Long Distance Love

It's amazing the intimate details you discover when planning the biggest day in a couples' life. Details like how the groom got up the nerve to score the first date, and the unfortunate way he decided to end it, or how a bride who stated she wouldn't travel for a relationship has been back and forth to Japan several times during her courtship and engagement. That's how you know it's right. When unexpected circumstances connect two people in a way they didn't think possible.


I started off my season just last week with Julia and Steve. Steve is a medic finishing up service in Japan and Julia works and lives here in DC. The two met while Steve was finishing up medical training just before he was sent to Japan. The planning process for the two was a lot of fun, for me, but I can't imagine how difficult it is to live so far from someone you are about to share the rest of your life with.


I had the occasion to meet Steven just once before the wedding, he flew in for the tasting, of course, and what a wonderful man he is.


Julia and Steven had more forces working against them the week of their wedding. Luckily, the groom got into town with just a three day window available, but the bride's sister and brother in law, who are currently living in England, were delayed and almost didn't make it, due to the lovely Icelandic Volcano. Luckily, the ash subsided, and they made it in. A little late is better than never for your only sisters wedding.



Over all, it was a great event where everyone showed extra appreciation for being able to be together from all over the world to celebrate Julia and Steven.



A special thanks to all the amazing vendors who made the event possible:
Haydee from the St. Regis
Mary from Love Life Images
David from Love Life Images video
The ladies at Petal's Edge
New Monopoly

Sara

Sequoia {Weddings on the Water}

Photo courtesy of Fotobriceno

Yesterday, Amy, Sara and I had a lovely lunch with Scott and Michelle from Sequoia in Washington Harbor. We love this popular restaurant as a bridal luncheon, rehearsal dinner and wedding venue. You can't beat the Georgetown location, the floor to ceiling windows and the view of the water. Plus the light wood details and clean lines work well with just about any decor. And we love the new modern chandeliers hanging in the main dining room. They are so gorgeous lit up at night!

Here is a photo from a wedding Sara did at Sequoia a couple of years ago (before the new chandeliers). Enjoy!

Eco Chic Bridal Gowns

Almost two years ago, Laura and I did a post about environmentally friendly bridal gowns for Style Me Pretty. (You can read the original post here.) It’s amazing how the eco-chic market has grown since then, with more and more talented designers coming on the scene. Lucky us-- the results are nothing short of gorgeous!

Here's a sampling of the "green" bridal gowns that have caught our eyes lately. First up, Oregon-based designer Sarah Seven:

Photo credits: All images Sarah Seven on Etsy except for top right (Sarah Seven featured on Utterly Engaged)

Nautically Inspired Weddings

Whether your wedding is shipboard or on land, nautically inspired nuptials offer boat loads of charm. We hope this seaworthy inspiration board sends you off into a wonderful weekend-- bon voyage!

First row: navy bridesmaid dress (Sweet Monday Photography), seersucker bridesmaid dress by Thread, hand painted Lanterns (Style Me Pretty), escort card display (Brides.com)

Second row: seersucker ring bearer (Ritzy Bee), table setting (Style Me Pretty), yellow shoes (J. Crew), boutonniere (Brides.com)

Third row: deck chair (Brides.com), invitation suite (brides.com), chairs (Snippet and Ink), bride (Snippet & Ink)

Fourth row: lifesaver (Brides.com), wine, aisle runner and bouquet (Brides.com, tablescape (Snippet and Ink), paddles (Style Me Pretty)

Natalie and Mike {A Sneak Video Peek}!

Take a sneak peek at my wedding from this past Saturday from the fabulous Tom Bowen.
The couple and families were amazing, the decor was breathtaking and the party was rocking! More photos and details to come! Enjoy!

Laura

Ahoy! {Weddings at Sea}

Ships and boats aren’t options in all areas (obviously), but can be creative venues for weddings. If you love the water, exchanging vows on the deck of a beautiful paddlewheel boat or sleek yacht might be your idea of heaven.

Keep in mind that not all your guests will be as sea-worthy as you, though and once the boat has set sail, there’s no getting on or off. If you decide on a shipboard wedding, try to make it shorter than a typical five hour reception to be considerate of guests who might not want to be on the water for so long. Seasickness patches aren’t a bad thing to stock up on, either!

It is crucial with a wedding on a boat to indicate on your invitations exactly what time the boat will depart. Showing up late after the ship has sailed is no fun!



Other details to consider when planning a wedding at sea:

--How many people can realistically fit on the boat. Usually space restrictions on a ship are set because of safety so there is not much wiggle room.

--Catering space--We have had to build catering tents on docks to accommodate large ship weddings! Most boast don't have lots of kitchen space so choose a caterer with experience doing shipboard weddings. You also may have to adjust your ideas to what works on a boat!

--Weather-- This can be a big issue. No one wants to be sailing in a storm and Mother Nature is one thing you can't control. Be sure you can enough inside space on the boat to hold all your guests in case your wedding day doesn't turn out to be sunny. If you do have a super sunny day, you might want to provide sunscreen towelettes for guests so they don't get burned standing on the deck for hours.

Coming up later this week at Bridal Bubbly: creative ideas for nautical weddings!

A New Look!

Welcome to the new and improved Bridal Bubbly! We wanted a fresh look so designer Heather Bianchi stepped in a created something fabulous. Heather also designs gorgeous invitations and paper products (including favor tags, labels and boxes) for weddings. Here are some of her lovely looks.





We'd love to know what you think about our new look! Enjoy!
Laura

Earth Week Inspiration!

wildflowers in glass bottles (weddingchicks.com), invitations (Chewing the Cud),
bridesmaid dress (Nimli), Stephen Russell and Brilliant Earth Rings (Martha
Stewart Weddings), flower girl dress (Whitten), paper flower boutiniere (Martha
Stewart Weddings), wine (Martha Stewart Weddings), bridal gown by Sarah Seven
and eco friendly jewelry (Utterly Engaged), organic cake by Sarah Magid, bridal
shoes (shoes.com), recycled glass votives with 100% soy wax candles (Martha
Stewart Weddings)

Enjoy our Earth Week finale: an inspiration board of everything eco-friendly and organic for weddings! It's been a fun week!

Happy Earth Day {40th Anniversary}

Today is officially the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day! It's pretty cool to think how far things have come, especially for weddings. A decade ago, virtually no one talked about eco-friendly weddings. Even five years ago, green weddings weren't nearly as mainstream as they are today.

So even if you don't plan on having a completely green wedding (or maybe you haven't thought about greening your wedding at all), consider doing just one or two small things that can make a big difference in the environmental impact of your wedding.

Plant trees-- Offset some of the carbon emissions that invariably come from an event by planting trees. You can even use this as a favor. American Forests is a great organization for tree planting. Or give your guests tree saplings from The Green World Project to plant in honor of your wedding or potted herbs (if most guests are local and don't have to schlep a pot through an airport). In honor of Earth Day, we are planting 100 trees through American Forests today!

Potted herbs in buckets by Kelly MacPhee via Snippet & Ink; Herbs in terra cotta pots via Intimate Weddings

Straight-up Offset-- Carbon Fund will help you determine how much to offset for your event. They even have a feature you can put on your wedding website so you can get your guests involved. Even offsetting a little bit can help.

Eat local-- Talk to your caterer about sourcing local food. We do lots of "100-mile" weddings where all the food comes from a 100 mile radius. Sure, there are some things we have to skip, but the food is always fresher and more flavorful if it is in season and isn't being trucked a thousand miles.

Skip one paper product-- Save paper by not having oodles of tags and cards and inserts. Most weddings don't need so many invitation inserts, Simplify and put extra information (like directions and hotel pricing) on your website. Instead of one menu per person, do a couple per table or have one large beautifully written menu displayed. If you have ceremony programs, only print one per couple. We always end up with extra programs at the end of a wedding anyway! If it is an option, choose recycled paper for your printed goods. We love Twisted Limb for fabulous recycled invitations!

And one of our favorite letterpress companies, Smock, has joined forces with the Amazon Conservation Association, to encourage couples to bypass traditional wedding favors at their receptions and go eco instead. Instead of candied almonds, personalized mix CDs or other traditional less-green “keepsakes” for your guests, why not help save the Amazon rainforests (and help slow global warming) instead? For a $5 donation per guest, you can thank your loved ones with a contribution to help protect the Amazon. Couples will receive one beautiful favor card per two guests, sustainably letterpressed on bamboo paper, to display on tables at your reception explaining how your donation has helped create a better livelihood for local communities and to help conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon basin. Smock donated the design and letterpress printing of the favor cards and will gladly personalize these favor cards for free for those couples who have chosen Smock for their letterpress wedding invitations.



These are just a few basic ideas. We'd love to hear what you're doing to make your day more eco-chic! Happy Earth Day!

Laura

Traveling in {Green} Style

Earth Week rolls on and we are rolling right into fun ways to get around on your wedding day without guzzling lots of gas. If your wedding isn't all in one location, chances are you'll need a way to get from one venue to the next.

Instead of using traditional limos (or, heaven forbid, huge stretch Hummers), why not try Enviroride? Their fleet consists of Toyota Camry Hybrids, Toyota Highlander Hybrids and "Blue Tec" Mercedes. All of the cars are equipped with GPS and real time connection with dispatchers to help with any re-routing (and if you've ever tried to locate a late limo, you know how crucial that is).



If you want to make even less of an environmental impact, check out the three pedicab operators in D.C. Capitol Pedicabs, DC Pedicab and National Pedicab all provide bike-driven transportation around the city. It may take a while to move all of your guests this way but it's the perfect way for a couple to make their getaway! Happy riding!

Laura