My Fair Wedding

A Greek goddess was next on my list to meet in Los Angeles, CA, and boy did this Spartan have a battle with some interesting ideas coming his way. I was prepared to go in fighting and rescue this goddess in distress with her fiancé from the chaos of their Greek tragedy. When I first met Lala and her fiance, I was greeted with screams of excitement, and I knew the Gods of Athens were happy with my arrival, but as I soon entered her home to see what was in store for me to deal with, I felt like the clouds were going to roll in and lightning would strike. They were so gracious for me being there that they greeted me with wreathes atop their heads to show their love of the Greek theme. Lala's fiancé soon left and she and I quickly went to work.

When I first sat down, I felt like I was at a buffet. I was confused because I didn't know if she was excited about dinner for the wedding or if it was the décor. Radishes to lettuce, to potatoes, to carrots, there were vegetables everywhere.

Continue reading "No Greek Tragedy, Just Triumph" »

When I found out what my next wedding idea was based on, it was simply bone chilling, because it involved the celebration of death. Halloween? No. Dia De Los Muertos. Which I discovered translates to Day of the Dead. You have got to be kidding me. Who on earth would ever want their big day that celebrates the union of two lives, to be about the opposite? Death. Well I soon found out that the celebration is in fact to commemorate a full life for the person who passed, and what Katie and Josh loved about it, was they wanted to celebrate the end of their single lives (death) and celebrate the start of their married life. I get where they are going, but I'm a little scared.

So I was welcomed into Katie and Josh's home with open arms, and for people celebrating a deathly theme, they were extremely lively and very excited. We immediately got started digging through their coffin of things, and if this didn't make me turn in my grave, I don't know what would. Everything had a skull on it. Even the ties that looked like they were made for children had skulls on them, which were supposed to be for groomsmen. Action figures, sugar skulls, everything was related to death. The colors were off the wall and did not match, and I knew soon I needed to save this wedding from getting buried alive.

Continue reading "Bone-Chilling Wedding Theme" »

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a bride whose head seems to be high up in the clouds. Her name is Monique and rainbows and butterflies are the theme of her wedding. I must say for my bride Monique, though this initial concept took me by surprise and made my face cringe, when I met her, I wanted to make her dream come true.When I walk up to a bride's house and they open the door for the first time, most usual responses are screaming, cheers, and jumping up and down. Yet, when I got to Monique and Gus's front door, I was greeted with a different excitement. Monique opened the door and was immediately in tears. My heart sank. This girl was so overjoyed with emotion and gratitude of my being there, that she broke down crying. I immediately comforted her with a hug and she continued to cry and told me "her dream is coming true". Once Monique composed herself, she introduced me to her fabulous groom, but soon he was out the door and Monique and I got right to work.

Butterflies? Rainbows? They were everywhere, and Monique took the words right out of my mouth when she said it looked like a 5 year old's birthday party. She was confused, stuck, and this little butterfly was struggling to make it out of her cocoon. My first question, was the most important. "Why butterflies and rainbows?" I said. Monique responded by saying "butterflies are a symbol of beauty and freedom, and rainbows are important because they are a representation of unity in life."

Continue reading "Monique - The Butterfly Bride!" »

Once upon a time, in a far away land, lived Princess Aurora, a beauty with a contagious laugh, but quite the dilemma on her hand. All her life she had always put others before herself, and because of this valiant trait, it also seemed to leave her stuck with less. All of the other girls in this story had so much more than her it seemed, but what no one realized is that she had everyone tricked you see. She had all the love in her heart, a positive attitude, and enough charisma to move mountains, but monetary things didn't matter to her, for her loved ones and fiancé meant more to her than material things. She found herself wishing for a fairy godmother to come and waive her magic wand to make her feel like the princess she knew she was, but instead she got something even better. One beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles, CA is where our story begin and this is unlike and fairytale you have ever seen before...

Aurora opened the door and I am sure every one of the neighbors heard her scream with joy, as I was almost tackled to the ground! She was beyond ecstatic and even pinched me to see if I was real! This has got to be one of the most exciting meet and greets I have ever had with a bride, and I could not help smiling from ear to ear. Aurora has this presence about her, that makes you want to be a better person because her effervescence is positively glowing! Yet out of the corner of my eye I could see something else glowing in purple, and believe me, this was a glow coming from a different fantasy land. Her coffee table was filled with the color purple. Now don't get me wrong, I love the color purple, and Aurora knew that it was a majestic color, but at some point there has to be a limit.

Continue reading "Aurora's Disney Wedding" »

Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for... who?! Shiver me timbers, this has got to be unlike anything I have EVER done! This episode is a real treasure chest for me, because not only do I have to battle through swashbuckling ideas, but this is my first bride out in Los Angeles, CA! In the entire history of the show, I have not been to California, and I am beyond thrilled to start my voyage with these amazing women!  The first gem in my treasure chest that I got to meet was Brooke. Words cannot even begin to describe why she is such a special find. When I opened the door I was greeted with a beaming ray of light, and a whirlwind of thanks. Brooke was overjoyed and  was so energetic as she welcomed me into her home in Long Beach, CA. But my excitement soon dissipated when I saw the coffee table filled with "buried treasure."

If this was buried treasure, I think it has been under the sand for far too long. Some of the things that Brooke had were nice ideas, executed in the wrong way. One word she kept using to describe her wedding, was "dirty." Excuse me? That word does NOT exist in my vocabulary. She had treasure chests,  skulls, coins, and even Pirate's Booty. Brooke really wanted to incorporate her father who recently passed away, so because he had a casino called the "Cameo Club," she designed accessories for the girls to have in their hair which included a small ivory cameo. Cute idea and I love how she wants to incorporate her Father into the wedding. But dirty colors, pirate chests, and Davey Jones' locker? I soon felt like I was sinking, and when I saw the bridesmaids gowns, I was struggling to find air.

 

Continue reading "Brooke's "Pirates of the Caribbean" Wedding" »

Giddyup Cowboys and Cowgirls, because this show is in for a wild ride! This was my first trip out of New York for My Fair Wedding and Nicki was the first bride I was meeting on this rodeo. Boy, was I in for a treat! I opened the door to an overly ecstatic Nicki jumping up and down, screamin' and hollerin' which was VERY exciting. And to stay true to Dallas, she of course wore her cowboy boots, jean skirt and western top. She had this amazing charisma and energy that was extremely contagious and I was in turn excited to see her as well. One of the first lessons I got from her and her fiancé when I sat down was that there is a huge difference between country and western. I followed their advice and let them show me the ropes of their wedding plans - and let me tell you, their lasso did not catch on...Wagon wheels, boots with sunflowers, giant lone stars, horse shoes and bandanas as napkins were scattered about. Let me tell you something' yall... I was confused about the whole thing!

Then came the time to see the dress. For someone as outgoing and energetic as Nicki, I was expecting to see a dress that exemplified her personality and spirit in every way possible. But what I saw instead was boring. She chose a dress that was hiding her figure and giving her no character.

Continue reading "Nicki - The Texas Bride" »

Every bride imagines their wedding to be held in an elegant beautiful venue, except for Courtney of course! She wanted a swamp themed wedding. Say what?! You read correctly, a swamp themed wedding and all that goes with it, right down to the lily pad and crickets. Not to mention her favorite animal is a frog, and she absolutely HAD to have frogs at her wedding. When I met Courtney, the theme seemed bizarre at first, and I thought there was genuinely no way a bride could have wanted all of these things. I thought I was being punk'd by the casting people and that they were trying to set something up. Just wait, the story gets even better. Not only was I not being punk'd, but the bride had no idea I was even coming! She didn't even submit herself for My Fair Wedding, but we found out her aunt did. So Courtney, was in fact, extremely sincere with these swamp filled ideas and in no way had any intentions of budging and letting me help with any creative aspect. Her bouquet was an array of cattails and different grasses, which would scare any critter crawling through the swamp. This was not a mess, this was something right out of the swamps! But with every idea that seems awkward at first, there are always a few lightning bugs here and there to brighten it up.
 

  Courtney was not only allergic to flowers, but could not have anything fragrant or floral at her wedding. This obviously makes it more difficult to execute her idea of a swamp and make it beautiful. She was also very adamant about her dress and her bridesmaids dresses, which she thought were beautiful. If you know me, you know 80's green is my favorite color... not.  Now I had to come in and do some major damage control before the mud and alligators ate me alive. So I started with her bridesmaids dresses, and since there  were only two girls, I was able to put them in beautiful couture gowns.


 

Continue reading "Courtney's Swamp Wedding" »

Continue reading "Sheena's Transformation" »

By Sheena and Cedric, Dallas, Texas
Cedric and I met randomly in my apartment complex out of the blue, and after long phone conversations and nice dates we hit it off. Four years later here we are getting married. I felt like it was meant to happen, and I'm so grateful to meet someone like him and have him in my life.

Things started going wrong when we were supposed to have our wedding in New Orleans, my husband's home town. When this opportunity came up I was like, I am not going to miss out on this for nothing. I started seeing so many things in Hobby Lobby, and wanted to incorporate every idea with feathers and bright bold colors. It was a good idea, but not enough space to use it, or not the right occasion. Or my Beyonce/Gaga theme was very gleekish for my wedding.

David Tutera helped a lot because he gave my wedding style, elegance and he made it into something that I would have never imagined.

Continue reading "A Dream Come True" »

By Jessica & Namid, Bronx, New York
Namid and I were introduced during the summer session at college in 2001. After dating briefly we separated but always remained friends. In early 2008 we reconnected and have been inseparable ever since. On June 16, 2009 Namid proposed and of course I said yes!

We started brainstorming about the wedding and found that our ideas were all over the place, mostly because I am indecisive. We started planning the wedding with big ideas but after doing more research we realized that the dreams I had as a little girl were definitely going to need a larger budget that we could not afford. We were very close to eloping but knew that wasn't something we really wanted. We finally decided that we would have an intimate wedding and dinner reception at a small venue.

Continue reading "Giving Up Control Was Hard, Working With David Was Easy" »