Win a Night at The Movies! {The Five-Year Engagement Giveaway}

 

I recently had the pleasure of attending a premiere for the movie “The Five Year Engagement”!  I thought what a wonderful date night or girls night movie to catch on this rainy weather weekend!

The movie stars Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall and How I Met Your Mother) as Tom Solomon and Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada) as Violet Barnes, but I think the real scene stealers are Chris Pratt (Parks & Recreation) and Alison Brie (Community) as the Best Man and Sister/Maid of Honor!  Watch out for their amazing interaction and comedic brilliance!  This comedy has its serious moments  as the couple, who gets engaged one year after meeting, deals with life’s struggles of planning a wedding.  Between career dreams and elderly family members, this movie does highlight real struggles that couples often deal with while planning a wedding.  Without giving anything away, I think the overall theme of the movie “nothing is perfect” is something that all brides should keep in mind!  

 Link Up!
Visit Tom &Violet’s Wedding Blog

Big Honcho Media was kind enough to give us a prize pack as a giveaway so leave a brief description of your engagement story (or your friends or sisters) on our Facebook page and you could win a $25 Visa Gift Card for a “Night at the Movies” and a Five Year Engagement Prize Pack!

One (1) winner will receive:

·         $25 Visa cash card for a “Night at the Movies”
·         Five-Year Engagement Cosmetic bag filled with lip shine, nail file matchbook, eye mask, purse hanger, comb/mirror, faux engagement ring

Prize pack valued at $60

Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only

Prizing courtesy of Universal Pictures

THE FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT – IN THEATERS APRIL 27

Rent the Runway for Brides!

Watters & W-Too at Love Couture {Trunk Shows}

Vera Wang Fall 2012 Collection!

The Honest Truth...

In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce.  The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage.  ~Robert Anderson, Solitaire & Double Solitaire

Nicole Miller Brings Out The Bling!

If you love Nicole Miller's sleek styles, you'll drool over her newest line of bridal accessories for Spring. This is a new category for Nicole Miller, one that has been in the works for quite some time now. The accessories are all versatile – you can wear them as a sash, or remove the ribbon on some styles and wear as a brooch or hair piece. They are also beautiful as crystal headbands! 

 

The accessories range in price between $275 - $400, and will retail on NicoleMiller.com, Nicole Miller boutiques nationwide, and Nicole Miller bridal retailers.  Gorgeous!!

Sareh Nouri Trunk Show!

Going Too Far? {Wedding Diets}

ABC News

Earlier this week, the story of brides losing weight through a "feeding tube" diet got passed around our office.  The ‘K-E Diet’ (or the Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition diet) was created by Florida-based Dr Oliver Di Pietro and promises to shed 20lbs in just 10 days.  Dieters have a small nasogastric tube inserted into the nose, which constantly deposits a liquid solution, containing a mix of protein, fat and water, into the body. Um, yuck.

Most of our team was beyond shocked that someone came up with this but we weren't totally shocked brides were doing it (and one of us who will remain nameless was actually tempted by this idea). The pressure to look perfect on your wedding day is pretty intense.

But it made me wonder if this is another example of brides losing sight of the whole purpose of a wedding, and for that matter, a marriage. What does it really say about our society that we are willing to walk around for 10 days with a tube dangling out of our noses so we'll look better for one day? Nothing good.

There is already a disproportionate emphasis on the wedding day part of the marriage process without as much attention on what will happen after the honeymoon. It's so easy to get caught up in the idea of creating one "perfect" day that's worthy of being featured on a popular blog or magazine that everything else can get put on the back-burner. I was reminded of this recently when I heard of two couples who parted ways only months after their fabulous weddings.

I think the feeding tube phenomenon goes lockstep with this short-sightedness. A wedding should not be about how good you look on one day, no matter how much every thing we read tells us. Sure, you want to look great but manipulating your body to go into a state of ketosis puts an unbalanced importance on the superficial elements of the wedding. And, yes, how good you look is a superficial part of the process.

Not that I'm slamming everything superficial about weddings because that's what I spend a lot of my time planning: the details, the look, the flow.  All of those things are important in putting together a successful wedding. But they aren't critical to a good marriage, and I think we need to remind ourselves that the wedding is just a small part of the more important marriage. And how we look on one day of our lives is not as important as how we feel and how we live for the rest of them.

A wedding should be a celebration of your life and future to come not the be-all and end-all of your life.  I would love to see couples spending just as much time and attention nurturing their relationship as they do debating which band to book or just as much money on dinners out together as they do on their wedding flowers.  And certainly the money and time spent walking around with a feeding tube stuck up your nose could be better spent somehow? I can think of about a thousand ways.

Love Couture Sample Sale!

Simone Carvalli at Chevy Chase Bridal {Trunk Shows}

South Asian Bride Magazine {Engagement Session}!

We're thrilled that the engagement photos for Christine's fabulous couple, Bhavika and Ashish, are featured in South Asian Bride. The photos by Jason Keefer are so gorgeous! Take a peek!

A quote for Me

"We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops."
-anonymous 

New Find {Photography by Susie}

Every once in a while we come across wedding vendors who are new to us and so fabulous we just have to share. I felt this way when I met Susie and Becky from Photography by Susie.  These two fun women married brothers and decided to team up and build a photography business. It's clear as soon as you meet them that they have a great yin-yang balance and also have lots of fun together.

Not only are they talented photographers, they are so easy-going that you can't help but relax around them. I love how they describe themselves on their website:

• Susie ran a business in her former career.  Becky was a math teacher.
• Becky loves cooking. Susie burns water.
• Susie has a bottomless mug of coffee.  Becky drinks hot chocolate.
• Becky has watched every episode, commentary, and deleted scene from The Office.  Susie likes watching Castle.
• Susie’s photography courses took her, among other places, to Europe.  Becky learned on her kids.
• Becky’s a runner. Susie likes word games.
• Becky loves to garden.  Susie can’t keep a houseplant alive.
• Susie has a great poker face.  Becky wears her heart on her sleeve.

How can you not love them? But don't take my word for it. Check out their work!

And be sure to visit their blog, which not only covers the weddings and portraits they shoot but also has fun things like recipes for cake pops and thoughts on life.  This talented team may be new(ish) to DC but brides had better snap them up before the secret gets out and they get BIG!

Veggie Tales!

Amy Atlas Veggie Bar courtesy of Pink Blossom List

As a vegetarian, I'm always looking for creative and delicious ways to present fruits and vegis so that guests will actually want to eat them. I love this idea for a veggie bar.  Kudos to Serena Grace via Amy Atlas for this amazing display!

 Serena Grace

 I also love the idea of mini fruit smoothies (or fruit shots) being passed during cocktail hour. They could also be alcoholic for an extra kick!  I think I may go whip up a smoothie. Happy Friday!

weddingbycolor

Accessory Trunk Show {Carine's Bridal Atelier}

A Wise Man Once Said...

Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without.
James C. Dobson

Bridal Boot Camp!

Calling all brides who want to get in shape fast for their wedding day!  Our friends down at Extend Yoga are offering a fabulous 5-week program that will get you eating right and looking lean in time for your Spring (or Summer) wedding. This includes unlimited yoga (heated and non-heated) plus two bootcamp sessions per week and sessions with nutrition experts. Amazing!! Sign up by April 13th and get a special low price of only $300 for the entire program.  Have fun!!

The Green Team!

This year I kicked off wedding season with Tracy and Blake an awesome couple who knew St. Patrick's Day was the wedding date for them from day 1.

Searching for the right venue wasn't too difficult.  After deciding to get married at her parent's church, Tracy and Blake booked the the soaring ceilings at the National Museum of the Marine Corps given Blake's affiliation and his love for work on air vehicles.

The weather, as some will remember, was perfect, perhaps even a bit too warm for the likes of some gentlemen standing outside after the ceremony.

The large open space of the Leatherneck Gallery filled up quickly and the space felt more intimate than we expected.

The bride and groom even took a minute to get in on the interactive exhibits guests experienced during the cocktail hour.

I absolutely loved the bride's wardrobe change.  Check out the green croc pumps!

Thank you Tracy and Blake for starting off my season on the right foot!

Also thanks to the great team of vendors who contributed to this event:
National Museum of the Marine Corps
Daniel McGarrity Photography
Petal's Edge
Fancy Cakes by Leslie
Jared Rosen and Bialek's Music
Party Rental LTD.
Sprites INK!
Pattie Martin Make up

Sara

Spring Inspiration!

Credits: tablescape (Martha Stewart), bridesmaids and flower girl (J. Crew), egg place card (A Southern Life), linens (Martha Stewart weddings), cake (Martha Stewart Weddings), egg nest menu display (pottery barn), bride (Jessica Clare Photography), tie (The Perfect Palette), candy (the Wedding Vine), Easter Lilies (Martha Stewart), tulip basket (Martha Stewart)


A little inspiration for the coming season. Enjoy!

Quotes and Jokes

It's wedding season and thus time to start back up with my wedding/marriage related quotes of the week.  To start off, I'm going to give you a cute wedding joke recently told to me by my husband's grandfather.  While doing a wedding in Sarasota, I got to spend some time with them. 

"An older woman attended a wedding for a friend's granddaughter.  She walked up to a gentleman slightly older than herself and stared, and walked around him and stared some more.  Finally, the gentleman asked, what are you looking at?  The woman replied, you look like my 4th husband.  The gentleman said, how many husbands have you had?  Three the woman replied."

Just to give you a visual, I leave you with Blanch from the Golden Girls.  I imagine this is something she would have said.

Happy Tuesday!
Sara

Amaryllis {Vendor Love}

We love working with Amaryllis for so many reasons. The first, of course, is that their designs are stunning. Then, of course, we love the people behind the breathtaking flowers. Rick and Christopher and Gladys and the entire team are just amazing.  Not only fun to work with but dedicated beyond belief.  But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so enjoy the millions of words I'll save with these stunning images! Huge thanks to Amaryllis for the years of gorgeous Engaging Affairs weddings!

(all below images by Greg Gibson)

And, even though this isn't from one of our weddings, I love these amazing paper flowers!!