Malindy Elene Bridal Shoot with AKA Photography at Courtyard Marriott Bradenton

  Let me begin by saying that the Courtyard Marriott in Bradenton is not your standard Courtyard Marriott. Located right on the Manatee River, the hotel boasts gorgeous Spanish influenced architecture and several amazing fountains. I went for a meeting with Robyn, their Director of Sales, and Tarra, Catering Sales Manager, to get a run of the place and set up a hotel block for a future wedding and was so pleasantly surprised by what they have to offer. The ladies at the Marriott were wanting a bridal photo for their lobby's small wedding area to give people an idea of the ambiance that can easily be achieved for a wedding at their beautiful location.  I was all too happy to accommodate their wish and quickly enlisted the help of Kristen with AKA Photographs.
   We are incredibly lucky to know Megan, owner of Malindy Elene Couture for the Bride and she was gracious enough to don our model, Stephanie, with a couple of absolutely stunning gowns from her shop, and even went as far as to bring tons of accessories to glamorize accordingly!

   Can't wait to get the print framed and in place for the Marriott! We'll make sure you get a glimpse of the finished product in the not so distant future!

Ensemble 1 - 

   Gown - Jessie by Augusta Jones

   Belt - Anne Barge

   Hair Piece - Haute Bride

   Accessories - Paris

Ensemble 2 - 

   Gown - Chatham by Anne Barge

   Accessories - Paris

P.S. - We weren't the only ones crazy about these knockout shots - AKA's sneak peak blog post of the shoot got a boost via a reblog from Vows & Knots! Thanks V&K!

We're Published! Yay!

Today our Alice in Wonderland styled shoot with AKA Photographs and MisRed Outfitters was published by the amazing blog Fab You Bliss! Check out the post and let us know what you think! We couldn't be happier! Check back soon for more pics from this fun shoot!

Amy's Graduation Celebration

I was lucky enough to be up in Connecticut and able to help with my beautiful new sister's college graduation party! We're all extremely proud of Amy and couldn't wait to celebrate this milestone with her. Seeing as she got an amazing job offer the day before the party was thrown, the future's looking pretty bright for her and she had the decor to match! Neon kept the backyard sunny, despite the cloud cover and we had some fantastic food and tons of family and friends around to help us revel in Amy's successes!

 Congratulatory banner

 Tissue paper poms everywhere! 

(They unfortunately didn't survive the showers later in the day. 40% chance of rain my eye!)

 Colorful bunting to liven up the tent!

Hand decorated mason jars and fun bright flowers gave lots of color! 

 Piroulines + shoestring candy = diplomas!

 Custom colorful cupcake stands! 

 Amy decorated the cupcakes with homemade edible glitter - so fun and tasty! 

Our cousin, Abby, got married the night before and Amy wanted to be sure to include them in the congratulatory festivities! So happy for them!!! 

(The rainstorm trounced the banner and later ended up reading "O RATS Abby & Jeff, but we won't take that as any sort of omen! You can't make this stuff up!)

Couldn't have had more fun planning this great celebration with Miss Amy and love her sweet review - 

Cocktails & Couture with Malindy Elene

Beginning in July, Flawless Fetes will be teaming up with Malindy Elene to offer a truly special gown shopping experience.  Bring your friends and family, mingle over a Sunday Brunch or After Hours Cocktail Party and then enjoy the privacy of Malindy Elene being closed to the public while you search for the perfect wedding gown! Please contact Kristen at Flawless Fetes or Megan at Malindy Elene for more information!

Mrs. C's Baby Boy Shower

   Sunday we were lucky enough to plan a former coworkers shower. Lauren was just so excited, she wanted as much little boy decor as possible, from rubber duckies to Tonka trucks to "Cars" lunch bags for his future bag lunches! Her enthusiasm was contagious so we ran with it! Blues and greens were the color staples with fun accents all over the place. The mommy to be had the cute idea to have guests pack a lunch so we served some yummy PB&J's and Fluffernutter sandwiches with traditional lunch snacks. Of course we had to have desserts! There were cupcakes, cake pops, candies and a watermelon fruit buggy! And the pregnant mama definitely wanted to have a "Pick a Pickle" tray with sweet gherkins and dills to choose from!  With it being a June day in Florida we definitely wanted to keep the ladies hydrated, so they had a beverage selection including cucumber water, lemonade, sangria and ducky punch (alcohol free for the mommies to be)! Lauren's aunt was gracious enough to lend her amazing home and all of the ladies had a fun afternoon celebrating Lauren and her almost little one! You could definitely feel the love!

It was so much fun planning this shower with such a wonderful mama-to-be and her lovely review is greatly appreciated - 

Nate's Buon Viaggio!

It was wonderful planning Nate's send off party since he's a great friend of mine.  Nate's off to Florence to study abroad so he decided to include us all in the Italian experience by incorporating it into the theme of his good-bye festa! We went with decor indicative of an Italian trattoria and made sure to have lots of yummy traditional treats like tiramisu and cannoli! Obviously vino was a must and there was a lot of Sinatra playing! While it was sad to see him go, I think its safe to say he had a memorable last night in the states!

Planning this get together was SO much fun and we just love Nate's lovely review -