Bonita J - Tips for Choosing Hair Accessories

Bonnie, owner of Bonita J, a bridal jewelry company, has stopped by today to give some tips and advice on choosing hair accessories for your wedding.

Hair Accessories for Brides & Bridesmaids

Selecting your hair accessories for your special day is an important final touch that will bring your entire look together. There are a few items to consider when selecting your hair accessories.

The first item to think about is the dress. Does your beautiful gown have any beading on it at all? Are there pearls, crystals, or rhinestones? If your gown does have embellishments on it, then use that as a starting point for your hair accessories. If you have pearls or crystals or both, select hair accessories that have those same pearls and crystals, as well as in the same color palette.

The second item to consider is what type of girl are you. Are you a tiara girl? Do you prefer something a little less understated, but still want that elegant and sparkly addition? Although tiaras are a traditional choice for many brides, not everyone feels totally comfortable in them. If you are that girl, a different hair accessory is the way to go. There are many other options which include hair combs, hair vines, hair pins and head bands.

Taking a simple single pearl or single crystal hairpin and adding about 6 – 8 of them to an up do adds a great splash of color and sparkle that looks great and is not overdone. Hair combs are a great choice for the side of a partial up do, to place on the inside seam of a French twist or on top of a chignon. A hair vine is a nice option to wrap around the side of the hair or work into a bun.

There are many hair jewelry accessory options for brides. If you are not to sure about a tiara, you now know that there are multiple ways to add that fancy sparkle to your hair to finish off your look and coordinate your colors.Thanks Bonnie for the great tips! Be sure to stop by Bonita J to check out their entire line of bridal jewelry. As an incentive for my readers, Bonita J is offering an exclusive coupon code for 15% off of your entire order (one use coupon - no minimum order). The coupon code is: LEMIGA

CAP Index Corporate Event

A few weeks ago CAP Index hired me to do the decor for a small cocktail party to celebrate their 20th anniversary

(All photos courtesy of Andrea Taylor Studio)

The event was held at STATS in downtown Atlanta.

Part of the event took place on the roof deck. Which has a great bar and flat screen TVs.Because the guests were 90% men, the client wanted the decor simple and not too extravagant. We used a color palette of black and white with touches of red.The client had a great idea to display facts from 20 years ago - in 1988. Melanie at Lucky Paperie did a great job with all the signage.

Off the roof deck, we also used the Adidas room.The overall space was very masculine with wood floors and exposed brick walls. You can also see the bar below was concrete with metal bar stools. White orchids swirled on black metal wire added just a little floral accent on tables without it being too overwhelming.

On the hi boy cocktail tables we used simple white orchids in square vases on top of black rocks with red votive candles.
Angie at Birch Blooms did a great job with the flowers!And here is the anniversary cake from Sugarplum Visions Thanks again to CAP Index for the opportunity to help with your celebration and happy anniversary!

Chasing Spayde Designs Sale!!

I love a great sale, and my friends over at Chasing Spayde Designs, are having a holiday sale! They are offering their custom boxes at a huge discounted price to any order placed from now until December 31, 2008. Here is how it is going to work:

All boxes must be purchased in quantities of 20 and the discounts are based on quantity.

For the first 20 boxes ordered you will receive a discount of 30% off the regular price!!!

For 40 boxes ordered you will receive a discount of 40% off the regular price!!!

And for anything over 60 you will receive a discount of 50% off the regular price!!!

To order your favors you can email Chasing Spayde Designs at sales@chasingspayde.com or check out their website

These are not just for the holidays, but for any special occasion you may have coming up!

Inkspot Workshop Giveaway

Inkspot Workshop is offering up a set (reader's choice) of newlywed notes. How cute are these?!

These make great shower gifts, etc.. All you have to do to win is to leave a comment to this post stating how you would use these newlywed notes. Contest ends next Friday, October 3rd.

Inkspot Workshop

Today I am featuring stationery studio Inkspot Workshop. Although an Etsy seller and therefore available everywhere, I love being able to feature an Atlanta based company!


Lemiga: Tell us a little about Inkspot Workshop- what range of services do you offer?

Inkspot Workshop: We officially launched in April 2008 on Etsy.com, an online hand crafted market place of sorts. We are located here in Atlanta and everything you see in my shop is thought up, printed, folded and glued by yours truly. We mainly offer customized/personalized paper goodies, but also carry items ready to ship. Everything from babies to birthdays, weddings to dinner parties, you name the event, we can make up something to really help make an event a lasting first impression. We strive for a simple, modern look to our items.
Lemiga: Why did you decide to start Inkspot Workshop?

Inkspot Workshop: I've always dabbled with designs on my computer for work, making flyers, etc. I have been a professional sales rep for 13 years and selling medical products for the past 7. As one can imagine, with the sterile nature of medical supplies, I had to come up with some fun ways to sell my products. You've never seen such inspiring iv catheter flyers in your life :) It was so much fun, I started to use my skills more often in my personal life by making up my own invitations and even stationery for my friend's kids.

Then almost 4 years ago I got married. We had a destination wedding with 35 of our closest friends and family on the beautiful island of St. John. I came up with a logo and color theme and made everything myself, including the menus, favors, goodie bags, you name it! I got bitten by the design bug pretty badly at that point and knew my future would include something in this area. Exactly one year later my son was born and that brought me right back to operation creative mode again. I came up with super cute birth announcements and each year his birthday party invitations and favor tags just keep getting better.

I am so thankful to report continuous monthly growth which is far exceeding my expectations. There is no better feeling than knowing you've helped make someone's wedding or baby shower or birthday extra special with something you created with your own hands.

Lemiga: What new stationery items are you working on right now?

Inkspot Workshop: I'm rounding out my Holiday 2008 line as we speak. Everything from blank notecards to fully personalized Christmas and Holiday cards will be offered. Adorable gift tags and holiday party invitations will also be part of the mix. It's quite a consuming process, considering once you think an idea up, it needs to get on paper, then in pictures for my online shop. Additionally, my new Custom Party Packs are really filling the need for people looking for a 'complete look' to their events. They are like a party in a box and include invitations, matching thank yous, favor tags, etc.
Lemiga: What inspires you when you're creating stationery?

Inkspot Workshop: When you have a creative brain, which I have had since birth, inspiration happens all the time and at the strangest moments. Quite often I am inspired by fabric, oh how I love bright, bold prints! My mother has this really cute rug in her Florida room and I just loved the color combinations of the stripes and dots, very much like sherbert colors. I grabbed my laptop and before you knew it, my All Occasion and Sherbet Dot cards were born.
Lemiga: Which invitation has been your favorite to design thus far?

Inkspot Workshop: Wow, that's a toughie, but I would have to say it's all of my Pinwheel designs, which include Pinwheel Flowers, Pinwheel Ice Cream Cone and just the Pinwheel. I really enjoy using dingbats in my designs.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! For those in Atlanta, Inkspot Workshop is sponsoring the First Annual Hand Crafted Fall Showcase on October 4th with a group of Etsy craft sellers. If you're a paper and craft nut like me, this is one event not to miss! See all the details on Inkspot Workshop's blog.

Andrea Taylor Studio

Today I have the pleasure of featuring Atlanta photographer Andrea Taylor Studio. Andrea has stopped by today to share with us her wedding photography.Lemiga: How do you describe your photographic style?

Andrea Taylor: I describe my wedding photography style as "storytelling". My idea when working a wedding is to retell the story of the day with all its details, emotions and special moments. I strive to capture the events of the wedding day in a manner that when played back through the final images will allow the bride, groom and their families and friends to live through that day over again.

Lemiga: What do you enjoy most about your job?

Andrea Taylor: I am a hopeless romantic and I am very much a people's person, so I simply love weddings overall. I tear up at every single one of them! I really enjoy many different things, the family union, the anticipation, the emotions. I love all the details that are involved in such a day, all the thought that each bride & groom put into the different elements that will be part of their day and enjoy photographing them. I love the emotional connections between the people attending and to watch each moment unfold and capture the spirit of it all throughout the day.

Lemiga: What qualities should a couple look for when hiring their photographer?

Andrea Taylor: They first want to look at the photographer's portfolio online. You want someone that has an imagery that you like, that you can emotionally connect with. After that, you want to meet the photographer and see if you actually like them in person. You will spend a lot of time on your wedding day with them and I personally think you want to feel a positive connection with whoever you choose. You also want to look at their albums and other products and ensure that they are the style and quality that you are looking for. Ask to see a full wedding (a slideshow or an album). In that way you will see the photographer's ability to capture your whole day and how each one does that. Then, I would suggest you trust the person you go with. If you liked what you saw, then that photographer will be able to do a similar job for you. My experience is that the couples that trust their photographer and let them be creative and work freely get much better results.

Lemiga: What has been the highlight of your career to date?

Andrea Taylor: My client's positive feedback and support. When a bride or groom call me after the wedding to tell me they cried when they saw their images for the first time. Touching their hearts means I have done the best job for them.
Lemiga: One piece of advice for Brides-to-be?

Andrea Taylor: To enjoy the planning process fully. The wedding day goes by in a blur, and you spend so much time leading up to it. So for me, the best thing to do is to enjoy every single step of the way. Make all those months of decision making and anticipation be fun and think of them as the beginning of the actual wedding day. I also think it is important to remember that women and men are different and that in many cases guys do not care as much about all the little details, so to work on those things that seem tedious to them with our girlfriends or mothers. Trying to keep the whole planning process positive and stress-free is the best that can happen. In the end, it will be a perfect day because of what lies ahead!I have had the pleasure of working with Andrea, and she has such a calm presence that allows her to capture all the intimate moments of a wedding without you even realizing that she's around! I also can appreciate that she makes sure to photograph all the little decor details that I work so hard on! There's nothing worse than getting pictures back and not seeing the custom card box that took me 3 hours to create! Thanks Andrea for stopping by today!

Endive's Anniversary Party

A few weeks ago I attended Endive Catering's open house event to celebrate their anniversary. The event took place at Le Bam in midtown Atlanta. Edge Design Group provided the decor for the event, and I took a few pictures to share with you.

Besides the incredible food, beautiful linens and flower arrangements were all around
Here are a few of the table displays

There are two things I loved about Le Bam as an event space. One, all of their unexpected little nooks that were so cozy and just made you want to lounge around

And two, their outside patio that would be great for a bridal shower, rehearsal dinner or an intimate birthday party

Edge Design Group did such a good job in making sure that no detail was left out with the decor!
Happy anniversary to Endive and congrats on a successful event!