{Real Brides} Christina :: Blush Pink Spring Wedding

Time to introduce our next bride! Christina is currently living in and planning her wedding from Vienna, Austria but tying the knot in Arizona. This "destination" planning should be a fun one to follow along with. Let's get right over to introducing her.

Name:	Christina Kay
Age:	27
Location:	Arizona
Occupation:	Program Manager (I manage the Bachelor Program at a private university in Austria)
Wedding Date:	April 2012
Venue:	Seville Golf & Country Club
Planner:	Teagan Mercer and myself
Photographer:	Trevor Dayley Photography

Connect with Christina: Pinterest :: Wordpress

About Me: I'm originally from a small town in Illinois but moved to Arizona at age 17 to attend Arizona State University.  I lived (and loved it) there until 2008 when I moved to Vienna, Austria to pursue my MBA.  In addition to Vienna, I studied in both Bangkok and Shanghai and managed to travel to over 20 countries during my two years abroad for school.  Fun fact: I met my fiancé in China but he just so happens to be from Vienna!  We've lived together here in Austria since August 2010 but are getting ready to make the move back to Arizona in the spring.

I love Mexican food, all things pink and sparkly, laying out by the pool, baking cupcakes, reading blogs, celebrity gossip, yoga, my dog Dallas, traveling, and my family, friends & fiancé very much :)

Wedding Style: My fiancé laughs a little every time he hears me describe it.  I'd say the look and vibe we are going for is ''Rustic Glam, Cozy and Cute.''  We are planning a non-traditional wedding that blends both of our cultures into one big, fabulous party.

Our wedding is going to be outdoor + indoor.  The ceremony and cocktail hour will be held outside and the reception will be inside (but the ballroom has doors on all walls that will remain open to the outdoor cocktail area all night for a true indoor/outdoor vibe).  It'll be a pretty, spring wedding with a playful and eclectic vibe.

To get a better idea of my style, take a peek below at some of my inspiration.  I'm looking forward to sharing more with you over the next few months!

Credits:  Dresses, Floral, Cupcakes, Mini Inspiration Board, Blowing Kisses, Bouquet, Table Number, Flags

Part 2: Vintage Wedding in my Potential Venue!

Ok here is part two of the amazing wedding. Again, this is the venue I am planning to use so it is great to see that someone has actually done a fantastic wedding here! Just so that everyone doesn't think I am crazy for being majorly indecisive on this space :), here is the update. I am taking the moms to see the place on Sunday. At this point, unless they point out any insanely major issues, I am going to book it. I do have a few cons keeping me from instant love, the first being the homemade food. I actually have no doubt in my mind that it will turn out to be 100% incredible, but it is the stress of getting to that point that is really killing me. It is obviously just a lot of work.

The other major concern is that the space is just not a wedding set-up. In a way I actually really like that because I hate a lot of cookie cutter wedding venues, but at the same time it takes lots more creativity and pulling in different elements to ensure the space is how it is supposed to be. I am definitely very excited to work with the non-traditional aspect, but in times of wedding inspiration-block, I am nervous that I won't know where to put anything! Oh my. That probably won't be the case, but I guess it is worth freaking out about.

SOOO CUTE on the food right! Love the way they did this.

OMG! I am sooo doing milk like this..I am in love :)

One thing I love about this space is the very versatile photography spots! There are so many different places which are all totally different styles. I think that will make for some great diversity!

This is the outside of the building. Not something we would be seeing from the seating in the reception.

OK all, I could REALLY use the help and feedback! What are your thoughts? Cute, not cute, keep looking, do something in particular?? I can't believe I might actually have a full venue booked in the next week. YAY

Vintage and Detailed Wedding (In my potential venue!)

I wanted to show off this wedding because it is at the venue I plan on doing mine in! :) I basically googled the venue and searched for images so I could see what other people did, how the space was set up, etc. This completely helped me decide because I could really visualize how it could actually work! They really wanted a backyard feel to their wedding which they definitely accomplished from the DIY food, to the DIY decor. Everything was made by them from start to finish! This is pretty much what I want to do, so it's great to see that someone else has accomplished that and gotten published! (This wedding was featured on Ruffled.)

You can't see too many pictures of the space itself, but what do you think about it?? I would definitely love to hear thoughts, ideas of what I can do with it, etc!

Source: Caroline Tran

Love the entrance way! I also wanted to hang lanterns which this place is literally perfect for.

Ok, that is just part 1! You can sort of see the space a little in terms of the colors, the nature, the brick etc. It's all very pretty, and it makes it even better that this wedding is beyond gorgeous!

Bridal Shower Sweets

Yummy yummy yummy! These mini treats go perfectly with showering a bride with gifts, don't you think??

I love that cupcake bouquet! I have to figure out how to make one of those to give to at least the bridesmaids! How cute would that be?

Source: Style Sweet, Cupcake Takes the Cake

Other options if you aren't into these mini treats-small 2 layered cake. These are grogeous and oh so cute! If you are doing cupcakes for you wedding, maybe you can switch it up and serve a mini cake at your bridal shower.

Source: Twiweddings and a dog, lauren Ratliff

Cupcakes and Cupcake Stands

Via: The Swelle Life I was talking to @realgloss on twitter a bit about cupcake stands. Cupcakes are absolutely amazing, but cupcake stands on the other hand, more often than not look like ugly blocks sitting on top of eachother. I am definitely not a fan.

When I found this which I fell in love with. It has single-handedly changed my opinion of cupcake stands. Maybe, just maybe, there are some cute ones out there!

I haven't been able to find any others that I have fallen in love with besides this. Any recommendations??

I love the idea of cupcakes instead of the wedding cake, but I haven't been able to give up the idea of the "wedding cake" not being at the wedding. With a stand like this though, I could easily change my mind! Cupcakes are way more convenient, little clean-up, no cutting fees, probably a smidge cheaper, and a lot easier to save the left overs. I would love to hear from someone who has actually had cupcakes at their wedding. Did you love having cupcakes???

Bridal Shower Favorites

The bridal shower is an exciting time! Let's start with an amazing bridal shower invite such as the one I found from minted.com. You will need some toppers for your cupcakes, so try these from the pertyfultings Etsy Shop. If you haven't already, announce your bridal party to everyone and give them a cute "Will You Be My Bridesmaid?" note like this from Print Your Party!

And finally, GAMES! I'm not the biggest fan of bridal games, but these new ones are amazing! A personalized crossword puzzle (from LoveSmartDesign) and games such as the Print Your Party printable version of the "purse game" (that I talked about playing at Lizzie's Bridal Shower).

Those are the basics of the bridal shower! All personalized and all inexpensive! :) Have fun-it'll be a fun day!

Lizzie’s Bridal Shower!

As you may know, Lizzie's bridal shower was this weekend! This is the first time all the Bridesmaids have been together in a very long time, so it was good to see everyone :) We had a little impromptu bridesmaid photo shoot which came out incredibly well!

Next up: Bachelorette Party! Then onto the wedding :)

She is so cute with all the details! She got the amazing sign and the cupcake toppers from Etsy along with a few other additions such as a strand of cloth flags. The whole space was beautiful.

Those cupcakes, which I fully made from scratch, were amazing! They had lots of coconut some chocolate chips and more coconut frosting! So amazing :)

And of course we did all the bridal shower things! We opened presents and played a few games. We did the game where you make dresses out of toilet paper, and we played a game called "what's in your purse?" I've never played it before, and it was super fun!

(How to Play: There is a list of items, if you have them in your purse you pull it out. At the end there is a points system with some items being worth more, and others being worth only a few points! At the end the person with the most points wins!)

All photos taken by the only guy at the bridal shower: Cooper Falk!!

Engagement Party Details - Treats

I loved the treat table! I went into this a bit already on the "Cakes Pops" post, so check it out if you want to find out how to make those cute cake balls or pops! I got the big diamonds, the napkins and the mason jars from Michaels. The orange and yellow vases were from Crate and Barrel. I am OBSESSED with them. Overall the treat table was a major hit! The little "Cake Pop" tags were made by Print Your Party as well!

I can't seem to find a full picture but we did has a banner from Tucker Reece which said "TREATS" to match the others!

I absolutely loved the details I added to the party! I do wish I had more pictures of the entire space but my brother took the camera for a long time. (If you want to see a ton of pictures of our fence and the flower garden, he took ample photos of that! haha) I'll gather more together and show them too! It was the best engagement party ever, definitely everything I could have asked for.

Want to see more of my engagement party? Check out the engagement party tags, and other engagement party details. Oh and check out these other engagement party or bridal shower desserts on a stick.