Consultation Preparation 101

Since your engagement, you find that your mind is swirling with ideas for your beautiful day. Visions of all that is wedding related is dancing in your head-the design, the colors, the types of food, who will be invited, what color the napkins will be, who will stand for you- it's enough to drive even the most sane bride crazy!  But don't despair, we want to make your first consultation feel like a warm spring day on the beach-breezy and FUN!

Here's the lo-down on how to be prepared:

1.) BRING the following: your mood board, your inspiration clippings, your scrapbook page or folder, wedding magazines or any books where you found something that intrigued you.

2.) Make a List: the wedding party and quantities to prepare an accurate quotation, as well as a list of flower 'must haves' that you'd like to have in your wedding.  Download your checklist for a consultation with Bella You here! (under the 'contact us' tab!)

3.) The Budget:  You have to have some idea on how much you want to put towards flowers, otherwise any quote provided will be a shot in the dark!  We don't want to quote too high or too low, so the closer you can tell us the more happier you'll be when you're presented with your estimate on blooms for your Big Day.

4.) The Venue: We LOVE pictures.  To help us vision and create those dream pieces for your wedding, pictures of the venue, reception site and church are most welcome!  While we are constantly researching venues that brides will be using, the more visual we have the better.

5.) List of Questions: Yes, questions for us!  We highly encourage our brides to get to know us and to feel more comfortable that we get their vision.  Ask us which flowers are in season, which flowers we might suggest based on your style and themes. Ask to browse through photos of work that might be similar to what your style is, how can we stay within your budget but not compromise the style,  and if we can stop by your venue to give you a better idea of what we can suggest to you!  Are you curious about some of the hottest floral trends?  Start by checking out our Bella You Facebook Page for articles on up to date ideas on flowers that are in style.  If you're still wondering what your perfect style is link to Bella You Weddings under 'packages' for definitions on what type of theme best suits you.  You might be completely surprised to find our your true vision is different than what you expected.  Also, don't forget to pick up your copy of our Consultation Checklist under 'contact us' at our website as well!


We want you to feel comfortable and confident when you leave your first consultation that you will be 110% taken care of by us.  Your satisfaction makes us smile and we want nothing more than for your perfect day to go off without a hitch~well, the only hitch being you and yours truly that is. :-)

P.S. Check out a preview of one of our recent bridal photoshoots at Emerald Grand!  Although fridgid to the bone outside, our models made it look like springtime!

Make-up: Alaina Mitchell Makeup Art

Photography: Kristan Knippel Photography

Winter Wedding Splendor....

If you think there is nothing more romantic than the rich seasonal colors of winter white and cranberry red, the backdrop of cascading Christmas lights, the smell of fresh pine needles and the sparkle of snowflakes on a cool, wintry day, your dream wedding may be a winter wedding after all!

We adore winter weddings.  There is something so angelic about a bride dolled up in winter white with her hands fitting so cozy in her faux fur muff or classic white gloves.  She glows and sparkles just as bright as the setting that surrounds her.  And just because you don't find yourself residing in a state that has a blanket of freshly fallen snow, don't think that you can't still pull off your big winter day.  The beauty of themes is that no matter the weather, they can be modified to match the location.  While Florida brides might not have the same glittery sparkle of snow that brides in Colorado may have, don't fret.  Themes are only limited by your imagination. If you desire an icy, blue, and silver snowflake day but it's not even dipping below freezing outside, your decorations can still be an expression of exactly what you want.  Are you more of a Christmas greenery, fresh cranberries in vases, coupled with pine cones and elements of the warm glow of ivory votives?   All of these details can be a part of your wedding design no matter where your Big Day will be held. 

So take a moment to look through several of our winter creations and check out some of our recent inspirations~we're sure if your truly a winter bride that you'll fall in love with some of shimmery details!

~~Thanks again to the always amazing Kristan Knippel Photography and Alaina Mitchell Makeup Art for the stunning photos and beautiful makeup on our model!~~

~A few of our favorite Wintry inspirations~

Fall Frenzy...

It's that time of year where Spring brides are beginning to really bring out their thinking caps (and veils~i know, cheesy) in order to get an overall feel of how the big day is going to play out.  If you're a March bride for instance, can you believe you only have approximately 3 months left of finalizing before you walk down that isle?  As a March bride myself, I remember the hustle and bustle of the holidays-they were spent as an opportunity to coordinate things with family while I actually had them in the same room!  What a relief that was!  The 3-4 month lookout is also a good time to begin to finalize flower orders and ensuring that the colors and types of flowers you want will be available.  Here are a few questions you should begin asking yourself:

1.) Have my tastes/ideas changed?-  Perhaps you changed the bridesmaid dresses or caught a glimpse of an inspiration bouquet that you just had to mimic.  Ideas change.  That's normal over the process!  I always encourage brides to take a glimpse a few months out to see if any modifications need to be made to the original intent of the flowers.

2.) Do I have my numbers correct? - Has your wedding party expanded? Did your friend join the Peace Corp and now instead of her standing up for you she'll be viewing your day via Skype from South Africa?  Whatever the case may be, do a quick run down of the status of your party to ensure that you have the correct number of bouts, corsages, bouquets and centerpieces for your tables. 

3.)  Get specific- At this point you've most likely nailed down a color scheme and the main focal flowers that you want highlighted in your arrangements but have you thought of specifics?  Greenery? Filler flowers? Back up flowers in case a seasonal flower is unavailable?  Some brides have a very laizze-fair attitude in regards to this others have a precise image of what they want their whole design of the wedding to look like.  If you're one who prefers plumosa over seeded eucalyptus, bear grass over banana leaf then begin to take a real close look at the potential designs to make sure all the details are defined!

As you may be able to tell by the weddings that we have designed, we LOVE color.  There is just a certain WOW factor when you see the pop of color against a white or ivory dress.  Needless to say fall colors open up windows of opportunity as a designer-the golden undertones complemented by the reds, oranges, and plums sometimes evoke a comforting feeling in us all as we are reminded of memories from childhood of carving pumpkins and sinking our teeth into sweet caramel apples.  Fall is inspiring in many ways to Lauren and I and you'll find we enjoy incorporating all of the fruits of the harvests into our designs as well.  Happy Fall! 

P.S. Don't forget to check out our 'teammates' in the wedding business!

Alaina Mitchell Makeup Art  and  Kristan Knippel Photography !  They are both fantastic and check back for our collaborative debut as the ultimate wedding team!

Thank you Kristan for capturing the essence of these designs behind your lens!

New Beginnings....

August 18th, 2010, a day that will leave a lasting impression in our minds because it's the day that we  conceived the idea and concept behind Bella You.  While sipping a cup of hazelnut coffee,( compliments of Panara Bread none the less), Lauren and I came to the conclusion that there was a need in the wedding market for a detail-oriented, budget savvy, modern and environmentally friendly wedding flower business. (say that 5 times fast.)  We sat and pondered for hours what we would offer to clients, what would set us apart from the rest of the crowd and how we would pursue a business partnership.  We reminisced about how memorable and amazing both of our weddings were (in part thanks to the creativity and ingeniousness of our Mom) and we decided that we wanted to offer brides out there the same opportunities that we both had: to decorate their weddings with beautiful flowers.  You know that line in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, "Frost yourself"?  Well we want you to flower yourself.  We want to mix your own spice of life with our creative juices and witness what crazy concoction we can create.  So you may be asking why choose Bella You?  What makes us so different than the rest of the florists in the area?  So, to answer your questions, we've created a list of what Bella You, can offer you....

.:. An Experience
We want to offer you a complete package of wedding flower expertise.  With a combined 20 years of experience in the floral industry and an open mind to creative trends, we want to deliver you more than just flowers.  We want you to visualize what you want in your wedding, bring all the ideas to the table during your consult and then walk away feeling tickled that you're wedding is going to be FABULOUS. 

.:. Budget Savvy options
We're in a recession people but the wedding MUST go on!  We want to offer budget savvy brides options to get what they want and deserve in their wedding flowers while at the same time adhering to the dollar signs $$.  We both know what it's like to be on a tight budget for a wedding in order to cram in all that you want and believe me, we want you to see the flowers for how beautiful they look on your wedding day, rather than for what they cost! 

.:. Creativity and Detail
If you're looking for a cookie-cutter wedding, we are NOT the best option for you.  While we want to package your flowers to give you the most bang for your buck, every wedding will be personalized, paying special attention to all the little details that will make you and the guests go 'oooooohhh, ahhhh'!  Do you have a special token you want attached to each bouquet?  Perhaps you have some antique containers from your grandmother that you would love to showcase in your centerpieces.  Maybe you have an inside joke between you and your future spouse that you want to showcase at your reception in some crazy, funky way.  Whatever it may be, we want to help you make your ideas reality, with a little bit of creative pizazz from us!

So bear with us as the our business begins to bloom in the next few weeks and coming months.  We look forward to visiting with some of you beautiful brides out there as well as any businesses seeking to host an upcoming event.  We're open to bringing a unique luster to whatever task it may be that we take on and look forward to sharing the journey with you!

We leave you with a taste of a wedding close to our hearts!

photography compliments of Birdsong Photography