louisewu

I've got a such a special treat for you today - a beautiful Venetian inspired photo shoot that is overflowing with glamour and glitz. Here's a little bit about the story behind this lovely shoot . . . When Marni Gold of Creative Custom Card Boxes and Cherin Szul of Customized Wedding Creations started to come up with a concept for a photo shoot, they had a difficult time narrowing down exactly what it was they wanted to focus on {as they both had tons of ideas to work from}. In the very early planning stages, Cherin found herself in a local store almost drooling over Venetian style masks and just knew she had to work with one. Marni suggested they work around a Venetian theme to make the mask a focal point and from there everything started to fall into place. That's when Cherin chose Jessica from The Crafty Chemist to make a Venetian styled mask for the shoot in the color palette of deep red, antique gold, and cream. I LOVE these colors together. The lace look on the invitations and the Venetian design overlay was created by Carey at Lasso'd Moon Designs. The Estate at Florentine Gardens was selected as the venue for this shoot because of it's beautiful grounds and stunning stone structures which lent a more European ambiance to the shoot. Jennifer from Nuage Designs helped to procure a flowy, yet elegant tablecloth as well as gold shimmered chair covers to which Cherin added a personal touch by painting on the bride and groom's initials. To continue with the flowing aspect, the team wanted to incorporate more than just flowers into the bouquet, so they decided to work with Marie from Emici Bridal and incorporated some feathers and brooches into the hand made silk floral bouquet giving it a more unique look. Other elegant little touches reminiscent of Venice included the tile "Amore" sign on the dessert table created by Cherin, the Venetian Lace on the card box that Marni crafted, the Italian designed chocolates from Donna & Company Artisanal Chocolates, and even the addition of refreshing Bellini's as the signature cocktail. Other vendors for this shoot also incorporated the Italian touches whether it was through the colors, designs, etc. Don't you just love this elegant look? Vendors: Photographer - Kamila Harris Photography Wedding Gown - discount dresses Design and Styling - Cherin Szul of Customized Wedding Creations and Marni Gold of Creative Custom Card Boxes Chair Covers, table numbers, and Amore sign - Customized Wedding Creations Card Box - Creative Custom Card Boxes Bouquet - Emici Bridal Stationery (Invitations) - Lasso'd Moon Designs Table Linens - Nuage Designs Mask - The Crafty Chemist Clutch - The Social Seam Cake and mask sugar sculpture - A Cake Dream Shoe Clips and Hair Fascinator - RBK Creations Cupcakes - Sensibly Sweet Hair and Make Up - Michelle LoConte of Pink Comb Salon Venue - The Estate at Florentine Gardens, River Vale, NJ Flowers - Laurelwood Designs Chocolates - Donna & Company Artisanal Chocolates Stationery (Cards for Bellinis and Escort Cards) - Olive Branch Papery

Early on in wedding planning, Mama Funnel Cake made it clear that she would not be entertaining any ridiculous dress expenses. She firmly believes that the quality of wedding dresses is similarly poor throughout the whole range of prices and that it is simply not worth it to spend more than $100-200 for a dress you wear for one day. When Sister Funnel Cake was discouraged by how unflattering bridal shop sample gowns were on her petite figure, it was actually Mama Funnel Cake who found her a wedding dress used on discount-dress.com for $75. Sister Funnel Cake went to try the dress on and figured, “Hey, for $75, this gets the job done.†It might not have been her dream dress and she did voice some feelings of dissatisfaction about her decision at the time, but the dress was such a good deal that she couldn’t pass it up. (Personal Photo) (Personal Photo) As I started my own search for dresses, Mama Funnel Cake (who along with my father had generously offered to pay for wedding ceremony/reception) hinted that she’d buy me a moderately priced wedding dress if it was required, but I figured it was just easier to buy what I wanted with my own money instead of worrying about what she would allot me. Mama Funnel Cake also sent me discount-dress.com links to used wedding dresses from the Columbus and they just… didn’t do it for me. They all looked something along the lines of these: I really wanted to find the perfect dress and then worry about where to buy it for a good deal. I didn’t want to feel like I was compromising our wedding day by buying any white gown that fit me and I didn’t want dress regret before the wedding like my sister. I wanted The Dress to be something that I simply loved that made me look good. I set myself a loose goal of $1000 maximum, which for me seemed very generous because it was more money than my family members had ever spent on a wedding dress. I felt a little bashful about how much I was possibly planning to spend on my dress, but I was determined not to limit myself to the clearance section at a department store. What factors set your dress budget? Did you family think your dress was too expensive?