Nirali and Nirav: Sunday Ceremony & Reception

In January I began working with Nirali and Nirav to plan their 3 day long traditional Indian wedding for.....the weekend of May 29-31 of the same year. Yes, 4 quick months to plan 3 days full of events! There are so many details and so much to say about this wedding that I don't even know where to begin. Since it was the first full Indian wedding I worked on since the Indian weddings I worked on in Los Angeles and New York, I was so happy for the opportunity! Nirali was extra helpful in explaining all of the details and special meanings behind the customs. She and I also really enjoyed designing and planning all of the creative details to go along with the "East Meets West" theme using many colors, as you will see.



This post contains pictures from Sunday's ceremony and reception (the big day), but in the future I plan on posting pictures from Saturday's dancing event as well as the henna night on Friday. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Be sure to check out their thoughtful note to me at the end of the post as well! Those notes are like gold to me because I truly put every ounce of time and energy I have into making these weddings not only beautiful, but enjoyable for my clients.

I could not have done this without my amazing team including Rachael, Janine, Liz and Maura who tirelessly helped me all weekend long.

All pictures are courtesy of my friends, Chris and Julie First at Z Media. They are so great to work with and some of the kindest and most thoughtful vendors I know. I am looking forward to working with them again in August on another very exciting Indian wedding!

Kara & Brian: Spring Themed Wedding

When Kara and Brian first came to meet with me, I could tell they were in love. Kara described to me how Brian proposed to her on a surprise trip to Florida, and got all emotional just talking to me about it! I could also tell that they were going to be a joy to work with due to their soft spoken and easygoing nature. Both of those foresights proved to be true and on May 30, we got to see them get married on a beautiful day outside on the lake!

We developed a spring theme using mostly green and orange with few accents of yellow. The outdoor ceremony featured a decorated gazebo with orange, yellow and green pomanders all hanging from different lengths of ribbon.

The tables were accented with sage green and named after different flowers. As you can see, our escort cards were stuck in pails of sand and each guest's name was printed on a colored cardboard flower.

I learned that Brian had just officially become a doctor (knew he was in his residency but didn't know it was official yet), which is pretty awesome considering they were announced Dr. and Mrs.!

I LOVE this picture of Kara, I think she looks so beautiful.



But the most touching part of the day came as Brian stood up to give a Groom thank you speech at the reception. The day before, as we were finishing up the rehearsal, he came to me and said, "Valarie, I have a gift for Kara in my car that I'd like you to set on my chair at the reception". He secretly passed that on to me as I was leaving, without Kara knowing. Brian is a soft spoken guy. He is so nice and kind and when he talks, people listen. He gave his thank you's to his family, to Kara's family and then to his groomsmen. You could have heard a pin drop in that ballroom while he was quietly speaking into the microphone. Then he says, and to my new wife (I may not be remembering verbatim but you get the jist), I love you more than anything and from this day forward I will take care of you and will give you the world. He presented her with a beautiful hand size globe, which is pictured below. Everyone was blown away, including Kara of course, who then proceeded to tear up for probably the 30th time that day! What an awesome moment! That will go down in my memory as one of the most romantic wedding moments out of all of the weddings I see.



Pictures are courtesy of our friends at Easywind Studio. Scott and Julie organized an awesome first look out in the vineyards. It looks more like California than Ohio! The suitcases are so cool for props too, aren't they? LOVE the creativity! I had a hard time not posting 200 images from the day because all of the pictures were so beautiful!

Kara and Brian, congratulations on your marriage. You are AWESOME people who I feel lucky to have met and worked with. I know you have a very happy life ahead of you.





























Last but not least, check out these personalized M&M's with their picture!


Super sweet note from Kara received in the mail this week:

Great Gatsby Prom

Does Kirkbrides Wedding Planning & Design ever do events other than weddings, you ask? Of course we do! This weekend we did a few, and the prom was one of them!

On Thursday, May 28, Kirkbrides coordinated our first prom to date! Rachael Gummersbach, our other planner besides myself, did all of the planning, design and legwork on this one, so I can't really take much credit. But I think she did such an amazing job creating all of the details that went into their theme of "Great Gatsby". When I walked into the location to help her set up, I was blown away. I think that many people would be very happy if this was their wedding! I KNOW that this was a million times nicer than my own proms!

The school was Western Reserve Academy. We served Strawberry Lemonade as the specialty "mocktail" drink in an upstairs cocktail hour. Our tables were named after different aspects of the Great Gatsby story and I feel that the design of the room and night completely encompassed the story. After dinner, the kids headed downstairs to a tented courtyard for dancing and entertainment.

I know that the staff members and students were pleased and hopefully we will be able to use our creative energy and planning skills on more proms in the future!

Central Park Wedding

Special thanks to Easywind Studio for providing us with the pictures of the wedding day.


Hi Valarie,

Sorry that I haven't written sooner! Stephen and I can just not begin to thank you enough for all of your help with the whole wedding process. You were so much fun to work with, and I always felt as though we were in such good hands, and could fully trust all of the counsel that you gave us.

All of the vendors that you suggested for us were fabulous, really incredible! The florist was amazing, and created such a dream of a landscape for our ceremony and reception. I spoke with Bernie yesterday, and I believe "a fairy land" were the words that I used to describe our head table! The DJ was awesome, everyone had such a wonderful time dancing! I don't know how many texts and e-mails I've gotten saying "Hands down, most fun wedding ever", or "My date and I voted, and yours was the best wedding that either of us have been to." The string quartet was absolutely beautiful, and it meant to much to us that they went so out of their way to play those special pieces for us. Scott's pictures are gorgeous, and he and Julie were so inconspicuous and kind the entire time. Truly a pleasure to work with. I can't wait to see the video from Moonstruck, and again, Scott and Mike were barely seen, and such nice guys! All of the calligraphy on the name cards and table names was beautiful as well, and really gave it that "added touch". Please thank Janine again for me!

And then, not to mention all of the extra work that you did for the wedding, besides all of the coordination. The escort cards, bar menus, drink menus, specialty drink sign, luminaries, and so much more! That meant a lot to us that you put in all of that hard work on those extra details. Our family loved working with you as well, and were just so happy with how easy you made it on all of us. I could go on and on about how pleased we were with everything that you did to make our wedding the most special night, and all that we could have wished for.

It has been a wonderful past year and a half of planning, and although I couldn't be more thrilled with the results, I'm a little sad that it's come to an end! Please keep in touch!

Laura (and Stephen too!)



I first received a call from Laura while I was at my parents' house in December of 2007, making Christmas cookies. Laura seemed so sweet and excited about her wedding day and we set up a day to meet while she and Stephen were in town from New York City for the holidays. We clicked right away when we met as we discovered we all went to Ohio University.

As the plans began to develop for the wedding, Laura and I decided on eggplant purple, cymbidium orchid green, ivory and a touch of silver for the colors. This would develop into a Central Park and Moonlit Garden theme to the decor. I also have to mention that the band Coldplay played a big part in the plans as well, as the string trio played three of their songs for the ceremony and we used Clocks for Laura and Stephen's grand entrance.

Laura and Stephen are one of the most truly in love and romantic couples I have ever worked with. They didn't see each other before their ceremony, and had each other's brother and sister (also best man and maid of honor) deliver gifts to the other right before walking down the aisle. The ceremony was quite romantic and emotional, in the most beautiful tent I have ever used, overlooking the golf course.



How adorable are these flower girls??? They are Stephen's (and now Laura's) nieces. Stephen was the ring bearer in their parents wedding years ago!

We named the tables after different landmarks in NYC that are meaningful to Laura and Stephen. We designed hand calligraphed (with each guest's name) plant tags to go into the herb favors at each place setting. I loved the escort card table, flanked with pictures of Central Park. If you remember, I posted last year pictures of their engagement session that Scott from Easywind went to NYC to shoot in Central Park!


I thought the lighting we decided on was pretty fabulous.











The rest of the wedding was amazing and tons of fun! The dance floor was packed the entire night. As you can read for yourself in the letter I received from Laura this week, everyone seemed to be as pleased as I was with the wedding outcome.

Congratulations Laura and Stephen! I had such a great time working with you and your families and hope to be a part of another Wheeler or Rice wedding someday! ;-)

Kelly and Scott

Kelly first contacted me in the fall of 2008 to help with her wedding in Northeastern Ohio. Being a busy doctor living in Colorado, she knew she needed the full service assistance to plan her wedding. If you can believe it, she made TWO trips to Cleveland to plan her wedding and on the THIRD trip she got married!

On May 23, she became the stepmother to two wonderfully sweet girls. Both Kelly and Scott's families were incredibly nice to be around all day and I think that they all deserved a happy and enjoyable wedding day.

Kelly and I designed her wedding details with her love for sapphire blues, candlelight and water in mind. I think that Scott was pretty impressed with the work we did! :-)

It was a pleasure to work with a photographer I've known for a while, Michael Steinberg, who provided me with these awesome shots!! Congratulations Kelly, Scott, Hope and Jordan!

Exciting Events in May

Our event season is about to go crazy and the Kirkbrides team can't wait! We have a lot of exciting events brewing right now and will be of course posting pictures of all of them. Here's what we have in store for May:

a moonlit garden Central Park themed wedding for a couple who grew up on the same street!

an "East Meets West" 3 day long Indian wedding celebration

a Great Gatsby themed prom

a spring themed outdoor wedding ceremony and then reception

and an all blue, champagne and gold "light and water" themed wedding!

Check back often for pictures and please leave your comments when you do. Happy Spring!

The White House

I was recently asked to participate in an industry wide networking event, held by L'Nique. I was grouped with a florist, cake baker and caterer to create and design a room. Guests who attended the event enjoyed 4 different rooms, all with other teams made up of an event planner, cake baker, florist and caterer. It was an amazing event and all of the rooms looked beautiful! I was able to meet many other vendors and get inspired by creative ideas!

Here are some pictures of our room. I named it "The White House" because it was decorated all in white, cream and crystals! I thought it looked absolutely amazing and we received a ton of compliments. Of course I'm sure you'll recognize the Kirkbrides menus, placecards, table names and easels. I was paired up with Arne Klein of Blooms by Plantscaping, Marianne and Lauren from The White Flower Cake Shoppe and Bob Sferra Catering. Enjoy the pictures!

A Cuban Themed Affair

I first received a call from a very polite groom named Brian in March of 2008. He actually read about Kirkbrides in the Shore magazine. If you remember, this was a special article written about the wedding planning services I offer that came out in January 2008. When I met with him and his fiance, Becca, they told me they wanted a barn for their September 2008 wedding.

To make a long story short, they ended up changing their minds a bit and we ended up at the Hyatt at the Arcade on March 28, 2009 instead! Once we got that finalized, the planning was a breeze. They both love Cuban food, music and culture, so they knew right away they wanted to incorporate those details into their wedding.

I have to say that this wedding was just picture perfect. Special thanks to Easywind Studio for taking the gorgeous pictures! The bride was just stunning and the ceremony was beautiful in every way. It was the first time my clients used the DJ for their ceremony music and I was very pleasantly surprised. The people watching over the railing from high above added to the festivities! Also take note of the fun globe lighting the florists strung across the reception area!
I created all of the menus detailing our delicious cuban themed dinner and named them "Menu de la Cena", and we named each table after cigars, with the corresponding cigar boxes prominently displayed on each table. The wedding cupcakes were designed with tropical flowers and the outside "Becca and Brian" sticker from their wedding invitations! The blue glasses really added a tropical feel, as well as the pomegranate mojitos specialty drinks.


Another interesting aspect of this wedding is that Becca's dad owned a shop here in the 80's, so she and Brian ordered tons of the chocolates he used to sell and had those available for guests at a chocolate station for dessert.


The bride's mom told us that she wanted to get married again just so Kirkbrides can do her wedding!

Congratulations Brian and Becca! It was so awesome to work with you and I will miss talking to you as often as we have been for the past year! Thanks for being some of the most easygoing and enjoyable clients to work with. I hope that you get to take that trip to Cuba someday!

Wedding Posted on Style me Pretty!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably remember Tracy and Jeff and their beautiful, bright colored fate and destiny themed wedding last August.

Their wedding has just been published on the Style me Pretty blog. The pictures from Genevieve Nisly are just gorgeous. I love this wedding! Take a look by clicking here!

First Look

With every wedding we plan, there is always much discussion into the timing of the events of the day: hair and makeup start time, picture time, cocktail hour, first dance, etc. I've found that, unless your ceremony is in the early afternoon and the reception begins early evening, it can be difficult for bridal parties to fit in all their pictures AND enjoy all of the wedding festivities that we've spent so much time and energy planning. And since many weddings today all take place at one location immediately following one another, this post is very relevant!

That is why I and all of the awesome photographers I work with highly recommend the "First Look". I have found that it allows you to get some amazing shots, be more relaxed in the pictures yourself, as well as actually ENJOY the ENTIRE wedding reception, including cocktail hour.

More than half of our 2009 clients are opting for the First Look on their wedding day.

Here is an awesome first look picture from Tracy and Jeff's wedding, courtesy of Genevieve Nisly.



Of course if the couple is into the traditional first look of seeing each other on the aisleway at the ceremony, that is great and we always plan accordingly! (It is kind of fun to hide the bride from the groom). But I am excited to post a link to the excellent blog of Jasmine Star Photography. Besides being a truly gifted photographer located in the Southern California area, Jasmine is a talented writer and always has interesting articles with all of her wedding photos. She wrote a post all about the First Look and it really captures the essence and description. I am doing this on my own wedding day! Here is a link, with permission from Jasmine to repost.

Here is a great excerpt from the post, but be sure to read the ENTIRE version!

Many brides worry about forsaking the moment the groom first sees his bride walk down the aisle, but I think it's just as special having seen JD before the ceremony, if not more. Because we saw each other before the ceremony, I was SO much more calm and relaxed. I descended the aisle looking at JD, but at the same time looking and my friends and family surrounding us, and appreciating the moment of my parents giving me away. It was as if I was truly in the moment, and not just focusing on the man at the end of the aisle.

I only wish I would have worked with Jasmine while I lived in LA! So, while we in Ohio patiently wait for the weather to warm up so that we can enjoy outside, sit back, sip a glass of wine or even a mojito to add to the feel, and have fun gazing at her beautiful photography as well as the gorgeous California backdrop.

Surprise Gift

As I arrived home from driving to Bratenahl to map out a parking lot for a wedding in September, I was greeted by a Bed, Bath and Beyond box. MY wedding is not until August so I was definitely not expecting any early wedding gifts. The card read:

"Valarie - Thank you for making our day so special! Hopefully these will make you and Jimmy smile a little extra on your wedding day! Jon and Kelsey"

The clients that you see in the post below sent me the beautiful Kate Spade champagne flutes we (I) registered for! I just thought that was such a thoughtful thing to do...of course, leave it to Kelsey. It will be extra special on the day because it came from a past bride and groom. Thank you so much, I absolutely LOVE them!

Kelsey and Jon from South Dakota

pic courtesy of Easywind Studio

In June of last year, I received a call from a worried mother in South Dakota. Barb called me to inquire more about my services after reading my extended ad in Weddings in Cleveland. She said that her daughter, Kelsey, was trying to plan her wedding on her own and likes to be in control of everything, so she wasn't too interested in hiring a wedding consultant. Barb really wanted Kelsey to hire one because she is so busy with her medical school classes, so after speaking for about 30 minutes, Barb said she would pass my name on to Kelsey and see if she calls.

The next day I did receive a call from Kelsey! We quickly met up and she secured my services to help plan her wedding for March 14, 2009! I was so excited to start working with her because it seemed we had similar personalities and she was such a happy and pleasant person.

Kelsey and Jon are both from South Dakota. They started dating in high school, and stayed together in a long distance relationship while in college in separate states. When Kelsey decided to attend medical school at Case, Jon made the move to Ohio with her.

Their wedding was small, only about 35 people and mostly all traveling from South Dakota. We arranged a limo bus to transport the guests around town all day, from the hotel to the church, then for a grand tour of Cleveland, then to the reception and back to their hotel at the end of the night.

Kelsey and Jon LOVE blue, so we created an Ice theme, complete with silver, white and blues, as well as the tables named after different cuts of diamonds. We also had a caricature artist come in for added entertainment, which was a great hit! Jon even got involved in the wedding planning, creating the save the dates, invitations and menu design. He is a skilled graphic designer!

Congratulations you two! You are such a happy couple and I wish you all the best. Please keep in touch since you will be staying in Cleveland!

Here are some pictures of the beautiful wedding, from none other than our friends at Easywind Studio!

The Budgeting Bride: Do's and Don'ts

I just found out that my wedding budgeting tips were featured in an article on wetv.com! This article is about spending smart without sacrificing style. That completely sums up with we do!
Read the article here.

Music Choices for your Wedding: Father/Daughter Dance

I have definitely seen some fun Father/Daughter dances in the many weddings I've done! Alexina, a client from a Santa Barbara wedding I coordinated in 2005, actually took tango lessons with her father for months leading up to the wedding day. And it showed - they looked like pros!

A client from 2007, Liz, danced with her father to a ragtime style song that they obviously had danced to many times when she was a little girl. It was a very fast song and they danced all around the dance floor for the whole song, sometimes not even together. The guests loved it!

A bride should consult her father on which song he would like to dance to. Sometimes fathers like to pick the song themselves for this special dance. Also, this dance can be combined into one with the Mother/Son dance if you desire.

Scott Jones' comments on the Father/Daughter dance:

Over the years I have seen many different songs used for this special dance. Most of the songs my brides & their fathers choose are very sentimental and touching...but also very standard. My absolute favorite Father/Daughter Dance song is "Little Miss Magic" by Jimmy Buffett. They lyrics are just so amazing.

Two specific Father/Daughter dances REALLY stand out:

1. I had a bride & her father many years back dance to "Somewhere over the Rainbow" - by Kermit The Frog. - IT WAS VERY STRANGE!

2. Then just a year or so ago I had a wonderfuly fun couple and their family choose a "combo" song for their father daughter dance. It all started off with a touching "Have I Told You Lately" by Rod Stewart, then 1 minute it we mixed to "My Girl" by the Temptations and then they wanted to get silly and dropped a POLKA in for the third song to end the dance. - Everyone in attendance had a great time watching this beautiful bride and her father cut the rug to such different and diverse songs. - They received a huge round of applause.

Here are our favorites:
Mine:
1.) Stand by Me by Ben E. King
2.) Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof
3.) Daughters by John Mayer
4.) Father and Daughter by Paul Simon

Scott's:

5. My Girl - Temptations

4. You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker

3. Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder

2. Lullaby - Billy Joel

1. Little Miss Magic - Jimmy Buffett

Kirkbrides Wedding Published on Style me Pretty!

We just found out that our wedding from August 31 was posted on Style me Pretty's Little Black Book blog! This is a very popular national website and we are so proud that they have taken notice of this wedding. Check it out!

Music Choices for your Wedding: First Dance

The first dance should reflect your relationship and your new marriage. This can be a song that has special meaning tied to it within your relationship. You can have your band learn and play this song, or just have them play the CD.

If you have learned a choreographed dance to a specific song, I definitely recommend using the CD. Bands may switch around the song a bit and that could really get confusing when you're out on the dance floor in front of everyone!

Here are a few of my favorites that I've seen at weddings:
The Book of Love - Peter Gabriel
Someone to Watch over Me – Billie Holiday
Time After Time (acoustic version) – Cyndi Lauper with Sarah McLaughlin
Collide - Howie Day
Forever Love - Anna Nalick
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen (choreographed dance)
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
Somewhere Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin (guests ahhed as this started playing! Classic.)

Note from our guest blogger, Scott Jones:
I think this is the one part of a wedding reception where I try to provide the least amount of input on. I truly believe that a 1st dance song should be 100% special and unique to each bride & groom. It's a personal thing, so I try to steer clear from making suggestions about the all important and sentimental 1st dance! :)

Scott's top 5 favorites:

1. Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney

2. I Wanna Know - Joe

3. Better Together - Jack Johnson

4. Home - Michael Buble

5. Sweet Pea - Amos Lee

Any comments on YOUR favorite first dance songs are welcome!

Music Choices for your Wedding Day: Announcements

I am really big into music and always have been. I started with my 45's and my Fisher Price record player, then graduated into tapes, then CDs and Itunes. I still remember the day that I first burned a music CD - it was such an amazing feeling!

I think that personal music choices are extremely important for a wedding. All of my clients know this because when they book, I mail them out a packet that contains, among other information, Kirkbrides Wedding Song Guide (it's 9 pages long, in 10 pt font).

I remember when I was training on weddings in Los Angeles in 2002, the wedding planner I was working under didn't go through music choices with the couple beforehand. Here we are, at this amazing mansion in Malibu, doing a cake cutting ceremony with no music. What a waste! I wrote that down first on my things NOT to do.

I am going to post a series of write-ups on great song choices for each element of the reception. Scott Jones, renowned Cleveland DJ and office manager at Jerry Bruno is going to be my guest contributor for this series of posts! I'm going to start with my favorite part of the whole day: the announcements!

Whether you announce your whole family, bridal party and bride and groom, or just keep it to a sophisticated parents stand-up introduction and then bride and groom only, you need to figure out what song or songs will include your personalities and wedding style.

You can pick 1 song for the whole thing, pick 1 song for the bridal party and a different one for the bride and groom (dramatic entrance!), or even a 20 second clip of different songs for each couple in the bridal party. Believe it or not, I once did this for a wedding at a private mansion in Bel Air (side note: it is all PINK and the reception was on the tennis court in the backyard. It's across Sunset Blvd. from the playboy mansion and was built as a replica of Marie Antoinette's summer house in Versailles) with a DJ who regularly played clubs in Hollywood while the bridal party entered our makeshift ballroom on separate staircases and it was magical.

Here is a picture that I took as the bride waited with her MOH to enter with her groom, and another of half of our outdoor ballroom.


Here is Scott's input on the music:
Planning your wedding can be difficult, but when you have an experienced wedding planner on your side like Valarie Kirkbride you will never go wrong. It's hard to make a reception unique and different, yet still being classy and fun. Your wedding music selections are one of the best and easiest ways to put a "stamp" on YOUR reception and personal style.

As one of Cleveland’s many fine DJ's I have seen and done it all. Most of my favorite wedding receptions have included a detailed introduction music plan. It's always great fun to pick individual songs for each bridesmaid or groomsmen that are introduced at the start of your reception. Sometimes the individual songs can be used for each "couple" introduced. - By doing this you are creating excitement for your bridal party and guests. It really livens up the party and gets the party started, plus it's a great way to personally-musically distinguish the different personalities of your friends & family included in the intros. For instance, if you have a couple of friends that went to Ohio State you can have them introduced to 20 seconds of "Hang on Sloopy". Or maybe one of your groomsmen is a great Michael Jackson dancer and he can be introduced to "Thiller". Maybe one of your bridesmaids is obsessed with Britney Spears, you can have her introduced to "Toxic". - Right now Beyonce's "Single Ladies" is perfect for any of the single girls in your line up. I have many great suggestions and would always be willing to provide some helping in picking your wedding music.

Good luck with your plans and remember....Music Makes The Party!

Without further adieu, here are some of our FAVORITES for announcement music:




Mine:
All I Want is You/Barry Louis Polisar (from the Juno soundtrack)
All you Need is Love/The Beatles
Get Ready/The Temptations
Somebody to Love/Queen
Yellow/Coldplay
Crazy in Love/Beyonce
Everybody needs Somebody to Love/Wilson Pickett




Scott's:
"I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by the Drop Kick Murphys
"Let It Rock" by Kevin Rudolf

You can see Scott's blog here.

Annie Weds JP: February 7

Way back when VHS tapes were first introduced, Bruce Springsteen released Born to Run, and gas was only 44 cents/gallon, a blonde haired, green eyed girl named Andrea was born in Akron, Ohio. Three months later and more than 8,000 miles away, when India was in the grips of an emergency, an adorable baby boy named Jayaprakash (JP) was born in Mumbai, India. They may have grown up halfway around the world from each other, but shared many similarities like going to Catholic school, a love of reading, rocking out to Bon Jovi, and watching videos on MTV. As fate would have it, they both got jobs at the same company a few years after graduating from college - Annie in Cincinnati, Ohio and JP in Hyderabad, India.



They ended up working together a couple of years ago on a project in Jacksonville, Florida. After one very long day at work, Annie invited JP out to dinner with a group of team members. JP slung his backpack over his shoulder, said “no thanks”, and strolled nonchalantly out of the conference room. Annie didn't know that he was heading home to work the rest of the night, so all she could think was what a nerd JP must be to pass up a fun evening out with friends! Annie never invited him out again after that. Six months later, they both happened to attend a co-worker’s birthday dinner and had a great time together. Soon, they were inseparable…



JP wooed Annie with homemade tea after work and dinners cooked from scratch. Soon, they fell in love! They spent a whirlwind week in Paris last Summer, JP met Annie’s family last Fall. They traveled to India this past Spring to work for a few weeks, see the sights, and to most importantly meet JP's family.


Towards the end of their trip in India, they went to a romantic little resort in Kumarakom. On April 19, 2008 JP chartered a speed boat so they could explore the surrounding lakes and the famous Kumarakom backwaters. Just before heading back to the resort, JP proposed! And of course, Annie said yes!!!


Shortly after that, Annie got in touch with ME to start planning her wedding! We found an amazing venue, developed out a theme and booked awesome vendors very suited to their personality. Halfway through the planning, JP came into town to help us! Annie, JP and Pat (Annie's mom) were just some of the nicest clients I have ever worked with! Annie is such an endearing person because she is so real, she's funny and very loving with everyone in her life.
Many thanks goes to Scott and Julie at Easywind Studio for these awesome and colorful pictures!

This winter wonderland, indian influenced and romance wedding was one of THE most BEAUTIFUL weddings I have ever seen. Congratulations Annie & JP! I hope to keep in touch and see you sometime when you're back in Ohio!

Andrea & JP....coming soon

Andrea and JP are getting married on Saturday and the Kirkbrides team could not be more excited! They have such an amazing love story and this wedding has turned out to be quite the affair. We have touches of winter wonderland, romance and India. That is where JP has moved from to be with Andrea!

Andrea has picked out the color "Kirkbrides magenta" :-) as her main accent color, along with steel gray/silver and black. Here is a picture of the menu we have custom created just for them. Pictures will most definitely be posted next week after the big day. You won't want to miss pictures on the horse and carriage we have rented either! I can't wait to show you all of the fabulous details we have planned. Stay tuned...

Kirkbrides Photography?

Yesterday I attended the baby shower for Jenny, one of my best friends. It is hard to believe that we've been best friends since we met on the school bus in 1990! She is due with a girl on February 25.  Her sister had a baby girl just 10 months ago and brought her to the shower.  Check out the picture I caught, while Aly put her hands on her aunt's belly while her mom looks on in the background.  I definitely think this needs a frame!  Is a future in photography in store for Kirkbrides in addition to wedding planning??  hahaha, just kidding.