**Giveaway!!** Pleated Poppy Bridal Pins

My sister-in-law Lindsey and I have been brainstorming some fun ideas lately. You may have found her product line, The Pleated Poppy, through my blog before, but if you have not- please check it out. She hand designs such cute things!

We have been talking for a while about creating some Pleated Poppy wedding items and over Christmas vacation we sat down and had an idea session. I am so excited about what is to come! For one of my amazing March weddings, we have a couple really darling things in the works and I am constantly trying to find new inspiration for my other brides. If you are a client of mine and are interested in talking about using some cute fabric flowers in your wedding decor- let's talk! Even if you are not a client of mine, contact me or Lindsey to talk through some ideas if you are interested. She can custom make posies out of your wedding colors/fabric/decor, etc. 

Lindsey just posted her first official Bridal item: cute, simple, sweet and gorgeous Bridal Posies! They can be worn in your hair or pinned on a dress or sweater. I love em. Check them out here.

*****

To kick off the bridal line, Lindsey is going to be giving away the above hairpiece to one of my readers. Woo~hoo!

 So, here is what you have to do to enter: Check out Lindsey's blog  and shop, come back here and leave a comment sharing how you would use fabric flowers at a wedding or event. Or just tell us what you love! 

A winner will be randomly selected next monday, the 16th- President's Day! You will have until noon that day (pst) to enter. Browse and comment away!

Congrats Michelle!

One of our sweet brides, Michelle , was just selected to be the newest WeddingBee! She is Miss Duckling and we cannot wait to read all of her DIY and wedding planning adventure posts!

Congrats Michelle- we are so excited for you! 

Something that makes us love Michelle even more? One of her first posts was about our beloved Cricut . *swoon*

Jen and Tom: A Closer Look

Doug with Furious Photographers sent me disc with more pictures of Jen & Tom's adorable wedding at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park and thought I would share a few more with you.  You can see their original post with more photos and vendor information here.

The beautiful bride at the US Grant:

Flowers by Suzan M Florals.

I just could not get enough of these two little guys and their super cute Lovebirds ring bearer nests that Jen & her mom made:

Speaking of handmade, Jen and her mom were a wonderful DIY team. They made all of the details, incorporating in the bird theme wherever they could.

  

The table numbers were cute, simple and easy to make if you have a Cricut and some cute paper.

Draping, linens, lanterns and lighting by Concepts:

We added a fan to each placesetting and Sue placed a single orchid on top of each. Jen personalized the fans with ribbon she had printed with their names and wedding date. It was a fun way to tie the decor into the setting.

We set up the candy bar, which was one of the best ones I have tasted set up. A friend of the family owns a gourmet chocolate shop and she provided over 10 different types of chocolate. Heaven!!

It was a fun one! For vendor info, click here . 

10:41 Ramblings

Right now:

*I am pensive

*I am content

*I am in love

*I am smitten

*I am hopeful

*I am joyful

In the near future, I would like to:

*Learn how to really use a sewing machine

*Write a good song for someone special

*Go on a great date with my hubby

*Go to the movies (a very unusual event for parents of a 1 year old)

*Use my Cricut for a client's wedding

*Put up picture frames

*Finish unpacking

*Write up a new business plan

*Get my team together for a 2009 vision meeting

*Join a pilates class

*Take my son on daily trips to the park since we now have one across the street

*Become as debt free as possible

*Find Peppermint Ice Cream somewhere

*Save better

*Start dancing again

*Tithe and give to those in need more and more often

*Post pictures from our Winter Party! (next week!)

*Look back through all of my inspiration from The Special Event and put it to action

*Have an updated gallery section on our website (SOON!)

Eventually, I would like to:

*Write a book

*Start another small creative company (idea is in the works...)

*Not move again...except when we move again in 6 months... then I don't want to move again.

*Really learn how to play the piano or guitar

*Become a good cook

*Figure out how to balance being a mom and a small business owner

*Have another baby

*Go to Italy and England

*Make a scrapbook 

*Go back to New Orleans and visit more of the south (NEXT YEAR!!)

*Perform in a musical... I cannot believe it has been almost 5 years since my last full on show. 

*Have a studio space

*Go back to Africa and hug some kiddos

How about you?

San Clemente Bridal Show

We survived! The move went well. We are still exhausted and have too many boxes to unpack, but we are getting settled and caught up. Once again, I am reminded how much I dislike moving. However, I do love getting organized. Everything alphabetized, color coordinated, in its place and clean!

I wanted to write a quick post to let you Orange County brides know about a small bridal show that is taking place tonight. Irons in the Fire in San Clemente, which is owned by one of my favorite restaurants, BeachFire , is hosting a small wedding open house tonight. Here is more information:

Happy Wednesday!

Courtney: Where are you?

If you have been wondering where I have been this week... I did not fall under a rock. Although, that might have been nice- I could have slept a bunch :)

I have spent the past few days at The Special Event here in San Diego. It is a great trade show and convention for the event industry and I have been getting some great inspiration and new education! So far, two of my favorite sessions have been with Sasha Souza and Tara Guerard of Soiree. The Wedding Lunch, designed by Kathy Wright & Co was gorgeous! I cannot wait to share photos and new fun things with you next week.

To make my busy week even crazier, we are moving on Saturday. Yep- lots going on in the Toney household. I am trying to stay calm- a big thanks to my in in laws and hubby for packing up my house while I am at the conference!

Once I make it through the weekend, I will be back with fun posts. Until then, I will try to sleep!

Let us down easy

I have heard many brides wonder how to let a vendor know that they are not going to hire them for their wedding. The answer: just tell them!

If you have met with a vendor to find out about their services for your wedding, whether it is a planner, a photographer, a florist or any other vendor, but have decided to go with someone else, please let them know. It is just the nicest thing to do :)   After meeting with a bride, we here at Joyful typically hold their date for a couple of weeks while waiting to hear back from them. If we have not heard anything after a week or two, I will send a little follow up email to see if they are still interested. If I still do not hear anything back a week later, we will release that date.

Some of my brides worry that they will  hurt a vendor's feelings if they tell them they do not want to hire them. Trust me, vendors would much rather hear it from you than to feel like you are ignoring them. Vendors know that sometimes brides click better with other companies or that brides on a budget are looking for the best deal. Either way, a simple email to let them know what you have decided is so very much appreciated. Vendors won't hate you or get upset- it happens all of the time. I know I have much more respect for brides who let me know that they have gone with other options than those who just never get back to me. Even better- I so appreciate it when a bride will tell me why. Whether it is price or just a better personality click, it is helpful for me in reevaluating my business.

All that to say, don't be afraid to be open and honest with vendors. They will love you for it!

**Side note: The Wedding Chicks are at it again! They are giving away magazine subscriptions (Martha Stewart, Brides & Grace Ormande). Grab yours here .

Around town...

Lots of good stuff going around the web the past couple of weeks!

I love the Love Transforms marketplace put on by Poppytalk Handmade more than I can say. If I had $1000 extra dollars laying around, I would be able to buy half of what I want to. So much cute stuff. Check it out if you are looking for some fun Valentine's Day- or any day- goodies.

The Wedding Chicks have two great giveaways: A birdcage veil and a cool etched monogram.

One of my sweet brides, Michelle, has a great wedding planning blog: My Wedding Report. She wrote a couple of posts (#1  and  #2) on me this past week and she totally made me blush and made me thankful to get to do what I do. So excited for your wedding Michelle! Thanks again for bragging on me!

Christine of The Spiraled Stem and Dawn of Lavender Hill are launching a great series of classes on how to do your own flowers. Check out FlowerDIYvas.

I like these:

Ceci NY , via Style Me Pretty 

seen on VintageGlam 

Martha Stewart Weddings is having a contest through April- enter your engagement story and you could win an amazing trip to Disney World. I might just enter :) 

The lovely Kristin of The Treasured Petal shared another of one of our beautiful weddings on Wedding Bee Pro. Check it out here.

My friend and fellow wedding planner extraordinaire, Amanda, has become a weekly poster on the Elizabeth Anne Designs blog. Last week she featured a great article on what to DIY and what not to DIY and this week she cleared up some things on how to treat your vendors: food, tips, etc. 

So much fun. Goodnight!

No more pictures...

I realized this morning that I received three emails with very large amounts of photos overnight, which sent my email for a loop. If you emailed me last night or this morning and received a bounce back message, I would love you forever if you could resend your email!

Thanks so much! Sorry about that!

Some good stuff is coming this afternoon...

Giveaway Winners!

Happy Friday everyone!

The two winners of the OC Ceremony magazine, chosen randomly, are:

Suzy & Melissa

Melissa- I have your address, but Suzy, could you please email yours to me? Thanks so much! And thank you everyone for entering and, more so, for your super sweet and encouraging words!

Have a great weekend! Lots of fun coming next week!