Parisian Chic Bridal Shower

Last week I was contacted by a Matron of Honor to plan a bridal shower. The bride to be loves to travel and has a free spirit personality. So I came up with a Parisian Chic theme bridal shower. The Matron of Honor had no idea what colors she wanted to use for the shower, so I put together a few inspiration boards in various color schemes. I find that this really helps my clients visualize the decor of an event when they can see the colors together.

Here are the boards I designed:

Board#1: Parisian Garden - colors are purple and green with grey accents
Sources - Top: Nordstrom, Dorothy Perkins, Knot; Middle: Nordstrom, Stock Expert, Cups N Cakes; Bottom: Knot, Pom Wonderful, Ravenna Bloom

Board#2 : Vintage Paris - colors are shades of light pink with vintage accentsSources - Top: Amazon, Bridal Bar, Sally Jean; Bottom: Elizabeth Anne, Invitation, Perfume Emporium

Board#3: Sweet and Sophisticated - colors are yellow and grey
Sources - Top: Style Me Pretty, J. Crew, Midori; Bottom: Target, J.Crew, J.Crew

Board#4: Bold and Sassy - colors are fuchsia and red with feather accents

Sources - Top: Lavender Hill, Knot; Middle: Bergdorf Goodman, Lavender Hill; Bottom: Fiore Fresco, Rhianna

Board#5 : Modern Glam - colors black and white with crystal accents
Sources - Top: Toast & Tables, I Dream of Cake; Middle: All Things Bright & Beautiful, Chanel; Bottom: Wedding Paper Divas, The Brides Cafe

So which one would you choose?

Sage Naturalceuticals

Today I have a wonderful interview with Cindy Primm, owner of Sage Naturalceuticals, a bath and body retail shop located in the Castleberry Hills district of downtown Atlanta. I love finding unique products and Sage Naturalceuticals carries such a great range of products that you cannot find in mainstream stores.

Lemiga: What is Sage Naturalceuticals?

Sage Naturalceuticals: Sage Naturalceuticals is a retail boutique which specializes in natural and organic products for the body, face, hair, and home. In the shop are unique items such as hand poured soaps, organic face care products, therapeutic massage oils, artisan crafted bath bombs, and premium soy candles. We carry the bigger brands like Pacifica and Pangea Organics however, are also proud supporters of small-batch brands and local artisans.

Lemiga: What makes Sage Naturalceuticals different from other home and body product stores?

Sage Naturalceuticals: We are one of the only Atlanta area retailers that specializes in natural and organic products. And, our product mix is like no other. We searched high and wide to find the best products out there and in fact, most of the lines we carry can not be found anywhere else in Georgia.
Lemiga: Where is your store located?

Sage Naturalceuticals: We are located in Historic Castleberry Hill, a stones throw from major downtown attractions like the CNN Center, Phillips Arena, and the Georgia Dome. Our address is 238 Walker Street #8 (Enter on Fair St), Atlanta, GA 30313. Ring us at 770-881-8610.

Lemiga: What are some of your favorite products in the store right now?

Sage Naturalceuticals: I'm absolutely in love with John Master's Blood Orange and Vanilla Body Milk. It has a lusciously lovely scent and glides on like silk. It's also perfect for summer because it hydrates the skin without being sticky or greasy. My other favorite products include Stem Organics Intensive Eye SerumHamadi Shea Hair MaskHugo Natural's Brown Sugar & Kumquat Scruband Akee Wakee CandlesLemiga: Any suggestions for unique shower or party favors?

Sage Naturalceuticals: Bath bombs are not just for bath time. They can add interest and fun to themed events like girl's night out or spa parties. A fun idea is to use bath bombs as part of a pedicure treatment. Just throw one in a small tub of hot water, insert feet, sit back and relax with your guests for 30 minutes or more. Once done, feet will be completely moisturized, skin will be soft, and you'll smell like a dream. Follow up with your favorite nail color. Me! Bath Bombs retail at Sage Naturalceuticals for $8.00 each and come in a selection of 'flavors' like Gotta Have it Pomegranate, Choco-holic, and Southern Magnolia. Sage Naturalceuticals is a participating vendor at my Open House Soiree on August 24th at The Solarium in Decatur. So please be sure to stop by and meet Cindy and take a look at some of her unique products. Also, one lucky guest will win a $50.00 gift certificate to her store!

Atlanta's best source for natural and organic products for the body, face, hair, & home.
238 Walker St. #8 (Enter on Fair St.)
Atlanta. GA 30313
770-881-8610
www.sagenaturalceuticals.com

I've been Tagged - 5 Fav Songs

I’ve been tagged by Kathryn at Australia Entertains. It's a "Tag with a Twist": Fav Songs that you hate to admit:

Here are the new rules!

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others you like and tell why.

3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here is my list:

1. "A Song for You" by Donnie Hathaway - my favorite song of all time

2. "Freedom" by George Michael - this is my pretend like I"m a fashion model song

3. "Get Me Bodied" by Beyonce - this is my dance like I'm in a music video song

4. "Breathe" by Faith Hill - this is my sing like I'm a country star song

5. "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette - the ultimate break up song!

I am now tagging:
Andrea at Andrea Taylor Studio
Shana at Crossroads Cottage
Heidi at Zenadia Design
Aletha at Pearls Events
Kate at Altmix Photography
Lucky Me
Gabrielle at Faire La Fete Productions

The Atlantan Brides Giveaway

This is the first official giveaway on my blog! The Atlantan Brides has given me 5 copies of their new issue which isn't even out on newsstands yet! Just leave a comment to this post and I will select 5 random readers to win a copy of this gorgeous magazine! Contest ends Monday June 16th at 6:00 p.m.

The Atlantan Brides Magazine

Today I am very excited to feature The Atlantan Brides magazine. Celeste Couvillon the Associate Publisher of The Atlantan Brides has been gracious enough to give us an in depth look at the magazine.
Lemiga: Tell us a little about the magazine and what types of features readers will find?

The Atlantan Brides: Above all, our mission is to be the comprehensive resource for discerning brides who want and expect nothing less than the best in preparation for their big day. This is accomplished both by the caliber of designers, vendors and professionals we feature in on the pages of our magazine, as well as by our content, which showcases the best the luxury bridal market has to offer, both locally and nationally. Produced by editor-in-chief Elizabeth Ralls, readers will find the same localized, luxury content, glossy format, unsurpassed quality and high-caliber advertisers in The Atlantan Brides which they find in The Atlantan on a monthly basis.
Included in our “Wed Dossier”, readers will find information on: Bridal Beauty products, Honeymoon Hotspots, Gilded Grooms’ Gifts, Global Proposals, Day-of Jewelry, and more. Also in our latest magazine, readers will find glam gowns fresh from Spring fashion week in New York, Atlanta’s hottest new ballrooms to roll out the red carpet for brides, and the latest wedding trends (straight from the mouths of our experts), from signature martinis and rosette-covered pumps to monogrammed veils and runway-style bridal portraits.
Lemiga: How is The Atlantan Brides magazine different from other wedding magazines on the market?

The Atlantan Brides: A few things set our magazine apart from our competitors:

• First and foremost, our readers and advertisers alike are drawn in by our glossy, over sized format and the quality of our paper stock, both of which clearly stick out against our cost-cutting competitors

• A focus on high-fashion. Whether it’s the latest trends from New York’s most recent bridal fashion week, the newest lines of bridal baubles, couture accessories for the day-of (or any special occasion), we pride ourselves on featuring of-the-moment, must-have looks to inspire each and every style of bride• The number of weddings we feature. The magazine has three different ways to showcase weddings — through two-page features, one-page scenes and the multi-shot Hitched section — allows us to feature more than 30 Atlanta couples each issue.

• Our content focuses on creating, designing and buying the very best for brides’ special day, in every category covered. You will never find any articles instructing brides on how to cut corners — in any area. The word “budget” has been eliminated from our vocabulary.

• A Calendar of Events section detailing bridal, bridesmaid and mother-of-the-bride trunk shows spanning a six-month period.
Lemiga: Where can you find The Atlantan Brides magazine?

The Atlantan Brides: Direct Mail - Over 5,000 copies of The Atlantan Brides are mailed to Atlanta’s most discerning women. Controlled Circulation - Distributed to luxury venues, bridal boutiques, high-end retailers, jewelers and wedding professionals throughout metro Atlanta. Newsstand - The Atlantan Brides can be purchased at 39 bookstores across metro Atlanta, select Target retail locations and Publix grocery stores
Lemiga: Do you sponsor wedding related events throughout the year?

The Atlantan Brides: The Atlantan Brides sponsors and is involved in many high-caliber bridal events throughout the year. The marketing staff ensures that the magazine is involved in the right events in efforts to reach the city’s most impressive vendors and discerning brides. Our two marquee bridal events for 2008 are: “An Evening of Bridal Luxury” which was hosted on April 13th at Mason Murer Fine Art and “I Will to I Do” which will be hosted on September 7th at King Plow Art Center. Please see our slideshow from our Spring event: http://lacourphoto.com/slideshows/?f=atlantan-brides
Lemiga: Any advice for the Bride trying to figure out where to start with planning the wedding?

The Atlantan Brides: Remember that there are no bad ideas — only bad implementations of them. When you meet with stationers, floral designers, photographers, planners, dress designers, let them know what you’re excited about, and where you’re gleaning your inspirations from, whether it’s photographs, tear sheets, sketches or a book. Otherwise, settling on a concept that both parties are unsure of can be extremely stressful and fail to meet expectations.

That being said, brides often get overwhelmed by thinking they have to have a theme or “colors.” Some advice I learned from L.A. wedding planner extraordinaire Susie Coelho (which brides will see in our June issue) is not limit yourself to bridal magazines — home and garden and décor magazines can help to broaden your inspirations, and think big picture. Thanks Celeste for taking time out of your busy day to give us an in depth look at your beautiful magazine!

I am extremely excited that The Atlantan Brides is the official media sponsor of my Open House Soiree at The Solarium on August 24th. They are also sponsoring a fabulous giveaway at the open house which one lucky guest will win - the Indulgence Package: get pampered with a $200 gift certificate to Blue MedSpa and feast with a $200 gift certificate at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse.

Vendor Spotlight - Active Production and Design, Inc.

Today I am featuring Active Production and Design, Inc., a lighting design company located in the Atlanta area. Clydette Morton, the Marketing/Public Relations Manager of Active Production and Design, Inc. has stopped by today to give us some insight on how lighting can transform a space for your wedding or special event.

Lemiga: Why is lighting so important in wedding and event design?

Active Production & Design: Lighting is the “icing on the cake”. It is the visual energy of the event. It creates or enhances the mood of the event. It can help to bring attention to certain details that could otherwise get overlooked (the rich colors of the flowers, the brilliance of the silverware, the glow of the bride herself).

Lemiga: For those on a tight budget what types of lighting can they use to make a big impact on a small budget?

Active Production & Design: Up lighting the perimeter of a room and giving it an overall wash creates an intimate feel in a room, a few pin spots on just a select area can make a big difference i.e. the cake, the head table, etc., a gobo on the dance floor for the first dance is always a nice inexpensive touch as well.

Lemiga: What is a gobo?

Active Production & Design: A gobo is a metal or glass “cookie”. It is cut in a chosen shape or pattern and attached to the front of a light fixture. The light takes the shape of the “cookie” and is projected on a surface. Metal gobos are usually the most inexpensive, using only white light. Glass gobos can create full color images to project on a surface in a room.

Lemiga: What is the latest trend for lighting in 2008?

Active Production & Design: Green efforts is on everyone’s mind these days and the lighting industry is no different. There is a big push towards using more energy efficient lighting designs. Some of that would include using a lot more LED lights. LED fixtures for the most part use less energy to produce light.

Lemiga: How can lighting change a room?

Active Production & Design: Lighting sets the tone for a room upon entrance. Using theatrical lighting enables you to bring down the overhead lighting level and create a elegant and romantic mood for the room. I t can change the color of the room without painting the walls. Moving lights can make an ordinary ballroom look like a disco. Up lighting can make a reception hall look like a romantic scene out of a movie. Lighting will help a room become whatever the designer and bride imagines it to be.

Thanks Clydette for taking the time out to educate us on lighting design and how it can enhance the mood and decor of an event.

Active Production and Design, Inc. will be showcasing their work and participating as a vendor at my Open House Soiree on August 24th at The Solarium. So stop by the open house to ask your lighting questions and come see firsthand the lighting design work of Active Production and Design, Inc.

Modern Baby Shower

Lately I've gotten more and more requests for "modern" baby showers. Moms to be are sick of the same baby shower games and typical baby shower decor. I think it makes for a much more memorable and unique shower if you consider the guest of honor's interests and hobbies to use as a basis of the shower's theme and decor.

For my own baby shower when I had my second child, my friends gave me a scrapbooking shower. I really enjoyed making a scrapbook for my first child. But with the demands of motherhood and working I was worried that I wouldn't have time to make a scrapbook for my second child. So having a scrapbooking shower was both unique and very useful. At the shower each guest made a page for my baby's scrapbook so that later all I had to do was add the pictures.

Here is the invitation - baby footprints were used on the front of the invite - and I love the added natural element of raffia to tie it together

When guests arrived, they were able to choose the paper and embellishments to make their pagesHere is a set of finished pages made by one of the guests The cake had the same footprint as the invitationThe decor included colorful spring flowers

And party favors were lotion and lip gloss from Bath and Body WorksMy shower was a great afternoon spent with friends eating and enjoying each other's company while making my baby's scrapbook. Every time I look at her scrapbook I think of the friends and family that made the pages and the great baby shower that I had.

For anyone looking for ideas, here are some great resources for modern baby showers


Hostess with The Mostess has great ideas with instructions on how to recreate the party yourself


Social Couture makes it super easy by providing "party kits" for you to decorate the shower


Swanky Tables blog recently posted a Popsicle Theme party idea that I think would be so much fun for a baby shower - especially during the summer! Check out the post here

I hope this inspires you to think beyond the usual baby bottles and pacifiers next time you're planning a baby shower!

Maui Wedding

Last week a bride contacted me to design a wedding to take place in Maui. The bride's colors are blue, yellow and white. She wants a wedding on the beach with tropical flowers but without too much of a beach theme. Here is the inspiration board I created for this wedding

Sources: top row - brides.com, oli.co.uk, next exit photography

middle row - the knot, wedding style magazine, the knot

bottom row - the knot, monsoon

Vendor Spotlight - Connie Duglin Speciality Linen

Today I am featuring Connie Duglin Speciality Linen & Chair Cover Rental. Rachael Kimbler, the Account Executive for the Atlanta Division has stopped by today to tell us more about Connie Duglin.
Lemiga: How long has Connie Duglin been in business and servicing the Atlanta area?


Rachael: Connie Duglin Specialty Linen has been in business for over 20 years. We have had accounts in the greater Atlanta area and Georgia for many years but just recently established a Georgia Division of the company in January of 2008.



Lemiga: Do you have plans to open an Atlanta showroom?


Rachael: We do plan on opening an Atlanta showroom open to wholesale clients and also to retail clients by appointment-only in the Fall of 2008. The location and exact date is to-be-determined but we look forward to a great place to show off our beautiful linens!


Lemiga: What makes Connie Duglin different from other linen rental companies?


Rachael: We are different from other linen companies in several different areas. We focus 90% of our marketing efforts towards wholesale business and offer many unique services that benefit our business clients. As a business client, you’ll have your own Account Executive who will personally handle all of your orders and account information. For all of our clients, we offer a huge selection of colors and types of linen…everything from your everyday solid linen to high-end specialty linens. We also offer linen appointments for our retail brides. Instead of sending you a few swatches after 2-3 weeks of waiting and then calling in your order to a customer service rep, you can make an appointment with a Linen Representative and choose from all of the swatches available at once. Lastly and most importantly, we offer competitive pricing combined with an straight-forward and easy ordering process!



Lemiga: What types of linen products do you offer?



Rachael: We offer table linens, chair covers, sashes, runners and napkins in everything including solids, imperial stripes, crushed romance or “bichon”, pintuck, and array of sheer overlays. We are bringing on a ton of new fabrics this summer such as bengaline, crinkle taffeta, eyelash pintuck and several new colors in our most popular linens!



Lemiga: Choosing linens can be overwhelming for some people given all the choices and products on the market. Any advice on how to make it easier to decide what type of linen is right for your wedding or event?


Rachael: My advice to brides is to determine your color scheme first. Then when you have your linen appointment, we will only show you the options that will work with your event. Also, come with your budget in mind and communicate that to your linen representative; with so many options in our inventory, we can tailor our linens to fit most budgets! Finally, if you have pictures of your dream wedding or swatches of other colors included in the wedding, those also help to narrow down the options. Linens can make any event pop, so the more information we have the better able we are to help you make the best decision!

Thanks so much Rachael for taking the time out to talk to us about Connie Duglin Speciality Linen and providing some insight on choosing linens for weddings and events.

Connie Duglin will be showcasing all of their newest linen selections at our Open House Soiree on August 24th at The Solarium. So be sure to come out and meet Rachael and to see firsthand the range of linens that Connie Duglin has to offer.

SAVE THE DATE

I am very excited to announce my 2nd Open House Soiree which will take place on Sunday, August 24th, 4:00pm-6:00pm at The Solarium in Decatur.

Last year, I had my 1st Open House at The Chocolate Pink Cafe in Midtown. It was great to meet new people and have a chance to show off my designs.

This year the Soiree is going to be bigger and better in every way. First, The Atlantan Brides magazine has signed on to be the media sponsor and will be doing a fabulous giveaway!

Second, in addition to being treated to live entertainment, appetizers, and getting great wedding and event decor ideas with my creative table displays, this year all of my talented event partners will be there to meet you in person!

So far the list of vendors include:

Media Sponsor - The Atlantan Brides Magazine

Invitation Design - Socially Write

Linens - Connie Duglin Speciality Linen

Photography - Altmix Photography

Photography - Sky + Carla Photographers

Caterer - Tucker's Catering

Event Draping - Atlanta Drape & Event Design

Videography - CMV Productions

Lighting Design - Active Production & Design, Inc.

Photobooth - WOW Photobooth

Floral Design - Flora Design Studio

Mobile Spa - The Spa Flow

Bakery - Sugarplum Visions

Entertainment - Avalanche Entertainment

I will be posting all the event details very soon - and you can also check out the June issue of The Atlantan Brides magazine in the calendar of events section.

Over the next couple of months I will be doing a blog spotlight of all the wonderful vendors who will be at the Soiree so you can get to know them a little before you meet them in person at the event. And I hope to see all of you there!