Destination Love || Dolce Mia Me

Golden Girl Tuberose Lotion - 12 oz.

Beauty cosmetics are too good to live without. Dolce Mia spreads it's wings over the Southwest but originally started in California. A small family business that has been flourishing and giving all the art fairs and local shops something to rave about since 1991. This company gives that great retro feel and flash of vintage that most of girls love. US manufactured items that provide organic and "green" products, which are great for you and the environment.

Kristen Betz, a Dolce Mia representative loves the Vintage Pin-Up Golden Girl in Tuberose, Surfer Girl in Mango Tangerine, and Vintage Peacock in Sweet Almond. She says, "the products are great on my sensitive skin, which is a major plus, and leaves my skin smelling amazing". Their products not only include fun sounding moisturizers but also accessories and gift items. See below.

Vintage Peacock in Sweet Almond - 6 oz.

Kristen told me about the fresh and natural ingriendients in her products. I love the ingriedients in many of the items that include olive oil, shea butter, almond and sunflower oils, infused with organic botanical extracts, and Vitamin E.

An added bonus to Dolce Mia is the special other items that you can pickup through a home party or online. I found cute baby clocks, thank you cards, photo albums, and kid growth charts. They offer very unique items that you need to check out. A great idea for a girls party or bridal shower.

Special Edition || Mother's Day {Early Planning}

Mother's Day is almost upon us and I find myself thinking of the crafty or shall we say Etsy way to show my mom love. If you haven't heard of Etsy, this is a great place to find crafty originals from people buying and selling them. I found these cute drink covers that would be fun to share with the coozy lovin' mom's out there. It's a genious idea..ahem..those DIY brides out there would also love to check this site out. They have their own category on weddings that you can discover or spend hours clicking through.

Set of 7 tissue poms - Great part is you get to pick your colors!

Love Collection Red Pillow Covers - Ships anywhere in the world to your mom!

Lavender Wine Glass Set - These are fun to buy for mom and then sneak over to

share a glass a wine with her. Or, just buy yourself a set.

For many of us daughters and sons, we don't have to rely on our own crafy or uncrafty creations that we made in our youth years. We can celebrate our Mom's Day/ Mother's Day is all its glory with creations done with entrepreneurs out there. I love to see small business owners sprouting up and help keep our lives easier. Let's face it, much prettier too!

A Stress Free Wedding Day

Have you thought about your wedding day in full detail? If not, you may want to take a couple minutes to visualize that day.

Close your eyes, and picture yourselves getting ready for the ceremony. All of a sudden, the photographer comes up to you and asks you if you’re ready yet for your pictures. Then, right behind the photographer is the DJ wondering if they have the correct song you’ve picked for the brides walk down the aisle.

The groom’s buddy then tugs on his shoulder and says the caterer wants to know if the ceremony is going to get started on time, and if not, how far should the dinner be pushed back?

The men finally get ready to take pictures, but then realize they don’t have the boutonnière pinned to their jackets yet. And it’s then he realizes he has yet to see the florist, and then scrambles to find her.

So now ask yourself, how is your wedding day going? Is this how you envisioned your wedding day? Do you have a lot more stress than you imagined? Do you really want to be dealing with all these minor details and questions right now?

The Money You’ve Spent

In the Phoenix metropolitan area, on average, a couple is likely to spend $2,000+ on a quality photographer, $1,000+ or on a DJ or musician, $8,000+ on the venue and catering, and $1,500+ on flowers. With all that invested, do you want to a) coordinate the wedding yourself and not really get to enjoy your time with your new bride and deal with the above scenario, or b) hire a day-of-wedding coordinator to handle all the details so that you can enjoy your investment on the one day that you tie the knot with your lovely bride.

A Small Investment to Enjoy Your Day

Based on the above averages, you’ve just spent over $12,000 for the basic items you needed for your wedding day. Consider investing a little bit more so you can relax and have fun on your wedding day.

Now, picture yourself with a day-of-wedding coordinator, not to be confused with a site coordinator. A site coordinator doesn’t do anything to help with the flow of your day. They are there to simply help you find your room to get ready in and/or to make sure their own staff is in place for your ceremony and reception. But, a day-of-wedding coordinator takes all those visualized references above, and takes them off your plate.

With packages starting at $1,550, it’s worth it to you and your bride to consider hiring a day-of-wedding coordinator.

You shouldn’t be bothered with a thousand questions on your wedding day. With the Blueprint Affairs difference, we take on your wedding day coordination needs at least 30 days prior to your wedding and leave no rock unturned. Come your wedding day, you’ll be relaxed and stress free.

Contact Blueprint Affairs today at info@blueprintaffairs.com or 623-215-8657 to schedule your FREE initial consultation and see how we can serve every one of your needs come your wedding day.

See related blog: Destination Love: The Bride’s View

Until next time, happy wedding planning!

Destination Love || The Bride's View

Are you still considering all your options for friends and family to help on your wedding day? I’m sure you just thought your wedding would happen without any issues. Dee, my recent newlywed wanted to shed some light on her wedding planning experience. Dee considers herself very ‘organized’ (yes, she knew exactly how she wanted every detail in her wedding) and wasn’t sure if hiring a wedding planner would be the best with her modest budget.

Dee was the bride who loved searching and reading through all the wedding blogs to find out as much information as possible. Her motivation revolved around, “finding the right venue, the perfect dress, finding pictures of the perfect cake, and more.” As her Day-of-Wedding Coordinator, I worked to bring together all her wedding vendors so as Dee puts it “simply relax on my day”. I love exactly how Dee said this so I included it all for you.

I learned that you can be as involved (or not as involved) as you want when you hire a planner. If a bride doesn't want to put the time and energy into planning, then hiring a planner and opting for a full-service package is the way to go. But, if a bride wants to be involved (like I was!), then checking out the day of package is awesome, because everything on the day of is handled for you. Your planning and preparation is done. So, when it's your day, it's time to just sit back and enjoy. And, you can do that, because the planner troubleshoots, keeps the timeline on track, and works with all your vendors to make sure everything is taken care of and your day comes together smoothly. Your phone won't ring and people won't be coming to you if something goes wrong. Your planner is there and ready for anything to make your day smooth and stress free.

The key to enjoying your day is staying hydrated, eat snacks throughout the day and allow yourself plenty of time to stay calm. Dee recommends enjoying the process, don’t stress, and go with your gut instincts when planning your wedding. Blueprint Affairs works to make your day special and plan for the expected ceremony and reception timelines (and unexpected on your day). Dee enjoyed our attention to her details and listening to exactly how she pictured her wedding day. She enjoyed how passionate we are and may even consider helping other brides in their journey.

Special thanks to the vendors who helped make her wedding perfect!

Photos by Mary Sandy(photography), Sassi (venue), Petals & Pizazz (flowers), Matthew Thornton (guitar), and Reverend Giovanni, Ray the DJ, Wish Salon (hair), and Shayla Mitchell (makeup)

**With Blueprint Affairs, we offer full planning services and Day-of-Wedding Coordination.

Photo by Photos by Mary

Brazilian Steakhouse

BLUEman: The Male Perspective

Recently, my wife and I were in Las Vegas surprising her Aunt and Uncle on their 50th Wedding Anniversary. While they enjoyed a nice show at the Aria, we headed out to Pampas Churrascaria, a Brazilian steakhouse located in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

We first fell in love with Brazilian steakhouses while eating at one in New Zealand on our honeymoon, Wildfire Churrascaria. Like the one in New Zealand and in Vegas, most all Brazilian steakhouse offer an all-you-can-eat menu selection, and that of course is what we chose.

Throughout the course of your meal, you’ll be visited by the wait staff with many different meat selections, from barbeque pork, to top sirloin, to smoked ham, to bacon wrapped turkey, to spicy chicken, and more. The flavors are never ending, and for around $40 to $60 per person, depending on the range of food you want to eat as much of you can until you can’t eat no more, the value is definitely there.

While people watching at dinner we observed a table of 15 to 20 guys out on the town for a bachelor party. They of course were having a great time, most likely just kicking off their night of fun. I mean, what better way to start a guy’s night out than with a manly feast of succulent meats?

There of course is a local Arizona spot that you can visit to get your bachelor party started. It’s located in Scottsdale and goes by the name of Fogo de Chao.

But if you do happen to entertain your bachelor party in Vegas, make sure you walk by in front of Planet Hollywood and nearby in their Miracle Mile Shops during the course of the day prior to your meal. You’ll likely run into someone passing out free drink and buy one get one free all-you-can-eat meals at Pampas Churrascaria.

Save some money, eat a delicious meal, and have plenty left over to gamble or party the night away with your closest buddies.

Destination Love || Wedding Day Makeup

There comes a point in time when a makeup artist is no longer an option, but a requirement. Your wedding day is not something you want to scrimp on. These shots of your face will be plastered all over your walls and the photo galleries of your family for years to come. Finding the makeup artist that flatters all your fabulous features and hides that one zit you manage to unleash on your wedding day is a necessity. Yes, just like in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you too will find your hormones fighting the stress and excitement of your day.


The things that you should look for in a great makeup artist are simple: flawless and natural style, gentle and soothing nature (you’ll need this when things are feeling tense), polished, and professional. I love working with makeup artists myself because everyone loves being pampered. There’s something intoxicating while sitting there in that chair waiting for those sweet touches to your face. I recently worked with Shayla Mitchell of Makeup by Shayla who delivered perfectly. My bride left her chair looking so natural and yet, stunning in the way that her MAC makeup accented her model-like features. MAC is traditionally known for their high volume color palette but the right application of the wedding day coloring will leave you looking absolutely natural.

Remember to have your initial trial done a month or two before your wedding with any makeup artist. This will help you feel comfortable with the artist’s style and makeup cosmetics. You want to be sure that you take a few pictures of your look post-trial and note your skin’s feeling throughout the day. You can expect your trial and wedding day look to start at $150.

Shayla Mitchell – 310-993-0313 (based in Scottsdale, AZ)  *Sample pictures in blog

Destination Love || Wedding Anniversaries

Planning a wedding takes so much energy, sweat and tears. The pure joy is walking down the aisle to your bridal march music heading up to the man of your dreams. The main idea that most brides forget is the part after the wedding. The many years of learning and growing together through the vow words you spoke on that very wedding day. I recently celebrated a fabulous wedding weekend in the city of quickie weddings and high-roller nights (..also day’s too). The wedding weekend was actually to celebrate the union of my aunt and uncle from April 10, 1960. Yes, it was a 50th Wedding Anniversary in Las Vegas. I didn’t know them when they were married but to know them now you would be so impressed. The romance is seen in the way they look at each other. My Aunt Jeanette understands the dry humor of her hubby Michael as he listens so quietly while we get lost in our chatty talks. Giddiness comes over me when I'm talking with my auntie.

Brian, my hubby and I created a poem/picture frame (goldish frame- tradition says it's the color for 50 years) as a gift to give them. A poem by my favorite writer, the BLUEman (aka Brian) perfectly captured their life together.

I’m in an industry of love but no one really talks about after the wedding day. I think it’s special to celebrate the marriages that started and will last a lifetime…let’s congratulate my friends and family who have beat the odds.

Anniversary Congratulations!

Michael & Jeanette – 50 years

Lew & Sue – 34.5 years

Sherry & hubby – 30 years

Alise & hubby - 24 years

Jo Ann & Grant – 19 years

Tracy & Bill– 16 years (and 11 months)

Jen & Brian– 11 years

Janel & Shawn– 8 years

Laura & hubby - 5 years

Becky & Mark -3 years

Opal & Ed – 2.5 years

Andy & Michelle – 2 years