Romantic Whimsical

My sister is engaged and her wedding day is getting closer and closer. I thought it would be awesome to create a wedding inspiration board to help get her pumped up for her big day. Her wedding theme is Romantic Whimsical and her colors are Blue and Hot pink. Hope you enjoy little sister. I love you. Thanks again to Cristina Navarro for allowing me to use her fab photo of what I think is a "whimsical" cake. The cake is a creation from Thierry of Sweet 'Art Festive Cakes.

Vintage Love

Since my husband is a Video Production and Graphic Designer, he has definitely made me more appreciative of quality film making. When it came to planning our wedding he was the person in charge of finding us our wedding videographer, JC Video Productions. We are very happy with our wedding video. One thing that we didn't want was our wedding video to look like it was a cheesy novela, and luckily it didn't. Brides and Grooms, when you look for a videographer make sure to set up a consultation and have them show you their previous work. If they do not want to share previous wedding videos they have made that is a RED FLAG and I would advise you to start  looking for another videographer.

I was looking at Style Me Pretty and found this awesome Vintage wedding inspiration video by Buzz Media Company. It definitely made an impression on me and I would have totally wanted to do that for our video.  I tell my husband that I want to get married to him again a million times so we can incorporate all these cool new trends that I find. He just looks at me like I am a crazy woman. haha. Enjoy the video, I LOVE the vintage look.


Elihu Island Winter Love from Buzz Media Company on Vimeo.

The fragrance of LOVE

When it came to planning my wedding, the hardest vendor for me to find was a florist. I shopped around like any smart bride should and I fell in love with Fiori. They were very attentive and addressed all of my floral needs, and most importantly my budget. Fiori doesn't just put together your average centerpieces, boutineers and bouquets they create pieces of art with beautiful flowers. Visit their website at http://fioritheflowerstudio.com/ to see various floral arrangements they have created.
Below are some photos of Fiori's work taken by Cristina Navarro of New Day Photography www.newdayphotography.com

UTEP Color Inspiration

There are an array of colors that you can choose for your wedding. Many brides are usually the ones to choose the theme and colors of the big day and the groom doesn't really have a choice in the matter. Masculine colors are becoming more popular in modern weddings.
Personally, I was so excited to see that blue and orange are a hot color combo right now. The reason I am so excited is because they are UTEP colors and I have constant Orange Fever. haha
If you and your fiance are big UTEP fans, like most of El Paso, or are UTEP alumni this would be an awesome color theme.
El Paso grooms are going to be so happy if their brides tell them their wedding colors will be orange and blue instead of pink and purple.

Check out this color inspiration board compliments of Charmcitybride.com

Groom's Cake

According to Martha Stewart Weddings, the tradition of the groom's cake can be traced back to the Victorian era in England. The groom's cake made it's debut to the US in the South. Groom's cakes are a fun way of expressing the groom's personality. Groom's cakes can depict a plethora of things but typically are a favorite hobby, sport or food. Personally, I always enjoy the groom's cake more than the wedding cake. I wonder why they taste so much better.
Oh and here is a fun lil tidbit I would like to share. An old superstition is that if the single women at the wedding take a piece of the groom's cake home and sleep with it under their pillow they will dream of their future husband. Ladies, this is literally "FOOD FOR THOUGHT." haha
So enough about Groom's Cake history, below you will find some awesome examples of groom's cakes.
Also, I can't leave you without information about some of True Love Nation's favorite local bakers. First, Thierry of Sweet 'Art Festive Cakes bakes custom design cakes that look and taste amazing, visit her website at www.sweetartfestivecakes.com. You can get a taste of her delicious cakes on the dessert menu at The El Paso City Grill. Secondly, Bowie Bakery not only makes the best Pan Dulce in El Paso but is also baking wedding cakes too, visit their website at www.bowiebakery.com.

These two cakes are from the website gallery of Sweet 'Art Festive Cakes by Thierry.
The following photo my friend took at a wedding she recently was a guest at. The groom really likes Chico's Tacos.

Trend Alert:Video Invites

While I was looking at one of my favorite wedding blogs, www.polkadotbride.com, I came across a post that mentioned video invites. I was so ecstatic about this new trend that I had to share it with you all. I began to search for wedding invites and save the date invites and came across these two awesome videos. You can check these videos out on Vimeo and all of the production info is on there. This is a great idea for brides and grooms that want to do something different from traditional paper invites. The video would also be a great keepsake for family and friends.

Save the Date Video

Jonny and Krystel Save the Date Video from SODE Productions on Vimeo.

Wedding Invitation Video

Josh+Amy - Wedding Invitation Video from Matt E on Vimeo.

Twilight Wedding-Bella's Gown

The recent release of the second movie of the Twilight Series:New Moon has everyone in a Twilight craze. For those of you who have not gone to see it, I highly recommend it. Personally, it is extremely better than the first movie, Twilight. Of course, the ending of the movie leaves you wanting more and more. There is a link above from In Style Magazine showing a numerous amount of sketches of designer's ideas of Bella's Wedding Gown. Below is True Love Nation's favorite from Monique Lhuillier. Very romantic and vintage. Love it.

Boot Scootin' Boogie

In Texas cowboy boots have never really gone out of style, but they sure are making a comeback in the fashion world. Many brides are "kicking the boot" to designer heels and sportin' cowboy boots with a feminine twist. The following photos are from Lauren Clark's photography blog.

Luckily for El Paso brides and bridesmaids, we have talented designers that make custom boots. One of many is Rocketbuster Boots. They have designed many custom boots for celebs such as Taylor Swift, Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan, Oprah Winfrey and many more. Their prices range from $650.00-$5,000. Below are some pics of some of their boots. Check out their website @ www.rocketbuster.com

The Wedding Boot

These two are some of True Love Nation's fav's

Hair "Style"

Brides and Bridesmaids alike not only need to worry about their hairstyle but how to make it stylish. Right now it is so hot for the ladies to accessorize their hair with crystals, feathers, flowers and headbands. Forget the tiaras, the modern bride and bridesmaid gets to show their uniqueness through their hair"style."
My favorite hair accessory designer is Jennifer Behr. Her beautiful accessories have been worn by many celebs such as Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie and Natalie Portman.
Below are two photos of my favorite hair accessories from her Bridal Collection.
Courtesy of www.jenniferbehr.com


Below is also a gorgeous Star Queen feather hair comb from Etsy.

Ladies, keep in mind to purchase a hair accessory that will complement your hairstyle and veil. Make sure to meet with your hairstylist weeks before the wedding to have a practice run of your wedding day hair with your veil and hair accessories.
Another photo compliments of Cristina Navarro of New Day Photography.


True Love Nation tidbit: A great local boutique that sells amazing hair accessories is Ella Blu.
Ella Blu is another one of True Love Nation's favs.

Stop Time and Treasure it.

When planning your wedding it is EXTREMELY important to incorporate a photographer in your budget. This, among a couple other wedding expenses, should not be something to frugally invest in. Photographers "mark a moment that has passed, one that would now be gone forever except for a picture."-Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones.
Photo-journalistic photography has taken over the more traditional stiff posing photography. When you look at a photographer's photos you want to be able to feel the emotion of the people in the photo.
Make sure to do a lot of research before making a decision. Remember, photographers are going to capture the most important moments and details of your special day, so choose wisely. Plenty of photographers have websites that display their galleries of work and contact information for package prices.
FYI......when you hire a photographer for your wedding it is a good idea to include an engagement session. The engagement sessions are tons of fun and lets face it, who wouldn't want to be chased by their own "paparazzi" for an afternoon. Plus, it allows you and your fiance to get used to being the center of attention and get to know how the photographer works.

Here are a few photos of a local photographer True Love Nation adores.
Cristina Navarro of New Day Photography.
Check out more of her work on her website at: www.newdayphotography.com

Time Travel Inspiration

I fell in love with the story of The Time Traveler's Wife when I read the book. So when the movie came out I went to see it the opening weekend. I was impressed with how accurately the movie portrayed the book. It is great inspiration for weddings, marriage, and life itself. The moment I saw Clare's engagement ring I began to drool. It has a vintage yet futuristic look to it, so unique. There has already been a trend shift in engagement rings to a more vintage look with the settings of the rings themselves. Now I have begun to see a trend shift in the preference of different shapes of diamonds.

Clare's engagement ring is an oval shaped diamond set east to west. So beautiful.

Here is another engagement ring that has a Marquise shape diamond, instead of oval shape, set east to west.