Win a Wedding Package from Camera Renter!

I've been waiting to do a giveaway on the blog for a while now... but I had yet to come across something I thought my readers could truly get down with.... UNTIL NOW.

Camera Renter is a super unique company that rents out a suite of digital cameras for your wedding. Included in the deal is a total of over 2,000 high-quality pictures, over 80 minutes of video, comes with back-up batteries, has simple instructions attached, and you’ll have the cameras for your entire wedding week. Yes, you read that right. YOUR ENTIRE WEDDING WEEK. This means that you can capture everything - bachelor party, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, wedding day, and day after.  I truly feel Camera Renter is a unique service that could impact a wide range of engaged couples. For example:

1. The couple who can't afford professional photography/videography.
2. The couple who aren't interested in paying high prices for professional photography/videography.
3. The couple who has a photographer and/or videographer, but would love the benefit of getting 2,000 extra photos + 80 minutes of video straight from the different angles and perspectives of your wedding guests. 
4. The couple who want a green alternative to disposable wedding cameras. 

Let's face it. There are going to be awesome moments from your wedding that may not get captured on film.  And that would suck. But with Camera Renter, there's no way you will miss capturing priceless moments... like your parent's happy faces during the Maid of Honor's toast... or the moment the Best Man takes a tequila shot out of Grandma's boobs! (If I missed that, I would NOT be a happy camper).

One lucky winner will receive the following:

10 Digital Wedding Cameras

2000 Photos/80 Minutes Video

Free Shipping

100% Damage Insurance

Photo/Video Sharing Website

Unlimited Photo/Video Downloads

CD With All of Your Photos/Videos

A package worth $495.00!

To enter, simply provide your email and name in the form* below:

                                                                                       

* Email
* First Name

AND! For one additional entry, you can enter on Twitter too! Just copy and paste the following sentence, and tweet it: "I entered to win a digital camera wedding package from #CameraRenter via @BowieBride"

You MUST use the hashtag #CameraRenter AND provide a link to this page in your tweet to be eligible for the additional Twitter entry. 

And last but certainly not least, a number of lucky runner's up will also receive a special offer from Camera Renter!  The contest will close Wednesday, March 24th at Midnight, so be sure to get all your entries in by then. I will likely announce the winner on either the following Thursday or Friday morning. So make sure you follow my blog to see who wins!

Good luck, everyone!

*Don't worry.  Your email will not be shared all over Internetland. It's just so we can contact the lucky winner when they get picked.

I Think We May Have Hit The Boxed Wine Jack Pot

And I ain't talkin about Franzia, people. I'm talkin good shit.  Rated 88 points and straight Out da box, yo. Courtesy of the insanely awesome $0.05 sale at Bevmo.  Three bottles per box, Twenty bucks/per box, PLUS you get a whole second box for only $0.05 cents more. So that's 6 bottles of decent, very drinkable, tasty boxed wine for the bargain basement price of $3.33 a bottle.  We could just go with the 2 buck chuck, but this wine is rated higher. It's tastier. And it's boxed wine, people! BOXED WINE.  Can you get anymore "80's yuppy dinner party" than that?

I have NO problem serving wine out of a box, as long as it tastes good.  I mean, we're already serving gin n juice, and straight shots of Patron, clearly the word "classy" doesn't even come near our vocabulary. In fact, I fucking hate that word. And this wedding will come no where near "classy." So we are very much considering boxed wine as an option for booze.  Bevmo is also having the $0.05 sale on selected champagnes, so I'm thinking Bevmo may be the place to buy all our booze.  The checker at Bevmo said the sale should be going on for another month, so we have time.  But we will probably end up buying the booze during this sale, in fear of them NOT having this sale again before our wedding. So, looks like we'll be housing a shit-ton of booze in our already craft-overloaded apartment.  But I'm sure we'll find a way to deal... you know... if we happen to slip up... and take an early swig of our boxed wine... before the wedding...

Are you guys bringing in your own booze? If so, what deals have you found? And is anyone else rollin' dirty on the booze selection, i.e. shots, crazy mixed drinks, boxed wine, Boon's Farm, Night Train...?

Wedding Dress, Matching Bible Included.

Mike and I had the extreme pleasure of stumbling upon this hot little number at our neighborhood Goodwill recently. For the bargain basement price of $65.00 (seriously, Goodwill? That much?), you, the blushing bride, get not one, not two, but THREE pieces of God's gift to satin. Included is a wedding dress, a sash, and a bible. But not just any bible. A MATCHING bible. That's right, kids. A matching bible.  We're dealing with a whole new kind of awesome here. So. I've decided that me finding this dress can mean only one thing: I better get my ass on the horn and start bedazzling my New Testament before the big day!

P.S. Finding this dress Made. My. Christmas.

Cheap, Romantic, Vintage-Inspired Clothing Line? Yes Please!

Ok. Say what you will about Forever 21, but you know you all go there when you need a cheap, hot dress in a pinch. So for that reason, and because I enjoy cheap clothes that aren't boring, I thought I'd share their new line with you called, "Boutique Forever 21". It's not available yet, but here's a sneak peak. I think it looks super cute. And since we've got a bunch of holiday-related events coming up that I do NOT want to break the bank on, I may be hittin up Forever 21's new vintage-inspired line. Oh, and I want this bitch's hairstyle too:

What do you guys think?

ATTN SoCal Brides: My Venue is Offering 25% Off ALL Bookings

I have been plugging the shit out of our venue, BOXeight Studios ever since we booked it nearly 3 months ago. I mean, how could I not? It seriously looks *just* like the Marvimon, but is half the price. And with the 25% off, it will be even less - try $2250 for an ALL DAY rental, PLUS you can bring in your own booze, your own food, you're own everything pretty much, play your music as loud as you want, have an oudoor garden for your ceremony, an indoor loft-style photog studio for your reception, AND the guys that run the place are super cool, super laid back, and are all artists who will directly benefit from the money they receive from the rental. I seriously could go on forever about the cool amenities this place offers. For LA or for anywhere, I'm telling you kids, this is a STEAL. So get your asses over to boxeight.com and see what they have to offer. Oh, and the offer expires 12/31/09, so you guys have a little time to decide :)

And if you're wondering whether or not they gave us the discount too even though we've already booked our event, the answer is YES!! So basically we've just freed up about $750 to use for whatever the EFF we please!! Woot woot!

Can this venue get anymore awesome? The answer is fuck-to-the-NO. So get on it! Oh, and if you tell them I sent you, even better :)

Hunky-Dory Hair-Wear for the Half-Assed Hipster Bride

(source)

I've written A LOT about real hipsters, so I thought, why not give a shout out to all the poser hipster brides out there? I think they deserve some advice too. So here we go - it's the HALF-assed Hipster Bride Style Guide: Hair-wear Edition.

So where do all these half-assed hipsters shop, you ask? Urban Outfitters of course!!! The oh-so-expensive but oh-so-awesome Urban Outfitters lured me into their online shop yesterday. I was so powerless against their fashion-forward offerings, that I had to buy something - but don't worry - I was able to justify my purchase...well kind of...I bought THE raddest Bowie shirt I've ever seen and probably will ever see, so it was essential right? Being that I'm the BOWIE BRIDE???? Right? Right? A girl's gotta represent, yo! And yes, I realize that by shopping at Urban, I can in turn call myself a half-assed hipster. If I found an ORIGINAL Bowie shirt from the 70's at a thrift shop with Cheez Whiz stains on it from the 80's, THEN I could actually call myself a full-blown hipster...but alas, half-assing it will have to do for now. Oh well!

Anyway, on to the hair-wear! Urban is a perfect option for the bride who wants something pretty but showcases some edge.

Rehearsal Dinner Idea: B.Y.O.F....to a Bar!

I don't know why the EFF I didn't think of this before...but there are surprisingly a few bars and lounges in LA that DON'T serve food, but will let you B.Y.O.F. - that's Bring Your Own Food, baby! There is literally a bar in my neighborhood that allows this called Little Bar. The idea was staring me in the face and I had no idea!

SO, since our nupts will be downtown, I searched for a place that has this same policy on BYOF. And guess what, mofo's? Mama found one. It's called The Golden Gopher and it's RAD. Peeps have been telling me to try out this bar for a while, so it definitely has the cool factor working for it. We could order in like 6 pizzas and let everyone go nuts ordering drinks at the bar for like an hour or two. This way we'll still be able to have the rehearsal dinner in a rockin' location, only we won't have to go homeless trying to pay for it. Yay! Also, this way the rehearsal dinner will be informal with an emphasis on fun and getting jazzed for the wedding the next day. I want people to mix and mingle and meet each other as opposed to being confined to a dinner table, sitting next to people they already know.

A few more deets about the Golden Gopher from their website:

"The Golden Gopher is as comfortable as the corner tap, a luxe hangout that provides an ample selection of top-shelf liquor "to go”, thanks to its still valid 1905 liquor license, issued when Teddy Roosevelt was Commander-in-Chief. Adjacent skyscrapers can be seen from the bar’s striking indoor/outdoor smoking patio.

Situated in the heart of Downtown’s Historic Core, the Golden Gopher is within walking distance of South Park, the Arts, Jewelry, Financial, and Fashion Districts, and close to several major hotels."

Doesn't that sound divine!? Their liquor license from 1905 is still intact! So needless to say, in true R. Kelly fashion, we'll be purchasing a few bottles to go...you know, for the after party...and OF COURSE for the hotel lobby...

So, I hinted in my previous post that not being able to stay st The Standard may be a blessing in disguise...WELL, The Golden Gopher is within walking distance of these new hotels, whereas The Standard was a little too far.

And good news on the hotel front...We have a block of rooms reserved at The O Hotel! More to come on that later...

BCBG Offering $100 Off Purchases Over $300

Dudes. BCBG is the NAZZ. They have some fly-as-balls white dresses that could easily pass for a wedding dress, or a reception dress to dance in.

Head over there quick. The sale is only on through the weekend. Oh, and did I mention you get a FREE subscription to Vogue when you purchase online? Hells bells, bitches! Get shoppin'!




Aren't these HOT?

Shoes for the Sassified Bride...

New shoes from Vicky Secrets for the bride that wants her stems to stand out.