We worked with an all-star team of vendors, including Tom Forrest Photography (with pictures to follow), Grande Designs Floral, A Cookie and a Cupcake and Kris from Num Num World Music. We even had an accordian player walk around during dinner music to further enchant our guests on the beautiful June summer day.

One of my favorite things about this wedding was the personal and heartfelt ceremony, which included songs from the Beatles played by the string trio, and readings from "The Velveteen Rabbit" and "Mark Twain". Another highlight was the creative menu that we worked with Peggy on, including spicy gazpacho and pineapple sorbet as the first course, and guests' choice of local salmon, chicken breast or vegetable pad thai! Also as you can see in the pictures below, the passed alcoholic snow cones during cocktail hour were a huge hit! The flavors included mojito, margarita and orange creamsicle.

Congratulations Claire and Don, and cheers to a lifetime of happiness!!!

Note from Mother of the Bride (did I mention how much more I totally understand the mother's point of view now that I have my own daughter?!):

Dear Valarie,

Thank you so much for making Claire’s wedding day such a lovely occasion in every respect. Your calm, direct manner was a great reassurance to me, and Claire was delighted with all aspects of the event, as were we. Though I was nervous at various points, it was never because of any detail you overlooked, and in fact I calmed myself by remembering that we were in your very capable hands. From stopping the neighboring band without letting me know we had an issue, to retrieving Claire’s dress near the end of the reception, you went well above and beyond our expectations. We’re truly grateful for your lovely demeanor and invaluable guidance throughout this exciting year. What a pleasure to work with such a consummate professional!

Best,

Ann

PHOTOS COURTESY OF Tom Forrest Photography

It's been a while since Allison or I blogged any of our recent weddings. We have had quite the busy wedding season! Which is good for us and our newlyweds, but not so good for our blog readers.

I believe we have quite the array of weddings from 2011 to post as things settle down and our ever so familiar Northeastern Ohio cooler weather moves in. As we're trying to find a time to visit Cedar Point one more time before it closes, and Allison starts her yearly batch of "Snazzy Apples", we will be catching up on posting all of our AMAZING weddings from this year (even one that will be featured in the January edition of Town & Country!). We do also have a few more up our sleeves before it's 2012, so keep checking back as we post our beautiful brides and wonderful wedding day stories!

Here are some more thank you notes we have received recently, to serve as a sort of "preview" of what's to come....

Happy Fall everyone!

Subject:	RE: Congratulations!
From:	Brian Patrick (xxxxx@hotmail.com)
To:	valarie@kirkbrides.com;
Date:	Monday, September 26, 2011 9:20 PM

Thanks Valarie! I am struggling to find an area that Allison and the team could improve on. Everything far exceeded our expectations (which were quite high to begin with!).

A testament to the quality: Many of our quests told me they were impressed with how seamlessly the whole day went. It naturally flowed from event to event the day of. From our point of view, we only had to interact with our vendors a small amount, and generally only in a social way. Everything flowed through Allison which took all the stress off us.

I think the biggest compliment I can give to you and Allison is that we'd recommend Kirkbrides in a heartbeat to any couple we know that gets engaged.

Thank you for the follow-up,
Brian

Subject:	Re: Kirkbrides Follow-up
From:	Annie Derethik (xxxx@gmail.com)
To:	valarie@kirkbrides.com;
Date:	Monday, October 10, 2011 2:51 PM

Hey Valarie,

Hope all is well!

I apologize for not getting back to you until now...trying to settle back in and get caught up at work.

I have a note ready to go in the mail about what a fabulous job Allison and Heather did on the day of the wedding - everything was seamless! We truly could not have been happier with the way everything turned out!

Thanks again,

Annie