A little background on the company: Shabby Apple was started about four years ago by two women, Emily and Althea (she goes by CK). They both loved fashion and had been talking about the idea of starting their own business providing conservative, stylish dresses for woman to wear in the workplace, on campus, or anywhere.

They started with ten dresses that they designed themselves, hired a photographer, found a pretty girl (Emily’s neighbor) to model the dresses, and started their very own online company. Since then they have expanded. They have hired different designers to create certain lines, but are still very much involved in the design process.
One of their original dresses was the Cleopatra, which is a dress that was inspired by a dress CK owned, which was her mom’s dress before it was hers. When looking for inspiration, they pulled that vintage dress out of the closet and created their own updated version and it’s still one of their favorite dresses. Sometimes you can take something from the past and it can still be beautiful and timeless with a few modern tweaks.

When starting a company it was very important to both Emily and CK to give back. Since their company is a company started by women for women, they wanted to pick a charity that benefited women! They decided to partner with Unitus-a non profit organization that accelerates access to life changing financial services for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Shabby Apple donates 5% of its net sales to support work in India (where Shabby Apple Dresses has sourced many of its dresses and the textiles used to manufacture its dresses).

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN ONE SHABBY APPLE BRIDESMAID DRESS:

1. Please choose your favorite style by entering the name of the dress with your comment.
2. Tell us a bit about our wedding? Why would this style work for your wedding?
3. The winner will be chosen at random, and will win the style that they chose! The winner will be announced Monday, July 12th at 5 PM Central.
4. CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT: VIA the random number generator, random.org, THE WINNER IS…. Carri!

“love love love Jack + Jill! My maids are super sassy and they would totally rock this fashion! Our wedding style is garden chic meets city glam. Tons of Peonies and vintage elements (like floral teacups) infused with chandelier and crystal essentials!” Congrats Carri!

Thank you everyone for entering our Hank + Hunt fabric garland contest! We used the random number generator from Random.org and the winner is Alici! Alici said “I think these could create a stunning DIY Chandelier. My reception venue is outdoors and has a pergola type roof. I’d love to drape these around and create an incredible lighting feature with them.”

Thanks Alici, we can’t wait to see photos!

This giveaway is for three pretty little garlands. One three inch wide “Fancy” garland and one two inch wide garland,  both made from unbleached muslin (a Hank + Hunt fave.) The third is a 1″ wide chunky muslin garland. Each garland is two strips of fabrics layered, ruffled with raw soft pinked edges. They are gathered in the center and are a smidge over 5′ long (our “petite” size.) For easy hanging, there are white twill tape ties sewn in on each edge (about 1.5 ft on each side).

Just in time for summer bbqs, weddings, or showers, we aim to please. Our shortest size is perfect for baby’s first birthday pic in her highchair, or her sweet sixteen party.  These garlands are made to last and endure all life’s special moments, celebrations for generations.

How can you use it?
1. Hang.
2. Twist & fluff (not required, some like extra fluffy and that’s okay.)
3. Enjoy and have one heck of a good time (required.)

To WIN these three handmade Hank + Hunt designer garlands (for use at your next wedding or party), leave a comment and tell us how you plan on using them!

Aisledash.com has just announced their first annual Wedding Blog Awards! The Wedding Blog Awards gives brides, grooms, wedding industry professionals and wedding bloggers an opportunity to nominate and honor their favorite wedding blogs in 12 categories’.

Us Lolliladies would love your nominations and votes. We would love to be honored in any category you feel that we are deserving. We would especially love your nominations and votes for the ‘Best Service Vendor Blog’.

We think that we have a unique blog in the sense that we are full time wedding designers, stylists, and stationery designers in addition to daily bloggers. So in addition to our daily blog posts we have clients whose weddings & events we are designing from start (the invites) to finish (the event). We bring you industry trends, but also love to offer you all sneak peeks into our design process! Our main focus and platform is showcasing our design process, and the design process of other vendors & designers in the industry with our Inspiration to Creation posts! We hope that this is a unique feature that differentiates us in some way. Thank you for reading and supporting us!

To learn more about the nomination process and rules, hop on over to Aisle Dash.com!

Kristi said of her collection, “my own wedding has inspired me to make custom feather bouquets.this timeless elegance will be treasured by you and your family as a piece of art that you can pass down, or selfishly keep all to yourself…”

The bouquets are unique, eco-friendly and keepsakes. If you look at your dress and jewelry as a treasured piece to pass down, why not your bouquet too?
We had Kristi, the designer of Diamond Willow choose the winner of the custom bouquet giveaway contest.

She loved every comment and finally chose Syliva who said “I absolutely died when I saw this bouquet! Jason and I are trying to compromise on our bouquet expectations. He wants something lush that we will keep as a memento; I don’t want a bunch of dead flowers to hold onto for the evening! This is the perfect fit for us. It will look at home with our outdoor/nature focused wedding and we will have something beautiful to keep as a memento (that isn’t dead flowers)!” Sylvia was chosen because Kristi designed this bouquet for the exact same reason. She did not want dead flowers after the event, she wanted a keepsake.

Contact Kristi immediately to add a bit of drama to your wedding ensemble, an eco-friendly piece and a treasure to pass down to loved ones..

Photos: Christine Chang Photography

We received so many e-mails about the bouquet and were so enamored with this unique design that we enlisted the talented bride/jewelry designer of Diamond Willow to make the same bouquet for the Maui ceremony and reception we did last year and recently blogged about.

She created a spectacular bleached peacock feather version for the softer style of the wedding. It was so fun to see the same design look completely different against the backdrop of the sparkling sea and soft pastel palettes. This just goes to show that this bouquet is so stunningly unique that it could really be used in any wedding. It gorgeously sweeps the floor and adds such high fashion drama to the wedding gown.

Photos :Christine Pham

Kristi of Diamond Willow desribes her style as “being the quintessential san francisco girl, i’ve been immersed in a melting pot of culture and fashion as long as i’ve been able to breathe. Growing up heavily influenced by my mother’s prim japanese side, but in love with everything rebellious from my father’s rocker tendencies. What you see is a direct result of being trapped in my room with a pair of scissors, a needle and thread, a fear of clowns, and a love of nature.”

Kristi has also decided to add “bouquet designer” to her list of talents, so now you can purchase one of these custom bouquets in either the jewel tone, bleached feather version, or any design you can think of!

To win the custom brilliant bleached feather bouquet, leave a comment below with just a little something about your wedding (or family member/friends wedding). We will announce the winner this Friday!

Here is a very small sneak peek, miniscule… Photos: Jessica Claire Photography

We have breaking news here at Lollipop Events & Designs! Our winners from last week for the Jessica Claire & Lollipop Events workshop are going to be out of town on a work assignment. Once again were faced with the daunting task of reading through beautiful stories and looking at photos of beautiful brides, and once again we ooohed and aweeed over the stories as if we were reading them for the first time. We finally decided on the stunning duo Troy & Aimee. What made this couple stand out is that Troy sent the story in! How could we not swoon and be instantly enamored with this creative, caring groom. To seal the deal even further, Troy sent in a video of the actual proposal. He had us at ‘hello’. So we formally introduce you to Troy & Aimee…

“I would love to submit Aimee and I to be models in Jessica’s workshop.  Below is the story about the day I met my true love:

I was sitting and talking to some friends at the chapel up at Forest Home getting ready for Mike Erre to speak.  Before Mike got up on stage a guy came out and tried to get everyone to meet someone new.  He said you never know, if there is someone you have been eying you should go over and talk to them.  He mentioned that he had met his wife at the same place 8 years ago.  Well… my mind started thinking and I knew that I saw this beautiful blonde haired girl around the day before and then I saw her about 15 rows in front of me.  I thought if I didn’t go talk to this girl I would regret it for the rest of my life – no joke.  So I made my way down one aisle and over to the row she was in and stood right behind her patiently waiting to talk to her.  My heart was pounding so fast that I didn’t know what to do.  I just started asking her a bunch of questions really fast.   And sure enough after talking for a minute we realized that we had met each other once before exactly one year earlier.  Then it was time to get back in our seats, I then realized that I had 2 days before this retreat was over and I had to get her number.  The next night I saw her strolling around the common areas with her friend Jenna and by that time I had convinced myself that she wasn’t into me.  The friends that I was with (amber and brandon)  told me that she totally just checked me out.  So Brandon went in as the wingman and started up a conversation and before you know it Brandon disappeared  and it was just Aimee and I.   The conversation went so smoothly and I got her number right then and there to seal the deal.  When I got  back to Orange County I couldn’t abide by the rules and wait 2 days, I just had to call her.  I asked her out on date to McClains Coffee House and that’s the story of how I met my true love.”

And to how I proposed… It’s on video here…

Thank you for your time and we hope we could be the fab models

Aimee and Troy

So it took us a lot longer than we thought, but we made the impossible possible over the holiday and chose a winner for the Jessica Claire Photoshoot Contest. There were so many amazing love stories and lovely photos sent to us we hard the hardest time choosing. We all sat, swooned, oohed and awed, and look forward to sharing them with you… We chose this duo because of their silly and sweet photos, their obvious comfort in front of the camera, their warm & fuzzy entry and their creativity (just read their ridiculously amazing love story!)

THE STORY:

“We’re getting married in Seal Beach August 21st!  We’re currently living and working in New York (both of us are Camera Operators for A&E, TLC and Travel Channel).

My little love story:
First I’ve got to explain that I’ve known Billy was the one for me since our very first date.  We were both traveling when we met, and had sent letters to each other for a month before our official first date. Crazy I know, but I wrote this in my journal after our first date: “I feel so much for him.  if I relax my mind, let go of all of my fears.  If I rip down the wall that separates me from my insecurities all I feel is attachment. I look at him and it feels like I know who he is, that he’s going to be the one that never lets go of my hand.  I feel like a freak writing this, but shared between me, myself and I – that’s okay.”
So here we are, four years later and I’ve got a ring on my finger and a date set and I’m sitting here pinching myself, because true love is totally true. Ok, I’m getting a little too into the sticky yucky love stuff.  Back to the story.  This is how it all went down:  A few months ago, I convinced Billy to start “Alphabet”dating with me.  As you can imagine, this took quite a bit of convincing.  The rules were:  1. switch off letters beginning at “A”, 2. come up with an activity that neither one of us have done.

We were on “D” and it was Billy’s turn. I met up with him in Greenwich Village (New York) and we had Dinner at a new spot, and Dessert. Just when I thought the date was over (and that he hadn’t been too creative with his alphabet assignment), he told me he had another “D” surprise for me.  We took the train to the bottom of Central Park and he says, “I know it’s a stretch, but D is for “Driver” and we’re going to take a nighttime horse & Carriage ride through the park. At this point I was REALLY impressed. It was quite a fancy end to quite a fancy New York night. After ten minutes of trotting I got over talking about how he had chosen something so romantic and grown up, I quieted down, and enjoyed the scenery. It was fall, and an especially warm night. The leaves were falling around us and with the exception of the driver, we seemed completely alone (which is a very rare experience in this city).

Billy sat up, smiled, and said “The date’s not quite over, I have one more “D” treat.” I squealed “reallllly?  (Imagining a chocolate bar hidden behind his back).  He scooted forward and got on one knee in the center of the carriage and I SWEAR time stood completely still for the next five minutes. He reached in his pocket, pulling out a black box and lifting the lid, “D is for Diamond” he said, “…Will you marry me?”.
The answer to that question coming from that man will always be YES.”

We sincerely thank all of the amazing couples who entered the contest. EACH AND EVERY single couple was so beatiful and had such heart warming stories! We wish we had this opportunity to share with each of you! Thank you, thank you, thank you again!!

Okay, listen up, this is really good stuff! Lollipop Events & Designs will be designing Jessica Claire’s next photo workshop and we’re looking for one lucky couple to be a part of it! We need to find a fabulous couple oozing with style and appeal that we can transform into our model couple for this spectacular shoot! An edgy wedding dress will be tailored to fit you like a glove, your hair and make up styled perfectly, your man will be groomed to perfection and then gorgeous you will be shot by over 20 deliciously talented photographers! These unique priceless photos will be yours to keep and use as engagement photos or just for your own special keeping.

The details: A workshop with Jessica Claire and 20 other photographers, shooting you in a beautifully styled setting.  A makeup and hair team will style you to perfection, a high fashion wedding gown designed to your measurements, bouquet, etc..

The spot: A ’secret’ location in Orange County

The when: January 13th 10am – 4pm

The posse: Want a few a few of your bridesmaids into the mix? Send photos and a short description of them too!

The stunningly fashion forward Jessica Claire at her own wedding:

photo: Jose Villa

Here is an example of Jessica’s photos from a recent ethereal shoot..

See an example of a past workshop shot by Jessica and styled by Grey Likes Weddings on Style Me Pretty. Also see some of the work by the other photographers that attended the workshop such as: Kamee June, Brandon Kidd, Alissa Ferullo & Richelle Dante.

TO ENTER THE CONTEST

Tell us: Please tell us why you and your fiance are so fabulous! Give us the fun details of how he (or you!) popped the question. Wow us (within a few paragraphs) with why you would be the ideal model duo for this special opportunity.

Show us: Please also send us a few photos of you and your fiance that convey how perfect you are for each other and why you would make the perfect cover couple!

You can email us your submission at info@ilovelollipops.com.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 4pm PACIFIC TIME WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2009.  A winner will be announced the following day. **UPDATE: Due the the amazing stories we have received we will be announcing the winners the evening of Monday, December 28th. Thank you for your patience!

**This contest does not include you getting to keep any of the fashions or props from the shoot, but does include all of the fabulous photography!!