We've Moved Our Blog!

Hey gang -- thank you for following us on Blogger!

But, we've now moved the blog over to:

http://blog.realweddingsmag.com/

Please check us out there for more tips, trends and inspiration from the folks at Real Weddings Magazine!

Thanks!

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Visit Real Weddings Magazine * Visit Style Media Group * Contact Real Weddings Sacramento Magazine

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Looking for local Sacramento wedding vendors?

Build your dream team at Real Weddings Magazine's Resource Guide. Click here to get started!

Get Inspired! Introducing the Real Weddings Magazine Inspiration Boards

Hello dear Real Weddings Magazine Brides!

You've told us over and over and over again, how very much you are inspired by the real weddings that we feature in the print magazine and on our Web site: www.realweddingsmag.com/.

In our quest to constantly inspire you, and to help you plan the wedding of your dreams, we're so excited to announce our Real Weddings Magazine Inspiration Boards!

Each week, we hope to present you with a new set of Inspiration Boards — with photos, details and fun from each couple's wedding!

So without further ado, may we present...Sara & Steven Schelk, Real Weddings Magazine Inspiration Boards!

The Couple: Sara and Steven Schelk

Wedding Date: April 25, 2009

Photography by: Justin Buettner Photography

What was the most amazing part of your day?
Everything was so amazing it's too hard to choose!

Of course I would have to start with the ceremony first, the part where we became husband and wife in front of our closest friends and family. But, along with that I would say seeing everything come together. It was important to me to plan my own wedding and have everything look exactly the way I imagined. So much so that I woke up very early the day of the wedding to be there and to decorate (with the help of my friends and family) prior to getting ready. I had so much fun planning the wedding and could not have hoped for better results. It was beautiful :)

What else would you like to share about your big day?
I spent a long time thinking about what I should use as a wedding favor. There are so many wonderful things out there, but I really wanted to choose something I knew people would actually use.

I had been to several weddings where I witnessed the wedding favors literally being thrown away, which is heart breaking when you consider all the money and thought that goes into the favors.

So after months of thinking about it, I decided to order champagne glasses, have them engraved with our names and wedding date, and tie a ribbon around each one that read "thank you."

I realized later that this choice of favor killed two birds with one stone as I didn't then have to supply champagne glasses for the toast.

I received a lot of compliments on these favors, and our guests tell me all the time they use them!

Venue: The Patrick K. Willis Estate, located in Los Lagos, previously the summer home of Eddie Murphy

Photographer: Justin Buettner Photography

Caterer: Romano's Macaroni Grill

Cake: Ricks Dessert Diner

Flowers: Purchased the day prior at Flora Fresh and arranged by my aunt Monica Barnhill and my mother Sharon Svee

Wedding Dress: David's Bridal

Bridesmaid Dresses: David's Bridal

DJ/Entertainment: David Schmidt, DJ Schmidty for Beat Chef Productions

Hair: Heather Williams with Brockway Hair Salon and Jene' Console with Console Beauty Service

Make-up: Jene' Console with Console Beauty Service

Linens/Tables: Celebrations! Elegant Party Rentals

Flower Headbands: Bebe

Honeymoon Location: South Lake Tahoe

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Want more Real Weddings? We're serving them up for you at http://www.realweddingsmag.com/!

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Photos courtesy of Justin Buettner Photography.

About Justin Buetter Photography
Justin Buettner gradated from Loyola Marymount University with a BA in film production and a minor in Animation and Business Administration. He has gone on to serve as the director of photography on more than 20 independent films working with some of the industry's finest young talent.

In 2000 he became the Head of Graphics for Jewelry.com. Justin started their digital studio photographing and creating a digital catalogue of over 10,000 unique images before the company was sold in 2001. He then went on to serve as a motion capture editor at House of Moves working on special effects for film and video games.

After relocating to the Sacramento area, Justin started his own business and has specialized in portraiture and wedding photography. Over the last five years Justin Buettner has photographed over 130 weddings and numerous other events. Although his professional experience began in Los Angeles, Justin grew up in Grass Valley located just north of Sacramento.

Check out Justin's profile on Real Weddings Magazine!

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Real Weddings Magazine * Style Media Group * Contact Real Weddings Magazine

Dynamite Weddings Presents the Bridal Mixer

Your beloved popped the question, and you said "Yes!" You're now officially engaged!

But now what? Do you have any idea where to start? Or better yet, do you have any idea of what a wedding really costs?

To help, our friends at Dynamite Weddings presents the Bridal Mixer!

Come learn and mingle in a casual, intimate environment with experts on hand to answer all these pressing questions. This informal but educational evening will be something you won't want to miss.

Here's the 411:

When: January 7, 2010

Time: 5:30pm to 8:00pm

Where: The Citizen Hotel's 7th Floor Terrace, 926 J Street in Sacramento

Pre-registering is not required, but is encouraged! And, you save a little money too...by pre-registering, your name will be on "The List" at the door (cover charge of $10 at the door if not pre-registered).

Click here to register now!

And, we'll be there handing out the current issue of Real Weddings Magazine, and our cover model contest entry forms!

Don't miss your opportunity to check out this gorgeous wedding venue, meet with some pretty cool wedding vendors and get started planning the wedding of your dreams!

About Dynamite Weddings:
Dynamite Weddings is a premium informational resource, providing useful, innovative content from the authority on weddings: industry professionals and brides! Check out our DAILY changing Tips and Trends (aka TNT)! Check out the hand selected Dynamite Experts who are anxious to make your wedding day vision a reality! Visit http://www.dynamiteweddings.com/ today!

Our Beautiful Cover Model Finalist Amelia Ties the Knot

Since we launched Real Weddings Sacramento Magazine, we've been fortunate to meet so many amazing brides, and we're lucky enough to spend one crazy day each issue with three of them as they model for our magazine.

On the cover of our current issue, we feature three gorgeous brides: Emily, Autumn and Amelia.

Our beautiful Amelia recently married the man of her dreams, Tyson, in a breathtaking locale. She was kind enough to share some details of her special day and her photographer, Dev Khalsa Photography (devkhalsaphotography.com) generously shared some of the stunning photos.

In her own words, here's more on Amelia's special day:

When?
June 27, 2009 at 5 p.m.

Where?
Beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho

What was the most special thing about the day?
That I got to say I DO to my soul-mate! But if you're looking for another answer...I have to say that during our ceremony, on the blessing part, an unexpected wind that lasted for about 10 seconds left all of us with serious goose-bumps...yes, truly a magical moment. Seeing our parents interacting with each other, both families getting to know each other for first time (!) and having our closest friends with us for a couple of days were the most amazing things!

Anything funny or unexpected on the big day?
My now brother-in law, Todd, in the middle of the ceremony when they asked for the RING, he acted like he forgot it...or that it was lost (!!!)...and then said something like, "Well, I needed to lighten up the moment." Hahahahaa! Or, when I started crying, and my maid of honor, Claudia, couldn't find a tissue, and instead handed me a piece of paper she had in the middle of her boobs! Hahahahaha...hilarious! Everyone laughed a lot at both scenarios! Both moms speaking to each other in different languages and still understanding each other? Yes, probably counts also as one of the funniest things that day!

And on the serious side, seeing Tyson at the end of the aisle and how he started to cry when he saw me for first time as a Bride was truly priceless...and the happiest moment of my life I had enjoyed (yet!)! (He saw the magazine [the cover of Real Weddings Sacramento Magazine which Amelia graces!] the day after our wedding, and didn't looked my way when I was coming over the ceremony site, just right before I was getting closer, he turned my way.)

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Hawaii: Oahu & Kauai (l-o-v-e it!)

Congrats to Amelia and Tyson!

Learn more about Real Weddings Sacramento Magazine at: http://www.realweddingsmag.com

Real Weddings Sacramento to the Sierra Magazine, produced by Sierrastyle Weddings, LLC - a division of Style Media Group (formerly Sierrastyle Publishing) - is the premier wedding planning resource for today's brides and grooms! We're dedicated to offering brides and grooms a world class publication that presents the very best in the wedding industry - from real Sacramento weddings featuring local Sacramento-area resources, our cover model contest featuring beautiful wedding dresses from area boutiques to unique honeymoon ideas and our inspirational style files wedding planning resource guide with sumptuous wedding cakes, gorgeous bridal gowns, exquisite wedding flowers, fabulous favors and interesting invitations, along with our comprehensive wedding vendor lists (from Sacramento wedding venues, Sacramento wedding photographers, Sacramento entertainment/djs, floral designers to officiants, bridal gown boutiques, and wedding planners), Real Weddings Sacramento Magazine has it all - from Sacramento to the Sierra (yep, that means Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, Lake Tahoe, Placerville, El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay, Rocklin and everything in between and beyond)! Let the wedding planning begin!

We've Been Blogged...Again!

I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Merry last night at an AFWPi event -- what a nice guy!

We featured Peter's book The Best Wedding Reception...Ever! in our Winter/Spring 2009 issue in our For Your Review section.

Well, when I saw Peter last night he showed me his blog and voila, there we were! Check it out!

Click here to see Peter's Blog!

Thanks for the nice coverage Peter!

Style Files — Inspirational Photos

Ok, so I'm sitting here trying to load a bunch of photos to our online Style Files — our online wedding planning resource guide from Sacramento to the Sierra. And I gotta tell you, there are some pretty talented people out there.

In fact, in our current issue, we worked with three amazingly creative local floral designers: Ambience Floral Design (www.ambiencefloraldesign.com), Camino Flower Shop (www.caminoflowershop.net) and Flourish (www.flourishdesigns.com).

We challenged them to come up with designs to complement the gowns and the looks we were striving for and boy did these wonderful ladies rise to that challenge.

Check out our current issue to see more of their handiwork but to pique your interest, here are a few favorites from these dynamos!

Above: From Flourish (www.flourishdesigns.com)
Photo by Sarah Maren Photography (www.sarahmaren.com)

Above: From Ambience Floral Design (www.ambiencefloraldesign.com)
Photo by Sarah Maren Photography (www.sarahmaren.com)

Above: Camino Flower Shop (www.caminoflowershop.net)
Photo by Sarah Maren Photography (www.sarahmaren.com)

And, be sure to check out these vendors' Web sites; and for more inspirational photos, check out our Style Files (being updated now!) at Real Weddings Magazine/Style Files.

More blogging soon, I promise!

The New Issue Arrives TODAY!

Okay ladies -- I'm so sorry that I haven't been blogging lately. It's because I've been putting the finishing touches on our next issue, and if I may brag just a little bit, it's one of our best yet!

This past March, we had an amazing photo shoot with our gorgeous cover model finalists, Autumn, Amelia and Emily. These real brides are stunning and what spectacular models they were!

We scoured the Sacramento area for unique and interesting gowns — in fact we had more than 50 gowns at our shoot. Of course we didn't use every one of them, but we came close! This issue, the beautiful gowns came from The Bridal Box (www.thebridalbox.net), Diamond Bridal Gallery (www.diamondbridalgallery.com), Dreamnette Bridal (www.dreamnette.com), Miosa Bride (www.miosabride.com) and Always Elegant Bridal Boutique (www.alwayselegantbridal.net).

While we had great gowns, we also really wanted to add some color and whimsy by pairing the gowns with some fabulous hats, headpieces, veils and headbands — some that you might not necessarily think of as "wedding." Can I just tell you how fun these pieces were? They were a huge hit! The pieces came from Advantage Bridal (www.advantagebridal.com), Alice Hart Couture Millinery (www.alicehart.com), Granville Millinery Company (www.granvillemillinerycompany.com), Hair Comes the Bride (www.haircomesthebride.com), Tina Kite Millinery Company (www.tinakite.com) and Jazzy Jewelz by Nancy (www.jazzyjewelzbynancy.com).

Each finalist had their very own professional hair and make-up team for the day. I always say, "Never underestimate the power of great hair and make-up." If I can stress one thing to brides, always get your hair and make-up professionally done for your wedding day! These professionals are trained to highlight your natural beauty, and it ALWAYS shines through in the photos. Autumn's team: Rhianna Baldwin, Maye Le and Ghazaleah Parsa from SOFIE! SOFIE! Salon & Spa (www.sofiesofie.com). Ameilia's team: Image Provocateur and VIP-CAT Academy (www.imageprov.com). Emily's team: Andrea Newberry Jones and Stacy Humbird from Elements Hair Salon (530-626-6430).

It wouldn't be a wedding photo shoot without the flowers. Once again, our floral designers stepped up to the plate and created some of the most unique, creative and beautiful bouquets I've ever seen! Our floral designers for the shoot: Ambience Floral Design (www.ambiencefloral.com), Camino Flower Shop (www.caminoflowershop.net) and Flourish (www.flourishdesigns.com).

Now for the bling...oh yeah, we love sparkly things. Hey, we're girls! The more bling the better, wouldn't you agree? Bling was provided by Jazzy Jewelz by Nancy (www.jazzyjewelzbynancy.com) and Michael Greene & Co. (www.michaelgreene.com).

Location, location, location! What a cool location for our shoot. One of the challenges for our photo shoot is that we want to have so many little nooks and crannies available so that with each different look for our finalist, we can shoot her in a different location within the shoot location. We were definitely able to achieve that at Carvalho Family Winery at Old Sugar Mill (www.carvalhowines.com), wouldn't you agree?

And of course, what would the shoot be with out the photography? The exceptionally talented team at Sarah Maren Photography (www.sarahmaren.com) did the honors with this issue and the results are nothing short of spectacular (I really have to go find my thesaurus so that I can come up with more superlatives as they are all warranted here!). I couldn't be more thrilled!

But wait, there's more! That's right — this issue is packed with sooooo much more! Honeymoon ideas, tips and trends, 25 inspirational real weddings (not to mention the six appearing on our Web site that I'm uploading NOW!) and of course our Style Files Wedding Planning Resource Guide. We packed our Style Files with some pretty cool flowers, yummy cakes, elegant invitations — all from local wedding planning professionals! — and so much more, including our local wedding vendor lists! Phew, I'm exhausted!

Anyway, we really hope you like this issue! One of the best compliments we can get regarding our magazine is when we hear back from you, telling us how helpful you found our magazine in helping you plan your dream wedding day!

Enjoy!