found a great company that will provide bus services for a very reasonable price.  Now I have the task of organizing transportation for the wedding party. Every company I've contacted has a 3 hour minimum for limo service which, even though it's standard, really bothers me since we only need it for less than one hour.  I don't even particularly like limos but it seems to be the easiest option for getting us all there as a group.  In my quest for finding suitable transportation options, I've come across some really fabulous and fun alternatives for the bride and groom to make their exit.  Take a look!

What are you doing about transportation?  Are your providing it for your guests?  How are you and your hubby-to-be getting home (or to a hotel) after the wedding?  I'd love to hear about your plans!

Connect with me:  Pinterest,  Wordpress

credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Cozy Winter Engagement Photos + Dress Update!

First of all, an update for all you followers out there… I chose the dress!! I went whimsical and am so incredibly excited. I brought another bridesmaid back to the shop where I had originally seen the dress, to try to get a different perspective. I looked in the mirror and realized that I could search all over the state of California and not find anything that comes close to this dress. So (after a minor panic attack) I said, “let’s do it!” I’m really happy and excited about the decision! And now that I can stop thinking about (ok, obsessing over) the dress, I can think about other exciting things…

…Like our engagement photos! We’re taking them this weekend with Ken Kienow, in San Luis Obispo, California.

We booked Ken this fall and scheduled our shoot for the first weekend that we were all free. However, I was a little bit bummed that we wouldn’t be taking them in warm weather. I think I had always imagined taking photos on a warm and sun-kissed day.

Then, I realized how adorable a cozy fall or winter inspired shoot could be. There is something so romantic about this time of year, cuddling up with your honey and sipping coffee on a rainy day.

So we’re taking photos at a coffee shop and I’m really excited to capture that romance!

Here’s some cozy engagement shoot inspiration.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

And this is the sweater I bought from J. Crew. How perfect is this?!

 Anyone else do winter-themed engagement photos?

A Cheery Break

When I first started my wedding obsession by reading blog post upon post, I kept reading things about planning being overwhelming, stressful and all-consuming. My first thought was "great" I LOVE weddings, so I'll love mine even more. My second was "these people must not be planners." Let me tell you, I'm a planner/organizer with a strong sense of what I like and this wedding planning is OVERWHELMING! So, for a break from the wedding madness, my roommate and I threw a holiday shindig of our own. Now, I love throwing parties; I love rearranging the furniture in to the most mingle-able setting, I love browsing through appetizer recipes, mixing drinks, choosing serving platters and making the house look so elegantly "lived in." However, because we're both only 21, our collection of serving dishes, holiday decor and generally money is pretty limited, so here is our holiday soiree *on a budget* in three easy steps.

Is anyone throwing a holiday themed, wedding-y party? Wine and crafts? Holiday engagement? Winter bridal shower? Tell me...I LOVE to hear!

1. Candles! Votives are CHEAP, check out these at Dollar Tree (4 for $1) and glass jars are cheaper (do you buy pasta sauce, salsa, jam). We've been collecting glass jars to use at my wedding and figured, why not use them twice?! With all the DIYs out there, it so easy to find something festive...these are my faves. Psst, the first link has TONS of ideas. one, two

2. Easy appetizers. What's easier (cuter, tastier...) than tiny potatoes wrapped in bacon? Add in a dipping dish of Dijon and you're ready to go. Also, brie was one of our splurgerier treats...but the stuff on top is just sugar and water!! P.S. Of our limited serving dishes, we do have a wood cutting board...perfect for cheese and crackers! one, two

3. Simple, festive drinks (that you can make in BIG batches). We decided to offer two drinks, cider and nog (both of which were a HIT). The best part about these is that they are easy as heck, but still way classier than the usual 21-year-old party drink.

one, two

What do you do to break from the all-consuming wedding planning?

Don't worry, I'll be done with this hiatus next week, because this weekend I have my first WEDDING DRESS FITTING with my mom and all of my bridesmaids! I can't wait! Does anyone have any fitting tips?

P.S. I wish I could have a snowy, winter wedding...there'd be muffs and cider for all!