Zewing Girl! Unique and Amazing Bridesmaid Gifts!

I celebrated one of those significant birthdays earlier this month, and my mom surprised me with having Tracy from Zewing Girl come to her house and had me pick out a homemade gift. I was ecstatic to do this mostly because I had been secretly (okay, maybe not so secretly as I tend to be a bit vocal) coveting my mom’s latest purchase from Zewing Girl. She makes these amazing watches that have interchangeable straps so you can pick a color, pattern, or design for each outfit or mood you may have.



For example, here is the watch I have on today.

 
I also have 3 other colors and patterns of straps to change depending on what I am wearing or in the mood for. But she makes many different kinds!
 

Finding bridesmaid gifts may be one of the more difficult things when planning a wedding. You want to make sure to have something that is unique, beautiful, and fits each of your girls’ personalities. This task may sometime feel impossible. However, I thought that these watches and the other products that Tracy makes would be an amazing and personal gift to give each bridesmaids! This way everyone can have something "the same, but different" and it is something that will be worn all the time. You can also pick out colors and patterns that reflect each of your bridesmaid personalities.  

She also makes other accessories that could  be worn during the wedding, for example, here are some bobby pins and hair ties.

These are just a few of the products that she sews (or zews as her young daughter says). She makes scarves, skirts, lanyards...you name it, she can probably zew it! So, take a look at her website or email her for more information by clicking here.

I am sure you'll love her work just as much as I do!!!!

Bedazzled Pumpkins

I'm embarrassed by how long that it has been since I or someone here has posted something, but I am sure I can come up with a million excuses...however I will just promise to try to do better!

I think I have written this before, but I LOVE FALL. I love all the colors, the smells, the changing of leaves, etc. I think this is the best time of year. I love weddings in October because it is just so beautiful.

I was walking into Metro Market in downtown Milwaukee last week were I went past their floral department. I was admiring the sunflowers and then looked down and there were some bedazzled pumpkins! Now, I am not much of a bling or bedazzle kind of person, but I really like how these were done and thought they would be some great accent pieces or even centerpieces for a fall wedding. The ones at Metro Market had letters bedazzled on them but I found some other pictures as well.  This would be a great, easy, and cheap DIY project!
Enjoy!

Groom's Corner ?!?!



Think of it as being an equal opportunity employer…this phrase is what should be included when a man is debating with his fiancé on whether to have or not to have a “groom’s corner.”


According to the Knot, the man’s corner is one of the hot trends of 2011. To clarify, this is an area that has been left aside in the reception hall where all things “men” are allowed. There could be a playstation, a Wii, poker table, cigars, and other stereotypical “man” things. Maybe even a little golfing will makes it’s way in there.

So is this a good idea? Many people will over think this question and come up with an over analytical hypothesis on how it is bias and stereotypical, and how it will separate the crowd. Let’s be real, it’s FUN!!! In fact, I bet the females will love it just as much, if not more than the guys will. If the fiance’s are competitive, maybe there should be a “brides corner” with massages (maybe a male masseuse), cosmo’s, gossip magazines, and mani and pedi’s. Two can play this game

What are your thoughts?

40% off Coupons

When planning a wedding on a budget the DIY projects start to expand and the price tag starts to add up. One of the things that I always tell my brides is to check out the coupon in the Sunday paper for Michael's Arts and Craft Store. When you open the paper and see their ad, on the bottom right hand corner of the first page there is almost ALWAYS a coupon for 40% off of any one regular price item! This can be for invites, flowers, aisle runner, you name it! So, tell your parents, friends, aunts, neighbors to save you these coupons and start using them for all of your DIY needs.

...or just click here...and print out the coupon (but you will need to sign up to become a member)

Reality TV and Weddings!



On Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending a meeting where the speaker was  the fabulous Debra Sadowski from Premier Bride. Her subject was How Reality TV is Effecting the Wedding Industry.

As many of you can guess, bridezillas are equivalent to garlic to a vampire in the service industry (I have GOT to stop reading twilight books). With all the shows that are on TV it was a very interesting and informative discussion. One of the things that we learned, that should be obvious, reality TV. is not always reality and that much of it dramatized (big sigh of relief for all of the event planners there!). However all of the shows have some really great points that should be taken out of it. Below is part of a handout that Debra gave us and I thought it was very valuable about the bridal shows on TV, what they are about and what we should get out of each of them:

• Platinum Weddings – Over the top weddings. When money is no object, watch celebrities, sports personalities and others dream weddings become reality.
  Watch for: Creative ideas galore! Fun to watch interaction with consultants and the artistic process. Great for trends with wedding colors, themes, products and services.
   
•  Say Yes to the Dress - Process of finding the wedding dress. From initial consultation to the fittings, alternation and how the gown appear on the brides wedding day.
  Watch for: How consultants question and work with brides, family members and friends. The dress is one of the most emotional stages of the wedding process. Watch how hidden factors are revealed that explain odd behaviors and how to handle them.
   
• Bridezilla - Focuses on showing out of control brides. Starts about one to two months prior to wedding and up to the wedding day.
  Watch for: Entertainment value only. Highly edited to show the worst in the brides. Some brides have been accused of acting for the camera.
    
•  Whose Wedding is it Anyway - Watch different wedding planners deal with challenging situations to create a wonderful wedding.
   Watch for: Creative ideas. People skills on working to pull conflicting, competitive or other challenging wedding situations together.
    
•  My Fair Wedding with David Tutera-Creates fairytale wedding for couple in “need” 3 weeks before their wedding.
  Watch for: Innovative ideas created from sometimes very odd concepts and themes from the bridal couple. Good interaction and techniques used between David and the bride to guide her into making some changes that will create a better and more long term memorable event.
    
•  Ace of Cakes / Cake Boss-Creating extremely difficult cakes and the drama behind it.
   Watch for: The creative process and techniques used in creating truly over the top cakes for weddings and other parties.
    
•  Get Married – Educational infomercials targeted directly at brides along with real wedding videos.
   Watch for: Tips by subject, told by professionals in that industry

 

Move Over Chair Covers!

I could hardly wait to get into the office this morning so I could blog about chairs! Last night I went to an absolutely fabulous NACE (National Association of Catering Executives) meeting at the Marcus Center for Performing Arts. Before a delicious meal from Sazama's catering, we were able to see the new line and trends of linens for 2011. BBJ Linens presented their amazing creativity as they showed off the colors of the season runway style...yes they had models draped and accentuated in linens! It was amazing!
The room was decorated to the nines and BBJ put chivari chairs around the room to show how their linens can spice up the decor of a chair! Slip covers and chair covers are great, but these ideas are wonderful!
I took so many pictures of their example! Enjoy!

This was one of my favorites

Linen does so much for an event! It can really spice it up or change it from drab to fab (yes...I did just use that phrase). 
Thank you to BBJ Linen for an amazing show last night and letting us share your fantastic creations!

Here is a video of the fashion show and the NACE event. Thank you Amy Johnson from One Fine Day Productions for this!!!!!


NACE EVENT - BBJ LINEN COLOR COUTURE 2011 from Amy Johnson on Vimeo.

Food Trucks!!



2011 is here and I am so excited for the weddings this year! We have our first wedding today, 1/11/11!

One of the upcoming trends to have at weddings in 2011 is a Food Truck. This is one of those things that I can't believe that I hadn't thought of. It's great. Basically the food truck is a mobile kitchen that sets up oustide your venue for your guest to nosh on during the reception. This is an alternative to having a midnight snack bar or buffet.
The great thing about this is that you are able to help out local vendors, and there won't be any waste or left overs that have to get cleaned up. In fact, you can lable this as "going green." :-)

One might think there are not a lot of Food Trucks here in Milwaukee...but if you start to look around you will notice them everywhere (espeically at 2a.m. outside of any street with bars on it).
Here are two popular ones in Milwaukee (click on picture to go to their weibsite)

Street-Za Pizza

Pita Brothers

 I have eaten from both of these places...and I can testify that they are fantastic!

Enjoy!