Planning Tips & Advice Archive

After last month’s post on how to book your perfect, relaxing getaway to somewhere romantic for a dream honeymoon with your new hubby, there is one detail you can’t forget: the perfect outfit for your special vacation. Many times buying lingerie can be a daunting or difficult task, but not to worry! Emily Tulloh of Beloved Intimates has you covered:

My main piece of advice is not to forget. Planning a wedding is time consuming and I know how easy it is to let some of the personal details fall to the wayside. Set aside the time for yourself and enjoy the experience of shopping for a few key pieces of lingerie for the wedding and honeymoon. Both are one time events – you can’t go back in time, so make the most of every detail and personal touch. As a bride, you should feel confident, beautiful, and special, and your lingerie is a big part of this! Brides should start building up their intimates wardrobe as they enter into this new stage of life – from specialty lingerie pieces to the quality, everyday basics and we can help every step of the way!

The Green Hills store is elegant and modern with sales professionals that are equipped to help you find the perfect fit – whether you are looking for stylish and sexy undergarments for the honeymoon or comfortable and flattering essentials to wear under your bridal gown. Emily explains how Beloved truly does have something for everyone:

A stop at Beloved absolutely must go on every bride’s “to do” list. We carry over 40 lingerie brands, and nearly all of them are unique to the region and cannot be found in any other stores. In addition, we offer some essentials for the bride – from practical bras and shapewear for under her wedding dress, to truly unique wedding night and honeymoon lingerie. We will soon be featuring a custom line of garters that will be designed for and carried exclusively at Beloved. Oh, and we carry a line of washes, lotions, and sprays by The Laundress to help the bride properly care for her growing lingerie wardrobe.  My background is in lingerie design and these are the brands that I love – so I can speak to the product, advise you on what brands and pieces fit your budget and style, and provide a fitting experience that guarantees that you will be in the right size!

Her advice on picking the perfect lingerie??

The key is to focus on your own individual assets – choose lingerie that is going to accentuate what you like best about yourself. If you have a curvy, hourglass figure, play it up with a sexy corset or a longtime bra that is going to flatter your small waist and make your curves look amazing. If you are less pleased with your midsection, but love your legs, go for a teddy, structured bustier, or sexy chemise with garters and stockings. These styles will cover your midsection and put the spotlight on your amazing legs. If you have a more slender or athletic body, I think it is nice to go for a high wasted panty and a padded, demi cup bra or a sexy corset bra. These styles give your body a more feminine silhouette and look best on your leaner frame.

And the bridal registry is a breeze – not to mention perfect for lingerie showers or bridesmaids looking for a great Bachelorette party gift. It’s as easy as visiting the Green Hills store, giving your sizes and trying on lingerie as Emily’s team records all of your favorite styles and brands.

If you are having a lingerie shower, I encourage you to come in and create a registry – we will record your sizes in the system as well as a list of all of the pieces that you would like to be part of your bridal “trousseau”! We also host private, after-hours lingerie showers here in the store. Guests can take advantage of personal bra fittings, sip some champagne, and take advantage of the group shopping discount to gift the bride and themselves! It is a great way for the bridal party to spend time together and have fun gifting the bride (and themselves) in a private setting. This private show room is a classy and fun alternative to the typical bachelorette party.

Beloved Intimates sets itself apart from other intimates retailers by focusing on high quality and durability.  Their distinctive assortment of beautiful lingerie, their knowledgeable team, and their commitment to helping brides – whether it be through lingerie showers or bridal registries make them a dream come true for brides-to-be and bridesmaids alike! Visit their website or their location in Green Hills at 2016 Glen Echo Road, Nashville, TN 37215 to learn more and view their new pieces for this Spring! To inquire about hosting a bridal event, email Beloved at info@belovedintimates.com

Your perfect wedding has just ended and now it’s time for an amazing and well-deserved vacation…but the last thing you want to do during the planning process is frantically try to book flights and hotels for your dream getaway. With the help of Carlie Finch of 2 Travel Anywhere – an elite honeymoon travel consultant – planning the perfect, relaxing honeymoon is a breeze. Carlie is a certified Sandals specialist and 2 Travel Anywhere is committed to searching for the best honeymoon free of charge. In a recent interview with Carlie, I was able to get all of the details on the perks of hiring an experienced honeymoon consultant.

Why is this is a better option than a do-it-yourself travel website?

There are so many reasons why you should consider 2 Travel Anywhere, LLC to plan your dream honeymoon. We are not your typical travel agency. We specialize in honeymoon planning and making sure that the two of you have nothing to worry about but enjoying time together. The internet is filled with information about travel, and it takes a lot of time to sort through everything to find exactly what you are looking for. You can spend those countless hours on the internet searching for the best honeymoon spot and still not find what you want. Contacting us to help book your dream honeymoon is stress-free. We will send you as many options as you like until finding the perfect option, saving you from being stressed out about where to start.

In today’s economy, budgeting and getting the best deal for your money is always important. That’s why Carlie works with your budget.

Every couple has their own budget. The question is what type of honeymoon do you want? When deciding on your budget, you must think about activities: spa date? dinner on the beach? or maybe something different the both you may enjoy doing. We will make sure you have your once in a lifetime honeymoon within the budget that works best for the two of you.

So what makes planning your Honeymoon different than planning any other vacation?

Your honeymoon should be more than just your typical vacation. You typically only get one honeymoon, so you want this once in a lifetime experience to be a trip you will remember the rest of your lives. The honeymoon is about the two of you celebrating the beginning of the rest of your lives in the destination that matters most to the two of you which is so much more than your normal vacation.

For those of you who have already booked a hotel or honeymoon destination, here is some last minute advice from the honeymoon guru herself:

Definitely be sure to start gathering the items you want to bring with you for your honeymoon a few weeks before the wedding. Be prepared the week before your wedding! The last thing you want to worry about is packing your bags, so be sure to try to and pack early. When it comes to your honeymoon, you can never be too prepared. Be attentive to how much you pack: too much and your bag will be over the weight limit of 50 lbs. …too little and you may have to buy some things you didn’t pack. Also, be sure to bring a copy of your wedding invitation or marriage certificate with you. Most resorts want proof that this is your honeymoon. Some resorts will offer something special for the two of you celebrating your honeymoon.

There you have it! All of the tips and tricks on how to achieve the honeymoon of your dreams. Contact us at elizabeth@studiowed.net to set up a consultation with Carlie. You will be glad you did!

~Aaron Shirley

In the day of modern technology, documenting every event in your life has become a social trend. With the creation of social media, simply ‘logging on’ can make keeping up with friends and family extremely easy. It seems that with so many advances in modern technology, there is truly an app for everything. One app that has become just a popular as Facebook in a short amount of time is Instagram.

This app has taken the Apple iPhone and iPad users by storm. Instagram is a “fast, beautiful, and fun way to share your photos with friends and family,” allowing users to “snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, and then post the image.” Within seconds friends and family can stay connected and view fun and up-to-date images for each of life’s fun and important moments. The trend of using social media to document weddings and other special events is now the hip new thing.

But lets face it, trying to keep up with everyone’s pictures from multiple sights (such as Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter) can be a little tricky. With the new Instagram app and the use of a hashtag, organizing photos from many different phones into one place has never been so easy!  All you have to do is hashtag (#) the bride and groom’s last name or something pertaining to their wedding. For example, if the bride and groom’s new last name is Wood, attach #WoodWedding to each photo.  That way all of the photos are filed under the appropriate ‘wedding album.’

Check out these ideas from intimateweddings.com to get your guests involved:

Once you have set up your hashtag, you and your guests can start taking fun, quirky pictures that are seen from everyone’s individual perspective. It’s like having one hundred of your closet friends as amateur photographers. No special moment from the big day goes undocumented. Of course, we don’t recommend that this replace a professional photographer by any means.

Eventstagr.am is a sight that takes the fun of hashtags and Instagram to a whole new level. This company specializes in the use of hashtags for events. On your big day, they set up TV’s or projection monitors that will link each mobile device to the screen. Once an image is posted under your hashtag, it is projected onto the TV or projector and can be seen by wedding guests in real time. When the wedding is finished you have the option of ordering a video with all of the unique images captured by family and friends from your ceremony.

This use of such a trendy and popular app is a fresh new way to really include your guests in all of the fun nuptial festivities.  This is also a great option for people who may not be able to come to your wedding, as it allows them to keep up with your wedding through a live stream. Guests are able to use filters and choose unique captions, making for truly original and fresh images. So, whether it’s bridesmaids taking photos while getting ready for the ceremony or guests taking candid photos of your first dance, every joyous moment is captured!

~Aaron Shirley

Shopping for a bridal gown can be one of the most stressful shopping experiences any girl could have. While some brides have known what they want in a gown from an early age, others tend to try everything.

In some cases, they find that the traditional white wedding gown doesn’t fit for them. Mary Claire from Modern Trousseau says that more often than not, brides come in looking for a mix of tradition with modern elements incorporated. There are various ways in which you can spice it up. Popular choices are shorter hemlines or colored dresses. Last year we saw Jessica Biel marry Justin Timberlake in a light pink gown, and she looked absolutely fabulous and no less a bride!

If you’re not as risky as Mrs. Timberlake but want something other than white, you can opt for an ivory dress or one with a slight hint of color. Also, using a colored silk underneath the lace overlay on a dress really makes the pattern of the delicate material pop.

Modern Trousseau offers a variety of dresses with shorter hemlines, more details, and in a diversity of colors, even a gorgeous red gown! Their Fall 2013 collection features a gown covered in light pink roses if you’re interested in just a little pop of color. They also have dresses with shorter hemlines with a fluffy or A-line skirt. With Modern Trousseau’s ability to offer totally custom gowns, it pretty much opens up the door to endless possibilities. They can accommodate any want or personality!

When choosing the best wedding dress, you must remember that it’s yours to wear on your big day. Your wedding dress should, like the rest of the wedding, reflect you. So pick what feels comfortable and what you love and it will be the perfect dress!

~Chelsey Gatlin

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