I have a confession…I love Colin Cowie. Yes, THE Colin Cowie—uber-wedding and event designer, world-renown style guru, author of countless books and the one with the lovely South African accent. I have become one of his biggest fans. I recently had the opportunity to meet and, well, hang out with him on a press trip to Cancun. Here, he debuted his Colin Cowie Wedding Collection packages for the Palace Resorts and all-inclusive Hard Rock properties (incidentally the collection is very cool and we’ll have more on that soon, but in the meantime you can get a preview at palaceresorts.com/weddings). Not only is Colin passionate about what he does (and this passion clearly shows through in his work), but he’s simply one cool dude. And here’s why…
My niece Maggie and her first grade class recently took on a Flat Stanley project—if you’re not familiar with Flat Stanley it’s where the person cuts out this paper guy and sends him off to people out of the area for an “adventure.” Maggie sent a Flat Stanley to me—his adventure with me was to Cancun. My trip mates embraced Flat Stanley and everywhere we went, so did Flat Stanley. And when it comes to my niece Maggie, I’m fearless—I’ll do anything for this girl.
Back to Colin. On the second night of the trip, I had a private moment with him and in that moment, I pulled Flat Stanley out of my handbag and said something to the effect of, “Would you mind a quick photo of you, me and Flat Stanley—it’s for my six-year-old niece’s school project.” Colin grabbed Flat Stanley out of my hand, held him up for the camera, smiled his trademark smile and graciously let me pose next to him for what would become THE priceless photo for my Flat Stanley scrapbook for Maggie. The man didn’t bat an eyelash at my request. And for that, I will forever be his biggest fan. He inspires us, and we hope we inspire you!
What do we have in store for you in this issue of Real Weddings Magazine you might ask? First and foremost, some of the most lovely weddings of the season—35 beautiful real weddings from our area starting on page 75. Then, be sure to check out our cover model finalist feature starting on page 47. Our three local real brides, Kristy, Lynn and Kaboo got to strut their stuff at The Greens Hotel in Sacramento—they rocked more than 45 gowns from area boutiques, hair and make-up by six great hair and make-up artists and 15 stunning bouquets from local floral designers. And the results of their efforts, captured on film by the extraordinarily talented dynamic husband and wife photography duo Geoff and Lisa Bardot of The Goodness, is nothing short of breathtaking.
And if you’re looking for décor inspiration, we’ve got two fabulous features: “Nautical Inspiration: A Décor Story” and “Ooh La La: Lavish and Fabulous.” The talented Aimee Wendell from 2Chic Events assembled a fabulous team for this exclusive concept shoot…simply gorgeous—turn to page 69 for more. And every fall we look forward to the couture bridal event, Lavish and Fabulous—check out the spectacular vignettes from this event starting on page 145.
Have you checked out our digital edition or mobile app edition of Real Weddings Magazine? In our newest issue specifically designed for the digital edition and mobile app edition, the Real Weddings Magazine inspiration continues—with even more photos from our features! Download the digital edition from our Web site now, or if you have an iPhone or iPad scan the QR code to the right to download the app and voila…there’s Real Weddings Magazine right there on your iPhone and iPad.
And we don’t want to tease you too much here, but we’ve got more digital editions coming your way this fall including: Real Weddings: The Collection, an exclusive magazine compiling hundreds of the most inspirational weddings we’ve featured. And, Real Weddings Style Files: The Look Book, a compilation of page after page of gorgeous “Style Files” photos: cakes, flowers, invitations, décor and more.
This magazine is a labor of love that we hope that you’ll really use in planning your wedding—cut out the photos, utilize the lists we provide and go onto our Web site and social media sites for more. And, be sure to tell your wedding vendors that you found them through Real Weddings Magazine. Without their support, we simply couldn’t do this magazine, so it’s important for them to know that you’re a Real Weddings Bride.
Happy planning!