Happy 1 Week Birthday to Hill City Bride! We have had a wonderful response, which has been beyond our expectations. We had 338 “unique visitors” to the site … how exciting for just the first week!!

Our first seven days have been great, and we are going to tell you a couple of things in store for our second week. Our debut DIY post will feature a creative woodland wedding, and we will be introducing a new monthly column (so exciting!!). Also, get ready to be wowed by a wonderful, new photographer with her featured wedding in Everyday Brides, which has an Indian/Italian influence.

We are leaving you with a small preview showing a peek of the wedding that is coming up. Oh, and just as an FYI … we found out that our submissions tab had some kinks, but it is now working … if you subscribed before, please resubscribe. Have a wonderful weekend!

Once we saw this wedding, we knew that it needed to be featured due to its amazing details. Heather spent a lot of time searching Etsy for the perfect finds for her day, and we think it paid off! Again, in a style that Kellan Studios offers perfectly, this wedding features chic city shots along with the fun and whimsical setting of a carousel, all in Baltimore, MD. We hope you enjoy sharing in Tim and Heather’s wedding and that you will savor the feast in the detailing.

Again, what a great idea bar … bouquet, shoes, handbag, hairpiece, tablescape … we could go on and on! Thank you Kellan Studios for sharing this with us, and we wish Tim and Heather the best of lifetimes together! To view more of Tim and Heather and to read their story, please check out the blog of Kellan Studios.

We still can’t tell you how excited we are that Hill City Bride is up and running! That being said, we wanted to let you know about a few things, so here is a mini (yet fun!) tutorial. Feel free to explore our site as much as you would like.

First of all, we want you to notice our sections just above. They are …

BLOG – Click on this to go to our most recent blog post.

RESOURCES – DEBUTING JULY 1 – This will take you to our fine vendors who can help you pull off your wedding day with finesse! Whether you are searching for a venue, cakes or a dress, this ever growing resource section is a great place to start. You will be able to click on the vendors in the resource section to go directly to their websites … how convenient and cool is that?

INSPIRATION – Take a peek here to find out new trends, fashions or just fun little tidbits that will make your day extra special and uniquely “you”.

DIY – An ever growing trend is to “do it yourself”, which is exactly where posts will be that will point you in the right direction for fun, easy projects for your wedding day.

EVERYDAY BRIDES – Looking at photos of engagements and weddings (and all sorts of other wedding related sessions) always brings lots of ideas to mind. In this section, we focus on real, local brides whose photos are taken by the talented photographers in our area.

Oh, and we do have to say, that if you noticed that our 5 categories spell “B-R-I-D-E”, you can give yourself a gold star.

Secondly, we would LOVE for you to follow us … be it by signing up via email, fanning (we know, now it’s “liking”, but we refuse to change) us on facebook, following our tweets on twitter or subscribing to our RSS feed, these are all great ways to be in the know about our new blog posts. Check out the tabs right next to our sections in the above right section.

Thirdly, if you want to know more about us, check out the very top left of the site. Click on “About” to find out more about Hill City Bride, on “Contact” to send us an email if you have an idea or comment, on “Advertise” if you are a vendor who wants to be promoted through our site or on “Submissions” if you are a photographer or cinematographer who wants to submit photos or videos to be featured on Hill City Bride.

Fourthly, you will see our search box, and what a handy little thing it is (see it under the icons for facebook and twitter?). There you can also subscribe by putting in your email, or best of all, you can search for exactly what you are looking for on Hill City Bride.

Last, but not least of all for sure, we want you to look at the right hand side of the site. We are here to give you great ideas, yet one of our goals is to connect you with the wonderful vendors in our area. So, take a good look at them, give them a “click” (which will take you straight to their own website!) and tell them that you found them on Hill City Bride.

Ok, the lesson is over. Now feel free to enjoy our site to its fullest. We are looking forward to the future of Hill City Bride with more and more posts to come full of ideas for you to help in planning one of the best days of your life!

We have posts for our Everyday Brides (6/23), Inspiration (6/25) and DIY (6/27) sections coming this week, so stay tuned!!

Welcome to Hill City Bride!!

For those of you who know me, you know that a lot of labor and love has gone into the launching of Hill City Bride, and I am so glad that it is finally here and LIVE!! Hill City Bride is a resource for brides in Lynchburg and the surrounding areas that will be full of ideas, tips and trends to help make that special day unique. We also feature vendors that can make a wedding everything that a bride has dreamed of ever since she was a young girl.

I wanted to tell you a little bit about myself as an opener for the blog as many of you may be wondering … who IS this girl? I am a bride … a bride of 15 years, in fact, and I consider my stage a place to be one of “middledom” … I have been married for 15 years, and I figure it may be about that same amount of time until I am a mother of the bride (but I can wait MUCH longer for that oldest daughter of mine to get married!!). Yes, I am a mother … a mom of 3 wonderful children, and I am truly blessed.

I enjoy writing (I currently write for Central Virginia Home, Roanoke Valley Home and Lynchburg Living), and I sensed a need in the area of a local online resource that would offer a bride wonderful ideas to make her day exceptional while showcasing the people and companies that could help her pull her day off with finesse. The idea for a blog was rolling around in my head, and through the encouragement of two wonderful friends who are in the bridal community Hill City Bride went from a concept to a reality.

So, here is the beginning of a journey … one that you will hopefully take with me. I am really looking forward to sharing ideas, tips and trends with you to make your wedding as special and unique as you are! I do have to give a HUGE shoutout to my sweet and dear friend, Liz Cook, of Sincerely, Liz: Photography for these wonderful images that she captured of me at Old City Cemetery.

As a sidenote, I wanted to explain that this day is very special in its debut, and it was a day that was specifically chosen to honor my parents. Forty-five years ago my Mom (at 18) and Dad (at 20) were married. They are a wonderful example of longevity in marriage! They also have taught me that you can have fun and love each other wholeheartedly in marriage, yet they also were very real. I learned that not everything has to be perfect for a couple to love each other to pieces. Thank you Mom and Dad for loving me and for being a great model of marriage. Happy 45th!