On July 28, I had the pleasure of executing 8 months of planning at Denise and Kevin's wedding in Cleveland. This couple has a wonderful story - they met on match.com! They are some of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
While searching for themes, we decided upon Kevin's original tagline on match, which was "All American Boy Meets All American Girl". These two have unusually happy energy about them and are all about family, so we decided to fill the wedding with quotes about love and rely on the classic color scheme of green apple, raspberry and pure white.
We first incorporated love quotes on the menus displayed on black easels at each table, some of which included:
Allan K. Chambers:
The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Winnie the Pooh:
If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day so I never have to live without you.
Each table was named the first name of the quote's author. Guests found their table assignments on green apples pinned with names printed with their names and table name.
We purposely used pure white linens and pure white chairs for our "classic" theme. Our round tables matched the architecture of the reception site. The tall vases filled with raspberry gerber daisies and roses were complimented with two vases filled with water and tropical leaves.
The Love Story slideshow that Kirkbrides prepared for Denise and Kevin featured more quotes from the tables while telling the story of how they met, even incorporating some of their original text from their match.com ads!
The cake was raspberry marble cake inside, with white buttercream frosting and lace accents.
A special aspect of the wedding was the fact that Denise's son and daughter and Kevin's niece and nephew served as a flower girls and ring bearers.
During the first dance to "Love a Diamond" by Tonic, Scott captured a great shot that spotlights Kevin dipping Denise. Looks like the dance lessons paid off!
Scott and Julie from Easywind Studios took them for a walk around downtown Cleveland to capture some truly photojournalistic shots.
I'll truly miss getting daily e-mails from Denise and Kevin, as we planned the entire wedding from Cleveland to their home in Northern Virginia!
On August 4, Marie and Matt were married in a garden ceremony. The bride has a fashion design education background and designed her own dress. Cucumber water was self-serve to guests as they walked in, and bubbles were blown at the bride and groom as they exited the ceremony on their way to the reception. Included are just a few of my own pictures from the beautiful day.
On August 10 I had the pleasure of attending a baby shower that I planned for a first time mom who wanted a "chic mom" theme. She said she would like her guests to have fun and be pampered on her shower day! Since we know she is having a baby boy, we chose fresh blue hydrangeas and white gerber daisies for the floral arrangements. White luminaries filled with blue sand lighted the entrance to the private home where the shower was held.
Instead of the familiar baby shower games, we opted for pedicures and massages outdoors as the entertainment.
A cake was designed that included our tiffany blue color frosted onto a fancy baby buggy, outlined in silver and pearl accents.
Bellinis and light appetizers were served. Many guests said it was the best baby shower they had ever been to and loved the fact that they left feeling relaxed and had freshly painted toes!
On June 16, 2007, the Kirkbrides coordination team executed one of our best events to date.....a Tuscan Style wedding for Susan and Denny. This couple originally wanted to have a destination wedding in the countryside of Tuscany, Italy, but realized that they were far too busy to pull off the planning. They contacted me in the fall of 2006 and we began scouting all of our private locations, as that was their main location criteria.
They picked the Manor House on the Lake for its sheer uniqueness and awesome lakefront view.
They picked the Manor House on the Lake for its sheer uniqueness and awesome lakefront view. We organized all of the vendors and amenities around their Tuscan theme. We started with the table style - long, like a vineyard. The colors were olive greens, chocolate browns, gold accents and many other colors for the centerpieces. We picked gold chiavari chairs, ivory linens and ivory plateware. For the cocktail tables, we chose olive organza overlays. Included in the details were wine cork placecard holders decorated with hand calligraphy and placed at each setting. Each table was named after a region of Tuscany.
The centerpieces included real pears and artichokes. Grapevine was laid out in several areas all around the mansion, including the front entryway and guest tables.
The cocktail entertainment consisted of a classical guitarist for that Tuscan feel. For the reception entertainment, we picked a fun, jazzy band.
The cake was ivory, with grapevine and votives garnishing the table. We displayed the cake inside in the fountain room, which allowed us to play a special CD for the cutting ceremony. Black and white family wedding photos were displayed on the built-in shelves in this room.
Italian gelato and pirouette cookies were served in martini glasses as the first dessert course.
We included many high-end choices for guests in the mood for a few cocktails. Specialty drinks included the "Sweet Susan Bellini", "Dirty Denny Martini" and "The Nightshift" (an espresso martini) which illustrated their tiresome jobs as ER doctors working all hours of the night. We also offered a wine tasting during cocktail hour, inviting wedding guests to try any 1 of 6 different wines. Italian Prosecco was served for the toasts as the night got underway.
The night ended as Moondance by Van Morrison was played by the band for the last dance. Our coordination team decorated their red Mini Cooper with Just Married decor. Guests were then ushered to the front of the mansion and handed sparklers tied with personalized matches. They lit them and lined the driveway as Susan and Denny drove off in a magical exit setting, on to their honeymoon in the Amalfi Coast.
The beautiful and expert photojournalism photography was done by close friends of mine, Scott and Julie Meivogel of Easywind Studio. Scott also utilized her graphic design expertise to create the ceremony programs. They attended the rehearsal at St. Dominic's on Van Aken in Shaker Heights, to be sure that they were always at the right place in the right time for the Catholic ceremony events.
Susan and Denny were wonderful, laid back people to work with. I think we laughed at every meeting we had! I will miss talking to them often, but know that I've made two new friends who I can now meet up with for Bellinis anytime I am in Shaker Heights! The guests, bride and groom were all very impressed with the wedding. Many said that is was "just exquisite" and the bride and groom later told me that many said they felt like they were in a movie!
Their wedding will be featured as a Real Wedding in Weddings in Cleveland magazine, hitting newstands in August 2007.
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