Britter & Jay

Britter and Jay
May 17, 2008

This was a very special wedding to me for many reasons. First let me tell you Britter is an amazing woman. She has a heart for the world, animals, and people! I’ve never met someone in my entire life that cares so much about the environment. My first GOING GREEN WEDDING of my career (I love first’s of any type). Everything from the recycled invitations, bridesmaids carrying battery candles, free range meal (chicken and beef), carbon credit for the travel, and a menu board verses menu cards to save paper. Things were planned out very carefully to save and preserve the environment. We recycled the cans, water bottles, and wine bottles from the bar (how easy is that?!) This was one wedding to always remember for two main reasons: one was the enormous, elegant floral ball with thousands of flowers in the middle of Crowne Plaza (Way to go Julie and her crew) and the second element were the table names. Britter loves dogs. When I say dogs I mean every living 4 legged friend on this earth. Her brother said it best, “If Britter could have the zoo in her back yard she would!” She came up with this idea of going on Pet Finder and search for homeless dogs and name each table after the shelter dogs. This had to be done at the very last minute (Thanks Jill at Westwood Paper Company). Then on each table we had a glossy picture of the homeless dogs and a description on how to adopt the doggies. I thought this would be a nice gesture, but no one would truly take the next step and adopt a dog. Boy was I wrong! By the end of the night we had two families that adopted two dogs and several descriptions were gone. Out of 28 dogs/tables she was able to save two dogs that would have been put to sleep this week. AMAZING! Way to go Britter. I am always stunned by the creativeness and the craziness of my brides, but love every minute we come up with something out of the box and it WORKS! If I didn’t mention one last thing about this woman I would be doing a disgrace to every girl’s true love, SHOES. Everyone knows Darcie and I have a fetish for shoes, but Britter wins GRAND PRIZE for these bridal shoes and the unbelievable story that goes along with it. The day Britter contacted us via email she said that she knew we were the planners for her when she noticed the cute zebra (Darcie) and polka dot (me) shoes on our contact page. We knew we were destined to be together as bride and coordinator from the very beginning. So of course her bridal shoes had to be just perfect. She finds these designer shoes online she adores, her mom pays a fortune for them (I’ll leave that figure up to your imagination), and then her new baby (dog) chews up the heels! She knew that she had to have those shoes and replace them before her mom found out. After contacting the designer, they didn’t have the size Britter needed so they agreed to create her another pair for the same price (of course). The second pair of shoes arrived, but this time with a phone call. They contacted her and asked her if she’d be willing to tape her story for OPRAH! I got this email that said, “OPRAH Tonya OPRAH!” To make a long story short, Oprah wears this designer and loves dogs and thought she’d love to hear the story. The tape is done and off to Harpo studio. Now Britter is anxiously awaiting for the phone call to be on the OPRAH show.

A special thanks to Megan and Cambrie at the Crowne, they left me a special surprise in my hotel room! They did an amazing job.

PACE Awards

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

On May 7, 2008 ISES announced this years' PACE awards winners at Business Brilliance. This year it was held at the Crowne Plaza. We entered an event we did last year at RCA Dome & at the Conrad Hotel. We won for Best Achievement in Logistics – Creative Solution. The first and probably biggest logistical challenge with this event was TIME. We were contacted 11 days prior to event! Winning was a proud moment for Tonya and I. We worked very hard and we were thrilled to be recognized for this achievement. We would like to also thank everyone involved that helped us make this event a true success!

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY PLEASE…………….

Hilary and Clay
May 11, 2008
Happy Mother’s Day

I started praying the moment I woke up to thunderstorms and gushing winds on Sunday morning that I would have a window of opportunity to have this Mother’s Day wedding outside (Private residence tented wedding). For the first time in CCP History we were rained out. I was talking with my dad earlier that day and told him I was rained out. He wanted to know if the wedding was cancelled. “We don’t cancel weddings dad,” I explained, “just like in show business, the SHOW MUST GO ON!” And that’s exactly what we did. Most of you know how much I love the theatre and this show was one I will never forget with lots of FUN Drama! Hilary and Clay are from LA, originally from Indiana and high school sweethearts. This couple of 14 years had one wedding everyone will remember for years to come. With PLAN B in place, my dream vendor team truly came together to get this wedding started. At 9:00 AM Mike Wiggins from A Classic contacted me at home (as I was enjoying my morning Mother’s Day Starbuck’s with my kids J) to notify me the kitchen tent was under water. Luckily the guest tent was installed on Wednesday before the major storm hit Cicero. Way to go Mike! Jennifer from Thomas Catering was ready to move to Plan B with her crew as soon as she arrived. Julie from Royal Creations saved the day by creating a perfect ceremony setting inside the tent. I kept saying Rain, Rain Go Away but that never happened. With our cute lime green umbrellas we just continued on like it was beautiful spring day (Indiana weather UGH!). With the smile on Hilary’s face, I knew nothing was going to stop this wedding. Guests started arriving and were dropped directly off at front of the tent. The charter bus was running a few minutes late with several guests coming from Keystone at the Crossing, so we decided to serve a few drinks to allow the early guests to socialize. 15 minutes behind schedule finally the bus arrived. We were ready to get started. With the help of Brian Whitis and Julie the umbrellas were ready to go (team players). Finally, we had everyone in their seats and the bridal procession began. The guests sitting at their seats cheered as the groomsmen and bridesmaids as they entered the tent. We created the perfect ceremony on the dance floor (PLAN B) with the arbor, lemon uplighting, and private seating for the family members. Clay’s facial expression said it all when he saw his beautiful bride. After the ceremony, the guests were served lemon drop martinis and hors d’ouvres. The cruditA display was spectacular and devoured by the all. The Carl Hines jazz band entertained the guests as the bridal party went out by the lake to take pictures. Jamie from JScott Photography ignored the rain and took awesome pictures outside by Morse Lake. We were finally back on schedule. Introductions by Eddie, the bride’s friend, created a FUN atmosphere. He was the hit of the night on the dance floor. Food stations were open and the winds started picking up. After a few cocktails and plenty of tasty food, the cold evening warmed up as Brian Whitis filled the dance floor. The guests didn’t want the evening to end. At one point you could see your breath when you were talking to someone, YIKES. Despite the weather Hilary and Clay enjoyed their evening and were husband and wife at the end of the night. The father of the bride walked up to me at the end of the night and said, “Tonya, you’re my hero!” Another great testimonial for why you need to hire a wedding planner to make it happen whether RAIN or SHINE. Happy Mother’s Day! After 6 years of marrying couples, this is one I will NEVER forget!

Designer Dress For Sale

One of our past clients is selling her designer Melissa Sweet wedding gown. Here are some pictures and more information. Please contact her if your interested!

Description: Want a designer gown but cant afford it? I am selling my Melissa Sweet Mila gown that was only worn for about 7 hours. Dress retails for about $3600 and i am selling it for $1800. I bought it from Saks 5th Ave. It is a size 8, make sure you buy your dress bigger than you are so you can have it altered to fit you. The best advice i will give you is to try on a melissa sweet gown and get sized for it so you know what size you need. My measurements are 36-30-38. Bustle is extremely easy, underneath the dress are ribbons and you just tie #1 to #1 and so on. The only alteration done to my dress was length i am 5 6" tall and the dress is suppose to be assymetrical and a little longer than normal so should be able to alter to fit you.

I had the dress dry cleaned after the wedding so it is waiting to have a new owner. Great deal and a chance to have a designer dress for a decent price!

I am more than happy to have you over to my house to look at the dress or even try it on. My email is wiggitywin@yahoo.com if you are interested, please contact me with any interest or ?s you have.