Brian & Laura

Had to share the amazing pics that Sandra Reed posted on her blog today. I couldn't believe they were already posted when Laura told me! That was quicker than I could post my {not so} fabulous pics! I'll spare you the delight of seeing those and skip over to the professional ones ;)

It was our first time working with Sandra and her husband, Shad. We love a husband and wife team! And the images - omigoodness - there's a whole lot of fabulosity going on here. They did a slideshow during the reception with some of the day's shots and I couldn't stop watching! If your looking for a photog I definitely recommend checking them out! 

Meet our lineup of phenomenal vendors:

Church: Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption {seriously my favorite church. Beyond words...}

Reception: Manor House 

Photog: Sandra Reed - duh

Florist: Designs by Sandy

Videographer: Dan with Lifetime

Transportation: Gallant Coach

Cake: Bonbonerie

Makeup: Heidi McKenna {mckenna@fuse.net}

Onto the Eye Candy...

Brian, Laura & Mary Jo - you guys are so kind and have such warm hearts. It was an absolute pleasure working with you. Lots of love!!

When & Where Invites

Last year I had the pleasure of 'meeting' Mandy Williams as she was just kicking off her own invitation line. Both being small business owners we used each other to bounce ideas back and forth. You can imagine my excitement when a package arrive early last week with her cute logo. Inside I found a sampling of gorgeous invitations and save the dates. She recently launched her new website - take a trip over and check out what Mandy has been up to.

From her site:

Hand-Made Invitations Made Easy
Hassle-free customizable invitations are a great way to simplify the wedding/party planning process. When & Where Invites also fulfills matching response cards, save the date cards, thank you cards and more. Take a look at our ever-growing catalog to find a design that is right for you then customize it to suit your needs. Have an idea for your own invite? Contact us now for special requests and we'll try our best to accommodate them!

Here's just a few from her site. If your looking for invitations {or birth announcements!} definitely check her out. Congratulations and many more successes Mandy!

{this one is my fave!}

Jennifer and Paul - Take 2 {by Steve}

Seriously - I'm in love with these pictures of Jen & Paul. {You can check out my ghetto ones here} Steve Lyons completely hit it out of the park. Ah-mazing. Thank you Steve!! It's always a pleasure. 

Jen - your gorgeous! Paul - your a lucky man ;) Muah!

The next 2 might be my favorite shots. Ever. Whoa!

{Ricky to the rescue! She's sitting on his jacket to avoid the rusty stairs!}

The whole dang wedding party look like supermodels! As Kort would say "work it, work it" haha. Love it. 

How sweet is this? It just makes me smile. 

Lots of love Jen & Paul! We miss you ;)

Whitney & Nick 2

OK the time has come for me to fess up and share my {not so} fab pictures from Whitney and Nick {see Tine's teaser pics here}. 

When I met with Whitney last year she had the vision of a glamorous old hollywood reception - without the cheese factor. It's very easy for an event like this to swing over to the cheesy side so she was very specific about the elements. Her vision came together beautifully - it totally made the theater my new favorite place. I'll keep everyone up to date and post pictures as soon as Tine has them up. 

Meet our rockin' {mostly female!!} vendors:

Ceremony & Reception: 20th Century Theater

Photog: TM Photography

Makeup: Heidi McKenna

Florist: Katie Elfers

DJ: Rick Juler 

Officiant: Bill Proud {love him!}

Cake:Bonbonerie

Ceremony Musician: Nathan Frankhouser {go to his website now - seriously might be the best ceremony musician I have seen. A-mazing!!}

Photobooth: Shutterbooth 

 

Details: 

Notice elements that are hollywood but not over-the-top:

- a red aisle runner

- table numbers named after old hollywood stars

- favors of small silver frames with the stars' pictures 

- an old fashioned photo booth {SO fun!}

- a deco inspired font on all the wedding signage 

- the classic color combination of red, black and white

- blown up e-pics in the windows where movie posters would have been posted

- feather accents

The flowers were so beautiful I had to give them their own space. Katie did an excellent job!

The centerpieces were tall red branches with white orchids

This is my current favorite cake display. Totally in love with the bed of feathers. 

Stay tuned for my {not so} fab shots of our recent Greek wedding! It was stunning!! 

P.S.

Do you guys prefer this format for sharing pictures {collages} or the individual pictures? Speak your mind so I know which one you all like better and I can adjust! Make my day and leave it in the comment section :)

The Cost of Weddings {By Liene Stevens}

I interrupt real TC weddings to bring you this important message:

Two years ago the fabulous Liene Stevens of Blue Orchid Designs wrote this:

But it's just some pretty paper: Invitations
A good rule of thumb when budgeting for invitations is this: a decent (read: nice quality, but not necessarily elaborate) invitation should cost around the same price as a greeting card. If you want a custom invitation, you can expect to pay more because you are compensating the artist for her designs, proofs, revisions and edits, assembly and general labor.

All you're doing is pushing a button: Photography & Videography
Photography can easily be one of the most spendy parts of the wedding and for good reason - when all is said and done, that is what you will have left. Also, the final product usually doesn't come out of the camera ready to go - a lot of behind-the-scenes editing and design goes into producing great photos. If you're having video, you can count on hours of editing, including finding the right moments to splice things in, cueing the appropriate music to match, etc.

So you're like JLo in that movie: Wedding Planners
No, I'm not like JLo and wow, did she make my job look easy! Hollywood has a knack for doing that though, don't they? The biggest thing you are paying the planner for is her time - the average wedding takes more than 250 hours to plan and there are only 52 weekends in a year. Both of these facts limit how much we can take on and commit to. It may seem like you are paying the planner for one day, but in reality 250 hours translates into more than six 40-hour work weeks. And that's just for your normal, run-of-the-mill wedding. If you want something unique and special, even more time is involved.

They are just going to die tomorrow anyway: Flowers
When purchasing flowers, you are paying for so many things - the grower's cut (planting, growing, watering, feeding, harvesting), the packaging and shipping of them in a manner that they will not wilt or die on the way to your location, and then the florist's fees (design, watering, prepping them with special concoctions that prolong their lifespan, arranging, delivering, etc).

The time-tested adage "you get what you pay for" has been proven over and over again with weddings. You don't need to break the bank on your wedding or try to keep up with the Joneses - but it is important to go into the wedding planning process with an understanding of where your money is going so that you can best prioritize its use.

Posted by Liene Stevens

Earlier this month she posted a follow up post - you can find it here.

So wedding planners are not only working 12 hours on the wedding day but up to 250 hours before! Even 'day of coordinators' work way more than those 12 hours - I average at least 40 hours on emails, phone calls and meetings per 'day of'wedding. Because that's what it takes to have an event be successful and that's why you hired us!

Just sayin'... :) Happy 4th!

Larissa & Tim

Larissa might have been the sweetest bride I've worked with {sorry guys - it's that Southern charm!} thus far. She's so genuine and kind and Tim just adores her. We've been so lucky with our TC clients. I always disappoint people when they ask "do you deal with any bridezillas?" because {seriously} we haven't! In fact, it's just the opposite - I'm so sad at the end of a wedding because that means I won't get to talk to them every day! Boo.

I digress...

Larissa and Tim had a fabulous wedding June 20 - a weekend that have much of downtown Cincinnati closed for the Civil Rights Game. Thanks for your patience {and support!}. I'll miss you guys!

The Team:

Church: Holy Cross-Immaculata Church

Reception: The Phoenix 

Photographer: Tracy Doyle

Videographer: Lifetime Video {added at the last minute and so worth it!}

Florist: Katie Elfers

Band: Next Exit 

As soon as I get pics from Tracy I will post them. In the meantime here are some of my {not so} fabulous shots. Love the whole Cincinnati theme!

Congratulations Tim & Larissa! Much love!