Exciting news! Here is a preview of the magazine ad that we will be featured in!

My wedding planning class recently had 3 great guest speakers. Mary Greiner of Musician’s Booking Agency spoke about the many offerings that are available for musical entertainment for wedding ceremonies and receptions. Mary was very prepared with great handouts and a CD of wedding music for all of my students!
Next, we had Kayelily Middleton, wedding officiant. Kayelily was wonderful and taught the class all about marriage laws in NC, wedding rehearsals, and she also shared some great stores of weddings that she has officiated.
Last week, we had a special class with a hands-on floral design workshop presented by Teri Freeland-Jones of Floral Alternatives. Teri designed a bridal bouquet, groom’s bout, a couple centerpiece designs and even a placecard design using a green apple!
Many thanks to all of our guest speakers!

I received a couple more pictures from the Grand Opening Bridal Show at La Grande Maison from Contonna Peterson, so I thought I’d post them. Thanks Contonna!
Here is Rebecca’s dazzling display of all of her custom jewelry!

Here are two beautiful designs from Keepsake Bouquets:

Here is Contonna’s display for Bartending Unlimited:
Also harpist, Amy Kortis, played sweet sounds throughout the show:

Again, I was able to work with wonderful vendors and I look forward to working with them again in the future!

We had a great time this past Sunday at the Grand Opening bridal show at La Grande Maison. We, along with about 40 preferred vendors, were setup on the 30-acre property located in beautiful in Mebane, NC. Our booth was a hit with the vendors! Everyone loved making their own candy box to-go!
We had the privilege to be setup near the pool and gazebo area.
Here are some pictures of the area from La Grande Maison’s website:

Here is a pic of our candy buffet:

Around the pool area was Rebecca Baltzer of Beautiful Creations. Rebecca had a dazzling display of all of her custom jewelry!
Also located around the pool were Barbara Pardue and Cindy Singleton of Keepsake Bouquets and Jaime Gilliam of Perfect Wedding Guide.
Under the gazebo area, (also pics from their website)

were very talented vendors! Leslie Koehn of Gloss Photographic along with Ashley Plegar, makeup artist, and Contonna Peterson with Bartending Unlimited.

We also had the pleasure to work with Patricia with Perfection by Patricia, Mark McCoy and his wife of Mark McCoy Photography, and Denise Monks of Classy Hair. Poor Denise had laryngitis, but she hung in there!
Special thanks goes to Howard Conyers of Concept Seventeen for his assistance! Howard offers a unique gift idea – picture weaving!

Denisa Harvey, the GM of La Grande Maison, overall did a wonderful job in putting this event together! Thanks Denisa!

Here are a couple more pics of our booth:

One of my recent clients posted a wonderful review of our company on The Wedding Wire. Click here to view!
Her wedding was on a gorgeous summer day and the ceremony was held in her father’s beautiful back yard overlooking the golf course. I’ll have to post pictures soon. Stay tuned!

I often hear the statement, “I have no idea of where to start planning my wedding!” And then comes the question, “Where should I start?”

Well, don’t stress! I’d love to share some great first steps in the wedding and event planning process.

First, create an idea portfolio. Get a cute scrapbook or even a simple notebook and start compiling ideas by cutting out pictures from magazines or printing them from online. Magazines are a great way to get inspiration! My favorite mags are Martha Stewart Weddings and Wedding Flowers. After a couple pages in your portfolio, you’ll start to see a pattern develop of colors and themes that are your favorites!

Secondly, start on your preliminary guest list and estimated guest count. The number of guests will shape everything from the budget to the location. It seems like an obvious point, but remember, the more guests, the more your budget will need to increase. An increased guest count increases the costs for invitations, flowers, food, drink, size of location, etc.

Next, decide the formality of your wedding or event. Would you prefer an evening affair or morning brunch? An afternoon tea or entire weekend event? Think about these questions when deciding your event style. Then comes the decision on the general location and time of year. Are you looking for a “Falling in Love” fall theme or a “Winter Wonderland” theme? What about a destination wedding at some exotic location?

Also, start thinking of registries. One great new idea is the Honeymoon Registry, where you can actually register for portions of your dream honeymoon trip! Click here for more info: Honeymoon Registry

Finally, hire a wedding/event planner. Planning a wedding can be stressful, time-consuming and expensive! So to make sure your wedding or event is as successful as your hopes and dreams, hire a professional to plan and execute your plans to ensure success and eliminate stress!

Remember our motto, “Relax. It’ll be FABULOUS!”

Happy wedding planning!