(CONTEST CLOSED) Our First Giveaway: Karen Bussen’s “Simple Stunning Weddings”

Fascinating title, right? But at least it gets the point across! So, welcome to the very first Serious WedSmack Giveaway, because a wedding blog without giveaways is just a little bit sad, like a five-tier cake without adequate scaffolding, or a pair of Louboutins splashed in a puddle.

In fact, don’t you think that just about every fascinating thing you see on a wedding blog should be followed by a giveaway? Well, in the world of my head, it is. And in this case, the real world’s playing along, too. Yay!

So, what’s the prize? One of my favorite wedding books of all time.

Oh, great, a book. I can hear you groaning all the way from here in upstate New York. I know, there are some pretty tepid wedding books out there getting a lot more hype than they deserve.

On the other hands, there are true classics: ones you’ll find yourself turning to long after the cake crumbs are swept off the floor, because the pages are so darn beautiful, and the design tips so very intuitive, and the principles so relevant for every bit of entertaining you do forever-after. This is one of those books.

Karen Bussen, when she’s not planning spectacular weddings or spicing up Epicurious with a little guest content, writes books that are somewhat ahead of their time. In fact, long before the economy started to stink up the place, she realized brides were simply starving for ways to bring their weddings under control. They wanted to make a huge visual impact and personal statement, without throwing all that money randomly at stranger-vendors and hoping for the best.

Karen tells you how to do just that. Her style’s decidedly modern, but powerful. She’ll show you how a genius use of color, simplicity and repetition will just knock your guests over when they enter the room, without forcing you to honeymoon in a refrigerator box. As a planner who started with florals, she’ll show you how to put the “wow” in your flowers, but only use one or two varieties of blooms. She’ll empower you to handle most of this yourself, but tell you when it’s best to get a professional involved.

In short, if you want some effective DIY in your wedding but don’t want to waste four nights in a row cutting out microscopic flags for toothpicks, Karen’s your woman. And now, one lucky reader will get “the next best thing to Karen planning your wedding herself” for free!

The Details: to enter this contest, leave a comment below describing what “DIY” part of your wedding you’re the most anxious about. If you’re not doing anything yourself, just tell me how much you like cupcakes. A lot? Hardly at all?

For an extra entry, click this link to go to Facebook and follow this blog. Then come back and leave an extra comment with your name, saying you followed it. And/or for another extra entry, post about this giveaway on your blog or site linking back to this one, and leave an extra comment showing where you posted.You do not need to post your email in the body of the post — and don’t, so you don’t get hit by spammers — but you do need a valid email in the private field, so I can contact you if you win. Also, to keep shipping costs reasonable, this contest is only open to the US and Canada. Canada, because I love Canada.

So, you can have up to three entries. Be sure to leave an extra comment for each extra entry so you get the credit!

A winner will be chosen randomly at … you guessed it, Random.org. Since this is the first contest, it’s still a little up in the air, but for now let’s say it will end at midnight EST on Tuesday, February 2nd.  Best of luck everyone and have a fantastic weekend!

Jennifer Short was the winner of our first contest. Jennifer, thanks for entering, and I hope you enjoy this awesome book!

Tagged as: book, contest, giveaway