Posted by: Always Planned

The last few weeks for us have been full of design concepts and color choices and the fun journey of choosing reception linens! As we look forward to the fabulous 2012 weddings of our even more amazing brides, one of my favorite parts of the design process has to be the linen choices! There are so many out there, from a beautiful single color poly to some of the most fabulous patterns we have ever seen! As you may have seen in our past posts, 2012 is shaping up to be quite the year of pops of color, and what better way to bring in that color and create instant atmosphere for your guests then a calculated linen choice!

The one downside to these fabulous linens can be the cost but I have put together a couple tips that we love to pass along to our amazing brides:

1. Check out options that your venue may provide! (MAKE SURE THEY ARE FLOOR LENGTH THOUGH!) Many venues will offer a basic linen at little to possibly no charge but quite a few of these options tend to be shorter and will not be floor length, lending to a more casual atmosphere
2. Maybe instead of worrying about draping each guest table in your more expensive dream linen, choose a more cost effective, single color linen for your guest tables and splurge on your dream linen that may cost a bit more for your head table and/or cake table! This is a great way to create texture and bring in different colors!

Hopefully this helped open your mind to so many different options but if you are still a bit confused and want to look at options, feel free to call us or email us and come into the studio! We have linen books from some of our favorite companies like La Tavola & BBJ Linens and would love to sit down and talk linens with you!!!

Happy Planning!

Posted by: Always Planned

It’s that time of year again! We are only five short weeks from the beginning of the 2012 SPRING BRIDAL BENCHMARK SERIES held by Simply Love Studio!

For those of you who may have missed out on the fabulous Fall Series, this is a Must-Plan to Do on your calendar!! (And if you were able to come to the Fall Series, there are plenty of fabulous new ideas and vendors, so please join us again!!! We’ve missed you!)

Bridal Benchmark is a Five Week Educational Series for Brides that focuses on everything from design elements and staying organized to creating a seamless and unique event! This Spring, Benchmark is sponsored by such fabulous vendors as: Affordable Invitations, Always Planned, AP Luxury Travel, Lundy’s Catering and Gold Shield Transportation! But look forward to hearing from so many other vendors from Photographers to Venues and DJ’s! And don’t forget the fabulous Door Prizes and look out to be entered into a drawing for a fabulous Grand Prize for attending ALL five weeks!!!

“I loved being able to see and listen to a variety of vendors without setting it up myself. Such a time saver!” – Fall 2012 Bride

“I really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people and getting my questions answered!” – Fall 2012 Bride

Bridal Benchmark begins on February 8^th from 6-8pm and continues every Wednesday evening until March 7^th! The admission for the series is ONLY $10 per person for all Five Weeks!

“The DIY crafts were my favorite! I really began to think outside the box for favor ideas!” –Fall 2012 Bride

Come out and join us at Simply Love Studio and enjoy five wonderful evenings of exciting and fabulous wedding preparation bliss!!

Posted by: Always Planned

Happy Monday Everyone!!

One of our fabulous friends, Rachael, sent us information about a fabulous product perfect for your honeymoon to keep from getting too “dirty’…….. LAUNDRY DETERGENT!

Many times, we try and pack FIVE, SIX, SEVEN or even EIGHT days worth of clothes into our small carry-on or have to sit on top of our bags to get them to close but with this product, you can pack less, worry less and enjoy more!

“Roux Maison is a unique collection of eco friendly laundry products that utilize all natural ingredients to produce fabric specific laundry detergent formulations. From sports gear to swimwear and lingerie, the range uses earth and fabric friendly ingredients to clean and conserve clothing.  Roux Maison laundry formulas are custom blended with 100% natural essential oils that are synthetic and preservative free.  The result is a deep natural clean that newlyweds can feel good about using.”- ROUX MAISON

Every product we’ve ever tried from them has been wonderful and we can’t wait to use these awesome products! With TSA guidelines so strict, they have come out with a line small enough to toss in your cosmetic bag and take with you on the fly!

From their Southern style “Sweet Tea” citrus based Essential Detergent to their Fragrance Free Swimwear Detergent and Stain Removers, Roux Maison has a little bit of “clean” for every “dirty” honeymoon!

Head over to their website www.rouxmaison.com and pick up a convenient 3-pack of 1 oz. bottles for your trip!!!

Happy Planning!

As my internship comes to a close with Simply Love, I felt compelled to write a blog post about my experiences. I have certainly learned a lot about the wedding industry while helping out here, it’s not always kittens and rainbows in running a wedding resource studio. One thing I would strongly suggest to any future brides out there is not to underestimate the importance of a visit to Simply Love. I wish I had heard about it before I had started to plan my own wedding. We pride ourselves on helping the brides with their wedding day time lines, choosing vendors and most importantly achieving their vision within their budget.

I had so much fun helping prepare for the events that Simply Love Studio host for their brides and vendors. The Bridal Benchmark series was a great way for brides to learn from our vendors the important things to look for and ask about when choosing a vendor. I imagine this informative series greatly helped to relive the bride’s stress, not to mention all the fun they had with the crafts. The Venue Hop was an awesome action packed day where Gold Shield Limos and Simply Love Studios chauffeured almost 50 brides around to Lexington’s premier venues. They were able to actually see the wedding locations and reception accommodations available at each site. Something you cannot get from pictures at a bridal show booth.

While a wedding resource center is a relatively new idea it is certainly a game changer in the wedding industry. We provide all the information of several bridal shows in one convenient location, where the bride can sit comfortably and talk about her wedding day vision without feeling hassled or rushed. We provide all of these services and more free of charge to the bride, something almost unheard of in the wedding industry. I have learned a lot from my time here, to run a studio like this you almost need several degrees, it requires you to be savvy in business, negotiations, public relations, communications, marketing, and much much more.

I have had so much fun with everyone here; they are the most wonderful creative group of girls I know. I was truly honored when they asked me to comeback and help out next year as well. Working in the wedding industry certainly keeps you busy and life interesting. I’m so happy I was able to meet everyone involved with the studio; hopefully I will be able to continue my relationship with everyone even after my internship comes to a close. Thank you SLS you have given me a wonderful, educational experience.

Posted by: Always Planned

So in the midst of all of this FABULOUS planning, you are fielding calls from cousins, friends, long lost family and so many others asking about where to book their rooms, directions to the church and who is in your wedding…. Ok… NOW BREATHE!!! There is a solution and it’s as easy as sending that phone call to voicemail!

The wedding industry is forever evolving with the times and thanks to that little piece of technology we call the “internet”, we have SOO many resources at our disposal at the click of a button!

One of my favorites would have to be the ever-popular trend of the Personalized Wedding Website! Whether you have a very cute, basic Free site or if you splurge a little on the high tech: video, music, full on production site, your website is a great resource to use as the answer to all of those many, many questions! Freeing up your time for more snuggling and enjoying these next few months!

WeddingWire has an AMAZING FREE option with tons of beautiful designs that correspond with beautiful invitations! They even have Vera Wang paper and Martha Stewart Weddings pages!

The Knot gives you two great options: A FREE site with all the info you can imagine: including your love story, Hotel Room information with links, Directions to the Church and Reception and your own virtual guest book! OR the high tech version, which has a small monthly or yearly fee, that includes unlimited photos, music and video uploads and much more!

You can find these sites in many different places with a simple google search, it’s all about finding the one that fits you the most!

Get creative!!! As one of our fabulous brides has done recently, you can get online and make small business card magnets with their names, the date and their website to put in each envelope with their invites! Or even send it as a cute save the date! It is also a great way to put your registry out there without being too obvious! Hehe Wouldn’t it be easy for them to just click and shop?? I mean they are already online!

The Wedding Website can be a fun resource for you and your fiancé to share your love story and your journey to the altar! Get creative! Have fun! And send me any cute ideas you end up with!!!

Happy Planning! XOXO