Susan and Will

This was one of the busiest weddings I have ever coordinated. The b&g hired me for "day of" services. The bride is very organized and had every detail planned. She just needed someone to make it all come together. And for those of you who have ever planned a wedding before, whether it is yours or someone else's, you know that not everything goes as planned. Susan decided to use my services for set-up and take-down at the reception as well. It was held at The University Club, which is a beautiful facility located on the top of Rudder Tower on the Texas A&M campus. It has large floor to ceiling windows which give a great view of Aggieland! My staff and I arrived at 2:45 on Friday to decorate. The flowers, which had been arranged by Susan, Will's mom and some friends, arrived at the same time. They were beautiful!! There were close to a hundred vases of flowers. Party-time Rentals supplied the dance floor, table toppers and sashes for the chairs. Our set-up and decorating took a little longer than anticipated for several reasons which were out of our control. However, the final product was beautiful. The ceremony took place at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on George Bush Drive. It is a church that has been around this community for many years. The service was very formal and edifying to the Lord. Their photographers were a husband/wife (and now baby) team from Fidelis Studio. Their names are Tim and Kristen Douglass. They are so efficient, yet comfortable and relaxed. I enjoyed working with them. Music was provided by Attic Productions. This crowd was easy to please and had a wonderful time dancing to a good mixture of country, '80's and '90's. (do I dare say oldies?) The cake was beautiful and delicious from Jaqulyn at Fabulous Fare.
Probably the biggest glitch for this wedding happened at the very end of the reception. Will and Susan wanted to leave down the big staircase outside which starts from the second floor of Rudder Tower. At 10:00, I went down to the second floor to make sure that the door leading to the outside was indeed unlocked. The guests were to light sparklers and light the way as the couple left down the stairs. The door was unlocked- check. So I went back upstairs to tell the DJ to give the crowd instructions to start heading down to the second floor. My assistant, Erin, and I gathered up the sparklers, lighters, buckets of water to put out the sparklers, and headed down to the second floor. There, we found the door locked- the exact one that was unlocked 10 minutes before... There was no time to run back upstairs to tell the DJ because at that moment, we realized that all the sparklers were "bundled" and had to be seperated to give to individuals. In the meantime, guests began to come to the second floor, as instructed, and I had to run up there to tell them to come to the first floor. It was all a bit confusing, but alas, everyone found us on the first floor and we lined them up in two lines to send off the newlyweds. I went back up to the top of the tower (the 11th floor) to get Will and Susan and tell them that they couldn't go down the stairs. They left to the glow of sparklers and then it was time to finish taking all the decorations down. There was smoke from the sparklers going inside the first floor of the tower, and so I closed the door leading to the inside to avoid setting off the smoke alarm. Big mistake. The doors were set up so that you can open them from the inside going out, but not from the outside going in. We flagged down a custodian who let us in, and after that, take-down was pretty uneventful. The groom's mom did a great job gathering a bunch of folks to take all the flowers and other decorations back downstairs and load them in vehicles. They had everything cleared within 15 minutes. However, when the last guest left, we found one more decoration that was to go back to the bride, and Erin took it downstairs, only to get locked out again... Of course, it was more chaotic from our end. I think the guests and family had a wonderful time and didn't notice the hiccups. The bride and groom were able to enjoy their special day and didn't have to worry with all the details. That's why they hired me- the wedding planner.

The Spring Bridal Show 2009

Last Sunday was the Spring Bridal Show that the Bridal Association of the Brazos Valley hosts in the spring and fall. This is the largest Bridal Show in Bryan/College Station. This was my second one to attend and it was just as much fun as last year's show. I met many blushing brides, a few grooms and thier mothers. All of our guests seemed to be having a great time! I also got to meet some new vendors as well as touch base with the great vendors that I enjoy knowing in this business. We had a much better turnout than we expected and that was a nice surprise. Some of my current clients came to the show with their moms and mothers-in-law to be and it is always good to see them! Overall, the show provided this wedding planner with more tools and ideas to make all my clients' wedding dreams come true!

Ricci and Jason

Jason and I would like to thank you again for all of your help with planning and organizing the wedding. Since we are both Ph.D. students, it can sometimes seem like there are not enough hours in the day (and sleeping is sometimes a luxury instead of a necessity). So, it was so amazing that you were able to handle all of the phone calls and digging around for information and prices, and setting up many of our meetings...it was more helpful than you know! Plus, it was really great to be able to draw on your experience of what people have done in the past, particularly what has worked and what hasn't, in order to help make our day even more wonderful. Although I was a bit stressed the morning of the wedding, I knew that everything was going to come out beautifully, because you were so organized in all of our previous meetings! And, lo and behold, the wedding was even more beautiful than I could have imagined it to be. It was so awesome that you were able to recruit help and set up the wedding decorations while me, my mother, and my bridesmaids were getting hair and make-up done! And, at the end of the night, it was EVEN MORE amazing that you all took down the decorations and cleaned everything up. It was like the wedding magically unfolded around us, and then disappeared around us...without me and Jason having to worry about doing anything! Plus, we got all of our deposit back from 7f (thank you thank you thank you), so we can use that money to purchase wedding pictures!

We got so many compliments from our friends and family about the wedding (people were still talking about it at Christmas!), and about how amazing our coordinator was. Some of our friends that are getting married in April were a disappointed that you live so far from where they are getting married because they wanted you to help them with their wedding! Overall, it was a wonderful and special day, and you and all of your helpers (but especially you) made it that way. So, thank you again!!

Best,
Ricci and Jason Clepper

Getting to know my clients

I recently planned a wedding for Ricci and Jason. They hired me in January and the wedding was not until December, so I got to spend a lot of time with them and really get to know them. They are a sweet, easy-going couple that seem so comfortable around each other. Ricci has a really great sense of humor, and I liked them both from the start! Her number one priority was the cake- she wanted a delicous cake that everyone would remember how good it was for years. The cake lady that Ricci chose was Mary Burkhalter with Heavenly Crumbs, and the cake was beautiful AND delicious!
The wedding took place just outside of Bryan/College Station at 7F Lodge which is an outdoor facility in Welborn, TX. It was drizzling in the morning, but turned out to be an absolutely perfect day for an outdoor wedding. J squared did the catering and Lori Luza was the photographer. The videographer, Magination Video, came from Waco and the DJ, Chris Austin from KORA 98.3 did his first wedding that evening and did a great job!
As a wedding planner, I get the privilege of being a part of the most important day in a married couple's life. It is the day that they join together as one and make a convenant to love and honor each other through better and worse. I find myself praying for them during the ceremony because I know that marriage can be a rough road, but with commitment, compromise and patience, they have a lot to look forward to in their lives. It was no different for Ricci and Jason. I prayed for them to have the kind of marriage that the Lord intended for them to have and that their wedding day would only be the beginning of their joy.

Engagement Pictures

Who your photographer will be is one of the most important decisions you will make for your wedding. You should choose someone who fits your style as well as your personality. There are many wonderful photographers in Bryan/College Station. However, several of my brides have chosen to search outside of our area, and I have enjoyed meeting and working with them. Recently, Amy and Todd had their engagement pictures done, and I thought they were so cute and unusual, so I decided to post some of them on my blog. The name of the photographers are JD & Jessica Merritt with Snaptacular Photos: http://www.snaptacularphotos.com/ http://www.snaptacularphotos.com/blog/
To me, they look as if they are having a really great time, and that's the way it should be! The time you spend planning your wedding and the big day itself should be a wonderful and joyful occasion. Yet, another reason to hire a wedding coordinator so that she can make that happen for you! I hope you enjoy the photos!

The Joy of being a Wedding Planner in Bryan/College Station

Throughout the day, I wear many hats. I am a wife, a mother, a teacher, a worship leader, and in my free time, I am a wedding planner. I teach 7th and 8th grade at a wonderful private school in College Station. When my students found out that I am also a wedding planner, their eyes lit up and they were so interested in what I do. The funny thing is, almost everywhere I go, when I tell people that I am a wedding planner (especially women) they often get very excited and interested. I have sat at tables during several of the receptions and the whole conversation revolved around me and what I do as a wedding planner. The movie, The Wedding Planner, usually comes up as well, but I tell people now that I can relate better to Katherine Heigl's character, Jane, in 27 Dresses. The way Jane serves and ministers to her friends on their wedding day is much of what I do as a wedding planner. Of course, I'm not a bridesmaid in the weddings I plan, and I have already found my groom (oddly enough, my groom's name is Kevin, too.) I also do NOT own 27 bridesmaid's dresses!
Anyway, I find it interesting that so many people are fascinated by what I do for a living. I never captivate an audience when I tell them I'm a mother, or a wife or a teacher. They may ask me a few questions about my children, my school and my husband, but the questions never dominate a conversation like they do when I tell them I'm a wedding planner. I wonder why so many people (including me) are so enraptured by that one special day that almost every girl dreams about her entire life? It is a mystery, but whatever the reason, I enjoy doing a job that so many people find so interesting. And, it is a blessing to make my bride's special day as perfect as possible. That is why I find so much joy in being a wedding planner.

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!