I Knew I Recognized Her...

Ok I admit, I watched the train wreck that is Housewives of New Jersey and I enjoyed every minute of it. The whole time it was nagging at me that I had seen these women before. Today I figured it out. Dina’s wedding was on My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding. I remember thinking at the time that these people were sooo over the top. Who knew there was even more to the story? I love it.

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Your Father's Role in The Wedding Day

In honor of Father’s Day, I thought we would talk about the role of the fathers in weddings. And no, I do not mean the role of the bill payer. It seems that fathers tend to get pushed to the background in the wedding planning process. For a lot of fathers this is exactly where they want to be. “Don’t bother me with details, just tell me what it’s going to cost me”, is what I hear from most Dads. Even if this is your dad, there are still some areas of the wedding that he can participate in without too much pain on his part.



Number one is of course, walking the bride down the aisle. For the father of the groom, he is many times chosen to be the best man, or in a lot of the weddings we have done, he is one of two best men. Many grooms choose both their dad and their best friend to serve as best men.

Number two would be the father/daughter dance, a staple of nearly every wedding. Nothing brings a tear to the crowd’s eye like the father/daughter dance.



Number three would be the welcome speech. When we help with the planning of a wedding we quite often have the father and mother of the bride welcome guests to the wedding right after the first dance. It gives the fathers a chance to welcome everyone and let the guest know how excited he is to have a new son in the family.

Number four would be for the father of groom. Toasts are an excellent time for the groom’s father to welcome the bride into their family and thank the bride’s family for the beautiful event.

So when planning your event, remember to give Dad his moment in the spotlight too. He’ll love you for it, no matter what he says.

Animoto

Wondering how to put together those wedding pictures into a video? Well I recently discovered Animoto, I may be late to this, but what a cool site. I put this together in like five minutes. It was so easy. What a great way to share those wedding pictures with your friends and family.

Martha Stewart Collection Sale

Hey ladies, listen up. If you are searching for favors, thank you's, flower girl basket, garters, just about everything including cake toppers, be sure to check out Big Lots. Yes, I said Big Lots, I happened to be there on Friday and they have the Martha Stewart Collection at unbelieveable prices. I'm talking most things marked at $2.00. Check it out!

Mickala and Sam's Wedding

This has been a really busy wedding season for us so far and don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining. I was extra excited about the wedding this weekend though because the reception was being held at Zen, in downtown Greenville, SC. I was really looking forward to seeing that venue come alive with a wedding celebration.

Mickala had booked the venue when it was not much more than a dream in the owner’s eye. We were going on architectural drawings and keeping our fingers crossed that it was going to be something special and it was. The whole wedding was pretty spectacular.

The girls got ready at the Westin where most of the wedding party was staying. After some pictures were taken at the Westin, the guys and girls took a trolley from Eastside Transportation over to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. The ceremony there was simple with only two calla lily arrangement to decorate the altar. Music for the ceremony was done by Strings For Things and was perfect as always.

After the ceremony, everyone left for Zen where the reception was to take place. Once there they were greeted by a cocktail hour out in the garden area. There was an open bar along with cheese, fruit and hors d’oeuvres.

Once inside the reception area, guests were blown away by the elegance of the pale ivory linens topped by ivory pin tuck overlays. There was a rectangular bridal party table in the center of the room surround by round tables for the guests. Guests were seated in chivari chairs with ivory cushions. There was a white lounge area upstairs in the loft.

Flowers were soft cream and ivory calla’s mixed with hydrangea, roses and curly willow. There was a mixture of both tall and short centerpieces in glass cubes adding excitement and texture to the room.

Mickala had found a cake pictured in a magazine that she loved and Kathy and Company reproduced it perfectly. It was pale ivory with fondant lace and white ribbon on each layer. It was quite the show stopper.

Dinner was a down home southern buffet. Fried chicken, prime rib, mac and cheese, green beans, salad and cheese biscuits had the guests mouths watering.

After dinner guests were entertained by the band The Uptown Players Band.

All and all it was a fantastic evening and event. I can't wait to see the professional pictures. As soon as they come I will share them.

Vendors:

Wedding Planner – Willrich Bridal and Special Events
Reception Venue – Zen
Florist – Memories by McMillan
Cake – Kathy and Company
Rentals - Professional Party Rentals
Transportation – Eastside Transportation
Band – Uptown Players Band
Ceremony Music – Strings For Things
Photographers – Courtney Stuart and Zahra Omer
Caterer – Mary’s Restaurant

Zen, The Details

We did a wedding this weekend and the reception was held at Zen. For those of you that don't know it is a new event venue and art gallery in downtown Greenville, SC.

I will share the pictures from the wedding a little later, but first, there has been so much interest in Zen, I thought I would show you some of the pictures we took of the venue itself. It is a beautiful site and they were great to work with.

The details at Zen are really special. The bathrooms just have to be seen. If you're looking for a different kind of site to hold your wedding or reception, be sure you check it out. It is on the more expensive side and you do have to bring in all the rentals, but nothing beats it, if you are searching for a sleek, urban, loft feel for your event.

Chad and Kelly's Wedding at Clemson

Chad and Kelly wanted an outdoor, elegant, colorful wedding at Clemson and that is just what they got. Last Saturday, the weather turned just about perfect, warm but not to warm with a gentle breeze. It was just enough breeze to make the water of Lake Hartwell lap peacefully against the shore line at the Owens Pavilion. Exactly the weather every wedding couple dreams of. Right from the beginning, Kelly wanted floral bridesmaids’ dresses, so she picked a beautiful white and pink floral fabric and had the dresses made. This fabric influenced the choice of linens, flowers and even the cake. For linens we chose a deep pink raspberry floor length linen that was set off by white garden chairs and white napkins. The head table was done in white linens with pink napkins. A draping of the floral fabric that matched the bridesmaid’s dresses graced the table. The flowers were gorgeous with both light and dark pink roses, snap dragons and green hydrangea. The cake table was done with white linens topped with deep raspberry fabric and a runner made from the same material as the dresses. The cake was done in white fondant with a quilted pattern of pearls, script initials and an amazing pink fondant bow on top. The ceremony was held by the lake next to the pavilion. Focal point of the ceremony, along with the beautiful views of the lake, was a white arch accented with florals. Shepherd hooks lined the aisle hung with silver pails of flowers. Guests were seated in white wooden garden chairs. Guests were met after the ceremony by servers offering mojiotos garnished with mint leaves and cosmo’s garnished with lime wedges, along with a full open bar. There was a fruit and cheese display along with butlered appetizers. Dinner was a seated affair with chicken Neptune, salad, and asparagus spears.

Highlights of the evening included a visit by the Clemson Tiger Cub, a surprise birthday cake for the bride’s father and flip-flops for all the ladies to pamper their feet during all the dancing.

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful day that we took. I can’t wait to see the professional pictures.

Vendors:

Wedding Coordination – Willrich Bridal and Special Events
Florals and décor – Memories by McMillan
Cake – Kathy and Company
Photographer – Nill Silver
Video – Creative Video Services
Ceremony Music – String For Things
Dj – Jamie Blair, Life of the Party
Catering – Clemson Catering
Limousine – DL Limousine
Rentals – Upstate Wedding and Event Services

A Really Sweet Thank You Note For Our Clemson Wedding

The weather was beautiful for our outdoor wedding this weekend at the Owen Pavilion in Clemson. Everything was just about perfect. In fact, I got this really sweet thank you note from the mother of the bride, just this morning.

Thank you Susan and staff for an outstanding event! Kelly and Chad's wedding and reception were absolutely fabulous because of all your attention to detail, organization and planning. We appreciate all the hard work and LONG hours especially the day of the wedding.

I can't wait to see all the pictures to relive the event.

Getting thank you notes like this makes all the hard work seem worthwhile. Here's a couple of pictures to see now and we'll have more to come tomorrow. I can't wait to share them, it was a beautiful event.

The Casino Reception Video Trailer

Corey over at Signature Wedding Films was sweet enough to send me a link to the trailer he did of Jessica and John's wedding. Remember it was the casino reception. I thought you might like to have a look

John + Jessica: 5.2.09 from U Designs Weddings/Signature Fil on Vimeo.