Emily and John

Emily and John

June 14,2008

I met Emily and John back in January at a bridal show. Emily had her baby in the most fashionable baby sling, I'd ever seen. At that time, I was pregant and that's what brought us together. Emily told me her vision for her wedding. She called it "Southern Couture". I LOVED IT. And on June 14th her vision came to life! It was a beautiful day a few clouds in the sky, a little warm but not too hot and a perfect day for a wedding.

The ceremony was held on the grounds of Eagle Creek park. This was the first time that I've done a ceremony at this venue but I'm always up for a new challenge. The ground was a still a little soggy due to all the rain. As soon as the limo pulled up and everyone was in position the ceremony began. Emily was beautiful as she walked down the aisle with her father. After the ceremony, guests drove to the City Market for the cocktail hour and reception.

This was the first reception at the City Market since their renovation. We were still working out some kinks the week of wedding but on Saturday everything came together.

Guests were directed to the cocktail hour by a sign that John made that said "Watering Hole" The Deep Fried Acoustablasters played bluegrass music as mint juleps and hors d’oeuvres were passed. Guests took their placecard hanging from clothes pins then replaced it with a Polaroid picture of themselves. A very cute and unique idea for a guest book!

Dinner was served family style by MBP catering another southern touch. The table numbers were personalized to Johnny and Emily. Emily took pictures of thier little girl and dog. The favors were jars of honey with personalized labels reading "BEE-lieve in Love"

During the evening all the guests raved about all the personal touches. This wedding had Emily and John written all over it. It was one to remember and I'm so happy that I was able to be apart it!

Brittani and Robin

Brittani and Robin
06-08-08

Brittani and Robin were full of personality, what a fun couple. They were married at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. This was my first time at the facility, might I say the staff was stupendous. With all of the activity taking place in the hotel I never felt like my event was effected. I would like to say a special thanks to my new found friends Freddie, Tonya, and Paul (I like to call him St. Paul) at the hotel.

When we first started planning Brittani and Robin showed me a picture of the dream reception out of a bridal magazine. She said, “This is what I’ve always wanted!” We got to work and created a perfect replica of the picture in the magazine. It was so neat to see the event come to life thanks to my awesome team. We created uplighting (Brian Whitis), picture perfect floral (Julie and her awesome crew), specialty linens and chair covers, and a cool floating cake by Taylor’s Bakery. (Imagine how many rose petals are on that cake table?!) I’ve never taken a picture and see it come to life! The ceremony canopy was absolutely breath taking and created a romantic atmosphere, what a transformation! I wish I would have taken before and after pictures. My favorite part of the evening was the first dance. The song started out smooth and then all of a sudden the song started skipping. I was so upset and started to make my way over to the entertainer’s booth when suddenly the bride and groom broke out in a synchronized dance to “Thriller”. Everyone was laughing and ended with a standing ovation. Boy was I surprised! I always tell my brides to surprise their guests throughout the evening, this time I was the one surprised. Way to go Brittani and Robin you got me! Congratulations!

Ashley and Jon

Ashley & Jon
June 7,2008

What a wonderful couple! Ashley and I along with her photographer, Jessica Strickland started working together on a detailed plan for pictures outside on her parent's property. Rebecca and Tim (Ashley's parents) worked very hard landscaping and even building a bridge for Ashley. So on Saturday as you all know it rained and rained and rained some more. It rained so bad that even some guests were unable to attend the wedding due to the roads and interstates being flooded. And of course, our plan for outdoor pictures was canceled. But we didn't let that ruin the day.
Ashley looked gorgeous in her dress and in her 5 inch heels with glued on feathers!
Ashley and Jon were married in the "Glass House" at the Ritz Charles. Romel Montgomery from Paradise Decor did a fabulous job with the flowers. The centerpieces were amazing and the bouquets were exactly what Ashley wanted. The ceremony was performed in the round with only parents and grandparents surrounding the couple. The guests were seated at their tables. We placed small wooden fans and the ceremony program at each place setting so guests were able to follow along. When the couple was pronounced husband and wife everyone had a laugh when Scott from Ultimate Entertainment played "I like to move it,move it." from the movie Madagascar.
After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres outside in the garden area. Dinner was then served. After dinner the dancing began and didn't stop until the reception ended. One highlight was during garter and bouquet toss. Jon played a joke on Ashley and instead of taking off her garter he pulled a pair of grandma panties out from in his sleeve. Also Nate, Jon's bestman caught the garter and his girlfriend caught the bouquet. How fitting! I walked over and gave Nate my business card!
This was a wonderful wedding and reception. I was so glad to have the opportunity to be a part of it. And now Ashley and Jon are off the Belgium!

Kristen and Terry

Kristen and Terry
May 31,2008
Columbia Club

Kristen and Terry were a wonderful couple to work with. The day we first met, I stuck my foot in my mouth. Kristen said that they were on there way to Butler to watch a basketball game and I asked what they thought about the new head coach, and Terry says “Well he's my boss!” Terry is an assistant coach for the Bulldogs andButler University is where Kristen and Terry met.
On wedding Friday Kristen, of course, was worried about the rain, but it was a beautiful sunny Saturday. The day started off early for the girls with hair and makeup while the guys played a quick game of B-ball. This wedding was full of surprises for the guests and even 1 for the bride and groom. The ceremony was beautiful, the decor was simple but the grand lobby of the Columbia Club is enough. The first surprise was a beautiful rendition of the The Lords Prayer sung acupalo by Annetta Johnson (who almost didn't make the wedding!) Her voice was unbelievable. After the ceremony, everyone went upstairs to the 10th floor for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The next surprise was the announcement of the bridal party and bride and groom. It was just like the starting lineup for a basketball game with a moving spotlight and all. The room was dark except for the spotlight on Kristen and Terry. After dinner we surprised the guests once again with a stocked candy bar. We had purple M&Ms, grape licorice (my favorite), gummy apple circles, Hersey Kisses, and chocolate truffles. The last surprise was for the Kristen and Terry. One of the bridesmaids arranged for the Butler Bulldog mascot to make an appearance! Everyone loved it. The evening ended with a sparkler send off and ride around downtown on a horse and carriage. But Terry and I had one more surprise for Kristen. When they got back up their honeymoon suite it was decked out with roses petals, candlelight and a chocolate fountain with strawberries! I would like to thank all my vendors who helped make Kristen and Terry's wedding day a success. I'll post pictures soon.

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!