Love definitely is in the air when planning a wedding, so why not incorporate a company of the same name? Linda Loveleen Williams Hall and Mary Love are the team that is behind the company that can give you it all … Love Is in the Air does cakes, decor, catering and more! I also love the story of two friends and their humble beginnings, which has quickly turned into a successful event company that is in tune with today’s trends.

*Image courtesy of Crystal George Studios*

All of the photographs in this post are of work that this duo has done for recent weddings Enjoy the eye candy, and I am proud to introduce you to Love Is in the Air in the words of Linda herself …

I am a wife with a son, a step-daughter, three grandchildren and one great grandchild. I grew up in Lynchburg. This is something I have always wanted to do. For many years I have hosted parties and made cakes and prepared dishes for other people. I retired from the United States Bankruptcy Court in 1999 and have been taking care of my mother, my father, my husband’s business and my son’s business since then. Now, my time has arrived.

*Images courtesy of Visions by Heather taken at City View in Downtown Lynchburg*

After having an opportunity to do a wedding and reception for my niece, I finally decided I wanted to do this in a big way. Little did I know what was about to happen!

*Images courtesy of Stone Blue Productions*

Mary and I were friends, and I had actually hired her to do a surprise birthday party for my husband. When I was preparing for Ally & Michael’s wedding, I asked her to help me. We made such a terrific team … it was like a match made in heaven! With “love” in both our names, a love of all things beautiful, and love in our hearts, “Love Is In The Air” was born.

*Images courtesy of Crystal George Studios*

We soon discovered that between the two of us, we had many talents that we could combine to make our business successful. Mary is an expert seamstress, floral decorator, and cake decorator who also has a very creative mind. I am a floral decorator, cake decorator, and calligrapher. Ideas just seem to flow when someone starts talking about a wedding or reception – or any other kind of event. It just nourishes my soul to create something beautiful.

*Image courtesy of Visions by Heather photographed at City View in Downtown Lynchburg*

When Mary and I are together, we are on the very same wave length. When our individual creativity is blended together, it becomes so much bigger than the both of us. We are constantly planning and looking at what is available – what the latest trends are – ways to set our events apart from the ordinary. We always try to add a little of the unexpected into our work – a surprise for the happy couple – something to make them go “Awwww, look at that!”

*Images courtesy of Crystal George Studios*

We have lots of our own things, such as linens, chair covers, chair sashes, vases, uplighting, branches, crystals, draping fabric, candelabra, chandeliers, catering equipment – and the list goes on – to help us create a dream.

*Image courtesy of Stone Blue Productions*

This is so much fun, and I just pinch myself sometimes to make sure that it is real and that I am not still dreaming the dream – I am living the dream!

*Image courtesy of Visions by Heather taken at Downtown Lynchburg’s City View Venue*

I am proud to have Love Is in the Air as one of the advertisers on Hill City Bride, and I have personally seen how they can transform a venue into the wedding of a bride’s dreams! Please check out their other work on their facebook page by clicking here.

Also, I am VERY thrilled about part two of this posting coming out NEXT Friday. You will be both wowed and thrilled by what you will see …  I know I was. This duo of Love Is in the Air is pretty amazing! Have a great weekend everyone.

I can not stress it enough that I just LOVE our area!!  We have so many options available to us so close by … the beach, the mountains, the lake, downtown … etc. Today’s “Hill City” bride can have her wedding in a location that perfectly suits her and her personality … how perfect!

One of my favorite summertime locations is Smith Mountain Lake. It brims with life and just screams “fun” in my opinion … boating, swimming, wakeboarding, dining on the water … did you know that there is even a miniature golf course over the water? Well, before I get too deeply invested in talking about one of my beloved VA locations, I wanted to let you know that it is a great place to get married!!

Brad Bennett of Shaking Hands Productions filmed this trailer of Lee and Megan’s wedding that took place at Smith Mountain Lake in June. Lee and Megan’s wedding took place at The Water’s Edge Country Club in Penhook, VA … what a gorgeous site! I hope that you enjoy taking a peek at their SML wedding.

A while ago I received an invitation … a beautiful invitation, in fact. It was professionally printed, came in a lined envelope and levitated itself out of the envelope once it was opened. Sound crazy? Well, once you check out Paperless Post, you will become a believer, too … especially because you get to test it out for FREE just for being a Hill City Bride reader!!

Today’s bride wants to do things a step above and creatively, too, so I am pleased to introduce you to the new wave of invitations that end up in the inbox instead of the mailbox. Before you formulate your opinion, you simply must see them! Other online companies have offered e-mailable invitations, yet these are definitely the “upscale” version of the traditional online announcement. I am excited to share them with you and how simple the process is.

Here goes …

First go to the Paperless Post website and choose your type of card that you want to send. You can send a batch of cards as announcements, invitations or save the dates, or you can send cards singly for birthdays and other occasions.

Once you have chosen your design, you will be able to customize it. I love how this looks like “save the date” was engraved on the invitation!! Some of the cards let you choose the color motif.

If the invitation has an image, you can choose the image, its placement and its color. Amazing!!

Yay! You have the option of preset wording (whew!), or you can come up with your own. You can also customize the font style, font size and even its color. Isn’t this great?!?!?! This is probably the most time consuming part … decisions, decisions.

Once you decide on the final look for your invitation, you can choose an envelope (or not … they also offer “casual” invitations without the envelope). In my opinion, half of the fun is receiving the invitation, seeing the envelope open and have the card slide out for you all on your computer screen … I would definitely not skip the envelope, but that is just me.

There is an easy system of creating a guest list, and once the e-mails go out, the responses roll in. Guests can RSVP and add comments if they would like, and the site keeps track of it all for you. So simple! You can also send reminders to your guests and update them without using additional “stamps” from your account. What are stamps? See below, and you will receive stamps just for being a HCB reader … lucky you!!

Paperless Post has their own currency in the form of “stamps” that you purchase. My most recent purchase was for 150 stamps for $10.00, which would be $66.00 if you actually mailed invitations (not to mention the cost of the paper invitations themselves). So for a small price, you have custom invitations. I do have to say that I was impressed when I received my first Paperless Post!! Custom coins on Paperless Post can be used to upgrade things like envelope liners, and businesses can even add their logos to their cards … wouldn’t that wow someone?

Again, a VERY special thank you goes out to Paperless Post for letting me feature them, AND for offering 35 free stamps to the readership of Hill City Bride. Just click here to go straight to Paperless Post. Whether you need save the dates, are hosting a bridal shower or just want to send some birthday cards, be sure to put your free stamps to good use. Oh, and I would love it if you would comment on this post letting me know how you used your free stamps.

I also want to give a shoutout to the sweet ladies at Paperless Post … thank you Aya and Jill for helping me put this together. I wish Paperless Post much success in the future, and I know it is a service that I will be using for a long time.

My friend, Michelle Duncan, is definitely a go-to girl for all things creative! As the owner of e&a WED, she shows her creativity through her designs, and she also loves all things wedding. It is no wonder as she works for the YWCA and manages Church Street Bridal and Church Street Couture. Here is a DIY project that she completed recently that she is sharing with the readers of Hill City Bride.

Supplies:

• picture frame
• enough fabric to cover front of the interior cardboard piece that comes with the frame
• ribbon to coordinate with the fabric … the larger the frame, the wider the ribbon (frame shown here is 4×6 photo size)
• thread or embroidery floss, needle, scissors, silk pins (4)
• photo of your choice – make sure there is plenty of “negative” space around the edges of the photo as you will be cutting it down
• glue gun

Instructions:

• First take the frame apart, clean the glass really well and put it aside to dry.  Iron your fabric.
• Take the inside cardboard and lay it on the “wrong side” of the fabric.  Trace lightly with a pen (do not use a marker or liquid type pen or it will bleed) and cut it out. Place a dot of glue in the center of the cardboard and line the fabric.  This will temporarily hold it in place. Put this to the side.
• Next cut enough ribbon for the top so that you can loop it around, tie a bow and have enough “give” in it to replace the glass.  Tip:  I looped the ribbon around, replaced the glass and tied the bow while the glass was in it so that the ribbon was held in place.  Just be careful that you do not cut yourself or break the glass.
• After tying a nice bow, secure it to the frame with a dot of hot glue.  Also put a dot under the ribbon that runs along the back side.  You could even add a rhinestone button, a letter, or anything you may like to the middle of the bow.  For the bottom part of the ribbon, make sure it also has a little “give to it” when looping it around.  Secure it with a little hot glue on the back of the frame. Do not do it on the front, or you will see it through the ribbon, especially if you use satin or organza.
• Replace your glass, and lay this all to the side
• Next, take your photo and cut it down so that it is 1.5 inches (or more) smaller on all four sides than the glass size.  Center in your fabric and secure it with a small silk pin in each corner (do not worry about the holes, they will be covered by your stitch marks).
• Thread your needle with embroidery floss or double regular all purpose thread, Starting at one corner “sew” your photo to the fabric covered cardboard.  If your fabric slips, put pins in the four corners while you are sewing.  You can stitch it on as shown in the photo, use an “x” stitch, whipstitch or use whatever pattern you would like when sewing it on … be sure to go through the photo, fabric and the carboard. Tip:  Do not pull your stitches too hard or they will make the fabric buckle.

Now, put your frame back together and enjoy!

Thank you, Michelle, for giving me a wonderful DIY as a posting for HCB’s readership. Oh, and for those of you who did not know … she is married to a great photographer, David Duncan. I would encourage you to give his work a peek, too.

When I received this submission, I literally could NOT pare down the images, hence the lengthy posting! I love the vintage feel of the photographs, and the peony is my all time favorite flower … they are so fragrant and soft looking, and I adore seeing them in a bride’s bouquet.

Crystal George of Crystal George Studios did a great job of capturing the sweetness and emotion of John and Sarah’s day. These are Crystal’s own words about the session, “It is full of vintage touches from the bride’s jewelry to the lace around the bouquet, both of which were the bride’s grandmother’s. Sarah and John are young people with old souls. John smokes a pipe, and Sarah love all things with a history to them. John said recently that his perfect evening was sitting on the porch with Sarah, folding laundry, drinking sweet tea and watching the sunset. One of Sarah’s favorite quotes is, ‘He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same’ by Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights, and I think that sums them up perfectly.”

Enjoy your peek into John and Sarah’s lovely day.

Peonies even made an appearance on the cake! *Sigh* In case you are wondering the where and how of the wedding, Crystal compiled a wonderful list for all of the Hill City Bride readers!

Photographer: Crystal George Studios

Dress: Caryn’s Bridal, Farmville, VA

Bridesmaids’ Dresses: David’s Bridal

Flowers: Rod Meek and Company

Venue: Sweet Briar Women’s College (the Chapel, Inn and Boathouse)

Catering: Sweet Briar

Cake: Coffey Cakes

Ladies’ Hair: The Hair Gallery

Men’s Hair: The Parlor

Today I wanted to express a little bit of my thankfulness. Hill City Bride has been up and running for two months, and the response to a small city blog started my “lil ol’ me” has so far exceeded my expectations. If you have read my bio, you know that I am a wife and mom who writes for local magazines along with loving all things wedding. The idea was churning in my head about a bridal blog for over a year before a dear photographer friend of mine said “go for it!” So, I did, and here is Hill City Bride. The photo below was taken by that dear friend of mine.

Photo by Sincerely, Liz: Photography

As I reflect back over the past two months, I am so thankful. From readers and vendors to making connections with bloggers and event planners, I have so many people to thank (and above all thanking God!!). This has been so much fun for me, and I am glad that you are all a part of a dream of mine. My goal is to provide brides with great information for planning their wedding along with presenting them with the vendors that can help them make their dream wedding a reality!

Speaking of vendors, I want you to check out the great ones we have on the right … photographers, caterers, venues … the list goes on and on, and these are the people that can take your thoughts and translate them into reality for your wedding. If you are getting married, I also wanted to encourage you to mark your calendars for two big bridal events that are coming up soon, so check out the local events below.

We have the Lynchburg Bridal Expo coming up from 12-5 on October 24th, and if you go (which I think you should!!) be sure to stop by our booth and say “hello”. I would love to meet you!!

Also in the fall is the Lynchburg Bridal Showcase from 12-4 on November 14th at the Kirkley Hotel in Lynchburg. I will have more information about this as the time gets closer, but be sure to put it on your calendar.

Both of these events are top notch, and they serve to connection the bride with quality vendors all in one location. Personally, I enjoy the cake and catering samples, but that’s just me!! One of my favorite booths to visit is Liberty Catering … they always have yummy flavored water (complete with floating orchids) along with perfectly cooked chicken and delectable desserts. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend as the summer is drawing nearer to a close. See you Monday!!

What do you get when you combine paint, canvas and an adorable couple? Well, you definitely get something unique and creative! This engagement shoot from S Carter Studios looks like it was SO incredibly fun, and Gavin and Kelsey seem to be the perfect couple to carry it out. Sabrena Deal gave Gavin and Kelsey the tools to paint with, and as you will see … not all of the paint ended up on the canvas! Sabrena captured some priceless facial expressions, and I hope that you enjoy this fun session.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

See how cute that was? To view more of their photo session (along with some non-paint photos), be sure to visit the blog of S Carter Studios. Sabrena even put together a cute slide show of their painting session, which is so much fun! Gavin and Kelsey, I wish you the best in your life together.

Once again, I am pleased to present to you “The Exclusive”, our question and answer column for your planning needs, which is written by the mother/daughter duo of Rachel McLean and Sandra Guelzo of RS Exclusive. If you missed their introductory post, feel free to view it here. Without further due, I will let you hear from Rachel McLean herself …

What Is a Wedding Planner, and Why Do I Need One?

Congratulations, you’re engaged! With the excitement of a wedding ahead, you (and your family) may find yourselves suddenly asking the question: now what? Whether you decide to have a short or long engagement, selecting a wedding planner should come first on your list of “to-do’s” when planning for your big “I do.”

By simplest definition, a wedding planner is an individual employed by a bride and groom to assist them in planning, designing and coordinating their wedding day. While accurate, this definition doesn’t even come close to showcasing all that a wedding planner is capable of when it comes to your special day.

Not only can a wedding planner help you organize yourself — beginning with helping you to set an appropriate wedding budget — but by trade, they are skilled in vendor negotiation and often have strong relationships with the best individuals and businesses in the wedding industry and can save you money by getting you what you want at the very best prices. A great wedding planner can provide help with everything from the selection of a venue, choosing a theme and décor, selecting flowers, hiring a band and photographer, finding a caterer and selecting a menu, directing the bridal party down the aisle and throughout the reception, and so much more.

Along with acute knowledge in wedding customs and traditions, an experienced wedding planner understands concepts of design, and will work with color, music, and flowers to bring out your theme and create a truly spectacular and unique event that will be remembered for years to come by your guests and family.

Because most wedding planners and full service event companies allow brides to pick and choose which services they wish to use, even the most budget-conscious bride can afford the expertise of a wedding planner.

Too often the biggest regret expressed by brides and their families following a wedding is that they wish they had made the decision to hire a wedding planner, rather than going it alone and dividing responsibilities among their families and close friends. What can seem like a good financial decision in the beginning can often end up costing more in the end, not too mention needless anxiety and stress on yourself and the ones you love.

The months and days leading up to your wedding are precious, and should be enjoyed to the fullest. Teaming up with a wedding planner you can trust will allow you to focus on what matters most: the beginning of an important and exciting new chapter in your life with the one you love, as two become one.

Through this column, brides will have their questions answered so that some of the mystery can be taken out of the wedding planning process. If you have a question, please feel free to comment on this post, or email us at info@hillcitybride.com. RS Exclusive is just waiting to hear from you!

Small veils and headpieces are all the rage nowadays, and brides can have a little fun creating their own birdcage veil … it is not as hard as you may think! The following photos show a basic veil, and I will bet with a little personalization, you can create a birdcage style veil that will reflect your own personality and flair.

Just a few simple supplies are needed. Here, the bride chose a patterned tulle, satin fabric (you could also use ribbon of your choosing), a silk flower pulled off of the stem and a needle and thread to match the color of the tulle. In order to secure the veil to your head, you may want to add some hair pins or a small comb to your list of supplies. You will also need plain tulle, which is not pictured above.

By cutting a leaflike shape out of the tulle and adding a piece of the satin (again, I would probably use ribbon), the bride sewed the pieces together to give the accent piece the look she wanted.

The flower was then sewn on to the accent piece, which covers up the original sewing needed to attach the ribbon to the accent piece. She also cut the tulle and shaped it to give the veil the sense of structure that she desired, and then the end was sewn together to hold the shape of the cage.

By lastly sewing the flower accent piece onto the veil (and doing a good job of covering up the sewn end of the tulle), you will have your completed veil! In order to ensure that the headpiece stays in place, you may want to add a hairpin or small comb onto the inside of the veil so that you can feel confident that it will stay put.

Simple, but elegant! Here is the completed piece on the bride for her special day. I hope that this simple project helps to get some DIY headpiece ideas of your own for your wedding. Also, if you are looking for some custom pieces for your wedding, head on over to e&a WED … our newest advertiser for the beautiful items that she can make for your wedding day.

Many thanks goes out to Emily Kim Bart for the use of her idea and photographs. You can catch more of Emily’s photos on Flickr.

I am loving that all things vintage are back … especially for weddings! When I spotted Bethany’s bridal session by Kristin Salvia on the blog of Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography, I simply had to make this session a part of the blog (plus I know the bride!). The softness of the session combined with Bethany’s beauty make these photographs truly unique and memorable. Enjoy the images … looking at them makes me dream of relaxing picnics and romantic boat rides.

Kristin Salvia was the talented photographer who captured these images on behalf of Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography. Thank you, Kristin, for sharing this dreamy session with us, and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.