Bride and Bridesmaids To Be!

You can't get married without your ladies by your side! 

Men come and go but friends are forever.... even when you already find the man of your dreams, you're girls have to be there to be by your side to support and most importantly: TO CELEBRATE WITH YOU! 

NOW, this is the store that I swear by. I love everything about Francesca's Boutique: their great quality product, the atmosphere of every boutique I go in, and the employees are always so cheerful and loving! They have very unique clothing, jewelry, and my favorite, the miscellaneous accessories!! And when I found out about all these wedding goodies that they have, I just had to make a post about it! You never know what you will find on that little table. Here are some fun little goodies for you, a soon to be bride, or for your brides maids! 

JUST SAY YES, BRIDESMAIDS! 

I just think this is so adorable! If your man already popped the question and you said yes, it's your turn to pop the question to your bridesmaid. The brides maid proposal doesn't have to be out of this world. A small little gesture for your ladies would do the trick. Sweet and simple! These earring would make a perfect gift and its something that your bridesmaid will most likely use and its so sweet and simple that it'll match with everything that they wear! 

Francesca's Boutique in Alderwood Mall! 

 

YOU'RE A BOMBSHELL BRIDE!

This little cute scrumptious bath bomb smells so good and it makes your skin glow! If you think LUSH only sells awesome bath bombs, think again! Drop this baby in your bathtub, get your new hubby, pop some champagne, and relax ALL night long! 

There are so many other cute little things at Francesca that are wedding related. If you're still stumped on gifts for the bride or brides maids. Come check it out at Francesca's Boutique. You will fall in LOVE just like I did! Here just some of the other bachelorette/bride products that I love! 

Enjoy online shopping till you're dropping! :) 

Real Wedding: Wendi & Mo 7.18.15 Lord Hill Farms, Snohomish, WA

We met Wendi & Mo way back in February 2014, back when Top Pot Donuts in Bothell was still “Lady Latte”. Over a cup of coffee, we got to know this amazing couple. We loved hearing the story of how they first started dating. They worked together, and one day Mo got up the courage to ask Wendi out, by asking “so, do you eat?” She replied “of course I eat!” and from there Mo proceeded to properly ask her out to dinner and the rest is history.

We loved working with Wendi and Mo on their July 2015 wedding as their vision brought us a new, exciting challenge. They both wanted to have their cultures represented and with Wendi being from Hawaii with Japanese heritage and Mo being from The Gambia, we knew amazing bright colors would come into play. Mo got his groomsmen these unique cuff links in the shape of Gambia. These were way too cute. All of the groomsmen loved them! 

They had already chosen Lord Hill Farms as their venue, so we went to work booking them some amazing vendors (see below)! We of course were most excited when it came time to plan the design. We created them a custom color palette of a beautiful fuschia, persimmon, turquoise, sage, sunshine and a dash of gold for fun.

This wedding is a true representation of what it means to include the couple's personality, background and love story. The table runners are handmade fabric from the Gambia! There were also a few custom art pieces flown in from Hawaii and plenty of orchids to represent. The bride's dress was a beautiful design made from Kimono fabric. We took polaroid photos of guests in fun props and hung them from a string of clothespins (which had a significant inside joke type meaning to them).  Even the table numbers represented favorite places and things of this wonderful couple!

It was one of the hottest days of the year and although a groomsmen may have been stung by a bee during the ceremony, it turned out to be a truly amazing day. There is only a lifetime of happiness ahead for Wendi & Mo!

VENDORS

Venue & Catering: Lord Hill Farms

Wedding Planner: It’s Your Day Events & Expressions

Mini Cheesecakes: The Confectional

Photography: Courtney Bowlden

Videography: Bogle Productions

Flowers: Fena Flowers

DJ: Bugsie Productions

Engagement Season Began already?!

Some of you may have noticed, that as soon as the summer wedding season comes to a halt…engagement season begins! If you haven’t noticed…no biggie- maybe it’s just my observation! Either way, you may have a new favorite season to look forward to! What I’m actually talking about is the time of year between Halloween and Valentines Day, when social media and your mailbox are riddled with engagement announcements. From a Wedding Coordinators perspective, we love everything about this season! Plus it is great, rational thinking by our significant others…strategically giving the brides plenty of time to plan their dream day! My point here is that a decent portion of our readers haven’t been engaged before… so how are you supposed to know what to do with yourself now that you’ve said ‘YES’? That’s what I’m here for! There are thousands of places you can look up the nitty gritty checklist of ‘what nexts’, but here are some perspectives of those who have gone before us!  I asked some of my dear pals over wine and via email what…if anything…would they have done differently during their engagement? Below are the top 4 responses. Whether you are already engaged, or just hope to be there soon, these should shed a little light on the subject! Feel free to comment below with any questions or comments!

~ HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER ~

 OK… seriously, this was a non-coached answer! Of course we love to hear it, but we have it listed because it’s the truth! So many of our clients are working full time, juggling everyday obligations, kids, pets, houses, etc. etc. etc., that planning the wedding they have waited for quickly becomes overwhelming. The gals that I spoke to said that they almost felt guilty asking friends and family to help out. And that on the day of the wedding, you really want ALL your guests to be able to relax and enjoy the festivities without trying to oversee the whole operation. It can be a lot of pressure for a family member to try and uphold everything in your ‘vision’- sometimes it’s easier to communicate with someone that you have a professional relationship versus a personal one.  Also, in hindsight, they noted that the discounts they would’ve received when booking through an event planner would’ve sweetened the deal even more. Long story short, the extra money spent on a planner is worth it!

~ DON'T HAVE A DREADFULLY LONG ENGAGEMENT ~

Some of my friends were engaged for the 14-18 month range. From our conversations, I gathered that essentially as soon as you are engaged, you pretty much just want it to be your wedding day. Thus, waiting 18 months for that day can become taxing…and fast. From a coordinators perspective, we prefer engagements in the neighborhood of 10 or more months. That gives ample time for all the decisions that need to be made. Yet…we have planned our fair share of weddings with 4-6 month engagements! Honestly, set the time for what works for you and your guests will make it happen. Since we are sort of talking about a pre-wedding timeline here, another tip I will roll into this one, is to go ahead and have an engagement party. Several of my friends mentioned that they wished that they had had even a small barbeque so that the groomsmen and bridesmaids would have met each other in an informal setting before the chaos of bachelorette, bachelor, wedding shower and of course wedding day comes raining down on them. Just a little added tidbit!

START A WEDDING ACCOUNT… NOW! 

This may be a bit of a DUH… for some of you that are already incurring the cost of your wedding plans. But for those of you who are not yet engaged, the consensus was that everyone had wished they started a wedding fund sooner than later. If you don’t have a ring or a date yet- but you know it’s going to happen with your significant other, it’s not too early to start saving. 

~ EYE ON THE PRIZE ~ 

This was the hands down, most recorded response. Make sure you remember that at the end of the day, you get to marry your person. If you have followed the advice in #1 (above), nothing will go wrong- BUT even if it did, remember to enjoy the day. You have at least thought about the ‘big day’ a few times throughout your life, and undoubtedly spent a good portion of the last year honing down every last detail…ENJOY YOURSELF! One of my friends said that her flowers were completely wrong, and that her Maid-Of-Honor had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, and she didn’t even bat an eye- because she still got to say ‘I Do’. Although this is a big event for your friends and families to come together, essentially it’s about celebrating your commitment to each other. Don’t get lost in a sea of Pinterest and lose sight of the real reasons behind your celebration. 

That’s all for now- I hope that you have a little something you can take away before the pending arrival of engagement season.

Cheers!

It’s Your Day Events & Expressions Crew

#ThemeTuesday - Marsala and Pink

Any color that is on the dark color spectrum, I will fall in love with. My favorite color is maroon. so this theme, Marsala and Pink is such a great combination. Think of it this way. The 'pink' is the strawberry and the color 'marsala' is either the cup of red wine or the chocolate fondue. Once you mix these colors together, it is just so delicious and fitting. This theme just screams romance, seductiveness, and oozing love. 

7 Unique Guest Book Ideas

Looking back on your wedding day, do you remember all of the people that attended and celebrated with you at your wedding? Probably not without a memory book or a guest book! A book with signatures is such a little thing but with a big meaning. Here are some idea of how to make it a big special thing with a big meaning! These are my top favorite 7 guest book alternatives! Spice it up! Have a litte fun! :) 

#1 - Polaroid Guest Book

Take a picture of you and your date with the polaroid and write your names down! Pictures are worth more than a thousands of words! 

#2 - Thumb heart!

Blow up a picture of you and your perfect soon to be spouse and have people sign it! You can frame it later on and put it above your bed rest. 

#3 - Lawn games signatures!

Everyone loves lawn games, sign it while you're there.

#4 - Falling hearts!

Another picture frame! Worth hanging up on your wall. Sign the little hearts and just drop it in. 

#5 - Everybody loves wine!

Storing wine corks in a nice glass jug is a good way to store your memories! 

#6 - Two birds sitting in a tree... K I S S I N G !

Sign each little leaf! 

#7 - Big foam letter!

Sign this form letter and it can be a pretty wall decor! 

Bhavna & Kevin's Wedding Video!

Hello all! Hope you're all having a great hump day! We're preparing for a storm here in the PNW and it has been so rainy and windy for the past few days! I just got my power back on and the first thing I wanted to do so badly is to upload this wedding video made by TSP Video Production. Thanks you TSP Video Production, especially Edward Calabig for this video!

Bhavna and Kevin were one of our clients a few months ago and they had their wedding in the summer on the most perfect day; not too hot and not too cold! I loved working with this couple and they had two different wedding ceremonies which was really awesome! Just watching this video again warmed me right up and took me back to that magical day! Enjoy this video; it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Congrats to these cute newlyweds! :) Enjoy this video!