pockets full of sunshine :)

{photo credits, clockwise from top left:1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}

With my sister, Abigail, planning her wedding for June 2010, we've been busy running around and meeting with Kansas City vendors, booking locations and all kinds of fun stuff like that for the past few weeks. After a tip from Sharon at KISS Events, we headed over to Ida's Custom Veils to check out their sample sale of gowns! With discontinued styles 50 to 70% off, it's a great deal if you can find a dress.

One of my favorite things we saw in some of the dresses today? Pockets! I remember seeing Sandra Bullock's Angel Sanchez dress at the Academy Awards a few years ago, and how adorable she looked with the pockets in her ballgown. Are you really going to use pockets in your wedding gown on the big day? Maybe for a lipstick or something small, but I love the sweet, sort of innocent look of the pictures with the brides' hands in her pockets.

Paloma Blanca has a few styles out in their 2009 fall collection and JCrew's bridal line has some sophisticated "pocket" options as well. Geneviere from JCrew (photos 2 and 3) totally reminds me of the dress the younger sister has made in the movie 27 dresses! Abby is still deciding on her dress, but we will hopefully soon find the one! Happy Shopping!

Bridal show winner for $100 off a Letterpress Package!

Congrats to Meredith Foster who we met at the bridal show at the Cashew. She's the winner of $100 off one of our letterpress packages!

West 18th Street Fashion Show

{photo credits, clockwise from top left: www.abigailcarolina.com, inkkc.com, abigailcarolina.com, inkkc.com, abigailcarolina.com, inkkc.com}

The past few weeks I've been involved with helping my sister, a local designer (www.abigailcarolina.com) prepare for the West 18th Street Fashion Show in Kansas City. It's been so cool see the process from start to finish, with her proposals and sketches finally becoming realities!

On Saturday, we were able to work with two wonderful companies on hair and makeup for all of the models. Amanda Williams, of Dollface Aesthetics not only did all of the makeup, but applied fantastic fake lashes for all of the models. She also specializes in eyelash extensions which are really popular for brides these days. These extensions are a more permanent solution for eyelashes, lasting around 4 to 6 weeks. Thanks to Amanda for all of her help with the models. Contact her today about make up for your own wedding. I personally love that she's a redhead with fair skin like me, so I won't end up looking like a clown. (Which I did, on my wedding day. After the makeup artist left, I washed my face and started over. Lesson learned? MAKE-UP TRIALS. )

The ladies from Bangs Salon on the Country Club Plaza gave all of the models fabulous runway hair. They were very efficient and these updo's stayed up ALL NIGHT. Also a key factor when you're thinking about your wedding hair. I know at their salon they also have nail services but it's so nice to have vendors come to you when you're preparing for your big day.

2000 Grand Bridal Show

Thanks to everyone who stopped by at the 2000 Grand Bridal Show Friday night and thanks to Miranda for organizing such a great event. We had a great time chatting with everyone and meeting other vendors as well! Sharon Ivy at Kiss Events stopped by and we realized her husband is a former co-worker of mine. (Small world!) Anyway, Sharon has a fantastically informative and entertaining blog with tons of great ideas for planning your next event. Be sure to check it out! I'll be drawing tomorrow for the winner of our $100 off a letterpress package. We do one of these giveaways at each of the bridal shows so be sure to sign up next time!

Bridal Show at 2000 Grand

For anyone local here in Kansas City that's heading down to First Fridays in the Crossroads tomorrow, stop in to see us and a bunch of other local wedding vendors at the 2000 Grand Bridal open house (upstairs at The Cashew). Their new space is gorgeous-they've renovated the 3rd floor for an "urban loft" feel (so popular these days) and the garage door windows would open up for a wonderful breezy feel to your summer or early fall weddings. I love seeing all of the new venus popping up downtown. :)

If you stop in, say hi! We love to meet our blog readers.

Hand-Canceling invitations for your wedding!

One of the questions frequently asked by our brides is about the option for hand-canceling wedding invitations. I always recommend clients to go to a smaller post-office during off-peak hours and inquire about the option there--many times they are happy to accommodate your request and then your envelopes will have the "hand-stamped" look vs. the machine canceling. These days, everything runs through the machines at some point, so even with the hand-canceling that doesn't mean that your envelopes will end up perfect--but it's a good option to start with.

Anyway, I was reading yesterday about a post office in Oregon that specialized in hand-canceling for weddings: the Bridal Veil location, the second smallest post office still in operation. This website gives you all the details for working with them for this service. What a fun way to personalize your invitations! You can see an example of the stamp on the website as well.

And while we're on the topic--how cute are the new 2 oz. wedding stamps? (pictured above.) Keep in mind most wedding invitations will use at least a 2 oz. stamp, with boxes, etc. more. I also think the new king/queen of hearts stamps are adorable as well. Too bad they're only the 1 oz. price. Use them for your RSVP envelopes!