Woo Hoo Second Date Added

Just announced------- a second date has been added to our popular Portraits in the Park Sessions!

Call to reserve YOUR time TODAY, as always the date will be a sell out!
314.361.9899

Kendra & Doug AND a Happy Birthday

I guess I've gotten a little crazy after the big blog entry number------ multiply that crazy by LOTS happening at BBP and you have a bit of inertia. Slacker time over, I present to you Kendra and Doug who were married last Saturday at the Botanical Gardens and celebrated with a reception at the Magic House.

The day was beautiful for the happy couple!

Kendra and Doug have STL family but reside in Memphis.

They had a fabulous evening at the Magic House with family, kids and friends. Congratulations Kendra and Doug!

After all of that :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEANETTA! A shout out to Bobbi's Mom----- who is 21 today (right Jeanetta?)

Julia & Andrew---- Light My Fire!!!!

What a great couple----- fun & compassionate, warm and lively------ just plain good people!!! The slideshow that follows is just a Sneak Peek of their Very Special Day.

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kids, don't try this at home!!!!! (the fire not the marriage part!)

Are you Ready for Some Sunday?

This Sunday is a big day! For many (and many and many) it marks the start of football. It is hard to believe that it is time for the season, I guess that means that Fall is on the doorstep.

BBP Sunday is also marked by Bobbi shooting with Lisa McDowell, sure to be lots of fun and a very creative mix of individuals!

Soon we'll have some great images from yesterday's wedding of Julia and Andrew at the Mad Art Gallery. There was FIRE (the entertaining kind not the oh no kind)---- what more can I say. Stay tuned for some outrageous photos!

Now, order your pizza and wings early..................

Nicole & Michael

Nicole and Michael were married last weekend and are the newest BBP Alumni (so to speak)! There day included a stop at Gramma's house, how sweet is that?

Sort of "American Gothic" .............. but better! :)

I think the 'puppy' should have been in the bridal party!

Congratulations and many blessings to the M's!

The Big 700 & When the Wedding is "OVER"

700 Blog Entries, that is SEVEN HUNDRED---------- not a small milestone! Thanks friends, colleagues and clients you are the reason for our success and you are appreciated! Mention "700" when you order for a special gift (holler at me!)

Now----------as a famous broadcaster would say, here is the rest of the story.

We hear it all the time, those of us here at BBP who not only serve as coordinators for Bobbi, office schmoodles [extraordinaire] who are also question answerers, confidantes, and mother hens. (Yes, that would be moi!)

"When the wedding album is done then the wedding is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It strikes me when wearing my mother hen hat that is, that the wedding itself might be over but the feeling and the mushy love never should be. In talking to past brides and from henly experience I offer a few tricks to stay in wedding mode.

• Order 25 of your favorite wedding photos, those that really make you say "aaaawwwwww". Tuck them one at a time inside an envelope (with a sweet thought on them) into briefcases or luggage throughout your first year. After the first year, keep up the practice!
• Don't stop planning those little anniversary dinners (happy we've been married 3 months and 5 days honey!) Decorate the table with a photo or two and wear your garter. :)
• Plan your first wedding anniversary. Make a folder if you like, (you know you miss those wedding binders--- admit it!) Keep details, make plans----------
• Look at your photos together and often! Many of the great marriage counselors say the number one trick to keeping in love as much as you were on your wedding day is to always remember how you felt when you married your love.
• Bake (*or order) a small version of your wedding cake and serve it at a party!
  
• Order at least one artistic photo of yourself from the Big Day as a large canvas. Enjoy it!
• You're a family now------- have family portraits taken once a year. It gives you a chance to talk about the wedding, how things have changed and to track your lives as you grow.
  
• Keep the love alive and growing!!!!
  

Losin' It?

There are very few brides that don't say that they want to lose a few pounds for their wedding, those that are already slim want to shape and tone things up. Are you one of those brides?

Other than striking out on your own with a good meal plan and working out at the gym or walking/running are there some other STL options?

Our brides are using:

• Personal Trainer
• Joining a gym or going to the Y
• Weight Loss Boot Camp
• WII Fit
• 1 bride on J*enny Craig
• 1 bride on N*utrisystem

What is your chosen method?

Along a similar line, brides frequently ask about how their body type photographs/choosing a wedding gown. There are some general rules of thumb (not set in stone!)

• if you wear a strapless gown and have some 'fluff' around the high bust area, MAKE SURE your gown is well fitting. It should be tight enough to keep it up and not so tight there is spillover.
• Check the back view!!!!!
• If you question how you will look in a gown, don't buy it
• Never buy a gown thinking you will lose enough weight to fit into it
• Show off your best assets............. arms, collarbone, waist, whatever. Show your best and camouflage the rest!
• Try on gowns that are strapless, sleeveless and with different necklines. Don't just be stuck on the first gown you saw or one you fell in love with online or in a magazine.
• Listen to the bridal shop experts! They know what will look good on you and what might not be your best choice.
• Refer back to point number 4, NEVER buy a wedding gown thinking you will lose enough weight to fit into it!
• Even if you have a fabulous body, do not overlook having your gown professionally fitted by someone who has experience in this as well as rave reviews. This is not a place to skimp!!

Lastly, choose well and relax. Eat well and be strong and healthy for your very important day!

From the "don't" column:

Happy Labor Day!

All of us here at BBP hope that you are having a great Labor Day whatever you choose to do.

Be a blessing.............................. pass one on!

Happy Long Weekend

Why are we happy? It is a LONG weekend, of course! Naturally around BBP weekends aren't weekends, they are nose to the grindstone work work work fests, but still--- the feeling prevails.

This weekend has so many great STL events we're hard pressed to name them all but our choices are:

• the bike race coming through Lafayette Square
• The MDA Telethon festivities at Grant's Farm
• The Arch Rivalry Game (are you an Illinois fan or rooting for Mizzou?????)
• Greek Festival @ Forest Park and Kingshighway at St. Nicholas

Tomorrow is the wedding of Nicole and Michael, should be a great day!

Whatever your Labor Day Weekend Plans might be, we all hope it's great! Be safe!

David

My cousin's husband David passed away, it is a kind of sad and kind of okay thing. David was of German decent---- he was so strong, so kind, so brave. He was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago and has fought the hardest fight I have EVER seen. Remarkable really. He NEVER complained, when the chemo and/or radiation got to him you were unaware. When the soles of his feet blistered so bad he could barely walk he kept up with things around the house and yard. He was never less than funny and always so compassionate. He was love and OH did he love his grandkids. David's last days were nasty, cancer is a horrid beast at the end. It was awful and I'm so glad it is over for him. His wife Paula is a fabulous woman. She sews, crochets, can craft anything that moves and can do more on a shoestring than just about anyone I have ever known. This whole struggle has been so hard on her and yet she was always strong. Always. I tell her now what I have told her always, that she is the toughest old bird in the world. Now that David is gone she says she feels almost better, knowing the ugly end is over and that she has stopped a two year free fall that took her breath away. Now she can get her feet under her and move on.

May you find rest and peace David. We'll all miss you!

62 & 694--Melissa & Ben make 3

62 degrees in STL this morning! Sixty Two, as in under 70 by a fair bit. What happened to August? To say what happened to summer is another story entirely!

694 posts. A wonderful and amazing number of BBBlog posts. When will we hit 700? I'm working on a big huzzah of some sort.

Biggest congrats and blessings to previous wedding clients Melissa & Ben, they are expecting a bouncing baby boy in January!!! We can't wait to photograph that sweet baby belly and capture that handsome little boy as he grows! It is such an honor, privilege and thrill for all of us!

We love Monique!

Who else but Monique L'Huillier??? One of our favorite designers of elegant and beautiful bridal wear. Did you catch her guest appearance as a judge on a BBP Fave Guilty Pleasure, Run*way M*odels last night???? It was so much fun to see her, and her comments were right on. L'Hullier is a grad of FIDM, the new setting as PR with a change of networks and locations moved to CA.

Ms. Monique hit the circuit in 1996 when sh started her business with her husband and really made a splash in 2004 when she debuted celeb wedding gowns for Bri*tney S*pears and Christine B*aumgarten, Al G*ore's daugher, an A*pprentice wedding gown and one for Spidey as well. L'Hullier also designs the typical and fab runway offerings although here at BBP we certainly focus more on the wow of her bridal.

Her designs have been called romantic, ethreal, dreamy, high style, and just plain gorgeous. We agree!

A recent inductee to the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) L'Hullier has made her mark and will continue to do so for years to come.

Spring 2010

If you missed her on RM, you can find the reruns all week on L*ifetime.

Vogue Knows?

What a bright spot annually in the world of periodicals---- the Vogue September Issue! 584 pages of fashion at the epicenter. Some good, some bad but who can pass it up? Even the ads can guide you as far as what shoes are great, what nail polish color you'll be sporting, and what silhouettes look current. (And speaking of shoes, did you know that Christian Siriano of Project Runway fame is doing a collection for Payless Shoes this fall?)

The recent volume of Vogue happiness has in the "Flash" section on page 318 a bridely bit. The fabulous Vera Wang is shown fitting the gown of Sylvana Soto-Ward who says "I always lose weight when I am excited." (hmmmmm) The piece is very interesting starting with Wang's fitting "two finger rule" for a strapless gown to a peek of that Lanvin gown, the lovely Leighton earrings and wonderful invitation.

My favorite quote of the entire article was that the bride believes that "..connection, not cost, is the way to entertain now."

True, so true.

Now about those Christian Siriano shoes............. no doubt they are FIERCE!

Miss W's classroom

Our own wonderful Nell is settling in to her first week as a first grade teacher and we've had quite a few emails and phone calls so I thought I'd post a couple of photos she took of her classroom. (We're all proud here, can you tell????)

How cute is her room? You can tell she worked herself crazy getting ready!

No doubt the luckiest first graders in the world to have Miss W as their teacher.

I did have one bride ask me if when Nell teaches her first graders if she wears heels as high as she does when she photographs weddings! :)

I don't know, do you Nell?

Nicole & Andy-------- and 690!

Just a few images from Nicole & Andy's engagement session in Chicago----

You can't tell by looking at the happy couple that it was HOTTER than blue blazes that day! We'd just left an amazingly cool and un-humid few days and woke up to crazy heat.

While I waited I swear I could hear a particular shop on Michigan Avenue that I shall not name calling my name. Do you see them smiling broadly? Amazing considering that the weekend had been spent moving and you know how much fun that is!

Millenium Park (while fabulous) is across the street on one end of Grant Park, home of the now mentioned Lallapalooza.

Speaking of 690............................. six hundred and ninety posts for the BBBlog! Can you wrap your brain around that? I think it is quite a feat.

When will BBP hit the 700 mark on the blog? Hmmmmmmmm?

I DO Nails

The look for wedding day nail polish is as individual as the bride herself! 82% (yes I really did the math) of BBP Brides in 2009 have opted for a very neutral nail.
Think "S*heer Pink" as seen above, by R*evlon.

But you might want to think of something else...................

Maybe "H*oneymoon Sweet" by O*PI?

"N*ot Just a Pretty Face" by E*ssie?

Or also by E*ssie, the slightly more blush toned "L*uscious Lips"?

For brides who seek something pale and conservatively "bridal", there IS a nail look for the Big Day that still has a definite nod to high fashion and current trend. The matte trend in nail polish is going to be HUGE this fall but can be a little harder to wear in a pale nail tone, it can look a bit like you've just slapped basecoat on your nails and forgotten the polish. You might try a bit of all best worlds a bit of matte and a bit of gloss still paying attention to the pale nail.

E*ssie (the home of great polish) makes a fabulous gloss to matte product. You can try the matte look without the total commitment of an entire bottle of matte (just in case it's not for you!) In the nail diagram above this photo, E*ssie suggests using a white tip, and a pale pink nail. Sounds like a rather traditional French Polish, right? Not quite. Try the updated look with the tip as well as the moon of the nail bed top polished with MATTE. It gives the entire nail a really current look---- and of course you have the matte polish to update every other color you own.

For those who want COLOR on their nails, some of our faves are:

the O*PI Classic, "I'm N*ot Really a Waitress"
L*ippmann, "D*aytripper"
or

N*ars----- "O*rgasm". Hey......... I'm just reading the label! It is a yummy color.

Or a few of our brides have gone all out glam with a bright bold color! It is ALL your choice!

The best thing is that nail polish is inexpensive and easily changed. Start early, experiment and you are sure to find your own personal best bridal nail look!

Personalized BRIDE Pillow

Okay......... so when I was VERY quickly reading one of my favorite creative blogs this morning (and way behind to boot!) I thought at first glance that this entry said "Personalized Bride Pillow". I was so excited, wow, a personalized bride pillow, something for the brides, how fabulous. Upon closer inspection (as sometimes happens) it was not a BRIDE pillow, but a BIRDIE pillow. Sigh. I still absolutely loved it though and think that you SHOULD make one for your favorite bride. Or bridesmaids, or favorite people in your life. Or me, you know how to spell my name after all! (smile)

I just have to show you the project here....... but you can find this and more like it on the Moda Bake Shop blog! A version of this cute pillow would make a darling ring pillow, I'm all about the custom touches!


Hello! I'm so excited to share this cute pillow with you! Feel free to ask me questions, I'll be glad to answer them.
Stop by my blog and say hi.
Melissa at www.polkadotchair.blogspot.com

1 Birdie Charm Pack

1/2 yard white fabric OR use a white twin sheet (great way to get a lot of fabric!)

Heat and Bond Light

Warm and Natural Batting

1 button for eye

1 12x16 pillow form

Pink Ric- Rack

Grosgrain Ribbon Ruffle Trim

Okay to begin you will need 1 Birdie Charm pack (shown here are a charm pack and a layer cake, but you just need a charm pack).

The finished pillow size will be 12x16.

Cut 1 piece of white fabric to 6.75x10.75.

Since this is a pillow to be used on a bed I just used a white sheet. It's a great way to get a lot of fabric for cheap!

Next on your computer print out the name you like in a good bulky font. (I used Font Diner Loungy). In your word processing program set the type to outline and print backwards.

Print the name. I like to use a light box to trace it but you can also just use a bright window.

Trace the name onto paper side of Heat and Bond.

Next pick the fabric pieces that you would like the letters on.

Iron the letters onto the WRONG side of the fabric. Cut out letters.

Arrange cut letters on white fabric piece. Iron on.

From the charm squares cut 36 strips 1.5 " x 3".

Sew (using a 1/4" seam) 2 sets of 6 strips together.

Sew them to the sides of the center panel.

Sew 2 sets of 15 strips together,

Sew to top and bottom of center panel.

Using your favorite applique stitch, stitch around the letters. I just used a straight stitch.

Next you will need to quilt your pillow. You can do this to your liking. I used 1 layer of warm and natural and a piece of scrap fabric for the back (since it will not show).

I used a walking foot and did a decorative stitch in each seam. Then quilted wavy lines down the center panel.

Next. Using thread the same color as your ric rac, sew ric rac around edge of the center panel.

Set aside.

To make bird embellishment:

Trace a shape of a bird onto a piece of Heat and Bond. I used a piece of chipboard that I had in my scrapbooking stash. Trace the wing also.

Trim around Heat and Bond and iron onto wrong side of fabric.

Cut out bird.

Iron onto a piece of warm and natural.

Iron wing on.

Cut bird out.

Cut a 2nd piece of Heat and Bond. Iron onto warm and natural side of the bird.

Iron bird onto wrong side of a 2nd piece of fabric. The bird is double sided because you can see the back of it when sewed on the pillow.

(you are pretty much making a warm and natural sandwich... with a piece of fabric on each side)

Stitch around the edge of the bird, as close to the edge as you can.

Cut out bird. Sew on eye.

Pin Bird onto completed pillow top. Stitch though all layers (bird and pillow top) of the bird ONLY on the wing. Stitch around it 3 times to give it a nice dimensional touch.

Sew trim to edges of pillow. Attach back of pillow (also used a sheet) insert pillow form and stitch opening closed.

You will need approximately 20 charm squares for the pillow (depending on how you do your name) so you should be able to get 2 pillows out of one charm pack.

*****
Bobbi is still in Minnesota, hard at work. Danielle is working like a crazy person (which might indeed be the definition of a first grade teacher anyway) getting her classroom ready to go for the big day next week when the students come in. ME? I'm holding down the fort but (ssshhhhhh, don't tell) I'm doing a little bit of knitting, and reading, and working on some fall things in the sewing room as well.

Future MO Teacher of the Year

We can't say enough how excited and proud we are of our very own Danielle (aka Nell to many) for becoming one of the newest first grade teachers in MO! YAY! She has worked SO HARD and for so long to land her first teaching job, it fulfills the dream she has had for herself since she was a little girl.

That's Nell on the left (hee)------- I have to say that it is REALLY hard to get a solo photo of her as in 99.9% of her shots she has her pretty face smashed up against someone else! The fella on the right is her dog Harley who is no doubt as proud of his mama as we are.

Of course we know that her students, fellow teachers and school in general will all benefit from her excellence, her dedication, her enthusiasm, and her joy.

Congratulations Nell....................... we couldn't be happier for you! We look forward to watching you celebrate the milestones of what will be a fabulous career!

Congratulations Logan!

This weekend Bobbi will be working in Minnesota! One of the greatest joys of BBP is to capture the lives of families as they grow, to make sure that special moments and milestones are photographed for future generations. A favorite family is that of Logan's............... we love Logan (and his sister Skyler) and Bobbi has photographed their family since Logan was born (even before!)

Now, Logan is having his Bar Mitzvah! WOO HOO! The event will take place at his summer camp where he spends his off-school months having fun with all of the activities that bring him joy.

We're honored Logan------ blessed to be part of this extraordinary time in your life! Mazel tov!

Return to Humid

BBP has returned from Chicago------------- it was great to work out of the norms for awhile, but always good to get home too! The shot here is the snippet of skyline on the north side of Navy Pier where we were fortunate enough to have enough time to wander in the gorgeous weather!

Gorgeous weather? Indeed, during our stay the weather was absolute perfection! Well, there was that bit during the last day that was HOT and sticky but we think it was just because we did have to come home to STL. Arriving the Windy City we found days in the 70's and nights in the lower 60's, crisp and glorious. Coming home? Let's just say it was 87 degrees at 10:15 PM!

Trip Snippets include Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, Frank Lloyd Wright, Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza at the Silo, Stevenson High School (go Patriots) and we'd be remiss not to add Lollapalooza to the list.............. and we missed Kings of Leon! (Hum "Charmer" anyway....)

Allyson & Spencer

I absolutely LOVE the names of our new clients! Allyson and Spencer--- welcome to the BBP Wedding Family! I think their names sound like summer in the Hamptons, like the very best soap opera couple names, like............. well I digress!

We are all so pleased to have the two of you and look forward to working with you and your wonderful families! We're a fortunate studio indeed!