At Bella Signature Design we LOVE creativeLIVE – it was such a pleasure to work with cL’s team on the Jasmine Star workshop last August, and of course with Laura Marchbanks, the stunning bride who got married that day as part of the creativeLIVE / Jasmine Star lovefest! We are brimming with excitement here at BElla over our fabulous plans and designs for the WPPI Photoshoot that Laura will be a part of, and decided to up the ante by giving creativeLIVE a spot to giveaway!

So, how do you enter, you say?

All youhave to do is enter a comment here on our Bella blog, amd amswer two questions:

1. Why you want to work with Bella Signature design at WPPI 2011

2. What you want to see next out of creativeLIVE

Super simple!

Winner will be announced on Valentines Day – from our heart to yours!

When I started the process of designing Laura and Billy’s Wedding (yes, with a  four week timeframe)  I never saw it as an “Anthropologie Wedding,” but so many people have commented that it felt this way to them when they viewed the amazing pictures shot by Jasmine Star! What I felt more than anything as I stepped back and viewed the pictures was that it was really a reflection of Laura and Billy.  Everything from the mismatched vintage chandeliers we strung, the hanging windowpanes as people walked in, the caramel/taupey colors of the blooms in her bouquet- it just felt SO LAURA (and Billy – but I definitely got to know Laura better in the time we all spent together.)

I loved their story, how brave they were to allow a bunch of strangers to design and create their wedding in such a short time, and to broadcast it live for millions to see.  They knew that all that really mattered was that they loved each other (and their impeccable taste, joy for life in general and great friends and family didn’t hurt.)

As I look over these pictures, I am struck by that process of “getting into a bride’s head” to help her design the wedding she wants.  We spend hours, weeks, months together – and then it’s all done!  Many of my brides and I have remained great friends, have worked on projects, and still check in with each other.  I feel so blessed to be part of peoples lives in such a special way, and am grateful that I get to create, share and feel every single day.  Laura and Billy – thank you – you are a joy, and I can not wait to watch your marriage and careers grow!

I LOVE this photo – It is the epitome of who they are – fun, joyful, sweet.  And Jasmine, thanks for taking me with you on this crazy ride of a live broadcast wedding.  I’ve loved your work, but now I’ve experienced YOU – what a treat.  It’s always great to work with other great professionals – it’s even better to work with those that “get it,” get you, and get the client. JOY!

Once we found our venue, all the design ideas for Laura and Billy clicked into place.  I was in love with the venue, and quite inspired by it!  I saw hundreds of chandeliers, windows swathed in silk..but of course, like most weddings, there is a budget to keep to, and so there was a limit to the chandeliers and the fabric draping and fabulous lighting I saw in my head.  Ah, but how to help the bride SEE what is inside my head?  That’s where our wonderful Nadia comes in – since I can’t draw, she reaches right inside my head and manages to sketch out my ideas for the client to see.

Laura loves color, and has a fabulous sense of style, yet had some difficulty articulating what she wanted.  Over a few session and lots of color swatches (and a bit of help from the internet, who watched us plan this whole wedding live!) later, we picked a yummy color palette of brown sugar (a coppery brown), cobalt blue, metallic gold and cream.   I loved how the brown sugar color worked well with the brick in the building!  Stay tuned for pictures from the actual wedding, shot by Jasmine Star – how close will our sketch be??

Thank you again to Christy from Junebug for the FABULOUS photos!

I had the pleasure of going Gown Shopping with Laura – only a few of the brides I work with end up having me accompany them on all their vendor visits, as there is only one of me to go around!  I do end up personally working with about 10 special brides a year who start with Bella Signature Design from start to finish and collaborate with us on the entire wedding from gown, invitations, venue, decor, etc.  I love this process, and of course it’s much more fun than hearing it secondhand from one of my assistants!  Laura was so fun during this process – listening to advice from her friends, but also being honest with herself about what she wanted.  We went to several different boutiques that I recommend: La Belle Elaines, Marcella’s and La Votre (formerly the Bridal Garden).  Christy from Junebug Weddings came along to capture photos of Laura trying on gowns at La Belle Elaine’s.  You can even watch our visit to La Belle Elaines here, as the film crew was on hand to capture it!

Which gown do you like the best?  And don’t we all want to know which gown she will end up with?  (Psst – I just found out which one!)

You can watch our  broadcasts and planning sessions with myself, Jasmine Star, Christy from Junebug Weddings and of course the bride, Laura here.

I am so excited to be working with Laura and Billy!  Laura and Billy were chosen as the lucky recipients of the “Jasmine Star/CreativeLive/Bella Signature Design Wedding” Phew – a mouthful – but what an experience!  In just four weeks, we are planning and designing a fabulous, stylish, fun wedding for Laura and Billy, who not only get our planning and design services for free, but free photography from the amazing Jasmine Star and coverage from CreativeLive.  See more information about the CreativeLive Wedding here.

Laura has been a blast to work with.  She’s is absolutely sweet, hilarious, open-minded.  She has some definite ideas on what she likes, which is actually very helpful to the process of planning and designing.  It is hard for her to make the actual decisions, but with guidance from myself and her bridesmaids (and the urgency of our timeline) she has been crossing things off of our list!

Billy also seems very easy going and fun – they are obviously in love, and always full of joy and laughter when I am with them.

Christy of the uberfantastic Junebug Weddings Blog has been on hand to not only capture these amazing images but to blog her point of view on this experience on the Junebug blog.  Follow our adventures on the Bella blog, Junebug blog, and of course, every Monday at Noon PST at Creativelive.com/live – where you can even ask questions as we broadcast live and discuss where we are planning process so far.

Yes, indeed, we have been given the challenge to plan a fabulous wedding in four weeks!  In the month of August, of course, THE busiest wedding season here in Seattle!  But our creative team at Bella is not only up for the task, we are super excited!  (I love a challenge ).  I’ll be blogging about my daily adventures with our bride Laura on our Bella blog – for more information see our previous post about the Jasmine Star and Junebug wedding adventure!

Christy from Junebug weddings will be featuring some of our fun as well, on her outstanding, national wedding blog, What Juneblog Loves, and capturing photos along the way! (We had so much fun dress shopping with Laura the other day!)

And while you may not have to plan YOUR wedding in Four weeks, just imagine how great your planning will go with even more time!  This is your chance to glimpse into the world of a wedding planner and designer – see everything, from start to finish, in a four week period

Our live broadcast session will be live every Monday, so come tune in! You can even chat via our chatline to ask questions during the show, or simply follow along on twitter with hashtags #starwedding and #4weekwedding.  We’ll answer as many questions live while we are broadcasting during the Monday live session as we can! (and some afterwards as well)

The link to the live video is:
http://creativelive.com/live

The chatroom to ask questions during that live event is:
http://creativelive.com/chat

Come join us!

And thanks Tania, for the great picture!

Ah, what a wonderful buzz is going around at the Bella Design Studio!  I’ve been having a blast chatting/skyping with Jasmine Star about the exciting wedding  we are working on together…Jasmine, one of the top ten wedding photographers in America, is coming to Seattle not only to shoot a wedding in her signature style, but to have it broadcast live while she’s doing it!  Her five day seminar about wedding photography culminates with  the shooting of an actual wedding – which lucky Laura and Billy won after sending in videos of themselves!  Laura and Billy will get the ceremony and reception hosted by CreativeLive, the mastermind behind the filming and broadcasting of this event, while Jasmine is sponsoring the photography, and Bella Signature Design is sponsoring all the planning and design.  Lucky Couple!  Of course, they do have to put up with cameras following them everywhere – and trying to creative a stunning amazing wedding – in 4 weeks!  Our creative team at Bella is up to the task!

Which brings me to the next exciting bit…

Over the next 4 weeks, CreativeLive will be filming and broadcasting “How to Plan a Fabulous Wedding in Four Weeks”  We will cover everything from Venue selection, gown shopping (how to get a wedding Gown in four weeks, oh yes!), cake, catering, and of course, design!  Follow us online on this whirlwind adventure, as I get to know Laura and Billy, and plan their entire, amazing wedding in less than a month!  More details tomorrow – stay tuned!  We’ll post the link where you can see us broadcast live on Monday at noon.

Today’s adventure?  The Gown! The bride Laura and I will be heading to some of Seattle’ best gown boutiques to find the dress of her dreams!  Cameras will be in tow to capture all the fun, and you’ll be able to see footage, and our first live broadcast session on Monday!  You can even follow along on  twitter, and tweet in questions during the show.

To make things even more fun, the amazing Christy Weber of Junebug Weddings is lending her photographic talent during these four weeks to capture the planning session in action.  We know you already follow the fabulous blog What Junebug loves, so follow our planning adventures along and see some of Christy’s beautiful images and her take on things as Junebug blogs about Laura and Billy and our planning sessions!

More over the weekend!