So shoot me. I like pictures.

I know the pictures make the blog load slower. But I like pictures and I like this one alot. This is a photo by Susan Stripling. It's Lucky bride dancing with her dad. Look at that sweet smile on his face. Doesn't it just make you want to hug your dad?
Yes, I was crying then too. I should have made this weekends posts a series on crying huh?

To those who made me cry today:Thank you

Writer bride and Ashley. Your words meant so much more than you could possibly imagine. I'd love to copy and paste them here, but I'm afraid I'd cry every time I logged on. So I'll just place your pictures here so everyone can see your pretty smiles :)

Happy Anniversary Boca Bride!

I got an email this morning from Boca Bride that made me cry. Good tears of course. She sent me a photo of her and Dr. Boca Bride slicing into their top tier. So sweet!Marguerite and Tripp had such a great wedding on Boca Grande last July. Let's go back down memory lane:the sunset we almost missed
R-O-M-A-N-T-I-C
Love this aisle from I Do originals We surprise gifted this aisle runner to Marguerite and Tripp when plans to appear on Whose Wedding is it Anyway fell through. Oy, that was craziness!
Beth from Floral Artistry came to the rescue on this wedding. They traveled from Sanibel Island to Boca Grande Island just for this wedding. Seriously, they rock!

Who thought white hearts could be so cute? LOVE THEM!
Okay, could there be a more perfect little island church? So classic.

Her getting ready zip up says sexy, but she's just the cutest little bride isn't she?

Photography by Julie Goodacre
I want to do it again. Want to get married on Boca Grande? Call me...I just happen to know all about it.

What's funnier?And a sincere thank you.

What's funnier? The invitation below or the fact that a former mother of the bride sent it it me this morning?I love my clients- they are truly hilarious.

If I have never said thank you before, let me say it now.

Thank you for being the best clients...all of you.
Thank you for cracking me up daily.
Thank you for allowing me to wake up and be giddy because its a wedding day.
Thank you for having me live on pure wedding adrenaline a couple times a month.
Thank you for the emails that remind me that you are enjoying this as much as I am.

Thank you for the voicemails you leave with excitement in your voice.
Thank you for the hugs and happy dances when you come into town to plan.
Thank you for letting me taste wedding dinners and cake over and over again.
Thank you for the opportunity to dance a little bit (behind a door, where nobody can see me) to a great song at your reception.
Thank you for letting me cry happy tears no less than 4 times a wedding when you walk down the aisle, dance with your husband, dance with your dad, and party with your friends.
Thank you for some truly amazing memories- past, present, and future.
Here's to another great wedding!
-Kelly

I cried 4 times this week

I know, I cry alot. But I cried for good reasons.
1. My dad got engaged and he asked me to plan his wedding. I am beyond excited. This past weekend I went to go find their venue. We had a blast.
2. I got the most wonderful voicemail from a bride I hadn't talked to in forever. She was a bridesmaid in a wedding and had to do a ridiculous amount of work at the wedding, chasing down a dj when suddenly there was no music playing and dealing with a snooty egomaniac photographer. Truly, it was the nicest most heartwarming voicemail I've ever received, and it made me sob.
3. Mail stops are always fun. I love to get the save the dates and invitations my clients send me. But even more, I love when they send me notes and cards. This week I got a card from Sarah & Billy who got married in '05. Man I miss them! So much so, I started crying in the post office. Actually, it was the aka Billy used- it brought back the most hilarious memories from one of their planning trips. Bobby Frapples...you had to be there.
4. My laptop crashed. BAD BAD BAD. Hence 3 days straight of crying.

Jenn & John, The Directors Cut

I love video. Special thanks to AMC video, they always take such great care of my clients and make sure I cry every time I see the cut!

Here is Jenn & Johns Directors Cut
I'm still amazed that just 3 weeks after a wedding, they have this edited and online for all to get a sneak peek. So cool. For those who are new to directors cuts, trailers, previews, etc...it's a recap of the wedding set to one song. It's just a little added something that goes a long way. These cuts are in addition to the extended edited video that take months to prepare, they don't replace them!

Vanessa & Greg's Directors Cut

Last April I had the pleasure of coordinating one of the grandest destination wedding weekends ever. It was grand on many levels; it was the combination of top notch wedding professionals, incredible locations, and families and friends that were beyond amazing.
Vanessa & Greg had a church ceremony in Naples followed by an unbelievable reception at the Ritz Carlton Naples Beach.
This morning, the gang at AMC Video sent me the directors cut. Yep, I started my day sobbing like a baby. Have a look at this video. Warning though- turn up the volume and take out a tissue.
Rob- thank you so much for sharing this cut!

Thank you notes

As a bride you will send thank you note upon thank you note. Sometimes you will send 3 notes to the same person. "Thanks for the engagement gift, thanks for the shower gift, thanks for the wedding gift"
So rather than order 300 of the same notes, why not order a few different ones?
This card and photo came last week from Krista. It made me cry of course (because I always cry). But its just very neat that she even had thank you notes made for all her wedding vendors. Very thoughtful. Thank you Krista :)

Wedding Bells

Well how about that. I hate to be harsh, I really do. But I was so looking forward to a really funny show about wedding planners and their experiences. Boy was I ever duped by the previews.
I only laughed twice during the show, both times at the assistant who was responsible for chasing down the blonde wedding crashing twins.
I guess I am most shocked because it was so absurd. There are enough hilarious wedding stories that really happen, which could totally be exaggerated into a sitcom format, to have the show run twice daily. But nooooooo, instead they have a wedding planner sleeping with married groomsmen in broom closets, a chef seducing yet another wedding planner with Putinesca, a chain smoking bride running down the street and over a guy, and a mother of the bride faking tears with visine. And that whole thing with the bride and the band leader? Give me a break. Ugh.
Seriously, if they had just taken the Law and Order method, you know, "Ripped from the headlines", the show would have been hilarious. Somebody get me a producer.

Crying at and about a wedding

I cry at every wedding. Seriously, every single one. And its always at the same times:
When I see my bride in her dress.
When I see the look on the grooms face when he sees his bride the 1st time.
The 1st dance.
The father of the brides toast (and sometimes the dance too).
When I have to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye is the worst though. I can't tell you how many times I have sat and outright sobbed with a bride. I do get attached to my clients. Usually we've been working together for nearly a year or longer on the most important day of her life! How could I not get attached?
So yeah, I get pretty excited when the photographer releases the pictures. And I can't wait to share them with everyone and hang my favorite in my office. And I just love when they get video and the videographer sends me a copy. I get such a kick out of watching everyone so happy. I pop popcorn, call in my girls, and we watch together. Emily (she's 4) doesn't understand why I cry when I watch the wedding dvd's. But she does love to dance along with the reception highlights. Madeline (she's 8), she cries with me. I guess we're both romantics.

Weddings are so great.

Oh no! My dress is filthy!!!

Yep. I guarantee you that unless you have a tea length dress (very hip right now by the way) that your dress will get dirty. Why? Because at some point you will walk somewhere in it. And considering that your dress will go where your shoes go, it will make contact with a floor, sand, or grass. Meaning it will be black, brown, or green on the bottom by dinner. Here's the thing though. Nobody will notice except for you, the bride. Yes, I know that you love your dress, and I know that you spent a paycheck (or a couple paychecks) on it. I love your dress too, but there aren't enough Shout wipes in the world to keep it spotless.
So here is what I propose. Cry now and get it off your chest. Then go to see what these brides did (click here). I want to go dig out my dress now and do this. It looks like a blast. Quick, somebody get me a photographer!

Dresses!

The wedding dress. It is what makes a bride a bride. And I'll be darned if I don't cry at the sight of nearly every single one of my clients in hers. It just makes me so happy, because I know what they're feeling. It's one of the best feelings in the world. Everything you've been planning for is finally here. You look stunning, feel beautiful, and you're about to get married to the most amazing guy on earth.
With that said...here is what my next few brides are wearing! Actually, 2 of them are Watters dresses and I couldn't get a photo that worked in the photoshow, so to see them go to the Watters website a,Styles 1088b and 7086b.


Saturday is the 1st wedding of the season! I'm so excited. Sad too of course, because I really enjoyed planning this wedding. The bride & groom actually live here locally, which is not typical. It was fun to be able to actually meet with her a few times over the last 5 months. And yes- we put this wedding together in just 5 months. It worked out well though, we stuck to the same task list, and just made quick decisions and a few compromises.
It felt like it was the longest summer. I think maybe because there were no hurricanes this year. Thank goodness we're just about over that hump.