We all know people who get too caught up with the bottom line, entrench themselves in the rat race, and define success solely by the status of their bank account. They forget what’s important in life and miss out on truly living.

One of my greatest fears in starting a business was that I would unwittingly slip into that same mentality. So when I started Blue Orchid Designs, one of my main priorities was to remain involved in philanthropic and humanitarian efforts.

I really believe that people are blessed so that they can bless others and I wanted my company to be a vehicle for that. In order to remain accountable to this belief, I set up a policy of donating a portion of each sale to charity. It has turned out not only to be an avenue for myself to be involved, but for others as well. I have had brides tell me that they are really glad that part of their wedding budget is going towards helping supply others with basic human needs.

Last night I attended an event for Students Empowering Malawians with Disabilities, an organization that Blue Orchid Designs supports. We listened to a few of the engineers share about their designs to help Malawians be able to perform simple daily tasks that we so often take for granted. They are also starting a microloan project to help people be able to have a source of income and sustainability.

I recently shared a bit of Elizabeth’s story (pictured). Yesterday I was able to see the finished product that was designed for her. It is a tricycle with wide, sturdy tires for the dirt roads and a chain designed specifically to not catch in her long skirts. Since she cannot use her right side, the pedals have straps to attach around her feet so that her right leg will still be moving and building muscle tone while her left leg powers the bike. Since there is no refrigeration in Malawi, Elizabeth has to go to the market daily. The engineers also attached a basket so that she can carry home food from her daily trips.

If you would like to learn more about this organization, you can contact them via email. Just remove the “no spam” phrase from their address before sending.

I try and eat healthy foods, but my weakness is found in the sugar-coated stickyness that are Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They are just too delicious, and I was a little bummed last year when all eight of Arizona's stores shut down after their parent franchise filed for bankruptcy.

Time to set my sad blog issues aside and talk about something fun: color! I love color and I love seeing it used at events, especially in weddings. Sometimes I wish I was an Aussie or a Brit so I could spell it "colour". Then we could have this conversation over some tea and crumpets as well. Yum.

Anyway, if you're getting hitched soon, forget the standard black, white, and red. Have some fun and experiment! If branching out on the color palette scares you a bit, check out Pantone's Fashion Color Report for Fall 2007. They showcase some fab colors that are sure to glam up your affair.

We are busy working on a new website, but I just discovered this morning that I will be adding a new blog to that list of things to do. Unfortunately for all you Firefox and Safari users, you are not seeing this blog in its full cuteness. This knowledge actually makes me want to cry just a little bit. So stay tuned for even more changes! You just never know what's going to happen around here.

Oh and if you are super tech savvy and want to drop me a line on how to fix it so it displays the same in all browsers, feel free! I will even buy you lunch. :)

If it is possible to be in love with a website, then consider me smitten. Olivia Luca is a dress designer whose site is as fun to play with as a room full of pretty silk fabric would be. And in case there is any doubt - a silken room would be a fabulous way to spend an afternoon.

Forget the budget, the hardest part of planning a wedding is managing emotions. Often the bride is left to play referee to her aunts who insist on certain traditions and her 21 sorority housemates who pull out their drama queen trophies when they are not named a bridesmaid. Throw in the aspect of merging two (and sometimes more) families and it is enough to make any bride down the nearest bottle of champagne and crawl under a pile of tulle to hide.

All of this often leaves the bride little time or energy to pay attention to her own emotional well-being. Marriage is a big deal and involves several life changes. Even couples who lived together before tying the knot admit to some psychological hurdles: will changing my name cause me to lose part of my identity, my ethnicity? How will hyphenating affect my future kids? And so on and so forth.

Yes, managing emotions is a monstrous task and not one that comes with quick and easy solutions. There are some tips however that can help you navigate these waters a little better:

1.) Hire a wedding consultant. No brainer that I put this one first, and yes, I am biased. ;) Beyond coordination and design, a good planner will be able to give an unbiased opinion on all of your wedding details as well as play the evil role of nixing certain ideas (like Aunt Millie's bundt cake) for you, so that your family reunions can remain untarnished from wedding drama memories for years to come.

2.) Get pre-marital counseling. This should be a line item on every couple's budget. Marriage comes with its own set of ups and downs - make sure you are starting off on the right foot and on the same page.

3.) Check out The Conscious Bride. Sheryl Paul is a professional bridal counselor and the wisdom she offers throughout this book is invaluable. Getting married in three months and all you can think about are your ex-boyfriends? Don't worry - you're completely normal, and Sheryl tells you why.

Do what you can to make sure that this season of transition is as seamless as possible. Life is just too short to miss out on enjoying your engagement!

Let's admit it: brides have gotten better about choosing uber cute dresses for their bridesmaids to traipse down the aisle in. That still doesn't mean that those pretty frocks are going to be worn again. So if you have been a bridesmaid (and who hasn't?) and have a closet full of formal gowns, consider donating them to a good cause.

I have the best brides. It's true. They are so fun and creative and awesome and sweet and I could go on and on. Sure, your brides may be nice and all, but mine are the best. So there.

One fun couple I'm working with is having Daniela of Simple Difference design their invitations and the rest of their wedding stationery. I saw the mockup yesterday and was amazed! She totally captured their personality and the invites are going to perfectly set the tone for the wedding.

If Simple Difference is ringing a bell for you, it's probably because you saw them featured in last Spring's issue of Inside Weddings. If you're anything like me and still have your copy laying around - they're on page 122!

If you're looking for invitations that are different, custom designed, and completely you, then be sure to check them out!

Well, no one guessed the second dish in my highly acclaimed cooking repertoire, so the winner is Kim of MichelleAllen Photography with her correct guess of the first dish - Baklava! She's also raised the stakes by requesting that I make it for her as well. It may be a while Kim, but a pan of deliciousness will be coming your way. Shoot me an email when you read this with your preference of gift card and I will get it out to you!

The other dish that I make fabulously is French Toast. The secret is in baking it for a few minutes.

Stay tuned for the next contest . . . I'll be running them whenever it strikes my fancy.

It's well established that I fall short of the title "gourmet chef". However, there are two delicious dishes that I make phenomenally, if I do say so myself. And no, they are not cereal and Eggos.

The first person to guess which two dishes I can make brilliantly wins a $10 giftcard from their choice of iTunes, Amazon or Give Anything, delivered via email. You may only guess via the comments - emails, phone calls and telegraphs will be void.

I'll be running fun little games and contests like these with prizes throughout the life of this blog. There will be no real rhyme or reason to them and they will pop up on a whim, so make sure you don't miss out!

Good luck and have fun guessing!

Jessica Claire recently posted about blog stalking. In light of my recent accomplishment of blogging every day for a month (they really should send me a trophy for that), I too am going to come clean about who I stalk. ;)

I have a list that I read daily, as well as some that I only check weekly. Reading blogs keeps you up to date on industry trends and forces you to continually push the envelope in your creativity and to sharpen your skills. Wedding photography blogs are especially addicting because they have tons of pictures. Go figure.

Daily, in alphabetical order as they appear in my RSS feed:

[b]ecker: Photographer in Southern California. He updates daily, so it is rather addicting. Plus he gave me permission to include an article he wrote in my info packets, so I just plain like him for that.

Cup of Joe Photo: Addicting like coffee.

Darby Elizabeth Photography: She shot some stuff for me for a magazine spread and she is so easy to work with. Plus she's fun and funky and a newlywed herself.

Freakonomics: I'm embracing my nerdiness, remember?

Jefferson Todd Photography: Photographer in the Phoenix area. JT was the first in the world to make wedding slideshows available for free download on iTunes. Genius.

Jessica Claire: The inspiration for this post and a photographer from So Cal. She is famous for her "day-after" shots. Spend about two minutes on the Knot and you're likely to come across her awesome picture of the couple in the water at the Washington Monument.

Melissa Jill: Another incredible photographer and my oh-so-patient crochet teacher.

MichelleAllen Photography: Kim and I have been friends since before either of us went crazy and decided to open up shop for ourselves. She is the type of person you can dream big with and not be laughed at. Everyone needs someone like her in their life.

Real People. Really Remarkable Lives.: I can't wait to read the book Paige is writing. The stuff she blogs about resonates so much with my own heart's passions.

Sanders Says: Tim Sanders, author of Love is the Killer App. He is also a self-proclaimed music geek and his blog is easily addicting as it is just plain fun to read.

Seth's Blog: Marketing guru Seth Godin. Read his books. Read his blog.

Sloan Photographers: Also local to Phoenix. I love when they post pics of their son - he is just too darn cute!

Soiree Special Events: Washington DC's freshest event planners. And owner Laura is sweet as a peach.

Style Me Pretty: I skim this one. Abby, an invitation designer, blogs about everything so deliciously pretty.

Wedding Bee: Follows the planning lives of several brides-to-be. I have to confess - I just skim this one as well. It is updated so frequently - I don't know where these women get their blogging stamina!

So, who do you stalk?

I think my life may have just been revolutionized.

Today Seth Godin blogged about Jott, a free service that lets you dial a toll-free number, leave a message, and then it emails it to you or anyone else you choose. I tried it out and it works! It types out the text and also provides a link to the audio file. I already have the number saved in my speed dial.

Little known fact: I attended Kindergarten twice because I was the only one in my class who couldn't read. Since learning how, I have read voraciously. I even wanted to be a librarian for a while when I was growing up. Yes, I have learned to embrace my nerdiness in all it's glory. :)

I don't own a television. Crazy I know, but don't worry - I keep up with The Office and Desperate Housewives via the online reruns. Wow . . . I can't believe I admitted to that last one on a public blog!

Truth is though, I don't really miss it. I love reading and I relax better that way than by watching TV. I prefer to own books because then I can write in them, dog-ear the pages, and toss them in my purse and not worry that they're getting jostled. I firmly believe books are meant to be read, so I loan them out all the time and hope that even if I don't see them again, they are being used.

On my 101 in 1001 list one of my goals is to organize my books. This may seem easy, but it is, in fact, a large undertaking and I don't even have the space to properly store all of them. They are on shelves, in closets and in boxes. It's a sad state of affairs. So, part of my organizational plan (which came to me over chocolate - the best plans always do) is to catalog them via Amazon so I can share my library with other people more easily.

I started this tonight and it will be continually updated over the next few weeks. You can check it out at the Blue Orchid Amazon store. If any catch your eye, you can buy them directly from there, or you can shoot me an email and I'll let you borrow my copy. The permanent link to the list will be under the "extras" section on the left side of this blog.

Right now everything on there is personal. At some point I will get to the professional and business books. If you want to know which books related to wedding planning we recommend, those can be found on our website in the Orchid Boutique.

2. Blog everyday for a month

Yay! The first goal I am crossing off my 101 in 1001 list is this one! Make no mistake - blogging is a tougher discipline than it appears to be. Finding new things to write about daily has been stretching, but also a lot of fun. I will still be updating regularly as this somewhat narcissistic outlet has grown on me! Plus I know you are all just dying to hear more stories about my soon-to-be nephew and, really, what kind of aunt would I be if I didn't oblige?

I just wanted to let you folks know that we are working on a new website for Blue Orchid Designs. I could not be more excited about this! The current one doesn't display correctly in the Firefox or Safari browsers, which is beyond annoying to me. So we are changing things up and will launch a brand new site in the near future! Stay tuned for more news on that!

Sasha Souza is a celebrity wedding planner based in California. She's done a couple of episodes of the show "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?". I love this particular episode because it shows so much of the behind the scenes aspects of wedding planning and the importance of communication between all parties involved. Enjoy!