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I came across this new, awesome service – Appy Couple – and wanted to share it with you for Wedding Wednesday!

This website allows you to easily create your very own wedding app and share it with your guests, family, and friends to download from the app store. How cool is that? It’s currently being called the “wedding world’s hottest new accessory.” Right now the service is by invitation only. Request an invite here!

Imagine having your own wedding app! Appycouple.com

* COORDINATE BEAUTIFULLY Exclusive designs that reflect your wedding theme and colors (View some of the designs here.)
* GET PERFECT PICTURES Unlimited picture uploads for you and your guests with automatic facial recognition
* STAY SOCIAL Facebook and Twitter integration to spread the joy
* INCLUDE EVERYONE Free coordinating wedding website for guests who don’t have smartphones
* BE FLEXIBLE Update info anytime—even after your app is published
* MAKE IT CONVENIENT Take RSVPs and menu choices right in the app
* KEEP EVERYONE INFORMED Upload messages and pictures as you plan, and from your honeymoon
* POP THE CORK Virtual champagne toasts add fun
* DANCE AND SING Share playlists and songs with links to the iTunes Store
* GIVE AND RECEIVE Convenient links to all your registries
* INVOLVE YOUR GUESTS Get their input with custom polls
* HAVE FUN Challenge everyone with your picture slider puzzle

Be sure to sign up now for this must-have wedding accessory.

For today’s Wedding Wednesday post, I want to share these absolutely stunning wedding cakes from Fortnum & Mason in London, England. During my recent trip, I was inspired by these works of art and I think you will be too.

Happy Wedding Wednesday! I just love a good infographic and this one from o5.com offers a great guide for engagement and wedding ring buying as well as interesting wedding stats in general. Do any of these stats surprise you?

Finding ways to cut expenses for your wedding is completely understandable. DIY-ing parts of your special day is a natural solution especially when all of your bridesmaids agree to help, your Aunt wants to help too, and so do the Moms of the bride and groom! There are a lot of talented people who can do stunning things, but before you DIY there are a few things to carefully consider.

DIY Wedding Decor potential pitfalls:

1) A plethora of options: Information overload happens quickly when there are endless options of what you should do. A professional will help guide you in the right direction by using your idea to create something within your budget and will provide the staff to carry the mission through to the end.

2) Who is in charge of set up? Decor items typically must be placed after the caterer has arrived and has had time to unload their truck and place the linens on the table. You may be in a situation where you have to pay extra for someone to arrive early and get those linens on. Then, it is up to you or your family to get everything out when you could be relaxing and getting ready for the wedding!

3) What goes up, must come down. There you are at the end of an exhausting day – you’ve been up since the crack of dawn filled with anxiety in anticipation of your big day. Now the party is over and you have to figure out who is going to load up and take your alcohol home (if you provided it). Next, you must take care of the gifts that all of your wonderful guests were kind enough to bring you. Last but not least, don’t forget about your DIY pieces, centerpieces, and decor. Caterers and planners do charge for this tear-down service, but you have to determine what your time is worth as well as the memories of your wedding reception. After the excitement is over you may want to leave your reception stress-free. These are just some things to think about before you DIY!

Any other suggestions? I’d love to hear them.

I’m back from the 2012 Special Event Show and ready to bring you my Wedding Wednesday tips and showcase some wonderful new trends in decor, lighting, linens and staging. Bold colors, technology-friendly furniture and the glitz and glamour of crystal were just a few of things I saw in Tampa. I made some exciting new vendor partnerships, so these trends will be available to those of you planning springtime and summertime weddings.

This tablescape would be just perfect for a springtime wedding. Floral detail work carries through the design from the tablecloth to the styled napkin rings. Smart, sassy and sophisticated.

Just look at that flash! Chic contemporary overlays like these add a real burst of eye-catching color. You shouldn’t feel roped into using the same inventory over and over again from a single warehouse. Your wedding should capture your personality and style.

I really love these swivel ottomans. Big, bold colors and a really neat design that will allow your guests to swivel back and forth while chatting it up with others.

These charging stations make it easy to juice up those mobile devices when snapping photos and social sharing take their toll on the batteries. Now your guests can stay connected and share snapshots of your special day without having to hunt around for an open outlet.

Susan A. Shapiro is the creator of online marketplace, BravoBride.com. After conducting a study, Shapiro fond that brides are eager to find good deals and innovative ways to stay within their wedding budgets. Susan shares her insights with these 5 bridal trends we will be seeing more of in 2012. For the budget conscious bride, these are great money saving ideas to keep in mind!

1. Paperless Invitations
Several companies offer electronic wedding invitations now. They are formatted like a traditional invitation but also give you the opportunity to track your RSVP’s online, manage guest lists and include multiple wedding events. Not only are they a fraction of the cost of paper invitations and postage but they’re also a huge time saver and eco-friendly.

2. Preowned Wedding Items
Most wedding items are generally used once and for a short period of time. Because of this brides are buying everything from gently used wedding dresses to decorations and reselling them on online marketplaces like BravoBride. It’s a great way to help another bride-to-be and to recoup wedding costs.

3. Cash Registries
Starting a cash registry in lieu of gifts is a new concept that is becoming increasingly more popular. They are many websites that provide this service, which allows brides to use their ‘gifts’ on their wedding expenses, honeymoon or even a down payment on a house.**

**A while back I talked about starting a registry for something out of the ordinary like a custom piece of art by Jerome Hershey!

4. Faux Flowers
Brides are beginning to forgo the traditional bridal bouquets and opt for non-floral arrangements. Bouquets are being made entirely of brooches, paper, clay and even felt. These types of flowers will never wilt or die and you can use them as a wedding keepsake for years to come.

Photo Credit: www.hamptonroadsbride.com

5. Wedding Rentals
Grooms have been renting their tuxes for years but we are starting to see a new trend for brides and bridesmaids as well. Some new businesses are offering rental bridesmaids and wedding gowns and you can rent your bridal accessories too such as earrings, necklaces and headpieces.

“2012 brides have a lot more options then brides did even a few years ago” added Shapiro. “It’s exciting to see what even more innovation and smart wedding ideas this New Year will bring.”

Read the original article here. Happy Wedding Wednesday!

Your wedding favors offer a great chance to do something original and support local artisans and small businesses at the same time. Here are just a few ideas to get the inspiration rolling:

*Gift Certificate For a Free Ice Cream Cone:
Purchase gift certificates from a local creamery for a unique flavor.
In our area: Try Sweet Willows Creamery in York, Pennsylvania. Their Super Premium Ice Creams, No Sugar Added Ice Creams, Yogurts, Sherbets, and Sorbets are made fresh daily on the premises using only the finest ingredients.  They take great pride in developing new flavors to satisfy a variety of tastes.

*Specialty Soaps:
Support a local artisan and give your guests specialty soaps. Some vendors will even work with you to create a custom fragrance and soap name!
In our area: Paintbox Soapworks out of York, Pennsylvania offers handcrafted, quality body care products with distinctive fragrances. With names like “The Queen is Dead” and “Sweet Cheeks” these products are truly one-of-a-kind. The fragrance descriptions alone are swoon-worthy! Paintbox Soapworks offers custom favors and gift packages for weddings.

Paintbox Soapworks offers custom soap wedding favors

*Petite boxed desserts:
A beautiful presentation makes boxed desserts and confections much more fun to receive. Find a shop that offers unique, gourmet candies and sweets.
In our area: Bonbonniere is a European style Confectionery Shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania filled with sweet indulgences for every taste.

Beautiful favors by Bonbonniere in Lancaster

Happy Wedding Wednesday! I’m so excited to bring you a series of wedding day beauty tips for the next couple weeks. Salon Nouveau in York, PA is an Accomac Events preferred vendor for bridal hair & makeup services. Crystal Hagan from Salon Nouveau will be giving some fantastic tips covering bridal makeup, false eyelashes and perfect wedding day skin.

Today’s post is all about makeup for your big day. Crystal explains some bridal makeup do’s and don’ts and also what Salon Nouveau offers to their clients:

With over 10 years experience in providing makeup application for professional photoshoots, stage performances and special occasions of all kinds, I love being a part of the prep team for a wedding the most.  I work with brides who are looking for everything from a natural appearance to glamorous.

The best way for a bride to get started with her wedding look is to go through her bridal magazines and pull pictures that appeal to her style.  This will make our consultation go very smoothly as a picture really is worth a thousand words!

It is very important for every bride to have a trial makeup application to ensure that by the day of the wedding she is going to love her wedding day look.  At the trial application, we will work with makeup that will minimize any skin imperfections and enhance your features so that that in those wedding pictures that will be admired for years to come, your timeless beauty shows through. We have makeup primers for every skin type, that ensure the makeup stays smooth and perfect through out the day.  Our Mineral Makeup is perfect for photography and looks flawless close-up.  If your wedding day plans require me to travel to your location, I will bring everything to you.

Brides aren’t the only ones in the wedding party that like to use a professional makeup artist for the big day.  Often, all of the girls in the bridal party will have their makeup done.  Attendants don’t normally require a trial, but that is always an option.  When the entire line-up of ladies have their makeup professionally applied, there is continuity in the photos and everyone gets to feel their best.  Mother-of the Bride and Mother-of the-Groom also have important roles to play come wedding day, and these ladies love to have their features made more stunning and stand-out as well.  The makeup I work with is great for faces of all ages, and  it’s amazing to see how a more mature face can look more youthful with proper application.

The only touch-up a bride may need throughout her long day of celebration is her lip color.  We use a product that is applied after the lip color to make it last up to five hours, but a bride’s day can be much longer than that.  For this reason it is smart to purchase the lip color and keep it handy during the reception as well as a translucent face powder to touch-up.  These days, no one has to worry about tears of mascara rolling down their cheeks either, as the formulas we have to work withstand moisture so well.  We even use a primer on the eyelid to ensure the shadows stay put.  Some brides like to wear false eyelashes to enhance their natural lash line, and these are temporary, typically removed at the end of the day.  I am personally a fan of Xtreme Lashes Eyelash Extensions, however because they will be beautiful through the honeymoon!

(We will be talking about Xtreme Lashes in another post so stay tuned.)

Here are some photo examples of Salon Nouveau’s bridal makeup applications:

I was recently asked this question: “What can a bride do to make the bridal party more fun and memorable?”  I love questions like these! Brides have so many options available to make their bridal party really stand out. Here are a few ideas for your Wedding Wednesday…

*Shoes!*
This depends on what your vision is & the time of year the event is taking place. For example, you wouldn’t want your bridesmaids wearing flip flops in a snow storm, but they sure are cute in the summer for an outdoor wedding. Look into the clip on accessories available!

I also like the idea of Groomsmen wearing converse sneakers and bridesmaids wearing Converse custom sneakers with a favorite pattern for something fun. You can also “Punk your Chucks,” but your personality has to warrant a look like this otherwise it’s perceived as just plain silly to your guests.

A nice white Suede Buck shoe on the guys will look super sharp in the summertime with kaki pants, white shirt and a blue & white stripe seersucker jacket. It’s simple, clean and refreshing. If this look is appealing to you, carry it out in the fall and winter with the standard Kearny Taupe Suede Buck and switch out the jacket for a nice navy blazer or Chocolate Cashmere jacket.

View more photos of this wedding from Elizabeth Anne Designs

Photo – Danielle Aquiline

*Florals*
Spring begs for Groomsmen to wear a fresh spring pea boutonniere accented with lacquered Beet Tops rather than a boring carnation.

Summer brides who really appreciate the local movement can consider having Bridesmaids carry a bouquet of fresh veggies. This takes extra care as fresh veggie stalks can wither quickly. Carrots and beets, however, are rather hardy and work well in arrangements, as do fresh baby artichokes. Rolled leaves of Nappa cabbage add great texture to arrangements and bouquets or try using exterior leaves of purple and green cabbage as a “cup” to embrace your bouquets.

Winter brides might consider old-school winter muffs for the bridesmaids instead of traditional flowers.

Photo: Ashley Maxwell Photography

*Bridesmaid dresses*
Get away from those cookie-cutter dresses! Find a good seamstress, get on e-Bay and purchase some French Countryside Linens. They make for beautiful sheath dresses for spring and summer weddings.

Dazian Fabrics in New York has a plethora of specialty fabrics for one-of-a-kind Bridesmaid dress making.

If you want to be really creative, create your own design and have the fabric made! Spoonflower specializes in custom printed fabric. Just think of all the fun options this opens up!

For those of you planning a fall wedding, I wanted to share some unique color palette ideas that I just love! Experiment with different color schemes and inspiration photos to find your perfect pairing! Happy Wedding Wednesday!

Image courtesy of Stephanie William's Photography

image courtesy of Theknot.com

image courtesy of Theknot.com