Vendor Spotlight and GIVEAWAY: Meadowbelle Market (CLOSED)

Happy Valentine's everyone! As a V-day gift to you, we're bringing you another Vendor Spotlight and GIVEAWAY!I'm really excited to bring you our next Vendor Spotlight, a sister duo from Kansas City: Erin and Aundrea of Meadowbelle Market! Classic, vintage inspired, timeless, elegant, and feminine. That's how the pair would describe their line of jewelry and bridal accessories. What started as a love for all things sparkling and chic, has grown into a jewelry and accessory line full of lovely items any style-savvy bride would love. The pair sell creative hand-made jewelry of fine materials, as well as a lovely bridal line of flower hair pieces, bird cage veils and sashes on their online etsy store. I received a tropical inspired flower hairpiece from their store and I'm just in love with it! The whimsical, romantic look is classic Meadowbelle style. Made with white silk and fastened to an alligator clip, the flower is the perfect match for the tropical/classic look I'm pulling off with my gown :) Go ahead, browse their store and you'll find tons of accessory inspiration for your wedding day!

So, without further ado, I bring you Erin and Aundrea of Meadowbelle Market!

What sparked your interest in creating jewelry?
We’re like any women who love accessories; much like a good pair of shoes, we love jewelry because it always fits. A new piece can make your wardrobe feel fresh and updated. In the same way, creating jewelry can be fun, beautiful, and inspiring and of course we create pieces that we would want to wear. In addition, there are so many mediums that can be used to construct jewelry—sometimes the options seem endless. For example, we love sparkling glass beads, but Erin also enjoys the freedom of being able to create unique structure with soldered sterling silver elements.

How long have you been creating jewelry?
We started making jewelry at a young age—maybe we were five or six years old. At that age, our designs were more likely to include macaroni and plastic pop beads (for those of you who remember the ‘80s). By age 12, we were selling our designs on consignment at a local art store. We continued creating jewelry as a way to fulfill our dream of working together.

What advice can you give to brides as they accessorize for their wedding?
We love anything that sparkles, dangles and shines. On your wedding day you will want to feel like the most glamorous person in the room, even if your style is generally more casual. And remember the rule of 3 (so as not to overdo): Pair 2 bold items with 1 classic/subtle piece, or 2 classics with a bold (ie: classic dress, classic shoes, bold jewelry OR bold dress, bold accessory, classic jewelry).

Buy this Loved necklace and $15 of the purchase will go towards Haiti relief efforts.

What is the most creative thing you've seen at a wedding? What did they do?
In lieu of one large wedding cake, a friend enlisted the help of a dozen or more artistic friends to each bake their favorite cake for the centerpiece of every table. All the cakes were different, and included a small card with description and credits to the ‘baker’. The cakes were a great way to facilitate conversation, and everyone was interested in mingling, curious about the cakes at other tables.

From an entertainment point of view, Aundrea had an instructor provide basic dance step lessons to get people on the dance floor. Erin had a magician during dinner—everyone loved it!

Any advice for brides-to-be out there?
# 1.) Plan, plan, plan. Get a simple wall calendar to use solely for wedding planning; pencil in goals of “due dates” for everything from beginning a task to when that task should be completed, from now until the big day. Breaking it down this way gives you a few manageable tasks each month and lets you rest assured you’re on track.

If you’re not organized by nature, enlist a friend who is—which brings us to #2.) Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Have friends and family to do one small thing. They’ll be honored to be involved. If you don’t hire a wedding planner, delegate one main person the day of to field questions (this should not be someone in the wedding party—they will be helping you get ready).

Visit Erin and Aundrea's blog for more of their work!

Now for our giveaway! Erin and Aundrea are giving away a beautiful pair of pearl earrings from their store!

Here are the rules:

1) Go to Meadowbelle Market on etsy and comment on your favorite item for one entry! This is mandatory! Contestants who do not do this will be disqualified. Remember to leave your email address or some way to contact you with each entry!

You can add more comments to increase your chance to win if you do the following (please leave separate comments for each additional entry)

2) Become a new follower of this blog (1 entry)

3) Are currently a follower of my blog (2 entries or 2 separate comments!)
4) Become a facebook fan of “I Do” Budget Weddings (2 entries or 2 separate comments)
5) Blog about the contest and include a link to the giveaway. Each entrant must also include a link to Meadowbelle Market's etsy shop in their post (3 entries or 3 separate comments)
6) Buy anything from Meadowbelle Market (5 entries or 5 separate comments)
7) Follow “I Do” Budget Weddings on Twitter (1 entry)
8) Tweet on this giveaway and include a link to this giveaway in your tweet. Please include a link to your tweet. (1 entry)
9)  Heart Meadowbelle Market on etsy. Please leave your etsy username in your comment so I may verify it. (2 entries or 2 separate comments)

The deadline to enter this contest is 11:59 p.m., Saturday, February 27, 2010 (PST). A winner will be randomly chosen and announced the following Sunday morning. Good luck! This giveaway is closed.