I’m here today to help you avoid making the same mistake as me- Black River Imaging has a modern and creative way to display your photos and share them with your friends and family. Black River Imaging actually fuses your image into metal. The result is a single print large enough for wall mounting or even small enough to use as an ornament. They also come in many shapes so you are not limited to just square or round. Check them out:

If you just got engaged and are planning your engagement session, wedding, or need thank you cards, consider this creative way to display and share your photos- no excuses!

Happy Planning from your Tucson Wedding Blog!

Kelly

Save the Veil is a set of 6 magnetic veil weights, in either Mother of Pearl or Swarovski Crystal (oval or round), that simply hold your veil in place. It’s simple and genius!

Happy Planning from your Tucson Wedding Blog! 

Kelly

Our model was forced to take a bite…tough life, right?

The absolutely stunning cakes featured in the new issue of our magazine:

Trend Alert: oval cakes are super hot right now in the wedding world!

Although it is Jaynie’s favorite technique, making these flowers is labor intensive- each one takes about 1 hour!

Something else that really stands out to me in these photos are the gorgeous cake stands and candlestick holders (which are cleverly transformed into cake stands by using glass plates). They are so beautiful! Brides, you can easily incorporate family treasures and new aquisitons into your wedding decor this way.

The Sweet Covershoot Team:

Location: Gigi Bridal

Photography: Chris Richards Photography

Cakes and Cupcakes: Ambrosia of Tucson and Mini’s Cupcakes

Makeup and Hair Artist: Martina Neal, Artisan Salon

Cupcake Wraps: A Fine Line Stationery and Gift Boutque

Silver Cake Stands and Candlestick Holders: Askren and Sons

Rose Petals: Posh Petals

Chair: Ethan Allen

Model: Carin Pomares

Photobooths made their debut at weddings roughly 10 years ago and they have steadily gained momentum through the years and for good reason. What’s not to love about a Photobooth? They are fun, silly and appeal to all ages not to mention your guests get to take home the photos as momentos of the party. Today, we are talking with Picture Me Photobooth founder and owner Nanette O’Connor who has a passion for her business and wedding guests!

Here is a really sweet picture of Nanette with her children who she explains, “…are instrumental in many aspects of my business. Carley is very creative and artsy so she is mostly behind the scenes and Adam helps with with all my events, setting up and a lot of computer and graphics help.”

(Image Courtesy of Britta Van Vranken Photography)

I had a little Q and A with Nanette so here’s the lowdown!

KG: How did you get into the Photo Booth Business?

NO: In September of 2010,I attended my nieces wedding in Minnesota. She, like so many other Brides had a beautiful wedding, and at her reception was a Photo Booth. Not your old fashion little metal photo booth. This booth would hold up to 12 people. I knew the second I step into that photo booth, that this was what I had been searching for, for the past 10 years. Everything about the booth was perfect. I returned home to Tucson the following day and couldn’t get to the computer fast enough to see how many photo booths were already in Tucson. How many did I find? Zero…I could find photo booths in Phoenix, but nothing like the custom made booth that I had just seen. Then, I remembered that my daughter have a few photo booth strips in her room from various parties that she had attended here in Tucson. After comparing the quality of her photo booth pictures and the ones that I had just brought home from Minnesota, I knew that I just had to do this. Her pictures were blurry and dark. Mine were crystal clear and perfectly exposed. I knew immediately that Tucson needed a photo booth company that was top notch. And talk about fun? The photo booth definitely added so much to the reception There was no stopping me now. After hours of checking everything out. I bought my photo booth (from my new found friends in Minnesota) and have been in business since November of 2010.

KG: How popular are the Prop Boxes?

NO: The prop boxes are very popular, they add an extra fun element to the photo booth experience. People have fun using the props and letting their alter egos fly.

KG: Do you have any photographic experience?

NO: I have no photographic experience. My booth is equipped with state of the art equipment and the booth pretty much runs on it’s own, once I have it all programmed with specifics for the event that I am doing.

KG: What trends are you seeing for Photobooths at Weddings?

NO: I see a growing trend for Photo Booths at Weddings. After months of detailed planning the wedding ceremony is romantic and elegant. The Photo Booth ensures that the reception turns out to be what is most important for that part of the day…Pure Fun!

Here are some samples of the Picture Me Photobooth photos that guests get to take home with them:

Nanette, thanks for your help with this blog post and we are proud to call you a friend of Tucson Bride and Groom Magazine!

Picture Me Photobooth will be at IDo in Tucson this Sunday so go visit the booth and take home some fun pics!

Chatting Soon~Kelly

It makes no sense to schlep your beautiful rehearsal dinner dress, perfect wedding day shoes, or brand new honeymoon threads in a cheapy thin plastic dry cleaner’s garment bag. I can almost guarantee it will rip and your precious clothing will not fare well. Jendarling Bags founder Jen Bennett is an environmentalist at heart so she wanted to create a line of bags that were made from eco-friendly fabrics but still had chic appeal. I think she’s succeeded!

These gorgeous bags are also a perfect bridesmaid gift- they are pretty enough that your gals will want to pack their bridesmaid dresses in them and they’re practical enough that they will get many many years of use out of them too. There are also shoe bags to compliment the garment bag fabrics:

Love these! See a video from Jendarling Bags founder Jen Bennett:

Jendarling from Amy Plemons on Vimeo.

We took a virtual vacation to France for our latest covershoot and the result exceeded our sweet dreams! Look at our gorgeous new cover:

Can you see why we are doing a happy dance? This shoot was decadent, fun, flirty and romantic. Every person on the set brought their A-game that day and we can’t thank them enough for participating in the creation of one of our most favorite shoots to date.  There are so many beautiful inspirations in the magazine and I can’t wait to share them with you right here!

Here are a few pictures of the crew working hard:

First, there are some basic rules one should follow when choosing gifts:

1. Give a gift that is useful in some way. Pretty things can be useful so I am not ruling out things that are simply nice to look at but if you are giving anything that has your names on it and your wedding date, realize that this will only be good for a weekend or so. Trust me on this.

2. Do not give a picture frame, coasters, or a coffe mug. Lame and boring, even when personalized.

3. Do not give a gift you wouldn’t want. Think about how you would feel if someone gave you a mousepad with their wedding date on it? That’s going right in the trash, right? And what about the crazy idea that someone would use a wine glass that has their name on it AND the word “Bridesmaid”? Are you dooming that friend to bridesmaid status forever? She is not using that glass after the wedding. EVER.

Now that we have covered the basics, let’s talk about what we CAN give our gals who intervene for us when family members have loud opinions on reception music, who settle our nerves when the “did the cake make it?” moment occurs and who dutifully dress and primp exactly how you want them to on your big day without a single pout or sneer.

1. Make up, especially make up she can carry with her the day of the wedding, is always a hit. You might think it’s hard to choose make up for each bridesmaid but if you go somewhat neutral, you will please all the gals. Here are a few options we love:

Carli Windsor, a cosmetics packaging developer, founded Custom Favor Design out of necessity. She wanted to give a gift at her own wedding that was unique and reflected of her style and wedding decor but couldn’t find anything that was up to par. She decided to create her own custom lipgloss compacts that are fully recyclable and contain 3 shades of custom created lip gloss. A bonus to these pretty palettes is that the materials used on the outside of the compact can compliment your unique wedding decor! One more tidbit that I must mention, these are insanely affordable at $16-20 each. Here are just a few of the compacts Carli Windsor’s Custom Favor Designs have created:

See how she takes into account all the various elements of the wedding and then creates a truly custom bridesmaid gift for you? Your girls are sure to love this! If you want to spend a little more on your gal pals, incorporate these custom lipgloss compacts into a “Beauty Bag” gift that includes a customized mirror, a personalized tote bag, a custom aluminum water bottle and maybe even a gift certificate for a post-wedding “thank you for wearing those toe killer shoes” pedicure. Voila!

2. Another gift idea for your girls is to go the jewelry route. I know this isn’t the newest idea on the block but it’s a classic for good reason. I must clarify…we do not suggest that you purchase the same necklace for every girl to wear on the wedding day. Matchy Matchy is not high on the hip scale. A lovely idea is to get each of your girls a necklace and/or bracelet and/or earrings that show that you have been paying attention to them and their style. Give your ultra- feminine friend a sweetly understated pair of earrings like these worn by Michelle Williams on the red carpet:

Give your best rocker friend a stylish cuff like this one from Stella and Dot :

Or this gorgeous Stella and Dot necklace for your classy but modern-edged girlfriend:

3. You can also thank your girls by creating themed bags (or any container) for each- “Pretty Me” for the beauty queen, “Wine Me” for the sophisticated sipper,”Entertain Me” for the hostess, “Feed Me” for the foodie in your life, “Run Away With Me” for the exercise obsessed, etc. If you put the thought into each girl’s bag, the worshipping as the best gift giver ever will commence. Look at these adorable tote and container options:

There are so many pattern options from The MacBeth Collection your head will spin with possibilities.

(Top: Venti Oval Tub in Sofia Monaco. Other patterns shown L-R: Spot Swirl Black, Madras Navy and Rococo Lime)

And for the girl who likes a multitasking tote, use these to fill with Bridesmaid goodies now and she can use it for wine/shopping later:

(Insulated Tote from RRPage via Etsy and Reusable Shopping Totes from Lime Tree Gifts via Etsy)

4. Consider outfitting your gals with sweet, sassy, or even modern clutches. This is a gift that your girls can use way past the wedding day. There are tons out there but what you want to think about is size, fabric and color. If you want the clutches to become part of the wedding photos then stay within the same color and size range. If you want your girls to think of you the next time they head out on the town, pick out clutches that make a statement. Here are a two eye-catching options:

(White Ivory Floral Clutch by Cory Renee via Etsy )

 (Nevis Clutch by Stephanie Johnson )

5. And finally, if you are choosing a bridesmaids dress that is on the spendy side, without question, pay for a portion of your girls’ dresses. To ask a friend to be in your wedding is an honor but to ask her to pay several hundred dollars on a brand name frock that she really will only wear once is a little pushy. Enough said.

Chatting Soon~Kelly

Clockwise from top left: (purse) Cory Renee via Etsy; (bouquet) Hollye Schumacher Photography; (lipstick) Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in Honeysuckle; (dress) Dessy/After Six Collections; (cake) Hollye Schumacher Photography; (invitation) Tenuto Photo; (lip palette) Carli Windsor Custom Favors

More pretties in Honeysuckle for a more subdued palette:

Photography courtesy of  (L-R): Patrick Grimes Photography/ Elaine Taylor Fine Flowers, Ted Hewitt Photography)

Take note pink lovers, make-up with a color like honeysuckle needs to be carefully considered. The wrong pink, too much pink, it can all be a mess. Luckily, Martina Neal from Artisan Salon has shared some beauty tips with us that will work with honeysuckle should you choose to use this pretty shade in your wedding.

As glamour blossoms on the aisle, makeup colors are inspired by shades and elements found in nature. Light luminous greens with a hint of mint, pale lemon and soft violets for eye colors as well as washes of muted taupes are paired with the a pop of color on the lips are creating a stunning “new natural” beauty for the 2011 season.

(Laura Mercier Silk Road Eye and Cheek Palette)

(Christian Dior Addict Lipstick in Pink Bustier found at Nordstrom)

I kind of like how the colors Martina suggest all come together:

This glam expert also tell us “Lashes are still here to stay and are a must for every bride to bring out their eyes. If you have never worn them, I suggest you try them at your rehearsal to see what a difference they make and to make sure you feel absolutely comfortable with them. Sculpted, defined eyebrows frame the eyes and finish the look. It’s a “WOW” moment!”

Brides, what can we take from today’s inspiration? You will be seeing lots of pink, you can pair the honeysuckle hue with brighter colors for drama or soft greens for a more natural look and most importantly, watch the makeup!!!  You absolutely need a professional make up artist on your wedding day and Martina is your gal. We will be featuring Martina in her very own “Tucson B&G Friend Spotlight” soon- check back for more advice from her!

Chatting Soon~Kelly

Design expert Suzanne Taussig suggests this fab new way to personalize and “bling up” your bouquet. This new product, “a minigram,” as she calls it, can be used with or without a ribbon to embellish bouquets, table settings, napkin rings and even table numbers. So, so pretty!

You can even spell out messages such as this bouquet’s “I do” or cute sayings such as “tied the knot” or even an inside joke between the bride and groom. “Go Wildcats,” anyone?

There are so many pretty things to see on the Bouquet Jewels website too. Have fun with this one Brides!

Chatting Soon~Kelly

Here are some ideas, little nuggets and inspirations for you to consider on this day of kisses:

Surprise your sweetheart with these charming paper fortune cookies (and notice they are not too super girly so they are great for guys too)! This is an example of very little effort and huge reward brought to you by Deliverance05 on Etsy:

Check out these adorable DIY ideas for Valentines’s Day, brought to you by Design Sponge:

Ummm..have you heard of LoveOpoly? It’s Monopoly but personalized and more fun (or at least it is for me who always got totally creamed by her brother)!

Sweet on You by Philosophy is just the right scent for the day:

And what better way to start off your morning coffee routine than with a bit of subtle decor to give a quiet nod to the day ahead (Paper Heart Garland from PaperPolaroid on Etsy):

And lovebirds, remember to just love your honey in the best way you know how. All the rest will fall into place…

Enjoy and kisses! Kelly