Christian and Christine

I usually know a lot more about the ceremony before the wedding day than I did for this one. The bride wanted to keep it very simple and pretty untraditional. I actually did not meet the bride until she walked out of a room with her father and was about to walk outside. Her mother and aunt had done most of the planning and my interactions had been with them. They hired me for "day of" services only and that's exactly what I had to work with when the ceremony plans were changed at the last minute! However, I am really good at problem-solving and improvising (see my post on "the day I saved the cake!") and everything turned out beautifully. I got at least 10 compliments from guests about how beautiful it was and how great everything turned out. I am always amazed that people are able to pick me out of the crowd as the wedding planner. I really try to stay in the background and be as inconspicuous as possible.

Maddins did the catering and they were amazing! The location was at the bride's aunt's house

which is located in Traditions. It is a beautiful house and was a great setting for a wedding. The bride reminded me of Jenna Bush on her wedding day. She was simply elegant. She walked out to music played by the Brazos Valley Stringed Quartet. Their music was lovely. Most guests stayed until the very end because Livewire does such an amazing job of throwing a great party. It was a wonderful evening!

Jeff and Leanne

This wedding took place back in August, but I am just now getting around to blogging about it. I was only in charge of the reception which was at the Brazos Center. If you've ever been to the Brazos Center, you know that none of the rooms are very attractive when you first walk in. The rooms basically look like cafeterias. So, I had quite a job to do to get this room ready so that it would look like a wedding reception and not your neighborhood elementary school.
Leanne's grandmother brought all the decorations, and we got started setting up tables and chairs, putting on tablecloths, and putting everything where it belonged. Then, we had different types of candles, vases and mirrored tiles to use for centerpieces on each of the tables. The florist and cake lady came and the flowers and cake added to what we had already done. We had long stem roses in tall, thin glass vases, rose pedals on the tableclothes, and floating candles in some of the shorter vases. If you have to decorate a place that looks like a cafeteria and you can dim the lights, candles are the way to go. Softening the lighting with candles and dimmer lights makes the tiled floor and ceilings disappear, and brings a romantic and beautiful tone to the room. Candlelight really transforms an ordinary room into a beautiful reception hall. And the wonderful thing about candles is, they don't cost a lot of money, especially when you find them half-price at Hobby Lobby/Michaels or even the dollar store! So, after we lit all the candles and dimmed the lights, we had an absolutely beautiful room.

Another aspect of the reception that added some fun (as well as a delightful scent) was the chocolate fountain. If you've never tasted chocolate from a chocolate fountain, you are really missing out, especially if you are a chocolate lover. The chocolate covered fruit, pretzels and marshmallows are very delicious. Having the fountain at the reception also gives the guests something to eat while they are waiting for you. It also just smells so good! The man that owns the fountain is a delightful fellow from Germany named Klaus Elfeldt. I really enjoyed meeting him and smelling his delicious treats!
Livewire Productions provided the entertainment, and once again did an outstanding job. The bride and groom were always pretty reserved, quiet and shy when we met to talk about the wedding. However, Chance, the DJ, somehow managed to get them on the floor and dancing toward each other for the bouquet and garter tosses (Jeff had sunglasses on and Leanne had a rose between her teeth). They were really funny and it was such a joy watching them have so much fun. Chance has a way of bringing out a different side to everyone.
All in all, the reception turned out great, and I had a marvelous time. It is always a pleasure working with Tim Harris, the photographer, and this time I got to meet his wife, Kelli. They make a great team. The guests seemed to enjoy themselves as well. At least half of the guests stayed to the very end and some of them helped us clean up afterwards! Quite a blessing. This was a nice way to end my summer wedding season.

Marcus and Margaret

I had some concerns about this wedding because in our consultations, Margaret was wanting to do too many things the day of the wedding to make sure everything was exactly as she wanted them to be. I know every bride feels that way, but I counseled her to let things go, let the people she hired do the job she was paying them to do and enjoy her day. "Let me take care of the details." She listened to me, and the day of the wedding, she was so calm and relaxed and beautiful when I saw her! I heard her say several times, "It doesn't matter" "That's fine" and she was all smiles and giggles! I was so glad that she decided to let things go and because of that, she really enjoyed and remembered her special day.

One of my favorite things about coordinating weddings is getting to meet new people. When I met with Marcus and Margaret in our consultations, Margaret did all the talking and Marcus just sat there and smiled. When we asked his opinion, he really didn't say much. He was very sweet and obviously loves Margaret very much, but was very quiet. The day of the wedding, I found out why....
During the reception, I was grabbing a quick bite to eat, and Marcus' sisters invited me to join their family for dinner. So nice!!! So, I went over there, and was asking questions about their family. It turns out, Marcus is #7 in a family of 7 and he is the ONLY boy! No wonder he is so quiet! When would he have had any time to talk in that group???? Three of the sisters were actually at the wedding. One of them, Julie, has 7 children of her own and she doesn't look old enough to have that many! They were all a lot of fun to be around and I enjoyed the sisters and their husbands so much! This was probably my favorite family that I have met since becoming a wedding planner. If we lived in the same town, I would probably call them up to hang out.

I also really enjoyed her photographer, Brandi Tejeda. You ought to check out her website http://branditejedaphotography.com/. She's really good, and a delight to be around. I hope to work with her in the future.

This wedding and reception went off without a hitch. Everything turned out really nice. The most important thing to me is that the bride and groom were smiling the whole time, and I know they will remember this day fondly. That's why I love what I do.

Kevin and Charlotte

This wedding was held at The Greenbranch which is the most beautiful location for a garden wedding in town. I actually coordinated the very first wedding they ever had there. I wasn't "in the business" yet and neither were the Beards. We have all come a long way since then. Every detail was beautiful. The flowers (Nita's) were absolutely gorgeous. The weather was actually nice, even though it was June in Texas! The reception area was so pretty with candles everywhere and the water fountain in the fireplace. This crowd was not the liveliest you've ever met, but the DJ, Chance with Livewire. did an amazing job getting most of them out on the dance floor and having a good time. Christopher's did the catering and the meal was magnificant. I enjoyed sitting at the table with the photographer, Michael Kellet, and the videographer, Steven with Seaviews. The one glitch was when the bride and groom were getting ready to leave, I offered to pull the car around for them to drive away in. Well, the car was a VW bug and a stick shift, and I didn't know how to put it in reverse. There is a special trick to it and nobody told me! Oh well. Everything else went as planned. It was a wonderful evening!

Joseph and Jennifer

At my future mother-in-law's urging, we sought help for wedding day coordination. Immediately after meeting with Erin, I was convinced she would be a great asset to us. She made excellent recommendations for an officiant when we were at a loss for who to turn to. Even if you think you've got the planning under control, it helps to have a pro like Erin by your side to make sure no detail is overlooked. She did a fabulous job on our wedding day. From running the rehearsal in the morning, to "saving the day" by saving our cake, she maintained her poised, calm, and professional manner. I don't know how we would have handled the melting cake if she hadn't been there! If that isn't reason enough to have a planner, what is? Our perfect day was thanks to her. (Or as one guest put it, "You got hitched without a hitch.") Joseph and I highly recommend Erin for her expertise, practical nature, and also because she's such a pleasant person to work with! Thank you so much, Erin!

The Day I Saved the Cake

Last Sunday I coordinated a wedding where the B&G bought their cake from a local store. The groom brought the cake at 3:00 and I told him I would take care of setting it up so that he could go get dressed and get his pictures made. He gave me a list of other responsibilities to take care of before leaving the reception hall. I opened the cake box to find that all the flowers (which were made from frosting and were supposed to be on the top of the cake) had melted and run to the bottom. The cake was a disaster! There was no time to get a replacement cake, so I decided to salvage it. The photographer didn't believe that I could do it, which made it even more of a challenge. So, I worked for about 15 minutes, and was not getting anywhere. The dye that had colored the flowers was running into the frosting. It didn't look any better than when I started. Then, the bride's mom came over and I told her what had happened. She suggested that I use the artificial rose petals that they had spread on the table. BINGO!!! I put those on top of the ruined frosting and pulled some artificial flowers from the various arrangements around the room. The only thing I needed was wire cutters to make the stems on the flowers shorter. We tried using a pocket knife- no good. So, I announced to the small crowd of family that had already gathered, "Does anyone have any wire cutters?" The groom's father did! I couldn't believe it! (I made a note to myself to bring a pair of wire cutters to every wedding from then on, because you NEVER know!) So, with a few clips of wire, and the strategic placing of flowers (I have watched many florists do this in the past) I made the cake look spectacular (at least from the front) The skeptical photographer was impressed and a guest who used to make cakes said that she would have never known that it had been ruined in the first place! It was one of my prouder moments and that's how I saved the cake!

Jeff and Penny

Jeff & I knew that we wanted a simple wedding that was casually elegant. My mom suggested that I hire a wedding planner to help ease the load of planning a wedding since I am a graduate student who works part-time. I met with Erin and after telling her what we desired she explained how she could help. What a relief! She helped us choose vendors and get things done on time. What proved most helpful was having her at the rehearsal, ceremony and reception to handle the details and to be the “answer woman”. This allowed Jeff and I to thoroughly enjoy our wedding and to avoid feeling the stress of answering a bazillion questions. Erin’s expertise and kind manner helped make our day special. Thanks, Erin!