Wedding Planning ~ a Great Christmas Gift

Don’t Know What to Get Your Engaged Daughter/ Granddaughter?

Lots of young women are engaged or will become engaged this Christmas season.  One of the most generous gifts you could possibly give them would be a wedding planner.  Sure you can plan and manage a wedding on your own, but I could help smooth the way toward a stress-free day of your dreams, and save you money along the way.  Since I have experience with many vendors, I know how you can invest your money where it counts.  I can find out what are the most important elements to you, and work hard to find you a great professional at a great price.  Let your mother know, or your grandmother, that this could be the best Christmas gift you get.  Now through January 9, I will give you a $25 discount for booking a wedding.  You don’t have to make a commitment until we have had a face to face meeting.  I want you to like working with me, and I have every expectation that we will make a great team to pull off the wedding you have always wanted.  Check out my website at http://www.denisespearsweddings.com/.

Have a great Christmas season, and a Mistletoe new year!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The Christmas season is such a busy time for everyone, it seems that it would be a terrible time for a wedding because people wouldn't be able to take time out of their schedules to come and celebrate with you.  I disagree.  I think people who truly love you will make time to do the things they really want to do. 

Planning a wedding during the Christmas season has advantages.  Our church is decorated for Christmas.  If you had a dress, a ring, and a photographer, you could pull it off tomorrow.  The church is available tomorrow, but not next Saturday when a very lucky couple will be getting married there.

The Altar Guild at First Broad Street United Methodist Church has some very talented people.  They decorated ten windows like the one pictured here, and I did two of these matching arrangements for either side of the communion table.

That's only in the sanctuary.  The entire church is decorated inside and out.  Except for Easter, Christmas is the holiest of holidays.  We must always remember why we celebrate.

The words ALWAYS BELIEVE aren't just for Santa Claus.  Merry Christmas everyone!

How Much Time Does It Take To Plan a Wedding?

As much time as you want, or as much time as you need.  Today I directed the wedding of Ashley Boatman and Cole Theile, who got married at 11 a.m. at First Broad Street United Methodist Church.  The wedding wasn't planned far in advance, as a matter of fact I wasn't notified that the couple wanted to get married until November 2.  It was a very beautiful wedding, as beautiful as if it had been planned for 18 months, as many weddings are. 

When you have such a short time, there are many compromises which have to be made.  Many things are not your first choice, but the choices you finally make turn out to be wonderful choices for your wedding.

Here is a candid photo I made shortly after the ceremony with my cellphone.  Notice that the groom is getting used to wearing a wedding ring.  I hope this family will be very happy, and I wish them all the best.  I was proud to be a part of the festivities.

Buttons and Bows

Buttons and bows

They look so pretty, you see

And they will look really nice

Underneath your Christmas tree.

This was a rap song a second grade class as Southside Elementary did one year!

You might think that bows would be a nice touch for kids' clothes or headbands, but they are absolutely everywhere now.  You could get a Big Shot and accessorize your own clothes.  Crystal Bennett is teaching classes in how to make holiday cards, and this is a first for her and a friend, venturing into fabrics http://web.me.com/almanzorj/Stampin/Workshops.html. 

I have been sewing since I was thirteen years old, so when I see something like this, I instantly know how easy it would be to jazz up something. 

Think about how easy it would be to put all these bows on the sleeve of a bridesmaid's dress.  Then, after the wedding, your bridesmaid could decide for herself whether to keep them.  I really love the embellishments, but not everyone is as frilly.

If you have some ordinary ballet flats, you could add these bows to them.

This is just a very plain scarf with lots of embellishment.

You need to hurry if you want to take Crystal's class.  It will be a fun night and you will have the opportunity to make several things to take home.  Go through your closet and find some sweaters that need a little something extra.

Enjoy your holidays!

Antiquing

Today was cool and beautiful, so I decided to go antiquing in downtown Kingsport.  I found some of the antique linens, which I collect.  I have a lot of appreciation for needlework.  I know that it took days or even months to complete some of the things.  However, when people inherit those things, if they don't like them, what are they supposed to do with them.  Along comes me -- I want them.

I also found some wedding items that someone might be interested in.  At River Mountain Antiques, I found a vintage wedding dress and veil.  The dress was a bit too reserved for my taste, but the veil was really beautiful.  It was attached to a beaded headband about two inches wide and had lovely trim along the edge.  It was probably about three feet long.  For $39 both could be yours.  I have seen similar veils for at least $300.

 

At P & J Antiques, there was a net and lace mid-calf wedding dress.  This would be great for a casual wedding.  If you're on a budget, it was only $8.

So, if you are on a tight budget, and enjoy a vintage look, you might want to shop around.

Happy Fall

Today has been the strangest weather.  It was 84 degrees this afternoon.  I did this flower arrangement this afternoon for no reason at all.  Isn't that the best way to enjoy flowers? Unexpectedly...

Happy Anniversary Emily and Aaron

Hope Emily and Aaron are having a great time in New Orleans this weekend. 

Oh, I am really feeling nostalgic today.  My daughter, Emily's, wedding was 10.24.09.  She was a truly beautiful bride and I enjoyed every minute we spent planning, doing projects, and just being a mom. I am so happy to have Aaron in my family, and his entire family, who came from Colorado and Montana to celebrate with us.


We did all the paper goods - save-the-dates, invitations, table cards, guest cards, programs, even a couple of signs pointing the way to the reception, the flowers, and even the alterations on the dress.  It was a great day for a wedding, overcast, so it was perfect for taking pictures outdoors.

Emily, who, after all, is an English major, created this wonderful blog, which she updated during the process.  http://webtwopointohh.blogspot.com/2009/05/crunch-time.html

When Emily became engaged in May, I saw the work of Overbay Photography, and looked no further.  The style of photography is exactly what I wanted, and when Emily saw it, she agreed.  They were wonderful to work with.  They gave us so much more than we could have hoped for.  I can't begin to thank them enough.  I get so much joy from looking at the pictures all the time. All of the pictures you see here were taken by them.  You may see Emily’s slideshows at http://www.overbayphotography.net/Slideshows/EmilySpearsBridalPortraits and http://www.overbayphotography.net/Slideshows/SpearsHammerWedding.  Don’t just look at her wedding, look at a variety of weddings on their website.  They do such high quality, creative work.

Sophisticated Strings played for the ceremony.  They are a very professional trio.  They do not usually attend the rehearsal, but you don’t have to worry at all.  They will show up early, they will look professional, and their music will be exquisite.  They have a repertoire of wedding music, but can play anything, with the sheet music and time to practice.  I have known them for almost twenty years, and I would highly recommend them.

We used BANQ for the reception.  The place is very old-worldly beautiful.  There is room enough for a wedding more than twice the size that we had, but it didn’t feel too big for our wedding of 104. They had someone there all day to let people in to decorate and to deliver things.  There were absolutely no problems, we were so happy with the location, just two blocks from Church Circle.



Cake by Main Street Catering



I, along with my friends Carolyn Baker and Rita Osborne, did all the flowers for the ceremony, bouquets, boutonnieres, and reception.  We kept pretty much to the marine blue and lime green theme.  It wasn’t a fall theme, but a wedding can be anything you dream it can be.



I am available to help you make your dream come true.