To Write or Not to Write--The Wedding Vows

This past month has been so completely insane with weddings. Just by the time one is finished we are at the next and then there's the double wedding weekend...I still have not recovered. So...all this crazy busy schedule got me thinking about couples writing their own wedding vows.

I think it is amazing that some of our couples found the time to write their own vows through their work schedules, family times, etc. If you are thinking about putting aside some time to write your own vows, here are some guidelines to help you through it:

1. Make sure you and your spouse are on the same page

2. Make a list of all the reasons you love and want to marry your spouse

3. Add in something personal (like how you love the way they cherish their family and you vow to cherish them all as well)

4. Write down everything, don't try to remember your vows

C is for Cinemedia

Cinemedia

Cinemedia is one of the best videography companies around. Steve Graham, the owner of Cinemedia, strives for perfection in every single wedding video he shoots. His work is over the top amazing. The above video is from a wedding Steve and I did together in May and you can see why I suggest him to all of my brides.

I got a chance to sit down and talk to Steve about pretty much everything. Here are some of the questions I asked so all of you can get to know him a little better:

1. What made you start Cinemedia? "After working in the production industry for many years I decided I wanted to focus my efforts on event videography. I started Cinemedia in 2003 so that I could spend my time doing what I enjoy most."

2. What is your favorite part of weddings and events? "I've always been a creative person and event videography gives me a tremendous amount of latitude within which to be creative. Also, I like the idea that I'm capturing some of the most important moments in people's lives and delivering a product of timeless significance. Lastly, the celebratory atmosphere of a wedding is just plain fun to be around."

3. What's one of your hobbies? "I'm a songwriter in my spare time. I've got a studio with a ridiculous amount of equipment that I enjoy immersing myself in. I sing, play guitar, bass, drums and keyboards and thanks to the marvel of multitrack recording I don't have to play them all at the same time!"

4. What sets your business apart from all others? "I think the personal attention and importance placed on each and every project helps set Cinemedia apart. I'm a perfectionist by nature and as such I work very hard to ensure that every video I produce meets my high standards. We also offer some services that others do not like the increasingly popular live internet broadcast."

5. What is one of your childhood dreams? "My childhood dream was to be a professional soccer player. I played on my high school team anyhow :) These days I'm happy to get out and kick around with my kids."

6. Do you film just weddings? "I also film Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Quinces, and corporate events. Weddings account for the large majority of my work though and I hope to keep it that way. They are simply the most fun and rewarding."

You can contact Steve at: Cinemedia, 407-936-0312, http://www.orlandoweddingvideo.com/

c is for celebrate!

Since we are talking about all different types of vendors I decided that I could introduce you a little bit futher into our company, celebrate!

Welcome to our company...

1. When & by whom did celebrate! come about?
celebrate! began July of 2007 in Ormond Beach, Florida. celebrate! is owned & operated by Jen Calnan & Jenna Jones.

2. What interested you in opening up your company?
Both Jenna & I majored in event management at the University of Florida. (Go Gators!) During our studies we began working for an event coordinating firm in Gainesville. We planned many different types of events but absolutely fell in love with weddings. We continued in this field for a coordinator in Orlando, Florida. We learned a great deal from both companies & truly enjoyed our jobs. We had such a strong love & passion for planning events that we decided to bring it back to our home town & start up our own company.

3. Does your company only plan weddings?
We are an event coordinating firm specializing in weddings. Although our company does consist of about 80% weddings, we plan every & any type of event. We plan bar/bat mitzvahs, graduation parties, anniversary parties, corporate events, family reunions, weddings, etc.

4. What can you offer to one of your brides?
celebrate! offers 4 packages to our brides. We offer assistance from just the day of the event all the way to our all inclusive packages & a little in between. We can also customize a package to meet a brides needs, depending on what se needs.

5. What is the most satisfying part of your job?
There are so many different aspects of my job that I absolutely adore. I love meeting and building relationships with new vendors. I love getting to know my bride & her family members. I love to save my brides time, money & stress. The number one thing that really makes this all worth while is the gratitude that we receive from our bride & groom, their families & the wedding guests at the end of the evening.

I hope you enjoyed this tid bit of information on our company. If you are looking for any assistance with your special event, please feel free to contact us for a FREE consultation.

You can contact celebrate! at:

200 S. Nova Road, Suite A

Ormond Beach, Florida 32174

Cell: 386-547-9239

Office: 386-677-0018

B stands for Breathtaking Bed and Breakfast

River Lily Bed and Breakfast

So this past week I got a chance to sit down with Polly Cappuccio from the River Lily Bed and Breakfast located across from the Halifax River. This is a beautiful site to host your wedding ceremony and reception. You can have a beautiful tent wedding overlooking the river. This is a simply elegant site that uses natural to add to your event.

What made you decide to open River Lily?
I always wanted to have a B&B life style of meeting people and entertaining. Our guests have been even more enjoyable that I ever expected.

What is your favorite part of weddings and events?
My favorite part of weddings are the high hopes and dreams of the Bride and Groom. Events, birthday parties or anniversaries are happy celebrations that bring family and friends together and make good memories.

What's your one of your hobbies?
I love to bake good stuff like cheese cakes and cookies. I love putting together gift baskets with my baked goods, wine and cute & different things in them. I like to read to learn most anything. I like cook books and positive books.

What sets your ceremony and reception site apart?
The River Lily is the perfect site for weddings with our sweeping Halifax River views, our grounds and our romantic River Lily Bridal Suite with gold chandeliers. There is a need for a celebration site like ours. We are in the mid priced range, a beautiful site at reasonable prices.

If you could do anything else what would you do?
If I could do anything I wanted, I would do charity work with teenagers and people in nursing homes that don't have families to visit them.

How many guests can you accommodate?
We have six guest rooms and we can accommodate up to 14 guests. We can have events on our grounds for up to 150 guests.

Do you have a slogan?
Our slogan is: You are expected when you arrive and you will be missed when you leave.

And of course we cannot forget about her husband Artie who helps her run the inn. Artie is an extremely talented musician, writer, singer, and artist. He loves being with people. His favorite thing to do is hang out with his kids and two grandsons.

To contact River Lily:
558 Riverside Drive
Holly Hill/Daytona Beach, Florida 32117
Cell: 407-721-3348
Inn: 386-253-5002
http://www.riverlilyinn.com/

Thank you!!!

This past Saturday was the beautiful wedding of Stacy and Ray. Jen and I had such a wonderful time planning this joyous occasion and truly love the couple and their families. Below, is a wonderful thank you from the parents of the bride to us and I just had to share:

Dear Jen and Jenna:

We just want to thank you for coordinating a flawless wedding. The effort that you both put in was as professional as anyone could have wanted. I can't imagine trying to do this ourselves. It would have been a foolish mistake.

Trying to arrange and coordinate all the vendors, the church, the rehearsal party and then the wedding would have taken all the fun out of just sitting back and just enjoying the whole journey.

Simply put, it was a stress free event for all of us and you made our daughter's wedding a special event.

Sincerely,

Woody and Sue Lucas

Octavia's Wedding Photos-Sneak Peak

Octavia's and Rosheen's wedding was absolutely stunning! The bridal party were dressed to the max in hot pink, the bride looked breathtaking, and the reception was over the top fun! Here is a sneak peak.

Photos by: Leahjeanphoto.com

Wedding Toast's

Every wedding includes a toast. The intentions of a wedding day toast is to congratulate the bride & groom and most importantly focus on the couple. We have all heard a toast at a wedding that just carries on & on with no end, really making no sense at all. Hopefully this will help prevent any unnecessary, dreaded toasts.


A few helpful tips:


1. Do introduce yourself to the crowd. This will make the speech more personal & intimate.
2. Do plan in advance to give a speech, an impromptu toast usually doesn't go very smoothly at
a wedding.
3. Do point out positive qualities about the bride & groom as a couple.
4. Do put some humor into the toast, a little laughter never killed anyone!
5. Do make is short & sweet. People tend to get bored after a few minutes.



**Most importantly....Don't get completely smashed before giving a toast at a wedding. No one wants to hear you ramble on & slur your words.

Thank You from Mom and Dad of the Bride

I just received a beautiful thank you letter from the parents of one of our wonderful brides. I just had to share their sincere words:

Dear Jen and Jenna,

Thank you so much for agreeing to help with our daughter's wedding, especially on such short notice. Just knowing you were both there to take care of the details allowed us to fully enjoy Shanna and Grant's very special day. From the rehearsal to the wedding day your presence relieved us of the stress and anxiety that accompany planning such an event.

Again, thank you for going above and beyond; everything from start to finish was beautiful.

Sincerely,

Debbie and Pete Zorge

Octavia's Engagement Photo Shoot

These are some beautiful photos from Octavia's and Rosheen's engagement photo shoot with Leah from Leah Jean Photography. They are such a beautiful couple, inside and out. This weekend is there big wedding weekend. I cannot wait to see the images Leah shoots of Octavia and Rosheen tying the knot!!!

To see more of Leah's breathtaking work view her website at leahjeanphoto.com.

5 Great Bridal Party Gifts--Poker Set

A personalized poker set is a great way to say thanks to all your groomsmen. Beau-coup.com has a handsome chrome poker set that is over the top perfect for your stellar bridal party. Your groom can even get his boys names engraved on top, so Tommy doesn't try to take Jonny's poker set one night while they are playing poker.

Our Blog Got a Facelift

SO....how do you like our new lovely blog layout???? Let us know.

5 Great Bridal Party Gifts--Charm Bracelet

My bride, Rebecca, had the most fabulous gift idea for her bridesmaids. She is going to get each of her ladies a charm bracelet to represent that this is the first of many life events they will have together. She will also get a charm to hang from the bracelet to represented her wedding.

The charm bracelet below has a beautiful heart on it that you can get monogrammed for each of your bridesmaids. This bracelet is from Americanbridal.com.

5 Great Bridal Party Gifts--Fragrance

One of the great gifts to receive as a bridesmaid or groomsmen is a bottle of great fragrance. This is great gift for many reasons:

1. You can find a fragrance that matches your theme, color, or wedding decor

2. Most people rarely buy fragrance for themselves so it makes for a great gift

3. Most fragrances have great free gifts with purchase so your bridal party will end up with a bigger gift than you planned and budgeted for

My top choice for bridesmaids is the new Absolutely Irresistible by Givenchy. This fragrance not only has a great name...who wouldn't want to be Absolutely Irresistible...but it also smells delicious. It also is in a fabulous fall color, a deep hue of red.

I actually just got this little goodie for myself!!! I love it!!!!!

5 Great Bridal Party Gifts

This week is all about showing your bridal party how much you appreciate everything they have done by giving them the perfect gift. I have brides who give everything from a piece of jewelry to a gift basket to a great bottle of fragrance.

Over the years, I have compiled a short list of fabulous bridal party favors. I cannot wait to share them with all of you.

My Wonderful Vacation

So I cannot even begin to express how wonderful my vacation was. From our trip to Tennessee for the Gator game to France and then to Italy, I am still in awe. Every moment was just pretty much perfect. So without further hesitation, here are just some of the pictures....

Thank you letter from Shanna & Grant

Dear Jen and Jenna,

We just wanted to take a moment to thank you both for all of your hard work on our wedding day. Grant and I never could have made it through the day without your help! There is one specific moment that I can clearly remember as my dad was waiting to walk me down the aisle. He looked at my mother and I and said, "Thank God we hired wedding planners! We never would have been able to pull this off without them." And it was so true. Everything from start to finish went smoothly and just as I had imagined it. Thank you guys so much for everything, you're both awesome! We could not have asked for a more perfect wedding day. It was the greatest way to start our new lives together!

With much thanks,
Shanna & Grant Karcher XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A is for Andy's Taylor Rental

We have had the pleasure to work with the wonderful rental company, Andy's Taylor Rental, numerous times. And each time we work with them we are blown away with their creativity, resourcefulness, and kindness.

Andy's Taylor Rental can take your special event up to the next notch. They can rent you just about anything--a gold chivari chair to make your event so elegant your guests will be thinking they are at a celebrity wedding, a beautiful white wedding tent to hold whatever your guest count may be, etc.

They truly are a premier wedding vendor.

I sat down with Amy from Andy's Taylor Rental to gain some more insight into their family owned business. Here is what she revealed:

1. How did Andy's Taylor Rental begin?

My father started Taylor Rental 28 years ago. He was a hospital administrator in Thomasville, GA, my brother was graduating from highschool and he just did not want to work for someone any more. He went to a franchise show and this is the one that appealed to him.

2. What is your favorite part of weddings and events?

I think my favorite part of the weddings and events is when a client says you made my day special!

3. What's your one of your hobbies?

My one biggest hobby is designing that special day.

4. What is one of the hottest wedding trends with rentals?

I think one of the hottest trends is personalization. Making it your own. Using color, unique style and creating your own tradition.

5. If you could do anything else what would you do?

I can't think of anything else except play with my grandson and impose on my children.

6. What is the #1 product you suggest for every bride not to scrimp on?

I recommend that no bride ever scrimp on accommodations (ie.Tenting) & seating, remember you have invited guest to your event, they should be comfortable.

You can reach Andy's Taylor Rental at:

website: www.taylorrentalstaug.com

phone: 904.471.2991

email: eventplanner@bellsouth.net

Flowers, flowers, which flowers???

Flowers can be a major expense when it comes to your wedding day, especially when you want a particular flower that does not bloom during the season of your wedding. Here is a great guide on which flowers are available which season:

Fall
Bird of Paradise, Chrysanthemum, Orchid, Marigold, Zinnia

Winter
Holly, Jasmine, Poinsettia, Amaryllis, Waxflower

Spring
Daffodil, Lilacs, Peony, Tulip, Freesia

Summer
Daisy, Sweet Pea, Lily, Sunflower, Dahlia

Photos by: Leahjeanphoto.com