{Unfake Engagement Shoot} Andrew & Alyson Rock it Out!

I looooooooove this Unfake Engagement Shoot! Love.

The couple is from Seattle, Washington, and they’re gettin’ hitched in June. Alyson and Andrew will be married at Central Cinema, the location for this fun engagement shoot! Their reception will be held at the Georgetown Ballroom.

Wanna hear something totally romantic about this couple? Andrew still has the napkin Alyson gave him with her phone number on it. SO CUTE, right?

Anyway, the couple wanted a rock-n-roll vibe for their engagement shoot, so they rocked out on stage at the Ballroom and hammed it up around town.   Enjoy!

Photographer  Firstlight Photography

 

 

 

 

So cute, right? Happy Friday, lovers!

Don’t forget, only a few days left to WIN A VEIL! Enter here before noon on Sunday!

Also check out Hindsight Bride for her new series Follow Friday! You know, the whole Twitter #FF thing that goes on? She’s brought it to blog level. LOVE IT!

{Wedding Color Palettes} Start with the Venue…ALWAYS!

There are color palettes that rape the eyes. Yes, rape. I’ll see some event and blink hard trying to get the offensive sight out of my eyes. Sometimes blinking works, other times, the image is seared in my mind’s eye, begging for another image to take it’s place. Then I run to Pinterest and help that process along…. Then I get a little mad. I get mad because I start thinking to myself, “Who did this? Who let the bride do this?” and then I calm down a little bit and realize that some people are color-blind or  just not all that great at color stories. 

Some of the eye-raping offenders? See below:

OK, first and foremost? I HATE chair sashes. Personal preference. If you’re going to have chair sashes, that’s fantastic. I personally don’t want to sit on something that looks like a gift wrapped ghost. Honestly, they freak me out a little. Like, WTF is under that thing? And nine times out of ten the sashes are satin and shiny and that just makes me gag a little. And I don’t really like bows either, so there’s that.

But getting over the chair sash thing, let’s talk about colors. There’s one common denominator in the photos above: too few colors. That’s right, not enough accent colors to create warmth, only eye-raping contrast.

Now I know that everyone isn’t a designer or stylist or event planner or whatever, but that doesn’t mean you can’t figure this shit out.

First of all, there are a BAJILLION links out there to figure out your color palette. Let’s just get those out there right now. These are my top color sites.

The Perfect Palette

Colour Lovers

Color Collective

Color Hunter

What you’ll want to note with these sites as well as when you’re deciding on your colors is that there are generally FIVE colors. That’s right FIVE. Pick too few colors and you could end up with a two-tone mess as shown above.

Now, if you’re the kind of bride who has been DREAMING of the pink wedding with pink accents ALL YOUR LIFE, remember a few things: first, you are an adult. Time to reconsider and seriously think about what you’ve been dreaming about. Fairytale or reality? Check yourself.

The next thing you should think about? Your venue. Yup. Not what your bridesmaids look good in, not the pink you’ve been dreaming of, the VENUE. Where the hell are you having this shindig? You don’t want to fight with your venues colors. If you do, you’re going to pay more to cover things up (i.e. chairs) and you’ll end up wondering why everything looks a mess.

One of the things that The Candyman and I instantly fell in love with regarding our venue (other than their famous She-Crab Soup) was the warmth of the place: earth tones, dark wood, subtle décor. Here are a few pictures of parts of the venue and the table setting. When I walked into the main room, I actually gasped because the candle light and warm tones were just so pretty. I chose my colors with intention – to create an atmosphere.

 

People were screaming at The Candyman to smoosh the cake. And his facial expressions led them all to think he would. And I would have killed him if he had!  But just note the walls and gilded frames, dark wood chair backs.

All photos by Nashville Wedding Photographer Jonathon Campbell Photography.

Then I found this.

 

 

SAME EXACT VENUE. Who? Who in their right minds would desecrate such a lovely setting with KELLY GREEN and then add in the horrid mod white sofa to a venue that is so clearly classic? Wanna know who? Someone who isn’t embracing the venue.  This? This is a perfect example of fighting your venue. Just don’t do it.

So how do you create an atmosphere if you’re wedding is at the VFW? Do you throw your hands up in dismay because the chairs are gold and burgundy and the rug is a giant sea of cabbage roses? Speaking of gold and burgundy, the picture that’s fifth from the top above was *this close* to getting it right. The problem? The white table linens. Too stark against the warmer colors of gold and burgundy. Had they done an ivory overlay, or even a matte gold, it would have been less eye-rape-y.

Here’s a great example of working with your venue:

OK, on their own those chairs are bad, right? Banquet style, two tone monstrosities. GAH! But it looks so lovely with the color theme chosen to coordinate with them. Purple, lavender, silver, white, green = FIVE COLORS. See?

Loveliness created by Kristin Kaplan/Simply Stunning Events, Photography by Chris & Adrienne Scott, Flowers by Brocade Design Arts.

So before you start deciding on table linens and flowers and all that, go back to your venue and look at what you’ll be working with. Go with your planner or your florist or your MOH. Take physical color swatches with you to get an idea of how the colors will react to the venue’s lighting and overall feel.

But for the love of God, don’t force a round peg into a square hole. Embrace your venue, whether it’s The Ritz or your local community center.

How are YOU choosing your colors? Have you considered the venue? How are you going about the wedding color process? Do tell.

I almost forgot! There's still time to win your veil! Enter HERE to win!

{Unfake Engagement Shoot} Kim & David: When Big City and Country Collide!

*Don't forget to enter to win a free veil! Contest lasts until Sunday at noon!

Kim and David are set to be married in April 2012. They are complete opposites, yet they fit together perfectly.

To this, I can relate. I’ve lived in large cities and been around the world more times than I can count. The Candyman prefers his coastal Carolina roots to just about anywhere else (except Hawaii) and informs me of this fact on the regular.

But I digress…back to our cute couple. Kim is the city girl with a closet full of shoes. She loves live theatre, shopping and the fast-paced city lifestyle. She almost always has a smile on her face and a Starbuck's cup in hand.

David is a home-grown country boy. He'd rather watch the nature channel than American Idol and nothing makes him happier than a home-cooked meal. Too bad Kim can't cook.

For their engagement session, photographer Meagan O’Neal decided to do a "dual" session that would really show off their different personalities. They started the day at a barn while the sun came up.  They ended the shoot on the bright streets of Atlanta in front of the Fox Theatre.

I love that the pictures are a physical representation of him stepping into her world and her into his. As it should be, right? 

Photographer  Meagan O Photography

 

Oooh, hello to cute boots!

 

 

 

Congratulations on your engagement and good luck with your upcoming April wedding!

Faces of America

I don’t talk much about what The Candyman does on the regular. It’s not very wedding-ish.

Like, at all.

He’s an attorney. [insert jokes here]

But as my MOH said in her toast at  our wedding, “It kinda fun to finally have a lawyer in the family, especially since he’s the good kind.” She couldn’t be more right. I love that my husband works his ass off for pittance to help people in need.

We moved to North Carolina so that he and two of his law school pals could start their own firm, The Central Law Group (website under construction by yours truly…keeping it all in the family, y’all). The partners are Vietnamese and Mexican and everyone there speaks a plethora of languages, which boggles my mind to no end. I can technically learn a language, but can never EVER grasp the conversational aspect of it.

Anyway, the Vietnamese law partner (Tin) has a Vietnamese girlfriend (her name is Cat) who runs the Vietnamese Association of Charlotte (VAC). In collaboration with Vietnamese American Senior Association (VASA), the Pro-Bono Clinic at the Charlotte School of Law, the Mecklenburg County Asian Pacific American Bar, Latin American Coalition and Catholic Social Services, the VAC held a free citizenship fair this past weekend. The fair provided free legal services to immigrants to help them along in becoming US citizens. As a part of the process, Cat wanted to provide folks with the pictures needed in the application process. You know, the standard 2x2 photos one might use for a passport. She asked me if I’d be willing to help.

Naturalization? Naturally, I’d help.

From 10:30am to 4pm (some folks worked WELL into the evening) on Super Bowl Sunday, we processed a shit-ton of people. We set up a ragged white backdrop, my tripod, laptop and printer and went to town.

Based on the requirements for the photos, I had to ask women to removed dangly earrings and necklaces and for folks to remove their jackets. One teeny tiny, really old woman (I swear, she barely came up to my boobs), when invited to step in front of the backdrop, stood FACING the backdrop. I took her bony shoulders and gently turned her to face me and the camera. She seemed embarrassed, but I smiled at her and pointed to the camera. She nodded and gave me the briefest of smiles, not wanting to make direct eye contact.

Back straight! Chin up!

Tin (one of The Candyman’s partners) offering legal counsel.

In fact, it was tough to make eye contact with most of the people. I blame Communism. I do. Chinese people can be the same way. Communism doesn’t naturally lend itself  to trusting your neighbor. Eye contact is a big part of trust. A stranger to these people, why should they trust me?

There was another man, who when he took off his jacket for the picture, was wearing a t-shirt that had the name “Polly” stitched on it. It made me want to laugh, this old man with a shirt that said “Polly.” Definitely not a Polly. The Candyman and I had a giggle over it together, but then I thought about “Polly” and where that t-shirt might have come from. Where HE came from and how hard he had to work to get here, to get his family here. I said as much to The Candyman and we looked around at the crowd, amazed. The Candyman shouted above the din, “All these folks are going to be AMERICANS! How cool is that?”

And cool it was. Lawyers and law students to help with the piles and piles of paperwork. Translators to help the English-only speaking lawyers. Free consults for financial aid, green cards, citizenship, naturalization. All of this happened in a little, ragged mall known as “Asian Corner.” It’s one of those malls that you drive by, wondering how the hell it’s even still standing.  Inside? An full-on Asian grocery store (note to cooking-self), a couple restaurants, a small Baptist church, martial arts. Who knew? The run-down, eye-sore of a mall is an active  part of our Charlotte community, one that we don’t always see on the regular whilst running in and out of our bougie neighborhood Starbucks. Food for thought.

So today, I’d like to honor the hard work that these immigrants are doing to become American citizens. They aren’t flying under the radar. They are following the incredibly time consuming, expensive and  paper-work heavy process (all in a language foreign to them) to become US citizens. Kinda like our forefathers did when escaping the religious and political persecution of [insert country of choice here]. Heavy duty props to Cat for organizing it all and big round of applause to all the volunteers who worked HARD on Super Bowl Sunday!

I’m not sure exactly how many people came through (definitely more than I photographed), but I know that I took pictures of 70 different people!

Check out the faces of Americans-to-be!

It was wonderful to be  part of the Charlotte community on Sunday, a community that not everyone knows exists. Time for that to change, eh?

*And don't forget to enter the give-away! Click HERE to enter and win a free veil!

{VEIL GIVE-AWAY!} Designer vs. Artisan? You Decide.

*DEEP BREATH* OK, I think I’m going to get my teeth knocked in for this post, but you know that’s never stopped me before. I do want to preface this with the fact that  I started this little give-away/contest as a personal project. I wanted to just see. For you to understand why I did what I did, you might need to read this first. They are definitely related.

If you don't care to read my ramblings on this project, just look at the pictures and scroll down to enter. But if you are even just a teeny tiny little bit of  a conscientious bride, you should read.  I'm just sayin.....

Got the gist of things? Good, let’s move on.

This is how it started: I got lost on the internet again, ended up on Pinterest again, which took me to a picture from BHLDN.com. It was a picture of their  Dotted Voile Veil. It cost $160 and I thought that was pretty pricey, as are all things at BHLDN.  I saw the alternate photo and noted that the veil had some doodads and stuff and thought that $160 was an okay price with all the little flowers and crystals and stuff.

Then I read a comment from a purchaser/reviewer on this veil:

I was disappointed just like the last reviewer. I thought that the veil came with the bow and white flower pin. It doesn't it is just a piece of fabric barely attached with clear twine to a metal clip. I can't believe I spent $160.00 on it. If you get the bow and clip as well your total cost would be $260.00. Still debating on whether I will keep it. If you can find the fabric you can easily make it yourself.

First off, her math is a little wonky. The price of the bow is $200, the veil is $160, that means together they would be $360, not $260, GAH! She also included a photo:

THIS for $160!

So I was all I CAN TOTALLY MAKE THAT FOR A TON LESS AND SELL IT FOR A TON LESS!  So that’s what I started doing. I have some dotted tulle (“voile” means “veil” in French, so it the same shit essentially), I have some little doodads, let’s see what I can make.

The description of the bow thing is as follows:

…spray of enameled petals and glittering Swarovski stones in the midst of a loopy tulle bow. French dotted Swiss nylon, tulle, enameled brass flowers, Swarovski crystals.

So I don’t have Swarovski crystals on hand, but I do have some vintage goodies I could play around with that include a brass filigree flower, some vintage rhinestones and little vintage white plastic flowers with rhinestone centers. Some of the pieces aren’t in the best shape, but it was just a side project, so who cares, right? 

But wait, do you want to know WHY I wanted to try this? I wanted to see what it would price out to be. I wanted to see what my time and cost of goods would come out to.

Below is what I came up with (all on the left) and how it compares to the BHLDN items (all on the right). Check it:

 

 

 

 

 

Not bad, right? Pretty damn close if I do say so myself. While I was making this, in my head I was a little worried about selling it. It’s a purposeful knock-off. I don’t want to steal ideas and sell them as my own. That’s not my bag. I know the material isn’t identical, the doodads aren’t the same, there’s more pouf to the bow; legally BHLDN would have no recourse against me even if I did sell it.

I just saw the pricing and I threw up a little in my mouth. It was so gross. Now, little ol’ me? Making these pieces? It cost me next to nothing. The material I had on hand, the little plastic flowers were some of my grandmother’s old missing-its-partner earrings I took apart. Same for the filigree brass flower. The tulle in the bow I already had. However, if I was going to price this out based on economies of scale, purchasing quantity buys (as a large company like BHLDN would naturally do), the materials themselves? I’m going to estimate that the cost of the raw goods is NO MORE than $10, total. A couple crystals, some enameled flowers and material…can’t be more than $10. Simply can NOT. So, let’s pretend I’m a normal retailer and I take a 50-60% mark-up, that’s would put this at $22.50 or so, thus far compared to $360.

But don’t get your panties in a twist just yet. We haven’t talked about labor. It took me about 4 hours to make, futzing around with things, taking earrings apart,  making it just so. Based on BHLDN’s info, the designer of this piece is Debra Mooreland. It also states that the artisans that work in Debra’s Ohio studio “painstakingly build each piece by hand,” according to her original prototype.

And I guess that’s where we get down to the nitty gritty. How much is that time worth? The item is made in America, which means it will be more expensive. I’m OK with that. How much should an artisan make in an hour for copying a prototype? Now we’re just talking about skilled labor, not a designer.

Let’s just pretend for a second that I am one of these artisans and I’m making this from a prototype (which is basically what I did). I have all the materials on hand and I know what to do. No futzing. Streamlined process. On the high end, I’d say two hours, MAX. Probably less after the first 3 or 4. What is my time worth? What is Debra Mooreland’s time worth? What is one of her artisan’s time worth? What’s the licensing fee that BHLDN is paying Debra Mooreland (in my décor line of work, the range is 3-8%)? How much is overhead? Let’s say I charge $50 (I totally don’t) per hour for my work. In a perfect BHLDN world, you’ve got $100 in labor, plus the $10 for the parts and that equals $110. Add in the 50-60% markup and you’ve got $220 on the LOW side. Add in licensing fees and overhead and all of  sudden, the price starts to make sense.

And what if BHLDN approached ME and asked me to be one of their featured artists? Would I object to the pricing structure to have items made here in America and to have my work distributed through a well-know entity? Is $50 an hour reasonable? Is $100? Thought provoking, no?

Me? I priced this out the same way as I do all my items. I pay myself slightly more than minimum wage per hour (which disgusts me, but it is so), I charge for materials, packaging and generally, I take less than a 50% margin. I don’t do these things because I’m stupid. I charge less because I’m not well-known. I’m relatively new in the industry. My “brand” doesn’t command a high price…yet. However, to make all things fair, I gave myself a 50% mark up on this. The total cost I’d charge? $105 for both pieces compared to $360. 

So I have 2 points in all this. First? Shop around. Shop on Cargoh. Shop on Etsy.  Look around and you can find skilled artisans working hard to make ends meet, creating beautiful, quality product without the licensing fees and overhead.

Second? You can get this for FREE because you were patient and read all the bullshit that went through my head on this one.

Here’s what you gotta do:

1. Leave a comment. Anything will do: rant, praise, rambling jargon. (1 Entry)

2. Help me reach 1000 Twitter followers (I’m SO CLOSE!) and follow me @T30SB. Tweet this message: Veil Giveaway @T30SB http://bit.ly/zrkuCt . Leave a SEPARATE comment here that you did it. Already a follower? Tweet the same and let me know you are! (1 Entry)

3. Help me reach 1000 Facebook followers (I’m a little further behind on this one) and hit up my page here.  Leave a SEPARATE comment that you did it. Already a follower? Tell me you are in your additional comment! (1 Entry)

4. Follow me on Pinterest (you should really be a member already!) and tell me you did so by leaving a SEPARATE comment! Already follow me? Fantastic. Tell me about in your additional comment. (1 Entry)

So that’s FOUR chances to win! The contest will run for a week, ending on Sunday, February 12th at noon, EST. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, February 13th! Just in time for Valentine's Day! WOOT!