The Hill City Bride advertisers are SUCH a fun group, and I want you to know more about them (ok, this was also my sneaky way of finding out more about them myself, too!). They are a great group of people, and I really feel like we have a Hill City Bride family … I love it!

The concept behind “10 in 10″ is to answer all 10 questions within 10 minutes using 10 words or less. Enjoy getting to know a little bit more about Gwen Nelson of Mitchell’s Salon on 7th in Altavista.

Here is Gwen’s bio in her own words: I am a master stylist with more than 20 years of bridal experience, and I love nothing more than bringing my magic trunk of styling tools to your location on your wedding day to create the fabulous look you envision. I am the owner of Mitchell’s Salon on 7th in Altavista, a classic hair-centric salon catering to those who expect excellence.

What is the one thing you miss about being a kid? Searching for new kittens in my Grandaddy’s hay barn.

Do you have any phobias? Extreme heights. You know, like over four feet.

If you had to change your name, what would you change it to? Bernice! (An alias of mine, actually . . .)

Cats or dogs? Yes! Currently in love with puppies.

Name one thing on your “bucket list”. Woodstock. Oh wait, I missed it!

If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do? I’d be with the elephants.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby

How many pairs of shoes do you own? Two wardrobes full and still not enough.

Facebook or Twitter? Yes, you must choose. Facebook

What would be the title of your autobiography? The Average Drinking Woman’s Virtual Garden Club or The Cape of Truth.

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It is great to have Gwen on board with Hill City Bride, and again, be sure to visit her in Altavista at Mitchell’s Salon on 7th.

One thing I love doing is focusing on a project … not just any project, but ones that highlight and showcase the talents and strengths of the vendors of Hill City Bride. As a bonus, the HCB family is so much fun and SO full of talent, that any endeavors are way more fun than I ever thought possible. Such is the case with our editorial photo shoot.

When the idea first hit me to do a stylized “mock” scaled down wedding, I really did not know what I was getting myself (or the vendors) into, but I appreciate everyone jumping on board and catching the vision. Honestly, everyone was given direction and vision, yet each vendor was also allowed to express their own creative freedom throughout the project. The results, in my opinion, far exceed anything that my mind conjured up.

I hope that you enjoy this glimpse into the behind the scenes of our photo shoot, which was recently featured inside the pages of Lynchburg Living’s annual Hitched issue. To the vendors, I thank each and every one of you … thank you SO much for jumping on board with this project and trusting me with your time and talents.

As a sidebar, I would like to note that our shoot took place in an abandoned building on Church Street in downtown Lynchburg, VA without electricity and with broken out windows. After trying to seal windows and borrowing generators and heaters, we tried to warm the place up, but as you will see if you notice the windows in the video, we had one of the worst weather days … from mist and hail to freezing rain and snow, we had the full range of bad weather, but nothing would stop us from capturing the regal feel of this shoot.

Crediting is underneath the video, and enjoy this first of many looks into the Royal Romance of Napoleon and Josephine.

Hill City Bride shoot from Shaking Hands Productions on Vimeo.

Project Management Team/HCB Vendors

Jennifer Prince – Hill City Bride, Project Coordinator/Art Director

Jeremiah Guelzo – Stone Blue Productions, Photographer/Art Director

Crystal George – Crystal George Studios, Artistic Consultant

Michelle Duncan – Church Street Bridal/elle&anne, Style Consultant

Liz Cook – Sincerely, Liz: Photography, Creative Consultant

Hill City Bride Vendors

Bowen Jewelry Company – jewelry

Celebration – tuxedo

Church Street Bridal – gown, headpieces

Michelle Duncan, elle&anne– headpieces

Interiors by Moyanne – drapes, furnishings, rugs

Jennifer England, La Bella Torta – cake artist

Linda Hall and Mary Love, Love Is in the Air – food, calligraphy

Elisha Dudley, Petal Flower Company – bouquet, boutonniere

Sandra Guelzo, RS Exclusive – table design, decor

Sabrena Deal, S Carter Studios – favors

Brad Bennett, Shaking Hands Productions – cinematography

SPA 4109 – Eyelash Extensions (Joellen Perkins), Hair (Kate Pitera), Makeup (Patty Mattingley), Nails (Jeanine Maxwell)

Models

Gordana Ban – Josephine

Jordan Sorber – Napoleon

Please click here for a full schedule of postings on our editorial photo shoot.

One thing about being a photographer is trying to decide how to market and present yourself to brides, and as a bride you need to figure out how to find those vendors that can make your wedding dreams come true. Well, this past weekend, Hill City Bride hosted Bliss, a fine wedding fair, and I love Liz’s take on it. Read on to find out more …

Bliss was a huge success! This was my first time taking part in an official bridal event and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. The intimate environment was perfect for my business brand, giving me ample opportunity to speak with brides throughout the entire day and plant seeds for friendships in the future. It was such a pleasure meeting so many excited and glowing ladies!

Sabrena Deal and I presented a session together during the first session time slot. The title of our session was  A Warm Welcome: how to make your guests feel at ease and comfortable throughout your wedding day. We had so much fun sharing ideas with the ladies about ways you can prepare your guests, help them navigate through your day with ease, and activities and foods to offer to make the day more enjoyable for everyone involved. We had such a good time with the session that we plan to offer a similar one again at the next Bliss event.

Here are a few pictures of my booth at Bliss. Since the day was more about educating (and treating!) the brides, the vendor booths were smaller than they are at bigger bridal expos. I loved my booth and had fun passing out cards and sharing goodies with each bride that came to visit me!

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The balloons in the picture represented that I was a speaker (blue) and a sponsor (green) of Bliss. I thought it was fun that they matched my booth perfectly.

Jonathan from the cupcake guy made the delicious Chocolate Chunk Sliders you see in the last photo. He tinted the vanilla cream to match my brand colors! He was SUCH a pleasure to work with and the cookies were delicious.

So, yes, Bliss was a huge success and I am so excited about the next one, but in the meantime definitely keep checking Hill City Bride for lots of wedding inspiration, DIY projects, and advice from wedding industry professionals.

Special thanks goes out to Liz for creating our Bliss, a fine wedding fair, along with our posters, cards and programs. I will be sharing more details, photos and a video about Bliss soon, but I really enjoyed hearing one of our vendor’s takes on the day!

Once again, I am glad to have Amanda Carver of Amanda Carver Designs guest posting today. I love how she finds something she loves, refuses to pay an astronomical price and then goes out and finds how to make it on a budget. Oh, and I also love how she shares it with us, too. Thanks again, Amanda!

Here are the steps:

1. Started with a pair of these beauties … $5 a piece from a local thrift store. The key is a chunky frame.

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2. I then removed the back off the frame, and then sprayed both of the frames with three coats of high gloss white spray paint (Valspar). The result was this …

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3. Then I used a cork shelf liner I found at Big Lots, (happens to be Martha Stewart). I did not do much cork research, so there may be some better options, but this is what I used … it worked!

4. I cut it to fit the inside of the frame and hot glued it in place!

This was SO fun. I wouldn’t call it quick (three coats with the proper drying time took a while) but worth the wait. Total cost..$15. Not bad!

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This would be adorable at a wedding! Some possible ways to use a corkboard at your wedding…

1. Display your dinner menu on the buffet table

2. To give instructions at the gift table

3. For a “Wedding this Way” sign

4. Could be used for a Save the Date card

And the options could go on and on. What a great way to personalize your big day!

Thank you again, Amanda! For more wonderful ideas for your home or wedding, just click here to view Amanda’s blog.