Inga Finch Photography's Open House

Yesterday, I went to Inga Finch Photography's Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. Inga Finch is a ridiculously talented photographer and a fantastic person! She will capture your "surprising moments and expressions of emotion" while making you feel completely at ease. She's been a professional photographer for years and recently decided she needed a professional space to call home. I think she found the most adorable and well-lit studio on the planet.

Congratulations, Inga, on a ridiculously fabulous studio, open house, and ribbon cutting ceremony!! xoxo

The Bridal Favorite?

An accounting friend of mine (Kara, here's your shout out!!) put together a bookkeeping spreadsheet for me. It's ridiculously helpful, and has extras such as the "52 Week Sales Record" tally sheet.

This tally sheet tells me that to date, our most sold veil is "Belle" (seen below) with or without the monogram! So maybe it's more accurately put as the hip length is the most sold as is the ribbon edge! Such a classic combination, it's pretty perfect and both ceremony-and-reception friendly. So we are not at all surprised it's the bridal favorite!

Of course, this veil has a special place in our heart as it goes back to my sister's wedding where she debuted the "Belle" veil.

This week, I received this picture of an exquisite bride from an extraordinary photographer! My heart melts when I look at this photo of our "Belle" veil ...

Spread the LOVE: Jerry's Kids

Good news! I've found my April and May charity (yes, I said April, I'm a little behind, so I thought I'd double up). A friend and fellow wedding vendor, Inga Finch Photography, recently told me that she's going behind bars.

That's right, Inga Finch will be serving as a MDA Jailbird. Or a JailFinch, if you will! On June 30th, the MDA Officer will come to Inga's studio, arrest her, make her wear black and white stripes (I hope!) and lock her up. What a fun person she is and what a big heart she has! Now, in order for Inga to be released, she needs to raise some "bail" money, which has been set at $3,200. Yowzers!

If you'd like to participate with me (from the comfort of your own house), simply click here to make a secure, online donation before 6/30/11.

Not a picture of Inga, but I like the visual! :)

Top 5 Tips

Your wedding veil is one of the most important accessories you will choose as it will be "front and center" in all your pictures. But with so many choices, how do you choose a Wedding Veil?

Here are my top 5 things to consider:

1. Type of Dress We all know the wedding dress is the most important decision of them all (second only to the groom). So use your dress as inspiration for the veil. Make sure your veil complements the gown but does not compete with it.
   
   
2. Location of Wedding The location of the wedding often determines the style of dress you have. This is a given, but it can also determine the type of veil you choose. For example, a beach wedding might call for a shorter wedding veil that would catch and flow gently in the wind. Instead of a long veil that would catch in the wind and smack your guests as you walk by. But a cathedral wedding opens the opportunity for a long train to cascade the aisle behind you. Such as Embellish's lovely bride Lindsay's:
   
   
3. Hairstyle How you wear your hair will determine where the veil can be attached, how the veil will fall down your back/across your face, or if there's even room for more embellishment, such as a fascinator. So we recommend deciding your hairstyle before choosing your accessories.
   
   
4. Photographic Memories Think of the type of memories you want to capture. How about fun and flirty? Or elegant and Chic? Choose a veil that emphasizes the characteristics of the memories you want to capture and keep.
   
   
5. Personal Style Your wedding day is not the time to experiment, it is an opportunity to "dress up." Essentially, take your own style (preppy? hippie? fashionable?) and fancy it up a notch. But only kick it up enough so that you still feel comfortable but breathtaking (in a good way).

Use these tips and you will adore your wedding look for years to come. Happy Shopping!

Spread the LOVE: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Cont'd)

To follow up on March 23rd's post titled "Spread the LOVE: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society," here is a picture of the winner of the two monogrammed tutus we made for the Atlanta area's Team-In-Training Silent Auction. I sure hope she likes 'em!!


It was an honor to be a part of the great work the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is doing on behalf of those affected by blood cancers. If you have a preferred charity you would like for Embellish to consider donating to, please let us know. We love suggestions!

Stumbling Down the Aisle

I guess it's better for me to stumble, than a bride to literally stumble down the aisle ...

I had scheduled a delivery this morning to a Lovely Bride who I've known for years. Well, I got up, double checked the order, and realized that I had made her the wrong veil. The wrong veil? I looked again. The wrong veil. Ummm, paniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic!

It is 100% my fault that this happened, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't lost that stupid, essential pattern! It is a pattern that I use to create two different veil lengths. It is the size of the shorter veil and I just add length when the longer veil is requested. I was so focused on needing that pattern to create this veil, that I made that pattern exactly, instead of adding the length as requested. Ugh!

A few years ago, when I was working in Atlanta, a co-worker (shout out to Stephanie!) could always tell when I was having a bad day, based on what time I dipped into the M&Ms bowl. Well, I didn't have any M&Ms here, so I had vanilla ice cream with Hershey's syrup at 9 this morning. Ridiculous, I know, but I needed a minute to decompress and think. This is the first time I've done this! What was I going to do? I can NOT deliver the wrong veil but it makes me look incompetent to admit that I made the wrong veil.

Although now, if Lovely Bride reads this, she knows why I rescheduled. Lovely Bride, I am so sorry!!

Happy Anniversary, Embellish!

Normally, it's the man's job to forget the anniversary. But since no men work at Embellish, I guess I'll take that role. Embellish's 1st Anniversary was March 6th. And, yeah, I just realized this week that I forgot it. Total bummer to miss such a special occasion!

Now, the typical 1st anniversary gift is paper. So I started thinking, "what can one do to celebrate this occasion with paper?" And then it hit me like that toilet paper commercial: paper gowns, head pieces, and flowers. I lifted this picture off the world wide web ... I do not know these ladies, but I like their style. Enjoy!

And thank YOU for supporting Embellish! xoxo