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Topics of Interest: Tech, Entrepreneurship, Travel & Destinations
Organizations: Co-Founder & President, Mediasoft Technologies, Inc. & WedShare.com
Author, "E-Plan Your Wedding: How to Save Time and Money with Today's Best Online Resources"
Couples planning a SoCal wedding won’t want to miss this: it’s a brand new one-day-only outdoor couture wedding event to take place along LA’s Melrose Place Sunday, March 28, 2010. Unveiled is a unique gathering of couture bridal collections and resources for today’s stylish nearlyweds, produced by Plan A Events.
The event will run from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm and will highlight the best of everything bridal. If you’re into couture boutiques, then the setting is enough of a reason to attend, as Melrose Place is the spot for the trendiest and most fashionable shops LA has to offer. Three distinguished bridal designers, Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera & Temperley London will open their stores and unveil their collections with intimate, informal modeling. And in an update, we were just notified that among the event’s speakers will be Patti Stanger, host of Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker.
Also on hand to showcase their luxurious products and services–as well as answer all your questions–will be top wedding professionals and vendors including skin health experts Kate Somerville, Bacara Resort & Spa, Williams-Sonoma, London West Hollywood, Bella Bridesmaid, Patina Wedding and TravelStore Platinum. Plus, you’ll get the latest on all aspects of planning your big day at the event’s expert panel discussions.
Tickets are $30 if you register online in advance, or $40 at the event. For more information and to register for tickets, stop by the event website at unveiled.com. You can also follow Unveiled on Twitter and their facebook fan page to get the latest scoop.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Some of us here hit the movies for the Tim Burton flick Alice in Wonderland; Crystal posted a few fun inspiration boards last week based on the film, and I wanted to see whether the movie did Lewis Carroll justice. I suppose it’s hard living up to such a legacy…cinema has been trying to capture Carroll’s bizarre works of word and logic play for decades. This new attempt combined elements of both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, then mish-mashed it with some of Burton’s own creative wackiness and digital cinematic wizardry. I thought the story was a little thin, but it was a fun 3-D ride, colorful and entertaining. My own favorite part of the movie, hands-down, was Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen, without which the movie may have been somewhat lacking.
Speaking of cinematic wizardry--I guess Oscars weekend put me in the mood--here’s a bit of light-hearted and creative fun to start off the week: a video Save-The-Date by Russo Young that I found on the Brooklyn Bride. I’ve said many times before that pulling off a truly memorable wedding depends on how much you are able to infuse it--down to the smallest details--with your own unique personalities to make it stand out. Video is a medium that really lends itself to this; a video save-the-date like this is a fun and creative way to showcase your energy and personalities. Add a soundtrack that means something to both of you--in the case of this video, it’s the score to Where the Wild Things Are--and just have fun with it. Email the video to your guests, post it on your wedding website, or even distribute it on mini-DVDs. I love how this couple weaves in footage from each of their childhoods, too. What a great touch!
There’s a ton of movie-editing software out there these days, so grab a camcorder and some creativity and make a project out of it!
Last Friday, it was my pleasure to attend the launch celebration for a brand-new online bridal magazine founded by photographer Melissa Ann Bagley. The celebration was held in the Los Gatos, CA hills at Saratoga’s gorgeous Villa Montalvo Arts Center, a venue I’ve visited for previous posts.
Melissa Ann Bagley Photography has been covering weddings internationally for 15 years, and saw a need for a more off-the-beaten-path online wedding publication, for which she envisioned and created IZZY Magazine.
Online interface for the premier issue of Izzy Magazine
I wanted to extend my congratulations to Ms. Bagley on the publication, and to say thanks for providing a great online resource for nearlywed couples. I was lucky enough to meet her at the launch; very gracious, sweet, and seeming a little shy, Ms. Bagley gave me the impression that she wasn’t especially comfortable being in the spotlight. I’d say more at home on the “other” side of the camera. She’s a very talented photographer and in just the short time I met with her I could tell how warm and friendly she is as well, obviously doing just what she loves.
According to Ms. Bagley, her goal is “to create a magazine that will inspire others and share the things she loves with the rest of the world. And, at the same time be a guide to brides that are planning weddings outside of the norm.”
Sunday February 28th was an absolutely beautiful day in the San Francisco Bay Area, the perfect backdrop for the free Pamper Yourself event hosted by Jade Studio Productions at their Treasure Island studio, as Crystal announced in her post last week. The Pamper Yourself Event was presented by “Ah…New Beginnings” Professional Wedding Consulting, Enchanting Events, and Iridescence Bridal Couture, and if you’re a Bay Area engaged couple I sure hope you took advantage and stopped by. The weather was perfect, the event was free, the studio was charming and creative, and there were a ton of great information and giveaways by all the wonderful vendors that made the event happen. If you missed it, we’ll keep you posted on their next collaborative bridal fair.
I especially liked the demonstrations and workshops that were ongoing throughout the event; every 15 minutes or so a new one would begin, along with raffle prizes for the attendees. And there were spa facial treatments, makeovers, and other pampering sessions to enjoy as well.
Following are some of the highlights we captured while visiting. Scroll to the end of the post for a complete list of attending vendors and links to their websites.
Guests mingle with wedding professionals in one of Jade Studio Productions' gallery rooms
Demonstrations were ongoing throughout the event, which I thought was an especially nice touch. Here, Judy Lee of Iridescence Bridal Couture discusses options for bridesmaids' dress styling
Eco-friendly options by Iridescence Bridal Couture. Gown on right is made from a blend of hemp, silk, and other "green" materials
Flower display by De Young Flowers
Cakes by Goldilock's Bakery
Baked goodies and gelato station provided by Kicks Cookies and Ice Cream. Great reception idea!
Eleanor Abril of 2Inspire Designs shows off her beautiful calligraphic penmanship
Stationery design by Susanne Wong of Cards De Luxe
I’d say the event was a great success, thanks to the involvement of all the following wedding professionals:
“Ah…New Beginnings” Professional Wedding Consulting (wedding day coordination) ahnewbeginnings.com
A Touch of Elegance (chair covers and wedding planning) touchofe.com
Google’s online collection of office applications, Google Docs, can do pretty much anything those pricey Microsoft Office apps like Word and Excel can. You can even use Google Docs to edit Office files, or vice versa. Plus, with Google Docs, you get to store your documents and spreadsheets online, where it can be accessed from anywhere you’re on the net. Hey, kind of like your wedding website!
Recently, the creative forces at Style Me Pretty collaborated with Google Docs to create a collection of planning templates, which you can access and use for free to help plan your big day. Available are templates like Music List, Wedding Day Schedule, Hotel Blocks, Choosing a Photographer, and more.
To access the templates, just log into Google Docs (docs.google.com), and perform a template search for the keyword “wedding“. Look for templates from “Google Docs & Style Me Pretty”
Perform a template search for "weddings" in Google Docs to access the templates
Search results display listings like this one for a wedding day schedule
View a sample of each document or use it directly for your own planning. This is part of a spreadsheet designed to help you plan and manage your florist choices.
Need to have more than one person work on a document? With Google Docs, you can email the document to a list of people who can then directly edit it, in a collaborative fashion. You can use spreadsheets to collect guest information and import them into your WedShare Guest Manager if you prefer that route over WedShare’s built-in Address Book. Or post schedules and other documents on your website–even embed them into your pages–for guests to access.
Lots of possibilities. Check out the templates and see if they can be helpful in your own planning.
Photo Credits: Logo from Style Me Pretty. Screenshots from Google Docs
This past Sunday Feb. 21 I attended the upscale Southern California bridal fair A Soolip Wedding, held this year at the gorgeous Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. As I mentioned last week, I’ve exhibited at and attended the event in the past and was a bit struck by how much lighter the traffic and overall size this year’s was, no doubt a testament to the economy. Soolip’s Wanda Wen and all the great wedding professionals still pulled off a classy and resource-packed event, though. If you are planning a SoCal wedding, hopefully you were able to make it.
The venue itself is truly grand, both in size and beauty. Vibiana is a restored former archdiocese cathedral, and any event held here is going to be breathtaking. I’d imagine that weddings with a smaller guest lists could easily find themselves overwhelmed by the scale of the space, but for a large event it would be amazing.
There was plenty of food and drinks available, along with some great panels on hand to field questions at the “Engaging the Experts” sessions. Lots of inspirational booths and exhibits, as well. All in all, a great event to attend for those planning a wedding in the area.
Inside the Vibiana, a former archdiocese cathedral
Wolfgang Puck chefs prepare some tasty samples
Beautiful (and delicious!) creations from Vanilla Bake Shop, whose Amy Berman was on hand to answer questions in the "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" Engaging the Experts session
Chic booths aplenty, including this one by A Private Affair Events
Every now and then, a story comes along where you just have to say…”what the heck??”
photo via Mashable.com
This is one of those times. According to Entertainment Weekly, Josh and Ting met at an Apple store, and apparently are big fans of the company’s products. So much so, in fact, that they decided to hold their wedding ceremony in the Apple store at Fifth Avenue in New York. An Apple store employee tweeted the news, alerting the world to the first-ever wedding ceremony in the house Mac built.
“We got to know each other because Ting was looking to buy an iPod,” says Josh, “and I managed to strike up a conversation that way… I used to joke that the Apple Store is my church because I am not religious, and I loved everything Apple.”
Well, smack me with an iPad and call me Steve Jobs. Ain’t that just the cutest thing you ever did see? Thanks to Mashable’s Brenna Ehrlich for posting this geektastic union!
If you’re planning a wedding in the Los Angeles, CA area, here’s an event you won’t want to miss. This Sunday, February 21, “A Soolip Wedding” will be hosting some of the most unique and distinctive bridal resources in the Los Angeles area, and is a must for all brides- and grooms-to-be, wedding planners, and those looking for some haute inspiration in SoCal.
The event, which has been running since 1999, was created by Wanda Wen, founder of boutique stationer Soolip (soolip.com). A Soolip Wedding is a celebration of inspiration and “discovery of amazing style,” says Ms. Wen. The idea is to showcase the absolute best in all wedding resource categories and present them to the upscale modern bride in Los Angeles. Also featured are fashion shows and a number of “engaging with the experts” sessions, during which you can engage panels of etiquette gurus, beauty professionals, culinary experts, and more.
WedShare has exhibited at A Soolip Wedding in the past, and I’ve attended myself, so I’m familiar with the event…it’s a good one, and you’ll find a lot of inspiration here. Plus, the venue itself is absolutely amazing.
If you’re in the area I highly encourage stopping by; tickets are $35 if you purchase online by Saturday, and they include your chance to win a number of quality raffle prizes (can you say 6-night stay in Bora Bora for two?) Here’s Sunday’s schedule, and you can find all the details on the Soolip Wedding website, or by calling Soolip’s information line at (310) 628 - 9930.
A Soolip Wedding 2010 Schedule of Events
Sunday, February 21
11:00am - 3:00pm Vendors open for exhibition
12:30pm - 1:00pm Monique Lhuiller Fashion Show
2:00pm Cake & champagne in the Courtyard
2:30pm Raffle
3:00pm Event Concludes
I may attend the event to check out this year’s exhibitors, and if so I’ll put together a follow-up post next week.
On behalf of the WedShare contest judges, I’ve definitely enjoyed visiting all of the website entries that couples have been so generous to share with us, and once again I sincerely thank everyone who participated. Of course for every contest there must be a first-place winner, and for this contest…that winner is Lou and Chris! This was all about putting that personalized stamp on your site, making it say “you” like none other. You have to browse Lou’s and Chris’s wedding website to really appreciate just how much it is specially tailored.
From the opening tunes (PYT…gotta love M.J….) –to the soft custom color scheme that was blended in perfectly with a customized, fun logo/header background–to some great uploaded pics–this site rocks. Our hats off to you two, Lou and Chris, your website is officially the staff’s favorite and first place winner of our very first Creative Wedding Website Contest!
Lou’s and Chris’s big day is coming up on May 29th, and if their website is any indication, it’s going to be something. Lou wrote in her 8th grade journal that she was doomed to roam the earth alone (now that’s some deep dystopia for a middle schooler!) but luckily her soulmate Chris proved her gloomy prediction wrong.
Take care, everyone, and congratulations not only to all our winners, but to all the contestants who shared in the contest. May today–and every Valentine’s Day to come–be a celebration of your love and union.
See you back here Tuesday (Prez day in the states, so we’ll be off Monday). Don’t you love those 3-day weekends?
Hope your V-day is going swimmingly, all. Is love in the air yet? Well, it is for Kyle and Tara, the third-place winners in our Creative Personal Wedding Website Contest. These two put together a website that really rocks.
And speaking of websites that rock, allow me to unveil the runners-up in the contest….
Congratulations to Adam and Thilini, our second place winners!
One thing the staff was looking for when selecting winners was code-level customization, meaning couples who changed up their website on the HTML code level. Using the HTML view of the content editor, you can actually change the backend code of your wedding website and add third-party scripts, applications, or web services. Not only did Adam and Thilini use the provided design tools to customize colors and their own background header imagery, but they added some of their own code tweaks, too…like an interactive quiz and a third-party photo browser/slideshow. Nice!
Putting together a wedding website that rocks isn’t rocket science, but even if it was, these two lovebirds shouldn’t have a problem handling it. Adam and Thilini work together at NASA (Thilini’s group is responsible for the space shuttle’s main engines and rocket boosters!) They’re getting married next month on March 20! Right around the corner. Nice job guys, you’ve put together a beautiful site!
Okay, we’ve got one more winner to announce! We’ll be rolling out the staff’s pick for First Place a bit later today. When you’re ready to take a break from the evening’s wine and chocolates, stop on by…
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From the opening tunes (PYT…gotta love M.J….) –to the soft custom color scheme that was blended in perfectly with a customized, fun logo/header background–to some great uploaded pics–this site rocks. Our hats off to you two, Lou and Chris, your website is officially the staff’s favorite and first place winner of our very first Creative Wedding Website Contest!
