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.