Historic Inns of Annapolis

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Governor Calvert House in Annapolis. Excited brides filled the aisles of the show grabbing all the information they could on the area's best vendors. Seriously! This was a great show with a lot of my favorite people! I'm highlighting some of the talented teams in the wedding industry below. They are listed in order of how close they were to our booth :) It's the order on my handy digital camera.

Fiona's~ Yummy cakes- she did my wedding 6 years ago  

Wendy Hickok ~ Her smile is contagious and her work is stunning!

Balance Photography ~ LOVE this team! 

  Soiree Savvy~ I could spend all day with these gals!

 I love that they love the color PINK!

Nathaniel Corn of Balance Photography. We think he is pretty awesome (and so does he). Check out his fancy pin!

Our fabulous Up-Do's team! 

L-R Ashley, Lindsay and Danielle

Blue Sky Films ~ What is an event without them?  

Wessels Florist in Ellicott City.

The lovely ladies at Wedding Savvy! Love working with these gals. 

Allison Barnhill Designs ~ Amazing talent right here!

Sugarbakers .....and we did the hair of both of these lovely ladies last year for a wedding! 

ALWAYS a good time with these two of Hamiliton Photography. 

Drew Vanlandingham was there too! He needs to get a website and then I will link you to him. (Don't worry I already told him) He decorated the ballroom beautifully! My pictures do it no justice. 

Only D.Bryant Photography could be at a bridal show and shooting a wedding in Florida at the same time! The purple wedding album on this table is mine :) 

Sarah at Intrigue left us a sweet surprise for our table. They worked perfect with the photo infront of them. They smelled so wonderful!

Lindsay telling brides all about what we do and what we have to offer.

The aisles were packed. 

....and if you made it this far, don't forget to check us out if you haven't already!

Sunday March 27th: Governor Calvert House

Don't forget to come see us Sunday March 27th at the Governor Calvert House in Annapolis.

58 State Circle

Annapolis, MD

We will be there from 12-4pm with the area's most trusted wedding vendors!

Tickets are $10 at the door. 

www.historicinnsofannapolis.com

410.216.6326

Why did he use all his vacation time on this girl???

Apparently it's time for everyone to fill out their brackets for the tournament. Because the brackets are so fun, I invite you to help one of our beautiful brides and her sweet, super romantic and cute fiance to win the honeymoon of their dreams. There are more prizes but the honeymoon seals the deal.

Super easy to vote. I've already done it! What do you have to lose?? Help out Lauren and Brian. We are thrilled we get to be a part of their day. We'd be even more thrilled if you help them win a honeymoon. 

<----This is Brian

• Go to http://cs.condenastdigital.com/goty where you can vote for Brian MacInnes, Seattle, WA
• All you have to do is enter an email address (they will send you a "thanks for voting" email and reminder for the next week)
• Vote for Brian and one guy in the other bracket
• Voting closes for this round on Monday at 10AM Eastern
• If Brian makes it to the top 2 (fingers crossed!!), then you get to see a video of him with our puppy and vote for him again :)

...and just because... I have to copy and paste what Brian's entry answer was...

"I knew she was "The One" when:

I texted my roommate the statement "I just met the girl I'm going to marry" and I burned up all of my vacation days just to spend another moment getting to know her.

Going backwards in time a little bit, I'll explain the story. In August of 2009, I was moving from a city in the outskirts of Seattle to downtown. I was scheduled to go home to visit my family in MD and see my favorite band play the second weekend in August, however, while packing to move to Seattle, I accidentally packed my concert tickets and they were lost in a cardboard box abyss forever. I figured "what the heck, I've already paid for the flight, I might as well go home and visit family and friends", so I did. When in MD, on the night that I was originally supposed to be at my concert, my best friend dragged me out to a bar for the evening. Once we entered the bar, I laid my eyes on her, the most beautiful little lady I had ever seen. We spent the whole evening batting eyes at each other, but I knew all too well that both meeting at a bar and long distance relationships generally don't work, so I didn't even consider approaching her. After hours of staring, my friends finally pushed me (literally) in her direction to go talk to her. I stumbled , almost tripping, and introduced myself. Her first words to me were "what took you so long?". Knowing that I had a little too much "liquid courage" in my system at the time (which I was consuming in order to gain the courage to talk to her in the first place), I thought it be best that I invite her to coffee and call it a night. Before we even had our first date, Lauren met my family (only 1 day after knowing me) and they fell in love. I was scheduled to go back to Seattle that next afternoon, however, I knew that this woman was special somehow and I called my boss and extended my stay another day.The next evening I met her family and something just felt right, I just wasn't ready to leave...so I called my boss and extended my stay another day. At this point I had run out of vacation time, but wasn't ready to bid this new relationship farewell. We both knew that long distance relationships were a bad idea, but we tried it anyways. IT WAS WORTH IT. We dated long distance for 11 months, and this past July she moved out to join me in Seattle. We've been engaged for 14 months now and both couldn't be more excited for our wedding in June!

Tarte - Not sour in anyway!

In efforts to make our team and company more green we are introducing some new products to our make-up kits! We've fallen in love with a few items in particular and just had to share with our internet fans. 

We are loving Burt's Bee's Super Shiny Natural Lip Gloss. Available in 5 shades and can be found at places like Target for $7. 

So in love with these sassy shades from Tarte. They are mineral based and you can pop out each shade and trade for another as you run out! Yay for reusing.  Available online or at Sephora for $44. 

My top favorite product! Tarte true love cheek stain! It works wonders on all skin colors. It is free of alcohol so it won't dry out those precious cheekbones. They are also oil-free.  Get it online or at Sephora for $30. Highly recommend and super easy to use.

...and a photo of me and my youngest sleeping beauty. Many people ask how I balance life, work and two small children. Well this is the proof it takes multi-tasking. As I was shooting the pictures for this blog post I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. This was a random weeknight probably around 10:30pm. I wrapped up my little monkey in the Moby wrap (a must have for Moms) and starting snapping pictures with one hand. I even left up the Valentine stickers from the month before because it was on the bottom of my to-do list. It's all about prioritizing. I'd rather share these hot products first. Then I'll take down last months holiday decor. Enjoy! 

A NIGHT OF MYSTERY?????

Whew! Last night was spent at the super fun American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore for Uncorked! 2011 presented by the Baltimore Chapter of NACE. It is a fun filled night with a wine dinner and table competition.  Proceeds will benefit Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, the Foundation of NACE, and the Baltimore Chapter of NACE Education Fund. 

 It started off with meeting Kelsey (Bradshaw Styling) as I walked in. Her hair was in a ponytail and I asked her how many bobby pins she had on her. She had 5...we made it work and dressed up her blonde locks in the bathroom :)  

 Making our way to the cocktail hour we found that a good majority of the guests were having their Aura read.  I'm orange-red and I like to think that is sassy but it really is artistic (go-figure), physical-creative, expression and excitement. 

After catching up with some familiar faces and meeting some new ones (more on those in another post), we headed upstairs to cast our votes for our favorite tables. Here is a sneak peek (super non-pro as I shot the pics as I was walking around). The amount of work that went into these tables is incredible. Each design was supported by the "A Night Of Mystery" theme. Enjoy my random selections. My photos really don't do these divine designs justice. 

My view for the night: 

 I was seated with some of my favorite guys and gals! Our table was designed by Stephanie and team at Bradshaw Styling. To my right I had the sweetest Lerkia from Savvy Soirees Event Planning and to my left I had sweet Kelsey with her fabulous 2 minute blonde bun.  

Carla David Designs did a super job on the menu cards for the table. 

The ladies (+Chris):

L-R Kelsey, Lisa, Carla, Stephanie, Ashley, Lerkia, Chris

 ...and the fun of being at the Pink Panther table...

 Couldn't leave out the boys

One shoulder dresses rock :) ...and updating facebook as the evening went on. 

 Yum! 2nd course and it was fab! Asiago- herb risotto cake with caramelized onion remoulade. Paired with Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2008. 

Ah-mazing cupcakes from Caroline's Cupcakes. They were super delish!

My favorite photo of the night! 

Balance Boudoir

It's the night before the wedding. You and your handsome groom are about to exchange gifts. If you are like me you are hoping for a fantastic piece of jewelry. If your groom is like my husband, he is praying you didn't get him cufflinks. Why? Who needs more cufflinks? What should you get that man of yours? A sultry but classy book of images of YOU! It really is the best kept secret. 

Want more proof? Send your man over to this website and ask him if he would like a 10x10 designer folio, a flawless wall calendar, or a sleek 8x8 20 page fantasy book? Or surprise him and do it without him knowing! We can help you with the details, planning outfits and picking the perfect location for your shoot (or you can come to us). 

Grab some friends ~ Pillow Fight Parties are personalized for up to 6 gals and make a great Girls Night Out. It's also a great idea for Bachelorette parties! Everyone can be a model!

On March 5th, we set up shop at the Radisson Lord Baltimore to tell brides about our awesome packages and products. 

...and just so you don't think I'm making up how fun it is, both Brittany and I have our own calendars. We've done the shoots, tested the products and perfected the balance boudoir. 

Sorry, no autographs :)