Come Together Studios

Photographer and an HH Destination Wedding.

We've mentioned a couple of times that Brandi and I were in Puerto Rico this past April to coordinate a fantastic wedding (if we may say so ourselves). Working a destination wedding brings a very unique set of challenges, one of which is finding a photographer that you trust to capture your most important day. Often times the best choice is to bring someone with you, rather than working with a local that you may never have a chance to meet before.

When our happy couple chose Come Together Studios, we were very happy with their portfolio. And as we worked with them during the wedding weekend we were happy with their work ethic and courteousness (no blocking the Mother of the Groom for "the perfect shot"). And now that we've seen the results of their efforts, we continue to have love for Come Together Studios.

So we thought we'd share some of the detail shots that they took during the Puerto Rico Wedding weekend. Getting those great detail shots is so important...I mean you didn't spend hours working on those programs and favors just to have them forgotten, did you?

Enjoy!






PS. Congrats again to Mindy & Seamus! We hope that you look back on these pictures with much happiness as you remember your wedding weekend.

xoxo, A & B

Bridal Cocktail Party

Event.

We love when our readers write us to tell us about ways that they've incorporated ideas we've shared, or share some new ideas with us. We have a passion for entertaining, and we get very excited to see that in others as well.

Last week one of our readers, Barbie Tilman, wrote in to tell us about not-so-typical bachelorette party that she threw for her best pal Margie. With a great story behind the party and wonderful photos by her friend Jessica Lorren, I just knew that we had to share this with you. Here's the story behind the event in Barbie's own words:

"My best friend Margie was ANTI a bachelorette party, but she did agree to let me throw her a low key cocktail party for our 6 best friends. It was such fun to plan. The bride and our best friends all grew up in Palm Beach, but have moved all over the country, so it was a blast for everyone to be together for a fun filled weekend. I went with a classic Palm Beach theme of pink & green & told the girls on the invitation to dress in "Palm Beach Glam" attire...bold, bright & Lilly-esque. The bride loves margarita's and wine, so they were the poison of choice for the night. I found wine glasses at the neatest little gift shop (KT Jane's/ Tampa) that I could monogram with her initial, that she LOVED."

"I also found the cutest cocktail flags for the margarita's there. Everything else was diy....the pom pom's hanging from the cocktail pavilion, the flowers, decor and food. My parent’s house in Palm Beach was the perfect gathering spot for the party, as we all use to congregate there & sneak drinks in high school. Naughty, Naughty!! We had the best memories there growing up…pool parties, slumber parties, sweet 16 parties, etc…. so it was just so fitting that we’d do her little pre-wedding cocktail celebration poolside at that house. Margie LOVED this fun night of "Margie's Margaritaville" in Palm Beach."

PS. Barbie recently started her own wedding planning business in Palm Beach/Tampa/Kennebunkport, Bumblebee Weddings. Brandi and I know a thing or two about branching out on your own. Congrats to you and best of luck in the world of entertaining!!

Eat Cake Be Merry

Wedding Cake Trends.

Oh how I love a beautiful wedding cake. It's the perfect mix of two of my favorite things...delicious dessert and design. So when I received an email from the incredibly talented Liz Shim of Eat Cake Be Merry featuring some new photos of her work, I was positively giddy.

Liz was also kind enough to share some of the trends that she is seeing in wedding cake designs. I think these are great tips in choosing a design that adds such a special touch to your big day. Thanks, Liz!!

Wedding cakes have always been the main centerpiece of receptions. Here are some trends in cake design to follow this upcoming year:

1. Graphic images and patterns: Many couples use very modern, creative, and elaborate graphics to bring cohesion to all their printed such as invitations, menus, place cards, and programs. Why not the cake too? There's been a growing trend in tying the elements of those very graphics into their cake design.

2. Monograms: It's personal and elegant. Cursive scripts are timeless, but modernizing a monogram with simple fonts such as Neutra text can really make a cake trendy.

3. Playing with tiers: Variations in the shape and height of tiers can create an up to date and impressive product. Try hexagon, blossom, or oval shapes in combination with circles and squares. Or, consider going higher than the standard 4" height of tiers. Cakes that are tall and narrow look delicate and have an added a sense of sophistication.

4. Eco-Friendly: Being eco-friendly is trendy for everything right now. Naturally, this includes cake also! Color schemes that embrace variations of greens and browns deliver a meaningful message to your guests and perfectly complement the environment of an outdoor wedding.

5. Vibrant colors on a simple canvas. For brides that desire to have the traditional look of a white cake, but somehow want to add a little modern flair, color is the answer. Consider a tall pleated white cake with one oversized ruby colored flower. Very chic!

How to Make a Birdcage Veil

DIY.

I recently utilized my craftiness to help a friend make a birdcage veil. I have to admit that I believed I could pull it off, but I was really concerned about making it look just right...I didn't want to mess up her wedding day look with my lack of skill. Luckily, I was able to pull it off and I thought I'd share with you how I did it and offer some pointers along the way.

What you need:
1 yd of 18" wide ivory/white Russian netting
1/4 yd each of ivory/white organza and organdy
1/2 yd of ivory/white tulle
Thread and needle
fabric glue
hair comb/clip
felt (optional)
white feathers (optional)

1. Take the 18" x 18" piece of Russian netting and trim according to the chart below. If you want the veil to taper more, start cutting closer to the halfway point of the sides. 2. Starting on the end opposite of where you trimmed, sew a running stitch along the entire side being sure to stitch through the little squares at each netting intersect.


3. Pull the thread taught so that you end up with a gathered end like this. Knot the end of the thread. Arrange the pleats as you like and sew the entire edge to a hair comb.

Now we move on to the flower. I used the Martha Stewart tutorial from her Summer '09 Wedding Magazine....with a twist. Here's how it goes.

1. Cut the following template from Martha Stewart Weddings. Using this template cut out the pattern in organdy, organza, and tulle. I used 4 each of organdy & organza, with 8 tulle.

2. Overlap the different layers alternating fabrics, staggering the layers so the petals don't perfectly line up on each layer. Now run a couple of stitches in the center to keep these all in place.

3. Fold the stack in half.

4. Fold this portion in half again, and stitch along the 2 edges that meet. You only need to sew about halfway up that edge.

5. Now you can move the petals around a bit to open the "flower" and form it how you would like.

6. Cut 2 small rounds of felt or left over organdy. On one of the cirles arrange the loose feathers so that they evenly extend outwards. Liberally apply fabric glue and apply the second fabric round. Allow to dry completely.

7. Now adhere the fabric flower to the feather base. Apply a small amount of the fabric glue to the center of the feather base. Position the flower on the base. Using just very outer petals of the flower add 4 - 6 stitches around the egde of the circluar base to further secure the flower and feathers together. Allow glue to dry.

8. Stitch the flower and feather to the edge of the comb above the Russian netting. Ta da! You have a birdcage veil.

A couple of things to note.

* I made the length of the veil fairly long. You can certainly trim it to be quite a bit smaller.

* If you would like to secure the tapered side with a comb, you follow the same steps as you would for the other side. The reason why I opted not to do so, was so that the bride could keep the veil on all night and simply flip the netting to the back out of her face.

* Organdy and organza are fairly expensive, which is why I used more of the tulle to create a full flower while lessening the expense.

* Total Cost for this veil was $4o (and that's with crazy NYC fabric store prices!)

Whitten Grey

Kids clothing and a great cause.

Hip Hostess would like to introduce you to a wonderful little girls clothing line called Whitten Grey. This up and coming designer has really nailed simple, sophisticated and playful all at once.

This line would be perfect for flower girls who are headed to a laidback country or beach side wedding. The designs are cute enough to make everyone ooh and ahh. And the materials are organic and breathable, so your stylishly sassy flower girls will be comfortable. Trust me nobody needs uncomfortable flower girls right before the walk down the aisle.

Also a bonus program they call Project Grey Dress provides a dress, free of charge, to a girl in need with every WG dress bought. This is a triple deal: Adorable dress, give back to charity, happy flower girl. If only everything was this easy!

Contest by Beau-Coup

Contest.

What a month this is shaping up to be! We are thrilled to announce that Beau-coup has joined the Hip Hostess group of sponsors.

And to kick off this new relationship with us they are giving one of our lucky readers a $25 gift certificates to use on any of their products! To enter, just go to their site and pick out some of your favorite products, tell us about them in our comment section before July 1st, when we will select a winner at random.

Because the Hip Hostess gals have long been fans of Beau-coup's amazing products, I've taken the liberty to pick some of our favorites below.

Mini Topiary Place Card Holders

a classic choice that would go with so many different event themes

Mini Gumball Favors

who doesn't love old fashioned candy themes?

Mini Piggy Bank Favor

seriously...this is just cute

Mini Candy Jar Favor
a great take on the every popular candy bar

Embossed Favor Box
cute and inexpensive favor boxes are very hard to find. these are just lovely and the price is right.

Miniature Antique Chair Place Card Holders
these charming little guys would look fantastic in traditional, old-world type venue

From the Runway to the Wedding Aisle

Wedding Style Inspiration.

In our lives, most of us are not going to get a chance to work a runway like leggy supermodels but the wedding aisle is our equivalent. So I believe that haute couture fashion shows are the perfect place to find inspiration on how to look fierce on your big day. Here's some of the Spring/Summer '09 looks that would easily transition to your big day.

Clockwise from top left: A chic rolled updo with sultry eyes and subdued lips is very elegant at Caroline Herrera. A classic french roll with headband looks very polished with an exaggerated cat eye at YSL. Ralph Lauren's beachy waves and natural makeup would be a great look f0r a destination wedding. Taylor Swift's red carpet look strikes a balance between relaxed and tailored hair & makeup.

Valentino shows off layers and draping in these stunning designs.

Jenny Packman uses feminine ruffles in select areas to create an ultra feminine look. Elie Saab makes this form fitting dress less severe and more romantic with all over rusching and ruffles.

Elie Saab continues to stun with this beautiful full skirt trimmed with organza roses. And the sexy feather-like details on this other ES dress make me wish that throwing a second wedding on our one year anniversary were socially acceptable (and affordable).

Standing up for Cake Stands.

Wedding Cake Display.

So as I was going through wedding pics this week, I was reminded of one of the small speed bumps that I had along the line in my wedding planning - the cake display. Like a lot of other couples these days, my husband and I opted to do a smaller cake and supplement with lots of other small desserts. But with such a large open space for our wedding venue, I was afraid that our cake would get lost in the mix and not have the visual impact that we really wanted. Enter my search for the perfect cake stand.

Aye yie yie. Who would have thought it would be so difficult? Every professional baker takes pics of their smaller (3 tier or less) cakes on these lovely, vintage inspired-cake stands...but I had no luck. I searched tag sales, Ebay, and just short of NYC trash cans. I finally found my cake stand on a fluke trip to a store that I hadn't even considered.

So to help any of you out there that are having the same problem, I've assembled some of my favorite that I have found on the web in the past few months. I think they are a really smart choice for any bride that wants to make a big impact with a quaint-sized cake. And the best part is that you can use these beauties year-after-year on special occasions...a birthday cake always looks better on a pedestal. Enjoy!

Wisteria Wooden Cake Stand

Williams Sonoma Royale Cake Stands

Vessels and Wares

Fish's Eddy
This was my choice...and I used it again for my hubby's birthday!

Sur la Table Metal Stands

Rosanna Inc Rococo Noir Stands

Martha Stewart for Macy's

Feather Your Nest

My Big Fat REAL Wedding - The Cake

Lesson #9
You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might find. You get what you need.

Besides being the lyrics to a really great Stones song, this was a big lesson that I learned in my wedding journey.

Prior to being a bride, I never had a real emotional attachment to any flower. I thought roses of nearly any shade were lovely. Tulips are great. Peonies are fantastic too. But as a bride, I became obsessed with the anemone. For 29 years of my life, I thought an anemone was a sea creature...but now I had to have it. One little problem: Anemones are no good during the time that I was getting married. What is a girl to do?

My answer came shortly after when I was at our cake tasting. While we were there, my wonderful Chicago baker, Take the Cake, was preparing samples for images that they planned to use on their website. We could see firsthand what they could do with sugar flowers, and I was impressed. So I hurried home and drew up a pathetic little sketch and sent it over.To my relief, Take the Cake said that they were up to the challenge even though anemones are highly detailed and difficult to create. And I am SO happy that they did. The end result was stunning. I may have not been able to carry a bouquet of these beauties, but I was so happy that they were represented in this unique way. --a

My Big Fat REAL Wedding - The Bar

Lesson #8
Limiting a few options doesn't limit the fun.

One of the biggest expenses at a wedding can be the bar. Once you stock up all of the "essentials" and the mixers, you've racked up quite a bill...and don't even get me started on the stress of getting quantities right.

When we were planning our wedding, we chose a venue that would require us to bring everything. It wasn't a restaurant with 8 kinds of vodka, 10 kinds of rum, and a plethora of obscure liqueurs. It was a blank slate. After much thought we decided to do a limited bar. Wow. Did we ever stress over this one. I really didn't want to literally cause a buzz kill during our big party, but I had to be practical. It ended up being one of the best decisions that we made.

What is important is that you don't skimp on quality or presentation. With the help of many of my in-laws, we had an informal wine tasting to help us select the perfect red & white options. Our 3 beer options were a real no-brainer for us (very strong alliances in our families with the brewskies). Prosecco is my favorite and it costs a fraction of what champagne does. And then we created a signature cocktail that would be hefty enough for our party animals, but tasty enough to please our more reserved. Then we made sure that besides having 2 open bars the whole night, we also had the drinks passed on silver platters.

Let me tell you...no one complained. In fact it was the opposite. I know that I have been at weddings and where I stand at the bar forever plotting how my evening should go "well, if I start with wine, I can't go back to cocktails...but if I have too many cocktails, I don't want to get crazy in front of Aunt Ethel." Having a limited bar totally took that out of the equation. People made quick choices - any of them being a good option - and got on with the party. And the surprise hit of the night was our signature cocktail. I'm still getting emails 4 months later to get the recipe for this tasty concoction. Give it a try...you won't be sorry!


Sparkling Lemonade Cocktail

2 Parts Lemonade (I've tried all kinds - my fave is Crystal Light)
1 Part Lemon Vodka
1 Part Prosecco

You can either make each cocktail to order.

or

Premix the Vodka and lemonade in pitchers. Fill 2/3 of a highball glass with the lemonade mixture and top with prosecco as needed. (easiest for mass quantities)

My Big Fat REAL Wedding - Music

Lesson #7

Think outside the box.

Well it's a New Year, but I'm still talking about my same old wedding. But I learned so much being on the bride-side that I really feel compelled to impart any lessons that I learned...big or small. So onward we go...

If you've read any of my other posts on our wedding, you know that my hubby and I wanted to create a wedding that felt more like a really great party...all while celebrating our love for each other and our families & friends. When I am planning any other party, music is a key element to set the tone...so why should our wedding be any different? If you are like me, you can listen to certain songs and be taken right back to the period of your life when you wore your cassette tape out listening to it (yes - I'm old). So we decided to buck tradition (again) and go with music that has meant a lot to us.

For our ceremony, I loved the idea of having a string quartet - they create such an intimate and romantic feel. But why must we play Cannon in D? I like the classics as much as anyone, but that has little to do with our relationship. So what should we do? When my better half and I were just friends in college, I was in a big Beatles phase. He bought me all of the Beatles Anthology cd's for Christmas that year...I think that was kind of his way of telling me that he liked me a bit better than friends. So I thought it would be great homage to the beginning of our relationship if our ceremony music was all Beatles music - as interpreted by a String Quartet. It turned out great!

So that our guests understood the significance of the unconventional music choice, we included a little line in our program explaining the story.

And then the bridal party had a lot of fun reinacting the cover of Abbey Road for some of the pictures.


Without detailing every song that we picked, just know that we chose many "key" songs to be played throughout the night - songs that we knew certain groups of people would instantly react to and jump to the dance floor (if they weren't already there). It took a little more work in the preparation, but at least we didn't have to listen to the chicken dance...that is so NOT us!

PS. If you are interested in using Beatles songs for your string quartet these were our choices...they all translated really well: Hey Jude, All You Need is Love, Good Day Sunshine, When I'm 64Yesterday, Across the Universe (Groom & Parents, Bridal Party), In My Life (Bride & Parents), Ob la di Ob la da (Recessional).

My Big Fat REAL Wedding - Favors

Lesson #6

DIY's take time...do as many things as possible in advance.

I'm here to tell you that even the most prepared bride can become overwhelmed during the last 2 weeks before the wedding. When you look at the checklists from magazines, you will notice that the responsibilities during the last month jump up to a dizzingly high amount. It's really easy to just run out of time to do all of the DIY projects that you wanted to incorporate. So it is my opinion that it's never too early to start on those projects. A perfect example of this was our wedding favors.

In keeping with our desire to make every detail very personal, we decided to do miniature banana breads (my husband's favorite snack since he was a kid) in bakery boxes. Now at first glance this may seem like it must be done towards the end...but there was plenty of room for advance work.

First, I purchased the banana bread boxes and coordinating sized baking tins at least 9 months before the wedding. Then I had the joy of assembling 125 of these boxes...like most of my DIY projects I did this leisurely while watching quality shows like Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. The next step was adhering ribbon to those boxes for a decorative element. Then...I created laminated recipe cards to place inside the boxes with the banana breads. I used the same design that I created for our invitations. That's when I shipped all of the boxes to my in-laws outside of Chicago, where they sat for 7 months in sealed boxes in their basement - aka. Amber's wedding basement.

About a month before our wedding, we were in Chicago for our shower. So we took advantage of this time to bake all 125 banana breads. We then individually wrapped them all in plastic wrap and froze them. So all that was left the weekend of our wedding was to put our little banana bread bundles in the boxes with the recipe cards. I think it took us a total of 5 minutes with the help of 2 friends.

So what's the point of this long-winded story? If I had waited until the last month to complete this project I may have just scrapped it and gone with something else...or had to pay someone 3-4 times as much to create my vision. Instead, we ended up with delicious & adorable favors that everyone devoured on our way to our wedding after-party. --a

My Big Fat REAL Wedding - The Flowers.

Lesson #5
Trust the professionals.

So I'm going to jump right into the the Lesson that I learned on this subject. It is so important that you choose professionals that you trust for your wedding. Every vendor is going to have their strengths and weaknesses, so you must learn to work with what they do best...or better yet, chooose a vendor that does best what you want. And then if this trusted, hired vendor gives you their professional opinion...take it very much to heart.

I placed a lot of trust in my wonderful florist, A New Leaf. When I did all of my wedding research, I had one flower that I was enamored with - the white anemone. Of course the white anemone is pretty puny-looking at the end of August, so my one true flower love was completely out of the question. What's a girl to do?

Rather than pin-pointing the exact flowers that I definitely had to have, I constructed a concept for the overall look. Then I used my florist as a consultant in making the best final decisions. As long as they understood my concept, I would be fine with them making judgement calls based on what flowers looked best for our day. Our floral concept was "organic." Rather than heavily structured flower compositions, we wanted to achieve something that looked like it might have been picked from a garden.

So for the boutineers, we did different variations with mixed wildflowers, orchids, and even hops (the grooms request).



My bridesmaids carried an assortment of ranunculus, roses, wildflowers, orchids...you name it.

And since I am...err..."pigment challenged," I wanted a prodominately white/cream bouquet but with pops of black and green to set it off from the whiteness of me and my dress. We used scabiosa, ranunculus, black elderberries, and others.

(BTW...those of you brides wth champagne/ivory dresses, don't fear pure white flowers. They look lovely next to your non-white dress.)

And for the centerpieces, I lovingly purchased urns in a couple of different styles. Each was filled with different combinations of roses, several kinds of orchids, lemons, ranunculus, hosta and more. Each centerpiece had its own unique, but similar look.

I ended up with the most wonderful flowers...half of which I had never even heard of before. With trust in my florist, I was able to reap the rewards of her interpretation of my vision. --a