Styled Shoot // A Marilyn Monroe-Inspired Wedding

Marilyn Monroe was our inspiration and French Creek Estates was the perfect venue for this bridal shoot to take place. With the styling of wedding planner PS I Love You Events and many other wonderful vendors, Jess H. Photography was able to capture the elegant and romantic side of Marilyn.

Our bride, Katrina looked classy in her Irune by Atelier Pronovias gown from MeaMarie Bridal Atelier. Katrina’s makeup was applied by artist Alexis Marie Makeup, using Dinair, LORAC, and MAC cosmetics. Hair was styled by Hair by Ceann Cherry, and finished off with vintage pale pink roses and gold pins from With Love, Ries.

Flowers by Tiffany pieced together a breathtaking bouquet, table arrangements, and loose florals of white hydrangeas, pink and white peonies, pale pink spray roses, blue thistle, dusty miller, and seeded eucalyptus.

Simply Sweet Cupcakes created a dessert table full of beautiful and delicious baked goods. There was a variety of custom sugar cookies - the stunning cream and pink sugar cookies were even topped with gold pearls! Classic vanilla raspberry cupcakes with white pearls, rosette vanilla buttercream cupcakes with gold pearls, and ruffled pink champagne cupcakes with white pearls were available in mini and standard sizes. And to bring it all together, a beautiful pink champagne cake and tiered vanilla buttercream cake were made. ‘Some Like It Hot’ is a little word play, which came from Chuao Chocolatier’s Sugar & Spice Bonbons that we had fun incorporating into the shoot. Chuao creates all-natural hand crafted artisan chocolates, using ethically sources cocoa. Oh so pretty heart-shaped dark and sweet passion (fruit) favors from Chuao were also included in the shoot. Beautiful milk glass contained a selection of sweets from Sugarfina, a candy boutique which provides fine and high-quality candies from around the world. 24K champagne and gold marshmallows, pink chocolate sparkles, golden truffle eggs, (lipstick) licoricerockies, caramel toffee kisses, pink and white princess pearls, and champagne bubbles were the pretty confections that filled the timeless pieces of milk glass. The milk glass and other décor elements from Restless & Refurbished added to the displays to help create an elegant & vintage feel for the shoot.

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Jess H. Photography // Photography
French Creek Estates | Snohomish, WA // Venue
PS I Love You Events // Wedding Coordination
Flowers by Tiffany // Floral
Simply Sweet Cupcakes // Bakery
Sugarfina // Sweets
Chuao Chocolatier // Sweets
Pronovias | MeaMarie Bridal Atelier // Bridal Gown
Restless & Refurbished // Rentals
Hair by Ceann Cherry // Hair
With Love, Ries // Hair Pretties
Alexis Marie Makeup // Makeup
 

Why Every Couple Needs A Wedding Website

My Alpha Phi sorority big got married this summer in Florida and I live in California, so we had a whole trip planned for the week after the wedding. As I was packing, I realized that it would be smart for me to bring the wedding address with me, so I wouldn't have to text her and ask her where the wedding was at. First of all, she probably wasn't going to have her phone on her that day anyways and second, no one wants to bother a bride with silly details like that on their wedding day or even wedding week! Being a wedding planner and a past bride myself, I know she would have enough to worry about.

So I went to where I keep all of our wedding invitations and important documents and unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find it anywhere. I searched the house and it was no where to be found and while I had a mini panic attack for a second until I realized that they had a wedding website with all of the information I needed! (I did later find the invitation when we got back in town...it was being used as a bookmark in my pregnancy book...oops!)

I went onto their website on my phone, clicked on the page with the address, and voila, I was all set!

Despite my misplacing their invitations and using their website as a backup for my problem, there are three reasons why every couple should have a wedding website:

Squarespace Wedding Websites

1. Important information at your fingertips

Pretty much everyone has access to internet on their phone, so with last minute details and directions potentially needed, all of your guests can easily find their way to your wedding without a hitch! And you can add updated information on there so in the case of a change, you don't have to call everyone on your guest list.

2. It's fun!

It's as simple as that - it's fun to sit down and lay out all of the details of your wedding with your fiance. It could even be a fun date night idea for the two of you to design, reminisce over old photos from when you were dating, and get excited for what's to come!

Squarespace Wedding Websites

3. It's more cost effective.

We all know that the more information you have stuffed into the those envelopes, the more costly your invitation suite will be. You need to add directions, things to do while your guests are in town for the weekend, registry information, an RSVP card, and the invitation itself. And not only does that mean more inserts you need to purchase (or spend time printing from home), but that means a heavier invitation which leads to more expensive stamps. So why not send out your beautiful invitation with your website listed at the bottom? That will solve all of your problems!

You may feel as though the task is daunting or you may be thinking, "I just don't know how to create a wedding website!" but sites out there make it so easy to create and design your own custom site for a very small fee or even for free! So from a guest and a bride's point of view, it is very much necessary.

Did anyone else decide to have a wedding website? If so, include a link below in the comments so we can take a peek :)

Just Put the Phone Down

In a world full of technology, we feel that we are closer to so many people but in realty, we are pushing ourselves further and further away. As a wedding blogger, I am working all day every day - updates on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram in order to find the best inspiration for all of you, means I am on my phone a lot. And I mean a lot. I do my best to respond to all comments and questions that come my way, and try to respond to every email I receive immediately. The reason for this? I want to ensure I am giving a little inspiration throughout the day, and am always on top of the new trends, tips, and struggles brides-to-be are going through so I can help!

And although there are probably few bloggers reading this, I know that many of you can relate.

You get a new notification and you have to check it immediately. Or you have to scroll through your favorite wedding Instagram account to see what recent photos have been posted from the accounts and friends you follow. And with this, comes distance in a relationship.

Time and time again, I find myself sitting with my phone in my hand, eyes glued to the screen, forgetting that my husband and I are trying to enjoy a movie night at home. And I always think to myself, "Well, we aren't talking anyways since we are watching a movie, so why does it matter if I am on my phone?"

And then he comments on a part of the movie that I totally missed. I thought I was hearing it in the background while posting a new lovely wedding gown on Instagram but clearly, I was mistaken. So yes, it does matter.

So while we can't deny that technology is great at times - we can Facetime our husbands while they are on a work trip, and actually see their faces while we speak with them...crazy! - technology has to be affecting marriages and pushing us further and further away from each other.

And so, let's do our best to put our phones down. If you can't resist the urge, then just turn it off or place it on the other side of the room where you are not going to be able to grab it easily when that text tone goes off. Yes, I know we are never going to be without technology and as long as I am a wedding blogger, and I will continue to be on my social apps throughout the day and throughout the evening. But let's all make a plan to at least enjoy dinner or a movie without the interruption. Because two hours without it is definitely not going to kill us but two hours with it may, in fact, negatively impact the way our marriages turn out.

Do yourself and your marriage a favor, and just live in the moment...the moment of just you and your loved one.