Be a Planner: Central Florida Class Offering

Thrilled to announce that MasterPiece Weddings will be offering another Be a Planner Certification Class in Gainesville, Florida. The class will be held July 25-26, 2009 at the Sweetwater Branch Inn. Essentially, it is a jam-packed two day course full of everything you need to know about planning an event. If you have ever considered becoming a planner or are already are and are looking to gain some more insight and knowledge into the field, why wait any longer? 

Personally, I took the course last July (2008) and absolutely loved it. Melissa is such a fabulous teacher and you would not believe the amount of knowledge she provides in such a short time period... from the proper way to slice a wedding cake to establishing your business and brand, you will walk away with more knowledge than you thought possible.

Contact MasterPiece Weddings for more information about the event at info {at} masterpieceweddings {dot} net. 

Blog of the Week: Behind the Knot

Blog of the Week: Behind the Knot

I will confess, Erinn is a friend of mine in real life. But, as a friend, I must admit she has the makings of what is going to be an awesome blog entitled "Behind the Knot." Like Adrienne, she began blogging before the ring was on her finger. But, now that she has sealed the deal she is transitioning her blog from being about weddings in general to planning her very own sure-to-be fabulous event. 

Erinn has a style that is like no other and I feel confident her event will convey that. Afterall, it is not everyday that you get to read a wedding planner's bridal blog. As you might imagine, the journey of a wedding planner as a bride is sure to be different from being a bride alone. Erinn's blog will be sure to give you that glimpse.

Some of my favorite posts have been Light Me Up, Congratulations from the White House, and Something Blue. But, with the new focus of her blog, I have thoroughly enjoyed her more personally applied posts like Best Day of My LIFE and Venue Spotlight: Highland Manor. 

Erinn, I look forward to continuing to read your blog and watch it continue to grow and develop with you as both a bride and wedding planner. And, of course, I cannot wait to help you plan your wedding, assuming I should be so privileged!

The Garter Girl: Swag Bags

In light of the Julianne Smith Giveaway last week I thought I would share with you the little goodies I made for her huge launch party debuting her new collection.

I teased you a bit last month with my "Around the Studio" update, but here are the photos of the work in progress.

Preparing the map original for copies.

Cute little map samples copied. Here's the stack...

Stacking up packets.

All assembled and ready for envelopes...

So, what do you think? Quite the process, huh?

Julianne has even been so kind as to post about what I contributed to her swag bag here and here. And, supposedly she has even framed the Washington D.C. map and put it on her desk -- an idea which totally makes me blush.

Julianne, you could not have been a more gracious host and I could not have been more flattered to have been able to contribute to your goodie bags. I wish you all the success in the world with your new line; I have no doubt you will be greatly successful!

The Windy City

Today, my dear friends, I am off on a little anniversary trip to the Windy City in celebration of my one year anniversary with my wonderful husband. It won't surprise you then that I found this photo and fell in love with it.

Source.

But do not fret, I have fun planned for you all while I am gone. I just might not be reachable via e-mail or otherwise very responsive. 

Hoping you all take some time to enjoy those you love this week. I know I will be.

Central Florida Brides: Brides & Bellinis

Central Florida brides, be sure not to miss out on the fabulous Brides and Bellinis event this Sunday, June 28, 2009 at the Gainesville Golf and Country Club from 4PM-7PM. Hosted by Gainesville's own MasterPiece Weddings and A'vie, this event will feature the chance to mingle with the area's most-raved-over vendors over hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and dinner.

Unfortunately, I will not be there for the festivities (I will be celebrating my own one-year wedding anniversary that very day!), but Melissa and Ashley from MasterPiece Weddings will be along with so many other fabulous people. 

If you are getting married or planning your wedding from Central Florida, this is not something you want to miss.

Zero Gravity Vows

Did you hear about this Brooklyn couple who officially became the first to tie the knot with zero gravity on Saturday? Talk about commitment! I love this photo of them:

These lovebirds were tired of "conventional" weddings. Post-flight they celebrated their marriage with a reception at Kennedy Space Center and a honeymoon to Disney.

Now what are you doing to keep your wedding interesting?

Blog of the Week: For the Love of Weddings

Blog of the Week: For the Love of Weddings

You know, a lot of brides blog about their weddings. Their blogs are typically interesting and fun. After all, it would be hard not to enjoy seeing all of a bride's ideas come to fruition and then later seeing them come together in the grande finale that is their wedding. But, few brides take to blogging as seriously (and as wonderfully) as Adrienne from For the Love of Weddings. 

Discussing her blog with a friend a while back, my friend even commented "yeah, that girl is a serious blogger." And, by that she did not mean that Adrienne blogged all the time. What she meant was that when it comes to weddings, I am pretty sure Adrienne has thought of everything. 

Starting her blog before the ring was actually on her finger, Adrienne has professed her love of weddings since the very beginning. Not only does she detail the events and particulars about her very own wedding day, but she also muses about how to make such decisions or things to consider. Some of my favorites include Dip Like You Mean It, Piggy Back, Take It Outside, How About a Splash of Aqua?!, and Light Flare. 

So, if you are a lover of weddings, or a wedding vendor, and definitely if you are a bride, you do not want to miss Adrienne's blog. Her thoughts and ideas leading up to her wedding have been sure to keep you thinking and her wedding itself will be undoubtedly stunning with all the love and effort she has put into it. 

We Have a Winner: Julianne Smith Garter

Since I know the suspense is killing you, I figured I would go ahead and wrap up the Garter Giveaway from the fabulous Julianne Smith. The lucky winner is...

Thrilled to announce that the winner is Kristin, who said...

Congratulations Kristin! E-mail me for more details. Everyone else, be sure to come back next week for one more giveaway of this intense giveaway month; this time there will be FIVE lucky winners!

Life of a Wedding Planner: The Wedding Day

I left you hanging. As you probably saw, the rehearsal didn't have the snafus that I promised. But here is the wedding day which was a bit of a different story. I admired Melissa (and still do) at her ability to take on any situation with a deep breath and a big smile.

The video cuts off the end of words for some reason, but you get the point. Tune in next week for a more in-depth post about what went wrong (it's much more than just what is in this video), what happened, how it was fixed, and how I felt. This is a post that I promised long, long ago and I think I am finally finally ready to tell it.

Life of a Wedding Planner: The Rehearsal

I cannot believe that in all my time blogging I have never shared these...

As most of you know by now, Melissa DiStefano of MasterPiece Weddings was the wedding planner for my wedding last June. With my permission she had the wonderful Stewart Powers (of Powers Photography) follow her around during the coordination of my rehearsal and before my wedding to capture what life is like on-the-job for a wedding planner. Then she composed a video of the results. 

Since my wedding had a large number of snafus (of which none were her fault -- she was amazing!) this was the perfect wedding to show that life as a wedding planner is not all smiles and serenades. So without further ado, here was my wedding rehearsal:

By the way, looking back on all the comments Melissa received on that post, I think it's funny all the people in the wedding industry that commented on the video who are now people that I am lucky enough to twitter and e-mail with (Monica of The White Box, Aletha of Pearls Events, and Ami of Elizabeth Anne Designs, for example). Weird to think that they had seen me and photos of me before I ever spoke to them. 

Oh yeah, and a side note... I hate the way I looked at my rehearsal. For reasons out of Melissa's control, I was one stressed out bride and my ensemble was the last thing I thought of. Don't judge me.

We Have Winners: UPrinting Business Cards

Thrilled to announce the lucky winners of our 500 UPrinting Business Card Giveaway. 

The winners were Heather and futureMrsG who said...

Ladies, congratulations! Please e-mail me for more instructions on claiming your prizes. And don't forget UPrinting is your one stop shop for all your business card and business card printing needs!

Everyone else, please don't forget to enter our fabulous giveaway from Friday for one Julianne Smith garter!

New Endeavors

Rather than posting today on one blogger I find inspiring, I thought it might be fun to tell you about some of my favorite bloggers who have all recently started new ventures.

Aletha VanderMaas :: Inspiring Fresh Ideas

Aletha VanderMaas of Pearls Events recently launched Inspiring Fresh Ideas, a marketing consultation company designed to help you define and achieve your business goals and ultimately inspire you to find new ways to reach them. She already has several posts about establishing your brand and utilizing social media and I could not be more excited. Combining her background in marketing and her vast creative knowledge from working in wedding planning, Aletha brings a new and fresh perspective to the marketing arena.

Tim Gill :: The Dollar Dance

Though I have already posted about Tim Gill once on the MasterPiece Weddings Blog, I thought it wouldn't hurt to do it again here. After all, he does fit into this category and I am thrilled with his new business venture. While blogging on The Dollar Dance about finance for a while, Tim recently decided to re-focus the blog into business and financial advice for small businesses, particularly those in the wedding industry. His advice is wise, thorough, and wide-spread. I feel confident that any small business owner could benefit from reading his blog. From his more general posts like learning what you need to help your business succeed to those more recent and specific posts covering the legal documents you need for new employees, Tim is full of information and a his blog quite clearly a valuable resource to have on your blogroll.

Lienne Stevens - Think Splendid

Though I am also sad to see The Smart Planner go, I am thoroughly excited about Lienne's new business venture, Splendid Communications. She has decided to re-focus her work with the Smart Planner to discuss the importance and ways to effectively utilize social media and other methods of social communication. With Lienne already being well-known in the event industry for her Blogging Bootcamps across the country, this transition for her was not only logical but also not surprising. I have no doubt that Splendid Communications is going to be a huge benefit for not just the event industry but anyone new to the social media scene or looking to expand their business and horizons by tapping further into it. And, Lienne is just the woman to help you learn how!

Saundra Hadley :: SaundraHadley.com

Saundra Hadley, well-known in the event industry as being an expert speaker and sales coach, recently launched www.saundrahadley.com, where you can find out more information about hiring Saundra to speak at your event or obtaining one-on-one coaching with her. With Saundra's extensive knowledge and background in sales and her bubbly personality, she makes the perfect speaker and sales coach. And, as these skills are essential to any event professional, the perfect resource for anyone in the industry.

 

I speak with great confidence when I say that I am quite certain all of these wonderful professionals are fabulous resources for you to have in your arsenal whether you are in the event industry or not. And, I wish them all the luck in the world with their spectacular new ventures and look forward to following and learning from each of them along the way.

Giveaway: Julianne Smith Garter

As one giveaway closes, another opens... but this time we're giving away something much more exciting.

Remember when I discussed how much I loved Julianne Smith and her fabulous garters? Well, I am ecstatic to share with you all that Julianne has been gracious enough to offer to give away one of her gorgeous gems!

So, to qualify, all you have to do is take a peek at Julianne's new line of garters and leave a comment on this post explaining which one you would pick and why. And, for that matter, you do not have to be a bride (hey, any lady can wear a gorgeous garter on a fun night out, right?). Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 11:59 EST. 

Good luck and happy searching!

Inspiration: Navy and Mocha

If I were to be straight-forward with you all, dear readers, I would admit that I was not incredibly excited about this color scheme to start. Then, I began finding these colors together all over the place. The palette is unexpected. The result is rich and lovely.

...the palette...

...the result...

{couple's entrance, rings, shoes, chairs, man with artwork}

So, what do you think? Have you been surprised by other color palettes upon seeing them in action?

Sponsor: The Art of Whimsy

You know how I am a sucker for neat and original gifts? Well, you can imagine my surprise to discover The Art of Whimsy, which just so happens to be our newest sponsor on SWOONOVERIT. 

At The Art of Whimsy any words can be transformed to artwork. Children's names. Inspiring letters. You name it. 

And the matting can be either plain...

…or include details, like your first names and wedding date.

I am fairly certain that these would make the perfect wedding present or gift for the newly married couple.

But, in light of recently becoming a first-time aunt, I think my favorite has to be the adorable custom baby frame. With the birthdate and baby weight framing the child’s first name, wouldn't these just make the most adorable addition to a nursery? 

And the best part? Aside from being ridiculously cute, these babies are affordable (don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself!)! And, of course, be sure to check out the rest of The Art of Whimsy Etsy Shop and Blog. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

With the Girls

Pretty sure this shot is the perfect example of "a picture is worth a thousand words." Upon showing this photo to a male his response was "that's gross." But us females, well, I think we know that this photo is symbolic of a lot more than a bathroom break.

Photo courtesy of Ben Chrisman Photography via The Wedding Cabaret.

Be sure to check out the rest of the gorgeous shots of this wedding here.

So what about you -- do you have or plan to have taken any "out of the box" photos that might be meaningful in their own special way?

Blog of the Week: April Foster Events

Blog of the Week: April Foster Events

April of April Foster Events (Twitter Handle: @aprilfoster) recently embarked on a 30-day blog challenge and, I must say, I did not follow her blog before that, but in that time I learned that April is a brilliant writer. Not only does she find interesting things to post about, she writes beautifully and finds gorgeous related photos to accompany them. And, in case you did not know, April is also something of a brilliant graphic artist -- so the way she spices up the photos she posts most definitely adds a certain appeal.

But, what I think I like most is that her posts, while not text heavy, are information heavy. Posts that most of the time after reading you step back and feel like you learned something. My favorite ones like this that she has posted lately were The Purpose of Wedding Programs, Wedding Chair Types, and Wedding Ceremony Aisle Decor Part I and Part II. 

So what about you? Do you know any bloggers like April that you feel stand out from the pack? Feel free to send them my way at scribble {at} swoonoverit {dot} com.