What we've been up to...

There is just no excuse for our lack of blogging! We've been busy, of course, but so are our readers. I guess we have our New Year's resolutions cut out for us, huh?

If you need a break from last-minute online shopping, coordinating endless social gatherings, baking...all of the stuff that we love and loathe about the holidays...sit back and enjoy these slideshows from some of the recent Savannah weddings that have been keeping us on our toes this fall.

Denise and Erik's classic Savannah wedding was featured on the popular wedding blog, Perfect Bound, which is a great source for fresh and stylish wedding inspiration - or just fashion and design inspiration really. Their photographer, Jade McCully, is just the greatest at finding the perfect spots and shots around Savannah - click here to see a slideshow of some of the best.



Jade McCully was also the photographer for Amanda and Chris' vintage-styled, intimate wedding that took guests from one historic venue to another with a Davenport House ceremony and dinner reception at The Olde Pink House. It was all-around-lovely, but the flowers by A to Zinnias really took my breath away that day - keep an eye out for them in this slideshow!

And, no photo teaser here, but this is a must-see slideshow. Cori and David's Thanksgiving-weekend, Mansion wedding was full of details and personality - just like the bride. And who better than Tim Willoughby to photograph it - magic happens somewhere between his eye, the camera's lens and the subject...that's the best way that I can think to describe it.

Enjoy.

A Greener Wedding : Carbon Offset

I have said before, and will say it again now - it can be difficult to have a completely "green" wedding and if you do your best to be a responsible ambassador to the environment in your daily life you shouldn't beat yourself up over the transgressions incurred by your wedding. Do what you can, by all means, to make the most ecological decisions possible, and remember that the small things do make a difference. That said, I do like to share tips for greening your wedding when they are simple and significant. And it doesn't get more so than a little carbon-offsetting!

This is the basic gist: Global warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere. Many of our daily and more wasteful activities leave these pollutants in their path - our "carbon footprint." You can calculate your carbon footprint, the carbon footprint of a business, even the carbon footprint of your wedding! By donating money to businesses and foundations that fund and/or research new, efficient technology, re-forestation and other processes that aim to reverse and slow the process of global warming, you are purchasing "carbon offsets" to make up for your part in pollution.

Carbonfund.org has made it easy for you to calculate your wedding's carbon footprint and offset it through a charitable donation. I used the tool and put in some realistic data for an imaginary wedding with 150 wedding guests, many of which will travel significant miles to attend, and it calculated only a little over $100 to offset the carbon footprint of the event. In the scope of a wedding budget, that is not much to ask!

Their mantra is such a good one to remember in everyday life and also when you're planning a wedding - Reduce what you can; offset what you can't.

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Savannah Wedding: Michele and David, Part 2

Michele and David's wedding ceremony was at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church on Wilmington Island. The excitement about the union, among arriving family and friends, was palpable. But I think everyone was really moved when Michele surprised everyone by walking down the aisle with her daughter, Alysha.

From the moment Michele and David were announced husband and wife, to the last song at their reception in the Garibaldi's Grande Ballroom, there was nothing but smiles from the bride and groom. Michele has called it "the most joyful day of her life." She deserved it, and I wish their new family lots of luck in Texas!

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Savannah Wedding: Michele and David, Part 1

Michele and David were married on my birthday (early September, go Virgos)! From my first meeting with Michele on, I knew that I would be ok with working on my birthday. She was sweet, funny and getting married to David after 25 years of knowing one another! Their story gave me goosebumps. It's obviously a long story - taking place over the span of 25 years, practically a lifetime - so I can't share it all, but allow me to share my favorite tid-bit...

Michele and David were on the track team together in high school. As Michele tells it, Dave was a total "hottie" with a full head of bleach-blonde hair (it was the 80s). She had a huge crush on him and would pretend to swoon and faint into the arms of her girlfriends whenever he walked by. She still giggles like a teenager when she talks about it. Unfortunately, David's military family moved before Michele could make her high-school crush known. But, as you can see from their beautiful wedding photos below, she eventually got the guy!

The happy couple got together at the Avia Hotel for some daylight pictures with DVB Photography's Kelli Boyd before their 7:30pm wedding ceremony at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church on Wilmington Island. There wasn't a dry eye between Michele and all of her bridesmaids just in anticipation of their first meeting!

The pictures of David, and Michele and her daughter - Alysha - are especially touching. Dave has always been very involved in Alysha's life, so it was so special to make their new family official.

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Jekyll Island Wedding: Cara & Tommy, Part 2

We gave you a sneak peak into Cara and Tommy’s Jekyll Island wedding a few weeks ago – but here are some of the great details from the weekend.

When Cara called us, she honestly didn’t feel that she had the time to plan her dream wedding. She is a busy professional and Tommy was your average guy – not super interested in all of the details that go into planning a wedding. We happily stepped in to help bring Cara's ideas and to fruition.

Cara had booked the Jekyll Island Beachview Club for both her ceremony and reception. The ceremony was to take place outdoors, below the wind blown oaks on the club's property – a breathtaking setting overlooking the ocean. Unfortunately the weather had other plans, and we had to relocate it to the reception tent –but they happy and easy-going couple rolled with mother nature's punches, with a firm grasp on what this day was really about - the two of them!

Cara and Tommy were true to their home state of North Carolina, incorporating the Carolina Blue into the wedding quite a bit. The bridesmaids wore beautiful Carolina Blue dresses by Pricilla of Boston, while the groom and company accesorized their khaki suits with Carolina Blue vests and ties.

And the groom's cake featured, of course, the face of the Carolina Wolf Pack!

The evening was filled with delicious food, touching toasts and a filled dance floor!

And, fortunately, the weather cleared up long enough for Brooke Roberts, their photographer, to get them out on the beach for some beautiful shots together.

Anticipation

...I will be sharing pictures from a real Savannah wedding photographed by DVB Photography's Kelli Boyd. In the process of picking which shots to share, I decided I had to stop and post this shot to preview the post because of what it so perfectly captures - anticipation!

Fall Issue - Martha Stewart Weddings

If you have not had the chance to buy your own copy of the Fall 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, take a look at the images of our work below.

Cover Page: photography by earl carter/martha stewart weddings fall 2009

Southern Comfort: photography by tara donne/martha stewart weddings fall 2009

Go and buy the issue for a better look - it is filled with wonderful articles, ideas and information!

Also, check out Grace's blog - Design*Sponge for all the details about her wedding. She did a five day post about all the local vendors and the wedding from her perspective.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Thank you to Grace and Aaron - you two were a pleasure to work with!!

Don't get me wrong - Modern Wedding Stationery is also Fabulous

I was certainly not being exclusive with yesterday's post. I love classic and traditional, but I love modern too. Fortunately, I'm no longer a bride and don't have to make these choices.

When I got married 3 years ago, my friend Brooke designed my wedding invitations. At the time it was a side thing for her - what she loved and hoped to do professionally someday. Today, Brooke is a designer for the amazing Two Paperdolls custom boutique. And I just had to share this modern letterpress design from their blog, Louella Court. My wedding was in Philadelphia, and if I had to plan it again now, these would be the invitations...

The Charm of Classic Wedding Stationery

I think that a lot of brides actually become overwhelmed with all of the ideas and options presented to them by wedding web sites and blogs. I know that I would! How do you decide what you want for your wedding when you like so many different styles, colors, motifs, printing methods....it can be a bear.

On Saturday I had the pleasure of sitting down with a June bride and her mother to look at stationery for her Savannah wedding. She knew what she wanted as soon as she saw it in the first book we looked through, and I just love it. A classic invitation will never go out of style and I think think that this White Dots Invitation by William Arthur is so perfect. Beautiful script keeps it traditional, and the dotted embossed border adds interest and some fun.

Do you think that the classic is too easily confused with boring? I do. But don't be confused about this bride - her thank you notes are crimson.

Design*Sponge Savannah Wedding

We could go on and on about what a treat it was to work with Grace and Aaron. They are creative, kind and have a sweet sweet love that shone through the entire day. But do you want to know the biggest perk to working with a blogger? She blogged about her wedding for us! In 5 parts! What could we say about the day that she didn't say better? More behind-the-scenes information on the planning process will be shared on The Bride's Guide in the coming week or two, but reading Grace's thoughts is a treat.

Check out what Grace had to say about her Savannah wedding on Design*Sponge, accompanied by the beautiful pictures from Belathee Photography.

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five

October's Look for Less on PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com

Seasonal potted plants and your wedding! Read more in our monthly post for PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com.

Current and Seasonal Wedding Decor Ideas are Everywhere

If you keep your wedding eye open throughout your planning process, you can really find beautiful ideas for decor and design - especially within the season of your own wedding - everywhere. Window and in-store merchandise displays, advertisements, restaurant table settings - it's all fair game.

I am constantly on the lookout for ideas. I am in the midst of a move and just took some time to look through a pile of catalogs that has been building while I've been otherwise occupied, and immediately found these two lovely tables from a Pottery Barn catalog that I added to my collection of tear-outs.

I've seen apples, lemons, limes...lotsa fruit centerpieces. But I think these pear and almond centerpieces are sophisticated and perfect for a fall wedding.

This advertisement for the store's bridal registry program is so modern and lovely. What a beautiful way to use the bright, fresh green color of the Mums' stems to break up the clean white table!

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Jekyll Island Wedding: Cara & Tommy

Cara and Tommy were married this past July on Jekyll Island at the Beachview Club. We have been a little crazy since their wedding and I am sorry to just be posting now. Here is a sneak peak at some of the details with more to come later.

Photography by Brooke Roberts Photography

Wedding Q&A Thursday - Shower Invites in a Destination Situation

Q: Hey Tricia, Here's a question for the girls @ TH&C to bounce around... Is it improper etiquette/tacky to invite people to a bridal shower if they are NOT being invited to a destination wedding, but they ARE being invited to the large, 200+ person reception in my home town one month following the wedding?

My Aunt wants to throw a couples shower in Louisville for my fiance and I, in February, prior to the wedding in March and big reception my parents are hosting in Louisville in April. I don't want to put anyone off, but it would be nice for the said guests (mostly extended family) to meet my fiance in person - and vice versa - before the wedding/reception. They are extended family, so the majority are not being invited to Savannah in an effort to keep the actual wedding smaller/intimate. But they will be invited to the second reception in Louisville, which will include full meal, open bar, cake, favors, etc. In other words, all of the "perks" guests get in return for going to a wedding! What are your opinions?

A: Thank you for the question! I love it when our brides show that they read our blog - it reminds me that we should be blogging more!

Tricia and I both say yes! "Said guests" are not invited to your Savannah wedding, but you are - pretty much - having a second wedding in Louisville. You are going out of your way to have a big, inclusive party - that's not something you have to do. It's generous and speaks boldly of your intention to include everyone in the celebration. If any of your extended family members do feel somewhat slighted by not being invited to Savannah for the destination event, I think that an invitation to a shower would actually make them feel more included in your marriage, not "put off."

Readers, this could possibly be seen as an etiquette grey-area since it's an a-typical wedding situation. What do you think? Are you planning something similar - and how are you handling it?

Do you have a question for us? Email us at info@triciahuddas.com and we might feature your question next!

Four Weddings and an Engagement!

It was a busy weekend for the Tricia Huddas & Co. team. We would like to congratulate all of our wonderful couples.

Kate and Gabe were married on Friday in Forsyth Park with perfect weather despite the threat of rain all day. Saturday was the big day for Gracie and Nick as well as Lindsay and Ryan - both had beautiful courtyard ceremonies at the Mansion on Forsyth Park. And Sunday wrapped our weekend with the morning wedding of Samantha and Jordan wrapped. So we are all ready to put our feet up for a bit...very short bit.

As for the engagement - we had nothing to do with it, but while we were setting up for Kate and Gabe's Forsyth Park ceremony, we witnessed a surprise engagement just around the fountain from us! It's fun to imagine what an exciting and romantic weekend followed for our mystery couple...ahh fall love, so sweet.

Cheers to all of our fantastic couples this weekend! Enjoy your honeymoons!

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Savannah Wedding: Amie & Richard

Here is a sneak peak at Amie and Richard's wedding from this weekend. They were such a sweet couple that they actually made their officiant tear up! The love that the two of them expressed to each other, combined with the joy and happiness radiated by their families was so touching that there was barely a dry eye in the house!

I'm excited to share their unique and beautiful ceremony set-up, so stay tuned!
More to come...

Photography provided by Beacon Photography.

A New Generation of Instant Gratification!

As you may or may not know, Polaroid discontinued production of their traditional, instant film in early 2008. Certainly a disappointment to all those who love the fun, vintage feel of a polaroid print - an image that instantly takes you back to the time when we couldn't preview a picture, disapprove, and ask for it to be re-taken! A sillier, more honest time, no?

So maybe you reacted to this news by hitting up ebay and hoarding Polaroid film for your wedding's guest book. Or maybe you moved on to Guest Book Plan B. Both unnecessary! Fujifilm has jumped in to fill the void with the release of their new Fujifilm Instax 200!

And Adesso Albums, a company that we mentioned in an earlier post about guestbooks, jumped right in and developed an Instant Photo Guestbook designed for Fuji's Instax prints! They sell their albums, the camera and film - so it really could not be easier to pull together a fun photo guestbook with one purchase.

In celebration of this new product, our blog readers can enjoy 10% off of their next Adesso Album purchase by entering the code "dailywed" when prompted at checkout.

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Thank you

This past Wednesday was exactly one month from my wedding day! I have to admit it has been hard to get back into my daily groove after 2 weeks off of work, and a week playing on the beaches of St. Maarten. I am back though and ready to blog updates from the wedding and honeymoon but first some kudos to my vendors.

I am sure - or I would hope - every bride ends up feeling like her wedding day was perfect, and I am no different. I knew from the moment I booked my vendors that I had nothing to worry about. I had surrounded myself with some of the most talented people I know; and more importantly, people who genuinely cared about my wedding day. It also helped that I had enlisted Tricia, Ainsley and Genina from Tricia Huddas & Co. to run around and save my family from themselves!

First, the flowers! There are few words that can explain how blown away I was with how they turned out. Heidi and Natalie, A to Zinnias wonder women, searched high, low and across oceans to find pink peonies in late July. Some would have just told me no. Not these two. Check out my peonies!


Carrie Briscoe, of Two Cakes, was my cake designer. Yes, I say "designer"! We wanted something on the cake that really represented us. The ceremony was very traditional so I wanted more of our fun, quirkey sides to be represented at the reception. We gave Carrie an engagement picture that we loved and she re-created us (being silly) with fondant and stuck us on the cake!

Here is the picture we gave Carrie.....


and here is the cake with Matt and I made out of fondant and other sugary media! I just love it..she even gave me hot pink shoes!


Teresa Earnest, with Memories 'n More photography, took all of these amazing pictures. She is so laid back and calm that she is a true joy to be with as she is capturing all of the night's events. Many more of her photos to come in later posts!

Dewayne, with VIP Entertainment, comes highly reccomended. He is just grand. I wrote about him in an earlier blog and he did not dissapoint us! He even played the Gator "chomp" song...when in Georgia that is risky but he knew this crowd would love it!

I am blessed to be surrounded by such talent and I just want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for what you do.

More pictures to come...

Welcome to the biz!

Though my wedding is months off, I have been thinking about recent trends, styles and how I want to style my own wedding almost non-stop. I am aiming for a wedding with a timeless feel, and I've chosen my ceremony venue, reception venue, caterer, bar service, etc. But as I make a final decision on my dress, bridesmaids' dresses and décor, I have decided to consult with a good friend who - though she is not new to the business of event design and overall style - has just recently decided to enter the world of weddings!

Liz Demos is the owner of @Home here in Savannah – a wonderful and unique store filled with furnishings, antiques, textiles, home and garden accessories and so much more! Well, Liz has decided to jump into the world of Event Design and Styling – something that, as your planner, we can absolutely help you with, but we always welcome Event Designers because it is fun to collaborate and see a fresh take wedding style.

I have a decent idea of a color scheme and what I'd like the overall feel to be; but with this being MY wedding, I am having much more trouble focusing then I ever thought I would. I have decided that a little consulting with such a fabulous stylist is just the thing! Keep your eyes out for some great things from Liz!

Tricia Huddas & Co. Weddings in Savannah Weddings Magazine

The new Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Savannah Weddings Magazine features two of our real Savannah weddings - Lauren and Ian, and Roya and JB!

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Savannah Wedding: Amanda & Jeremy Part 3

We wanted to feature a few of the details from Amanda & Jeremy's wedding now that you have seen the beautiful couple. She went with a very simple and chic white color palette featuring classic white rose bouquets, black bridesmaid’s dresses, crystal candelabras in the ballroom accented by crisp white linens and candles – beautiful!

It was such a beautiful set with a mix of square and round tables and a large head table that sat the bride and grooms family. It was truly a spectacular wedding – and I love the table mix of square, rounds and banquet style – it is exactly what I have planned for my wedding and I love the set once I saw it. That is the nice thing about being a wedding planner – I get to see some of my ideas before my wedding day!

Also, we addressed one of our Forsyth Park brides most common concerns about how do I make sure everyone doesn’t see me before I walk down the aisle. We used cute paper umbrellas that the bridesmaids held, and one by one as they walked down the aisle, they dropped their umbrella – and slowly, the bride was revealed. It is hard to really see in the pictures, but it was a super cute reveal!

Cheers to Amanda and Jeremy!

Photography by Memories n More.