"Holy Chihuly!"

Inspiration used to the fullest.

Finding it difficult to find inspiration for you special occasion? Try looking in local art museums for new artistic fads and ideas. The biggest inspiration that many couples have found is that from Dale Chihuly, a master glass art maker. With his bright fun colors and nature inspired pieces, he has caught the eyes of many couples looking in creating a unique WOW factor for their event.

There have been cakes designed around his pieces, invitations, flowers and more! Some couples have even gone so far as to purchasing items from his showcase to have displayed at their events. The idea of creating a wedding theme around art is unique and will be memorable. Dale Chihuly’s pieces are becoming the new wedding inspiration décor fad for the year of 2010! His pieces are a true inspiration and can be easily used to find the right colors and feel for your event!

"Color Oops"

"Are all money saving DIY'S really worth it?"
By: Brittany Doherty, Wedding and Event Planner

Trying to save money in these hard times? Thinking you can get salon quality hair from a box? Well think again, I thought that I could save money by dying my own hair from a box, thinking I could get salon quality results. However, I was terribly wrong-I was going for a deep auburn color and ended up with purple hair.

After I was done panicking I rushed to the computer to see if there was any natural ways to remove my horrible mistake. To my surprise I found two promising hair removal methods. The first method I tried was crushing 4-16, 500 mg vitamin C tablets into you’re a quarter amount of your normal shampoo; then mixing the two into a paste and applying the paste onto your dry hair and leave it on for 45mins-2 hours depending on how much color you would like removed.

The comments from answerbag.com sounded promising so I thought I would give this home remedy a try that helped so many other women in my situation. I have extremely long hair so I decided to crush 10- 1,000 mg Vitamin C tablets into a palm size amount of shampoo, mix into a paste and apply to my dry hair. The solution didn’t cover nearly half of my hair so I decided to put it on my roots. After I applied the paste I patiently waited for an hour and rinsed my hair. To my surprise my roots in some area’s turned back to my natural color, while other area’s stayed red. To make this remedy work I figured I would have to use a whole bottle of vitamin C tablets and a whole bottle of shampoo.

I was not ready to give up quite yet, so I thought I would try the second method I found called “Color Oops” which is supposed to gently remove both permanent and semi-permanent hair color to bring you back to your original color. The method only takes 20 minutes and is ammonia and bleach free. Color Oops works by correcting your hair color by shrinking the dye molecules, allowing you to simply wash them away.

Color Oops sounded promising without drying out my hair, so I thought I would give this method a try before making the embarrassing phone call to my hair dresser. The Color Oops solution was very messy and smelled horribly, and not as easy as it sounds. If you try to use Color Oops you will need to buy protective gloves, hair cap, and cotton to make sure the solution doesn’t touch your skin or run onto your clothes. Although Color Oops only takes 20 minutes, the directions tell you to rinse your hair for 15-20 minutes, wash your hair with shampoo, and then rinse your hair for another 5 minutes. After ALL of this there was NO improvement.
To my dismay I finally swallowed my pride and called my hair salon and booked an appointment with my hair dresser. Although I thought that I would be saving money by dying my own hair I ended up spending more money then I normally would to get my hair done.

My advice to everyone especially on your very special day and trust your hair only to a professional and book your appointment in advance. Some hair salons that Columbus Bride and Groom recommends are……….If you would like more information on these company’s please visit www.columbusbrideandgroom.com and click on hair stylist on the left hand side.


http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/20099
The second method I found was Color Oops
http://www.walgreens.com/store/catalog/Hair-Color/Extra-Strength-Hair-Color-Remover/ID=prod2180463&navCount=1&navAction=push-product?tab=warnings

Top Five DIY's Brides love

Looking for a few ways to save some money and cut costs from your wedding? Here are a few Do It Yourself ideas that make a big difference with least amount of spending. However be aware that your time is valuable and don't commit to a huge vital project that will add to your wedding stress.

1. Wedding Favors-
Do it yourself wedding favors are a way to say thank you to your guests. Plus, wedding favor crafts are so fun, easy, and cheap to make yourself if you use a little creativity. A favor can be a keepsake that the guests take home, or an edible favor that is likely to be eaten before dinner is served. Some favors help guests join in the celebration (noisemakers, bells, etc) or are functional at the actual wedding (such as champagne glasses). Others, like wedding CD favors are to be enjoyed by guests later. Another popular choice is to use seed packet wedding favors which are decorative, symbolic and functional.

2.Charger Plates-
If you are looking for a simple quick way to dress up your guests table with the least amount of money spent than creating your own decorative charger plate is a great way to do so. It is a great way to also tie in any theme that you may have and really bring the tables to life. A charger plate is a decorative plate that goes underneath the dinner plate, almost like a small, circular place mat. The charger plate stays on the table through the whole meal, the plates for each course are put on the decorative charger. If you do not have the time to create plate chargers for each guest, consider creating them for under the centerpiece of the table only, under buffet items, under a guest book table, cocktail tables or under a program table.

3.Bridal Party Gifts-
Don't waste money on generic bridesmaid gifts! With a little thought and creativity you can come up with something unique and personal that they'll be thrilled to receive. Your gifts to your wedding party don't have to expensive. They are all special friends that you choose to be a part of your special day and understand that you may be on a tight budget. Hand made soaps, candles or even a small group package deal to a spa would be a great idea. There are so many options when it comes to choosing unique bridesmaid gifts and only you know your friends the best.

4.Hair & Makeup-
This category is very crucial for every bride for any wedding, but today times are hard and money is tight and this may not be an option for every bride. Do it Yourself Hair and Makeup is a great way to go especially for the bridesmaids! Choose a look that you love, practice it or get some great tips from makeup artists at the mall. Its all Free! Appoint the bridesmaids with the best skills and put them to work. Make sure you do a practice run before the big day to be sure it all goes smoothly. If you have a few girls that werent able to be a part of the wedding and want to contribute, this could be a great way to do so! As the bride you can still have a real hair and makeup artist for yourself and cut costs by eliminating the amount of girls needing done, and still know that your bridesmaids look wonderful.

5. Wedding Programs-
Wedding programs used to be where you’d list the names of the wedding party and family, a brief outline of ceremony order…and that was about it. Not anymore! You can personalize your do it yourself wedding programs just like any other aspect of your wedding, and you will probably want to write it in your own words, with your own personality shining through. The hardest part is deciding what to write and then picking out your wedding program paper. The rest of the process is simple!

Wedding programs are also the place to thank and give credit to important people. For example, you may want to thank your parents, or thank a mutual friend who introduced you. You could thank Aunt Mary for doing your flower arrangements, etc. It is also nice to acknowledge all the guests as a whole, thanking them for being there.Another thing some people do is to have a short dedication to those family members who are not there, that have passed on. Although Do it Yourselves are a great way to add some creativity and personalization to any wedding, I wouldn't recommend them to any bride with a tight schedule. You should put your bridal party to work and do it all together to keep the stress level to a minimum. So create and apply your personality to your wedding with DIY'S made for everyone!