A Night of Fun and Flowers

Feb, 29 2012
By Courtney
Floral, Pish Posh, Vendor Love, Wedding Inspiration
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Do you want to play around with different arrangements to figure out what you want for your wedding? Or are you a DIY bride looking for lessons on how to make a fabulous bouquet? Are you looking for a more subdued bachelorette party? Or are you a bride who just wants to learn all about weddings?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, we have the place for you. Margot Blair Floral now offers evening classes!

The idea is fantastic, really. For two hours, you and five of your friends can go to Margot Blair Floral and learn to create stunning floral arrangements – for only $300! If you have more than five friends interested in trying their hand at bouquets, it’s only $50 more per person. All you have to do is bring a container of your choice to put the flowers in; owner Carly Blair will provide the rest. Feel free to bring a bottle (or two) of wine for you and your friends while you arrange beautiful (envy worthy) floral creations!

Check out their website or call at 512-636-1861 to plan your memorable evening!

Laughter and fun are guaranteed.

Photo courtesy of Margot Blair Floral

Photo courtesy of Margot Blair Floral via studio563austin

Photo courtesy of Margot Blair Floral

Illuminate Photography Giveaways at Our Grand Opening

Feb, 29 2012
By Courtney
Events, Photography, Pish Posh, Vendor Love
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Wondering what to do on March 25th? Here’s a great idea – come to Posh’s Grand Opening from 1 pm-6pm! Not only will you be educated by our affiliates on the wedding process, but you’ll also receive a swag bag and have the chance to win great prizes. You could be lucky enough to receive goodies from Illuminate Photography, and trust us they are amazing!

Everyone wins…

Every bride will receive gift certificates for half off engagement sessions ($125 off of $250) that also include three free accordion books ($80 value) when you spend $300 on other products! EVERY SINGLE BRIDE!

Photos Courtesy of Illuminate Photography

…but only one bride wins the grand prize….

However, one lucky bride will win the grand prize – a free “Austin Eclectic Engagement session” ($250 value) and three mini accordion books! That’s $330 dollars you get to keep in your budget!

Photo Courtesy of Illuminate Photography

…but everyone gets to learn!

For the brides who don’t really like free things (but let’s be honest, everyone loves free things) and just want to learn, Lisa Hackbarth of Illuminate Photography will be speaking about “Planning Your Wedding Day Timeline for Killer Photos.” Trust us, you don’t want to miss out on this.

If you want a chance to receive all of this and more, come to Posh Bridal Lounge on March 25th from 1 pm-6pm. Can’t wait to see you there!

So You’re Engaged… Now What?

Feb, 29 2012
By Courtney
Pish Posh, Vendor Love, Wedding Inspiration, Wedding Planners, You're Engaged!
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First things first – congratulations on your engagement! Secondly – do not panic. Once the immediate excitement of becoming engaged wears off, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the details. You begin to realize you have to decide on a wedding dress, a reception site, a budget, a guest list, the wedding party, the officiant… the list goes on and on. But here’s the good news: there is a place to start! Here you’ll find the first ten things to do when you start planning.

Step 1: Take care of your ring

One of the first things to check off of your list is to get your ring sized and insured. Once all the planning gets into full swing it’ll be easy to forget, so take care of that first. You need to get the ring appraised before you talk to your agent about coverage, and there’s even a possibility about adding it on as a rider to your home insurance policy. In case something happens to your ring, like if it’s lost, stolen, or damaged, you do NOT want that stress.

Step 2: Pick a date

The next step is to start thinking of a date. Start with a general idea like early June, end of 2012, mid-fall – things like that. When you have an ideal time period, you can start looking at sites to check for availability. The other plus side of deciding your “date” early? People are excited for you! When they know what time period you’re planning for, they know how many months between now and then they have to plan showers and celebrations. And let’s be honest – you want as many as you can get.

Step 3: Decide on an overall wedding theme

Once you have a general idea of a date, it’s time to have a little fun. Start thinking big picture and coming up with ideas on what would make your wedding perfect. Talk to your fiancé about what he wants to! Think of what type of reception you’d like, what time of day, what you want the mood of the ceremony to be, and things like that. Decide if you want it to be formal, a destination wedding, or a large outdoor affair at a ranch. If you want to get married downtown, look for hotels, convention centers, and museums. If you want to get married in the hill country, look at venues like La Paloma Events Center or TerrAdorna. Looking on the Internet for wedding ideas can be overwhelming sometimes, so if you start to get that feeling just pick up a magazine instead. This is the time to decide on your style and color scheme. Think of what you want – you have to know what you’re asking for later.

Step 4: Plan your budget

Once you know what you want, talk to your fiancé and your parents about budget. Figure out what aspects you really want to splurge on and which ones you’re okay with holding back on. Also, determine who’s contributing what to the wedding funds. Set your budget, and then stick to it as much as possible.

Step 5: Choose the wedding party

Now, it’s time to start thinking about choosing your wedding party. You need to choose the maid of honor, bridesmaids, best man, groomsmen, and flower girl, ring bearer, house party, and ushers if you wish. You can ask in person or on the phone, a lot of it depends on how far away they live. There’s no set rule on how many attendants you should have, but take into consideration how formal or casual your ceremony is when picking the number. The more formal the wedding, the more attendants you can have. Also, it’s general protocol that siblings of the bride and groom are included. If you’re struggling trying to choose, check out our blog “How to Choose Your Bridesmaids“!

Steps 6/7: Plan the guest list & Pick the venue

The next step depends on your priorities. You have two options: pick the guest list or pick the site of the ceremony/reception. Picture this: you create a list of 500 people and then find the perfect ceremony location. However, that location can only hold 200 people. So, it’s a decision – do you want the location more, or the 500 guests more? There’s no wrong answer, it’s just what your preference is. If you decide to look for the location first, think back to your general wedding date timeframe. When you find the perfect venue, check the dates of availability and make sure it doesn’t conflict with important guests (i.e. parents, siblings, etc.). Once you know how many people that venue can hold, you can create your guest list with that limit. Or, do the other approach – make your guest list, then look for venues that can hold that amount of guests. One note on choosing ceremony/reception venues – if you’re doing separate locations, factor in driving distances and traffic times when you make your choice.

Step 8: Pick a wedding planner

Now is the time to decide if you want a wedding planner or not. You want to decide that before you begin looking at vendors because the wedding planner you choose will have relationships with specific vendors and know what to look for. Some people want a coordinator only for the day of the ceremony, while some people prefer to have someone with them throughout the whole process. Leave the Details 2 Me, Yellow Umbrella Events, and Detailed Weddings are all great options for wedding planners. If it fits in your budget and you want a wedding planner, start interviewing!

Steps 9/10: Book officiant and vendors

The last things you want to do in the beginning phase of the engagement is book your officiant (depending on your ceremony location, if you bring in your own officiant you may need to get that approved) and begin researching vendors. You can listen to different bands at their other booked functions, look at florists’ arrangements, or look at photographers’ portfolios. Keep their business cards for when you’re ready to book.

These ten things are the best place to start at the beginning of the planning process. Once you get started, it’s not nearly as overwhelming as when you first started even thinking about planning. Stay organized and stay calm – it’s all downhill from here!

Posh’s Grand Opening… It’ll Be Big

Feb, 27 2012
By Courtney
Cake & Deserts, Events, Photography, Pish Posh, Vendor Love, Wedding Inspiration
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Posh’s Grand Opening! All brides are invited to come see what The Posh Bridal Lounge is all about, on Sunday March 4, 2012, from 1-5 p.m. Enjoy an afternoon filled with great food, info sessions, and giveaways! The event is free to attend, and to make the event even more grand, all bride attendees will receive our fantastic swag bags, as well as have the chance to win door prizes!

Some of the prizes include:

FREE Engagement Photo Session from Illuminate Photography (valued at $250)

Photo Courtesy of Illuminate Photography

$50 to Object of Confections for a Wedding Order of $100 or More

Image Courtesy of Object of Confections

Vintage Hair & Makeup AND a Gift Certificate for $100 off of a tea party for 6 or more people from The Marvelous Vintage Tea Party Co.

Photo courtesy of Marvelous Vintage Tea Party Co.

Check back with us to see what other prizes you can win. Can’t wait to see you on March 25th!

How To Choose Your Bridesmaids

Most choices in the wedding planning process are fun. Do I want orchids or lilies? Do I want to get married in a church or at a ranch? Do I want a fall or summer wedding? At some point though, you have to a decision that’s not so fun… Do I want Lindsey or Rachel to be my bridesmaid? Understandably, this is a decision that causes many brides to stress. Don’t! This post is all about helping you figure out who you should – and shouldn’t – have stand with you at the altar on your big day.

The perfect number

To do that, keep in mind two things: your amount of guests and budget. You don’t have to have every guest decided on, but you need to have a ballpark figure for how many invitations you’ll be sending out. The general rule is this: for every 50 guests, you get one attendant. However, think of that more as a guideline, not a rule. Here’s the basic idea: if you have a large wedding, you can have a lot of bridesmaids, and if you’re having a smaller wedding, don’t have a lot. Even if you’re having a huge wedding, don’t have more than twelve – that’s just overwhelming. When thinking about your budget, think about how many bridesmaids’ bouquets fit into the budget. Between guest list and budget, you can figure out how many bridesmaids to have.

Include siblings

Before we move on to choices, there is one point that needs to be said: siblings should be in the wedding party. For some people, siblings are an obvious choice, but that’s not always the case. But think of it this way: if a sibling is missing from the wedding party, your guests immediately notice. More than likely, it’ll cause family controversy, too. Weddings are a great way for families to come together, so try and include siblings.

Who else makes the cut

Okay, now down to what you’re really looking for – how do you choose which friends are bridesmaids and which ones aren’t? Start by writing down a list of people you would like to be bridesmaids – not one constricted to the limit you came up with, but a list with any person you’d like to be a bridesmaid. Look at the list and see if there are any clear groups. Let’s say you decided to have seven bridesmaids. Your dream list has your two sisters, your four college roommates, your fiancé’s sister, and your three best high school friends. If you choose all three siblings, you have four spots left. Instead of choosing your three high school friends and then only one college friend, it would probably make more sense to choose the four college friends and make the high school friends house party, or some other role. If there’s a natural grouping, go with it – that’s so much easier to explain to girls with hurt feelings.

Which groups of friends to choose

But what if there’s not a natural grouping? Think of what your bridesmaids are going to have to do. They need to plan the bridal shower and bachelorette parties, attend multiple showers, purchase their bridesmaid dress, attend the rehearsal dinner, and be willing to dance for most of the reception. If you want a bridesmaid who can attend most showers and you’re deciding between a friend who lives in town and a friend who lives out of state, you probably want to choose the one in town. If you want bridesmaids who are going to be the life of the party at the reception and you’re deciding between your shy college friend and your outgoing cousin, your cousin probably fits the bill better. If you want a bridesmaid who will plan everything for you, and you’re deciding between your disorganized high school best friend and your type-A personality college roommate, you’ll want the roommate. Think of what you want in a bridesmaid, and then choose based off that.

More than anything, keep in mind these will be the people who are standing up with you on your wedding day. They’re the ones who will keep you calm before the ceremony, smile through hundreds of pictures, hold your dress while you go to the bathroom, and stay until the bitter end of the reception. If you have friends you want to include but you just can’t have that many bridesmaids, think about making them house party or a reader at the ceremony. The point of the day is that you’re getting married and, no matter what their role is in your wedding, your friends are going to be thrilled for you. Good luck choosing!

Photo courtesy of Half Orange Photography

Photo courtesy of David Sixt Photography

Photo courtesy of Photo by Betsy Photography

Photo courtesy of Erin Sage Photography

Photo courtesy of David Sixt Photography

Photo courtesy of Half Orange Photography

Our New Associate: An Event to Remember

Posh would like to introduce you to our newest associate: An Event to Remember. Started three years ago by Shamika Johnson, An Event to Remember is a great event planning company that specializes in weddings. After sitting down with Shamika for a few minutes, we just want you to get to know her, too!

Shamika is the creator, owner, and event coordinator of An Event to Remember. She’s the type of girl that loves hosting, being around good people, making memorable events, and bringing people together. December 2011 marked the three-year anniversary of her company, which she’s thrilled about. “I’m still kind of a baby, but I’ve been around the block a few times,” she jokes. She came up with the idea of starting her own company while planning her own wedding because she enjoyed the process so much. Her fiancé, however, sweetly asked if they could get married before she started her own business. Once the wedding was over, she started creating An Event to Remember.

Three years later, Shamika is doing everything she loves. She loves to serve the everyday bride, a down-to-earth girl who still loves elegant things. “I try and add their unique style, I don’t want it to just be a cookie cutter wedding,” Shamika explains. So, she does what she can to find a unique element and go with it. For example, one of her couples loved San Marcos, so they got married at the CAF Hangar – complete with the original WWII planes. This is what Shamika loves – discovering what her clients want and then exceeding their expectations.

An Event to Remember is a place that loves its brides and just wants to serve them. In fact, it’s currently offering a promotion through Weddingwire.com! Until March 31, 2012, you have the chance to win 15% off of a day of coordination through the “Simply Details” package. With Shamika planning your wedding, you’re sure to have a stress-free, fantastic event. An Event to Remember, welcome to Posh!

Photo Courtesy of An Event to Remember

Mardi Gras Inspiration Wedding

From the food to the decorations to the jazz, Mardi Gras is an amazing celebration! Planning your wedding around the traditional royal hues or throwing an all out Mardi Gras affair, is always a good idea. Here are some of my favorite Mardi Gras/New Orleans touches:

Image Courtesy of Letterpress Light

Image Courtesy of Navy Green

Image Courtesy of Southern Weddings

Image Courtesy of Green Wedding Shoes

Image Courtesy of Southern Weddings

Image Courtesy of Style Me Pretty

Photo Courtesy of Style Me Pretty

Image Courtesy of Southern Weddings

Red Heart Inspiration Wedding

To cap off this amazing week, I am sharing a fabulous wedding that’s just full of love. Perfect for sweethearts on Feb. 14th or on any other day of the year. From the calligraphy details to the amazing poppy red hue, this wedding is sure to make you swoon. Here are a few of my favorite details in this Southern Wedding‘s highlighted affair:

All Images Courtesy of Southern Weddings

Red & Pink Florals

Pink and red aren’t just for Valentine’s Day. Incorporate these colors into your wedding florals and your guests will definitely feel the love. Here are some of my favorite floral ideas: