22 Feb

Changing My Focus

categories: Wedding Technology Tags: Wedding Technology —

Sorry for not posting at all last week. Between getting new vendors set up on our site and everything else that goes on behind the scenes, writing blog posts was at the bottom of my to-do list.

I have however, done a lot of thinking about what I was truly passionate about – in terms of writing. As much as I love looking and reading about “Real Weddings” on everyone else’s wedding blogs, I just could not get into it. Don’t get me wrong, I love ALL things pretty when it comes to weddings. As hard as I tried – it was just not for me. It would literally take me hours upon hours to get one post done, and even then, I wasn’t proud of it.

So, after some pondering, I realized that if I wrote about what I was truly interested in, it would be authentic, it would be written a lot faster, and it would be what I have focused on for a long time. Technology. Weddings & Technology. How weddings use technology, new gadgets that help brides and grooms improve their weddings better, and how the wedding industry needs to be more focused on new technologies.

I will still do product reviews that catch my eye and wedding vendor profiles. I may also post a real wedding here and there, but the main focus will be on wedding technology. So, sit tight and keep your eyes peeled, because there’s a lot of fascinating wedding technology out there!

09 Feb

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Technology Tuesday – A Bride’s Guide to twitter

categories: Wedding Technology Tags: iPhone App, twitter, Wedding Technology —

What is twitter and why should brides use it? Twitter is a microblogging site that allows you to convey your thoughts in 140 characters or less. It’s free of charge and easy to use once you get the hang of it. If you’re planning your wedding, I’m sure you already know how many people want to help you plan your wedding – your parents, future in-laws, sisters, brothers, cousins, bridal party, friends, co-workers, etc… It seems like everyone has a say in helping you plan your wedding. There you go. 140 characters or less to tell them what you’re up to.

Click on the Find People button at the top of the screen and you can either 1. Invite people you know by email, 2. Find them by searching for their business name or name, 3. Enter your email address and twitter will pull up all your contacts and see who has a twitter account for you to follow.

Your tweets are seen by people who follow you, and your homepage includes a feed of the most recent tweets of people you’re following. It’s almost like an ongoing Facebook status update. There are also programs to help you manage your social media life via downloads or iPhone apps.

How to use twitter. It’s very simple. Once you are following somebody, just type the “@” symbol in front of their username (@iwedding) and then your message. Don’t forget – you only have 140 characters to get your point across. If you are including a link, use bit.ly to shorten the URL. That will give you more room for your message.

Your followers can jump into the conversation by clicking a “reply” button that appears when you put your mouse on the lower right hand corner of the message box. When they click “reply” your username is automatically populated in the reply box.

If you see a tweet that you think your followers would like to see, you can “retweet” it by typing RT @username and then either copying and pasting the message (tweet) or by clicking on the “retweet” button that appears when you scroll over the bottom right corner of the message box.

Why you should follow wedding vendors. A lot of wedding vendors are on twitter these days. Follow them for special offers only available to their followers, for special announcements, links to their most recent blog posts or real weddings, or advice.

The most common things you’ll see and use on twitter:

tweets: messages posted by user
RT or Retweet: messages reposted by another user
DM: a message sent directly to you (not seen by other users)
Follow Friday or #FF: A tag used on Twitter as a way to tell your followers about other Twitterers that are worth following. This is done most often on Fridays. Put the #FollowFriday hash in your message to let others know you’re sharing knowledgeable people that they should follow.

If you’re interested in following us on twitter, our username is: iwedding – Click follow and you’re done!

08 Feb

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Valentine’s Day Eye Candy

categories: Eye Candy Tags: champagne, chocolate, French, gifts, ipod, perfume, tea, valentine's day —

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I’m sure it’s going to sneak up on me just as quickly as it did last year. I’d love to hear what your plans are for this year! Here are some fascinating gifts that would be great to give and receive!

This is the second collaboration between Dom Perignon and artist Sylvie Fleury that has produced the ultimate Valentine’s Day treat. Packaged in a beautiful gift box, Champagne flutes designed by Sylvie Fleury bear permanent lip prints alongside a bottle of Dom Perignon Vintage Rosé will be sure to make your beloved’s heart flutter.

I love the scents of Jo Malone. They are all so crisp, clean, and not overwhelming. This is their luxurious Red Roses line that would be perfect for Valentine’s Day. From Jo Malone: “Composed of seven types of roses from around the world, red roses is a surprisingly clean, voluptuous scent. With a heart of crushed violet leaves and hints of lemon and spearmint, it unfolds like a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers.” – $95

If you or your fiance don’t have an iPhone or iPod touch yet, consider getting one for them. Starting at only $99, it is truly a must have gadget. With over 140,000 apps at your fingertips, you’re bound to find some new and useful apps that will make you wonder how on earth you’ve ever lived without. Since you’re planning your wedding, you’ll have to download our free app to make finding wedding vendors and inspiration easier than ever!

If you love green tea, you MUST try the Mariage Frères Green Tea Collection. The Mariage Frères tearoom in Paris is truly magnificent. You will be dazzled with a selection of over 500 teas to choose from. From Dean & Deluca: “Vert Provence, a grand green tea with a flowery, slightly grassy scent, blended with fruits from Provence and ripe red and black berries; Casablanca, a marriage of Moroccan green mint tea and bergamot flavored tea; and Thé A L’Opera, a favorite green tea flavored with fruits and spices.” – $90

Now, we can’t have a Valentine’s Day gift idea post without CHOCOLATE now, can we? Known as the finest chocolate in the United States, DEAN & DELUCA exclusively brings you a premium line of artisan-made Antoine Armani Chocolates. Made with natural, entirely preservative free and organic ingredients from the finest artisan suppliers. This 17 piece signature assortment arrives packaged in a rich, mahogany brown gift box and sealed with vibrant color sleeves. – $37

05 Feb

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Vendor Spotlight: Astrid Mueller

categories: Wedding Illustrator Tags: custom illustrations, graphics design, invitations, logo design, wedding illustrations —

I would love to introduce you to Astrid Mueller (formerly known as Champagne Promises). She is the super talented genius behind my logo and all of the illustrations that you see throughout our site. Astrid is an internationally published illustrator and graphics designer who specializes in elegant and whimsical wedding illustrations as well as wedding stationery, blog header and logo design. What I enjoyed most about working with her ability to understand what I really wanted even before I knew what I wanted. She is super patient and was able to squeeze us into her busy schedule.

Astrid primarily specializes in capturing a wedding couple’s personality and making their love come alive in a bespoke illustration. Astrid also has done a lot of work for people in the wedding industry. Commission her today for your own personalized wedding illustrations because she books up fast! I can talk for days on end as to how wonderful she is. Take a look for yourself at some of her gorgeous work!

04 Feb

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Real Wedding – Megan & Kyle – Pelican Hill, Newport Coast

categories: Real Weddings Tags: bouquet, bride, cake, ceremony site, chandeliers, pink, real wedding, reception site, video —

This wedding is jaw dropping gorgeous. From the couple with movie star looks to the seating charms, this wedding has it all. The bride was actually my daughter’s preschool teacher and she truly is extremely patient, kind, and always smiling. Not one detail was overlooked. View the wedding video to see how amazing this wedding really was. I’m going to be quiet now and just let you enjoy this wedding eye candy.

Megan & Kyle’s Arthouse Edit from The Pelican Hill Resort from Elysium Productions

Pelican Hill Wedding Ceremony Wedding Reception Details Pelican Hill Wedding Details Pelican hill After Party Vendors:

Hair: Eric Bilardi for Mr. Bilardi Salon Los Angeles
Makeup: Nancy Hayes
Bridal Designer: Luly Yang
Bridesmaid Dresses/Groom and Groomsmen’s Ties: Alix and Kelly
Cake: The Resort at Pelican Hill
Calligrapher: Laura Hooper Calligraphy
Consultant: Jeannie Savage
Ceremony: Enchanted Evenings Productions
Reception: James Gang, West Coast Music
Post-Reception Party: Michael Soltani
Event Design/Décor/Florist: Christopher Aldama
Event Filmmaker: Elysium Productions
Flower girl: Petals by Xavi
Formalwear: Custom Suits by Danny’s Fashion Shoppe, Hong Kong
Invitations/Programs/Paper Goods: Rock Paper Scissors
Officiant: J.P. Reynolds
Photographer/Save the Dates/Thank You Cards: Victor Sizemore
Venue: The Resort at Pelican Hill

02 Feb

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Welcome to Bridal Fascinations!

categories: Wedding Technology,iPhone App Tags: iPhone App, Search Engine, Wedding Technology —

I’d like to start off by welcoming all the Brides, Wedding Vendors, and Fellow Bloggers that are reading my blog for the very first time! My name is Phyllis and this site was built by both my husband and myself over the course of the last year. By the way, his name is Philip. I know…what were the chances?! We’ve been head over heels in love for almost 11 years and married for nearly 8. I’ve been in the wedding industry for almost 8 years having focused on ad sales and marketing consulting before we created My Wedding Concierge. Here is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day:

A few things about our site – it’s the ultimate wedding search engine. You won’t need to go to any other site to search for information. And that includes google. You will be able to type in a keyword and have returned to you, the most relevant wedding vendors in your area that matches your search terms. All of the wedding blogs indexed are hand selected for relevant content. Real soon, we’ll be working on keyword expansion technology. When you type in shoes, we’ll also return in our search results: heels, stilettos, pumps, flats, etc. Images that are tagged with your keyword will also be returned as will articles in the news.

We have an iPhone app available for free to download in the iTunes store. My Wedding Concierge iPhone App – a second generation app will be released soon to include the search functionality as well. For those of you without iphones, we will be on every web enabled smartphone in the next few months.

What can you expect to see on our blog? We aim to bring you real weddings, our favorite things, the latest trends, celebrity wedding guest bloggers, and many more fascinating things that you’ll just have to stick around to find out. Subscribe to our blog. I promise that you won’t be disappointed. We aim to be on the forefront of wedding technology and welcome any ideas any of you may have. Shoot me an email. I promise to personally reply to each and every one.