A Fun & Elegant North Carolina Yacht Club Wedding

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Aug 16th

by: Sammantha

Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited to share this gorgeous yacht club wedding from inContrast Images today! Seersucker suits, an elegant style paired with fun, quirky details, and a bride and groom that are SO in love- I myself have fallen head over heels with this wedding, and I know you will too! The bride, Briana, is here with us to share some of her wonderful planning insight, so keep an eye out for her tips!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

I’m a Marketing Manager at an Advertising firm so work on timelines, budgets, vendor communication and overall creative strategy. I found this helped a lot since I do this type of stuff on a daily basis ;) I actually really enjoyed the process of planning my wedding so much – that I now also work as a day of coordinator with Kickstand Events!

In terms of the people that helped me…my mother passed away about 7 years ago – so a lot of close family and friends pitched in, including my moms best friend and my now mother in law. It was tough not having my mother with me through this process, but I was so blessed with all of the love and support around me.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

I started to plan my wedding from New York, never having visited Wilmington, NC where I was about to move and get married. It was important that I see my vendors work on blogs and read good reviews from them online. All of my vendors I had selected had done a wedding at my venue, Figure Eight Island Yacht Club, and were featured on a blog for their work. That way, I knew their style and was confident they were comfortable with my venue ;)

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

Since our reception was at a private yacht club on the water – we went with the nautical theme – but made sure it wasn’t too preppy but classy. I kept the flowers and decorations soft and simple to make sure I didn’t distract from the beautiful backdrop of the intercoastal waterway. I also love the details, so I made sure to add subtle touches of B&B initials throughout (on the cornhole boards, paper design, confetti cones etc.)

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

I have moved a lot in my life, from Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, New Orleans, studied abroad in Beijing, China, worked in New York City and just moved to Wilmington, NC with my now husband who is a Jag Lawyer in the Marines — so I made a lot of friends from several places along the way. It was so great bringing all my family and friends together to have them meet one another and just dance and share the immense love that I have of this new city that Brian & I moved to (Wilmington).

And now for a fun glimpse of Briana and Brian’s wedding day via their film from Brick Street Cinema…

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

Have fun in the planning process! Don’t be shy about asking for help and hire a videographer – they capture a different type of emotion than a photographer does!

I just love how these two kept an elegant, classic feel but infused so much of their own personalities into their day with fun, unique details! And how adorable are Briana and Brian?! I feel like I know them and they would be a TON of fun to be around!

So tell me, what kind of fun details are you planning on incorporating into your wedding? Did Briana’s details give you any ideas?

Cheers!
Samm

Vendors who made it all happen…

Photographer: InContrast Images / Reception Venue: Figure 8 Island Yacht Club / Ceremony Venue: Saint Mary Catholic Church / Flowers & Decor: Fiore Fine Flowers / Cinematography: Brick Street Cinema / Invitations & Stationery: William Arthur / Bride’s Dress: Tara Keely by Lazaro / Bridesmaid Dresses: Jenny Yoo / Groomsmen Seersucker Sutis: Jos A Bank / Wedding Planner/Coordinator: Stellar Events

Thursday Tips: End The Comparison!

Category: 9 Comments

Aug 15th

by: Lauren

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Happy Thursday everyone! I just got back from a fabulous business workshop that I spoke at, and my mind is buzzing with all kinds of inspiration, ideas, and excitement. Today’s post is something a little more inspirational and insightful as opposed to the usual tips I share, but I hope you will be able to gain some useful knowledge!

I came across this quote by Karl Lagerfeld (thanks to my friend Ashley), and it resonated with me in so many ways. It’s so incredibly true, and it can apply to so many different aspects of life…

Illustration by Ashley Brooke Designs

This quote has a focus on personality, but I want to talk about the other thing mentioned- comparison. Comparison can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. It can be a great tool to help you make decisions. But the trouble is when you start comparing things that really can’t be compared. I’ve talked about this when comparing vendors. Sure, you want to compare what one person offers against what the other person offers. But when it comes to vendors, everyone does things differently, has different styles, has different experience, and that is why it’s so difficult to compare one to another. You can only compare an apple to an orange in so many ways. To me, the amazing thing about wedding vendors is that they ARE different and unique. Not all brides are going to love and want the same thing, and I believe that one of the beautiful things about weddings.

So let’s move on to actual weddings. Between Pinterest, all of the amazing wedding blogs out there, Loverly, and magazines, brides today have access to TONS of inspiration. SO much more than I had back in 2008 when I was planning my own wedding- in fact, sometimes I’m jealous! But all of this inspiration has also caused brides to compare their weddings to others’ weddings. I compared my own wedding to others and ended up being pretty unsatisfied because of it, so I can’t even imagine what it’s like now!

I want to encourage you to stop comparing, and start letting your personality shine through for your wedding.

You don’t have to have mason jars just because 80% of the weddings on blogs have them. You don’t have to worry about the “right” way to do things. Heck, you don’t even have to have an actual wedding! Just do what works for you, what you and your partner want, and what will truly reflect your personalities!

And now I want to get a little more personal. I myself have the hardest time with comparison. In the wedding blog world, it’s really hard to NOT compare yourself to others. It’s also incredibly difficult when others do the comparing all the time too. I understand the comparison of numbers, because that is hard data. But the flip side is very similar to what I mentioned about vendors- everyone offers something different and does things differently. You can’t compare Walmart to your favorite local boutique, right? Beyond the hard data, there can more to a wedding blog. For me, I care about helping brides and vendors A LOT. Like the *sometimes-my-heart-feels-like-it’s-going-to-burst* kind of A LOT. And I’ve realized that everything I’m so incredibly passionate about all leads back to wanting to help everyone and anyone involved in the wedding world. Which is why, if you haven’t already been able to tell, ELD isn’t a “normal” wedding blog- because I share posts like this one and all of the other wedding planning tips. I’m sharing this because I don’t want you all to think that I’m just some elusive face on a website. I’m here to help, and I care more than you know. :)

So with all of this said, let’s end the comparisons and start looking at personality and uniqueness!

I’d love to hear from some of you about your thoughts on comparison… whether wedding-related or personal, what do you think?

Wedding Planning Advice: Take Time For Yourself

Category: 3 Comments

Aug 15th

by: Lauren

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“This day is all about you and your husband/wife to be. You don’t have to follow any trends, or listen to anyone else but what the two of you want. Remember to take the time and relax too. You don’t have to plan a wedding in one day, taking time for yourself will be the best thing you can do. It becomes very overwhelming and many brides/grooms forget that they need time to recharge too.”

– Heather of Simply Designed

Simply Designed

contact: Heather Long

email: heather@sdinvites.com | phone: 703.403.3324

website: http://www.sdinvites.com

twitter: Follow @sdinvites | facebook: “Like” Simply Designed!

location: Internet, Maryland | type: Invitations & Paper | style: Classic, Eclectic, Modern, Vintage | price: $$

Modern Coral & Navy Chesapeake Bay Wedding

Category: REAL WEDDINGS 1 Comments

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Aug 14th

by: Lauren

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I really don’t think you can get any more gorgeous than today’s coral and navy Chesapeake Bay wedding from Maria DeForrest Photography! The colors are absolutely fabulous, and the details are perfect… you are absolutely going to love it!

From the bride, Brittany:

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

Megan Pollard from Events in the City was an amazing component of helping to bring our ideas to life and creating an overall theme and flow for our wedding day. To this day I still have no idea what my wedding would’ve been without her involved! She was there for everything from keeping us on track, ideas and inspiration, vendor recommendations, late night emails, all the way to flawlessly executing our wedding on the day of while remaining calm cool and collected.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

A connection, we needed someone who understood our direction and could help to execute it.

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

Since we live in Virginia Beach, VA and chose to get married in Cambridge, MD we really wanted to bring the relaxed “beach” feel without being too casual and put a little modern spin on it. We took components of the beach some literal (example: coral) and other things like tying in a beachy color palette.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

Well, besides getting married of course……Seeing the final product! Eric and I had the chance to go into our reception room before any of our guests and it was extremely emotional! All the hard work and planning pays off and you get to walk around see the details and have your own moment to take it all in. I highly recommend other brides to do this if possible.

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

Keep yourself relaxed! Do a few things at a time to keep you on track so you don’t feel overwhelmed during the planning process. On the day of take the time to take it all in because like everyone says it will FLY by. Lastly, don’t forget to breathe!

I love that Brittany and her husband incorporated beach elements into their wedding without it feeling like every other beach wedding out there! And how about those fabulous details? I think my favorite is the favors, and a close second would be the table numbers!

Are any of you planning on going a different route with a theme that usually looks a certain way? I’d love to hear!