Project Wedding Blog

I invited Ashley, one of our most valued community members, to guest blog for us today! Ashley planned her wedding here on PW, and has since started her own coordination business called Ashley Kohler Events.

A little bit about Ashley…

Chris and I met about four and a half years ago through a co-worker of his that was actually trying to set me up with someone else and not Chris! Ha ha! I was actually the one that asked if he was single, he was, and the rest, as they say, is history!

We live in the valley…suburbia, but its nice and we like it and its so central to everything! We are about an hour or so away from San Francisco and Tahoe so that makes planning weekend trips fairly easy. We are minutes away from the lake, which is where we spend the majority of our time in the summer, on the boat. Chris is an avid wakeboarder. Me? Not so much.

Career wise, on paper, we have such serious sounding jobs, but we’re actually really goofy and nerdy and have a great time with one another. He is truly my very best friend.

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It’s time to announce the five finalists of our DIY Wedding Challenge and vote on the winner of the $500 grand prize and the $250 runner up prize!

We had an overwhelming response with over 160 gorgeous do-it-yourself entries from our lovely brides, each one filled with amazing creativity married with personality and style. I couldn’t possibly choose the finalists by myself, so instead I enlisted the help of the most inspirational people in the world of weddings, design, and entertaining: the ever so sweet Bee from Weddingbee, the fabulous Grace from Design*Sponge, the lovely Mackenzie from Something Old, Something New, the oh so stylish Emily from Once Wed, and the modern chic Jennifer of Hostess with the Mostess.

A very big thanks to our celebrity guest judges and all the incredible brides who entered! The finalists are announced below, after which comes the fun part… choosing a winner! Don’t forget to vote for your favorite DIY entry for the $500 grand prize and the $250 runner up prize! Voting ends on Monday, March 30th at 5pm PST.

Good luck everyone!

Bee’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Panel Pocketfold Invitations because they look fantastic and can be easily customized to fit your color scheme.
2. The Lantern Centerpieces for the awesome instructions and fabulous yet affordable look
3. The Personalized Matches for its simplicity and personalization.

Grace’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Personalized Match Boxes because it’s inexpensive, easy to do, and can be customized in such unique ways.
2. The fabulous Bling Letters because they look so professional and very inexpensive to create.

Mackenzie’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Lace Escort Cards because it’s a romantic look that anyone can do.
2. The dramatic Cascade Bride’s Bouquet

Emily’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The inspirational DIY Calligraphy, because it’s just so hard to resist a way to achieve perfect handwriting and invite wedding guests in a beautiful and inexpensive way.

Jennifer’s Top Picks:

1. (Finalist) The Message in a Bottle Invitations because of the over-the-top creativity and meticulous attention to detail. Fromt the drops of mango scented oil and tiny sea shells to the clever “old style map” motif and raffia ties that made it easy for recipients to get the message out. Every aspect of these invitations is amazing!
2. The Bouquet with Feathers and Beads because it is just so stunning
3. Sliding Nugget Favor Boxes because they are absolutely adorable and can easily be tailored to any color palette, theme, or occasion.
4. Cake Box Card Holder because the concept is so clever and makes for a great bridal shower centerpiece as well!

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Good morning! Today is an exciting day because I am introducing our very first guest blogger, Elle! She is one of our most beloved hostesses, and is planning an autumn wedding in Connecticut. Welcome Elle, and thanks for guest blogging today!

From Elle: My honey proposed to me on August 4, 2008.  Although I knew that he was going to ask me to marry him, it came as a total surprise because I was not sure as to when he was going to ask.  I met him at school.  We are both in the same adult accelerated program and will graduate next spring. Our wedding is scheduled for September 19, 2009 at Real Art Ways (art gallery) in Hartford, Connecticut.  We are excited and he has completely immersed himself into the planning (although not as much as I)!  He especially loves the tastings because he has a bottomless pit stomach and I tell him so at least 3 times per day.  He is the only man that I have ever met that has a bigger chocolate craving than I do and I could eat chocolate EVERYDAY!!!

Our wedding vision is modern and somewhat minimalist.  Our colors are ice blue, black and white.  He has left all of the decorations up to me which is just the way that I like it. (:  We are renting everything which gives me creative control right from the beginning.  We have already booked our photographer, DJ, and venue.  We are in the process of booking our day of coordinator, caterer and cake.  We have two tastings for cakes at the end of October and I can hardly contain myself.  Sugar - YUM!

Can’t wait to share ideas with all of you!

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Welcome to The Inspired Bride!

I’m so excited about our new blog branding and our fresh new design. Our awesome graphic designer, Marissa, redesigned the blog to reflect the look and feel of the rest of our site, incorporating an elegant color palette and a romantic lily of the valley letterpress style header.

What do you think of the new design? =)

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I am so excited about our new feature - wedding maps! My hubby Joe has been working night and day to bring couture wedding maps to fruition, and I couldn’t be more proud of him. Wedding maps are a perfect way to guide your guests to your wedding. Best of all, Joe has been working with THE best wedding invitations to ensure that each map is as chic and stylish as the matching wedding invitation and website. Yay Joe! Please check out the fruits of his labor in the wedding map gallery.

View wedding map in full screen

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Last night, my friend Bee over at Weddingbee sent me a note to announce the launch of her new blog, Weddingbee Pro! It’s a blog featuring some of the top up and coming vendors in the nation. I’m loving it so far, and am thrilled that she selected some awesome vendors like Nancy Liu Chin (SF Bay Area) and Chelsea Petaja (Nashville) as some of their PROS.
http://www.weddingbeepro.com/

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Hi everyone! I just want to wish you a very happy thanksgiving! Joe and I are visiting my family and friends in the SF Bay Area for the holidays, and will be taking a short two-day holiday break from blogging. I’ll be back on Monday to unveil next week’s real wedding of the week!

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I wanted to take some time to share something very near and dear to my heart. In fact, I have been waiting to highlight Joy’s fabulous and inspirational wedding to coincide with a very momentous occasion here at Project Wedding. Joy’s blog was such an inspiration when I was engaged, and had a large part in inspiring me to help other brides by founding Project Wedding with my husband Joe and good friend Srini in March of 2007. Now one and a half years later, Project Wedding has reached over 2 million people with a whopping 50 million page views!

In celebration of this momentous occasion, I will be publishing one awe-inspiring real wedding every day for the rest of the year! So get ready for some gorgeous inspiration… and many heartfelt thanks to Joy for inspiring me to help other brides by creating Project Wedding!

All the images courtesy of the extremely talented Karen Wise.

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This year’s election is such a turning point for our country. If you have not already voted, please go out and vote and make your voice heard!

Source

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