Friday, December 14, 2012

Do you really need a Wedding Planner?

Here are a few tale tale signs to look for when trying to determine if you really need a wedding planner. Truth be told, some people just don't need one! See if you may or may not be one of them. Either way, nothing has to be anything, this is just a way to help you determine which course of action might be more helpful to you!

Image borrowed from 'The Write at home blog'

You know you are very likely to benefit from enlisting the help of a wedding planner if:

1. You have a busy job and spend a more than average amount of time at work

2. You have a tendency to get overwhelmed with multitasking

3. You prefer to focus only on one thing at a time

4. You have trouble managing your time

5. You have no idea where to start when you think of planning a wedding

6. You are indecisive and generally have trouble making decisions

7. You don't really know what you want or just don't feel sure you know

8. You hate large projects

9. You really couldn't be bothered and would just rather not think about planning anything let alone a wedding

10. You want a large and elaborate wedding/event

11. You want a celebration that includes a lot of personalization and details

12. You don't know how to get the kind of event you want within the budget you have

A good way to measure if you fall in this category:

There are obviously many more tale tale signs but a good way to measure for yourself is to consider that if you feel negative emotions when you think about your wedding - for example, overwhelmed, confused, afraid, stressed, frustrated etc...It is usually safe to assume that you need help with your wedding planning. Do yourself a favor and contact a planner for help! If they are the right fit for you, you will have increased your chances of enjoying the process of planning your wedding significantly!

Leave me a comment with any other indicators you can think of that may be a sign that you need help!

Cheers, Happy planning and Be Free to be You!

For more information on how to know if you really need a wedding a planner, check out our video here.

DISCLAIMER: These are just guidelines and are not an absolute measure of whether you will be best served by hiring a wedding planner or not. Be sure to take into account all other relevant details that may affect your decision.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Unique Engagement Rings

It is that time of year again and some gentlemen and ladies out there will be planning a proposal to the one they love! While this is usually a one person job, we thought we would help by giving you some ideas of really cool engagement rings we found while looking around.

These all range in pricing and are from two separate stores in the wonderful world of Etsy which we are big fans of. So take a look and see if any of these inspire you! We of course have included the links for you to visit each store incase you decide to get one of these or to see what else they carry! We highly encourage you to take a look at their stores. They are so worth the visit!
Happy scouring, finding and proposing!

Brilliant Earth Inc
Ethical and eco friendly Jewelry










Check out more of Brilliant Earth's gorgeous engagement rings here

Steve Lee Jewelry

These are just really cool and there were quite a number of unique pieces to choose from!









Visit Steve Lee's Jewelry shop on Etsy to see what other goodies you may find here

Let us know how you faired by leaving a comment for us!
Cheers!

All photographs belong to the store owners.




Wednesday, December 12, 2012

You are engaged, now what? Five things to help your wedding planning journey!



1. Breathe
Give yourself permission to take it all in and to experience the feeling of having just got engaged

2. Schedule a planning date
Determine when you would like to start planning and schedule it. Do not start planning until that date arrives.

3. Determine what you want your wedding to feel like
Once the date to start planning comes, take some time to think about what you would like your wedding to feel like - your feelings never lie. They always tell you the truth about who you are and what you want. You just have to trust them and listen to them.

4.Be honest with yourself about what you really want and how you feel about what you want and then make peace with those feelings.
This will help you to avoid feeling conflicted which is the source of a lot of unhappiness and stress for couples when they are planning a wedding.

5. Be honest about how you really feel and about who you really are.
This will be your guide to having the wedding you really want, and to having a pleasant experience with the planning process.

Now you are able to approach planning your wedding from a more authentic and free space and to enjoy it because of the lack of conflict.

Next, start determining the obvious things like where you would like it to be, how many people you would like to have at your wedding, what you want it to look like, what dress you think you would like to go with and the rest is the obvious. You will find that you are more able to make good decisions that are not governed by fear or pressure of any kind but that are governed by your truth which is all you need to enjoy any experience.

I hope these tips were helpful and I wish you some happy planning!
Be free to be you!

Check out our video for more information on how to prepare for your wedding planning journey here

Monday, October 8, 2012

Unique Wedding Gowns on Etsy!

Hi All! I hope all is well in your beautiful worlds! I thought I would come on really quickly and share some fun things I found on Etsy while poking around! If you are a bride looking for a wedding gown that is unique and fun then this is for you!

Now just to be clear, I am a huge fun of Etsy because there is no telling what you will find on there if you take the time to look. Of course there are countless stores on there, so I see how it can be overwhelming to take on the task of finding that needle in the haystack. That said, please believe me when I say it is so worth when you do spend some time looking! You will find things you were looking for and things you had no idea you wanted, but they are all there!

To that end, I have decided to share something cool that I find on Etsy as often as I can. I hate to over commit myself so I will start with at least once a month and see if I can do any better. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these wedding gowns that are - wait for it - hand painted (yes, I said hand painted) and then go take a look at the lovely store called Kira Zhigun. Who knows you might find your very own hand painted wedding gown in Telaviv, Isreal! How cool would that be :)? Enjoy!



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Offbeat, Multicultural Wedding at The New England Aquarium

This summer we had the pleasure and honor of working on a fun, offbeat, multicultural wedding at the New England Aquarium in Boston. And while there is so much to share about this very cool wedding, I will share some of my favorite things about it and try to let the pictures tell you the rest of the story!

The Groom was of Egyptian descent, and the Bride- American from Louisiana. They wanted an offbeat party to celebrate their union which was going to happen in a private affair. This was to include their family and friends into their new life, so it was a big wedding reception party to celebrate their union!
They wanted it to be laid back, whimsical, colorful,but elegant and classy. They wanted it to reflect their easy going personalities, without it looking too informal or too plain. The location for this fun soiree was the beautiful New England Aquarium with the Boston harbor as their backdrop! A very good choice!

What we gave them?
A colorful, offbeat, laid back celebration with details that represented both their fun, unique personalities and cultures.


The bride and the groom wanted to minimize the use of flowers to keep the festivities environmentally friendly, so we used minimal flowers, that were mostly locally grown and concentrated on creating centerpieces that were mostly non floral. We used Egyptian ceramic lanterns and candles in varying shapes, sizes and colors.




We used a mix of colorful hand blown bottles, egyptian alabaster containers and tabasco sauce bottles for the flowers. The tabasco sauce bottles were an ode to the Bride who mentioned a love for tabasco sauce and the fact that it was something she grew up with while the alabaster was an ode to the Groom's Egyptian roots.
The flowers we used were inclined towards being fillers as well as unusual looking - some evoking sea creatures to continue to play with the Aquarium theme they had started out with, as well as to cater to the Bride who was not keen on a typical floral look.


We also included the use of feathers and crystal beads to represent one of Louisiana's fun traditions- Mardi gras!


To continue with the Aquarium theme that they had chosen with the location, we added corals and shells to the centerpieces and used colors that evoked the same feel.

One of the fun surprises for the couple was the chandelier we created that hung right above their table to create ambiance that was reminiscent of the Aquarium. What fun it was to see the looks on their faces when they walked in for the first time to see the space.

The colorful table numbers!


We created all the menus, table numbers and seating chart to fit the offbeat aquatic theme as well.

Other fun details:




Fun mismatched plates and napkins to keep things light and playful!

The Mother of the Groom mentioned that her favorite flowers are Stock flowers, so we included them as a surprise to her! Yes - she was very pleased!



The Lanterns and alabasters lit up beautifully after dark!

The Bride didn't want anything fancy or huge for a bouquet so we created something light, colorful and playful to match her personality. The result was a thrilled Mother in law because the Bride was in fact carrying a bouquet, and a thrilled Bride because she carried a bouquet that didn't feel or look much like a bouquet! A win- win if you ask me!

The couple opted for cupcakes in lieu of a wedding cake so the cupcake tower was dressed to fit in with the rest of the decor. The wonderful staff at Kickass cupcakes were willing to work with us on the design of the tower so that it fit in perfectly with the entire design! Those cupcakes really are Kickass by the way, so go try one when you are in the area! Totally worth the trip! And yes- they were a hit!


The dance floor was flanked with large ceramic lanterns and large candles to add ambiance to the space and the dance floor for when it was time to get down on it!

The lovely bride!

The couple chose to mingle with their guests at cocktail hour and then left the cocktail area before the guests were directed to their seats to prepare for their very cool entry!

The couple chose a few friends to sing the zaffa song they entered to! Their friends rocked that zaffa!


A zaffa song is a traditional Egyptian wedding song that the couple makes an entrance to! The zaffa includes shakers, ululations, dancing, singing and clapping! There are usually belly dancers and sometimes even fire spitting, sword twirling and drumming! They kept it basic but it was pretty great!


There was lots of laughter!




Lots of dancing!

Lots of beauty!


And so much love!

We were honored to have been able to witness it, and to participate in the beautiful day that it was! We are grateful to the staff at the New England Aquarium and Be our Guest for their flexibility and all their help to pull it off. It was such a great day and a really awesome reception party! Congratulations to Stephanie and Youssef! Thanks so much for the honor!

Credits
Location: New England Aquarium, Boston
Design, Decor and Planning: Creative Wedding Solutions
Stationery Design: Creative Wedding Solutions
Event rentals: Be our Guest
Flowers and Bride's bouquet: Creative Wedding Solutions
Cupcakes: Kick Ass Cupcakes
Photographs: Allan Sinclair