Elegant, Sophisticated Stylish Beach Wedding found Vol.1

Not every destination wedding has seashells and starfish (thank goodness). Aly & Mike's wedding is the perfect example of how to pull off a destination wedding at the beach while keeping with the natural Florida island (tropical) environment without it being beach themed.

 I want to start off this series with a big thanks to Concept photography.  They were wonderful to work with and took just took stunning images for all of us to drool over.
Staying true to the destination wedding weekend, Aly & Mike hosted a welcome reception and a rehearsal dinner for all their guests. South Seas was the perfect location because the resort offers to many sites to choose from when you're hosting pre and post wedding day parties.

The toasts are pretty much always my favorite part of the pre wedding parties.  I always suggest having a microphone on hand if you think you'll have some good ones.  And my usual scream:  GET VIDEO.

How can you not love a good paper lantern?  They don't always provide adequate lighting, so go for festival lighting as well if you can.

Its always important to remember that your design concept works day to night when you're planning anything that starts before sunset.

Smores. Yum. Enough said.
Stay tuned for more volumes...I'm sure you'd like to see the wedding, right?
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10 tips for a great welcome reception

Southern Sweetie Bride was kind enough to let me "iphone photograph" her welcome recpetion for this blog post.  The reception at the Gasparilla Inn Beach Club was the perfect example of what a welcome reception should be- a casual event to kick off the weekend celebration.  Welcome receptions are the perfect opportunity to introduce all your friends and family to each other, so that by the time the wedding comes around- everyone knows everyone.  When guests bump into each other on the island (or where ever your destination wedding is), they'll be excited to see a friendly familiar face.

1. Do something unexpected.  This is Southern Sweetie with her Groom.  One of my priorities the entire length of this wedding planning was finding this dinghy for the welcome reception.  Hands down the best "bar" we've ever had!

2. Have a few great games if you've got the right crowd for it!  We had Bocce, Volleyball, and Cornhole.

3. Always a great idea if you're doing a beach event- provide flip flops for your guests.  They can use them again at the wedding reception for dancing shoes.  Oh, and no worries brides, you can still get "good" shoes to arrive in (you know, the shoes)...

4. Big tip: HAVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS THERE!  This is a great night for candids & group photos

 These almost always turn out to be some of the best pictures because everyone is just so relaxed.

 This is Lauren gathering everyone for what I think is going to be one of the best laughing shots ever.

5. Provide seating for just chatting it up.  This may be the 1st time your guests have seen each other in a while- it's great to have conversation areas.

6. Hire a wedding planner so that when your dress literally starts to fall apart, she can sew you back up and get you back to the party.  Yes, this happened tonight.  No, it wasn't the 1st time. Yes, I confess I sewed right through my finger at one point.  Nothing a little nail polish can't fix.

 

7. Have your photographers take detail shots of everything, before they get "messed up" This is the firepit.  Why a firepit in Florida, at a beach welcome reception with an 80 degree temperature?  See below.

 

8. That would be for dessert.  Smores anyone?  Or if smores aren't your thing, perhaps a sundae bar is.  Complete with sprinkles in your wedding colors.

9. Serve food; welcoming food.  Serve the kind of food they can't get at home, but make sure there's something for everyone.  Tonight the biggest attractions at the dine around were the mini Snapper sandwiches, the Coconut Shrimp and the Schettani Sangria.

10. Have fun.  If your guests see you smiling and having a blast, so will they.

Destination Weddings & Honeymoons visits South Seas Resort

I was so excited when I walked by the wedding magazine rack today and saw the cover of destination weddings & honeymoons! "Wow, that looks familiar...hmmmm." Yep, its none other than South Seas Resort; one of my favorite places to plan weddings.

This past May, Donna & Jim tied the knot at Sunset Cove (which is in the distance of the cover photo) and then had their cocktails on Kings Crown lawn, followed by dinner and dancing inside Kings Crown. All the bouquets in the article (and Donna & Jims wedding)were by my favorite floral designers on the islands, Floral Artistry.
Currently, I'm in the midst of planning 4 other weddings on South Seas before summer hits, so yeah, you could say its a very popular place. Mostly because it is beyond gorgeous and the food is to die for. Or maybe its because of the dolphins, sea turtles, and manatees. Or maybe its the golf and tennis. Or maybe its the beach and sunset. Or maybe the pool that kicks every other pools arse with the fancy little cabanas and pina coladas. Alright, enough reasons already. The place just rocks.


All 4 of the upcoming weddings are as different as the locations my clients are coming from, and I am truly looking forward to each. I'd love to plan more- call me!

Spa getaway with the girls, golf retreat for the guys

Well if this isn't one of the neatest websites I've seen in a while...


Basically, with this FREE service, you can plan a group getaway, and manage everything online.




They have hundreds of locations, itineraries, and budgets to choose from. A cool option they offer- you can have hotels bid on your group trip! You can even order group "gear" like tee shirts and bags. A very funny thing they have- group mad libs. Those always made me laugh.

Pimp Your Flips

This past weekend was Becky & Mike's wedding weekend. It was such a great time! Clint Wiley entertained both Friday and Saturday and let me just tell you- there were people who never left the dance floor. For all I know, they are still there waiting on another encore. You can check out the short video of little ringbearer Cole dancing to Banana Pancakes at the rehearsal dinner on Becky & Mike's wedding blog. Have I ever mentioned I love Jack Johnsons music?

Anyway, let me explain the photo here. I shoulda known something was up when Becky asked me for my shoe size and favorite color in my wardrobe (hot pink & black). She surprised me, and I think all the girls in the wedding party (moms too), with a pair of these customized Reefs. Her sister Kelly embellished each pair for all of us. Oh how they sparkled in the sand. Very cool. Yes, I'm still wearing mine. Kelly is considering taking limited orders for her Wedding Flips, if you're interested, send me an email.

If you can't do a welcome bag

Welcome bags are wonderful for destination weddings. It's one thing that I have noticed that guests consistently rave about. The thing is, they can get pretty pricey. This last season the bags we delivered ran between $5.oo each and $32 each. I know, pretty big range. What drives the cost is the actual container you choose, what is in the bag, and the expense of assembly and delivery. Most resorts will charge a fee to deliver to the guests rooms. Others may allow you to drop it off at the front desk for when your guests actually arrive free of charge. For sure check on this in advance. So what if even $5 isn't in your budget? There is still something you can do. The reason we do welcome bags to to welcome wedding guests who are from out of the area, introduce them to the locale, and provide them with the weekends itinerary (if there's more than just the wedding ceremony & reception). If you can't do this, how about sending out a wedding newsletter to all the guests who have RSVP'd "YES!", including all the information on it: Itinerary, favorite & nearby restaurants, things to do, and for sure a map. All this costs is your time, some nice paper, and postage. For certain, this is much less expensive, and your guests will still be tickled pink that you thought of them in advance. Got a little wiggle room in the budget? Use photostamps to spice it up. Or if you and your groom aren't camera shy, do a welcome dvd and mail that to everyone! You can totally get creative with this. And if one of you does do the welcome dvd- send me one, I want to see!

Here comes the organized wedding planner chiming in: There is absolutely no need to wait to do this. It can be done way way in advance. Don't dilly dally.

Jen got married!

This weekends wedding was a special one. You might recognize the gal in the photo with me, its Jen, the wedding coordinator at Casa Ybel Resort on Sanibel Island. We've worked many weddings together over the last few years. It was an honor to be able to work with her on her very own wedding. Click HERE to see her photoshow. These are snapshots I took- the professional photos will be a few weeks...

My great weekend

I've had a great weekend, the last one before wedding season kicks into high gear. Friday my husband and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. We got dressed up and went to our favorite restaurant, Cru, for cocktails and dinner. I absolutely recommend you have dinner there when you are in Ft. Myers. Last night we had a bbq with friends and played Cornhole til the sun went down. For some reason everytime we play this Ohio born game, it gets chilly. It was about 65 degrees and why I was all wrapped up in this sweater.

What makes a wedding a destination wedding?

des*ti*na*tion (des'ti-nAy'shen) n. The place to which one is going or directed.
There's a little debate about this, but I will tell you what I think. A destination wedding is one where the wedding is taking place in a location such that the majority of guests are travelling. So, even if the bride and groom live at the wedding location; if all the majority of their guests have to travel to get there- its a destination wedding.
What makes this different from a regular wedding is that while it is more complex in the planning, it also provides for a more intimate experience and quality time spent. Because everyone is going to be together for at least 2 days, you'll actually get to spend time having fun with your guests! Not just the 5 minute quick, stop by to say "hello thanks for coming", during the tour of the tables at your reception dinner. Read back a few posts to see what a destination wedding weekend can be: Documenting your entire wedding weekend
Do you have to do all these events? Absolutely not! But considering that all the people you care about most are travelling to celebrate with you, take advantage of it!
Chances are when you are having a destination wedding that you will have less "yes" RSVP's than if you have it at a location central to the majority of invited guests. So a destination wedding can certainly be less costly. Also, many popular wedding destinations are just plain old less expensive than "home". It's just like that house buying show on HGTV, What you get for the money I think its called; what $30,000 buys you in New York City buys you a whole lot more on Sanibel or Captiva Island. A destination wedding can actually be a budget saver.
So then whats a destination wedding planner? A destination wedding planner is experienced in planning not just weddings, but also experienced in weddings where there are travel and multiple events for the guests involved. Some destination wedding planners only plan weddings in the area they reside in, and some destination planners will also help you plan a wedding outside of the region. Tip: when you're looking for your wedding planner, they may not call themselves a "destination wedding planner", just ask if they have experience planning them.

"Your job is so cool" Warning: Long Post.

I giggle a little when people say this to me. I do love what I do; I love planning weddings. You couldn't possibly convince me that there's a better job out there. However, when people say this to me its either at the wedding, when they see me smiling off to the side(dancing just a little cause the band rocks!) or crying tears of joy. Or during wedding venue tours, when we're going to all these fabulous locations looking at beaches, tasting food, and eating cake. That part of being a wedding planner is so beyond great- who wouldn't want to do that?
But I giggle because never do wedding guests or clients see me in my office, with 2 computers, a fax machine, 3 phones, bookshelves full of client binders, and filing cabinets full of vendor and resource information. On my typical day I am tied to the office for 9 hours. I get 15-20 emails per hour. Most of my 8-10 phone calls take at least 15 minutes. I wish it was just my brides calling me; because I love talking to them, but I have to actually plan their weddings, and that means talking to all their vendors too. Most weddings have about 20 contracts of some sort. I have to take care of all that. Cool right?
If I have to give up some of that office time for meetings, I'm in the office on the weekend, in the evenings, and sometimes before dawn. And that's after the usual weekend meetings with clients. Because, I meet with clients when they aren't working their jobs! Then there's the calendar on the wall. Right now there are 17 weddings on that calendar (between now and next April 2008). I am a multi-tasking master. So, what it comes down to is that my job might be fairly similar to any other project-manager-office-job most of the time. Cool right?
Then there's wedding week. Adrenaline takes over big time. No matter what, there will be fires to put out, chaos to control, and a mess to clean up. No matter what, I always end up working at least 20 hours straight 3 days in a row, I might get to eat one meal (which is cold, while standing up, in a corner, in the dark), and there's no such thing as a bathroom break. Cool right?
Truly, my friends think I am insane for doing what I do. My husband thinks I work too much. My kids, they seem to get it (kids are cool like that). My dad- he didn't think I was running a real business until he read an article about me in a magazine; and this was just a few months ago (I've been in business for years!).

My job is cool- for me. Again, I love it, and there are some seriously fun parts. But it is not for everyone, thats for sure. I'll post about the fun parts later, but right now I have 17 weddings to plan. Hee Hee.

A camel, a giraffe, Cinderella, and a pig.

I had the most incredible weekend! Friday I went for a site tour at the most unbelievable, one of a kind, out of this world venue I have ever seen. I am just dying to have an event there. Very pricey I'm certain, but guaranteed to be worth every penny. Now considering I see many a venue, for me to say that my jaw dropped at every turn- that means this place is something else. And it wasn't just the venue- the staff is incredible. I met one of the owners as he was taking his camel for his morning ride. Then I fed carrots to the resident giraffe (I think his name is Shelton) as I talked logistics with the Director of Sales. Even the executive chef stopped by to introduce himself. I have never been so impressed.
Saturday I had a Cinderella wedding. Oh the bride looked just beautiful. It was very much a fairytale wedding, right down to the horse and carriage and handsome prince of a groom. I had such a wonderful time watching them together. They're very much one of those couples who are just so in love. I cried no less than 5 times.
Sunday we co-hosted a pig roast-birthday party at our home. Donna, I know you are freaking out about this, I told you not to read my blog today! It was freezing by Florida standards, but a great time was had by all. I even learned how to play "Cornhole". I think its an Ohio born outdoor game. Something between horseshoes and plinko. If that makes any sense.

The Newest Trend: Documenting your entire wedding weekend

Not all, but most of the weddings I get to plan are 3 or 4 days of events. Here's the typical line-up:
Usually the weekend starts with the rehearsal dinner, (Thursday)
Followed by a welcome reception (Thursday)
A spa day for the gals and a golf or fishing tourney for the fellas,(Friday)
Perhaps then a sunset cruise, luau, casino night, or the newest rage- Karaoke parties (Friday)
Then of course the wedding ceremony, reception, and after party (Saturday)
And then it all has to come to a close with a farewell brunch... (Sunday)

As you can imagine, there are just tons of memories to capture with all this fun stuff going on. In 2005 I started to notice that more and more of my clients wanted to have all their events documented with professional photography and videography. And really, it kind of makes sense. You figure, when else in your life are you going to have all the people you care about and enjoy the most spending the weekend with you doing nothing but fun stuff? I had a wedding weekend, and I would give anything to have a few really good photos from our welcome reception and video of our best mans speech. One of the neat things I've noticed about these weddings where we've had everything covered is that by the time you get to the wedding, the photographer and videographer visually "know" everyone, and because of that they get amazing shots during the most important 6 hours (ceremony-reception).
Here are a few tips if you're considering going this route:
1. If you're going to have your photographer cover all or few events, make certain that your photographer is a not only a good wedding photographer, but also a good photojournalist. A photojournalist doesn't ask for things to happen, they photograph what does happen and most important, they photograph unobtrusively.
2. Book the whole weekend at once. The last thing you want to do is call your photographer a month before the wedding to ask her to cover the casino party only to find out she's already booked on another wedding for that day.
3. Book the videographer for anything that's going to be big on sound and/or movement- obviously anything where there will be speeches, toasts, or bad singing (ha!).
4. Take advantage of all this documentation- share it. In addition to your wedding video, have the videographer create a 15 minute highlight dvd of the best moments from the weekend to give to your family and wedding party. You can also have your photographer send the videographer some of the photos to add to the video highlights.

One more thing, this is an "extra". Adding something like this can throw your budget WAY off. If you can't swing the whole weekend, maybe just pick one extra event to cover.

How'd it get to be December already?

It's been a month and there have been 2 really great weddings! I can't wait to share the pictures from both. Just this weekend was Julie & Phils. What a great couple. I had so much fun planning with them. For their rehearsal we had a tropical elegant dinner, beach front under a tent. The kids had their very own space- and totally took advantage of it. Finally Saturday, after a beautiful church ceremony they had a perfect Christmas themed wedding reception. Priority number 1 for Julie and Phil was the DJ. And boy did we have the perfect DJ! The dancefloor was at max capacity the whole night! It took a huge portion of planning time and a big chunk of the budget to get that DJ- but it was worth it because it was what was most important to the bride and groom. To see the photoshow, click the link on the right.

And last month was Krista & Chris's Vintage Hollywood wedding. It was amazing- by far the most personal ceremony I've witnessed. The Pro pics will be out soon, so I'm going to wait for those before I post too much more about it...something to look forward to for sure.

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Whew; It is HOT!!! Really truly, it is insanely hot right now. No wonder nobodys getting married outdoors!
This weekend I hosted a birthday dinner party for my best friend Becky. Dinner for 12 is much more work than I had anticpated. But, leave it to the wedding planner to go all out. I couldn't just have the meal catered- it had to look good too. I got to use one of the hot new color combinations, tiffany blue & chocolate. I thought it came together well. I wanted all the guests to feel great too. So I made them all wear cocktail attire. The husbands weren't particualrly thrilled, but it was so much fun to have everyone dressed up. It was a real blast, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves, the endless bottles of great wine, and six course meal!
The chef, Julio, is actually a groom to be. His wedding is Saturday, and he's really excited about the event. As am I of course. Pictures below!

Running a little behind

I know, I know. It's been a very long time. No excuses other than I've been rather busy planning a dozen weddings and sending my kiddies off to school. Wahoo! I also managed to move and reorganize the WBS storage unit. I had no idea how much wedding decor I had accumulated over the years. It took me 2 entire days to move and reorganize. Now it is all nice and neat and the next time I need a 3x10 hurricane- I'll know that I have 12, but I need 9 pillar candles. Everything is organized in a detailed list (3 pages worth) and a photo of each item. Let's see if I can keep it that way through the fall season though! A girl can dream.

Hopefully you're all enjoying a nice end of summer. We survived another Hurricane Charlie anniversary (wonderful thing in these parts). Last weekend I held my 2nd Wedding Anthology. It's a small wedding showcase I started last year. I did an even smaller one this year; basically to prepare for a really big one in the late winter. I'm posting a link to some of the wedding ideas champagne reception photos. Can you believe I actually have all this stuff in my inventory? I had a difficult time deciding how to decorate the tables. Limiting it to these few was an awful task!
At the Anthology I focused on invitations. A big trend right now is the pocketfold invitations. They are really neat packages aren't they? A couple things to consider about the. They are pricey. Pricey to purchase, pricey to mail, pricey to print. You're best off going to a custom designer if you really like these invitations. Printing them yourself, you'll most likely end up spending just as much time and money on bad prints; smeared ink, off center margins- you name it. To mail these suckers is a whole new ballgame. The odd size and number of inserts you have, the heavier the paper, the higher the cost. I've yet to get one out for 63 cents.

Consider perhaps sending a beautiful traditional invitation and then, once you get the "yes " RSVP's send those folks the fancy expensive pocketfold with all the inserts. You could literally save half the costs!

Sorry its been so long everyone. I've moved! My previous blog host wasn't as user friendly as I had hoped. So let's try this again!
The spring/summer wedding season is over down here in Florida. It's pretty darn hot in these parts and the rain can be ferocious at times.
My last event this season was a vow renewal and anniversary weekend. I miss my clients terribly. I truly had such a wonderful time planning with them. And then when it came time for their events- I fell in love with their family and friends too. They truly have the best people in their lives. I felt so honored to be a part of their 40th anniversary. The weekend was full of events which was called "Family, Friends, and Forty Years". My clients and their guests played golf, shopped, fished, and toured all over Naples. And that was just the 1st half day! After a welcome reception that evening, my clients and their guests jumped aboard their chartered trolleys for a narrated tour (narrated by my clients!) of some of the must see sights of Naples and ended their day with a beautiful sunset cruise. The next day they had an open house, and then everyone paraded down the block to the beach for their vow renewal. It was such a sight. A few hours after the ceremony it was time for cocktails, dinner, and dancing. Boy did they dance! The band (The Landsharks, absolutely amazing- one of the best ever!), had everyone out of their seats nearly the entire evening. Yep, we had to extend an hour because the party was way too hot to shut down! The next morning there was a farewell brunch at their home.
Photos: My favorite EVER vow renewal clients! The flowers up there- believe it or not we used them for 3 different events- and that's the last one! True sign of a fantastic florist! I used them at the welcome reception on Friday, the cocktail hour before the dinner Saturday, and finally at the farewell brunch on Sunday. And the last photo is the tail end of the parade to the beach (1 block walk from their new home).
I had a really difficult time saying goodbye to these clients. I always do, but these clients were different. It was an experience not like one I've had before. I balled all the way home. I've cried a few times since then too. Thanks Gary & Janet... it was such a pleasure.

Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country. Where we we be without you? Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I had the great honor of planning Mandi & Andy's destination wedding, which took place earlier this month. It was without a doubt the most emotional wedding weekend I've ever been a part of. The groom is currently serving in the Army, and as I write this entry, he's back in Baghdad. We didn't know when Andy would actually arrive for the wedding until the day before he got here. His arrival was the most touching moment I've ever witnessed (look back a few posts). Many of the family members from both sides of the families also served in the armed forces.
For the rehearsal dinner, we planned it as a welcome home soldier party. We decked the place out in Red, White, and Blue. The brides mom also added "support our troops" yellow ribbons, and each guest wore a yellow lapel ribbon. The room looked great and was the complete opposite of the pink and crystal themed wedding the next day.
My tip of the day: Don't be afraid to go out and do something totally different for your rehearsal dinner. Host a casino party (these are SO much fun), have a luau, have a dessert only party, have a tailgate party, host a wine tasting... the possibilities are endless!
Todays picture: A snapshot of the Welcome home party decor. Sometimes piling it on is great!
Todays link: Here's a website I found if you would like to send the troops a message.
http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/Message.aspx?SectionID=5