Venue: Horticulture Center | Caterer: Constellation Culinary | Photography: Jaci Downs Photography | Florals: Treasured Bouquet | Lighting: Eventions Productions | DJ: DJ Frosty | Cake: Sweet Elizabeth’s Cakes | Photo Booth: Reliable Photo Booths | Transportation: Philadelphia Trolley Works and King Limo | Hotel: Hotel Palomar and Sofitel
Images via Jaci Downs Photography
At a recent wedding, the hair stylist was doing a fishtail braid on a bridesmaid. When the stylist told me how easy it was to create, I didn’t believe her. Then she showed me. It’s seriously so simple! So when I came across this tutorial on Green Wedding Shoes, I had to share.
1. Start with messy, textured hair and a deep part.
2. Separate hair into two sections.
3. Take a little piece from the first section and bring over to the second section. Be sure to grab your pieces from over the edge of the braid, not the inside.
4. Bring a piece from the second section to the first section.
5. Repeat until you have finished.
6. Fluff the braid and pull apart to give more volume to the braid.
tutorial and images via green wedding shoes
BHLDN‘s gown trunk show is making a stop in the Philadelphia area March 25th – 28th! You’ll be able to check out their Spring 2015 Trunk Show Collection at Terrain at Stylers in Glen Mills, PA. Appointments are booking up fast, so click here to make yours now!
images via bhldn
If you have a Pinterest account (which I assume that you do), you’ve probably seen a million adorable DIY and homemade holiday gifts. But as we all know, a lot of Pinterest projects have potential for failure (see here, here, and here) and can get costly with supplies. As I was trying to come up with a cute homemade gift, I came across scrubs, which were perfect since I found some small mason jars in my basement. I found that a lot of the “recipes” call for things that aren’t at your local store and I was feeling too impatient to order things from Amazon. So I tweaked and combined a few to make this festive and sweet candy cane sugar scrub. It’s crazy easy to make and uses ingredients that I already had at home (or that you can pick up at any grocery store).
Candy Cane Sugar Scrub
2 cups of granulated white sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil (use a refined coconut oil since unrefined coconut oil has a strong coconut smell and taste)
12 candy canes
a few drops of peppermint extract
4 oz. mason jars
red baker’s twine
sticker labels
1. Put sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2. Unwrap candy canes and put them into a ziploc bag. Crush candy canes with rolling pin until fine.
3. Melt coconut oil in microwave at 50% power for about 30 seconds.
4. Slowly pour coconut oil into sugar bowl and stir as you pour.
5. Add crushed candy canes and peppermint extract to sugar and coconut mixture. Stir well. Go light on the peppermint extract so the alcohol smell doesn’t overwhelm.
6. Put candy cane sugar scrub into mason jars. Wrap jar lid with twine and add label. Happy gifting!
Pantone recently announced Marsala as the Color of the Year for 2015. When I first saw this rich, robust, and earthy shade of red, I did a double take. It was not what I was expecting, but I quickly fell in love. What do you think?
image via pantone
As I was perusing 217 Photography’s blog to see if Erica and Joe’s October 25th Horticulture Center wedding photos were posted, I came across their engagement shoot and had to share! The shoot took place at Historic Rittenhouse Town along Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park. Enjoy!
images via 217 photography
What a beautiful day this was! Loved watching and reliving Sarah and Anthony’s September 27th wedding! Special thanks to Noah of Stoner Media for perfectly capturing their day.
the highlight film of sarah + anthony from noah stoner on Vimeo.
Ceremony Venue: First Baptist Church | Reception Venue: Valenzano Winery | Caterer: Summit Catering | Photography: Matthew J. Rhein Photography | Videography: Stoner Media | Hair and Makeup: Bella Angel | Officiant: | Florals: Leigh Florist | Ceremony Musicians: Cherrywood String Ensemble | DJ and Lighting: Time Productions | Cake: DiBartolo’s Bakery | Transportation: Premier Luxury Rentals and Albert’s Transportation | Hotel: Aloft Mount Laurel and Hilton Garden Inn Mount Holly/Westampton | Rehearsal Dinner: Carluccis Waterfront
Images via Matthew J. Rhein Photography
I was honored to be interviewed and featured in this story by Justin Udo of KYW Newsradio about same sex marriage and wedding planning. You can read the story here or below, and you can listen to the interview here…
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Since 2013, twenty-one states have legalized same sex marriage. So now the wedding planning industry is looking at a whole new market to service and satisfy.
Same sex marriage is now legal in more than 30 states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey included. With this new development, many in the wedding planning industry are trying to figure out how to reach these new potential customers.
“Be aware of your website and make sure that it doesn’t indicate that you’re only marketing to couples that are male and female.”
Christiane Lehman with Truly You Events in Philadelphia says the wedding planning industry in this area has yet to see a boom in business for same sex marriages, but now it’s important to take everyone into consideration.
“I don’t think that the law changed and that suddenly everyone was rushing to get married. Like any couple, gay couples are taking their time and planning a special day that suits their personalities. Now that the laws are different I think that the wheels are turning and the plans are starting to come together.”
But Jaclyn Fisher with Two Little Birds Planning says the wedding industry is starting to take note of its new market.
“One thing I have noticed is the increase in websites services and events marketed specifically to same sex couples.”
Fisher says since it’s still early on so she, too, has yet to see a large influx in same sex customers.
“When same sex couples were given the right in May, a lot of long time couples jumped at the chance to get married. They did so really quickly, since they didn’t necessarily need a wedding planner. I didn’t see a boom, but as same sex couples are getting engaged and planning weddings I am definitely seeing an increase in inquires.
Lehman and Fisher agree that they expect 2015 to be a big year for those in the wedding planning industry who work with same sex couples.
two little birds planning 
