Thursday, February 26, 2009

Columbia Club Show


What a nice evening at the Columbia Club. AJ decided to invite his clients to a fun evening to enjoy cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The MAIN EVENT was the dancing toward the end of the show. It was cute to see couple’s up there learning to dance. I love to see a couple perform a lovely, choreographed dance for their first dance as husband and wife. That is something you will always remember and always use in years to come. That is my only regret from my wedding planning, I didn’t take dance lessons. The only dancing my husband did at our wedding was the WORM (I’m not kidding).

Besides the dancing, the food was amazing. My favorite vendors were there representing their talents. My first stop was Tanya’s booth asking for extra icing on my cake. I was starving that’s why you see so many pictures of the food. But the displays blew my mind away. The details…..their new executive chef Kevin really out did himself tonight. Bob from Indy Visual allowed me to test my camera for the perfect picture, with or without a flash, that was the question. Jennifer Driscoll had the prettiest guest book of my tall, cute couple Randi and Whitney. Jim Cerone acted as the MC for the evening. JP Parker had an amazing rose display (check it out), Lee from Chair Covers was there covering everything, and Jack from Antique Limo had his display to share with all. I told him he needed to put his antique limo in the middle of the 3rd floor Crystal Terrace.

Thanks AJ for inviting us, what a fun evening. We were able to connect with new brides and visit with our current clients and their families. Now if only my husband would have been there to take the dance lessons I’ve been waiting on for 12 years (really 18 years).

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Come See Us

Hello Ladies!


Just wanted to give all you brides-to-be a heads up about some really fun and fabulous wedding events coming up in the next few weeks. We hope you can make it to at least one or two, however if you come see us at all 5 events you will win a FREE 60 minute consultation with us! So grab your friends, your mom, or even your groom and plan on coming to these fantastic wedding events!


Grab your groom and your dancing shoes and join us for an evening of great hors d'oeuvres and ballroom dancing!


Location: Columbia Club


Date: Wed. February 25th

Time: 6:00om

For more information please contact A.J. Plough at 317-767-1361






Join us at the Conrad Hotel for a Platinum Weddings Event. Meet 25 of the areas top wedding professionals and see a one of a kind Vera Wang fashion show while you enjoy some of Indianapolis's finest cuisine and cocktails. If you feel like turning this into a night on the town please join us for the exclusive after party following the event!


Location: The Conrad Hotel

Date: Fri. February 27th

Time: 5:00pm-8:00pm




Need a great idea for your wedding reception, a back yard bar-b-que, a dinner party? Join us at Art of the Table for an afternoon of inspiration and ideas. Over 25 professionally designed tables will be presented with refreshments provided for all attendees.

Location: Indianapolis Museum of Art


Date: Sun. March 1st


Time: 12:00pm-4:00pm


For more information contact Gloria Boyden at 317-566-8233




Is your wedding budget starting to make you crazy. Come to the Crowne Plaza at Historic Union Station and learn how to have a Luxe wedding on today's budget. Enjoy cocktails and hors'doeuvres while learning how to make your wedding fabulous with out breaking the bank.

Location: Crowne Plaza
Date: Thurs. March 5th

Time: 6:30pm

R.S.V.P to Kendra Jenkins at kjenkins@genhotels.com



Please join us for Something Old Something New a Journey of the Senses! This is a fabulous open house event at the Omni-Severin Hotel. Take a tour of the amazing facility and meet with some of the areas top wedding professionals who work closely with the wonderful Omni wedding team. Circle City Planners will be creating a one of a kind white wedding in the Severin ballroom along with a reception table top design...definitely worth checking out.

Location: The Omni-Severin Hotel

Date: March 22nd

Time 2:00pm-5:00pm

For more information or to RSVP contact Rebbecca Raymond rraymond@omnihotels.com






















































Tuesday, February 17, 2009






































Well there are always so many firsts for CCP, that’s why I love my job. Yes, I have planned 1st birthday parties for my 3 children (now 9, 6, 4) and Darcie is about to throw her first birthday party for Isabella, but a friend of mine asked me to help her with her son’s 1st birthday party. How could I refuse? Cara and I go way back to our destination days in St. Kitts where we basically discovered the island together and spent many hours in the wonderful sun discussing life. Ealier this month I ran into her at my favorite location in the world, Starbucks and got caught up on life. She told me about her son and how he was turning 1. Well, a week later she called me and asked for my help. Okay, I can handle a small gathering at her house. She forgot to mention 80 of her closest friends and relatives were coming over to her home to celebrate this occasion, HA HA HA. Just kidding, it was great. Full of fun, friendly small gathering in her home. My youngest guest of honor officially in CCP history. The birthday boy, Julius, loves monkies therefore, Cara loved the idea of doing Julius the monkey. We had a wonderful friend of the family do the catering, cooking up omlets, basketball for the older kids, and a bounce house in the garage for the little ones. Did I mention, we had Heavenly Sweets cake for dessert? YUM YUM. It was fun, and so different I had to share. Happy Birthday Julius, you have one great mom, dad, and small (ha ha ha) family. I’m sure there will be many more birthdays to come for this young one!

Monday, February 9, 2009

John and Jennie's Engagement Story





My fiancĂ© John loves a party and loves his family. He and I share a bond there as we both are blessed with great families who are fun and with whom we truly enjoy spending time. As his birthday approached last September, he suggested that we make it a big, fun family affair at a new restaurant downtown, Fogo de Chao. He invited his parents, siblings, his aunt and uncle, and a couple of his buddies. He also asked my parents and my two sisters to attend. It seemed perfectly logical to me we had been and the atmosphere at the restaurant is definitely conducive to a celebration with a large group. We shared some cocktails and planned to make it a long leisurely dinner on a Friday night. On the way to the restaurant, John was kidding around and announce that I was “his” to which I replied, “You don’t own me-there ain’t no ring on this finger!” which is a line from an Eddie Murphy HBO stand up comedy show we had recently watched at John’s house. When we arrived we all had cocktails and ordered several bottles of wine and everyone was in a “festive” mood. As it was a first meeting for some of our extended family and friends, John told me he thought he would make a toast and thank everyone for coming. Atypical for him, a guy whose low-key, laid-back charm is one of his most appealing qualities to me, he seemed nervous and was talking very fast. He thanked everyone, but then said something about being an only child (he has a brother and a sister) and continued rambling about his great life but not really having a point to his comments. He even called everyone “scumbags” for all the cards he received that slammed him for getting old (it was his 27th birthday)! At that point I was hoping he would shut up and sit down ASAP. Suddenly, he said “I need to do this right now!” and he turned to me. “Jennie,” he began as everyone in our section of the crowded restaurant watched, “You are the hardest person in the world to surprise. I know that this setting may not be the most romantic that I could have dreamed up, but I know how much you love your family and you know how much I love mine. I thought my birthday, with all our family at our sides, was the perfect time to ask you to be my wife.” He got down on one knee and in very shaky hands held out a folded piece of paper with an engagement ring laying on it. “Jennie, will you marry me?” John says he doesn’t think I ever answered but just nodded as the tears were flowing throughout the room and everyone applauded and cheered (at all the tables!) and he placed the gorgeous ring he had selected on my finger. We kissed and hugged and I had the joy of looking up into the faces of the people who love me and John the most and getting to share my happiest moment with all of them. The crying and cheering and toasting went on for several more minutes followed by lots family photos. The rest of the evening was a delicious memorable one with the unique atmosphere of Fogo de Chao setting the perfect backdrop for a once-in-a-lifetime event. None of us wanted the evening to end. Some brides might long for that romantic “alone” moment for their engagement but one thing I truly love about John is that he lets me know I come first in his life but that family is the next most important thing to him, both my family and his own. We are blessed!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Tom and Sarah's Engagement Story











I began planning how I would propose to my girlfriend prior to our August 2007 trip to Walt Disney World. Sarah and I are huge Disney "nerds" and have vacation there about twice a year. I knew I wanted to propose at Disney,and I knew around Christmas-time would be perfect (as that would mark being together for two years). I hardly had to push with a suggestion for a Christmas WDW trip on our return from WDW in August. That really got the ball rolling. After the trip was set, I wrestled with some ideas in my head,but had nothing fully solidified. After receiving a blessing from Sarah's parents, her mother and I went ring shopping, in September. I picked up the ring before our trip in November of 2007. The night before we left for Walt Disney World, I voyaged into the one place no man should ever go: a woman's closet, to find a dress for Sarah to wear to dinner the following evening. I located what I needed, but left it there, knowing she would head into the closet again before we left and would suspect foul play if any of her clothing was misplaced.The following morning right before we left for the airport, I went back upstairs to grab my backpack which I had purposely left behind. While grabbing my bag, I slipped into her bedroom and quickly grabbed the dress and threw it in my bag. After arriving at our resort, meeting our friend, and checking in, we went to Downtown Disney. During our trip planning, I had told Sarah we would mini golf that night. I could tell she wasn't thrilled by the prospect (which was good, since I didn't want to plan something too fun so she would be disappointed by the eventual change in plans) but she agreed to go anyway. After we returned to the resort, we wandered around, before leaving to go mini golfing. Our friend who is doing the College Program at Disney, left for "work" after having secretly given me a couple bottles of champagne and wine, and we returned to our room. Not wanting Sarah to see the bottles and get suspicious, I hid them at the edge of the bed.Then I informed Sarah of the 'bad news'--that I unfortunately had to change the plans. At first she was taken aback, but I informed her that we were going to dinner instead of mini golfing. When, after asking what I was wearing, I responded "suit", she was taken aback yet again. Uh oh, she had not packed any 'dressy' clothes. I pulled out a black dress, and asked if that would work. Surprised and elated, she responded affirmatively.We got dressed, and prepared to leave. I told Sarah I was going to take the tripod so that we could take pictures after dinner. So I put in my backpack,along with the ring (which was the true motivation for taking the bag, since the ring stuck out like a sore thumb in my pocket), however, I intentionally left the bag in the room when we left the room.About halfway down the stairs, Sarah noticed I forgot the bag. I told her I would run upstairs and get it, she should just wait. I rushed back to the room, threw the champagne and wine in the fridge, and grabbed the bag. Off to dinner we went, with about half the plan going perfectly.





Having had no failures thus far, I knew something in my extremely precise plan was about to fail...I just wondered what. After a car ride of Sarah trying to guess where dinner would be, we headed for the monorail. Sarah kept guessing, and I got up from our seat at every monorail stop, only to sit right back down. What can I say, I enjoyed tormenting her. After heavy delays, we finally arrived at the Grand Floridian 1 minute after our reservation time. We quickly made our way to Narcoossee's (a restaurant at Disney World). The hostess informed us our table would be ready shortly. In Disneyspeak, I figured this meant it would take 20 minutes. I was concerned that we might miss the fireworks (which were the 'main event' of the night). About five minutes later, my buzzer went off. Phew. We enjoyed dinner, although towards dessert, I informed the waitress we would like the bill with dessert, as we were in a hurry. She kindly obliged, and I thanked her.
After dinner, we headed out to the dock to take the ferry over the Polynesian. We got there 10 minutes before the fireworks started. The night was chilly by Florida standards, so I gave Sarah my coat to wear.
I set up the tripod, as I "thought it would be nice to get some pictures of Christmas Wishes" (the firework show). I had watched a video of Christmas Wishes several times on YouTube, so I knew exactly how the dialog corresponded with the grand finale, which was when I planned on proposing. Right before the grand finale was going to start, I told Sarah it would be "nice if we had a picture of us with fireworks in the background." So I set the timer up, and went by her side (she didn't know I set the camera to take 10 pictures with a 2 second lapse between). This is when I planned on proposing. Unfortunately, I forgot to press the shutter. I ran back over to the camera pressed the shutter, and hoped things would still time perfectly. I stood next to Sarah for a few seconds, planning our "pose". Then I dropped to a knee, and began. I planned on delivering a long, emotional proposal, but I was incredibly nervous, and I have no idea what I even said now. The pictures lined up perfectly, for the most part, and I think they speak for themselves.

And that's the story. Afterward, we went to the lobby, called our families, etc. We then returned to the resort, where we enjoyed chilled champagne while I spilled the details I had so difficulty kept from her for the past months.Now, I am engaged to my best friend and couldn't be happier as we plan the wedding that will join us for the rest of our lives! Our wedding date is June 12, 2010. We are waiting to get married until after I graduate law school and Sarah gets her second bachelors degree. Thanks for reading!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Amanda and Alex's Wedding






















Alex and Amanda were married on January 24, 2009. Amanda loves snow and the cold weather. Her girls were true troopers out in the freezing cold temperatures. They all looked so cute, of course, I was biased mostly because they were my sorority sisters PHI MU. There is always a bond amongst sisters even if you don’t graduate the same year. Once again there were many firsts at this wedding I will treasure. This is probably the number one reason why I love my job; witnessing the firsts.

When I arrived on site before the special moment I noticed tons of cars in the parking lot. Then we figured out it was BOP TO THE TOP. These crazy people climb 36 floors all the way to the top of the AUL building. Sometimes people do it two or three times. What?! Two or three times, I would pass out. Other than the unexpected crowds we were able to get our vendors to the top without climbing 36 floors to the amazing newly renovated SKYLINE CLUB. I love this club, it’s the best kept secret in Indianapolis. We love it so much that Darcie and I took our husbands there last weekend for a special dinner, thanks Traci. See the pictures I captured of the State House and the new Lucas Oil Stadium from the bar. I can’t wait to see Morgan’s pictures (Morgan Matters Photography) these were taken with my camera.

The magical, private moment went off without a hitch, except my guys did get stuck in the elevator! We moved outside for some great, COLD shots. My favorite shot of the day was taken by Kissing Lane (so cute); you have to see this one. Moving onto the Indiana State House the ceremony formal shots were all taken prior to the ceremony. I love when brides do this; it takes the pressure off the photographer, family members, bride and groom, bridal party, wedding coordinator, and everyone else involved. PLUS the most important thing is the bride and groom get to spend a moment ALONE. When does that ever happen? The ceremony was perfect, even if I have to pat my team on the back. It was great! The pictures are amazing in that building. Oh my first I forgot to mention…….the BAT. Yes, I said BAT. There was a lovely bat in the building flying around the chairs waiting for the guests to arrive. Luckily my brave groomsmen came up with a plan and actually captured it. Yes, they caught it and then released it outside. Now I’ve released butterflies before but never a BAT! That is definitely a first for me!

The horse and carriage was outside waiting for the bride and groom to take them to the circle for those magical pictures. Moving the guests over to the bar for cocktail hour went according to the plan. The bridal party was so excited to have a private room with wait staff to serve them drinks and appetizers, what a treat. After the guests were escorted into the main dining room by dinner chimes, the formal announcements began by Jeremy with DJ’s Direct. Amanda loved the florals thanks to Julie and the room looked amazing. I love the new atmosphere at the club. Fantastic! I have to say it was so sweet to be included in the welcome speech, thanks Alex.

My other first was when I was able to serenade my bride with my fellow sorority sisters. How cool! I almost started to cry. Thank you for the memories, I will truly miss Amanda and Alex. I know they had a great time in St. Lucia. FUN IN THE SUN……






~Tonya

Monday, February 2, 2009

Danny and Josie's Engagement Story




Danny and I are getting married Sept. 26th 2009 at the Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie.




Saturday, November 15th was my birthday. Danny and I woke up and he made me pancakes as I prepared to meet with clients. I am a professional wedding photographer and had been corresponding with a couple named MaryAnne Wu and William Yew for about a month trying to nail down a day to meet. The meeting was set for noon, so I headed down to the Koi Café coffee shop about 15 minutes early. I ordered a tea and set up my computer. Noon rolled around and no couple. Twelve fifteen and still no couple. I was just about to call the number I had for them when the barrista came over with an envelope. Inside was a note from Danny saying "I'm sorry to trick you but I'm MaryAnne Wu." The note also included three Polaroid photos that were clues to what awaited me. I was to use the photos to help me determine where I needed to go next. Since it was my birthday, no red alarms sounded or anything, so I set out to our favorite ice cream shop which was depicted in the first set of photos.I arrived at the ice cream shop and the woman said, "You must be Josie." Danny had attached a photo of me to each envelope so the employees would know who to give it to. She told me I was able to get three scoops of ice cream. So I got my favorites and enjoyed them while I opened the next envelope. Inside were three photos of a massage place. I finished my ice cream and headed over.When I arrived, a woman met me at the door and said I was getting an hour-long hot stone massage. I'd never had one before so I was pretty excited. When I got into the room I noticed that the soothing music they were playing was a song typically used by brides at weddings. I laughed out loud but didn't think much more of it. When the massage was done, she handed me another envelope with three more photos. The first was of a black cat, which was no help. The second was of a dog, which I recognized as the pets of our good friends Katie and Skip.I drove to Katie's house and she met me at the door with a bottle of Bailey's. We had a few drinks and chatted about birthdays. After an hour or so I decided I should get going, so she gave me the next envelope. Inside were pictures of flowers and then a photo of the sign of a flower shop downtown. I headed downtown and picked up a beautiful bouquet of green and purple orchids. Attached to the bouquet was another envelope with photos of the reserved book section at the local library. We reserve our books online and then they hold them for you under your name in a section of the library. When I pulled the books off the reserve shelf I had to laugh. It was a whole stack of children's books about birthdays. "Happy Birthday Cow", "Happy Birthday Monster," "You have to be happy on your birthday," etc. I flipped through a few of them in the car before I pulled the next envelope out of one of the books. In it were photos of our friends Mark and Kathryn. I wasn't sure where they would be so I had to call Mark. He directed me to a local park. When I pulled in I saw them playing near the slide, so I walked over. He and Kathryn came sliding down the slide and handed me the next envelope. They are also both photographers so Mark was taking pictures of me opening the envelope. Inside were several pictures of a beautiful stone bridge over a large waterfall in a park that is near our house. I knew immediately where to go. Mark and Kathryn said they had to get going so they took off. Driving over to the park I had a huge suspicion that this was going to be a proposal. It is what I really wanted it to be, but I also wanted to prepare myself in case it wasn't. I half expected to see my family or a whole group of friends on the bridge when I got there. When I pulled into the parking lot Mark and Kathryn were there with their cameras and then I knew for sure. I walked down to the bridge and Danny came across the other side with another envelope. I opened it and inside was a plastic film canister. We used to use this exact canister to pass notes back and forth to each other when we were in college. I opened it to find all of our old notes and a beautiful tension set diamond ring. Danny was on one knee asking me to marry him above the roar of this amazing waterfall. I said "Yes! Of Course!" and we hugged on the bridge for awhile. Mark and Kathryn took off and we decided to walk home. On the walk home through the park Danny said he had one more surprise. We were leaving in two days to go to Hawaii for a week! I couldn't believe it. No one goes on an engagement-moon. It was so amazing.So we had a birthday dinner with friends that evening, did laundry and packed the next day and the following day we were on the Big Island of Hawaii. It was such an amazing day, I felt like I was in a movie. Danny is so creative and amazing and I am so lucky to have him.A quick note about the names of the faux couple Danny made up. Their names put together are Will Yew Mary Wu (wu in Mandarin is me). So from the beginning he was asking will you marry me. He's too good.