A Moroccan Fete

Olga Earle and I were very excited to host a meeting for the Association of Bridal Consultants last week! Olga is the owner of La Belle Reve--a beautiful bridal salon in downtown Bellevue. We hosted the event at her shop. Although it was a tight fit, we were able to transform the room in to a Moroccan themed event. Swagging draping, pillows, lanterns, champagne cocktails, tapas and a night of entertainment!

Olga and I put our heads together and designed this event and we wanted to bring the hottest trends of 2009 into play as well. Color is a huge trend of 2009. We found ways to bring lots of color into this event--through the food, entertainment, linens, drinks and lighting. Lighting makes a huge statement when trying to create a feeling. We hosted a fashion show of some of the most colorful bridesmaids dress of 2009 as well. Our models were absolutely stunning and did a great job! And what would be a Moroccan Fete without a belly dancer!? Oh my! When Nadira started dancing she was captivating. The room was in total silence...until she unleashed the interactive part of the performance bringing a few good sports up on stage to teach them how to belly dance! The whole room echoed in laughter. Needless to say the event was a huge success!

Here are a few photos..

Looking to firm up before the big day?

I have been attending some of my bride's dress fittings lately and the number one thing I hear is..."Don't worry about letting the dress out yet...I plan on loosing some weight."

While all of my brides are beautiful and do not need to loose any weight, I totally understand the feeling...I was a bride once and know how important it is to look and more importantly feel on your big day! Well, let me share a little secret with you...

Hot Yoga of Kirkland

Some of you might think, yoga is for wimps...I dare you to take a class! ;-) I was a little apprehensive at first as well...but from the first class I was hooked. You have to be able to withstand heat and be prepared to sweat, sweat, sweat! You can burn up to 1200 calories a class if you work hard. I did Hot Yoga before I got married and felt beautiful the day of my wedding. I was fit, toned and radiant...I felt great! I have been attending Hot Yoga of Kirkland off and on since I got married and love going ever time!

Even Ryan, my husband, kept teasing me about hot yoga when we were engaged and I was going all of the time. He kept saying yoga is for girly girls that don't really work out. If you go to the Wednesday afternoon class you will see yoga isn't just for girls...a lot of the Seahawks work out there on Wednesday afternoons...and they say it is one of the hardest work outs they have ever done. So finally I challenged Ryan to come to 1 class...he also became hooked and we went together a lot leading up to our wedding day. It was something fun to do as a couple as well!

I really recommend going a couple times a week. It is truly incredible how quickly you can tone up. If you are a new student it is only $10 for the first 10 classes...what a steel!

Signature Cocktails

The signature cocktail is one very easy way to bring your theme or color into your reception. If you are just hosting beer and wine--add this on for something a little different for your guests to indulge in. Sometimes venues do not even allow hard alcohol--so try a champagne cocktail instead! Better yet, host a champagne bar...a bar dedicated to different colored/flavors of champagne. To acheive different colors, add syrup mixer to the champagne (pomagranate, peach, mango, melon, etc.)

To give you all some inspiration for your upcoming menu tastings I thought I would share some of my favorite easy-to-make signature cocktails to coordinate with the color or theme of your wedding.

I like to encourage brides and grooms to come up with funky names for their cocktails that either have significant meaning to them or they are just fun to say.

Since Valentine's Day is on the horizon, I will start with a Flirtini:

White Cocktail - Flirtini
Martini Glass - Pink Sugar Rim
1oz Vodka
2oz Champagne
2oz Pineapple Juice
Red cherry at bottom to garnish

Ravishing Red Champagne
Champagne Glass - White Sugar Rim
4oz Champagne
1oz Pomegranate Juice
Garnish with a raspberry

Vanilla Lemon Drop
Martini Glass
2oz Vanilla Vodka
2oz Lemonade
Lemon Juice
Yellow Sugar
Garnish with a lemon slice

Chocolate Martini
Martini glass - Crushed Oreo cookies as sugar rim
1oz Chocolate Liqueur
1oz Creme de Coco
1oz Vodka
1oz Half and Half

Tiffany Blue Champagne Cocktail
4oz of Chamgane
1oz of Hypnotique

Melon Tequila Sour
Highball glass - Ice to rim
1oz Tequila
1oz Midori (Melon Liqueur)
Dash of Sweet and Sour
Margarita Mix to fill
Garnish with a key lime

Summer Cocktail - Strawberry Mojito
Highball glass - Ice to rim
2oz Rum
1oz of Strawberry Puree
2 Limes
Muddle with mint leaves
Dash of Simple Syrup
Soda water to fill
Garnish with a strawberry

Hawaiian Straight Up
Martini Glass
2oz Vodka
1oz Blue Curacao
1oz Pineapple Juice
Dash of Lime Juice, Garnish with a Lime

Grooms - not into the blue martini? Host Blue Moon beer at your wedding or do a His and Hers signature cocktail.

For the non-drinkers host Jones sodas that come in a variety of colors. You can even have your own custom label made!

Vows in the Vineyard

I wanted to share a table that I designed for an Association of Bridal Consultants meeting. I called it 'Vows in the Vineyard.' I chose a wine themed table because I work a lot within wine country. There are so many different venues that wineries have to offer and I think that winery weddings are so incredibly romantic. There are old wineries opening up new spaces, older wineries with fabulous existing space and there are ALWAYS new wineries opening up with new event spaces. There are wineries on this side of the mountains and there are even more wineries on the east side of the mountains as well! So many to choose from!

THE DETAILS
Fabulous gilded linens are from Linens by Alice
Yummy salted chocolate favors are by Purple Cafe and Wine Bar

Incredible place cards and menu cards are by Paper Fling
Rentals are from AA Party Rentals
Wine accessories are from Village Wines
Cork floral centerpieces were by Lindeman Weddings

I layered three gold linens to give the table a ruffled effect. Then I placed the top of a wine barrel in the middle of the table. Coiling gold wire around the rolled burgundy napkins and fastening a wine cork to the wire tied in the wine theme. The wine bottles had wicks that burned giving the table a romantic light. And yes, those are real grapes!

Photography by Jack Young with Jack Z. Young Photography.

Bridesmaids Dresses by Color

I think that bridesmaids dress are a way to bring more character to your wedding. I love the idea of mixing and not matching. Colors or styles! Not only to accommodate different girl's body types but to add a little something different to customize your color palate. Here are some of my favorite dress of the season as well as a few pictures that push the envelope when it comes to getting creative with your bridesmaids attire...

As Gray is the new Brown I wanted to start off with a metallic tank top dress by Melissa Sweet. This unique graphite number will be sure to turn heads walking down the aisle.

Here are three playful gray dresses from BCBG that will sure to be effortlessly comfortable at any outdoor wedding.


Yellow is another hot trend for 2009...This casual knee length sundress echos sunshine on a sunny day!


You can't go wrong with black. It is classic and elegant. I love this dress because of the ruffled neckline and the baby doll cut. It is by Alvina Valenta.


Dress your girls pretty...in pink! This sassy magenta spaghetti strapped v-neck dress is by Watters.


For a formal occasion this navy number by Vineyard will look good with any skin tone!


This plum purple knee length dress by David's Bridal accentuates the waist and I just adore the bunched neckline!


This ravishing green dress would look good with so many different accent colors! Pink, Navy, Deep Purple, Yellow or Black, there are so many options!

Funky and sweet describes this adorable lavender dress. Pair with red shoes for a modern twist!

This classic black and white dress can be found at White House-Black Market. It is a retail boutique store you can find in most malls and online. For awesome bridesmaids dresses always keep an eye out at retail stores...you might find what you are looking for at half the price!

All of the dresses below are also from White House-Black Market. This is a bold move for a wedding but I think that they all look great!


I love, love, love this color! And this dress can be found at J. Crew online!

Wedding Show Booth

I just wanted to post a few pictures of our both in last weekend's Seattle Wedding Show. Tania from Azzura Photography stopped by to take a few pictures...Thank you again Tania!

We had fun designing this space. Black and Ivory with a touch of Red is one of my ultimate favorite color schemes for a wedding! I think it is so classy and you can dress it up for a black and white ball or dress it down to be casual and funky. You can look back at your wedding pictures in 10 years and still say that was a beautiful wedding! We tried to create a little wedding in our booth...from place settings to the martinis we covered a few unique ways to tie this theme through any black and white wedding reception!

The favorite was the candy escort cards. You can make up one of these vases for every guest so that they can pick it up and it will have their name and table number on it. Once they have picked through all of the candy in their little vase during the reception, they can head over to the "candy bar" where there is multiple vases filled with assorted candies (that match your color scheme) and they can refill it to take it home with them as favor! This is a wonderful way for your guests to have a keepsake from your wedding, while serving a purpose and it won't break the bank!

Julep Nail Parlor

As many of you know we had a fabulous giveaway at the Seattle Wedding Show donated to us by Julep Nail Parlor. Our grand prize was a 6 person Pedicure Party and our second Prize was a Girlfriend's Gift Bag filled with all sorts of goodies! We want to thank Julep for working with us on that and we had fun notifying our prize winners today! Susanne Kerns is the Event Coordinator for Julep Nail Parlor and she treated Kristi and I to a fabulous Mani and Pedi at the Downtown Parlor! Being a connoisseur of pedicures and all that is spa, I would honestly have to say is was one of the best pedicures I have ever had! Jennifer, my vernisseur at the downtown parlor was so incredibly detailed oriented which as a wedding planner I loved! She was incredibly sweet and fun to talk to!

Finally there is a spa truly perfect for bridal parties! With furniture that can be arranged to fit any size party from 6-50+ people and flat screens to watch your favorite DVD or plug in a slide show, Julep has truly mastered the art of group spa parties. The best part is, you can actually talk to each other without getting "shushed!" I have been to so many spas where they tell you to be quiet for giggling and having a good time. Not here! You can also have food catered by Gourmondos and sip champagne while getting your toes pampered! For more information visit their website http://www.myjulep.com/