Sunday, November 3, 2013

Congratulations Lindsey Renfro and Steven Clark




Lindsey's bouquet with David Austin roses
and calla lillies
 Lindsey and Steven were married at First Presbyterian Church in Kingsport on October 26.  Lindsey was an absolutely beautiful bride, with her fair skin and the dress which looked like a fairy-tale princess.  The wedding was done in shades of pink, green and brown, with each bridesmaid choosing a color best suited to her.  The music was lovely.

I wish them well, and a lifetime of happiness.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Congratulations Jamie Howard and David Meade




Jamie Howard and David Meade were married on October 19 at The Virginian, a breath-takingly beautiful golf resort in Bristol, Virginia.  The weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding, and the scenery was amazing.

This wonderful couple came into my life in February, and I have enjoyed getting to know them and seeing their wedding come together.  Jamie has done all the planning for the wedding and has added great details.  Her programs, which she designed herself, were a work of art. She had numerous hand-painted signs, and the table cards were displayed on a magnetic board with a gorgeous picture frame.  There were references throughout the decorations of the couple's interests.  The groom's cake was a surprise for David.


The cake she envisioned was a rustic looking icing, with only a couple of large fresh flowers.

I had the opportunity to do all the flowers, and am especially proud of the dahlias I used in the bouquets, on the cake, and placed throughout the entry way.  I used some wild berries in the altar arrangements to give them an old world charm. 



Wishing Jamie and David a lifetime of wonderful.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Congratulations Jill Griggs and Josh Metcalf!

Succulent Love
Jill Griggs and Josh Metcalf were married October 12 at the Carnegie Hotel in Johnson City.  We wish them all the best, today and always.

Jill had chosen succulents for her wedding.  This was a very challenging task for me, as I hadn't used them before, but, of course, had seen them on Pinterest.  I checked with the floral supplier, and they were more than a little perplexed at the possibility of getting more than 100 succulents, so I ordered them from a grower in California, about a month ago.  I needed them that early because I couldn't wait until the week of the wedding, just hoping that they would arrive and that they would look good.  When they came, they were healthy and alive.  I set them in a west-facing window and fed them Miracle Grow every other day.  They increased in size.

On Thursday night, I took all of them out of the dirt and rinsed them and put them in water to hydrate as well as possible, even though I had researched and found that they can live out of water for days.  On Friday, I tried wiring them to a stem.  For those who don't know about wiring flowers, the wire then has to be hidden by floral tape.  I started the floral tape as high on the stem of the succulent as possible, then tried to twirl it like I would a flower, but the leaves started falling off.  The odd thing was that the largest, most beautiful, of the succulents were the most fragile.  Some of them would disintegrate just by touching them. 

In my mind, I started to think that if I could get eight for the boutonnieres, six for the bride's bouquet, and two for each bridesmaid, that would be enough, with the additional flowers I was using.  I managed to get 26 wired to stems out of the 60 that I had.  The others were ruined.

They did look great, but I'm not so sure that they were that special, considering the amount of effort.  I don't think I would undertake a succulent wedding, ever again.

I did see the father of the bride, Barry Griggs, after the wedding, and his boutonniere still looked healthy.  All of the guests got to take home a potted succulent as a favor.

I am the kind of person, who if I say I'm going to do something, I will do it.  There was no way I would go back to Jill on the day before the wedding and say, "I couldn't get it to work."

If you want something special for your wedding, let me know.  I will try as hard as I can to make it happen.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Congratulations John Bellamy and Tim Bradshaw

John Bellamy and Tim Bradshaw had a blessing ceremony at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Friday, September 20, followed by a reception at Allandale.  As promised, there was a lot of rain during the day, but by the time everyone arrived at Allandale, everything was dry.

What a wonderful reception for John and Tim!  It was a very sophisticated event, with hors d' oeuvres being passed by the wait staff and bars on the porch.  The grand entrance included the couple's two young children.

The band, Spirit of Soul Dance Band, was unbelievable.  you had to get up and dance.  I hadn't had the opportunity to hear them before, and they were truly fabulous.

The crowd was having such a good time.  It was a wonderful tribute to the couple.

I wish them so much happiness, now and always.

Congratulations Kathleen Schweitzer and David Arwood

The place cards were hand written with a
sprig of lavender attached.
I thought I wasn't going to have a wedding booked for the first weekend in September.  That has always been such a popular weekend.  Very close to the wedding date, I was hired for day of assistance, and the prior day.  I was happy to be involved in any capacity.

Kathleen and David were married at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Johnson City, and the reception was at Rocky mount.  There was 0% chance of rain, which is always a really good thing with an outdoor venue.

The bride had a definite idea of what kind of reception she wanted to have.  She wanted wildflowers everywhere, and candles in mason jars in the trees.  She wanted everyone to have a good time.  She had pies instead of cake.  Everyone had good things to say about every aspect of the wedding and reception.

The toasts were especially interesting.  You could feel the love from everyone toward the couple.  I wish them all the love and happiness in their lives.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Congratulations to Christina and Mackie!

What a great couple.  I enjoyed working with this couple so much.  Christina Matheson and Mackie Chapman were married August 3 at First Baptist Church in Bristol.  The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was amazing.  Everyone had such a great time, in part due to the awesome skills of Robbie Britton, DJ.  It was so great working with Krisna and Jim Goodwin, photographers and Shawna at the Foudation Event Facility in Bristol, and 620, also.

Christina and I have been working together for a little more than a year.  When you plan that far ahead, you really avoid any last minute stress.  Everything went as planned, and it was just a wonderful experience.

You may view some of the photos at http://moblalbum.com/E7E7/gallery/107152

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Bachelorette Party!


Do you want to do something really fun and relaxing for your bachelorette party?  There is a deal on Myrtle Beach trips, some with free massages each day.  Some include meals.  Check it out:
http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/hotels/deals/girlfriend-getaways/?cid=tl_dunhill_0313

Oh, summer...

Friday, April 5, 2013

Hire a Professional

I love Real Simple Weddings.  The photography is stunning.  The articles are interesting.  Yet, one of the best things is the pull-out section that you can carry in your purse with lots of information about planning, registry, budget, vendors, and day of survival.

I do have a problem with that section in the current issue.  There is a section "Vendor Contact List".  On the very next page, there are sections for:

Backup band or deejay
Backup florist
Backup caterer
Backup taxi/limousine service

Imagine, if you will, that a week before the wedding, you have made contact with all your vendors and everything is well.  On the day before the wedding, your florist is sick and can't do your flowers.  Do you just go to the section for backup florist, and get a replacement?  That is the most ludicrous thing I can imagine.

I am a professional.  If I commit to handle anything for your wedding, I will follow through.  It has never happened that I couldn't, but if something drastic did happen, I have a whole network of other professionals I could call on to make sure that your wedding is wonderful.  It is the responsibility of the professional to get a replacement, if it becomes necessary.

You should hire a professional.  We know what we are doing, and we make a promise to you that you will have things taken care of on the day of the wedding.

Happy Planning!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

MVP

I saw Drew Barrymore on Oprah’s Life Class.  She was talking about her wedding and the person in her life who helped out with all the little details, like seeing that the girls’ dresses looked good, etc.  She called her the MVP, most valuable player.
That is what you need to think about as you plan your wedding.  After all the planning and selection of every detail, you need someone experienced to help you get through the day.  I love being the MVP and helping with everything imaginable.
The last wedding I worked was in a very old house, which has not been wired for the three-pronged electrical appliances.  Did the bride need to know that her coffee and hot chocolate couldn’t be served in that room because there was no way to heat it?  I can handle lots of little things like that, and the wedding party doesn’t need to know.
The bride was going to make her entrance down a beautiful staircase.  It just wouldn’t have been half as special if all the bridesmaids came in that way first.  We were able to bring the wedding party down by the servant’s stairs, and hold them in place until we could get the guests seated, without the guests seeing too much of the pageantry of the event in advance.
Do the bride and groom know what I do for those three-four hours leading up to the wedding?  They mostly do not, but when everything runs smoothly and the wedding of their dreams comes off without a hitch, I am happy, knowing that the details were handled so that they could enjoy their friends and family.
You are worth it.  You deserve one day when someone else worries about every little thing, and you can have an opportunity to just experience joy.


Sunday, January 20, 2013

Congratulations Amy and Tracy Carter

Amy Sanders and Tracy Carter were married at Allandale Mansion on January 5, 2013. This was one truly beautiful wedding, thanks to all the wonderful ideas the bride (and I, a little) came up with. The mansion was already decorated for Christmas, so that was an added perk to begin with. 

The bride made the cake herself!  It was so professional.  It was just a beautiful thing to behold.






Along with Amy's good friend, Tara, Tracy's three daughters were in the wedding.  Amy did such a great job choosing the bridesmaids' and flower girl's dresses.  When you have some adults, some teens, and some almost teens, it's not so easy to find just the dress appropriate for all, but she did, and they were beautiful (the girls and the dresses).  Amy's dog served as ring bearer.

We were able to use lots of pine from the bride's trees, lots of snowflakes, and silver touches.  If it had been this weekend, it could have been real snowflakes.

The bride was so beautiful as she came down the stairs at Allandale and entered the ceremony, escorted by her father and papaw.

She has posted on her facebook page that this was the happiest day of their lives.  I sincerely hope that I was able to contribute to that in some small way.



Congratulations Chrissy and Wesley Idlette

On December 29, Chrissy Eastridge and Wesley Idlette were married at First Broad Street United Methodist Church.  The wedding was very beautiful, but the story of the proposal was so touching, it would make the most cynical person cry. I so much enjoyed working with these young people, not only the bride and groom, but every one of the wedding party. Chrissy and her mother Joy allowed me a lot of freedom to do what I wanted with the bouquets and boutonnieres.  Chrissy had told me that Wesley absolutely refused to wear flowers, but that is no problem.  I am thankful that I can do what I really love, and have it be appreciated by the families.



Monday, January 14, 2013

Foundation Event Facility

I had the opportunity to see the Foundation Event Facility at 620 State Street, Bristol, Tennessee on Friday.  Was I ever overwhelmed!  I had seen their website and the pictures of events being held there, but it doesn’t begin to capture the beauty of the place.  The outside doors, with the impressive brass pulls, bring you into a huge hallway with hardwood floors and exposed brick.  That space could be used as a wedding reception venue for a stand-up cocktail party, since there is a bar on that floor. 
The mezzanine, which overlooks the first floor, is a smaller, more intimate space for maybe 70 people.  It would be great for a small company party or a shower of some type.  It also has a bar.
The third floor is huge, with big windows at the end, with seating for 500.  There is a large separate space for staging the food, or serving a buffet.  There is a fixed bar, but the room could be used for many purposes, and in many different configurations.
There are dressing rooms, very nicely decorated for each wedding party.  There are floor-length mirrors in both.  The men’s room is very masculine, and the women’s room is beautiful.  Even the doors throughout have architectural detail.  I can’t say enough about how much I loved it. 
I am not attaching a picture.  I am not a photographer.  You need to see it for yourself.