Happy Valentine’s Day!

(Photo Credit: Sister72 Flickr Stream)

Hope you are spending today snuggled up with your valentine!

PS – if you are one of the 4 million or so people who will get engaged this Valentine’s Day and want to get started planning, feel free to drop us a line!

Here’s the thing about marriage…it’s wonderful, it’s fun, it’s frustrating, it’s hilarious, and it’s tough.  You have to work at a marriage.  You have to make a promise to each other and renew it every single day – a promise that you won’t give up.  I think that might be why I love this song from Jason Mraz – it kinda says it all…

I Won’t Give Up by Jason Mraz

When I look into your eyes
It’s like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There’s so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you’ve come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up

And when you’re needing your space
To do some navigating
I’ll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

‘Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We’ve got a lot to learn
God knows we’re worth it
No, I won’t give up

I don’t wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I’m here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you’re still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn’t break, we didn’t burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I’ve got, and what I’m not
And who I am

I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up
Still looking up.

I won’t give up on us (no I’m not giving up)
God knows I’m tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)
We’ve got a lot to learn (we’re alive, we are loved)
God knows we’re worth it (and we’re worth it)

I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up

One piece of advice I always give my clients is to head to the paint store and grab those great paint chips – having paint chips in your binder is the best way to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to colors.  They are small and easy to take with you to meetings, they are visual and if you give one to your florist to match ribbon, you can easily get another set!

Now if you are having trouble picking which colors you like it can now be as simple as finding a great picture on Pinterest and clicking a button.  Sherwin Williams has a new (free!) tool called Chip It!

You just drag the Chip It link to your toolbar and then when you find that perfect color scheme in a picture, you click the Chip It button, mouse over your picture and your color scheme will pop up!  It isn’t perfect – calibration on monitors can be tricky but it is a good jumping off point for color schemes!

When a couple gets married there are new birthdays from the other side of the family to be remembered and celebrated which is why when I saw this wonderful guest book idea from Devon and Dan’s Real Wedding on Martha Stewart Weddings via Pinterest, I thought it was brilliant! Guests sign their birthday – you could ask for wedding anniversaries as well – and you have a perfect record of everyone’s birthdays so you can make sure to send those cards on time!

You could either grab a calendar that fits your theme or you could make one with your engagement pictures!  Shutterfly lets you start the calendar any month and year you would like so you could create one beginning with your wedding month!

So, you know that moment on a holiday when you’re done eating and Grandpa has passed out and you’re sort of bored but no one is online to chat with because they are all at their Aunt Myrtle’s house having dry turkey and jello mold?  Well this year, you are in luck because I have a new distraction for you!

I am sure you already know about Pintrest (which I still love, love, love!) but I also just discovered the “gawkerverse” – a family of sites sort of like Pintrest but each is narrowly categorized:

weddinggawker.com – all weddings, all the time.

foodgawker.com – all yum, all the time.

dwellinggawker.com – all home, all the time.

craftgawker.com – all crafty, all the time. (my personal obsession right now because I just don’t have enough projects that I will never finish on my eleventy billion item long DIY to-do list!)

My only issue is it appears you have to make a new login for each of the 4 sites which is v. v. annoying.  I do love that one click takes you straight to the source so you don’t go through another several pages to get to the goods!

Between Pintrest and the gawkerverse, you have no excuse to be bored on Turkey Day this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I was tickled pink when the editor of 614 Magazine called me and asked me to contribute to their special wedding themed section in the June issue.  I am quoted in two different articles:

The Big Twist and Green with Envy

Although I do have one tiny correction, I’ve actually been a wedding planner for 7-1/2 years.  If you want to see pictures from the pirate wedding referenced in The Big Twist, just click here or search for pirate on the Emilie Duncan Event Planning blog.  Yes, it was as much fun as it looks like in the pictures!

Big thanks for 614 Magazine for featuring me!  If you want to grab a printed copy, they are all over the place and free!

Kate and Wills will each have their own cakes at the Royal Wedding:

The bride’s wedding cake will be a multi-tiered fruit cake (very traditional at English weddings) decorated in white and cream icing created by Fiona Cairns.  The baker has kept the final design quiet but has announced that around 16 different flowers and foliage with symbolic meanings will be represented on the cake including the bridal rose {happiness}, the oak and acorn {strength and endurance}, lily of the valley {sweetness and humility} and ivy leaves {marriage and fidelity}.  Sweet William will also make an appearance – and by that we mean flowers although we think the groom is quite sweet on his own.  Floriography, the tradition of using flowers with symbolic meaning, was popular in Victorian times.

The groom’s cake will be a chocolate biscuit cake.  It really isn’t so much a cake as chocolate mousse with crushed up biscuits (crackers or cookies) which is formed into cake shape and then glazed in chocolate.   Apparently this no-bake, chilled cake is a favorite of both William and the Queen.

Now if you weren’t on the list of 600 reception guests, you can still have a little taste of the Royal Wedding locally courtesy of the brill folks over at Jeni’s!  You know we love Jeni’s around here and they have put together an awesome pack of flavors celebrating Kate and Williams’ big day!  From their website:

Ice Creams for the Royal Wedding (and Mother’s Day!)
A Royal Wedding is history being made before our eyes. But, if you can’t be with Prince William and Catherine Middleton in person Friday, April 29, at Westminster Abbey, our procession of limited-edition ice creams will transport you across the pond in majestic style and spirit. Each spirited flavor in the Ice Creams for the Royal Wedding collection is inspired by the refreshing, youthful energy of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Prince William’s Chocolate Biscuit Groom’s Cake
Dark Chocolate ice cream and rich butter biscuits soaked in Lyle’s Golden Syrup, with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Eton Mess
A tip of the hat to a dessert from Prince William’s alma mater, Eton College, it’s royal mess of hand-layered vanilla cream, strawberry sorbet, and raspberry sauce studded with hand-piped meringue stars.

The Royal Wedding Cake
Molasses ice cream with brandied raisins, dates, and pineapple, with lemon zest, walnuts, and traditional spices.

I love when I hear a song that was so obviously written FOR someone.  The lyrics of those songs tend to speak to me and instantly make me all mushy.  I heard one of those songs on the radio tonight on the drive home and I am calling it right now – this will be a popular first dance song for this summer!

I Can’t Wait by Runner Runner

The way you curse while we’re in traffic
A million flavors of your chapstick
The way you keep my heart captive

The Journey concert in AZ
Remember we sang faithfully?
I still got that old hotel room key

This is the way I feel

‘Cause I can’t wait for you to be my wife
To live this life together
And I won’t let you go
I need you to know
That you are my heart, forever
And on and on and on

The way you like to sing my songs
You always know when something’s wrong
The way you say you miss me when I’m gone

The things you do that show you care
You’re always down for truth or dare
Freeze this moment; let me stop and stare

Nothing before was real
This is the way I feel

And I can’t wait for you to be my wife
To live this life together
And I won’t let you go
I need you to know
That you are my heart, forever
And on and on and on
And we’ll go on and on and on

For better or for worse
No matter how it hurts
You’ve got me to hold you hand
I promise you the world
In your wedding dress
We’ll dance till no one’s left
Don’t wanna blink my eyes
Don’t wanna miss a thing

I can’t wait for you to be my wife
To live this life together
And I won’t let you go
I need you to know
That you are my heart, forever

And I can’t wait for you to be my wife
To live this life together
And I won’t let you go
I need you to know
That you are my heart, forever
And on and on and on
And we’ll go on and on and on

Sources are estimating that between 2 and 3 billion people will watch William and Kate’s wedding on TV, online and on their phones – and you thought you were nervous about your ceremony!!  Did you know that there is film of not only William’s parent’s wedding but also his Grandparents and Great-Grandparents?

First up is the 1923 (!) wedding of King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.  If you caught the movie “The King’s Speech” or have ever heard the term the Queen Mum, this is their wedding:

The current Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth married her love Phillip in 1947:

Finally, William’s parents Charles and Diana’s wedding from 1981 with that incredible train:

Hopefully those snippets will tide you over until the newest Royal Wedding on Friday!

Happy Royal Wedding Week!  This Friday, April 29, will likely be the stuff of fairytales – many little girls dream of meeting a prince, falling in love and marrying him in front of all their loved ones and two billion other people from all over the world.  Okay, maybe not that last part.  Anyway, we’ll be talking about royal wedding related details all week long but wanted to start off with a few facts about the wedding that we’ll call “Did you know?”

Did you know that…

*Kate and William will not kiss at the altar?  It goes against protocol to kiss in Westminster Abbey so their first kiss (in public) will likely take place on the same balcony where William’s parents shared their famous kiss.  {Anyone else sort of hoping that Wills and Kate sneak one in while at the Abbey anyway?}

*The ceremony will be a one ring ceremony – Kate’s wedding band will be made from rare Welsh gold but William will not be wearing a wedding ring.  {His father, Prince Charles, wears his wedding band under his signet ring on his left pinkie – here’s hoping Wills follows suit.}

*Kate probably won’t be a Princess when she gets married.  She wasn’t born royal so she will take his first name as part of her title and will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales UNLESS he is offered a Royal Dukedom by the Queen (v. likely), she’ll become Duchess Catherine.  Then once Prince Charles becomes King, she will become Catherine, Princess of Wales and finally, should William ascend to King, she will be Queen Catherine.  {She also won’t have an actual last name any longer.  Really.}

*Kate invited various people from Bucklebury, the small village she grew up in, including the butcher, pub owner and the grocers. {Love the small town girl not forgetting where she came from!}

*You’ll have to get up very early to be among the first to see the big dress reveal – 6 am (EST) is when Kate will emerge from the Royal Family’s Rolls Royce Phantom VI at Westminster Abbey. {For those true diehards – looks like the Today Show will start broadcasting live from Westminster at 4 am on the east coast.}

*Kate now has her own Coat of Arms – it features 3 acorns and a gold chevron on a red and blue background.  {What did your in-laws give you as a wedding gift?}

*Kate will be doing her own makeup. {Brave girl. Awesomely brave girl!}

*Some are reporting that up to 60% of UK businesses are giving their employees off to watch the royal wedding. {Let’s be real – those who don’t have the day off will probably just be watching it online at their desk, right?}

*Kate’s vows, while traditional, will not include the promise to obey.  {Princess Diana was the first royal bride to omit obey from the vows.}

*While Kate is breaking tradition by arriving to the ceremony in a car (a really nice one) she will be leaving the ceremony in the same carriage that carried William’s parents on their wedding day in 1981. {Talk about a Cinderella moment – imagine riding through the streets of London from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace in a horse drawn carriage with your new husband – the future King of England! *pinch, pinch*}

*Even though the British consider rain good luck on the wedding day, we’re likely not alone in hoping for sunny skies for the new couple!  {I want to see the dress – not a bunch of umbrellas!}