My Fair Wedding

Never in my life have I seen (or imagined) a bouquet made of sponges. And my first vision of that is exactly what I encountered when I met Corryn, my next bride-to-be who was simply too adorable and too well-intentioned to have flower-shaped neon pink and green sponges have any part in her wedding!

The thing about Corryn is that she had great ideas--fantastic ideas, even. When we met, I was impressed to learn how she knew classic Hollywood black and white movies like the back of her hand...and to me, that's a wonderful place to draw inspiration for any kind of party, especially a wedding.

 

Continue reading "Audrey Hepburn, Flower Sponges and Styrofoam Wedding Cake" »

My next bride, Noelle, came from a line of strong, independent women. She was hard-working and determined to make her wedding day what she always wanted, even if it meant she would have to do it all herself! When an unfortunate financial situation wiped out everything Noelle and her fiancé had saved, she had to become even more resourceful. While she was doing the best she could with what she had, she still had trouble pulling together an elaborate affair. When we met, I was ready to change her luck by changing everything about her wedding.

Continue reading ""Southern Belle" Wedding Theme" »

My heart went out to my next bride, Christina, from the very beginning. If there's anything no bride ever deserves, it's to have her perfect wedding day plans ruined by something way out of her control--and the "swine flu" epidemic could not have happened at a more unfortunate time for this Mexico-bound bride-to-be! When her guest list dwindled due to the travel scare, Christina's destination beach wedding became a local Elks Lodge wedding in her New Jersey town, and her wedding dreams took a back seat.

Continue reading "Destination Wedding Jeopardized by Swine Flu" »

My bride Bernadette wasn't sure she was on the right track for her wedding when we met... She had several different ideas, from the colors (kiwi green and cream) to the décor, to her dress... Even her table numbers were they're own theme, listed by the military alphabet. All Bernadette's plans were very creative ideas, but none of them fit one common wedding style.

Continue reading "No Holds Barred Wedding Celebration" »

As soon as I walked into Jaime Ferris' home to see this beautiful bride-to-be's wedding plans, I was stopped mid-sentence at the very start! Just her description of her plans so far was something unusual…. Jaime was ready to show me all she had for her "mummer-themed" wedding, and I had to ask…, What exactly WAS a mummer, in the first place!?

Continue reading "Unforgettable, Non-Stop Wedding" »

In all my years planning weddings, I've discovered that one of the fastest ways to get guests to escape reality and enjoy themselves is through setting an extraordinary wedding atmosphere: a different time, a different place, a different era. But I've also learned some are easier than others...and my next bride, Lauren Masterson, was going to give me a royal challenge!

Lauren's fiancé proposed to her in a full metal suit of armor, and thus, her medieval wedding theme was created... not to mention my task to turn plastic swords and shields, paper crowns and a fake cauldron into a wedding fit for a lady of Renaissance high society.

Continue reading "A Royal Challenge" »

When I met Dayira, I thought I was on a sugar-high...This bride definitely showed me some wedding plans I had never even imagined, even in my sweetest dreams!

On our first day together, I discovered Dayira wanted to have her wedding cake...and eat her entire wedding, too with an entirely edible celebration. Everything was made of candy, from her wedding bouquet created out of bundled lollipop roses, to gumball centerpieces, and her crazy (yet very creative) ceremony archway that would be made of giant strands of red licorice. Both shocked and puzzled, I mused over the question at hand: Could I let my saccharine-savoring bride get married in sweet style while eliminating the "CandyLand" surroundings?

Continue reading "Crazy, Yet Creative, Wedding Celebration" »

Kricket was the sweetest bride a planner could ever ask for. She was always thinking of others first and never choosing to put her desires above others -- even when it came to selecting her gown! After a trip to her home in New Egypt, New Jersey, my first goal for this bashful bride was obvious... By the arrival of her wedding day, I had to find a way to allow my sweet and caring Kricket to she know she deserved to have her own version of a day that was uniquely hers... and then I would have to find a way to make it real AND beyond the best.

Continue reading "Wine-Inspired Wedding" »

They say everything has it's season... But with my next bride, Quiana, her wedding turned out to be so fantastic, it had to have TWO!

When Quiana and I met, she showed me a smattering of decorations she had been collecting from the craft store that represented a winter-themed wedding... right down to the ornament favors and "ice blue" bridesmaids dresses. Now I love a winter wedding, but there was one "abominable" problem: Quiana's wedding was actually going to take place right smack in the middle of spring!

Continue reading "Winter Wonderland or Spring Celebration?" »

My second bride, Nicole, had a great disposition and spirit that went right along with the theme she wanted: a Jamaican celebration with Caribbean flair! And...she wanted it centered around her favorite color--a vibrant, royal purple that matched her vibrant personality. Nicole presented me with a pretty weighty challenge: In the end, she needed her wedding--purple or no purple, in the tropics or in the city--to simply be worthy of her highest accolade: "Fab!"

Continue reading "A Jamaican Celebration with Caribbean Flair" »