Bridal Biz!

This year has been one incredible year for our bridal accessory business, Bridal Couture Girls. My mom, my aunt Cindy and I are blessed and we are having such a blast with it. It is so rewarding to be a part of our customers' wedding day and be able to make them happy.

We now have two bridal collections so far with about 50-60 pieces each and we already have tons more in the works. We have many custom designs as well, which we have created for brides that want to step out of the box and have us re-create a vision. We create all of our own custom designs and we can recreate any brides dream piece/accessory that they envision for themselves on their special day. It is such a rewerding job and we love making brides happy.

There has been so much opportunity since the the business started. We have been featured in Style Me Pretty magazine, the Brides of Oklahoma magazine, several UK publications, Los Angeles' Luxurious weddings, and many blogs. Many bridal stores have requested to sell our pieces and we are currently working on supplying items wholesale. We have been truly honored and hope to see continuous success doing what we love and are passionate about.

Our Spring 2011 Collection is featured on our facebook page (BCGirls bridal couture) and also our Bridal Couture Girls blog which can be found here. Check out our collection and enjoy!

With Love, The Stephens

Married Life :)

Almost married 1 year....can you believe it! We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary in a little over 2 months (on June 26th). My how time flies when you are having fun! It seems like just yesterday we were walking down the aisle. We are so excited and this first year of marriage has been such an amazing journey. I am so blessed and I can't express how lucky I am to have Ryan in my life. I am proud to be his wife and I know we have a great future ahead. This year has been full of ups and downs, but God is taking us in an incredible direction. God is doing great things in our lives and our families lives as well.

Ryan and I have tons of goals together and successful careers are one of those. We have big dreams and we are excited for what is ahead. However God and family is most important to us. We want to have a family sooner than later. It is amazing how many baby questions you get, even after only 2 months of being married. hehe. We hope to build a family in the next couple years and we are so excited for that!

Ryan will be in school this Summer for Construction Science and he is so excited to get his degree. He has his own repair and construction business on the side and between school and that, he is very busy. I am working my bridal business, along with working at RiskMetrics (now MSCI). The bridal business is doing incredible and I couldn't be more blessed.

We are so thankful for our family and friends who have supported us and made this an incredible year, including making our wedding so incredible. Thank you all and we love you! Hugs!

I wanted to share just a few of our wedding pictures....

After the ceremony, sooo happy!

Seeing eachother for the first time. :)

Ryan is a romantic!

My handsome, sweet hubby!

My amazing best friends and sisters. Love you girls! You made our day incredible!

My hubby and his boys. Thank you for making our wedding special!

With Love, the Stephens

Presenting... Mr. and Mrs. Stephens

I am marrieeeeed! I am officially Mrs. Stephens! We had the wedding day of our dreams on June 26, 2010, and we thank our family and friends for the most amazing experience. Ryan and I are very blessed. Friends and family from all over came to visit and it was a wonderful time!

The rehearsal dinner started the weekend of just perfect! Ryan's parents, Carol and Darwin, put on the most wonderful rehearsal dinner the Royal Bavarian restaurant. We had all of our family, friends and the wedding party their to celebrate! We ate, drank, laughed and listened to the band outside after dinner. The food was sooo good and it was such a fun night!

I woke up Saturday morning with the most wonderful feeling and I was all smiles. I still can't explain the feeling, it is just the most amazing thing ever! I couldn't believe it was finally here and it almost didn't feel like our wedding day. lol. I rushed around of course and had my hair done by Kelli's cousin Taylor, who is amazing. Then I went to the church to meet my bridesmaids for make up. The day flew by so fast! Jana, my amazing friend and photographer, arrived at the church early to take our pictures. For the first time, Ryan and I saw each other and had our "first look" before the ceremony. We decided to break tradition and see one another before the ceremony, due to our large families, we wanted to take the pictures before the ceremony. When Ryan and I first looked at each other we were speechless. We both broke down and just held each other. I will never forget how Ryan looked at me. What an amazing day! I will never forget that feeling...ever!

7pm...It was time....the wedding coordinator called me down to meet my dad. I was about to walk down the aisle towards the man of my dreams - it was all here, the day I had waited for since I was a little girl. Let's face it, we all picture our wedding and our dress when we are little, but when that day finally comes it is unbelievable.

The wedding ceremony was at St. John's Episcopal church in Norman, Oklahoma. The church was beautiful, filled with candles down the aisle, stained glass windows, and cherry wood pews. I cried as I walked down the aisle with my dad (of course he was crying too). The ceremony went perfect....but we did get a good laugh! :) Ryan forgot to say his vows and our priest had to ask him 3 times :) haha. It was such a perfect addition to a perfect day, as we can look back and laugh about those moments. The entire congregation laughed and it made the mood extremely relaxed and fun. Poor Ryan was so nervous. :)

The reception followed at Cobblestone Golf Club, where we drank, ate, and danced until after 1am! It was so beautifully decorated. My florist, Kelly, did amazing work and Ryan and I were taken back! Ryan and I arrived in an old Sting Ray Corvette to the reception. We entered the reception to see all of our family and friends cheering for us - such a wonderful feeling. It was blast! I don't think I left the dance floor all night. We talked to family and friends we hadn't seen in years. Everything was perfect! We couldn't have asked for a better night.

My amazing bridesmaids took care of me all day and shared in all the excitement! I have the most wonderful friends and I had them right by my side that day. My mom was right by my side all day and she did so much for Ryan and I and made our day so special. I love her so much! My life changed in so many ways that day. I became a part of a bigger family and I gained a sweet, caring, honest, down-to-earth, lovable, husband. I now have two wonderful new sisters - Casey and Summer, an amazing mother and father-in-law, Carol and Darwin, many special nieces and newphews, aunts, uncles, and grandparents! I am so lucky to be a part of Ryan's family, they are a wonderful blessing. Ryan also became part of my family that day. A family that absolutely adores him. My family loves him and we are so fortunate to have Ryan in our lives. I am so blessed to be close to Ryan's family and for Ryan to be close to mine. Family and friends are important and I know I can speak for Ryan in saying we are blessed with both!

Such a special day! Saying "I do" to the man of my dreams was the most amazing feeling. Ryan and I had waited this day for our entire lives and it turned out absolutely perfect in our eyes. God had his hands in our special day!

Love, The Stephens

One Last Fling Before the Wedding Bells Ring!

Dallas. Hotel ZaZa. Bachelorette party. 12 girls.

All of those statements above make for one VERY interesting girls weekend :) Needless to say, some of my best friends, Kelli, Melissa and Leslie, threw me the bachelorette party of a life-time! It was such a fun weekend full of friends, purple, fun, memories, and sillyness. Let's be honest, you have to break out the penis veils, straws, and gag gifts for such a weekend. And for these 12 girls, I expected nothing less ;)

Kelli had everyone wear purple accessories and I, as the bride, got to wear a bright purple dress :) Purple, being our wedding color, is my favorite color.

We started our Saturday by checking into our fabulous hotel room at Hotel ZaZa in Dallas, TX. We were greeted with champagne. The hotel is so beautiful! We had a few drinks at the hotel and the girls had a lingerie shower for me! It was so much fun.

After the lingerie shower the girls made sure I had on the appropriate attire for such an event. I was decorated in a penis veil, a shot glass necklace, and a boa. Kelli also made sure we had plenty of dares to do throughout the night. After I was covered in penis attire, we headed to a wonderful dinner at Iron Cactus Mexican Grill and Bar in downtown Dallas. It was amazing and my lobster tacos were DELISH! After dinner it was time to head out on the town. Us 12 girls hit every bar in the area and enjoyed every minute!

The next morning we were all dragging of course, but that didnt stop us from going to brunch. We headed to Dream Cafe, where we re-capped on the night :) After indulging in a yummy brunch I drove the painful 3 hour drive home to Norman...not feeling so hot. But it was all worth it. We had a wonderful time!

I want to thank all of my wonderful friends for being so supportive and giving me the best bachelorette weekend ever!

Now time to get hitched!!!

May flowers bring wedding showers!

Ryan and I both agree that we are truly blessed with amazing friends and family. I can speak on behalf of both of us when I say our first two wedding showers have been absolutely amazing! We couldn't be more thankful and appreciative. Thank you to everyone who put so much time and love into those showers! We look forward to the other festivities to come that our friends and family are putting together :)

We have such a supportive group of friends that got together and threw my bridal shower for us (see picture). My bridesmaids Kelli, Melissa and Ashley were so excited to plan this special day for us and they truly blew me away! Thank you very much girls! The shower was at beautiful restaurant called Benvenuiti's. It was decorated sooo pretty! The cake was absolutely beautiful and just as yummy (see picture below). Seriously, I wanted to buy one for my house to snack on at home. hehe. Lets just say Ryan didn't get much of that cake. hehe. The appetizers were sooo wonderful - chicken satays, veggies, spinach dip, and kabobs. It was absoultely beautiful and it was more than I imagined! It was so great to see all of the support for our BIG DAY! Ryan and I got some wonderful gifts from some great friends! My entire car was packed from floor to ceiling, not to mention the trunk. hehe. Thank you to Ashley, Kelli and Melissa and all my friends and family that were there to enjoy that day with me :) You made it very special and Ryan and I truly apprecite the amazing gifts and support.

Our second shower was our family and friend shower for my side of the family. My whole family got together and planned a very special day. Ryan got to come to this one, so he was very excited. Ryan and I walked into the shower and were graced with a flood of beautiful plum decorations and smiling faces. It was wonderful and we were blown away. Our family did such a great job and we are so thankful! The cake was a hit! My family had our favorite strawberry cake with chocolate strawberries on top! Yum! If you haven't had a nancy's cupcake or cake I suggest you pay a visit to Cookies and Cards and get one! A-Mazing! The punch was a beautiful purple to match as well and was so yummy! As Ryan and I looked around we saw our engagement pictures, a number of other pretty decorations around the room, and all those we love surrounding us. The guest book was a plate that everyone signed that we can keep and remember forever! What a special gift. Not to mention, we got some amazing gifts. We got our cookware, bakeware, our Vera Wang place settings, among many other wonderful gifts! Yahoo! Thank you to everyone! We are so thankful and appreciate everything our family and friends did for us!

We look forward to the bachelor party, bachelorette party, lingerie showers, rehearsal dinner and other wedding festivities that our family and friends are doing for us. June 5th I will be heading to Dallas for my bachelorette party where I will share wonderful memories with great friends. My maid of honor, Kelli, and two bridesmaids, Melissa and Leslie, graciously planned a wonderful weekend get-away for me and all of us girls. We are staying at Hotel ZaZa and are enjoying a amazing dinner and night out! I just can't wait and feel so blessed for my friends!

Ryan will be taking his bachelor party soon at Lake Texhoma where he will spend the weekend fishing with his best man, Jay. Of course this is Ryan's favorite thing to do, so this bachelor party fits him to a T. But we aren't stopping there friends! My other Matron of Honor Ashley has planned a night out in OKC full of lingerie and yummy treats at the Melting Pot. Then we will venture out to the Piano Bar in downtown. So fun! I can't wait! Also, my wonderful sister-in-laws and mother-in-law, Casy, Summer and Carol, and also Ryan's aunt Pam, are planning a fun bridal shower night full of drinks, music, champagne and lingerie! Gosh, I am truly blessed! I can't wait for a night with my wonderful in-laws. So special! Ryan will also have another bachelor party here in Norman with the rest of his groomsmen where he will enjoy drinks with friends and I am sure they will find some trouble. hehe. To top it all off, Ryan's mom, Carol, and step-dad, Darwin, have planned the most amazing rehearsal dinner for us! We are so excited and we can't wait to share that time with family. Wow! What a dream wedding.

Ryan and I want to say thank you to everyone that has made this journey so special. We are truly blessed and couldn't have a more supportive group of family and friends. Thank you to my family for all of your love, support, and helping with the planning of our big day. My grandparents, my mom, my dad, and Ryans family are what made this wedding possible. Thank you for making our special day so perfect! We are so glad to share these wonderful moments with you all.

Be Couture!

The common theme throughout these first few blog posts appears to be "life changing events". I feel blessed to be able to say that, as I am in this phase in my life where I am growing and establishing who I am. Let's just say that the past few years of Ryan and I's lives have been extremely life changing in an extremely positive, God-given way. I feel truly blessed to have had all of these wonderful experiences the past few years and I hope God's grace doesn't let up. From meeting that one man to spend my life with, to seeing the world through God's eyes with miss Payton, to getting engaged to my best friend, having my family accept Ryan's blessing, to being blessed with the most supportive and loving in-laws, to having our families help Ryan and I plan the biggest day of our lives...I can honestly say God's blessings are pouring upon Ryan and I.

Let's not let the life changing events stop there! When starting the "adventures in wedding planning" (as I like to call this experience) I had no idea that planning the wedding of Ryan and I's dreams would in turn lead to another one of God's plans for my life (and Ryan's life) - Bridal Couture Girls.

Just a few months after the wedding planning began, I began to see a common trend in the wedding industry - veils, headpieces, and acessories are gosh darn expensive! Let's not forget wedding dresses too! There is a reason Vera Wang designs dresses for celebrities. I first realized this trend in the industry as I was trying on my wedding dress for my friends and family. As I walked out in my beautiful wedding gown, Tiffany (my bridal consultant at the bridal boutique), fixed my hair and brought me an abundance of different types of veils, headpieces and jewelry. Tiffany stressed, "every girl needs a veil and headpiece". Wonderful, not only did I need a dress but I had completely forgotten about accessories, which I hadn't budgeted for. It was very overwhelming and of course, I wanted 5 of the 10 I tried on. tee hee. As I continued to try on these magnificent headpieces I finally felt I found the one...well actually two if you count the flower and veil. But whose really counting? Not having looked at the price yet, I glanced down at the tags of the two "chosen" headpieces. $400 for the veil!!!!!!! $325 for the flower!!!!! My heart stopped and I realized my hopes of getting either of these super cute, high-fashion, couture, every brides perfect headpice, were crushed. I wanted the COUTURE look that fit my dress to a T. My face quickly went from the excited bride to the not-so-excited bride.

As we left the bridal store my aunt Cindy, who has sewn for over 25 years and is one of the most talented women I have ever known (next to my mom. hehe), said something that every bride in this state of mind would want to hear - "I can make those for you for nothing and they will look identical". And that my friends, was the beginning of Bridal Couture Girls.

Yep.. my mom, my aunt Cindy, and I quickly found out that every bride could BE COUTURE at an affordable price! We also found that we would soon embark on the craziest, most fun journey! We found that we each had what it took to start a couture bridal accessory company. That night we stayed up until 3am planning our business, our dreams and goals. Bridal Couture Girls unfolded before our eyes and we had no idea what God had in store but we liked what we were about to take on.

Let's just say that God had great things in store for these "three sisters", which is what we call ourselves. Granted I am a niece and a daughter and really mom and Cindy are sisters, but whose being technical these days? As we developed our website, our mission, and what we wanted Bridal Couture Girls to be known for, God took us in wonderful directions.

Since this night at 3am when Bridal Couture Girls was created, we have had over 25 sells, we have been asked to feature our custom accessories for a company called Luxurious Weddings in Los Angeles. We are featured on Wedding Wire, Etsy, Facebook and a host of other sites. Our professional website is almost up and running and our customers will be able to buy our prodcuts via our site. Cake designers are using our accessories on cakes, in their show rooms, and in photo shoots. We have also started hosting our very own yearly bridal contest. A host of wonderful vendors have teamed up with us to provide an amazing opportunity to brides! This journey is so exciting and it feels so rewarding to provide every bride that couture item at an affordable price for her perfect day!

I am so excited to see where Bridal Couture Girls will take us in the future. It has been an honor to work with my wonderful mom and aunt. They are both so talented and I truly admire them! We hope to take our business to the next level and sell our items in stores across the country. We also hope to open our own bridal store one day. With a positive attitude the possibilties are endless and we have placed this journey in God's hands!

Visit our site - www.bridalcouturegirls.com.

Follow us on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/BCGirls

Be Couture!

36 Days!

36 days until I say "I do" to one of my best friends and the man of my dreams. My stomach has butterflies and I am so incredibly excited. I just can't wait! The anticipation is just killing me. hehe. I keep picturing our special day and how it will go. I have even written out a schedule of how the day would go. I know what you are thinking...crazy girl. hehe. But ultimately, God has his hand's in that day and how it will turn out. I believe no matter what, that day will be very special to Ryan, I, and our families.


A part of me is super stressed, as I tie up lose ends, cross my t's and dot my i's. I keep praying I won't forget anything. Favors, check. Flowers, check. Cake, check. The past few weeks the stress has been increasing a little. I am an extremely laid back person and since the wedding planning began I have been very laid-back and care-free. But as June 26th nears, I feel a sense of tension and stress, fearful that I might miss something or that I haven't done something important. As I scrounge through sevral wedding books that offer checklists, I mark each item off, reassuring myself I have completed every task. If there were one more checklist out there I probably would have it. lol.

I have never been the best event planner and this event, being the biggest of my life, threw some curve balls at me. How was I supposed to know the museum didn't allow real flowers? I don't even know what a peoni is. And I quickly learned the difference between the cost of silk flowers and real. This can often be very misleading. After changing churches and reception venues several times, we found the place where our special day will be held! The church is stunning with cherry wood and stained glass. The reception venue is a quaint colf course with a country-side feel. It says luxury but also has a casual atmosphere. It is beautiful and focuses on the outdoors, which is the picture perfect place for Ryan and I. It fits both of our personalities perfectly. This is truly a dream come true.

And of course, lately I have had that feeling of "is my wedding going to WOW the guests". I hope our special day will be as wonderful and fun to others as it is to us. Of course I want it to go perfectly, for everyone's jaw to drop at the ceremony, for the cake to be just right, for the flowers to be absolutely stunning, and for the music to be just perfect and to have everyone on the dance floor late in to the night. But really, it isn't about the music, the flowers, and the cake. It is about Ryan and I and our special committment to one another. A committment that is blessed by God. It is about saying you will stick together through good and bad and that we will love each other for the rest of our lives. When I get stressed and try so badly to plan out the day to a T, I come back to the fact that it is about Ryan and I embarking on this huge journey together and making a life-time commitment to one another. It doesn't matter if the cake isn't as tall and abundant as I hoped. What matters is that we love each other and we are committing our lives to one another on that day. When I think about Ryan and how we will say "I do", all my fears of how the wedding day will turn out go away. I am truly blessed and God has really given me one of the most amazing things - true love with an amzing man.

I am excited to plan out our lives together, to start a family and to laugh and lean on one another for the rest of our lives. We are truly best friends and I feel absolutely lucky to have this feeling.

36 days and counting!