It's Wedding Day for Alexandria & Matt

Today is the big day for our newest couple, Alex (short for Alexandria) & Matt!!!


Alex's mom came to us just a little over 5 weeks ago after moving here from Pennsylvania, a challenge in itself. Matt and Alex live in California and wanted to have their wedding ceremony here in Phoenix. Basically they had the reception venue booked, invitations sent, Alex's gown in process and that was just about it. Needless to say we had some work ahead of us, so we stepped in and helped pull all the pieces together for an intimate and cozy celebration with their family and friends.


Congratulations to you both, we wish you all the blessings this life has to offer!!!


All the best & 'til next time,

Freakin' Fabulous Friday - Formal Place Settings

Formal place settings can offer up some challenges when you are at an extremely crowded table. So you sit down and the place settings are all crowded together and you just aren't quite sure who's is who's, right??

Well it happened to me, I was at a high brow dinner with a couple of attorneys, a motivational speaker, their wives and a few other assorted guests and I've gotta tell you I was a tad nervous. So as I'm attempting to be on my best behavior and trying to remember all of the rules of dining etiquette, I started to reach for my water glass. Fortunately before my hand came above the edge of the table, I noticed that my glass was half full. What?? How can this be? I hadn't taken a drink yet, in my nervousness did I start to reach for the wrong glass? So I placed my hands back in my lap and then followed the advice that I was given from an etiquette coach.

Taking the tip of each index finger, touch the tip of your thumb, do this for each hand. What you get with your left hand forms the letter "b" for bread and with the right hand forms the letter "d" for drink. (I'd love to share a visual, but it's kind of hard holding the camera and taking a photo of your own hands - Sorry!!!)

So can you picture me with my hands under the table forming the letters with my hands (I know, pause for a little giggle) and sure enough, the guest seated next to me did not know this little tidbit of information and was drinking from my glass instead.

Now that wasn't the only thing my etiquette coach taught me... Another rule of etiquette is to never point out that someone is in error, so I reaaallly needed a sip of water and not wanting to share with my neighbor, who I wasn't extremely familiar with, I whispered to my husband and asked if I could partake of some his water and that I would explain later. He glanced over my way and gave me the little nod, no explanation necessary. Whew, no one was the wiser and I got my drink of water. Oh Happy Day!

This newest tip didn't come from Clinton Kelly and his book Freakin' Fabulous, but I thought that since we had been sharing dining etiquette from his book in our Freakin' Fabulous Friday series, I just had to share my lil' story and yes I giggled too, thinking of me with my hands under the table!!!

So, there you have it another tip towards becoming a more fabulous you!

All the best & 'til next time,

Featured Resource:

Rent Bridal Jewelry for your Wedding Day...

At Planned to Perfection we are always looking to add service and convenience to our wedding planning services as well as researching new and exciting information to share with our readers.

Hollywood has been renting diamond jewelry for years and now you can feel like the red carpet starlet on your wedding day when you don these exquisite pieces of jewelry to complement your gorgeous wedding gown. Now you can save 10% off the rental of your wedding day jewelry without sacrificing quality through our new partnership with Adorn Brides.

Check out some of their gorgeous baubles, first up the Quinn Earrings - These chic diamond earrings in white gold are the perfect wedding jewelry leasing option to compliment the Quinn Necklace. The two concentric leaf shapes with continuous diamonds also feature three larger diamonds below the post. Valued at $3500.00 you can rent 1.25 TW of these diamond beauties at only $120.00 - Plus use the promo code above and receive a 10% discount!!!

Or how about your Something Borrowed and Something Blue all in one shot with the Beckford necklace. Valued at $45,000.00 this beautiful sapphire (5.79 TW) & diamond (7.98 TW) necklace in white gold features square sapphire accents surrounded by diamonds. The largest sapphire measuring 1/4” is a stunning focal point. A perfect bridal jewelry rental for the bride or mother of the bride at only $1500.00!

Quick. Easy. And absolutely perfect.

Their Guarantee:

We guarantee the stones and metals of all our jewelry are genuine and of the finest quality. Prior to shipment, each piece is professionally inspected and cleaned, so you can feel confident it will shine and sparkle with brilliance.

So, do you want to sport the real thing on your wedding day? Tell us what you think...

All the best & 'til next time,

Share your Proposal and You Could Win a Set of Platinum Wedding Bands...

We were out in the blogisphere checking out some blogs and came across this new contest via OneWed and wanted to share the "scoop" with our readers:

OneWed is awarding one lucky reader the ultimate prize to get in on the trend of proposing to her man- a pair of hand engraved Platinum wedding bands from jewelry designer Kirk Kara, worth approximately $5,000!

We think our Savvy Scoop readers are the best, and since you and your fiancé will be wearing your wedding rings everyday for the rest of your lives, we want you to have the very best!

If you’re wondering why Platinum is considered the finest precious metal, here’s why:

Color: Unlike white gold, it’s a naturally white metal so the color will never fade.

Strong yet Gentle: It’s the strongest precious metal, so it will stand up to daily wear and tear. Even better, it’s a pure metal, making it hypoallergenic, ideal for the bride or groom with sensitive skin.

Rare: Platinum is 30 times more rare than gold. In fact, it is estimated that if all the mined Platinum in the world was poured into one Olympic-sized swimming pool, it would only be enough to cover your ankles. Gold, on the other hand, would completely fill more than three pools!

Now that you know why it has to be Platinum, let’s have a little fun, shall we?

Tell us in 200 words or less how you would (or will) POP your Platinum Proposal, and you could win his and hers Platinum wedding bands from jewelry designer Kirk Kara. Send your platinum proposal story to savvyscoop@onewed.com before midnight on July 15th. And don't forget, you must register on OneWed.com first, and provide your OneWed username along with your Platinum Proposal story! For full contest details, rules, and guidelines, click HERE!

We would also love, love, love to hear your proposal story, don't let OneWed be the only ones to hear how you popped the question, leave us a comment and tell us your story!

All the best & 'til next time,

Freakin' Fabulous Friday - Bread & Butter

Oh, the lucious carbs, I don't know about you but I love me some bread!!! Those tasty morsels can satisfy my hunger any day of the week.

Ok, I guess that I should get to our next little dining tip of the week - Proper dining etiquette suggests that you not be the first one to dive into the bread basket. If you want to be the first to partake, you need to first offer some of that goodness to your dining companions. When everyone else has had the opportunity to accept or decline, take a piece for yourself, placing it on your bread plate along with a dollop of butter, using your bread knife. Now don't go and slather the entire piece of bread with butter, I know it looks so good and tasty, but you are going to butter as you go, remember your manners. When you want to take a bite of your bread you need to break off a small portion, usually one or two bites worth, spreading that small portion on your bread plate, not up in the air for all to see and definitely not in the palm of your hand. Once you have delicately spread butter on this small portion, place your knife back on your bread plate. It should rest completely on your bread plate throughout the remainder of the meal and never touch the table again.

So there you have it, one more tip for becoming a more fabulous you!!! As for me, I'm headed to the kitchen for a roll or a biscuit or maybe even a croissant - must have carbs...

All the best & 'til next time,








Featured Resource:

New Series on TNT - Wedding Day

I am so excited about a new series on TNT that will be an uplifting and encouraging look at some of the obstacles and struggles that some couples experience on their path to the altar. The show will air on Tuesdays at 5 PM here in Arizona and at 7 PM Central Time Zone.

The season premiere begins with Holli & Steve from Saginaw, Michigan. Just four days before his wedding day in 2007, Steve received a call that his bride-to-be, Holli, had been injured in a near-fatal car crash and had only a 50% chance of surviving. After six days in a coma, she finally came to, but everyday since then has been a struggle to withstand the long, painful road to recovery...




Will you be watching this new series??? My advice, pick up an extra box of Kleenex at the grocery store, I know I will...

All the best & 'til next time,

It's Wedding Day for Lora & Dane

The big day has finally arrived for a very sweet and lovable couple, Lora and Dane. I met Lora the first part of April, Dane was still in Colorado finishing up school before moving here to Phoenix and Lora was looking for a little assistance with some final details and then help on Day of. Lora has been such an organized and extremely crafty bride, she has made my job so easy, I can't wait to see it all come together today.

It has been such an honor working with this couple the last two months, once again I will be sad, when we aren't chatting every couple of days about wedding plans. Oh well, another one married off - Congrats Lora & Dane!!!

All the best & 'til next time,