Thursday, September 25, 2008

Lizzie and Scott




Lizzie and Scott Alexander were married this past weekend at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. I originally had decided to meet the bridal party at the church, but after speaking to the mother of the bride I realized I needed to go to the house in the morning to see steam dresses, get everyone on schedule, and check out the nerves of bride and family. After arriving I realized we were a tad behind schedule, so I was determined to get the girls to the church in time. Everyone seemed very laid back and ready for the big day, but time for pictures was running out. We quickly went to Plan B taking pictures at the Teter home. Wanda from Glam etc. and Beth from Champagne and Lipstick had everyone looking great. Brandy from Brandy Cunningham Photography captured precious moments at the house. Lizzie was excited to get pictures in her backyard despite the fear of wrinkles in the dress; capturing those memories made her very happy. Happy brides make happy coordinators! Off to the church we went only to postpone the groom and his guys from seeing his bride. Here they were all dressed up and no where to go so what did they do? They went to Wendy’s all dressed in their tuxes (I wish I would have had a picture of that one Brandy?!). With everyone in their place, Laurenne (my new assistant…..love her) started to greet guests as they started to arrive. With a 3:30 start time, my wedding clock had to adjust from the usual 5:30 ceremony start time. The ceremony was very unique. Lizzie came to me several months ago and told me about this cool idea of having each guest light a candle and place it at the altar. Representing each guest as a part of the ceremony and the importance of each one in Scott and Lizzie’s life was quite the site. All those candles up on the altar were truly a symbolic picture. They were pronounced husband and wife as the storm came rolling in. Antique Limo waited outside as the guests formed an exit tunnel for the couple. Yes, we performed miracles when I asked the church coordinator, Carol, if the driver could pull up on the sidewalk. Here I had over 200 people forming an exit and I couldn’t send my couple out in the rain. So yes, the car pulled right up next to the door (see picture). I got the bride and groom out the door and high fived Mary, the mother of the bride. Wouldn’t you know the minute Jen put tulle on the construction fence outside (it was cute, yes tulle on the construction fence) of the Meridian Hills Country Club the rain clouds started in. In the rain, the guests entered the country club viewing the decorated bride/groom golf cart all decked out in bows and white tulle for the arrival of the couple. The weather final let up and the arrival of the bride and groom made a spectacular site as they captured moments on the golf course. Dinner began and might I say it was the BEST wedding meal I have ever eaten in my career. Thanks to Kevin and Kurt and their fine servers, everyone raved about the cuisine. We had a bit of a scare when an elderly woman passed out. We had to call 911; luckily Dr. Teter and his entourage were able to care for her until the paramedics arrived. Blaring sirens and eight fire fighters came barging in to check on the woman. She was taken to the hospital talking and responding. The night went on to the famous tunes of Endless Summer, Brian was great. The dance floor was packed and everyone had a great time. Right after dinner and things started to settle down I looked around and noticed a mother/father that I recognized. It was Eric and Ashley’s mom/dad, the Inman’s. 2 years ago their son, Eric was married at their home. It was neat to be able to visit and catch up with them and find out about the couple. Small world once again.



Another couple off to Hawaii, I can’t wait to go!

Have fun Lizzie and Scott!



Thursday, September 11, 2008

Devil Wears Prada











We were asked to design a table scape for the Beth-el Zedeck Temple and we of course said YES. We haven't done many bar/bat mitzvahs but thought doing this event might help the community know who we are. Tonya thought up of the idea "Devil Wears Prada". She explained her vision to me and Julie ( our floral designer) and we were both all for it. If you know Tonya and I at all, you know we LOVE shoes. So coming up the shoe place settings wasn't a problem. However, I did buy two new pairs for the occasion. One to wear to the event and one for the table. We decided to use a wonderful new BBJ red sequin linen called Red Payette. Julie said that would construct the red high heeled shoe. Jennifer from Card Ink made the menu cards and place cards for us and Pam from Entertaining with Flair donated the china for us to use. This was so much fun to put together. It was unlike anything that we've done before.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Lisa and Chris




Lisa and Chris were married on August 30th at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The ceremony was in the theatre, the sound of the organ gives me goose bumps every time. It’s so grand! With less than 150 guests I was unsure how the theatre would feel with being such an enormous place. It was still the most breath-taking ceremony with the grand gates that open right when the bride comes down the aisle. After all these years of planning, my 2 favorite moments of the day are when daddy gets to have that moment alone with his little girl right before he walks her down and aisle and when a couple has their private moment. Lisa and Chris had both of these special moments incorporated in their wedding; therefore, it was special to me. GOOSE BUMPS! You know you are in the right line of work when you still get a little emotional throughout the wedding day. Ashley and Katie from the Scottish Rite were so helpful with our set up and other special needs. I was able to work with my friends, Dawn from Galleria Studios and Bob from Indy Visual. It is so relaxing when you know you have a great dream team working with you 100% of the evening. There was a 400+ event taking place downstairs later that evening in the building; an international king was celebrating his birthday. The ladies arrived in gorgeous African homemade outfits, while the men were formally dressed in their culture’s attire. It’s about time in this country where we can have a mixed diversity celebrating in the same facility. Enough of my soapbox, but I must say that Thomas Catering did an excellent job handling multiple events at the same time without a hiccup, thanks Jennifer and Dee!
I have to mention at the end of the night, we had wedding sparklers on the front steps of the cathedral. It always makes me nervous to hand out fire to the guests who have had a little too much to drink. This crowd was amused by flame, but very responsible (thank goodness)! They also enjoyed the sleeping bum on the front steps as our Antique Limo awaited the couple for their formal exit. It was a lovely evening and a perfect ending for a very sweet couple. Have fun in Cancun!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Elizabeth and David



































































Elizabeth & David
August 30,2008
Historic Union Station-Grand hall
Elizabeth's dream came true, her and David are finally man and wife. On Friday, when Elizabeth walked in to the Grand Hall (it was already set for her ceremony) she started crying. She says to me "Its beautiful". From that moment on I knew that this was going to be great wedding. And it was, Saturday started with hair and make-up for the ladies. The guys were across the hall getting ready themselves. The ceremony was held in the round. All of the immediate family members were on side and then 250 of Elizabeth's and David's friends were on the other. It was very personal, the minister announced them husband and wife to their families first then to rest of the guests. During cocktail hour, the ceremony area was "flipped" into the reception. The staff at the Crowne was terrific. Megan and her team are always amazing me. While guests enjoyed cocktails Joe Defabis took pictures of the couple and their families. Once, Krista Lee (the DJ) announced the Bridal Party we all set down for dinner. And that's when I was able to take it all in. The room looked absolutely amazing. Every place setting, had an aqua circle card with a chocolate covered strawberry on top with an aqua H. The card read "Thank you for coming...and at the bottom was the couples names'. The chairs were covered in white with chocolate chair ties. The centerpieces were different some were lamp shades, others were a square vase with floral arrangement and some were three cylinders with floating candles. There were 38 tables in all. The dance floor had Elizabeth and David's monogram along with their 4 tiered cake. Elizabeth and David were so thankful that we were able to make her vision come to life! At the end of the evening, David took Elizabeth up to their suite where we had decorated it in rose petals and candles. The Crowne brought up bottle of champagne and two more chocolate covered strawberries. It was a perfect end to perfect day!