WEDDING BLOG

Happy Friday everyone! It’s our final day of giveaways here on Junebug and we sure have enjoyed spreading the holiday cheer and reading all of your thoughtful and creative comments this week! Today we want to offer you support, encouragement and helpful tools for your wedding planning process! Planning a wedding is no small feat, so we have two giveaways going on today to help you plan your wedding, your way.

Four Junebug readers will receive:

– A copy of our new book, Planning Your Wedding: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Perfect Day!

And one grand prize winner will receive:

– A copy of our book!

– A beautiful Custom Marriage Certificate from Wiley Valentine!

– A Be Wed Planner from Evotive!

– A Name change gift card from Miss Now Mrs.!

– And a free wedding website from Nearlyweds.com!

To enter to win, leave us a comment telling us about your most valuable wedding planning resource. Blogs, magazines, websites, books, professional references, family, friends? Where have you been finding your most useful wedding planning information? We will accept entries through Sunday night and we’ll announce all the winners from the week on Monday, December 21st. Good luck!

Planning Your Wedding: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Perfect Day is the book that Blair, Kim and I wrote as part of the new Knack how-to book series. We worked hard to make it as helpful, encouraging, and stylish as we possibly could, and we packed it full of gorgeous photos to give you all kinds of inspiration for your big day!

Wiley Valentine’s wedding invitations are favorites of brides everywhere- their super creative designs are truly one of a kind! Another fun item they recently came up with? Custom marriage certificates to save as keepsakes! Genius! So much lovelier than the official paperwork, these certificates would look amazing as part of a wedding album or framed and hanging on the wall of your home.

The Be Wed Planner from Evotive is a modern wedding planner and organizer that helps make your wedding planning process organized, strategic, and personal to you. No matter what your budget, and whether youre planning the wedding yourself, or working with a consultant, this creative system has everything you need to keep you on track and feeling like you’ve got it all under control in one handy place!

If you’re changing your last name after your wedding, spare yourself a big, big headache, and don’t try to navigate all that paperwork alone! The Miss Now Mrs. Name Change Service supplys you with all the forms you’ll need for your state, an auto-fill feature so you only have to enter in your information once, specific instructions for proper filing, and fantastic personal customer service to help you through it all. Nice!

Nearlyweds wedding websites offers up creative wedding website templates (with matching invitations- how smart!) that are full of useful features and gorgeous designs. You can write a blog, track on-line RSVPs, upload unlimited photos to galleries, use push-pin maps to show where your guests are traveling from, upload music, share all of your wedding information and let your guests comment and share photos and stories of their own. All this with an easy to use drag-and-drop editor and layouts created by popular wedding invitation designers. What more could a girl ask for from a wedding website? We love it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the businesses who’ve participate in our holiday giveaway week! We’ve been thrilled to show your work to the world! Readers, don’t forget to enter all the giveaways from the past week-  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and check back on Monday to see who’s going home with what! Have a wonderful weekend, and the happiest of holidays! xoxo

Today is day four of our giveaway week, and I must say I’ve been waiting excitedly for this one! Get your sweet tooth ready because today is all about indulging in one of the finest things in life- dessert!!! Delicious treats are a beloved part of both the holiday season and weddings, so we simply had to include some of our favorite sweet things in our week of gifts for you. Today’s oh-so-lucky winner will receive:

– An Ultimate Indulgence Truffles & Caramels gift box from Fran’s Chocolates, our favorite local chocolatier!!!

But that’s not all, since our other favorite treat is, undoubtedly, cupcakes, we contacted a few of the of the very best cupcake bakeries around the country to spread the giveaway love far and wide. If you’re a Junebug reader in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago or Washington DC, here’s what you just might win:

– Seattle- A gift card for a dozen cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes!

– Los Angeles- A cupcake gift box from Vanilla Bake Shop!

– Chicago- A $50 gift certificate to More Cupcakes!

–  Washington DC- A gift card for a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake!

To enter to win, leave us a comment describing your own favorite sweet treats, and how you’re incorporating desserts into your wedding. If you’re in one of our four cupcake cities, be sure to include that in your comment as well!

Fran’s Chocolates is a Seattle dessert institution and she’s our go-to gal for sweet, sweet gifts. If you’ve never tried one of Fran’s salted caramels, you simply have not lived. (Just sayin!) This gorgeous gift box includes an abundant assortment of 68 signature truffles and caramels, and will turn you into a Fran’s Chocolates convert in no time flat.

Seattle’s Trophy Cupcakes tempts us daily with their constant stream of creative new flavors and their three lovely locations. Sometimes I can hear them calling my name all the way at my desk! Owner Jennifer Shea is a cupcake super star and she and her team whip up cupcakes perfect for weddings, special celebrations, or just an everyday treat. Favorite flavors: Snickerdoodle, Lemon Coconut, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chai Cardamom, Chocolate Graham Cracker Smore and Bourbon Eggnog.

Vanilla Bake Shop is a favorite of, oh, nearly everyone in the LA area for cupcakes, wedding cakes and other desserts, and we’re so excited to have them offering up their goods to you! Owned by husband and wife team, Amy and Jeremy, this Santa Monica bakery is a must try! Favorite flavors: Moms’ Birthday Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip, Southern Red Velvet, Fudgy Brownie and Old Fashioned.

Chicago’s More Cupcakes take the art of cupcakes to a whole new culinary level. Owner and “cupcake curator” Patty Rothman creates one-of-a-kind flavor combinations that read like a  restaurant menu; Mojito, Goat Cheese Basil, BLT, Gin & Juice, Salted Caramel, Pink Grapefruit and Parmesan Brown Butter just to name a few. Chicago here I come! Check out their website for more information and to learn about their local and national shipping options!

Washington DC’s Georgetown Cupcake has just opened their second location and is dedicated to bringing the very best cupcakes to the DC area, and the world (they ship right to your door!) Owned by sisters Katherine and Sophie, Georgetown Cupcake is inspired by their grandmothers and a lifelong love of baking. How sweet is that? Favorite flavors: Key Lime, Chocolate Hazelnut, Lava Fudge, Toffee Crunch, Mocha, Caramel Apple and Gingerbread. Yum!

Thank you to all the businesses sharing their talents and products with us today, we’re so grateful! Don’t forget to enter the giveaways from Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and if you’re looking for wedding planning resources, don’t miss our Plan Your Wedding Hotlist with a trusted list of the very best wedding pros in Seattle and Southern California!

Day three of our wedding giveaway week has arrived, and today it’s all about Gratitude and Gifts! We’re talking about gift registries for you, gifts of thanks for your friends and family, and gratitude in general for finding the kind of love you want to share for the rest of your life! Woo-hoo! Our big winner for today will receive:

– A pair of beautiful champagne flutes from Monique Lhuillier’s home gifts collection

– A trio of colorful glassybaby hand blown glass votives

– A set of 50 personalized thank you notes from Papeterie

– And a $50 gift certificate from Gent Supply Company

To enter to win leave us a comment explaining what you find you’re most grateful for as you plan your wedding, and what kinds of gifts you’re thinking about giving to all those who are helping you along the way. We’ll choose a winner at the end of the day on Sunday, and announce the results on Monday, December 21st.

Most of us know Monique Lhuillier for her stunning wedding dress designs, but she also has a line of china, glassware and home gifts that are to-die-for. With details reminiscent of delicate wedding fabric embellishments, these lovely pieces would make every day feel like a special occasion. The team at Monique Lhuillier is generously offering a pair of their champagne flutes so you can toast to each other on your wedding day, and again and again on any day! You can shop the home gifts collection online at MoniqueLhuililer.com, and you can even set up an online wedding registry there.

Glassybaby glass votives are major favorites of ours at Junebug. The color range to choose from is irresistible, and the warm glow they create once they’re lit it a joy to see. Take it from me, when shopping for glassybabys, it is so hard to stop at just one! These amazing home decor accessories make the perfect gifts for Moms, bridesmaids and helpful friends, and now glassybaby even offers a rental program for weddings in the Seattle area and an online gift registry for couples anywhere in the country. Check out their website to set up your wedding registry and choose from every color under the sun!

Hand written thank you notes are a must for all those wedding presents you’re about to receive, and there is nothing quite as sweet as having personalized notes with your names on them together, side by side. Designer Kimberly Chiu and her team at Papeterie offer a wide variety of pretty thank you notes that come in flat or folded versions and can be customized with your newlywed names. See the full collection of designs on their website, as well as wedding invitations, favor tags, menus, save the dates, and more! 

Gent Supply Company is all about fun gifts and gadgets that any guy would love. Wacky cuff links for your groomsmen, tech gadgets for your Dad, and funky home decor items and kitchen tools to brighten up your soon-to-be-husband’s home. There’s a little something here for everyone, which makes shopping their site a whole lot of fun! Take a look through and see what you find for all the important men in your life and in your wedding!

Thank you to the businesses who are so generously sharing their products with all of us, and good luck to all who enter! Don’t forget to enter the giveaways from Monday and Tuesday, and to check in for more goodies on Thursday and Friday too!