Aaron Watson Photography captured this gorgeous wedding day back in October. The wedding and reception were both held at Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard. I love this couple and, lucky for me, get to live near them very soon! Here are some shots of the wedding party before the ceremony began:

More often than not your DJ will ask for your insight into the reception playlist. You can at least come up with a “Must Haves” list and a “Do Not Play” list. Just in case you need some help allow me to suggest a few songs to add to your “Do Not Play” list:

“Irreplaceable” by Beyonce

“Since You’ve Been Gone/Already Gone/Breakaway/Walk Away” by Kelly Clarkson, you get the point

“Me and Mrs. Jones” by Micheal Bubble or others

“Bad Romance” by Lady GaGa

“Whatcha Say” by Jason Derulo

“3″ by Britney Spears

and so on…

If you ask why, simply google the lyrics to any one of those songs. You’ll get the point. I’ve heard nearly all of those songs  played at various wedding receptions and I think keeping a positive view of love and romance is the best way to go during a wedding. I’m just saying…

Once you’re engaged, creating a personalized wedding website is a great way to communicate wedding information to guests quickly and efficiently. You get to have fun and upload photos, tell your engagement story, talk about your bridesmaids, create an online guestbook and much more. There are many useful sources available to build your site on:

TheKnot.com

MyWedding.com

WedOrama.com

My newly engaged sister just created one for her June 2010 wedding. Check it out here! Be practical – once you have the information gathered, add hotel contact numbers, travel directions, wedding attire, the weekend’s events, and local attractions. Have fun with it! It’s a great tool to use when planning a large wedding.

Seriously ask yourself this question. Are all the planning, details, glitter and glamor for you and your soon-to-be spouse or is it for everyone invited who witnesses your wedding day? I think it’s for the guests.

Obviously, I believe that the actual covenant that takes place on your wedding day is for the bride and groom alone and, yes, the wedding is all about the couple. But what is the point of dressing up a table, creating place cards, printing programs, or hiring a DJ if the wedding celebration is for you? You don’t need to be reminded of the order of service or where each guest eats dinner. We make weddings beautiful for our guests in order that they might see how excited we are to be sharing with them in our most special day.

If a wedding celebration is for the guests, then think about how you can make the experience the best for your guests. This means taking time to plan out the details, hire a coordinator to keep the flow of things going, use real dishes instead of paper products, if it’s a hot summer day provide AC and bug spray, if it’s cold then provide a heated room, hire a caterer who provides the clean-up service. Each and every decision made to improve your invited guests’ experiences will not be forgotten.

The best weddings are the ones where guests walk away thinking, “What a wonderful time we just had. I’m glad we were invited to this wedding.”

Planning a wedding in Charlottesville, Virginia and looking for a make-up artist? Look no further than Neroli Spa & Apothecary. Neroli offers a make-up artist who will travel to your on-site location the day of your wedding and complete your entire bridal party’s make-up or simply just the bride’s. Neroli Spa provides all of your make-up needs using the modern and completely glamorous line of Becca. You will not be disappointed. Not only is the artist a good friend of mine who I would trust to paint my face for any occasion, but she is incredibly talented and masters the art of make-up!

Did you know you can simply walk into a bridal boutique and have them size you for a particular designer dress? This is very helpful for long distance bridesmaids! They may not be able to make it to your bridal party dress shopping day but they can still get the correct measurements to the store you will be purchasing the dresses from. Since every designer dress fits differently, it is best to take your measurements and compare them to the corresponding size charts.

If the long distance bridesmaids cannot make it to the store to try on the dress, simply look up a local boutique or two that carries the designer you are using and have her go to that store to get sized. She can then call in to your shop and get the right size ordered. Designers such as Alfred Angelo, Watters, The Dessy Group, and Bill Levkoff are very common and are generally carried in most states. Make being one of your bridesmaids as easy, stress-free, and enjoyable as possible! They will love you for it.

How cute are these girls? The bride wore the gold shoes in the middle and she let each of her bridesmaids pick out a fun, funky shoe to wear. The dresses were T Length so you could see every bit of shoe. It was so fun and didn’t throw the uniformed look off at all. Try something unique like this in your bridal party!

The most popular color choice for bridesmaids dresses this year has been BLUE!