BlumeBox Blooms!

Considering purchasing vases or another container for your DIY centerpieces? Or is your florist charging you an obscene amount so you can keep the glassware they provide? Or are you just looking for something unique? Consider BlumeBox!

These little boxes come flat and easily pop into a box shape. Fill a plastic bag with water, place your floral arrangement inside, and voila! Don't forget the boxes are easily decorated with craft supplies (ribbons, sequins, or lace, anyone?) and they're 100% recyclable since the water never touches the cardboard. At $4-$5 per box, they're a steal!

Best feature? Your guests can simply lift the flowers and bag out of the box and take the arrangement home after the reception. No more centerpieces in the trash!

Here's some fun ways you can dress up your BlumeBoxes:

Free Stuff Update

We now have 30 "Virginia is for Lovers" bumper stickers available. Enjoy, Claire!

Hitched Wants your Bridesmaid Dresses!

Have a bridesmaid dress or two lying around? If you're looking for a great way to get it out of your closet, read more about Hitched's Princess for a Night donation program:

Hi Hitched Ladies ~

It's that time again ... time to start cleaning out those winter clothes to make room for the flirty clothes of Spring. And with Spring comes weddings ... and new bridesmaids dresses to fill your closet.

So even though your best friend who got married two years ago went out of her way to pick a dress that you would wear again (you knew it would never happen) ... it's time to clean it out and bring it down to the 2nd Annual Hitched Dress Drive to benefit Princess for a Night.

Beginning April 1st , and continuing throughout the month, we invite you to stop by Hitched to donate your gently worn (and dry cleaned) bridesmaid dresses (in all sizes!) that will go to students in our community. Due to the great expense of prom dresses, these girls might otherwise not be able to afford a dress for this special night.

So clean out your closet and make a girl's taffeta, silk, or satin dreams come true! And feel good about you; someone will wear the dress a second time.

Help us reach our goal of collecting over 100 dresses for these girls.

Many thanks in advance for your support of this great cause,

Carin & Julia

Hitched is in Georgetown at 1523 Wisconsin Avenue.

Fab Save-The-Date Stationery

All this week the PopSugar network is celebrating Engagement Week! With that, FabSugar has found some amazing Save-the-Dates and I wanted to share:


See their post and more photos here!

Free Stuff!

First person to email me gets dibs!

80 "Virginia is for Lovers" bumper stickers

My dear friend Justine has 80 of these stickers leftover from her wedding this past fall. She included them in gift bags for out-of-town guests, which I think is simply adorable! Here's what they look like (although they're slightly skinnier...you can see the actual stickers and their real cost here):
In case you don't believe me (you silly disbelievers, you...), here's a shot of the gorgeous Justine on her wedding day! From left to right, Ashley, Justine, Jen, & me!

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at the new website! It's still very much a work in progress, but I'm super excited and wanted to share!

Blades of Glory

Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with weddings or wedding planning.

This photo really makes me want to see Will Ferrell & John Heder's new movie:

Blades of Glory comes out March 30th and I can hardly wait! Will Ferrell, John Heder, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Fisher create an all-star cast for the ice skating flick. Andy Richter, Craig T. Nelson, Scott Hamilton, and Rob Corddry even make appearances!

Despite my earlier post, I swear I'm not obsessed with ice skating or Scott Hamilton. I just think this movie looks classic!

Cake Love

No, not that cakelove (although I do love me some Sugar Rush and Warren's blog).

I'm talking about Lovin Sullivan Cakes in New York! Owner Kate Sullivan has been all over Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Weddings New York, The Knot Magazine, the Food Network, and tons of other places. She's even got a book! Her designs are simply fun...take a look:

New postage rates!

Newsflash!

Effective May 14th, the Postal Service is changing their postage rates. Regular envelopes will be $.41 instead of $.39 and two-ounce letters (ie: wedding invitations) will be $.58 instead of $.63. Not a bad tradeoff!


Read more about the rate change here.

Coming to a bridal store near you...

Still looking for the perfect gown? Have you considered attending a trunk show? Engaged! Magazine's website lists the trunk shows happening all over the DC area over the next few months. Some in the next couple weeks are:

Ines Di Santo @ Rizik's, March 29-31
Judd Waddell @ Hitched, April 6-7
L'ezu @ Promise for the Savvy Bride, April 20-21

Wedding Planning Tools

You probably know by now that my day job is with a company called WeddingWire. While I try to avoid the shameless plugs, we have some big news this week that I thought you'd like to know about!

WeddingWire has launched new wedding planning tools, including a budget, checklist, guest manager (and drag & drop seating chart), wedding website, vendor list, and calendar. They're all free, so check 'em out!

Vendor info in all in one spot:

The checklist is really comprehensive (since I helped write it!):
The guest manager keeps track of just about everything, from the gifts you received to the table they're sitting at to whether or not you sent a thank you note!

The seating chart is 'drag & drop' and super simple to use:
The budget has charts and graphs:

Learn more about WeddingWire's tools here!

Join WeddingWire for free.

Married? Review your vendors here for a $5.00 Starbucks card!

Wedding Vendor? Get a free listing and invite newlywed clients to review you.

PostSecret

I've been a dedicated PostSecret reader since I visited the exhibit in Georgetown last winter. Now Frank has taken his show on the road but I've purchased all three books and always check the blog every Sunday. Here's a lovey one from this week that made those little butterflies flutter:

OK, everyone in unison now...1...2...3... ::::awwww::::

Also, Frank's coming to Bethesda to talk about the new book on March 21! See Barnes & Noble's site for more info. For more PostSecret, check this blog every Sunday!

Wedding Graffiti!

I've always loved Wonderful Graffiti, which you can use to spice up your walls at home with quotes, poems, lyrics, inspirations, or just silly inside jokes. It's a vinyl lettering system that sticks onto just about any surface. I was so delighted when I saw they created a wedding version!

Here's some of the great ideas they have on their website:
Here's some Wedding Graffiti FAQs

Free Wedding Maps!

Many couples choose to give their out-of-town guests some directions to the wedding ceremony and reception to make life a little easier. Some couples even go as far as drawing a custom map, outlining where each event will take place in relation to the other wedding locations (ie: hotel, rehearsal dinner, Sunday brunch, etc).

If you're not artsy (like me) and don't want to pay a designer hefty fees to draw you a custom map (like most people), then check out Wedding Mapper! The fun program lets you drag & drop little icons, write descriptions of what they are, then share it online or print it out. The best part? It's FREE! If you want to remove the advertisements for a nice presentation, it'll cost $9.95...but still a lot less expensive than a designer and lot more professional than your own sketches.

For some more geeky blog fun, check out their Wedding Mapper Blog!

Why I love Martha Stewart....

.....because nobody will ever actually recreate her projects in real life, but they sure are fun to look at!


To make a slip-covered candle:

Coat natural-fiber fabric scraps, such as cotton or linen, with spray starch, and iron them. Once the fabric is stiff, cut out a rectangle big enough to wrap around a candleholder, allowing a slight overlap where the ends meet. Wrap around the holder, and join fabric ends with a piece of double-sided tape.

Martha's original how-to

Floral designers to make you swoon

I came across the website of fete des fleurs, a very talented floral design company in Dallas. Their work is just incredible! If this sort of thing makes you as excited (like me), feast your eyes:

Floral chandelier mounted above the wedding cake:

Fiddlehead ferns planted in moss and votive glasses make dandy placecard holders:Button mums are an adorable table number frame:
Arrangements made for a Dylan's Candy Bar event:Very Dr. Seuss, don't you think?Photos affectionately stolen from the website of fete des fleurs.

Update: Ruby & Toby's Photos

About 2 months ago I mentioned a couple named Ruby & Toby who were married on January 13th, 2007. I realized their photos were up online and wanted to share a few!

Below is the work of the fabulous Cassidy DuHon of DuHon Photography. He's so extremely talented and is amazingly affordably priced! From an event planner standpoint, he responds to emails and phone calls quickly, came to the wedding a few minutes ahead of time, was prepared for everything, and was self-sufficient the whole day. All those things combined speak volumes to me. Plus he's a really nice guy, which is always an added bonus.

Ceremony at the Washington Kalibari:

Ruby was absolutely glowing the entire day. I love this shot of her and her dad:

How to fit 300 guests in the Newton White Mansion:
(hey - that's where I got married!)

Obviously something was hilarious but the older folks in front don't get it:

Beautiful decor:What's an Indian wedding without lots of dancing?!?
I love the expression of the two girls down in front. Classic!

Thanks again to Cassidy DuHon for the photos!