My Thoughts on Lanai and the Four Seasons Koele Lodge Featured on The Honeymoonist

Hey Y’all,

Back in June, I posted about my friend Susan Moynihan and her incredible site for all things honeymoon, fittingly entitled, The Honeymoonist!

Image via http://thehoneymoonist.com/lodge-koele/

Today, I’m giving you a heads up to head to her site to check out my advice on the beautiful honeymoon destination of Lanai, Hawaii and the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele.

Click HERE to read the feature now.

Where will/did you go on your honeymoon? Let me know in the comment section.
-Brian

Getting Married? Create Your Dream Wedding Registry Using NewlyWish

My Friend Amanda Allen, NewlyWish Founder and CEO, and I at #Engage14

Hey Y’all,

Since I’m always making such great friends at the Engage! events, I thought I’d start featuring some of them here to shine a light on their amazing companies and talents. To kick things off, I’d like to introduce y’all to my friend Amanda Allen (pictured with me above at Engage! 14), Founder and CEO of NewlyWish, a New York City-based online wedding registry service designed to help couples create gift registries that truly reflect their life and personal style.

NewlyWish sets itself apart from traditional registry providers through a curated collection of gifts from over 50 boutiques, brands and artisans, providing everything from chic home goods to eco-friendly products, and unique experiences, all wrapped up in their state-of-the-art registry technology.

Beyond their over 12,000+ products, the NewlyWish site features:

One-click registering – Couples can register for the basics with one click using Kitchen, Bed, and Bath Starter Collections.

Group gifting options – Allows guests to contribute toward big-ticket items like commissioned art, furniture, and luxury linens.

Personalized registry homepage – Couples can customize their registry homepages with photos, messages to guests, and a unique registry URL.

Registry Gift Tracker – Keeps track of all items purchased, what’s been shipped, what’s in process and who to send ‘thank you’ notes.

Gift holding options – Moving? Spring cleaning? NewlyWish will hold all goodies until a specific date.

Cash & Honeymoon Funds – Gives guests the opportunity to contribute cash to the couple’s new life.

Exclusive Mix and Match Tabletop Collections – NewlyWish has taken the guess-work out of figuring out which dinnerware, glassware, and flatware patterns look perfect together, with exclusive collections put together by some of the wedding industry’s biggest names.

If you’re engaged (or looking for a fantastic gift for anyone!), you need to check out NewlyWish for all of your wedding registry needs! You won’t regret it. Happy shopping/gifting!
-Brian

Sneak Peek at My Costa Rica Trip and Photo Shoot

A teaser of what’s to come from our ‘Destination I Do’ photo shoot in Costa Rica.

Hey Y’all,

I’ve been so busy with work I haven’t had a chance to post any snapshots from my trip to Costa Rica here, although you may have already seen some on my social channels.

As I said in my initial post about this trip, the people that I had the opportunity to travel and work with on this job were a real ‘dream team’. Our photographer, Laura Grier from Beautiful Day Photography, posted a collection of her snapshots (mostly us having a great time, a few of the design process and photo shoot) and you can check them out, here: http://beautifuldayphotography.com/2014/05/four-seasons-in-guanacaste-costa-rica-fam-trip/

As you can see from the photo gallery, we had a blast together. The photo shoot turned out even better than we expected, but it will have to remain under wraps until the the special issue of Destination I Do magazine comes out. I’ll be sure to keep you posted! Have a fantastic weekend, everybody!
-Brian

Join Me This November at ‘Toss the Bouquet’! #TTBEvent

Hey Y’all,

I’m speaking at an event that will take place in Chicago on 11.24.14 called Toss the Bouquet and their website is now LIVE – which means tickets are on sale!

Check it out, here: http://www.toss-the-bouquet.com/. The first 10 people to register will receive $20 off with the code: TOPTEN. Hope to see you there!
-Brian

Flowers for Every Season: Spring Blooms

Found on borrowedandbleu.com

Hey Y’all,

With all of the different colors and types of flowers to choose from, picking a selection for your ceremony and reception can be difficult. However, just as your wedding menu will typically reflect the time of year you are getting married and the location you are getting married at, those two things will also tend to lend themselves to the rest of your design choices.  The most obvious of which being flowers, since each type of bloom is in season at different times of the year. Color trends will also help to guide you in the right direction when making design choices. For all of you spring brides, here’s a quick guide to flowers that are currently in bloom.

Found on blog.myweddingreceptionideas.com

For a broader guide to seasonal flowers for your wedding, click HERE.
-Brian

I’m Speaking at Engage! 14 Bachelor Gulch

Hey Y’all,

It’s almost time for another spectacular Engage! Luxury Wedding Business Summit! This time, the event takes place at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch on Beaver Creek Mountain in Colorado.

The Engage! 14 website is now live, so please visit for all of the details: http://bachelorgulch.engage14.net.

There, you’ll find their full lineup of speakers, which I’m excited to announce will once again include me. This event marks the third time I have been invited to speak to the attendees about my experience as a wedding planner and event producer. Also, much like Engage! 13 and Engage! 12, I’ll be sure to share some of my best tips and photos with you throughout the 3-day event taking place June 1-4, 2014.
-Brian

Target’s Tevolio Bridal Line: Dress Your Entire Wedding Party for Less!

Wedding party image via http://www.travel-babbles.com

Hey Ya’ll,

As with most aspects of planning your wedding, selecting bridesmaids dresses can be a time-consuming and expensive endeavor–especially if your leading ladies happen to be an opinionated bunch.

This being said, it brings me great joy to tell you there’s a NEW affordable and easy place to find fabulous dresses for your wedding party and it just happens to be my absolute favorite store. Here’s a hint:

That’s right! TEVOLIO is Target’s new bridal line available exclusively at Target.com.

The collection features styles for brides starting at $100 and bridesmaids and flower girls dresses at about $25. The name of the line was inspired by the Italian phrase “Ti voglio,” which translates loosely to “I love you” in English.

So, if you’re looking to save some money and you’ve settled on your wedding colors, simply log onto Target’s website and figure out which of these options is best for the kind of wedding you’re designing:

Option 1 – All your bridesmaids wear the same color and cut/style. *You could have your maid of honor wear one shade lighter or darker of the same dress or put her in a different cut/style to set her apart from the group.

Option 2 – All your bridesmaids wear the same color but can choose ANY cut/style.

Option 3 – You assign each bridesmaid a specific shade of your chosen color to create an ombre effect with their dresses. *Again, you could go with all the same cut/style for the group with the maid of honor set apart in a different cut/style.

While you’re at it, be sure to take a look at the options available for the bride on a budget. There are a few simple options available, and if they happen to suit your body type and catch your eye, you’ll have a LOT more money to spend on the rest of your wedding!

Some of the bridesmaids dresses could also work for the bride in white or ivory. Keep in mind, if they aren’t chic enough for the ceremony you’re envisioning, many of these dresses could work for the rehearsal dinner or even as a secondary dress to change into for the reception or after-party.

So what do you think of these budget-friendly frocks? Would you rock a Target wedding gown on your special day? Let me know in the comment section below. Also, I’m thinking about doing some follow up posts about how to style a wedding around each of these dresses… let me know if that sounds interesting to any of you!
-Brian

Learn to Speak Wedding: Enter to WIN Flashcards for Beginners from Daughter of Design!

Hey Ya’ll,

If you’re newly engaged (or know someone who is), then you know how overwhelming the wedding planning process can be. Right from the get go, you’re dealing with everyone from jewelers, bridal consultants and wedding planners to photographers, lighting specialists, florists, bakers, tailors, dry cleaners, and the list goes on and on!

***UPDATE: We have our winner – Kristin Wong! Kristin will be gifting this boxed set to her good friend who was recently engaged. We know she is going to thank you for these educational and entertaining cards–Congratulations, Kristin! ***

These are people and places many people have never worked with before, so when you factor in how much money many of these people are asking you to fork over for their services, (and the added pressure of wanting your wedding day to be perfect!) trying to understand what you’re signing up for can be confusing and downright terrifying.

Annie and I at Engage13 in our Gatsby gear!

This is why my good friend and wedding planner extraordinaire Annie Lee of Daughter of Design®, created a concise and easy introduction to the wedding world with a beautiful box set of 50 flashcards. Annie’s Learn to Speak Wedding™: Flashcards for Beginners, explain the most common terms, abbreviations, and other wedding vernacular that will help familiarize newbies with wedding culture and have them sounding like a pro in no time!

I also love that Annie had our mutual friend Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York design her beautiful flashcards! You can check out some of the posts I’ve done about Ceci and her line of couture stationary, here:

Letterpressed Notecards By Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York!

Unique Invitations By Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York!

Engage! 13 Re-Cap

How to Plan A Halloween Party and Create A Costume Using Face Paint

Each one of Annie’s cards features a wedding term on the front and a full explanation, correct usage, pronunciation, and other helpful tips are explained on the back. And today, Annie is offering up a box of these fancy flashcards to one of you!

To enter the GIVEAWAY, simply do the following:

1. FOLLOW @daughterodesign and @yourBASHbworley on Twitter and TWEET the following: “I can’t wait to learn how to #SpeakWedding with @daughterodesign! http://wp.me/p1SYl0-Zv“

2. COMMENT below this blog post (so we can contact you if you win!) and be sure to tell us know WHO the flashcards are for!

Good luck everybody! I can’t wait to find out who will win these fabulous cards!
-Brian

***Giveaway limited to U.S. residents only.***

Connect with Annie online:
Website: www.daughterofdesign.com
Instagram: instagram.com/daughterodesign
Twitter: twitter.com/daughterodesign
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/daughterodesign

My Tastemaker Tips Featured in the New Issue of The Knot: Southern California – On Newsstands Now!

Hey Ya’ll,

Did you know that one of my favorite wedding websites, www.theknot.com, also publishes a gorgeous n’ glossy magazine? In fact, I’m featured in the current issue of The Knot: Southern California (on newsstands now through August 2013) and you can find my advice, along with a few other industry experts, in the STYLE section, in an article called, “6 Ways to Style Your Wedding”.

The photography that accompanies the article is really cute. I hope you’ll pick up a copy the next time you’re out! Here’s a sneak peek at the rest of the feature…

You’ll have to buy a copy of the magazine to read my advice, since the text is a bit too small to read here! I just wanted to give you all a heads up and give you a feel for the layout of the feature. Make it a great day, everyone!
-Brian

Engage! 13 Re-Cap

Hey Ya’ll,

Engage! 13 in Ashville, North Carolina just wrapped and I have to say it ranks as one of the most fun times I have ever had.  The location of the Biltmore Estate could not have been a more picturesque and ideal location for a luxury wedding summit and this was by far, LUXURY!
The wedding summit took place from Sunday to Wednesday morning and was made up of speeches from top industry professionals like my friend Ceci Johnson who I have featured many times on my blog who does incredible invitations among other things, my friend Marcy Blum, who is a both hilarious and an incredible wedding planner out of NYC, just to name a few.
You can also go to the Engage! 13 website for a list of speakers and of course the list for the next Engage! event, http://www.engage13.com, which takes place in Scotsdale, AZ at the Montelucia.  If you are a wedding planner, photographer, or somehow involved in the wedding industry this is the premiere event to attend.

For a group of people in the event industry, we are treated like royalty, there are incredible gift bags and branded goodies showered upon us the entire time. It is almost like you are having a birthday for four days.

Many of the goodies were provided by http://www.giftsforthegoodlife.com.

I got a bow tie (above) in my welcome bag and decided to try my hand at tying it for the second evening event which is a dine around where the guests are each assigned a different speaker to dine with which is an incredible opportunity for more networking and more personalized conversation.

Each evening there is a party that are all about networking, socializing and making new friends.  The final night party was the party to end all parties…

Karen Tran who did the flowers on Shedding for the Wedding created a Gatsbyesque party full of lush flowers that would blow any bride away.

Of course, the setting, a tent next to the historic Vanderbilt mansion was not too shabby a location for a spectacular evening.

My friend Josh Friedman from Elan Artist (he also provided the incredible band for my birthday party back in September!) put together an evening of the best talent including burlesque dancers, cigarette girls, singers and a woman who pretty much stripped to not much and powdered herself with a giant powder puff!

Everyone, well mostly the women, were dressed for the theme and if you take a look at my pictures you can see that they were spot on with their decor inspired costumes.  Then, to top off an already extraordinary night, there were fireworks…

Cheers! To the two hostesses with the mostest (below) who organized this incredible experience Kathryn Arce and Rebecca Grinnals of www.engagingconcepts.com.

I had such an incredible time, I am back home now and require some much needed sleep after staying up until 3am Sunday night, 2am Monday night, and 4:30am on Tuesday evening after the party just enjoying the opportunity to get to know people who are competitors and now we are colleagues and friends. So many great memories made.
-Brian