Congratulations to our very own Mr. and Mrs. Colyar!

To my Dearest Readers, 

I am tickled pink to announce that I got married this past April!  So for those of you wondering where this blogger has been, that should about explain it.  I've been wrapped up in wedding planning and now married life!  I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it!

My husband and I had a very short engagement, though I did not want to cut any corners.  So it was a busy, busy, busy, stressful four (yes, you heard me, 4!) months.  In fact, I'm actually pretty impressed that I got a blog out at all this year.  For those of you counting, there were 2 prior to this one ;P

It was only natural for my mom, and fellow Embellisher, to make my wedding veil!  She's seen in the first image below.  My dress was solid lace, so I wanted a simple veil that would complement the dress, as I was already pretty embellished.  Our "Grace" veil was the perfect fit!  It's a hip length veil with what we call a pencil edging.  It's a soft look, yet still has a little detail for definition.  See for yourself...

With love & appreciation, 
Carolyn Gregory Colyar

Photos by Inga Finch Photography

Haaaaaaaaaaappy 3rd Anniversary, Embellish!!

Holy sa-mok-iesssssssssssss, Embellish is threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee years old as of March 6th {and, yes, I'm about a week late}!!  But, Oh Happy Day!!  We have adored being a part of so many wonderful wedding days.  And we look forward to many more!! 

We would not be here without so many precious brides entrusting us to embellish their wedding day with the wedding veil of their choice.  Such an honor to have been picked by so many.  With nothing more than a glimmer in our eyes, we embarked on this intimidating journey just three short years ago.  With you by our side, we were destined for success.  And now, we have accomplished more than I every dreamed...

We've shipped a veil to Ireland, shipped a veil across the US, had veils in two different shops, made many a new friends, had veils go down fashion show runways, had veils re-worn by sisters, attended Vow {Atlanta Mart's wedding show}, were a part of Southern Weddings 12 Days of Christmas giveaway promotion, have seen our veils on Pinterest, and now have a {healthy?} fear of scissors.  I can only wonder what's next?!

And it's all thanks to you...  So, a very hearty thaaaaaaaaaaank you, dear friends, for making our dreams come true!  I still can't believe... we're 3!!!

Photo by Inga Finch Photography

Wait a minute, is it an Anniversary or a Birthday?!

Reminiscing the 12 Days of Southern Weddings Christmas 2012 Giveaway

Today I'm reminiscing the 12 Days of Southern Weddings Christmas 2012 Giveaway we were a part of last December.  I realized I never blogged about the experience which is a total shame.  It was such a fun and busy time and we adored every second...  

I cannot say enough nice things about Southern Weddings Magazine!!  They emailed out of the blue saying they had tracked us down from a pin on Pinterest and wanted to know if we would be interested in participating in their giveaway.  I looked at the previous year's giveaways and saw Lilli Pulitzer.  Whaaaaaaaat, you have Lilli and you want US?!  

Yes, yes, YES!!

The Southern Weddings' girls were such a pleasure to work with and it was quite the honor to be chosen - the whole experience was sweet as honey.  We made new friends, celebrated the honor with old friends, received inquiries, got orders, and got to bless a bride on her big day with the wedding veil of her choice.  What a fantastic holiday season!!

A humongo thaaaaaaaaaaaaaank you to Southern Weddings Magazine for tracking us down and a larger than life congraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatulations to the winner of the Embellish Veil. 

For those of you curious as to the fine print, here's the skinny:

     Win: The Embellish Veils & Accessories veil of your choice, 
     excluding styles with lace.
      Number of winners: One
      Ways to enter:*      1. Visit the Embellish site and comment here 
     with which veil style you’d choose if you won.      2. Like 
     Embellish on Facebook then come back here and tell us you
     did so.      3. Post a link to this giveaway on  Facebook. Be sure to 
     tag both @iloveswmag and @Embellish! Then come back 
     here and tell us you did so with a link to your post in 
     your comment.      4. Pin a photo from the Embellish site to your 
     personal account, then come back here and leave a comment 
     telling us you did so with a link to your pin in your comment.
      *You can enter as many or as few ways as you’d like, but you 
     MUST leave a separate comment for each entry! We use a 
     random number generator to choose a number and then match 
     it to the corresponding comment, so it’s definitely in your favor 
     to do so! :)
      Giveaway closes: December 25

     And the winner is: Jessi McCormick!! 

Click the image below to see the full post on Southern Wedding's website...

Introducing: www.embellishmyday.com

Sometimes we all need a little encouragement.  And being included in Southern Weddings' Christmas promotion was exactly what I needed to get my {not so} wedding veil focused butt in gear!  Naturally, we wanted to have our best {glitter-embellished} foot forward, sooooooo we finished building out our website!!  Now, I'm not saying it's perfect or that it's exactly what we wanted.  But, baby, it's what we got right now.  And for right now, it's perfect.

When the weather has settled a little {Southern Weddings stirred quite the excitement for little ol' us}, we will do another pass at the website.  We have a vision of what we want, but we also believe in baby steps!  {Baby steps... Any "What About Bob?" lovers out there?!?}

So what will you find on our website? You'll find images of our veils {on models and on real live brides wearing our veils on their wedding day}, sentimental touches on custom veils, who we are, some of our wedding vendor friends {we are constantly meeting wedding focused folks}, and how to contact us. So, what are you waiting for?  Get your butt over to: www.embellishmyday.com

And leave a comment below to let us know what you think of our newly announced website!  

xoxo, 
Carolyn

www.embellishmyday.com

The Story: Southern Weddings meets Embellish!

Over the past couple of months things have been slowing down at Embellish.  With life constantly changing {my sister had her first baby this year!} and with the holiday season upon us, we have not been pursuing business as fervently as we once were. 

Which is why we were especially surprised when we received an email from Emily, the Creative Director of Southern Weddings magazine.  She is an absolute doll and it has been a pleasure working with her.  She found a pin on Pinterest {Thaaaaaaank you, Pinterest!} of the Belle veil, pictured below.  The pin wasn't connected to us directly, but Emily was a rather diligent little detective and tracked us down {Thaaaaaaank you, Emily!}! 

The email from our new friend was to ask us to participate in Southern Weddings' promotion: 12 Days of Southern Weddings Christmas.  For three {count 'em THREE} weeks, Southern Weddings will be giving away a different item every day!!  Aaaaaaaand WE will be one of them, woohoo!!  The rules may change slightly each day based on the giveaway, but essentially you enter the giveaway by interacting with the company of the day as well as Southern Weddings via Facebook: liking, posting and commenting {which you already do oh so well!}.  So what are you waiting for?!

But first, mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 12, as Southern Weddings will be giving away an Embellish wedding veil of the winner's choice!  {Lace styles excluded}

Embellish Veils & Accessories' BELLE Veil
Photographer: http://ingafinchphotography.com/

Today's Lesson: Bridal Tulle

Welcome to the second in a series of History Channel inspired posts about bridal fabrics!  

There are many different types of tulle, for many different purposes. To give you an idea, one Italian company develops more than 100 types of tulle. And that's just ONE of the many fabric manufacturers out there! Many companies have designed their own, so for the simplest of fabrics, there are TONS of options! Naturally, we are not going to dig into all the different types and designs. We shall {surprise, surprise!} focus on bridal. And more specifically the most popular bridal fabrics.

Today, we are going to briefly examine the most traditional design of which you are likely the most familiar.  It is simply called Tulle or Bridal Tulle.  This is the cascading, delicate fabric that whispers to me from across rooms making everything else fade away. Even on a mannequin, I will not rest until I've had a closer look!  But for the record, I will say "excuse me" as I make my way across the room and will only push if you don't make an effort to let me through ;) ...

Above is a picture from our collection of a tulle veil and beneath it an image I grabbed from Wikipedia detailing the structure of the fabric's fibers.  Bridal tulle can be very delicate as there's not much actual fabric.  However, the fabric can also withstand far more than you might expect thanks to the intertwining of the fibers.  

Embellish has certainly ruined our fair share of wedding veils due to the delicateness of the fabric {especially in the early days!} but we have also learned to respect the fabric and understand its strength. As you'd expect, ruined veils do not make the light of day!  Even if you're finished with a veil, you're starting over.  There is no "fixin" this type of fabric.

Tulle is usually made of silk or synthetic fibers.  Embellish uses synthetic fibers {unless otherwise requested} as it is more economical for the bride and still gorgeous!

To end on a fun note... I recently read an interview in Garden & Gun magazine of Robert Harling, the author of Steel Magnolias.  In the interview, he shares his observations of women: "My extraordinary life experiences with my sister and mother showed me that the women I’ve known are indeed gorgeous, but their lives can be fragile. But if you look underneath, you realize they possess a tensile strength stronger than anything I could ever muster."

So what did we learn today?  That Tulle and women are gorgeous, fragile, and strong! 

Where??? Tulle, France, of course!

Welcome to the first in a series of History Channel inspired posts! 

The one thing every veil has in common, regardless of the size, shape, embellishments, attachments, etc, is the tulle.  And actually, some veils aren't even made of tulle.  Last year, I attached a comb to a spectacular piece of Belgium lace for one of my brides.  It was stunning!  But typically, a wedding veil includes tulle, somehow, somewhere, on the piece.

The first thing I learned about tulle is that it came from and is named after Tulle, France.  I like to think that Tulle, France is a sleepy little town in rural France where grandmothers sit around in rockers making tulle.  But exactly how sleepy is up for debate.  I mean, they did create the most important fabric of my life.  Tulle, France has a population of about 19,000, so it is no booming metropolis, but you won't miss it if you blink while driving through either.

I'm pulling my facts from Wikipedia, which is probably the cardinal sin in research, but this is free, so why would you complain?  ;)

This "sleepy little town" almost sounds like a fairy tale.  Quoted from Wikipedia: "The Romans established a temple to honor Tutela, goddess of protection of property and persons. The name of the city comes from this goddess. She was honoured here because it was a ford over the Corrèze where passed a very old road between Brittany and the Mediterranean sea. In the seventh century was built a monastery dedicated to St. Michael. The local population settled around the buildings. The first monastery, destroyed by the Viking invasions in 846, was rebuilt but disappeared in the eleventh century."

Now I love Jesus and won't be changing this anytime soon, but... Tutela, the "goddess of protection of property and persons" almost fits - is marriage not a vow to protect?  To protect the other's heart, passions, life, love, dreams, goals, and loved ones. As many a couples have repeated during many a ceremonies "I, (Bride/Groom), take you (Groom/Bride), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." Sounds a lot like protection to me.

Tulle, France.  Photo from igougo.com

Next blog topic: more on tulle, the fabric.

Disclaimer: this blog (or its contents) is in no way affiliated with the History Channel or any of its partners, programs, etc.