Alli & Ben: Portraits & First Look

Alli & Ben's portraits literally take my breath away. So lets just dive right in and let the photos do the talking...

Alli & Ben chose to do a First Look, which I always encourage unless you have strong feelings against it. This is my favorite image from their First Look...Not only do you get amazing photos like the one above, but you get a very private time together where you can hug and cry and talk. If you wait to see each other until the ceremony, those sweet, natural moments aren't possible. And trust me when I tell you, after you see your groom you'll both be so much more relaxed. The nerves evaporate and your left with pure excitement! Here you can see the progression of Alli & Ben's First Look...

{click to enlarge and see their sweet expressions}

Here are a few of my favorite portraits after their First Look...
Incredible right?! Kudos to Hudson Photography for capturing the day and their emotions perfectly!

Come back tomorrow for their ceremony & reception. You don't want to miss it!

Ben & Alli Scott: Details

Ben & Alli were married October 2nd in Eureka Springs in one of my favorite weddings of the year! This amazing Boston couple decided on a destination wedding in Eureka Springs because of Faye Jones' Thorncrown Chapel which they had studied in their Architecture classes in college. Once the destination was decided, they contacted Finishing Touch to design and coordinate the wedding. Through countless phone calls and emails we worked with Alli & Ben to make their southern wedding dreams come true!

Because this wedding and the photos from Hudson Photography are so amazing, I couldn't narrow the photos down to just a handful. Instead I'll be doing a series of posts starting here all of the fabulous details....

{click photo to enlarge and see all the fab details}

top, left: bridal bouquet, by Finishing Touch - white hydrangea, orange ranunculus, white ranunculus, white roses, orange cockscomb, yellow billy balls, burgundy dahlias, seeded eucalyptus, and other greens. Tied with bride's family tartan.
top, center: groom's boutonniere by Finishing Touch - wheat stalks, orange ranunculus, and yellow billy balls. Tied with groom's family tartan. Pinned on his lapel, is the bride's family tartan (part of their ceremony).
top, right: bride's purple Jessica Simpson shoes.
2nd row, left: custom programs designed by the bride's graphic designer sister, and sewn together by the mother of the bride.
2nd row, center: Junior Bridesmaids carried lanterns tied with a burgundy dahlia and both the bride and groom's family tartans. They hung the lanterns on stands on the altar before taking their seats for the ceremony.
2nd row, right: bridesmaid bouquets by Finishing Touch - purple hydrangeas, orange roses, orange ranunculus, yellow billy balls, burgundy dahlias, and thistle. Tied with bride's family tartan.
3rd row, left: arrangement in vintage flower tin, by Finishing Touch, on rustic stump end table at the cocktail hour.
3rd row, center: wedding rings on a Faye Jones coffee table book that Alli & Ben used as their guest book.
3rd row, right: delicious Almond wedding cake by Eureka Sweets Bakery, topped with burgundy dahlias and set atop a vintage bowl from Finishing Touch.
4th row, left: arrangements in mason jars by Finishing Touch adorned cocktail tables covered with gold linens.
4th row, center: One of my favorite elements of the wedding! We created the table assignments using vintage window panes. The perfect architectural salvage detail for this couple of Architects.
4th row, right: the menu was also displayed on a vintage window.
5th row, left: centerpieces by Finishing Touch consisted of fabulous collections of vintage elements from sewing drawers to tea tins and much more.

The tables were topped with gold satin linens and burlap runners from BBJ...

Place cards, created by the bride's graphic designer sister, doubled as their favors - CDs of traditional Scottish music which was played during cocktail hour.

One of the beautiful centerpieces.

Thanks to Hudson Photography for the amazing images! Stay tuned for more. Tomorrow...portraits! You'll want to come back, I promise.

Amber and Alan: New Gallery Added

Amber and Alan were married in September in a sweet ceremony in their home church, The Dwelling Place, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The reception followed at the Fayetteville Town Center as guests danced the evening away! Here are a few of my favorite images of their day from Erika Dotson Photography...

{click photo to enlarge & to see an awesome detail in this photo --- notice the shades.}

Of course, this happens at any fall wedding...gotta watch the Razorbacks play!
They're officially Mr. & Mrs. Nichols!

Amber chose one of our middle of the road packages in which we sent her a design proposal full of fabulous details. She chose which details to use and executed them herself. In our proposal we included crystal curtains at the corners of the dance floor area and purple uplighting on drapery throughout the room. Amber implemented a version of that design here...

curtains & lighting from Festivities

The beautiful cake from Shelby Lynn's...
DJ Derrick kept the dance floor packed throughout the evening...
Just before the sun set, Erika stole the newlyweds away for a few portraits. I LOVE this one...Beautiful, right?

I've finally added Amber and Alan's gallery to our website! Check it out for all of my favorite photos, by Erika Dotson Photography, from their wedding.

Vendor Love:
Wedding Coordination & Design - Finishing Touch Event Design, Little Rock
Photography - Erika Dotson Photography, Fayetteville
Videography - James Michael Smith, Siloam Springs
Catering - Catering Concepts, Fayetteville
Rentals - Festivities, Springdale
Wedding Cake - Shelby Lynn's Cake Shoppe, Springdale
Reception Venue - Fayetteville Town Center, Fayetteville

Alice and Wonderland Inspiration: Sarah & Danny's October Wedding

Sarah had always wanted to get married at Disney World. When that wasn't possible, she didn't want to give up on her whimsical wedding dream and came up with the idea to do an Alice in Wonderland theme, which I'm absolutely crazy over! We're going in a more modern direction using her cobalt blue and charcoal gray color scheme. I've just finished her oh so fun inspiration board to kick of her wedding design. And here it is....

{click photo to enlarge and see all the fun details}

I'm imagining so many amazing details including gorgeous colorful linens with dramatic lighting, clock parts hanging in the flower arrangements, skeleton key place cards, and a fabulously whimsical wedding cake! This is going to be fun.

For a little more traditional take on this theme, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, check out a few photos from my 4 year old niece's birthday party last Sunday...
Lydia Belle AKA Alice:
We decorated the table with colorful quilts and table cloths and covered it with vintage tea pots and cups, vintage tea tins, clocks, vintage milk glass, candles, tissue poms, and Styrofoam mannequin heads (which we spray painted pink) wearing with vintage hats and jewelry we made from clock parts and old keys. The kids took home these necklaces as their favors (for the boys we put clock gears on black leather strings):Instead of cake, there were delicious petit fours with "eat me" tags for each guest. We purchased adorable "eat me" toothpicks and "drink me" tags from Vintage Twee's Etsy Shop.

Each child wore their favorite Hat for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party...

Annaston was too cool to choose anything but a fedora :)

FYI: If throwing this party for children, make sure you have extra hats laying around for anyone who forgets theirs.

Last, everyone enjoyed our DIY photo booth...
Yes that's me (middle right). My neices informed me that I had to dress up as "bloody big head" (the Red Queen in Tim Burton's version of the story) because I had a big head. So I went all out with the tiny crown and heart shaped lips.

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party is perfect for a bridal shower! And I absolutely cannot wait to run with Sarah's more modern take on the Alice in Wonderland theme for her wedding. It's going to be incredible!!!

Be comfortable in your wedding shoes: Foot Petals Shoes!

One of the most exciting items I discovered at the Annual Conference's trade show was the new line of shoes from Foot Petals! If you're not familiar with foot petals, get familiar! They are a wonderful line of shoe inserts that I believe are the best out there. Set to be released in February, they've created a line of gorgeous shoes filled with built in foot petals to keep you comfortable in your wedding shoes all night long. And besides being comfortable, they're stylish! Check out the black sequin peep toe number below...

With 4 different inserts in each shoe, you'd spend almost as much on the petals alone as you will on these shoes, which start at just $79.00 and go up to $110.00. The photo below lists each insert that is included in each shoe...

3 of their styles...

The poinsetta style (center above) from the trade shoe, dyed to be your "something blue"...
Instead of buying a pretty shoe for the ceremony and a comfy shoe for the reception, consider purchasing foot petals shoes and getting the best of both worlds!