Emily & Eric | Wedding

Emily and Eric were married in Madison, Wisconsin, at St. Thomas Aquinas. Their reception followed at the Pyle Center, on the UW campus. Being a school teacher, Emily was able to have a fellow art teacher make their Thank You sign. We incorporated that into their Thank You cards after the wedding. It was a fun way to show off wedding images with their notes to family and friends.

We featured Emily and Eric's wedding in a new album style that we just started offering. I'll post a few of the layouts from that album soon!

Lisa & Zach | Engagement

Lisa and Zach are getting married in July 2012. While they make their home on the east coast, they are planning a Madison wedding. On one of their trips home, we were able to squeeze in their engagement session. The UW Arboretum was the perfect backdrop for the day. Lisa and Zach were such a fun couple to work with and we are really looking forward to capturing the wedding day, as well!

Bridal Show Advice

Are you recently engaged? Are you still planning your wedding? Are you attending a bridal show this month?

This is definitely the time of year that there are plenty of bridal shows to choose from! While bridal shows may vary in size, all will offer you the opportunity to see and meet with a variety of wedding professional in one place at one time. While some shows may be small and intimate, others may be huge and a bit overwhelming.

I have a couple pieces of advice for you to "make the most" of any show that you attend:

1. Know what you need.

Figure out in advance if you will be tasting cakes or looking for photographers. While you can, and should, try to walk through the whole show, if you don't have a game plan, you may find that you get too tired or distracted to find the wedding professionals you went to the show to find.

2A. Take good notes.

Imagine arriving at the bridal show with 200 wedding professionals showcasing their services and wares and you have the good luck of finding the best cake baker in the whole state. "But," you think, "maybe I should go peek and have a quick taste of the other cakes, just to be sure." After a few more tastes, your tongue is sugared-out and you forgot who your favorite baker was, let alone where their booth is located and now you fear you will have to settle for blah ordinary wedding cake! Taking good notes could have saved you.

When you find a wedding professional that you love, write it down, either on the literature they hand out, on their business card, or on the show program. Taking a few notes on why you love them will also help you remember who they are after you leave the show. Don't rely on your memory; you will have too many other things to see and do.

2B. Bring a fine-tip Sharpie.

Having a pen handy is helpful, and a lot of shows will even give you one for free, but having a fine-tip Sharpie is even better. Some wedding professionals will have a glossy brochure or a glossy business card which is difficult to write on with a pen. Your Sharpie will write on almost anything, so it is perfect for your bridal show note-taking.

If you are looking for shows to attend, come visit two that we will be at:

Wedding Planner & Guide

January 14 & 15, 2012

Alliant Energy Center, Madison WI

We have been in this show since 2002!

Spielman's Event Services Bridal Open House

January 28, 2012

Spielman's, Cedar Rapids IA

We are looking forward to our second year in this show!

New Albums!

It's that time of year again- when we update our album offerings! And just in time for the bridal shows. If you will be attending, please stop by to check them out!

We are excited to add a new album style to our line-up. This is a beautiful album that will complement our Artistic albums.

We also have a new wedding to show off in one of our Contemporary albums. This is a fun wedding that we affectionately call "the button wedding" because all the bouquets were made from buttons and they used buttons as a theme.

We look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at the Wedding Planner & Guide bridal show in Madison, WI!

Mariah & Stephen | Wedding

Mariah and Stephen were married in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this fall. Outdoor weddings in the midwest can be tricky to plan, knowing you might need an alternate location, in case it rains. (But they say rain on the wedding day is good luck, so that should be okay!) Mariah and Stephen had a beautiful day, with just a bit of rain after their ceremony. Aside from needing to do a few family portraits inside, we were able to capture the rest of the day outside with the fabulous fall colors.

These are a few pages from their wedding album that Mariah picked up today- just in time to show off at Christmas!

Alecia & Jon | Wedding

Alecia just picked up her finished wedding album from her August wedding. This was such a fun wedding! Alecia and Jon were such an easy-going couple and they really were relaxed and able to enjoy the day. Right after her wedding, I had asked Alecia what her favorite part of the day was. Her answer was watching the guests arrive for the ceremony while she waiting in her hiding place. She was pretty sure that Jon's favorite part was shoving cake in her mouth.

Alecia used buttons as her theme. Her button bouquets, inspired by etsy, were whimsical and fresh. The button details spilled over into the reception: on name cards, as decorations and even on the cupcakes. They were "cute as a button"!

Accessorize Your Inner Diva!

I just made my first shopping trip to Charming CHARLIE and LOVE it. I love accessories, and Charming CHARLIE has no shortage of choices.

Charming CHARLIE opened a new store at West Towne Mall in Madison about one month ago. This is a store dedicated to jewelry, handbags and shoes. And the prices are easy enough to keep your inner diva happy while allowing you to change your accessories as often as you change your mind.

When you walk in, you can see that the store looks very organized even with the eclectic variety of styles. They keep it easy to shop by organizing everything by color. So, say you find that perfect blue dress that is calling for a great necklace or fun ring: you can find that perfect piece easily by heading to the blue jewelry section. Then you get to browse until you find just the right style.

This store would be a lot of fun for a bride planning her wedding. Just imagine all the ways that she could accessorize those bridesmaids dresses! And how fun would it be for the bride to add splashes of color to her own dress!! Forget being a bridezilla and be a brideDIVA!