The Meeting House One of the first buildings you see when you enter The Waters is the Meeting House. Set on Chapel Hill and overlooking the entire community, the Meeting House can hold up to 250 people for a wedding ceremony. I love the classic design and the simple lines that it has. It’s one of those buildings that stands out for it’s beautiful simplicity. Oozing traditional Southern charm. Basically, my ideal spot for a wedding ceremony.

The Marina A long pier leads out to twin boat houses that gives your guests a different experience of the lake. Room for a band and dancing and also for dining, an amazing evening on the water is easy to create. Rehearsal dinners or receptions have all enjoyed this spot to perfection.

The Pavilion Beautifully situated overlooking the sparkling pool and Lake Cameron’s white sand beach, the neighborhood pavilion offers the perfect outdoor space for a rehearsal dinner. And the adjacent outdoor kitchen makes it easy for your caterer of choice.

I invite you to learn more about this amazing community and event spot. It’s rare that I see a venue that has so much to offer. It’s beautiful, simple, southern – perfect! And, ask about our wedding packages written specifically for weddings at The Waters. Until next time…. XOXO, Julie

Karen and David’s love story is wonderful. After being widowed with triplet daughters (yes, you read that right – triplets – and they are adorable), Karen was lucky enough to meet David and fall in love. And, it’s not hard to see why David would fall for her. Karen’s personality is infectious. Bubbly, happy, sunny – all words that come to mind about her. I mean, she teaches Zumba and you know that a Zumba instructor has to be high energy. Karen was very focused on simply enjoying the day. So, it was up to me to help pull her vision together while making sure that she was able to enjoy the love and togetherness of her wedding weekend.

They decided that they wanted to have a smaller ceremony and then a larger reception. To do that, they chose the Chapel at Callaway Gardens for their ceremony to get away from things just a little bit and then moved on to the reception at the Moores Mill Country Club in Auburn. It was one of the sweetest summer soirees I’ve ever been a part of.

So, of course, we had to turn to Rob Smith of FlipFlopFoto to photograph the day just perfectly. Always lovely! I’m so glad I can share the photos with you here. Many, many congratulations to Karen and David! Y’all were so great to work with and I wish you nothing but a lifetime of happiness! Until next time….. XOXO, Julie

The girls waiting for the cake to be cut. Classic!

Last year was super fun. But, I felt very much like a slacker because I had bought my mask from Party City while so many others came with masks they had made themselves. Being one of the major sponsors of the event, I decided that this year I needed to step up my game and make my own mask. A full crafting session was needed. As I have stated before, I’m not really a crafty person until I get a certain idea in my mind. Then, it’s on. So, I went to our local Hobby Lobby and spent some time browsing.

I have never made a mask before. So, I was kind of guessing what all I needed and how much. First, I knew I wanted a full feathered mask. I recently bought a dress that I found on super sale and decided that it would be my Carnival dress. It has earth tones in it and has a little bit of a tribal feel to it. Don’t worry. I know that tribal could be questionable. But, it’s BCBG. Tribal done right. I decided that I would go with that and get feathers in brown tones. So, I picked up a few packs of feathers, a blank mask, some glue, some black paint and some paint brushes. You can see my general set up below – pardon my iPhone quality photos. Most crafting projects I do require a glass of wine to start off.

Then, I had to prep the mask as a whole. I took the elastic band out and got started by painting the whole mask black. I thought that the white showing through wouldn’t go with the tribal look. I used black paint and brushed it on. It obviously didn’t need to be perfect, just enough to take the white out, but I did do two coats. As a tip, it would have been much easier to spray paint it. I really have no clue why I didn’t just do that.

Once this was dry, and it didn’t take long, I started placing feathers. This is just a layering process. So, I started by placing some feathers around the edges. Keep in mind that feathers and glue go really well together. You don’t have to fight to get them to stick. This includes any glue that you get on your fingers and then try to pick up any feathers. It can get really annoying. To combat this, I decided to paint the glue on the mask with a brush, working in sections, and then put the feather down. That way, I could keep my fingers as clean as possible.

You might notice the mess that I have made thus far. This is because I had to trim most of the feathers I ended up using. They were either too long, or they had these fuzzy pieces that I wanted to get rid of. Like this:

Once I had the base layer put together, I could put some larger feathers on that were strictly decoration. And, I used some thinner ones to finish off the edges of the eye holes.

And, the mask is done! I spent about $20 in all. Not too bad. As a final verdict: I enjoyed my little project and I think it came out okay considering I had close to no plan going into it. It will go with my dress well and I know nobody else will have one like it. It’s not super flashy or over the top. Mostly because I will be working at the event and I need something that isn’t high maintenance. Now that it is all done, it is itching to be worn and I am more ready than ever for the Masquerade to be here! Be sure to get your tickets early! We are going to have a great time!!! – Below is the finished mask next to my choice of dress. They go together, right? Until next time – XOXO, Julie

I was honored and really excited when Jennifer asked me to be her wedding planner. She and Scott chose Callaway Gardens as their destination wedding. Jennifer had a great vision for her wedding and wanted to use black and fuchsia as her colors. Very bold. She let me be her editor on the design and we decided that there would be no white in the wedding at all except for her dress. Black chairs, black table cloths, colorful flowers. But, she would be the only white.

It is always a little risky to go bold. But, with a garden setting, I think Jennifer’s vision came together flawlessly. One of the things I liked the best is that all the black that was used in the wedding as a backdrop allowed the flowers and any other accents pop completely. And, it made Jennifer, in her dress, stand out above all.

Beyond the fun and bold design, Jennifer and Scott were very focused on making sure that they and their guests enjoyed the day to its fullest. I have seen a lot of weddings. I can say that they had a BLAST. Their guests had so much fun. Again, that makes me more happy than anything.

So, enjoy the photos taken by the wonderful Delaney Holliman Photography. Another congratulations to Jennifer and Scott! I smile every time I look at your photos!

Until next time… XOXO, Julie

Also, I ran across this fun little video that I put together years ago. I think I was just wanting to play around with my new Mac and the video software that it came with. I never really did anything with this video besides posting it on Facebook a few months ago. Maybe if I find the time, I’ll do another one. But, in honor of the new year coming up and the organizing that I’ve been doing, I’m putting it here and hope you enjoy it. May you have a safe holiday and many great wishes for a wonderful new year for you!

Until next time… XOXO, Julie

It has made me think about how much pets are a part of families and I thought I would touch on the subject of how to include your pets in your wedding. As a blanket statement coming from a wedding director, pets in weddings are bad ideas. If you think children can be wild cards at a wedding, a pet is that much worse. I have done several weddings where dogs were a part of the ceremony (my own sister’s wedding included), and while nothing has gone wrong, I still can’t say that I would recommend it.

If you do want to have your dog with you at your wedding, there are some ways to it. So, here a few tips for such a situation.

1. Make sure that you have someone designated to watch your dog throughout the entire day. Like a handler. Just to make sure that they are well taken care of. That includes having a nice set up for them during the reception. Have a room in another area just for them to relax in and have some treats.

2. Definitely include them in your photos! I can’t think of anything cuter. But, be considerate. If it is hot outside, make sure you have plenty of water. It’s only nice.

3. Think about including them in other ways. One of my clients had custom stamps made for their invitations with the photo of their cute pug, Ollie. Since Ollie wasn’t able to make it to the wedding, they wanted to make sure that he was included in their day. He also got a mention in the wedding program. I thought it was great!

I hope that you are able to include everyone you love in your wedding day. Just make sure you are as considerate as possible to your pet and to your guests. And, to wish you a wonderful Christmas holiday, I give you Invision’s unofficial mascots – Oliver and Annie. Just so you know, Annie (the brindle) hates when I do Christmas photos. She hates it. Oliver (the black and white) could be a professional dog model. Many thanks to my dogs for putting up with my photo ideas once a year. And, also thanks to FlipFlopFoto for indulging this dog-momma’s need for cuteness and taking such great photos of my kids. A very Merry Christmas to you all! Our dogs are adopted retired racing greyhounds. They make fabulous pets and there are so many that need good homes. If you want to know more, ask me or go to www.adopt-a-greyhound.org4EXARDC8EDVS

But, it didn’t bother Kelly one bit. She was one of those brides who was just visibly happy about getting married. And, she ate it up. Also lucky for her, she had hired Rob Smith of FlipFlopFoto to take care of capturing her happy day.  Obviously, she was in good hands. So, without further ado, enjoy Kelly and Joseph’s wedding day.

Until next time… XOXO, Julie

Until next time… XOXO – Julie

There is something extra special about a hand written note. It lets the recipient know that they are thought of dearly; and for weddings, a hand addressed envelope sets the tone for the wedding and all of the lovely details that await your guests. I fell in love with calligraphy because of its beauty, gracefulness and the ability to make letters dance on paper.

I really enjoy helping brides-to-be choose a calligraphy style that is the perfect complement to the overall look and feel of their special day. And I am happy to feature my Lola calligraphy style here on Julie’s blog! It is one of my favorite styles that I have created by first starting with great letter forms and altering beginning and ending strokes to achieve a unique and sophisticated style. I wanted it to have a romantic feel with a bit of drama to it.

And with that – here’s Lola!

Photo by Sanderson Images

Photo by Katie Stoops

Photo by Claudia Lopez

Until next time… XOXO – Julie

First off, let’s start by thinking about what the Save-The-Date is really used for in it’s most basic sense then we can move on to being creative with it. In general, a Save-The-Date is sent to folks who might have to plan way in advance to attend your wedding. If they live out of town and need to book travel, if they have crazy work schedules (I can relate) and need to block that day, or if they have other major events happening at the same time (is this a May wedding competing with graduations and other things???). But, basically, it is the out-of-towners that get the first consideration on the Save-The-Date.

To be able to even start to think about your Save-The-Dates, you have to know your guest list. Take a long look at it. Before you order up enough Save-The-Dates for every address on the list, you need to be realistic about it. If you are sending a person a Save-The-Date, then you really want them to attend the wedding. So, if you are looking at an invite list that might be longer than you wanted, you may want to edit a few addresses off the Save-The-Date list. Because, you can’t edit them later. Not everyone has to get a Save-The-Date. But, if you send a person a Save-The-Date, you have to send them an invitation.

Now that we know what a Save-The-Date is supposed to be for, what can we do with it that is creative? LOTS of things! It doesn’t have to be this way, but most Save-The-Dates include a photo of the couple. This is good because some of your guests may not know one of you. It’s nice for people to have a photo of the two of you before the actual day. And, some folks aren’t going to be able to come regardless of the time to plan travel. So, this can serve as an engagement announcement, too.

So, what to do for these Save-The-Dates? Well, I’m all about being creative with paper. I love thinking of new and fun ways to put your personality into print. Sometimes that is fun with your engagement photo shoot. Sometimes that is in the design as a whole on your Save-The-Dates. Regardless, I love the more fun ones. The ones that let your personality shine. And, I have to admit that I love a magnet. I may be one of the few people who doesn’t like clutter, but I LOVE a fully decorated refrigerator with notes and photos and all kinds of things. I have a collection of magnets from places I’ve been, Save-The-Dates, holidays, you name it. And, I love to post notes and invitations on the fridge. I keep Christmas photo cards on my fridge all year long. It makes me happy. It is the one place that everyone in the house pays attention to. So, I say, do a magnet if you can. Because, that keeps your wedding on peoples minds.

Now for some nitty-gritty tips:

Always include the fact that a formal invitation will follow. Some folks don’t get wedding invitations all the time and they might think that this is it. So, make it clear that you will be sending them a real invitation. That’s the rules of etiquette. And, include a website about your wedding. If you don’t have one made, there are a zillion options to making one quickly. Like theknot.com has some great options. This is a great way for you to give all kinds of info about your wedding. Especially if you are having a destination wedding. People will want to know about where to stay, what there is to do in the area (maybe they will make it a mini vacay…), what all will be going on for the wedding itself, directions, etc. It’s just nice.

Until next time… XOXO – Julie

The photos are of some cute Save The Dates that I found on a simple Google Images stroll. I like the first one for its great personality. I know I have said I don’t like themes, but this is the one place that I say go for it. And, if you do an old Hollywood theme (like this is), maybe carry it through to the wedding by having a glam feel to the wedding? Not a theme, an ambiance… Just to be clear. The second is such a great way to do a destination wedding Save The Date. Highlight the awesome location. Ummm, who wouldn’t want to attend an Aspen, Co. wedding? I’m there!