Vendor Spotlight: The Shipping Guru

The Shipping Guru: How about this link - http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheShippingGuru?section_id=11944486 

As a thank you to Elegant Affairs, The Shipping Guru is offering a 10% discount on all orders. Use the code Elegant10.

As you can tell from the pictures, these bags are a very high quality and a very tight weave.  When you compare to other bags in the same price range, you can see the difference immediately (very loose weave and cheap looking).   These bags also have Double Drawstings which makes them look ever more of a higher quality.  These bags are as low as 48 cents depending on quantity. 

They offer bags of all sizes.  The most popular Burlap bag is 3"x5".  Other sizes include 5x6" and 6"x10".  The most popular Muslin Bags size is 3"x4" and 4"x6".

Product is in stock and orders ship out within 1 business day. The Shipping Guru has a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee so if a customer is not happy, they can return for a refund.


The Shipping Guru Owner Joseph  Singer says, "As you can see from my feedback - I have a 100% Positive feedback on over 1,300 sales on Etsy." Just in the last three months, The Shipping Guru has sold more than 6000 of these bags.

Singer says he get messages all the time from customers after they received these bags telling me how great these bags looks and are better then expected.

2013 Color of the year is....Emerald

PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald, a lively, radiant, lush green, is the Color of the Year for 2013.

The 2012 color of the year, PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, provided the energy boost we needed to recharge and move forward. Emerald, a vivid verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight as well as promoting balance and harmony.

Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. Also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity, no other color conveys regeneration more than green. For centuries, many countries have chosen green to represent healing and unity.

"The most abundant hue in nature, the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. "As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today's complex world. This powerful and universally-appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors."

What an AMAZING 2012 Wedding Season!

This past Saturday, officially marked the end of our 2012 Wedding Season. Originally planning to end our season at the end of October to focus on family, the Puyallup Falcons (a youth wrestling club that my husband and I run) and our 2013 clients, I met one last couple who were planning to wed in November and I just fell in love with them, so I extended our season.

I am so grateful for the 22 couples we worked with this year and all of the vendors we worked with and  that is reflected in our Preferred Vendor List.

I am so thankful to my amazing team! Without them, I would be nothing, they are a great support system.

Finally, I would love to take the time to recognize the three most important people in my life. My devoted husband, Steve and two sensational sons Grant & Jackson. Thank you for allowing me to be gone during summer weekends for me to live out my dream of owning my company and pursing my passion. I love you so much and you mean the world to me!.

We are excited to close another fabulous year and can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for Elegant Affairs.

Vendor Spotlight: E. Leigh Photography

Tell us about you: E. Leigh Photography is my husband Mat, and I. We're based in Brooklyn, NY but are expanding to Seattle in 2013! We shoot almost every wedding together and love to tell love stories. (They have been featured on Style Me Pretty)

What makes your company unique: We come from photojournalism and fashion worlds respectively so we can tell the story of your wedding day from every angle. We'll grab the unique moments that only happen once and also show off your gorgeous dress and bouquet in a magazine-style shoot. Call us crazy, but we believe that weddings should be fun. Not stressful. Not lame or cookie-cutter. And definitely not boring. They should be a perfect and wonderful reflection of who you are as a couple. Our job is to tell your weak-in-the-knees love story. 

What are the trends in Wedding Photography: One of our favorite trends is super important to our business - storytelling! Gone are the days for stiff, posed portraits (although we still do those for Grandma and Mom) and in is telling the story through emotional, evocative photos that make you feel how amazing it was. This means way more fly-on-the-wall and way less camera-in-the-face.

How to select a wedding photographer: Some of the best advice we can give is to pick a wedding photographer you would hang out with in regular life.  You will spend more time with your photographer than almost any other vendor (except your planner/designer) and you must like them! If they're boring, or inappropriate or just give you weird feeling, find someone else. Of course their pictures should be mind-blowing also. ;-)

Advice from a wedding photographer: Please give your photographers a hot meal, preferably near your table! We spend the entire day on our feet and really need to recharge. It would be so sad if we fainted at your wedding! If we eat near you (and at a similar time) we can get up when you do and capture the raucousness of the dance floor

We always tell brides to get a coordinator or a planner for their wedding (Lori was ours and she was uh-mazing). It's just so important to have a non-family member, non-venue person running the whole show. Trust me when I say you should spend on this and everything else will go more smoothly and look more beautiful. 

If you have a Seattle wedding in July/August of 2013 and think we might be a match, please don't hesitate to get in touch! You can see more work on our blog:

http://eleigh.com/blog

or Facebook page:

http://facebook.com/eleighphoto

or catch up with us here:

Erin Leigh 

erin@eleigh.com 

646-468-8530

Review from Bride & Groom

I could not have had my wedding without Lori and her team. I honestly don't know how you can have a wedding without at least a day of coordinator. Lori made the wedding run smooth and seamless, even our guests commented on this. Lori and her team was very professional and efficient. I did not have to worry about anything during the wedding and they did all my setup/decorating. When I needed something I said "I need Lori!" and she came running- like when my dress had a small rip in the seam, she came and sewed it for me in minutes (yes she brings a day of emergency kit!!!). 

Aside from day of coordination, she is extremely helpful with finding vendors and she will also be able to get you better deals with vendors. She was always there when I needed her for any questions, opinions, and guidance on anything. She is very responsive to emails/calls, anything you need. She also has a lot of weddings supplies available for very cheap rental fee so you don't waste money buying things you really don't need (vases, votives, etc.). With Lori I knew that everything would work out and be okay! I just cannot say enough good things about Elegant Affairs.
~Andria & Michael, October 28, 2012 (The Hollywood Schoolhouse)

Review from Bride & Groom

Lori from Elegant Affairs is incredible. She really works hard to get to know you and what your dream wedding would be and then helps make that dream a reality! I loved her so much I recommended her to my friend that just got married and she loved her too. She is hard working, reasonably priced and an overall great vendor to work with! 

~Lisa & Kyle, August 26, 2012 (SODO Park)

Review from Bride & Groom

Lori was fantastic to work with. Although at first we thought we could take it all on ourselves, we're so thankful we decided to use Lori's help. The wedding day flies by and the last thing we would've wanted to do is to make sure things are going as planned, Lori made sure of that. :) I just wish I had gone with her services sooner so that I could further use her help. Gazalle and Josh!

~Gazalle & Josh, October 20, 2012 (Marysville Opera House)

Halloween DIY

DIY: Halloween Edition 

Fast forward. It’s October 31^st. It’s Halloween. You are probably thinking how did the month of October escape you. Your children have invited friends over and your neighbors might stop by. To top it off, you just got home from work and now you have less than an hour to prepare something fabulous to celebrate Halloween.

Cue the violins... Wait, stop, don’t panic. I have a quick DIY Halloween solution that will take less than an hour of your time and you most likely have all the ingredients in your home right now. 

What is it you ask? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time you get creative and make your own apple bar!  We all love an old fashioned caramel apple. Halloween is the perfect time to celebrate with this pastime. Your guests will love the endless choices and wonder, how did they do it? Let's get started! 

First, you need apples. The amount of apples needed depend on your guest list. Take the apples and wash them. Any type of apple will work for this project. Wait to cut the apples until the rest of our apple bar is complete. It may be Halloween, but no one likes a brown apple. 

Next, it’s time to cook the caramel. Caramel, may sound daunting, but it is a very easy sauce to make. Here’s a recipe that I use from food.com:

1 packed cup brown sugar

½ cup half and half

4 tablespoons butter

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

Mix the brown sugar, half and half, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets thicker. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce into a dish or jar. Place in fridge until cold.

Now that the caramel sauce is ready to go, it's time to look through your pantry and fridge for fun toppings. 

Here are some topping ideas that are quick and easy: 

Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Sauce

Peanuts

Marshmellows

Almonds

Sprinkles 

Walnuts

Granola 

Rice Crispies 

White Chocolate Chips 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips

Peanut Butter

Let your imagination soar!

This project is open ended. You can use whatever you feel would taste best on an apple! 

Now, it's time to set up for the apple bar. Use jars and bowls to put the toppings in. Have several spoons available for guests to use. You can write out name cards for each topping so guests will be able to identify the toppings with ease. Or you can skip the name cards for a little bit of Halloween mystery. Additionally, to save you from washing forks afterwards, put out a bowl of tooth picks for easy pickings! You can create a fun "BOO" banner using paper, markers, and ribbon. 

For my apple display I turned vases upside down and tied a black ribbon for some added décor. I also found some scrap black fabric and used it as table décor. Get creative and use things around your house. Have your child draw a scary picture, or color a pumpkin to decorate. It can be as elaborate or simple as you would like. It all depends on your time crunch and available resources. 

Right before the guests arrive cut your apples. They should be crisp and ready to go! Enjoy your apple bar and have a spooky Halloween 2012. 

Your Elegant Affairs DIY Guru 

      Rachel Ermitano

Review from Mother of the Bride

Kelly & Jesse's wedding was a wonderful, fun and special day. We pulled off this fabulous event because you helped us plan, calmed us down, listen to our vents and gave us hugs, had our backs; in short: you coordinated us and guided us!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything leading up to, on the day, and even afterward - I'm so glad we had Elegant Affairs to work with and share a special time!

~Debbie Fitzgerald, Mother of the Bride
September 2, 2012, Port Gamble

Halloween Dessert Table Revisited

FROM 2011:The first thing I found was a great digital kit on Etsy by paperglitter. From there I found the amazing backdrop fabric (the photo is hard to see the intricate spiderwebs design) and a sheer orange fabric both from JoAnn Fabrics. 

To accomplish the very popular popcorn hands, I have to credit Barb from A Tailored Affair for the two large Manzanita Branches and pots. To create, I simply popped A LOT of popcorn and using food handler gloves stuffed them along with adding candy corns as fingernails.

For the actual treats on the table, I had a candy buffet complete with orange slices, gummy worms, gummy pumpkins, mixed candy, chocolate eye balls, candy corn and sixlets. I also made two flavors of cake pops and cupcakes. I used my new Pastry Pedestals to display the cupcakes in a new and fun way. I also made coffin brownies, whoopie pies, Halloween shaped candies, candy dipped Rice Krispie Treats. 

My favorite new treat was make Cauldron Cups. For these yummy treat, I made the edible chocolate bowls and filled it with chocolate pudding topping it off with crushed up Oreos and then adding a skull and bone as decoration. I found the beautiful glass pedestals at the Craft Warehouse.

Vendors:

Party Planner: Elegant Affairs

Candy: Sweet Treats & Design

Rentals: A Tailored Affair