And the winner is...

Jody Taylor-Smith of Good Taste Events! Congrats Jody, you are going to love Cabbage Key and doing nothing but

watching the sunrise & the sunset,
maybe a little island hopping to Captiva, Sanibel, Useppa, and Boca Grande,
fishing and
eating cheeseburgers in paradise

Did you know that Cabbage Key is supposedly where this infamous song was written about?
Have a great getaway!

Last day to win the 2 night stay at Cabbage Key!

If you haven't already, be sure to comment on Tuesdays post to win 2 nights at Cabbage Key. If you're in need of some sunshine, R&R- this is the contest to enter!

Win a 2 night stay at Cabbage Key!

For no other reason than to be totally nice and introduce you to a very cool little island- we're giving away a 2 night stay at Cabbage Key! If you've never been, Cabbage Key is one of the little barrier islands off the Gulf Coast of South West Florida. Many of my wedding couples have hosted 1/2 day getaways for their guests at Cabbage Key. Click here and here to read about them.
Here's the kicker- the gift certificate is only good until September 3rd! So you'll have to be able to visit by then. You can easily access Cabbage Key by boat or ferry leaving from Captiva Island or Pineland.
To win the getaway, just comment below! We'll announce the lucky winner Thursday.

Here's to Another Great Wedding!Writer Bride's Cabbage Key Excursion

All photos on this post were taken by me, so yeah, they aren't so good because I am not a photographer who knows everything about lighting, angles, speed and all that stuff I find unfathomable to remember all at one time. But you get the point. To see better photos- always check out the photographers websites & blogs!

Writer bride wanted to have a fun getaway for all her guests the day before her wedding so we planned a cruise to Cabbage Key for a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" lunch. Rumor has it that Jimmy Buffet wrote the song after having one of their incredible cheeseburgers. I will personally vouch for the incredible part of that statement! To make the trip extra special we had dolphins jumping along side the boat. This time we did not end up getting soaked by dolphin splash, although I think we secretly hoped that somebody would.

Once we docked at Cabbage Key, each guest received a small bag with their name and table assignment. In the bag was a dollar bill and sharpie to leave their mark in the famous dollar bill room (see the walls in the team picture on the top right sidebar). Once guests finished their lunch, they were free to roam the islands trails, climb the water tower, play horseshoes and/or frisbee, and of course have a Cabbage Key Cocktail or 3.

More on Writer Brides wedding coming soon!

Favors. Sometimes good, sometimes hideous junk I wish had never graced a table.

These mini Key Lime pies were the favor each guest received when reboarding Lady Chadwick. Captivapalooza brides welcome luncheon included a cruise Cabbage Key. As you might imagine, they were quite the hit!

Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with Lucky Bride talking about almost everything under the sun. Mostly because we have just a few weeks left and there's lots left to do. Also because she's just fun to talk to and if you caught my twitter yesterday, it was for sure a procrastination day.
Anyhoo...
So the topic of favors came up. I'm on the fence when it comes to favors. This is totally my personal opinion on them. Do you need them? Nope. Are they nice? Yes, they're nice, if they aren't, ummm, junk. Sorry, no other way to put it.

Here's the thing. If you can't eat it, or use it- don't do it. Put yourself in your guests shoes. Do you want a candle with somebody's name and wedding date on it? Are you seriously going to display that in your house? Doubt it. And if you're having a destination wedding- for goodness sakes remember your guests have to pack this stuff up and get it home.

I must confess, I did this at my wedding and looking back now, oh I am so embarrassed. I'd show you a picture of the tulle wrapped mini pot, but I can't bring myself to do it.

So if you do want to give your guest a favor, give them something they can eat right after the wedding (i.e. cookies, chocolate/candies, donuts, popcorn, coffee) or give them something they will use (i.e. beer/soda koozie, flip flops, stamped postcard & pen). Interactive favors are also great. They are truly my favorite because they create another active memory for the evening. Interactive favors are things like candy buffets, photobooths, donut stations, etc.
Have a cool favor idea? Click the comment link below and tell us all about it.

Recap: Crazy, Funny, Cool Week

This week and Last week have been busy ones here at the studioThis week Andrea joined the team. Welcome Andrea! We did a little shopping yesterday and scored big time. We got these awesome bowls and trays on clearance for Writer Bride's wedding. Well, not all of them had the red tag, so we asked nicely, and the nice ladies at the store gave us 50% off EVERYTHING. Woohoo! Yep, we like to save our clients money! Click to enlarge the photo.
I don't usually put pics of our brides up before the wedding, but we're going to today. This is Fishing Bride and she won a weekend at Cabbage Key at our party for the brides! You'll see more about why we call her fishing bride after her wedding...it will all make sense then. Like all our clients, she's so cool.
Some pictures from last week (Click the photo to enlarge). Yeah, we laugh ALOT around here. Wedding planning is not easy work (especially when your're planning a dozen of them). So we laugh and dance to get through the rough parts of the day. Okay, Emily. She had to stay home from school one day. She was sick for like a minute. And we really did order 1000 keylimes for Florida Bride's wedding next week. Publix thinks we got the recipe wrong for key lime pie. I think we'll ask for 5 pie crusts when we go pick them up. Then they'll really think we're nuts.
Last week Lucky Bride & groom came over from Delray Beach for a planning weekend. We did her centerpiece mock-up, floral consult, wrote her ceremony, and had her tasting. Yep, you could say it was a busy 2 days.

Weddings by Socialites Party Reminder

I like reminders. That way I don't forget. Makes sense right? HA!
Here's your reminder and a couple more hints of super huge prizes to win tomorrow night our Party for the Brides. Did I mention that there will be champagne and cupcakes from FLOUR Cupcakes (yum is an understatement):
From Ken Wells at Cabbage Key Inn (oh how I wish I was allowed to win this one): A Two night stay with dockage included. You guys know how I feel about Cabbage Key...this place is so cool. We go every chance we can get. As someone who considers a night away is worth millions, this is worth 3.5 million.

From Shari Bare who decided to donate to the prize pool in a MORE THAN GRAND way...check out this blog post. Hmmmm you think maybe her prize might include one of these?

I'll bet that someone who loves to plan weddings and has a wedding planning studio might donate something wedding planning related as well. I don't know, just a wild guess. I'll guess that something like that might be GRAND several times over.

Oh, and just like I mentioned before in this post...photographer Julie Goodacre is in on this too. Totally worth stopping by for.

Wedding Pro's...want in? It's not too late. Call or email me.

A Cruise to Cabbage Key

Since most of the weddings I plan are weekend weddings, I get to plan some really great shindigs for my clients. This spring we had our fair share of awesome parties. But the one that seems to have been the overall crowd pleaser was the cruise to Cabbage Key for lunch or dinner. Here's the thing. If you go to the Cabbage Key website, it really doesn't look that thrilling. And if you look at the Captiva Cruises website, the boats don't look like they will blow you away. But let me tell you something, in reality, these 2 combined are off the charts fun.

Why? It's the experience of spending 4 hours with a group of your closest family and friends. It's seeing the dolphins follow the boat, jump the wakes, and completely soak crazy groomsman Jack. It's being in the open air and seeing all the surrounding islands with a cold Captiva Breeze cocktail (yummy beyond all imagination)in hand. If you charter the Lady Chadwick, when you get to Cabbage Key the staff greets you at the dock with another tropical cocktail before you head up to the restaurant for some casual island fare. This is no chain restuarant! The staff all live on the island, and the menu is the menu...they make burgers one way, the good way.

Once your done eating, there's only native Cabbage Key things to do. Climb to the top of the water tower for an unforgettable view, go on a short hike, play football on the lawn, lay out on the beach, chase a turtle (this requires several captiva breezes to be funny), play the hook game (see previous post), and most importantly, hang your signed dollar in the dollar bill room.

I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but its more my intention of letting you in on a secret spot. It's the perfect prefix to the big wedding day. Many times my clients are concerned that its just too casual. Yeah, well, I can say this- I've never heard a single guest use any description but, "Wow, incredible, amazing, teriffic, wonderful, outstanding..."

Oh, and if you have an extra day to spare, rent out the entire island for your wedding party and throw the biggest most fun overnight relaxing bash ever. Party all night, sleep til the sun comes up, gather for breakfast, and then head back to Captiva totally prepared to enjoy the rest of the wedding festivitites. Nothin to do but chill out and have fun together. Speaking from personal experience (my 30th birthday)- it rocks!

nothing short of an amazing wedding

Photos like this don't just happen. It takes a phenomenal photographer. Let me introduce you to Hilary Hopkins...my best friend today. She sent me just a few photos from this past weekends wedding and my jaw dropped. You can see more of her photos on Boogie-Down Brides Blog I wanted to share a few of them here, because they truly deserve double posting!

Jillian & Jonathan's Captiva Wedding Weekend was 100% gorgeous fun. Four days, Five events, and 60 guests that I'll never forget. The weekend started on Thursday with a welcome reception on Luau beach. Friday morning we cruised to Cabbage Key for lunch, the hook game (I learned the secret!) and a spontaneous game of football on the lawn. Friday night was rehearsal dinner for all the guests on the lawn under what seemed to be a bajillion stars. To make the huge lawn more intimate, we surrounded the tables with market umbrellas on their sides and added some cool lighting. Saturday was wedding day. Cocktails on the lawn overlooking the beach, ceremony on the beach, dinner on Kings Crown Lawn (in what is now the most favorite design I've ever done). It got a bit cool so we had dessert inside the dining room before heading into Boogie Down Lounge to dance the night away. Lastly, a farewell brunch on the quarterdeck over looking the yacht basin. Congrats Jonathan & Jillian a.k.a. Boogie-Down bride. I'll miss you!
Lots more photos here

Chef Julio got married!

Yesterday was Chef Julios wedding! It was a great wedding despite the stormy weather. Fortunately, a few weeks before the wedding we moved the ceremony from an outdoor location to an indoor one with a view. For Jen & Julios wedding, they were both hands on through all the planning. Jen literally made hundreds of tissue flowers to decorate the ceremony & reception with (she got the instructions from the Martha Stewart weddings magazine); Julio designed the wedding cake, and they both came in to the office to pick out their invitations together and went to meet with DJ together.
The ceremony was beautiful. I cried as usual. The bride wrote the ceremony herself and it included a "new family is born" piece as Jen has a daughter from a previous relationship. Jen also chose to stand on the right side, so that she could see her mom during the ceremony. I thought this was very sweet and unexpected twist on tradition. The reception was a huge party. DJ Ron had everyone on the dancefloor nonstop. They absolutely had a crowd that loved to dance. Especially the officiant- he went crazy on the dancefloor. Yep, he did the centipede, the running man, and the cabbage patch.