I am very excited to post the wedding of Noel and Dana that took place on July 17, 2009. Noel and I clicked right away when we met and got to know each other pretty well during the planning process. We discovered we had mutual friends (Dana works with one of my best friends) and have kept in touch since the big day!

We ended up deciding on the unique location of the Browns Stadium as the site for the ceremony and reception. Sherri, the catering and event manager, was wonderful to work with as we worked on our red and black, metropolitan cocktail style wedding. Our ceremony was held right at the stadium too and then down to the club lounge area overlooking the lake for dinner stations and dancing.

Pictures were courtesy of Scott and Julie at Easywind Studio. Noel's friend had worked with these guys last year and so one of her first comments to me was that she saw I worked with them often and is there any way they would open any closed dates for her? I managed to work it in and I think they were happy they were there!

The highlight of the day is a surprise that Dana planned for Noel. Right after they were announced at the beginning of their reception, they walked over to do their first dance and Scott Jones (our fabulous DJ) played the music to "It Had to be You" and Dana serenaded Noel in true Harry Connick Jr./Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin style!

Be sure to watch a youtube clip of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVrFWPmmzSs

Another funny thing about this day is that I received a voicemail message from Dana early in the morning on the wedding day. He said something about how he is at the airport and won't be coming to the wedding today, sorry. Then he said he was just kidding, of course. That sums up their sense of humor! He really was calling to get a videographer for THAT SAME DAY. That's a first for me. I called around to 3 different companies I work with often and texted Dana the prices. We ended up with Scott and Mike from Moonstruck Productions. Can't wait to see the video!!

Congratulations Noel and Dana! I hope you have an amazing and fun-filled honeymoon in November and I can't wait to hang out with you sometime again soon!

This reading has been featured in a few recent wedding ceremonies. I think it is beautiful and wanted to share....

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry.

From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years.

Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.

I am very delayed in posting pics of this June wedding but it was too pretty not to! We have had the busiest summer ever. I had a lot of fun working on the decor and creative aspects with the bride to create a wedding that really suited her and the groom. The bride and groom love hiking in the Metroparks, so we developed the decor around that activity. Tables were named after their favorite local paths and we used chocolate brown and a few shades of green to accent the room. Our team created all of the menus, table names and hanging leaf escort cards. As an added touch, we placed a green and brown chocolate mint on top of each guest menu on the tables! Highlights of the wedding were the huge uplit trees that engulfed the sides of the room and our fun photobooth! Enjoy!
(pics taken by Rachael and Valarie of Kirkbrides: wedding planners, not photographers, ha)

I had the pleasure of getting to know Emily through working with her for over a year to plan and design her antique and herb/lavender themed wedding. We worked together long distance because she lives in Florida with Lauren. Emily is one of the funniest people I've ever met, always upbeat with a sarcastic but positive remark about things. We also both love cats, so always had a funny cat story or two to tell each other.

She and Lauren are both passionate about politics. They even met at a history convention! We drew some inspiration from Monticello in our decor aspects, and even had Thomas Jefferson pictured on the save the dates! And since they attended the inauguration this year, they chose "At Last" for their first dance song!!

I wish there was a way to include smells on blogs. If there was, I would definitely include these bouquets because they smelled absolutely amazing with the real lavender!

Lauren also gets the award of "Nicest Groom" because he thanked ME in his speech at his reception! That just blew me away, usually I just hang out on the sidelines/background!

Congratulations Emily and Lauren! I am so happy for you and I hope you have many wonderful years together!

Here are my favorites from the pictures taken that day by Scott of Easywind Studio.

(Rachael and I at her October 2008 wedding)

Rachael Gummersbach is the other planner besides myself who works for Kirkbrides, helping brides create their dream wedding day and maintaining excellent management skills on the wedding days. She has recently gone through quite a bit of weddings of her own, including a Southwestern themed outdoor wedding (which we'll post pics of as soon as we get them!), a Romance themed wedding and even MINE!

I would only trust the most responsible and capable of people to manage my own wedding day and I have to say that Rachael did an impeccable job! I had quite a few family members and friends comment to me on what a great job she was doing at my rehearsal, ceremony and reception, and how lucky I am to have her representing Kirkbrides.

While I was away on my honeymoon, Rachael took care of everything for Kirkbrides....answering e-mails, booking new clients for 2010 and 2011, and taking care of all our September brides.

Her biggest job though was working with the Kirkbrides team to coordinate a large Greek wedding held at a Greek Orthodox Church and the grand ballroom at the Renaissance hotel. We're still working on getting pictures, but I wanted to share 2 notes of appreciation she received from both the bride and her mother.

Congratulations Rachael!!!

(from the bride)
Hi Rachael,
Just wanted to thank you so much for all your help!! You were awesome and you really helped make the day run so much smoother. We really appreciate all of your hard work! The wedding was absolutely perfect.
I was wondering if you could email me your home address as I'd like to send something to you.
Thanks again SO much! Best of luck to you with the last six weeks of your pregnancy-- if you email any pictures out to people when the baby comes I'd love to be added to the email!!!
Take care,
Andrea

(from mother of the bride)
HI Rachael,
I can't thank you enough for your great work.. Please feel free to use us as references any time. I will tell you that when all was said and done, we felt that your services and the flowers were the best value for the results. If I had one piece of advice for others now, it would be to u se your services for the day of the event. Please feel free to use my name or andrea's as reference.. She also said her favorite part was working with you.. You calmed her down and were kind enough to not make her feel dumb about her questions..
We do want to send you a token of our appreciation.. Are you registered at any baby places? Please share and provide me your home address too if you don't mind..(ps please also resend me your last name as Andrea is on her honeymoon!)
Hope

(pics courtesy of Easywind Studio)
Blog post soon to come of Emily and Lauren's charming wedding in July.

Hi everyone! We have been SUPER BUSY with weddings lately, and have about 8 in the queue still to blog!....sorry, as you most probably know the Kirkbrides team and I have been getting ready for my OWN wedding (finally!!!) and it's been a bit crazy. Mostly just wrapping things up with clients before a little break, although Rachael is going to take great care of everyone while I'm out!

Just to give you an idea of what we've been up to...we have a 3 day long Indian wedding going on this weekend as well as another 250 person wedding with a Classic Romance theme! Lots of exciting things to come for Kirkbrides in September, so make sure to check back often for updates and pictures catching up from all of our amazing 2009 summer weddings.


I'll leave you with this for now...be sure to click on this link to see a recent groom, Dana, surprise Noel with a serenade of "It Had to be you" right after they were announced at their July 17 wedding.

CHEERS!