Wedding Deal of the Day! Stampin' Style with Wedding Paper Divas

Doing it DIY can be the best way to go for budget brides; plus it is tons of fun not only planning but also collecting the pieces to help with you craft creations. One often overlooked goodie is the stamp -- not TOTALLy overlooked just that it can take on more of a down home, cheapish quality if not done right. 

Courtesy of Allyson Murphy

Our advice: Use stamps as an accent for place cards, out of town bags, thank you notes, return address or even on programs. Choose a simple, uncomplicated design -- initials, hearts, birds -- or custom create one with your monogram.

To help you out we have our Wedding Deal of the Day with Wedding Paper Divas -- HOORAY! 
The weekly Wedding Deal of the Day from Wedding Diva is 50% Off their best-selling signature circle design custom stamp. Love it! Wish I had had it!

This sale is only valid for one day only and ends tomorrow at 9:00am PT. Just use the promo code 50DEAL0207 to save 50%. You can also get 25% off all other stamps using the code 25DEAL0207.

Check out their daily deal page for this special offer and make your new life a little easier. 

Oh and P.S. If you haven't even started planning yet, they also have totally chic invitations, save the dates, and all of the good stuff you need for the big day. 

Have a happy day!

Alexandra & Philip: Eclectic Love Story in the Tennessee Hills

I Knew It When I Met You

I get to see lots of couples in the wedding blog biz; elegant and eclectic, traditional and out of the box, DIY and over the top. But Alexandra and Philip's engagement shoot, sent over by Aura Marzouk Photography, exudes a sort of purity and true joy found with two people who were just made to be together. Shot in Tennessee's gorgeous, lush Cherokee National Forest, these two eclectic photographers and musicians would be equally at ease anywhere in the world as long as they were together. How can you tell all this just by a few shots? Look at how she holds his hand in the first image, or how gently he pushed her hair back or kisses her neck, how they make each other laugh. It is an easy love, perfectly captured....a sweet, simple love story of boy meets girl and the rest is history.



Here is how they tell it. Alexandra: We met at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, TN. We were both music education majors and spoke here and there. He was a freshman and I was a junior when we first met, but it wasn't until my senior year that we really started spending time together. At some point, we ending up spending every day together and literally together almost 24/7. We liked to always be with one another and couldn't stand being apart.





Philip: My first impression of her was that she was really attractive, smart, and funny. Alexandra was a different type of girl. She was always laughing and didn't care to be herself in a crowd. She also had a different style that initially caught my eye. I guess us both being "so different" while attending a private college in TN where most people are conservative and organized helped us realize how off the wall and spontaneous each other's personalities were.





Alexandra: My first impression of him was that I thought he was really attractive and I really liked his style. He wore different things than I had ever seen guys wear before, and he just had such a nice calmness about him. I also paid attention to the fact that he is an amazing drummer and musician, and he had such a good confidence to him without being cocky. I just knew we were both different and secure without caring what people thought about us so I just had to get to know him!



Alexandra: We dated almost 2 full years before we got engaged. He proposed on March 22nd, 2012 and our anniversary is April 30th, so one month away from being 2 years before he popped the question! He blew my mind with how he proposed to me!

Philip: I was excited to ask her to marry me. I knew it was going to completely catch her off guard, but I guess I hadn't thought any further than opening that box on my knee. After I saw her reaction, I think all the other emotions caught up to me; in a good way, of course.

Alexandra: Our proposal story is the best and I love telling it! We were in Washington DC for a Photoshop Convention, which was all about photography. The funny thing is, around December of 2011 he started telling me I was going to have the biggest surprise ever!! I thought, oh he is definitely going to propose. But as it turns out he had arranged for us to go to this convention instead. I was a little confused because I knew for a long time that we would get married and so did he. We talked about it a lot and knew without a doubt we are one another's soulmate.





Needless to say I was a little disappointed but still excited about the convention and spending time in DC. So, the day before the convention, we went to a lot of museums and exhibits and spent the day together. We got dressed up for dinner and decided to take pictures of ourselves around town before we ate. The spot in front of the Washington Monument was perfect. We just stopped in the grass, we took a few, we were in a good spot, the lighting and settings were right on. He kept going back to make sure everything was perfect with camera and lights and, then he sneakily pulled out the ring he had been hiding the whole trip in the bag with our equipment. 

He made sure we were perfectly in frame, with the monument, set the timer for 10 seconds and pulled the ring out right when the camera fired! Everything was perfect, he captured the real moment of him proposing and I was so SHOCKED!

He asked me will you marry me and I just started crying and said yes. I was so shocked because I thought it would be a little longer since he had planned the whole trip a but it was all part of his plan. He wanted to propose to me and surprise me and give me something I would never see coming. He knew I always wanted something romantic and unique and he definitely gave me that! He still says to this day he knew I would be surprised but he didn't expect that extreme of a reaction and for me to cry like I did!







 Alexandra: You know the thing that is special about us? I never wanted to get married, but Philip changed that. I have always been such an independent and headstrong girl. He opened my eyes to seeing the beauty in life and the beauty of real love. I honestly didn't really believe in love or a soulmate before him, never thought I would get it. He helped me see I deserved it.

He's my soulmate and we figured that out so early in our relationship. Really, we both were already in love before we even started dating because we spent everyday with one another before even dating and when it finally became official our love just kept growing and growing!

Philip: *Big smile* Yeah...what she said.

Alexandra and Philip are to be married April 2013 in a beautiful Hawaiian destination wedding, which you can be sure will be as unique and personality filled as the couple themselves! Thanks so much to Aura Marzouk Photography for introducing us to this couple -- it is so refreshing to see unbridled, young love, ready to take on the world and not afraid of anything! Congratulations!

Which one is your favorite image? I'm partial to the one with the clarinet, my choice of instrument when I was growing up in Tennessee! Are we connected on Facebook? Check out our awesome fan page and make sure to say hi!

What ever you do, make it awesome,

Francesca + Manuel: A Rustic Tuscan Engagement Session

Just like a work of art from the Old World Masters, each and every one of the couples we feature is beautiful, special, unique in their own way. Some have elaborate wedding details, others stunning gowns and backdrops; we ogle over couples with personality, spunk, and that sparkle of individuality. 

And then we have couples, like Francesca and Manuel, who simply wow us with their togetherness and photographic appeal...they just work so well in front of the camera, and with the Tuscan countryside as a stunning backdrop, you just can't go wrong.  And with eyes likes that....well, we're mesmerized. Shot on a bright midsummers day in Lucca, Italy by Cristiano Brizzi Photography, we think the couple is just pure romance. Come to think of it, I'm sure the Italians invented romance...what do you think? Enjoy!

Photographer Cristiano says: The engagement session took place in Lucca during a hot summer day. Lucca is the perfect city for this kind of photography. It's in the middle of Tuscany, not far from the sea. The city has a lot of green areas, surrounded by huge defensive walls used in previous centuries as a defense. Now the walls are used for walking, cycling or just to relax. 

     

Moving from lush green woodlands to the old city of Lucca, Cristiano Brizzi gives us a full tour of what this picturesque Tuscan landscape has to offer. I love how this super stylish couple is perfectly at ease amongst the trees or the time washed buildings and brick of this traditional Italian town.

Sigh....I love Francesca and Manuel, and am honored Cristiano Brizzi Photography sent this work of art engagement session our way. These two are getting married in August with a beautiful reception on the sea, which is sure to be as equally stunning.

Where is your dream engagement session location? A tropical island, a favorite sports stadium or museum, an iconic city? We wanna know! Leave a comment below or pop by our FACEBOOK fan page and say hi.

Have a great week,

de Lovely Details - An Elegant Chinese American Affair by Wynn Austin Events

If the devil is in the details, then this wedding has got it -- elegant, sweeping visuals and dainty touches, highly stylized tablescapes paired with handmade piece, adding an upscale down home feel -- and last but not least lavish cultural elements to capture the importance of this family moment...it just has it all! A well branded theme carried throughout this wedding and a super sweet love story to boot! Sent to us by Event Designer and Planner Wynn Austin and made immortal by photographer is Braja Mandala, I'm thrilled to be sharing the perfect example of a modern multicultural wedding, one that honors family heritage and makes room for the couple's own unique  personality.





As the radiant bride tells us: Ben and I met at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego in 2005. We sat next to each other in our 10th grade Spanish class and instantly hit it off. He was the smart kind of dorky one and I was more social, so we complemented each other well right away.





Ben decided  to propose while he was studying abroad in Prague during our junior year. Just before Christmas in 2010 we were up at a beautiful park overlooking San Diego when he brought out several different colored roses. He explained how each colored rose’s different symbolism represented reasons why he loved me and wanted to marry me.

Our fondest wedding moment was walking into the tent for the first time and seeing everything I had dreamed of for so long finally actually manifested in such a beautiful display. So my advice to brides is Don’t stress the small details; everything will turn out great! And hire a wedding planner, they will save your life!

Who were your favorite wedding vendors? First of all, our wedding planner Wynn Austin Events did an incredible job staying on top of all the details and helping me stay calm when I was close to a panic attack. Then also, Braja Mandala Wedding Photography and Gene Higa Photography did an amazing job with our photos and Kathy Wright & Co. blew us away with their florals. Concepts Event Design also exceeded our expectations with their décor and setup.

All images courtesy of Braja Mandala and Gene Higa

Congratulations to Nancy and Ben, and I hope you found some inspiration in all these lovely details! You are working super, seriously hard to make this a day to remember so fill it full of all the little things that make you happy.  

Thanks again to Wynn Austin Event & Collection for contacting us with this beautiful wedding. We love the color scheme, the design, and the elegant sophistication theme that is still accessible and possible for other brides. To see more fab creations, pop over to Wynn's Facebook Fanpage and say hi. And while you're at it, come say hi to the de Lovely Affair gang on the ol' FB as well.

Have a great long weekend!