How Cute Are You!

posted by Leave a Comment

I know you have seen me write about the too terribly cute graphics that friend of the Dish Holly Hatam over at Tear Drop Weddings creates for her stationery line. Well now is your chance to be just as cute.

Like any good designer, Holly is looking for inspiration and who better to inspire her than all the lovely brides and groom out there in Wedding Dish land.

Holly is looking for 20 brides to inspire her. All you need do is tell her your story about how you met your fiance, how you fell in love, your creative ideas and details for your wedding. Then she will choose the 20 brides that inspire her the most and design an invitation around that story. And in return, you will receive a custom designed invitation, but for the price of a design that you would choose out of her ready made collection! That is a savings of $1500!

I love that: Couture at Ready to Wear prices.

Hop over to the blog at Tear Drop Weddings and tell my girl Holly your story: then you can be too terribly cute too!

On another note; congrats to Holly. The boy just popped the question. I can’t wait to see those invitations.

Filed Under: Wedding planning advice Tagged With: , ,

Best Place to Get Married!

posted by Leave a Comment

Last night, here is sunny NashVegas the best of the best gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame for the readers choice awards hosted by The Tennessean.

The Toast of Music City as they are called polled reader in about a bazillion different categories to see who would come out on top. I am pleased to say that I had three dear friends of the Dish take home honors.

The top winner of the night was Cheekwood; chosen as “Best Place to Get Married.” Well gee, I already knew that! Glad to see that every one agrees.

Also bringing home metal last night were Branching Out in the floral category and Michael B’s Music for DJs.

Congrats to all of last night winners, you are The Toast of Music City!


Filed Under: Wedding planning advice Tagged With: ,

Franklin Bridal Ball

posted by 1 Comment

Last night was The Franklin Bridal Ball. I was there to see what was up and catch any trends I could. As you can see I was in great company. Those are two really good friends of the Dish, Vicki Sanders of Branching Out Event Florists and Ashley King-Carter creator of Ashley’s Bride Guide. Yes, we apparently all got the memo: Green is tonight’s color!

There were many beautiful things there but I was inspired by some of the tabletops and centerpieces. It seems that ‘Shiny” is in!  I’ll have more dish on the people and things for last night in the days to come. Stay tuned.

Filed Under: Finding Inspiration Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Wedding Jewelry Inspired by YOU!

posted by 1 Comment

Good friend of the Dish, Mandy Greenan is at it again. This time she is designing a line for her company Tigerlilly with YOU in mind.

Mandy is looking for 20 brides to inspire her; send her your story and your ideas and you may just be one of them. Ladies if you are at your wits end finding the right pieces to garnish your wedding day look, here is your chance to have one of the best custom design your dreams.


I find inspiration everywhere – in nature, music, fashion…
But one of the things I enjoy most and find most inspiring is working with you.
Brides have so much passion and excitement,
I just love to collaborate and come up with custom pieces that are the perfect
accent for you, your style, your day.

With that in mind, let me introduce the first season of the Inspired Collection,
a group of 20 designs that are created for 20 brides. Tell me about you, your
wedding, your gown, your style, your dream accessories, send me pictures,
and we’ll come up with your signature piece.

You’ll be part of our first ever Inspired collection – you help me design it,
name it, and even model it if you’d like!

We’re starting this collection with 20 designs, 20 brides. If you’d like
to be a part of it, please email me at mandy@tigerlillyjewelry.com!
We’re working with all budgets, and we’re looking for a wide
variety of designs, from simple to over the top statement pieces!

I can’t wait to hear from you!

So give Mandy a shout and tell her I said Hi.

Filed Under: Bridal jewlery Tagged With: , ,

A Moment with Tara Guerard

posted by Leave a Comment

As promised I sat down for a chat with Tara Guerard yesterday. Author of the beautiful book Southern Weddings and CEO/ mastermind of Soiree, Inc, she is a planner, designer and consultant specializing in extraordinary events.

The main purpose of my interview was for an article for my website, Think Like A Bride. Still, I couldn’t have this talented of a mind to pick and not get at least a bit for my dear brides.

Since I know this is something brides struggle with as they plan their wedding I asked Tara about establishing a theme for your events. In Tara’s words

“A theme is what brings cohesion to an event. The more of a recurring theme; the more of a statement is made.”

I asked Tara how she found the ideas for these cohesive threads that would tie her events into the beautiful packages that they are. Tara quite simply works to uncover her clients personality; their identity. Taking her cues from the tangible bits they have given her she then

“Clearly states their identity with visual images”

Sometimes you have to find a jumping off point. One bride she spoke of told her little else than that she liked all different colors and couldn’t decide on colors for her wedding and the flowers she liked best were Gerber daisies. Tara went on to build a entire look around gerbers in an array of beautiful colors, even using the image of a gerber daisy on the paper wardrobe. The bride was surrounded by bright colorful things that she loved. Perfect.

The other point Tara emphasized is that by carrying the same cohesive theme from save the dates through to the reception you were giving your guest a clear image of what to expect at the event. One of the hallmarks of a true hostess is thinking first and foremost about your guests comfort. By letting them know with visual cues the feel of your event in advance they will be all the more comfortable at the event. For instance, if you send out very formal invitations to your wedding your guests are likely to take that as a cue that you are planning a formal event. What a shame when they show up terribly over dressed to find a casual outdoor affair!

It is about cohesion. It is about that single ribbon that ties it all together. It is about finding a visual way to express your unique identity. Really, it does make it all so much easier.

Pick up a copy of Tara’s book to see just what a difference it can make.

Subscribe to Wedding Dish by Email
Filed Under: Finding Inspiration, Wedding planning advice Tagged With:

Notes From Lunch

posted by Leave a Comment

I had lunch today with a photographer friend David Wright and Renee Maddison producer of Weddings The Bridal Show. They gave me some interesting 411 on a couple of things.

We got to talking about if couples should see each other before the ceremony. We all know that tradition says you should wait for the ceremony, but is that the answer for today’s couples? David was telling me that one of his recent grooms thanked him for encouraging them to meet before the actual ceremony for pictures. The groom was afraid that if he had waited for the moment his bride walked down the aisle he would have gotten too emotional in front of all the guests. As it was, they had a calm, private very personal moment that they will always remember. Renee said the same thing happened to her at her wedding last year. She and her sweetie Doug were cool as cucumbers at the ceremony. What a great idea.
The other thing David said is that doing the pictures before the ceremony gives your photographer the time needed to really be creative. If you wait until after everyone is rushing to get to the reception before the guests get restless. Rather than being creative it turns from a beautiful portrait to a mere photographic record. David also clued me in that a good photographer only need 45 minutes to be fabulous. A really good one can make magic in as little as 20.

Renee has some exciting things in store for the July 30th show at the Nashville Convention Center. Lots of tie-ins to her Dream Wedding theme. It sound like this show will be even more information packed then usual. She has some wonderful seminars planned on the main stage, including one by yours truly on putting together a storyboard for your wedding.The full schedule will be in the upcoming wedding section in the Nashville Scene. I can’t wait.

Subscribe to Wedding Dish by Email
Filed Under: Guests @ The Dish Tagged With:
%d bloggers like this: