Redefining the "Perfect Wedding"...Again

 Bride Lauren truly enjoying her wedding day with her friends
Image by LorenzFoto

  

My friend and super-fantastic Wedding Planner & Designer, Sasha Souza just recently posted on her blog, Sparkliatti, about making the madness stop when it comes to the "Perfect Wedding" rhetoric & other "catch phrases" that encourage less than gracious behavior. 

Your Las Vegas Wedding Concierge wrote about this myself quite a while ago on my blog and I can't think of a better time than now to re-post my views and stand with Sasha, and many other wedding colleague friends on this subject. It IS important!

Here is the post (I made some revisions) from March, 2007.

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My good friend, Andy Ebon, who is a marketing specialist for the Wedding Industry, posted on his Wedding Marketing Blog, the problem with using that overly cliched term; "Perfect Wedding" in advertising to brides.

From Andy

"Just for laughs, I ‘Googled’ the phrase "Perfect Wedding". Sadly, it received over 1 million results. That’s a lot of people living in the fantasy land, either believing or creating unrealistic expectations..."

I could not agree with Andy more! And,unfortunately, the majority of those search results are generated by wedding & bridal media propagating the myth. You know who you are! 

I don't like it one bit! It's deceptive because the "Perfect Wedding" is unattainable.

Asking for and expecting perfect brings undue amount of stress and STRESS IS a BEAUTY KILLER! Look at the faces of those "Bridezillas" who expected perfect on their wedding. They will have to endure the results with images of their tired, sour, sad, mad faces when they could have been joyous and glowing, knowing their day was not about "perfect" but happiness in confirming their life together with the person they love the most.

I never use the term "Perfect Wedding" in conversation with brides or in my literature. If you tell me that is what you want, truthfully, I may not be the planner you are looking for. I am a very accomplished wedding planning professional but I can not and will not promise you a "Perfect Wedding".

But, I will promise you this. If you allow yourself to relax, trust in yourself, in the tasteful details you choose and wedding professionals you hired (with the guidance of your wedding planner), you will find it much more enjoyable to go through the entire wedding journey, the wedding itself and the next day when your new life going forth together with your partner begins.

And down the road, those special little unplanned, spontaneous and surprise moments of your wedding day; the ones that made you laugh and cry and smile, are what you will always remember as being "Perfect"!

Celebrate Your Day with LOVE, LIFE & Style.

Style Me Pretty: "Inspiration to Reality" Las Vegas Style

Your Las Vegas Wedding Concierge and friends had a simply fabulous day on Wednesday at a photo shoot bringing this "Inspiration Board" to life.

I am a member of the Little Black Book of wedding professionals on Style Me Pretty, one of the most popular and trend-setting wedding blogs that appeals to both brides and wedding pros for it's gorgeous images and attention to the details in their writing.

Style Me Pretty has a tool where you can enter the "Style Circle" free and create "Inspiration Boards". If you don't want to make one yourself, you can spend hours admiring all the amazing boards that readers have created. There are so many ideas out there from so many creative brides to view. It's hard not to get "inspired"!

The concept of the "Inspiration to Reality" shoot is for a team of wedding professionals to select an "Inspiration Board" that we love and bring our own twist to bringing that inspiration to life.

We chose this "Feathers & Fur" inspiration board created by Chiara and I can't wait for Chiara to see what we have put together. I know she and all of you will LOVE IT!!

Some of the Las Vegas creative dream team members that made the magic happen are Chelsea Nicole Photography, Naakiti Floral Design, Gourmet Invitations, Couture Bride and our amazing venue, Springs Preserve.

Stay tuned for the gorgeous results and a list of the entire creative team in a few weeks on Style Me Pretty for the big reveal.

Celebrate Your Day with Love, Life & Style!

March "Gift of the Month" Giveaway-Bridal Makeup Trial with Celebrity Makeup Artist Barbra Jo Batterman!

Barbra Jo Batterman

I know I am very late in getting this month's "Gift of the Month" giveaway up and running and hopefully the previous post will have you all feeling just a little bit forgiving. I truly did intend to get this up earlier, really!

Anyway, I figured I had to do something really great to make up for it and in keeping with the spirit of the last post and my shout-out to my friend Barbra Jo Batterman, fabulous makeup artist to the fashion & celebrity world elite, I am going to treat this month's winner (with Barbra's blessing) to a complimentary bridal makeup trial with Barbara!!

"If you are looking for beautiful results, look no further than the extraordinary talent of make up artist Barbra Jo Batterman. Everyone is doing it...some of Barbra's clients include Clinton, Schwarzenegger, Bacall and Lagasse, The Academy Awards, The BET Awards, The American Music Awards, The Billboard Awards, MTV, VH1, HBO and every major network."

From Barbara's Bio on her website.

You can also view Barbra's resume page to see more of the clients she has worked with from top local & national magazines including Las Vegas Life, Las Vegas Bride, Rolling Stone & more.

The Gift Certificate is valued at $100.00 when the trial is done at Barbra's southwest Las Vegas studio. Should you win the contest and you happen to be from out of town and would like Barbra to come to you at your hotel, then the $100. 00 gift certificate can be applied to her fee for on-site appointments (Barbra will quote you that price).

• The Gift Certificate will be valid for the remainder of 2008 & does not apply to any increase in fees set by Barbra Jo Batterman. You will arrange your own appointment with Barbra at the mutual convenience of both her's and your schedules.
• The contest will end on March 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
• This month's contest is only open to "Brides to Be" please!
• As always, the rules to enter are to respond with a comment to this post with your name and location. If you answer either one of my questions of the month, I enter you twice. You can only answer one question & I'm checking IP addresses so play fair!

The questions are: What has been your best "cover up" story for something embaressing you did? or... What is your best "kiss & makeup" story with your sweetie?

Have fun, good luck & have a wonderful Holiday Easter Weekend!

Go On-Smile!! Are You Ready for Your Wedding Day Closeup?

One of the most beautiful and stylish accessories you can wear on your wedding day is a healthy and gleaming smile!

Just ask Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry or Mandy Moore who all have gorgeous, sexy smiles and are fans of...

"GoSmile-The Smile Beauty Company" helps you acheive both with their line of teeth whitening products that are easy to use (many do not require water), compact and compliant with the new strict federal aviation codes so you can arrive at your Destination Wedding location and flash them a winning welcome smile right on through your wedding day (and of course every day after that too).

I love the Touch Up On the Go Smile Refreshers that come in a variety of different flavors, that are stylishly small (they are packages as small ampuoles), yet pack a punch at removing coffee and tea stains, keep breath fresh and promote good oral hygiene. (Hey, I used to manage a dental office and my brother is a dentist).

These products are definately a new addition to my Concierge Emergency Kit in 2008 to make sure my couples and their wedding parties all have beautiful smiles for gorgeous photographs and video.

You can purchase GoSmile products at their website at GoSmile.com and also at Sephora Stores (how I love Sephora) and Sephora.com, Beauty.com and Drugstore.com.

Check this out and have a Stylish Day!