AYANAThe E-Magazine for the stylish bride

ISSUE VOL. 1PLANNING

AND

COORDINATION

EDITION

Bangfor yourBUDGET

ON L Y @AYANA

ContentsON

THECOVER

Bang for your budgetF E A T U R E D A R T I C L E30

AYANA

FEATURES

D O ' S A N D D O N T ' S

Guest ListFor serving food at your wedding

TrendsWED21

LoveWEDL O V E S T O R I E S

L.O.V.E QuotesDDE Couples

7

StyleWEDL O V E S T O R I E S

House of Bridal40

Have you been looking for aplace where you can have all ofyour wedding needs met. This is it!AYANA (The E-Magazine). The newmust have wedding tool for thestylish bride. It is so informativeand entertaining every page willguide you through your weddingwith expert tips and tricks. We can't wait for you to subscribe to our E-Magazine. Youwill fall in love with our featuredarticles, tips, tricks, real weddings,and advice for the stylish bride.

Enjoy our first issue!

T H A N K S F O R R E A D I N G !

EditorAYANA

NOTES

Welcome Brides!

EditorAfia Polk

NOW SHOWING ONYOUTUBE.com

S U B S C R I B E T O O U R

Y O U T U B E C H A N N E L

@ D D E B Y A Y A N A

T O D A Y !

ChristineMEET

on

Love#LOVI N

GYOUI SRI GHT

WED

ON L Y @AYANA

L.O.V.EQuotes

CHRISTINE+CHARLES

The Butterfly Tale

Love quotes and storiesabout couples who havefallen in love.

I M A G E S O U R C E : C A N V A

7pg.

ToHaveAndToHoldFromThisDayForward

B A S I C P R O T E S T A N T V OW S

CHRISTINE+CHARLES

THE

BUTTERFLY

TALE

DDECouples

Saturday, May 31, 2014 will be etched in my memory forever.Not only did the day hold another Divinely Designed Event (as mymother says after every event we complete), but this event wasextra special because it was my brother’s wedding. Anyone who isfamiliar with DDE by Ayana knows we pride ourselves on being afamily owned and operated business. We believe that family comessecond only to God and helping create a special day for my brotherand sister in law was a moment I will cherish forever. When Christine started planning, she, like most of brides had avision needing focus. This happens a lot when a bride confusesthings she likes with things cohesive with her wedding theme andpersonality. When this confusion sets in, (what I like to call PinterestOverload Syndrome) it becomes difficult for a bride to bring clarityto her wedding vision. This is where hiring a professional, or in thiscase marrying into the family of one, will change everything for thebetter. After speaking with Christine and Charles, my brother, on afew occasions, I discovered she wanted a free spirited gardentheme, and Charles wanted to go in a more traditional JaneAustenesque direction. Although these paths seem so different,from the merging of the two, The Butterfly Tale w as born.

The Butterfly Tale is a theme that allowed the enchantmentof the royal traditions found in fairy tales to melt into the freespirited magic of the Butterfly. From the flower girls passing outbutterfly kisses, (hershey’s kisses attached to butterfly cutouts)instead of throwing rose petals to the couple being chauffeured instyle in a vintage Packard to a violin serenade for their first dance,

our team enjoyed discovering how are the details of the day wouldunfold intertwining both facets of the theme. It seemed to be asymbol for how marriage should be a magical moment when 1+1still equals 1.

BY:AYANA KINNEL

GO TO YouTube @DDEBYAYANA TOWATCH CHRISTINE'S EPISODE OF THE BRIDES CLUB

VENDORS

VENDORS

THEME

VENDORS

COLORS

CHRISTINE+CHARLES

The Butterfly Tale

The Butterfly Tale(Collection available for

purchase atSTUDIOBYDDE.COM

Venue/Catering

Photography

Violinist

Array of pinks andpurples

Cake

Transportation

DJ

MS Museum of Art

Carlyn Photography

John Uzodinma

Campbell's Bakery

Way Back in Time

Nate Edwards

Event PlanningDDEbyAyana

Floral Design

Lighting

CinematographyEYM PremierProductions

(exclusive cinematographerof DDEbyAyana

Coordination

DDEbyAyana

DDEbyAyana

DDEbyAyana

SIMPLEWEDDING PLANNING MADE

F U L L F L O R A L & E V E N T D E S I G NW E D D I N G   P L A N N I N G   M A D E   S I M P L E

Butterfly T A L ETHE

F U L L F L O R A L & E V E N T D E S I G NW E D D I N G   P L A N N I N G   M A D E   S I M P L E

Art Imitating Love

F U L L F L O R A L & E V E N T D E S I G NW E D D I N G   P L A N N I N G   M A D E   S I M P L E

Peacock Passion

What's makes you a

STUDIO BRIDE ?You are a Studio bride if you love.....

Planning your own wedding Online shopping

A variety of weddingplanning and designing

opinions

Having a professionalhelp you execute yourunique wedding vision

Making weddingtraditions your own

Creating a specialevent for your guest

W E D D I N G   P L A N N I N G   M A D E   S I M P L E

W E D D I N G   P L A N N I N G   M A D E   S I M P L E

SHOP NOW!

STUDIOBYDDE.COM

LOVE

Loving

Over

Very

Expressive

Quotes

“You don’t marry someoneyou can live with. You

marry the person who youcannot live without.”“Your soulmate is not

someone who comes intoyour life peacefully. It iswho comes to make youquestion things, whochanges your reality,

somebody that marks abefore and after in yourlife. It is not the humanbeing everyone has

idealized, but an ordinaryperson, who manages torevolutionize your world in

a second.”

“The best love is the onethat makes you a betterperson, without changingyou into someone other

than yourself.”

QuotesL.O.V.E

BY: ELISSA MCCOOL

AnonymousAuthor

vs

GOTO

@ddebyayanaCLICK LINK IN BIO

WHAT KIND OF

BRIDEARE YOU ?

#wEDDI N

GTRENDSETTERS

ON L Y @AYANA

TrendsWED

DO's& DONT's

Tips on deciding what andwhat not to do whenplanning your wedding.

I M A G E S O U R C E : C A N V A

30pg.

DO's& DONT's

FORSERVINGFOOD ATYOURWEDDING

Here are someTips fordeciding what toserve and Howto serve theguests at yourwedding:

1. Having anopen bar( Guests won’trealize thatthey arewaiting for thewedding partyto come in)

2. Having aplated dinnercuts the guestwait time( When you arebeing served,

you don’t haveto worry aboutbacked uplines)

4. Cake choiceis veryimportant (Ifyour cake looksnice, you havegotten yourmonies worth.

This is one ofthe lastingmemories ofyour guests)

4. Buffet styledinners pose avariety for yourguests ( Mostpeople arepicky eatersnowadays)

DO

DO

DO

DO

6. Finger Foodsas entrees( Being cheapis NOT the wayto pleaseguests)

5. Supply thevendors withtogo boxessince they areworking( Waste not,Want Not!)

7. Cakes thatDO NOT lookedible orpresentable.

( Picking cakesthat are notpretty will be awaste ofmoney

8. Having guestswait while NOThaving a cocktailhour ( This is asure way forguests to leavebefore thereception starts)

9. Having plateddinners is NOT agood idea if youchoose thewrong meal( This poses alimited selectionof food forguests)

DO's& DONT's

10. Receptionstyle Foodstations are aGood idea ONLY ifthey do not havea backup at astation ( Moreadventourouscouples choosethis style. It is themost expensivewedding foodoption of all!)

DON'T

DON'T

DON'T

DO DON'T

DO

DON'T&

BY:VELSIE GENTRY

DO's& DONT's

O n l y @ AYANA Email @ info@ddebyayana.com

CHEERSANNOUNCEMENTS

T O Y O U

JANE JOHNC H E E R S T O T H E H A P P Y C O U P L E

WHO J U S T G O T E N G A G E D ON

07-04-16

To announce your engagement email us at theaddress below.

DO's& DONT's

GuestLIST

1. Create a budget before starting to create your guestlist. If you create the guest list first you will inevitablyexpand your budget to fit your numbers. The budgetwill help structure your guest list and keep it undercontrol.

DO

2. Share the maximum numbers with all the familymembers who are inviting people. This will help tokeep you from over inviting.

DO

3. Only invite those people who are special to you andyour fiancé. The guest list below can help you figureout who that is.

4. Send your invites out between six and eight weeksand be sure to include a written RSVP collectionmethod such as email or a response card.

5. Create a soft and hard deadline for your RSVP. Thesoft deadline is the out you will have printed on yourinvite or response card. The hard deadline, usually aweek later and not printed anywhere, is the absolutelast day you will accept a response.

DO

DO

DO

DON'T1. DO NOT OVER INVITE! This is so important. Bridesoften think that if I want 150 guests to come to mywedding, I should invite 200 guests. This is a HUGEmistake. If you want 150 people to come invite 150. If youover invite you will go over budget.

2. Don’t handle the RSVP yourself. If you have not hired aprofessional to handle your details, please appoint abridesmaid or a very detailed oriented relative or friend.

RSVP management is very tedious and frustrating work.

As a bride, you have so much to think about, let theRSVP worries go to someone else.

3. Don’t publicize your wedding details on social media.

Sometimes brides and grooms are so excited and wantto share all the details of the wedding. The problem ispeople who are not invited will feel invited when theyread the post about the wedding.

4. Don’t call each of the guests that have not RSVP’d bythe soft deadline. You should anly call your very specialguests such as your aunt or best friend’s mom. Thisguests usually have not RSVP’d yet because they assumeyou just know they are coming. Outside of that, if youcall guests that have not RSVP’d they will tell they arecoming and most times they are not. They just said yesnot to hurt your feelings.

5. Have a seating chart or a seating plan at least. Aseating chart is tedious work and a lot of brides opt outof the work of creating one. This is a mistake. You shouldhave a place for each of your guests. If you insist on nothaving a seating chart, then have a plan for seating. Willyou have a few reserved table for family then the rest isopen seating. Are you going to check in RSVP’d guestsfirst then those who did not RSVP? Show your guestsyou care about their experience.

DON'T

DON'T

DON'T

DON'T

BY: AYANA KINNEL

DO's& DONT's

ComingSoon

Tip:O F T H E MON T H

FE

AT

UR

ED

AR

TIC

LE

Banfor BUD

30pg.

ng yourDGET

BY: AYANA KINNEL

I M A G E S O U R C E : G O O G L E I M A G E S

BA

NG

FO

R Y

OU

R B

UD

GE

T

As I began this blog, I asked my brides what they wouldlike to read. Among many great suggestions, BUDGET wasthe most recurring theme. So in the vein of giving the peoplewhat they want, I will start with a series on budget. The first step in your wedding planning process (especiallyas it comes to budget), is to dream big! Dream up elementsyou want to have at your wedding. Don't limit yourself onanything in the beginning stages. Limits will come later anddepending on the budget, there might be plenty, so enjoythe dream stage.

The reason the dream stage is important is because theremight be elements you assumed were out of your budgetthat you can afford after all. You don't want to eliminateanything without proper research.

A crucial part of making sure you get the "bang for yourbudget" is having the funds to spend. Outside of those whoare just independently wealthy, most couples (and theirfamilies in some cases) are saving to fund the wedding oftheir dreams. The next step is to agree on a number you arecomfortable spending on the total budget. I love weddings,the bigger the better, but I always tell my brides "You stillneed to live after the wedding is over." This does not meanyou can't have the wedding you want. But you must be smartabout your spending and put your money on "value added"

items. After you and your fiance (and family) have discussed thebottom line number you should come up with a savings plan.

Now, you have your plan, you should know your spendinglimit. This bottom line number will also help you todetermine your guest list limit.

Do we want to wait until we have the lumpsum in hand? Or will we pay and save as wego?

ASKYOURSELF

1Where are all of our funding sources? (credit cards,savings accounts, paychecks, parents or otherrelatives)

How much will each sourceprovide? When will each sourcehave the funds available?2

3

BA

NG

FO

R Y

OU

R B

UD

GE

T

Your guest list is essential in the budgeting processbecause each person can add money to your bottom line.

Think of it like this. You are giving each one of your guests$100-$150 as a gift. So, if you have $15,000 to spend and 150guests each guest will get a $100 gift. The smaller the guestlist, the bigger the gift will be. So, if you have that same$15,000 and 100 guests, each guest will get a $150 gift. In theend, everything from catering to design is driven by thenumbers. Planning a wedding that is not only beautiful but also amemorable experience starts with assessing what things aremore important. These items are what we call "Value Added"

items. "Value Added" items can be different for each bride.

However understanding what yours are can make yourbudget planning so much easier. More often than not brides blow their budget simplybecause they don't know where to spend their money. Thereare so many shiny things that come with weddings thatdistraction is easy. Believe me I have been there! But when itcomes to your wedding you want to be sure the bulk of yourbudget is spent on things that add value to the overall feelingof the event. The value these items can bring will be the memoriesyour guests will relive over and over. For example, if you andyour fiance are great music lovers, then hiring a great band ora deejay with an extra special performance presence will addmuch more value than spending extra on the most exquisitechair covers or the extra fabulous table linen. In the end, yourguests will remember what a great time they had and notthat the linens were made of an expensive material.

ComingSoon

IMAGE SOURCE : CANVA

BEAUTYGuru

BIGBRIDAL

THE

&FACEBOOK CONTEST

TAG'EM TELL'EM

@divinelydesignedeventsbyayanaFOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS

FACEBOOK CONTEST

TELL'EMTAG'EM&BRIDALBIG

THE

GO TO

CLICK

ENTER

OUR FACEBOOKPAGE

THE PROFILEPICTURE TO VIEW

DETAILS

THE BIG BRIDALTAG'EM & TELL'EM

FACEBOOK CONTEST

ON L Y @

Style#STYLI SHWEDDI N

GGUI DE

WED

AYANA

I M A G E S O U R C E : S T E R L I N G P I C S

H O U S E O F B R I D A LBridal fashion for the bride lookingfor tips on how different styles fityour body.

40pg.

H O U S E O F B R I D A L7 WEDD I N G D R E S S T R E N D S T O F I T

E V E R Y B R I D E ' S S T Y L E

I M A G E S O U R C E : G O O G L E I M A G E S

Your wedding dress is one of the most importantaspects of your wedding. It may even be considered THEmost important aspect, depending on who you are asking.

Picking the perfect dress can be a long, intimidatingprocess. Tail or no tail? Strap-less or halter-neck? Do youeven want it to be white? Maybe gray? The possibilities of the wedding dress are endless andare evolving each bridal season. Although it may seem like anever-ending search, the right dress is out there for you!

Each season, designers reveal new bridal trends to matchevery bride’s style, whether traditional or not. Are you intune with the latest trends of spring 2017? Here are 7 of ourfavorite go-to trends for every bride:

BY: ELISSA MCCOOL

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

C A R O L I N A H E R R E R A

I M A G E S O U R C E : H A R P E R S B A Z A A R

Bows are a timeless classic in weddingdresses. Whether placed in the front or back,

bows make a subtle statement while addingcharacter to the dress.1

Y o u s a i d

W E   W I L L   H A N D L E   T H E   R E S T

"Yes"

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

N A H E EM K A H NPinks: Pink dresses take a slight step out ofthe traditional white dresses without fallingcompletely out of the box. Rose pink dressesare a major trend for Spring 2017 that will

compliment every skin tone.

I M A G E S O U R C E : D A N L E C C A

2

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

C A R O L I N A H E R R E R A

I M A G E S O U R C E : H A R P E R S B A Z A A R

Non-traditional brides rejoice! Pants aremaking its way not only down the runway,but down the aisle. Pants are the unique,

chic look that you should go for if you wantto step completely out of the box of

traditional wedding dresses.3

Y O U   S A I D   " Y E S "   W E   W I L L   H A N D L E   T H E   R E S T

The Custom Experience BOOK TODAY!

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

R E E M A C R A

I M A G E S O U R C E : H A R P E R S B A Z A A R

Plunging necklines are great for the bridewho aims for a little sexy while walking downthe aisle. The small peek of skin is taking overthe Spring 2017 season and more brides arebeginning to take the slightly risqué, but

classy, dress route.4

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

MA R C H E S A

I M A G E S O U R C E : H A R P E R S B A Z A A R

For the bride who wants to standout in asimpler way, bold florals are a hot trend forSpring 2017. More dresses are popping upwith 3-D flowers attached that give the dress

a unique, effortless look.5

Y O U   S A I D   " Y E S "   W E   W I L L   H A N D L E   T H E   R E S T

The Custom Experience BOOK TODAY!

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

J . M E N D E L

I M A G E S O U R C E : H A R P E R S B A Z A A R

Long sleeve dresses are not only reserved forthe winter season. More designers have

brought long sleeves into the spring seasonwith soft, light fabric that produces a couture

look.6

HOUSE OF BRIDAL

D E S I G N E R :

J E N N Y P A C K H AM

I M A G E S O U R C E : G E T T Y

Caped tops give a classic, old Hollywood feelto bridal dresses and are a definite option forthe contemporary bride who does not want

to show too much. Embellished withstunning jewels, the caped top can producea very glamorous effect to the wedding dress.7

Y O U   S A I D   " Y E S "   W E   W I L L   H A N D L E   T H E   R E S T

The Custom Experience BOOK TODAY!

What's makes you a

Custom BrideYou are a Custom bride if you love.....

Setting your own trends A quality and complete customerexperience

Hiring professionals tohandle all your wedding

details

Over the top, luxuriousdesigns reflecting your

style and taste

Extremely creativewedding film productions

incorporating yourpersonality

Having a completelyunique wedding

experience for you andyour guests

Y O U   S A I D   " Y E S "   W E   W I L L   H A N D L E   T H E   R E S T

BOOK TODAY!

Y O U   S A I D   " Y E S "   W E   W I L L   H A N D L E   T H E   R E S T

CUSTOMBYDDE.STRIKINGLY.COM

vs

GOTO

@ddebyayanaCLICK LINK IN BIO

WHAT KIND OF

BRIDEARE YOU ?

@LIKE, TWEET, FOLLOW, WATCH, AND PIN US

DivinelyDesignedEventsbyAyana

DDEBYAYANA

@DDEBYAYANA

@DDEBYAYANA @DDEBYAYANA @DDEBYAYANA @DDEBYAYANA