Jessica and Kris- spotted :)

If you search on this blog for Jessica and Kris you will find photos of their beautiful Port Charlotte wedding from December 2 years ago. It was such a pleasure to run into them while out and about in Port Charlotte the day after Christmas. They now have a beautiful 1 year old son Carter! He is absolutely adorable. It was a joy for me to see their new family start at their wedding, and now to see it grow. That is what this job is all about.

Merry Christmas!

I hope that you all had a wonderful day with family and friends! Merry Christmas!

Giselle and Julio Nov 6th

As promised the professional shots from Giselle and Julio are now available on the blog so I wanted to post the link for you to see the gorgeous turquoise and red wedding the couple had on Madiera Beach and the gorgeous (but chilly) reception they had at Island Bamboo Gardens in Pinellas Park. Angela was the coordinator for this event as I was at Nicole and Jeff's affair in Ybor City on the same day. We both had amazing couples to work with but I have to say I won on this particular night because it was quite cold on this November night and my event was all indoors and Angela's was all outdoors.... Sorry Angela! :)

Island Bamboo Garden is a great location for an intimate party, reception, or gathering. They are tucked away right in Pinellas Park but when you enter the gate you are quickly transported to a lush tropical garden right in the center of a busy town. It is beautiful and Karlyn was wonderful to work with there as we planned with Giselle. She also has bamboo arches to rent, as you can see in the photos from Giselle's wedding on the beach.

Barefoot Beach Resort was the backdrop for the couple's ceremony and where the majority of the guests stayed. I had never been to Madiera Beach and when Angela and I checked it out on one of our consultation trips we were delighted to drive down the main road surrounded by tons of walkers dressed in Pink! It was the Breast Cancer Walk and it was heartwarming to see all the men and women and BRAS out walking for Breast Cancer Research!

Please check out the photographer's blog for some great shots from the gorgeous wedding!
http://www.ktcrabphotography.com/blog/

Nicole and Jeff November 6th

Just in time for Nicole and Jeff's 1 month anniversary I finally found a few free minutes to blog about their lovely Ybor city wedding. Nicole and Jeff planned a beautiful event in historic Ybor city at the Columbia Restaurant. They held their ceremony at the Historic Columbia museum just adjacent to the actual restaurant. The couple chose a sweet and meaningful addition to their ceremony, a "ring warming". They had the best man pass the couples rings around on a small dish for each guest to offer a blessing, prayer, wish over them. They also included the engagement ring as part of the exchange of rings in the ceremony. The museum has a beautiful octagonal mahogany bar in the entry that was a perfect backdrop to their cocktail hour following the ceremony. The couple had a rich color scheme of reds and yellows to accompany the blustery cool fall day!

Nicole and Jeff had 2 stones put on this walkway with their name and date, one in front of the restaurant and one in front of the museum!

Nicole is a cake baker at home and designed the couples cake herself. It was delicious! The cake design had scrabble tiles on it , what a cute fun touch!

The Columbia is a wonderful venue for a wedding because truly the decorating is done for you! You really only need centerpieces and you are all set- look at that stunning chandelier in the center of the room! The staff there was absolutely wonderful to work with and I can't wait to do my next event at the Columbia.

I absolutely fell in love with Nicole's dress, it was stunning and she was beaming all day.

Patrick Burley of Captured Images by Augie was the photographer and has offered some professional shots, so I will update this blog when I receive those.
Congratulation Nicole and Jeff, I wish you many years of happiness together as you begin your new life as husband and wife!

Emily and Ted professional pics!

You can now view the amazing photos from the couple's professional photographer on Jason Angelini's blog- they are gorgeous!

Emily and Ted October 28th, 2010

Here are the before pictures from Jason Angelini, I am definitely not a photographer so I thought I would start off with these great shots from Emily and Ted's Engagement shoot and one of the teasers from their wedding before my own shots... a tough act to follow :)

I absolutely adored Emily's purple and green color scheme, it is truly one of my favorites, even when I was designing I would always end up with that when it was "designer's choice"! I loved Emily's dress, it was beautiful and simple and perfect for a balmy October beach wedding!

Stephanie from Fish Hawk Flowers did an amazing job on all the florals, something I am very particular about. I had no complaints with her gorgeous work, especially loved the arch of curly willow.

I had the pleasure of officiating for the couple while Angela got everyone down the aisle safe and sound. The couple wrote a touching, personal, and meaningful ceremony with some help from me and it had a great poem in it that the bride's nephew recited-

To Keep Your Marriage Brimming – Ogden Nash

To keep your marriage brimming,

With love in the loving cup,

Whenever you’re wrong admit it;

Whenever you’re right shut up.

I think Angela was working on her photojournalistic skills with the sea oats billowing in the breeze in the foreground here...

The couple had a fun little mini theme incorporated into their wedding. Along with the color scheme Emily created a little Monty Python tribute with a wooden sign that was first at the ceremony and then we moved over to reception, along with Yay! Flags for each guest to wave at the recessional and again when the couple was introduced. The table names were titles of some of the couples favorite movies, Uncle Buck and Dumb and Dumber to name just a few... LOL

A simple and elegant cake from Chef Nelson, did I mention yummy too?

There was a gorgeous sunset as we began the reception on the deck at the Tradewinds Resort in St. Petersburg, I always enjoy working there- the staff is great to work with.

Just as the sun was down Rob Vollmar from Grant Hemond was there to introduce the new Mr. and Mrs. You can see a peek of the 85 lanterns and several string of lights that Angela and I hung to denote the reception space and dance floor. It was HARD work but it looked amazing! A whole day's work right there :)

All in all it was a great day! The couple was so fun to work with and the day was amazing. Best wishes for a happy marriage as you head back to chilly Vermont!

A busy week of blushing brides

I am sorry I haven't been blogging lately. Life has just been a whirlwind!
We have lots of things coming up in the next week!
Tomorrow Angela and I head to the beautiful Tradewinds resort to see Emily and Ted tie the knot!


I know it will be a fabulous event because we are working with top notch vendors from Grant Hemond and the incomparable Jason Angelini! I can't wait to set out a table name frame with "Dumb and Dumber" on it ;)
Friday I meet with a Nov 20th bride and Saturday Angela and I are off again to visit a new venue, meet 2 brides and get ready for a double wedding weekend on November 6th.

Whew, just thinking about all that lies ahead makes me tingle with excitement and reminds me to turn in early so I have boundless energy to tackle it all!

Tungsten Wedding Rings

Some of you may be looking for your wedding bands- for Men this is sometimes a difficult task. Men want a durable, attractive, masculine ring, and unlike women they usually don't want to spend a fortune on it. Tungsten rings are a great option. They are super durable, very classy looking, and all the ones featured here are less than $200.00! They do have some designs with gold incorporated that are closer to the $500-700.00 range but there are tons of styles to choose from.
Tungsten Carbide is the only rare and exotic metal that can promise a permanence in polish and finish that will endure until the end of time. The original pattern and design in many gold rings will all but disappear after several years. Tungsten Rings will maintain an everlasting beautiful and shiny finish. The heavy weight and the enduring finish of a tungsten carbide ring, speak of commitment, security and an everlasting bond.

These great designs are from Tungsten World and they are running a sale, use code Plunge10 to take 10% off your entire order!

http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Wedding-Bands/

Tungsten wedding rings for men and women are sure to instill a sense of commitment and integrity upon your marriage. Tungsten carbide wedding bands flawless features and virtually indestructible nature will create an everlasting bond between you and your partner. We have a wide selection of women's & men's tungsten wedding bands and matching tungsten wedding band sets in all price ranges to choose from

VACATION~!!

I don't get to say this very often but I am off on vacation until Wednesday July 7th. I will respond to all emails and messages upon my return. I hope everyone is getting a little R&R this summer too!
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Meghan

Allison and Lance June 18, 2010

I am not sure where the time goes, sorry for blogging this wedding late... I did not have my camera with me but I took some photos with my blackberry and will try to get some of those on here. For now here are 2 teaser shots from Evelio of Longboard Photography. www.longboardphoto.org Please do not use without consent from the Photographer. Longboard Photography:

Allison and Lance I met 2 years ago in June when I did her sister's wedding. Nick and Allison's sister Emily were married in June at the beautiful Crosley Mansion in Sarasota. You can see a photo of them on our packages page taken by Just Peachy photography! This year when I saw Nick and Emily they were accompanied by their ADORABLE son Will that turned one the day after the wedding. It was a pleasure working with this set of families again and getting to see their family growing!

Allison and Lance were married at the Tampa Bay Watch and even though rain was threatening it was dry for the ceremony and cocktail hour. It was toasty warm though :) The guests stayed cool with a water station, program fans, and parasols for the ceremony. I officiated for the couple and Allison crafted a beautiful ceremony that I just helped put finishing touches on .

Evelio of Longboard Photography was there capturing the day on film and ironically the last wedding we did together was also at the Tampa Bay Watch.

The couple had a wonderful guitarist play during the ceremony, Daniel Giron, through Delite Entertainment. He did a wonderful job and it added such a nice feel to the ceremony.

Once the reception began Delectables catering had a great Antipasto station and passed hor dourves, a stations buffet, and later with cake an ice cream sundae bar! It was a great summer wedding treat!

Jude of Grant Hemond was there to emcee the night and played great dance music that had the crowd, and lots of adorable kids, up dancing all night! Since Allison didn't want to do the traditional Garter/Bouquet ritual I suggested an Anniversary dance and after Lance removed the garter the longest married couple received the garter and bouquet. Very sweet! It turned out to be Nick's parents!

The cake and pretty pink flowers were provided by the Apron's Publix and the Navy and pink beach inspired theme were all pulled together. It was a pleasure to work with the family and friends again, and though I think all the daughters are now married hopefully I will see them again in the future. Best wishes Allison and Lance! Angela and I were glad we could be there to share in your day!

A Midsummer Night's Dream- June 12, 2010

Jamie and Tristan had a beautiful Shakespeare inspired wedding Saturday at the Mirror Lake Lyceum. Jamie and Tristan had so many unique details to make the day very special for them and the guests.
A friend of Jamie's, Roya Millard officiated the ceremony. It was truly one of the most beautiful and meaninful ceremonies that I have had the pleasure to hear.

In lieu of a guest book, guests signed quilt squares that will then be turned into a quilt by the couples church quilt guild.

The happy couple! The thunderous applause lasted for quite some time, everyone was truly happy for Tristan and Jamie!

Jamie and her bridesmaids did the centerpieces themselves. Pink satin fabric, votives, along with a slender cylinder of ranunculus, silver branches, and butterflies completed the pretty look.

Stephanie from Delma's The Flower Booth created the rest of the flowers for the bridal party, cake, and these lovely pieces that graced the romantic columns for the ceremony area.

This picture really does not do justice to the beautiful cake serving set that the couple had.

A Better Cheesecake created the simple and delicious cake, and it is adorned with lilies and pink roses from Delma's.

I love the Unity candle set that Jamie found! It was well traveled, she gave it to me at our last consultation and I had another appointment later that day. I obviously couldn't leave this beautiful piece of art in the blazing car so it came to lunch with me, my appointment, and to pick up my daughter... LOL

I just wanted to show off the lovely inset work inside the Lyceum, it has the stunning chandeliers and atrium area, and the pink and purple lighting was so pretty.

I made sure that Lucia Angelini got some of the homeade cookies from the cookie buffet. I forgot to take a picture of the 1200!!! cookies that the Bridal Party, Bride, and Moms baked.

The dance floor was full all night with RJ Vida playing a ton of fun requests. I can't wait to see the trailer video from Hearts Video, Cara was there for the whole evening.

Jamie's gown from CiCi's was stunning!

Instead of placecards, the couple used the booklet of recipies to let guests know what table they were seated at, of course tables were names after Happy Ending couples from Shakespeare's plays!

At the end of a magical evening Tristan had planned a surprise Horse and Carriage send off for Jamie. It was a great wedding!

Congratulations Jamie and Tristan, it was a pleasure working with you over the past year!

Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World

Happy Earth Day to all my clients! I hope you did something to show that you love this beautiful planet we have!

Kristin and Anthony March 28, 2010

Kristin and Anthony chose the lovely Plantation Golf and Country Club to exchange their vows today. I was the officiant. They composed a beautiful and meaningful ceremony! Kristin's dress was stunning! It was very similar to a good friend of mine and I always loved that dress!

Flowers were by Addington's and Angela did a great job on Kristin's bouquet. The D.J. was Black Tie D.J.'s

The bridesmaids wore pretty butter yellow dresses with long black ribbons.

There are some great spots for pictures at Plantation.

As I looked at the gift table it struck me that all the gifts were primarly dressed in the couples wedding color scheme of black, white, and yellow. So cute :)

Congratulations to Kristin and Anthony and may you have many years of happiness!

Mixon Fruit Farms

Today I had a chance for both parts of my professional life to come together. I took my class on a wonderful field trip to Mixon Fruit Farms in Bradenton. I already knew that they had a great venue for weddings, rehearsal dinners, and parties... but I got to see it for myself today. Below are a few pictures, taken by me today, and some from Jason Angelini from previous weddings.

A fun place to visit if you have family visiting and want to give them a "Florida" experience!

The gazebo by the Koi Pond.

Beautiful gardens!

The Koi Pond

Visit www.mixon.com if you would like more information, the staff there were so nice and helpful! They also have an indoor room they rent.