US Couture Wedding Consortium Blog

Be the Hostess with the Mostess

Katie Martin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:27:20 +0000

Never has it been more important to be the Hostess with the Mostess than during the wedding planning process. Whether you are the bride, maid of honor, mother of the bride or the mother of the groom you will want to come off as a gracious hostess.

Here are few quick pointers:

Always make sure the bride is informed of the guest list
Keep the guests in mind at all times
Make sure there will be sufficient refreshments
Have the appropriate entertainment
Be creative with decor (and enlist help where needed)
Write thank you notes

There really is an endless list of how to be a wonderful and gracious hostess. Here are a few websites to get your started:

Hostess with the Mostess (make sure you click through to their blog

CasaSugar - This website is filled with interesting articles for ideas - a true lifestyle blog

eHow - When in doubt - always go to websites like eHow, About and Ask

Bing - This is one of the best new search engines, giving google a run for its money

Look out for my upcoming new books The Everything Mother of the Bride Book and The Everything Wedding Book coming out in 2010! These books will also help with great hostess ideas for your upcoming wedding!

Congratulations and enjoy the Engagement Process!

Katie Martin

photo by Documentary Associates

Make-up Advice from Beke Beau!

Katie Martin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:19:09 +0000

Check out Beke’s updated website here!

www.bekebeau.com

Here is a an excerpt from the Well-Dressed Life Blog

During unbecoming economic times, maintaining confidence in how you present yourself to the world is more important than ever. At the same time, it’s hard to justify spending your hard-earned and perhaps limited funds on frivolities like make-up and skin care. Well, the forecast may be ugly, but you can feel pretty for less by knowing where to save and where to splurge when it comes to beauty products.
One make-up category I don’t get high and mighty over is mascara. That’s because brands like Cover Girl, Maybelline and L’Oreal spend just as much time and money on research as the flashier product lines, and these companies regularly turn out state-of-the-art lash weapons. My current favorite is L’Oreal’s Double Extend Beautytubes Mascara, which recently made my lashes so long that they touched my eyebrows, and the stuff did not smudge, period. The tears of joy I shed did not cause it to run, and it came off easily, if not a bit strangely (in tubes), with warm water. So run—don’t walk—to the nearest drugstore if reasonably-priced fringes that go on forever are your goal.
And whilst on the subject, just a quick note about the mascara darling of the beauty editorial empire, that is, Maybelline Great Lash. What the famous pink and green tube is “great” for is photo shoots at which deathly bored models are being scrutinized and fawned over continuously for any kind of imperfection. For the rest of us, Great Lash looks lush and silky for exactly five minutes before beginning its steady migration southward.
In the category of “I Will Not Compromise” are eye shadows and blushes. Your most wearable, go-to colors are always worth spending on, not only because higher-end products contain more pigment—meaning more bang for the buck—but also because of the superior range of shades and textures. It is my humble opinion that spending $25 on a NARS blush is well worth it, because nothing makes me sadder than a feebly-pigmented, cracked or crumbled blush imposter in a broken plastic compact. And don’t get me started on brushes; spend once on the best you can afford, lovingly care for them, and as I often say, you’ll make a furry friend for life—one that doesn’t need to go “walkies.”
My best shopping advice, whether in good times or bad, is to ask yourself, “do I really need this product?” or “am I looking for a buyer’s rush?” There is such a thing as too much, and hording make-up and skin care products won’t make your beauty regime any easier or your wallet any fatter – and the latter is one item in your life that actually looks good with a few extra pounds.

Happy looking beautiful!!!!!

Garters for your Wedding Day

Katie Martin — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:56:36 +0000

I had the pleasure of being at the Julianne Smith Launch Party at Hello Cupcake last night! Julianne has the most amazing, cute and sexy garters for your wedding day! To top it all off - she is local (Washington, DC)! We are going to start selling her garters in our office soon! Check them out:

We were able to eat yummy cupcakes and check out the garters all at the same time! I loved meeting Penny, the owner of Hello Cupcake, and eating a yummy carrot cake cupcake! Aren’t Penny and Julianne cuties! Cupcakes and garters - how could you go wrong????

Ivy Robinson came up from Charlotte for the event. Ivy is our Charlotte Couture Wedding ConsortiumDirector and she has been featured several times on Whose Wedding is it Anyway? and on the new series Hitched or Ditched!

I want to also send a quick thanks to Shannon from Sevan Photography for taking the photos and sending them to us so quickly! We were truly excited to be invited to the event and one of our brides go to be among the exclusive “10 brides only” list to check out the garters and meet wedding professionals from around the area!

Julianne’s motto: ”Embrace the Garter Tradition, With Style!”

She is able to custom coordinate your colors with your garter! Check out her website today!

More to come…

Katie Martin

Elegance & Simplicity

President

Founder of the USCWC

Eco-Friendly Wedding Make-Up

Katie Martin — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:23:11 +0000

So many brides have written in to me about how to have the best eco-friendly make-up possible for their wedding day. It really is a great way to start a new beauty regimen! I mentioned this briefly in a recent post for the Eco-Friendly wedding that was given away by the DC Green Wedding Consortium. Carola Myers was the make-up artist and used several eco-friendly products that are easy to find (and within a friendly price range as well)! Carola used Korres and Aveda products that can be found at Sephora, online and of course at Aveda stores!

Take a look at the bride’s make-up from the Earth Day Wedding- before and after photos taken by Jennifer Domenick of Love Life Images. Flawless, fabulous, earth-friendly make-up is possible!

Look and feel great on your wedding day while being Eco-Beautiful at the same time!

****Katie Martin

Elegance & Simplicity

US Couture Wedding Consortium Launched!

Katie Martin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:51:28 +0000

Welcome to the US Couture Wedding Consortium Blog! This is the place to be! Shortly we will be blogging daily!

Stay tuned!