There’s a certain sequence to wedding planning – that is many decisions are impacted by those made before them. Once of the first questions many couples are asked after sharing their engagement news and wedding date is, ‘what are your wedding colors?” For some brides this answer is as clear as day. But to many others it does not come as easily. Let’s face it, you’ve been inspired by colors, themes, and styles well before you became a fiancée. I don’t know about you, but we find it much easier to be able to see colors side by side rather than imagining what a complimentary palette looks like. Because often you’re not just choosing a singular color or two for your wedding, but rather a combination of hues to outfit your maids, your man, and your blooms.

Magnolia Rouge, a fabulous blog/e-magazine out of New Zealand, is a great place to head over for a dose of color stimulation. I’m in awe of the editor, Kate, who does such a great job at creating inspiration boards for an array of themes and colors. It’s almost overwhelming how good she is at putting together focused styles for your wedding – over 200 boards and counting.

Their Facebook Page also has a handful of great albums focused on colors – Teal, Red and Pink Colour Story and Mint, Peach and Gold Colour Story, just to name a few. Outside of that take just a few minutes on her blog and you’ll fill your pinning fetish for hours! Be sure to also check out the latest e-magazine – The Rustic Issue. We’re weak in the knees with each turn of the page!

I consider myself blessed to be able to share some of the most cheerful and celebrated days in the lives of many couples and families.  We get to witness unparalleled happiness and tears, tears of joy. But it’s weeks like these that we must pause and remember the helpers who often play behind the scene roles keeping us safe and sound until something like this week’s events unfold – our police officers, emergency personnel, and citizen heroes. As a trained social worker who has spent time in developing countries and urban slums, I can tell you that these extraordinary individuals exist across the globe and we should be lucky to cross paths with them in our own lives.

Sadly these events have become too common. I was on campus during the Virginia Tech shootings and lived in Boston shortly after college graduation. Knowing the heartbreak and fear that my friends and former neighbors are experiencing right now hits just a little too close to home. But as many reporters and bloggers have pointed out, if any city has a resilient spirit it is Boston.

It seems as good a time as ever to reach over to your loved ones and tell them how much they mean to you. Celebrate the small feats and allow annoyances to pass. For where there is love, there is life.

Is anyone else feeling like Spring hasn’t really arrived yet?! What’s getting us through these last few days of winter is the excitement we have bottled up for our spring and summer weddings. Can’t wait for one particular September wedding in Hilton Head, North Carolina at Palmetto Dunes. Where will you be spending the warm weather months?

You know when everyone tells you that you can’t do it all. You never believe them, right? Well I am the first one to now admit – I can’t do it all! Since our inception we here at Waverly Road Events have been managing all aspects of our small business ourselves. That is from web design and content management to marketing and of course – event planning and management! We’ve wanted a more clean look that reflects our style and the events that we’ve had the privilege of being a part of for some time now. We just never took the time to act on it. Well we are now happy to say that we have found a crazy talented designer and the rebrand process is underway! 

pinterest.com

We will be working with Emily Baird Design, one of the Metro area’s best independent boutique design companies. She will be creating our new “look” from nuts to bolts and we feel like kids on Christmas eve just drooling over the ideas she has in store! If you’re in the market for any type of graphic design, she’s the gal to go to. She can translate your dreams into reality on multiple media and platforms, including wedding stationary, website design and larger and more unique creations such as signs and installations for your events.

We can’t wait to share more as the creative process unfolds!

Over the past few months we’ve been holed up, keeping warm and dreaming up styles to infuse into our work as we begin to kick the wedding season into high gear. It’s always nice to take the time to gather inspiration – hues, patterns, decor – that we can suggest to clients when they are planning their own event. It’s sort of like building a repository of ideas for our clients’ disposal. And with the advent of Pinterest it’s as easy as drag and drop to create an entire event theme, from invitation design to lighting to menu selections.

We’ve also been extremely lucky lately to meet and work with some lovely and talented colleagues in the wedding world. One way we’ve done so is through styled shoots. Many people aren’t really sure what a styled shoot is. In fact, my family and friends look at me a bit sideways when I try to explain the concept. So I’ll try my best to do so here…

You know all those beautiful features you see on blogs and wedding magazines that aren’t actually “real” weddings but show off all of the creative pieces that make a wedding drool-worthy? Well in our down time vendors love to get together and dream up a theme using all our various talents. Often these are ideas that we’ve had that a client may not have requested recently, but one that we know would look spectacular and have been dying to try. We set-up on location, get to know one another and each others’ work, and piece together scenes from a wedding. It creates a really great opportunity to see how a whole team can work together on future events. Because in fact, it does make events flow seamlessly when us vendors have worked together before!

After the shoot itself, many times the lead photographer will submit the shoot to various publications and each member of the team is able to use the photos to showcase a style that they have achieved. Some argue that putting together shoots like this causes unrealistic expectations for brides on a budget. I must admit I used to feel the same way, seeing all the beautiful shoots and wondering how my wedding could ever achieve such a cohesive look. But what I’ve learned is that the more options you have to pull from, the easier it is for you to transform into reality. Whether you have a crafty hand or you think visually, culling images from a variety of sources can build an event style you never even knew you were drawn to. You can see what flowers will complement the dresses without having to request a swatch from the designer and you can find a whole host of hairstyles and makeup trends to provide your beauty artist to inform your trial.

And shameless plug here – but it really is helpful to have a planner to work with your ideas and see how they can be executed within your budget. Maybe you can’t have all the little decor elements you see in a shoot, but at the same time maybe you don’t really want them all! It’s much more likely you will want to pick and choose elements that you see from various blogs, publications, and self-inspiration and focus on one big idea. Planners do a really good job of picking up on what ideas will go the furthest and can help focus them into an executable plan (that sounds like sports language doesn’t it – game plan anyone!?).

Keep on the look out for a bunch of pretties we’ve been dreaming up these last few months. We can’t wait to share with you!

I remember as a teenager I used to think that once I was adult I would travel the world, be constantly surprised by my husband (whom in my mind would sweep me off my feet with romance), and be showered with glittery jewelry while wearing high heels every day.

Well folks, adulthood is here and I must tell you that I prefer staying home to going out 90% of the time, still enjoy traveling but don’t have near the time or money to do so as I planned, have a wonderful husband though he’s not great at pulling off surprises (sorry honey but I knew within a five minute window of when you would ask me to marry you), my wedding rings are my only source of real bling, and I may throw on heels once a month. But I have to say I kind of love this reality of adulthood. And part of being an adult and making money to spend it the way I want is getting to treat myself occasionally.

My newest toy – a digital camera. Now I know what you’re thinking – “Isn’t she behind the curve on this one?” This isn’t my FIRST digital camera. In fact it’s my second fancy schmansy dslr digital cam. The first one I purchased back when I was still in grad school and couldn’t afford more than the entry-level design. I took an Intro to Digital Photography class and loved it. Then I put the camera down, life got in the way, and I forgot everything outside of how to use the camera in auto mode. And we all know that’s no fun for anyone who considers themselves the least bit creative!

I really had to talk myself into this purchase. What with buying a house and all I shouldn’t be making extravagant purchases. But I loved it just too much!. Here we go…the Nikon D7000…

It’s so heavy (in a good, substantial way) and I love the way it feels in my hands already!! Did I mention I got the camera kit which includes a big boy lens, camera bag and some tutorials too? I’m going to be that big dork watching the tutorial DVD on our big screen tv boring my husband to death. I’m SO EXCITED!

Next week I start a new digital photography class and in this one there’s actually a textbook required. Wee! I imagine I’ll be posting my own pictures quite often now. To my photographer friends – I may not tell you enough but you are so creative and artistic. I appreciate your skills now more than ever. Cheers!

It was a crazy night in Baltimore last night, with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl and all! With all the celebrations going on you can imagine I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep before the sun came shining through my windows this morning. It’s days like this that I need a quick, yet pulled together hair style that looks intricate but saves me time to grab a cup of coffee before hitting my desk.

Although this style has become super popular because of celbutantes like the Kardashians, I still have to admit it’s a simple way to look polished and put together in less than 5 minutes. I find that pulling the bun towards the top of your head automatically makes you look more awake and stylized.

Check out this step-by-step tutorial that is fail proof to create this style yourself.

For a style that would take you from the day to night, the fishtail bun as featured on OnceWed, is simply divine! They have a pictorial guide that takes you through the style flawlessly.

Recently Wedding Chicks featured a “how-to” achieve a messy updo style. Because I love volume and texture, even though my own hair is fine and somewhat flat, this style is right up my alley. It also doesn’t hurt to have the model posing in a Plum Pretty Sugar robe – this very one I luckily own and cherish!

I stumbled upon the Small Things blog when I was looking for hairstyles for my wedding shower and rehearsal dinner. I love that Kate, the blogger, has so many tutorials on how to achieve looks that she posts. She blogs about everything I love (beauty, fashion, and food) including this cutesy braided bun.

Hopefully by the time you’re reading this the hubby and I will in the closing process of purchasing OUR VERY OWN HOME! For someone who has rented for the past 10 years, moving many times over that number has been utterly exhausting. Yes it’s been nice to have had the opportunity to live in the country, the city, and the ‘burbs but man am I ready to have a place of our own. I’m having visions of Crate and Barrel dining room sets and West Elm master bedroom suites. But one of the things I’m most excited for is painting our front door! Some people may think this is tacky or eccentric but I think this simple job has the potential to transform our little brick townhome into an creative, homey haven.

With a brother who works at a high-end paint store (with deep discounts for family members!) I very well have the potential to go nuts with the options. So far I have been drawn to the following…

In a conversation a few weeks ago with family someone mentioned how crazy people are with painting their front doors…YELLOW. I quickly jumped in and admitted that I love yellow doors – what else could make the front of a home more welcoming!? And that folks is why bright yellow lacquer is numero uno on my wish list for our new front door.

But once I started looking at my options, and of course what others have deemed appropriate as a front door hue, I had to start considering a multitude of other options…hot pink, plum-purple, tangy tangerine, eccentric teal green…the list goes on. Now of our course I haven’t actually run these by the hubby yet, so the negotiations process is about to begin.

I must also mention that although our home has a brick facade, many of the neighbors have painted over the whole exterior (old brick + previous owners attempting to paint, then sandblast, and all over again makes for a kind of worn brick look). We are leaning towards this option, because of course if I can personalize any aspect of my house, I will! As we walked through the neighborhood we were really drawn to a deep gray/slate exterior color, so maybe these doors would be a bit more cohesive with that palette…

In any case it’s so exciting for us to have a house to call a home for once, not just a place we are passing through. And did I mention the decorating options I have down the pipeline for my new home office!? Won’t you come say hello once we are settled?

This past weekend we had the absolute pleasure of coordinating Annie and Phil’s wedding at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. I always say if I were to do my wedding again it would be a warm winter affair in front of a fireplace with tons of candles lighting the way for guests. Well complete with snow and all Annie and Phil hosted a lively Maryland themed winter wedding on Saturday evening.

I loved their use of little details that helped pull the theme together – vintage postcards from all over the state that guests filled out with well wishes; Utz chips handed out to guests as favors as they departed; a special toast with National Bohemian (natty boh) beer; red, yellow, and black (yummy chocolate) cupcakes; and a Maryland flag wedding welcome sign. To give you a sense of how loved this couple is, they had many friends and family offer up their talents and skills for the wedding. The bride’s sisters crafted many of the signs, gift and card boxes,and programs. The groom’s sister provided make-up services. And the bride’s cousin provided the gorgeous lush centerpieces and bouquets.

I really, truly enjoyed working with this couple as they are not just clients but friends. Annie and Phil took every stage of the planning process with ease and light-heartedness. I am so grateful that they trusted my suggestions and judgment on their big day, yet kept true to the things that made their wedding vision so unique. I loved meeting their family and friends – you could literally feel the warmth and love resonating throughout the room as they were introduced as husband and wife. And let me tell you – I have not seen that many people rocking the dance floor in a LONG time! Here’s to wishing them many years of happiness

We could not be more thrilled or honored to have our 1920′s inspired shoot featured on Magnolia Rouge and Style Me Pretty!! Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who knows a thing or two about wedding inspiration is familiar with these rockin’ blogs, so we are totally and completely humbled today.

Back in the fall we were approach by the lovely Lori Nansi of Le Mariee about partnering for a styled wedding shoot. Knowing that Lori always has great taste and style, so of course we were so on board! With the help of an extremely talented vendor team of Lori styling hair and makeup, Kate Triano as the photographer extraordinaire, Morgan the floral expert of Petals and Hedges, and Nadia from Say Hello Designs creating timeless paper items, we pulled off a beautiful, crisp shoot at Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg. Drawing true inspiration from the time period we wanted to tie in little details like lace and pearls while the models exuded prohibition era charm. We love the timeless elegance this shoot brought to the modern day, especially our bride’s Claire Pettibone gown!

Check out Kate’s blog post for more fabulous images and details!!!