Melissa and Kyle’s Wedding at the Arizona Grand Resort

Melissa and Kyle were married at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, Arizona. Their beautiful pictures were taken by Colling Photography. Their Wedding coordinator was Paige Helsinger from the AZ Grand Resort. Melissa’s bridesmaids wore the Evelyn dress by designer Jenny Yoo. Everyone looked beautiful. We wish Melissa and Kyle a lifetime of happiness. Thank you for letting Twirl be a part of your special day.

Tips for Trimming Your Destination Wedding Guest List

Months before your wedding you have to create your guest list. You begin your list with the obvious family members, then add your close friends. You then move on to your neighbors and you can’t forget your parent’s friends who have watched you grow up. Then you have your co-workers and the family members of your best friends (I mean in some cases they are practically family)! Then you take that list and double it (because the groom no doubt has a similar list) and when you finally step back and look at the GIANT list you have both created, you need a moment to catch your breathe. That is a lot of people you are going to have to pay for to eat, drink and dance the night away at your big event. But how do you know who to leave out? Where do you start making cuts? Feelings are at stake here.

Ever since I can remember, I have always envisioned my wedding HUGE! I’m talking everyone I know and then some. But over the past years I have had the pleasure of experiencing  these “HUGE weddings first hand. As much fun as I have being a guest, I sit back and watch the bride and groom move from table to table thanking people for coming, repeating the line, “It’s so good to see you” and never actually seeming to snag enough time to enjoy their food, or drinks or even the dance floor. There are hugs to be given and hand shakes to be exchanged – and with a wedding this size, it could take hours.

All this has caused me to re-evaluate my “HUGE” wedding dreams. I have begun to wonder how people can get away with this though. Having a smaller wedding and truly only inviting those closest to you. Then it hit me – DESTINATION WEDDING!

I can’t even count the number of brides in the past month that have said they were having a destination wedding! These ladies are brilliant! They are clearly a few steps ahead of me. You can still invite the large number of guests you would if you were staying in town , but realize that not everyone will be able to make it (work, kids, life… whatever). Those that are closest to you (whether they are friends or family) will figure out a way to be there. Another way to keep the idea of a smaller wedding within reach would be to consider a smaller bridal party. It is easier to coordinate with the travels – and you can, in some cases, help your bridal party pay for a portion of their “trip” (something that might not be possible if you had 8+ girls). It could become your wedding party gift (which would be so helpful). For the other girls, if they are your close friends/family, they will no doubt still attend.  A perfect example of this was Keri’s wedding (one of Twirl’s owners). She decided to do a destination wedding – and opted to not have all 16 of her closest friends in her bridal party. All of her closest friends were of course still in attendance, but she chose to only have her future sister-in-law and best friend stand up for her. It was Perfect!

So aside from creating a smaller wedding, it becomes a mini vacation with everyone. The groups can split up the couple days before the wedding. Girls can do their girl stuff and the guys can do their guy stuff! Then everyone can come together for the wedding and have a wonderful time. The bride and groom can enjoy their wedding as much as their guests…with all their guests.

Regardless of where you have your wedding or how many people attend, this is your day! I hope it’s one to remember!

xoxo

Grand Opening of Twirl in Lexington, KY!

Twirl Lexington is located on historic Clay Avenue near downtown Lexington among upscale boutiques and gift shops.  The boutique will feature After Six, Alfred Sung, Amsale, Dessy Collection, Lela Rose, Lynn Lugo, Jenny Yoo and Thread. We are excited to open our doors for our Grand Opening on November 27, 2009!  The fun starts @ 10am. All are welcome!

We are also thrilled to announce the engagement of Twirl Lexington’s owner, Ty Slone, to her fabulous fiance Brandon. Not only is it so exciting for Ty to be opening the first Twirl in Kentucky, but she will also be planning her wedding right along side her future Twirl brides. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

Congratulations Ty and Brandon! We are so excited for you two! xoxo

Flower Girls and Ring Bearers

I was just looking at photos the other day from my wedding, and every time I see the shots of my niece, Lauren, I can’t help but crack up at the memory of her performance down the aisle.  She was three years old and we told her to make sure she threw the petals from her basket and walked toward her mom (who was one of my bridesmaids).  What we adults forget sometimes is that children are literal little beings.  She threw the petals alright, with the force of a major league pitcher – she put so much effort into it that she kept letting out little grunts all along the way.  Needless to say, our guests were cracking up.  Hey, whatever works, right?  The bottom line is that she made it down the aisle and did exactly what we asked her to do – she just did it with gusto. 

I love the idea of having kids in weddings.  They represent an innocence that just makes the whole day a little sweeter.  But kids are tricky, and require us to get a little creative now and then.  I also think a wedding is an event where we can bend the rules a little regarding bribery.   Our nephew was five at the time of our wedding and refused to be the ring bearer.  He said he’d do it if he could be a groomsman.  I still don’t know how he came up with that – he’s slick.  I told him he could be the special groomsman who got to carry the ring, but he saw right through me.  In the end, he gave in for $10 (though he tried to get me for $100). 

If the kids in the wedding are very young, it’s always good to have them walk together.  If you have a junior bridesmaid, she can follow up behind them and scoot them along if anyone decides to take a break on their way to the front (I’ve seen this happen – pretty funny stuff when the flower girl sits down on the aisle to play with her petals).  Once the little ones are ‘on stage’, make sure a bridesmaid and groomsman are assigned to take care of them.  My brother and sister-in-law just held the kids’ hands and they managed pretty well, though of course they were disinterested after about five minutes.   If the parents are seated as guests, it’s definitely more likely that your flower girl or ring bearer may want to go sit with them.  If this happens, my advice is to let them.  That’s much less of a distraction that hearing them sqeal, “Momeeeee!”

   

Know up front what you want your ceremony and photos to look like because kids bring an whole new element into the mix.  If you think kids are cute from afar, but think they can be annoying – don’t have them in your wedding.  There is nothing wrong with that.  In the end, kids will be kids.  They are adorable, funny, and unpredictable.  The unpredictablility is what is fun about having them in weddings, so heed this advice – if you plan to have flower girls and ring bearers, you have to embrace not having a flawless ceremony with no distractions.   It just may give you a great story to tell. 

-Keri

(All Photos by April Greer Photography)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany and Tyler’s wedding in Kirkland, Washington

Tiffany and Tyler were married at the Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland, Washington. Their fabulous pictures were taken by One Thousand Words Photography. Tiffany’s beautiful bridesmaids wore dresses by Melissa Sweet. The wedding planner behind this stunning wedding was Katy Griffith with VOWS.

 

 

 

Scottsdale Fashion Week Photos

We had a blast at our Scottsdale Fashion Week runway show last Friday – the energy in the audience was amazing and our models rocked the runway.  We’re waiting for the DVD to share the whole show, but below is a quick preview with photos by Yeung Photography. 

We’d also like to thank some amazing industry friends for making our show a success, and for donating their talent.  The Agency Arizona provided our beautiful models, Pucci Salon made the models look runway ready with hair and make-up.  Liz Love jewelry adorned the girls, and Table Tops Floral Design provided the fresh and brilliant bouquets.

Bridesmaids Wearing Different Styles

When my sister planned her wedding the trend to let your bridesmaids choose their own style of dress was just starting.  She was a bride who wanted to make all of her girl’s happy and make the process as easy as possible.  So our instructions were to find a dress we wanted in any shade of purple.  Easy enough, we all thought.  What ended up happening however, was the opposite.  All of us bridesmaids had to coordinate with one another to make sure we didn’t wear the same style, or if we wore the same style, not the same color and so on.  Honestly it was a bit confusing and difficult to manage which was exactly what my sister did not want.  The end result however, looked beautiful, and this trend is here to stay. If you want your girl’s to shine in a style they love, below are some different ideas and tips to get exactly the look you are hoping for.

1.   Choose one dress shop for all the girl’s to go to.  Let the bridal party consultants do all the work.  At Twirl we help create your vision and make sure the girl’s don’t have to keep track of anything. 

 2.   Narrow it down to one designer, one fabric, one length, and one color.  This keeps the process as simple as possible and creates a look of different styles while at the same time upholds the consistency of all the other variables.

 

 3.   Shop before your girls and choose styles ahead of time.  There are several ways to go about it from here:         

• Pick a style of dress and assign one to each girl. If you are someone who is great at knowing what looks great on each of your girl’s this will be easy for you.  My sister can always pick out what I like when we go shopping together – sometimes better than me!

• Pick several (usually 3 is enough) different styles and let your girl’s choose.  You might end up with more girls in one style than the others and will need to be ok with that look.

• Pick several different styles and ask your girl’s to rate their top three.  You can then assign each girl to be in a different style – no two girls alike.  Some may not get their top choice but you have picked out cute styles that everyone loves so it shouldn’t be a big deal .

4.  Choose a shade of color and let your girls have free reign.  Let them know it doesn’t matter if they are in the same style, not the same style, fabric or lengths.  They can do whatever they want. 

  -Jenni

Sarah and Reggie’s Wedding in Maui, Hawaii

How fabulous are Hawaii weddings! Sarah and Reggie exchanged their vows @ at a private estate near Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii. Their photographer was Ruby Rideout with Dazzling Images. Their wedding planners were a husband and wife couple, Rick and Vickie Jackson, with Dolphin Dream Weddings who are based out of Hawaii. Congratulations Sarah and Reggie!! We wish you a lifetime of happy memories. Thank you for sharing your day with Twirl! 

Twirl and Scottsdale Fashion Week Tomorrow!

Come see Twirl tomorrow, November 6, at 7:45pm, as we showcase new Spring 2010 bridesmaid styles fresh off the New York runways!  This is the only preview of the new collections before store samples arrive between January-March.   Buy your tickets for our Southbridge show at the Scottsdale Fashion Week website .   We attended several shows last year, and the event is a blast!   It’s a great excuse for a girls’ night out in Scottsdale for some wine, food, and fashion.  Hope to see many of you there!

Bachelorette Parties

So – what is your idea of how a bachelorette party should go? I feel like there are two roads you can take.

1) Vegas Style! This is a weekend that will no doubt be hard to forget (assuming you can actually remember it). Fabulous dresses packed- 20’s cashed in for1’s – cell phones turned to silent – cameras charged and ready – human decorations to match each outfit and of course tickets purchased for those “special” shows. The nights start LATE and the mornings are hardly actually seen. You wake up hung-over, crawl down to the amazing buffet and stare at whoever is sitting across from you with a look of  “please kill me know”! Once you regain consciousness – the camera creeps out and the re-hashing beings. The whole day is spent trying to remember what actually happened and who it happened with (or to). Your stomach hurts from laughing so hard and you are literally crying the pictures are so funny! When the weekend finally comes to an end, you are all in need of a vacation from your vacation!

2) Girls Weekend! I’m thinking cabin, beach house or resort somewhere out of town with all your bridesmaids and close girl family members. You spend the weekend cooking, gabbing, drinking wine, shopping, lunching, drinking wine, watching romantic movies, laying by the pool, taking advantage of the spa, drinking wine and of course Girl Talk! This weekend is spent with those closest to you telling “remember when” stories while laughing so hard you are forced to cry. Old picture books are pulled out and no doubt the happy tears being. The girls that are married tell you all about the good times you have to look forward to and the girls that are single gush @ how happy they are for you (while secretly wishing they were in your shoes). It’s a calm weekend full of memories and reminiscing .

Either way you decide to spend your last “single” weekend – make sure you are surrounded by the people you love the most. That is where the best memories come from!

Congratulations Twirl Brides! We are so excited for you and your new adventure! We hope your Bachelorette party is a weekend you will never forget!

xoxo