Vendor Collaboration:: Arizona Foothills Magazine

The one and only Gina Meola asked my husband and I if we wanted to be her bride and groom models for an upcoming photo shoot she was doing. While I said "YES!" right away my hubby didn't find it quite as exciting as I did.

As you can see below, he did it, he looked SO handsome and we had so much fun.

It was honestly like we got married all over again AND we like our look SO much that these pictures just might replace some from our real day.

We joke that our children are going to think we got married 50 times and not know which pictures are our real ones!

For a full vendor list and details about the shoot scroll to the bottom!

Gina, you are so gifted. Seriously. Amazing.

Rings were borrowed from the owner of this private boat Suzy Alofs. That girl has more style than any girl I know!!

Red soles, what else is there to say?

He looks so good in suits...my favorite thing ever.

Dinner with amazing friends!

I always get this dressed up for dinner. It's just what I do.

Fashion Stylist: Alex of AVE Styles
Matthew Christopher Wedding Gown: Mariee Bridal
Shoes and Wardrobe: Sakes Firth Avenue
Catering: Creative Hands Cuisine
Florals and Decor: Encore Creative
Sweet Treats: Tammie Coe Cakes
Venue Rental: Bella Palazzo
Hair and Makeup: Arthur Frederico
Stationery: The Paper Place

Get Sexy! Boudior Pictures for Arizona Brides

Get Sexy and Give Sexy!!! I am sure that your future husband would agree Boudoir Pictures are the gift that keeps on giving.

Don't believe me?

Find a sexy outfit, get all GLAMed up, get pictures take, give them to him.

Believe me now?

Ashley Gain Weddings was recently featured on Arizona Foothills Magazine's Wedding Buzz Blog writing about Boudoir photo shoots.

A little sneak peak of the beautiful photos taken by the talented Hollye Schumacher::

{Photo Courtesy of Hollye Schumacher}

{Photo Courtesy of Hollye Schumacher}

{Photo Courtesy of Hollye Schumacher}

{Photo Courtesy of Hollye Schumacher}

{Photo Courtesy of Hollye Schumacher}

Ashley Gain Featured:: Arizona Foothills Magazine

If you told my mom that her daughter was in a little black book, her heart might stop.....get your mind out of the gutter mama.

I am in a Black Book, only it's not your momma's {or my momma's} black book it's Arizona Foothills Magazine's Black Book.

Ashley Gain is in their top list of Black Book Vendors of their September issue Ashley Gain Weddings & Events has been featured for a second time!!!

Ashley Gain Weddings & Events was not the only thing to be featured this month but also a picture of me at the Best of the Valley Awards at Wrigley Mansion hosted by Arizona Foothill's Magazine. With my beautiful friends Stephanie & Britany {who is a photographer AND has been featured on my blog!}.

Featured:: Arizona Foothills Magazine's Wedding Planner

Just in case my love of sweets couldn't get any worse, I went ahead and decided to become a wedding planner.

Cakes, chocolate favors, cupcakes, dessert bars, after party ice cream bars.....you name it I have tasted it for clients! I have to make sure it tastes good before it gets served to the guests {or that's my excuse anyway}.

This week our article on Arizona Foothills Magazine's Wedding BUZZ Blog is all about cake stands. From bling to Anthropolgie we covered it all.

{Photo Courtesy of Raise The Cake}

We LOVE being a part of Arizona Foothills Magazine's luxury wedding blog!

Thank you for letting us share our wedding trend advice!

Ashley Gain Featured:: SHEKnows.com

Do you know? Well, you should. Because I do & SHE does!

It was a little over a month ago that the beautiful Alison asked me if I wanted to be featured on SHEKnows.com as a wedding planning expert. Miss. Alison is the sites Managing Editor who runs an killer team who delivers some of the best national content on the web!

Find out. Have fun. Be you.

I couldn't agree more!

This is the philosophy of SHEKnows.com that literally lives deep in my soul!! So, of course, I just had to say YES {and not to the dress but the site}!

As women we have an inward desire to connect with the outward world around us. Friends and family define who we are and make us want to work hard toward each and every one of our goals. I wanted to give back to the community that has made me so strong: the women everywhere who just want to be empowered in their lives and in their dreams.

{That's ME on the SHEKnows.com Wedding's Homepage!}

I believe in the power of amazing women coming together to make life more meaningFULL. I feel blessed to say that I am now a part of the SHEKnows team and will be giving expert advice each month! *happiness*

Featured:: Arizona's Finest Weddings COVER

The perfect wedding colors.

The perfect wedding dress.

The perfect wedding date.

The perfect wedding theme.

Sounds perfect, right? But what does "perfect" really mean?? The only time that something is going to be TRULY perfect on your day is when you make it TRULY yours.....so let's rephrase those sentences for you.

YOUR perfect wedding colors.

YOUR perfect wedding dress.

YOUR perfect wedding date.

YOUR perfect wedding theme.

When I was asked to stylize a shoot for Arizona's Finest Wedding Sites Magazine at the beautiful Paradise Valley Montelucia Resort & Spa I was beyond excited.

So, it was time to brain storm and come up with the perfect stylization. I decided on the Moroccan flair of the resort mixed with a girl-next-door bride as my inspiration.

So many times in weddings we see the same things over and over again. As a bride you have the ability to take what you love and design an entire wedding around it.

In this shoot, even though our bride is not of Indian dissent she "loves" the colors and vibrancy of true Hindu weddings. We took something she "loved" and made it her wedding day.

Bottom Line:: There is no perfect inspiration for wedding, there is only what is perfect for YOUR inspiration.

Magazine:: Arizona's Finest Wedding Sites and Services

Venue:: Montelucia Resort & Spa

Stylist:: Ashley Gain Weddings & Events/Ashley Gain

Photography:: Marriott Photography/Marnee Marriott

Flowers:: Your Event Florist/Kevin & Shawna Reed

Stationary:: The Event Essentials/Kim McDowell

Linens:: Wildflower Linens

Cake:: La Dolce Pesca Bakery

Hair:: Joya Spa

Makeup:: Corinna Cooke

Wedding Dress:: Mariee

Grooms Attire:: Mr. Formal

Rentals:: Classic Party Rentals

Pillows:: Encore Creative

Jewelry:: RGK D'Zines

Featured:: Botanical Garden Wedding on Style Me Pretty

I can't help it, my blood is probably the color pink. I am girly, I love sparkling chandeliers, pretty shoes with 4 inch heals, my little dog Cupcake and dressing up for a night on the town with my hubby.

BUT there is something that I love even more and that's being a Wedding Planner.

When Angela first approached me to do her wedding she wanted it to feel "desert chic and rustic" and I WAS EXCITED! You see to me if every bride had a pink wedding I would be SO bored.

As a wedding designer it's my goal to pull that inspiration out of my client and make sure that in that moment, the moment they first enter their ceremony or reception they look around and say to themselves "This is it, this is exactly what I wanted".

And that's when I feel like I really did my job.

Style Me Pretty featured Angela & Peter's Wedding at Desert Botanical Gardens from last October. It was a picture perfect day that I will remember forever.

{Photos by the talented Diana Rothery}

Ashley Gain:: Cover Shoot

Extra! Extra! Read all about it. Ashley Gain graces Arizona's Magazine Cover.

{Photos Courtesy of Laura Segall}

I was absolutely inspired by sapphire {yes, it's quite possible it's because of darling Princess Kate} when I started designing this cover shoot for Arizona's Finest Wedding Sites.

Jewel tones are some of my absolute favorite colors to work with. They are true colors from precious stones, colors that our little mother earth creates for us to enjoy.

Blue and white automatically come across very modern so I wanted to make sure that we still gave it a traditional feel. By incorporating the white detailed inner dress Finnia by Enzoni and giving her a very elegant Audrey Hepburn bun I wanted to see the design turn a bit more traditional.

The water surrounding Millenium Resort made the blue details sparkle and Annie our beautiful model's eyes pop.

Flowers arrangements and designs were clean and structured to match the clean lines and decor that I have been stylizing off of. Paper detailing was inspired by a pattern called quatrefoil where geometric shapes meet glamorous patterns.

Custom fabrics covered four pillars at the front of the asile {all different sizes} to allow brides to see how the color doesn't have to be in the flowers.

The vendors that helped make my vision possible are listed below. They are amazing!!

Stylist:: Ashley Gain of Ashley Gain Weddings

Photographer:: Laura Segall Photography

Venue:: Millennium Resort Scottsdale

Flowers:: Amy’s Floral Design

Invitations and Paper Details:: The Event Essentials

Cake:: Classic Cakes and Confections

Linens:: Wildflower Linen

Hair: Melissa Spidel for Rolf’s Salon

Make-Up:: Heather Wilson

Dress:: Uptown Bridal & Boutique

Tux:: Mr. Formal

Jewelry:: Unique. Vintage. Chic.

Parasol:: Pamela's Parasols

Rentals:: Classic Party Rentals

Me in lights *wink wink*

Finally sitting down in my hotel room...feet are throbbing, hair in a pony tail, and my eyes hurt so bad from my contacts that have already been taken out. These little parts of celebrating the night away with amazing friends and collegues make it so worth it.

I was honored to be interviewed for the closing video of Engage!11, narrowing down what I had learned to 2:37 of this video.

"Cameo's are kinda my thing" {I said to myself}.

"WHAT?!?! No they are not" {I replied}.

"...true, but it is fun to pretend" {My fingers crossed behind my back}.

I love what I do and mean what I say. I can never say enough how much I truly love my clients. They are the reason I do what I do each and every day.

A Royal Wedding Event

In celebration of The Royal Wedding {is your DVR set? Ours is!} Fox Restaurant Concepts & Modern Steak at Scottsdale Fashion Square are hosting The Royal Wedding Reception.

Ashley Gain Weddings & Events will be the exclusive wedding planner along with nine other high end wedding vendors.

Come visit us, win some amazing wedding services and of course plan your day because on your wedding day you should be treated like a princess too!

Bling & Bollywood:: Ashley Gain Featured

From the moment Slumdog Millionaire was welcomed to the American Movie screen I have been a tiny bit obsessed with Indian culture.

The colors, textures, fabrics, metals each detail that passed on from generation to generation in India has meaning.

From culture to culture the most decorated bride on her wedding HAS to be a Indian bride. Covered literally from head to toe each and every detail of jewelry and accessories takes months to shop for, design and purchase.

To an Indian bride her jewelry is not just about adding to her dress or sari, it’s about representing the custom of marriage in her culture and paying respect to her immediate and future families.

Ruchi of RGK D'Zines has the most beautiful collection of these bollywood jewels you have ever seen.

The lovey Yasmin of Shalimar Studios was kind enough to take amazing photos to use on our story for Arizona Foothill's Magazine's Wedding Buzz blog!!

Ashley Gain Featured:: Black Book

Ashley Gain pride's themselves on creating exceptionally beautiful, timeless, and thoughtful events. And when others notice....well...it means we must be doing a lot of things right.

Arizona Foothills Magazine's February edition hit the stands and featured Ashley Gain as one of their Who's Who in the magazine's Black Book section.

Ashley Gain has a lot of great *eventful* things coming. Can't wait to celebrate with you!

Ashley Gain Featured~ Runway Ready Linens

If you haven't already made a visit to Arizona Foothills Magazine's *new* Wedding Blog it is a must.

As Arizona Foothill's preffered wedding planner Ashley Gain has had the pleasure of contributing to their Wedding Buzz Section!

Recently we wrote an article about a fabulous fashion show that would make any bride-to-be swoon. At an private event held in Scottsdale the scene was set for the most fabulous wedding vendors and planners in the valley. Wildflower Linen turned their stunning collection into high fashion dresses that made their way up and down the catwalk. The models worked this season's most fabulous wedding table ware.

{Photo's compliments of Sedona Bride}

To see more pictures of this amazing event, visit our article!

Ashley Gain:: Featured

Maybe I tend to love my brides like a mother. To me, they are the MOST beautiful, the SMARTEST, pick out the MOST beautiful dress and of course, have the BEST weddings.

One of our Ashley Gain Weddings was featured in the newest issue of Bride & Groom Magazine.

Ashley & Steve were married at Firesky in April and their day was perfectly vintage and elegant at the same time. You can see the feature of their beautiful day on page 15 of the magazine or just look below. *smile*

Not only was their day magazine worthy, but they totally look like Barbie & Ken!

Thanks to Stephanie Fay Photography, Petal Pushers, Southwick Linens, Firesky, and Twice Loved Vintage.

Antique Vintage Chic

Every month Arizona Foothills Magazine arrives in my mail box. Page by page it represents the best of Arizona; people, charities, events, retail, and so on and so on.

It has become a staple to many for the whos-who and what-to-dos in our valley. I was lucky enough to be asked by Michael Dee to write for their new Weddings section and have just loved being a part of everything that they do!

Recently I featured two amazing local vintage retailers who make the perfect accessories for your wedding day on their blog! Below are a few more examples of their beautiful work!

Ashley Gain Blog reader....meet vintage chic!

{Images were all shot by the beautiful and talented Miss. Courtney Sargent}

{Beautiful crosses hand made by Twice Loved Vintage}

{Visit Twice Loved Vintage's Facebook Page to see all of their bling!}

{How amazing is this unity candle?? Twice Loved is seriously gifted}

{Beautiful crystal earrings on a vintage gold jewelry box. From the moment I saw the store Unique Vintage Chic in the Borgata I was in heaven.}

{Each piece in Unique Vintage Chic has been hand picked to create stunning vintage pieces}

{Perfect for your something blue:: A stunning 1950's Czech cut crystal perfume bottle with

Silver tone Aqua faceted glass cabachon bracelet & earring set. Unique Vintage Chic}

{A 1950's Gilded Gold Ormolu jewelry box. Cathy Breyne of Unique Vintage Chic Design 925 Sterling Silver Rope Trim cuff bracelet with Aurora Borealis designer piece Circa 1950's.}