Tassimo Winner!!!

Okay, so after a busy week, I wanted to announce the winner of the Tassimo T20! I figured since I announced the drawing on video, I should announce the winner on video!



{Excuse the exhausted look, I have been up and working since 5AM, and it's now 7PM...and I don't have on any makeup, and look re-donky-donnk,.... plus I didn't think you'd all care, since you all just want to see who won, right...}



So watch the video and see already!

Gainesville Wedding Expo!

It's that time of year, when all the brides who are planning their weddings come to The Performing Arts Center to find the most incredible wedding vendors! I know you are dying to know when, and how you can win door prizes from over 40 vendors... plus... win a $2500 planning package from MasterPiece Weddings!



So here are the deets:

Sunday, January 9, 2011 12:00 – 5:00 PM



Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts



Tickets are: $10.00 Advance; $12.00 At Door



You have a Once in a Lifetime Chance to Plan Your Dream Wedding in One Day, under one roof, at the beautiful Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Experience a Gainesville Tradition at an Extraordinary Venue!



Consult with Over Forty of Our Area’s Finest Wedding Professionals, Enjoy Delicious Samples, Register for Prizes and experience a fun-filled Runway Fashion Show presented exclusively by Jay’s Bridal. Relax and Be Entertained in the comfort of an 1,800 seat Theater.



This is The Bridal Event that’s as Exciting as the Venue.



Save $2.00. Pre-Register And Purchase Tickets and for more information, please visit Gainesville Wedding Expo.

2011 Trends Workshop

There is a great workshop coming up for brides at Love Wedd, it's totally free and will feature some up and coming trends in floral designs, linens, food, photography, stationary and much more!



So if you are a bride in Gainesville, and crave more and more wedding, go, have fun, learn,and sample some great food while your at it!



So RSVP by calling Love Wedd!

Left Overs

We are taking time to enjoy our Turkey Hangover, and I hope you are doing the same!



Have a great Gobble, Gobbley-rific Weekend!

{Martha Stewart}

Love Wedd

Have you been to this amazing Gainesville boutique? It's called Love Wedd, and it's seriously awesometastic!!

There are several vendors to peek at, check out their work, pick up cards, chat with, all in one space! Here's whattcha gotta do.



Step 1: Drive to Haile Plantation, and visit Love Wedd.



Step 2: Ask the receptionist for a tour of Love Wedd



Step 3: Go into Love Wedd, look around, take samples.



Step 4: Take your time visiting the Love Wedd boutique.



And that's it!



You can practically plan your whole wedding in one room! Solutions Bridal, Footstone Photography, Gnys Entertainment, MasterPiece Weddings, Dream Day Cakes, Unique Designs, Sweetwater Branch Inn....and so many more!



So, moral of the story, go visit Love Wedd!!

Love Wedd

We are so honored and excited to be a part of Love Wedd! We are amongst some of the most incredible, professional, and bestest vendors around.  What is Love Wedd, you ask?



It is a bridal boutique...meaning it is like a store, in Haile Village Center in the same building as Footstone Photography, Adore Weddings and Events, and Unique Designs. The boutique will have a receptionist at the desk when you walk in the front door. Then you can browse the room and see displays featuring the work of some of Gainesville's top vendors.

To kick it all off, we are having a VIP Preview event that you will need to RSVP to. See the information below. To RSVP just go to the Facebook Event Page and click on "attending" to let us know that yes, you are interested in tasting cakes from Dream Day Cakes, eating some yummy food from Olive You Catering, seeing the amazing designs by Keith Watson Productions and The Grande Event, and meeting The Best Wedding Planner Ever MasterPiece Weddings! Also The Plant Shoppe will have some stunning flower arrangements on display. Of course, G-NYs Entertainment will be mixing it it up with REAL RECORDS. So come and see who the Love Wedd crew is.

Like the Facebook page and follow Love Wedd on Twitter!

(Disclaimer: The above text and photo were stolen from Platinum Digital Video's blog, not because we are plagiarists, but because imitation is the best form of flattery and we love Shena so so so much and we could not have said it any better than she did. So ground me, put me in the corner, take away the TV for a week, it's worth it, and plus I have an excuse, we are gearing up for a busy weekend and got lazy.)

If I did it again...

Photo Courtesty of The Knot

I think my next wedding (to my husband of course) would have to be planned around Peonies Season, my bouquet would certainly be a big puff ball of Peonies! All white of course.

What is your favorite flower for your wedding bouquet?

Its All in the Details

A wedding is all about the details, our clients strive to make sure the details are all amazing. So why overlooks something like this?

Happy Mother's Day to Meeee!

Okay, so it's almost a month late, and I don't know why I didn't post this sooner, probably because, well, although ya'll probably dont' think so, I don't like to brag.



But here goes.

I was on the front-freakin' page of the paper on my first Mother's Day!!!!

Okay, so now that I got that off my chest... well, mostly.

Yup, on Mother's Day I was on the front page of our local news paper, right under the story on the oil spill! Yup, I'm big fat news!

Here's the picture....

Yup, that's me and Gabriel, front and center!

Here's the article:

It took Melissa DiStefano 29 hours to give birth to her son. It was painful. It was frustrating. And thanks to Twitter, her friends and family lived through it all.

"I tweeted through my entire delivery," said DiStefano, who had to have a C-section after her contractions stopped. "I wrote things like 'These contractions suck.' 'Looks like I have to push.' 'We're going to be here awhile.' It was extremely painful, but doing that really became my focus. I only put the phone down during the actual surgery."





DiStefano, 35, has always been plugged into technology, and now she and other moms in the digital age are using it as a major tool in motherhood.



She even set up a Facebook page for the 4-month-old, where she and her husband regularly update his status. Gabriel has 119 friends, eight videos and tons of photos.





From gadgets to new media, mothers today embrace technology as a way to be informed and stay connected. Children's precious moments aren't just captured, but uploaded, posted and texted.





Instead of sneaking a peek in a diary, just check a Facebook wall or recent history on the computer to see what kids are up to. Forget about music boxes and CDs, just turn on Pandora.





DiStefano's smartphone and Flip video camera are just as much a part of her mommy life as bottles and diapers.





She uploads cute and funny videos of her son Gabriel to YouTube and shares photos with friends and family through Facebook, Flickr and Picasa. She uses her phone to send picture messages of Gabriel to her sister  and her mother in South Florida. With her webcam, DiStefano also uses Skype so the family can talk to each other and see the baby.





"When there's so much distance, it's hard to feel connected, so with all the technology it's so much easier for family and friends to feel like they're a part of his everyday life," said DiStefano, owner of wedding planning business MasterPiece Weddings.







Being a working mom of a young child, Newberry resident Maria Rizzo loves that she can check on her baby with a few clicks of a mouse.



The entire time her son Anthony, 2, has been at Kidsworks preschool, she's been able to log onto a password-protected website and watch him via live Internet webcams set up throughout the facility. The preschool started using the system in 2000.





"It wouldn't have been a deal breaker if they didn't have it, but it's definitely a good selling point, especially for new mothers," said Rizzo, 37. "I had a hard time going back to work and it was really helpful to be able to see him. It makes a big difference."





Larkin Kieffer said being a parent today means you have to really stay engaged and connected. Her cell phone is a big part of being a Mom to her 11-year-old son Noah.





If she's running late or sending someone else to pick him up, she taps out a quick text message. She said he has to send her a text every time he leaves or arrives somewhere. It may seem like a chore to him, she said, but for her, "it's total peace of mind."





"I never want it to be that he can't tell me something important," said Kieffer, who got her son a cell phone last year. "I'd rather know he can get in touch with me and, technologically, I'm only a second away ... It actually makes me worry less."





Marcheta Cole Keefer, communications/tourism marketing manager for VisitGainesville, isn't a super tech mom. Her children, Christian, 10, and Katie, 9, don't have cell phones and she encourages them to use dictionaries and encyclopedias rather than Google or Wikipedia.





But when it comes to school, she has enjoyed the benefits of technology. She receives a weekly newsletter from her son's teacher about the upcoming week's classwork and homework assignments.







"I just think that's great. I travel a lot, so wherever I am, I can find out that information and know what's going on with him at school," said Keefer, 48. "It's been very reassuring and helpful."





Although most mothers praise the joys of technology, Rizzo said it does have some drawbacks. During her pregnancy and after she gave birth, she found herself obsessively researching online about newborns and child rearing.





"It was really hard to have so much information at my fingertips. There was so much information and everybody has a different opinion about everything. There's blogs, forums ... and sometimes it can feel overwhelming.... I just finally decided not to consult the Internet and rely on myself and trust my instincts."

Wedding Bouquets

I love how these amazing flowers are just hanging out on the fence. So beauitmous!



Photography By: Rae Leytham

Wedding Bouquet

So whimsical and so delicious!



Photography by: Jimmy Ho Photography

Wedding Bouquet

I've been recently quite obsessive about bouquets. I love how different they all are and how photographers capture the beauty of them so uniquely.





Photography By: Ariel Yve

Cambodian American Wedding - Part 2

Part II of Lisa and Edgar's American Wedding Ceremony.



Remember to look at their amazing Cambodian Ceremony posted previously! Here are some of the gorgeous details at Golden Ocala. I LOVED the incredible pink cloth Dan Hathcock (Unforgettable Events) hung outside for their cocktail hour! Inside Golden Ocala: As we move into the images of Lisa and Edgar dancing with their mothers, I wanted to tell some about what both of them as well as their families have overcome in their lives. After getting to know them throughout the last year and a half, I was so moved by everything they have victoriously lived and thrived through. I just love the human spirit and the absolute joy and love I get to see in my couples and their families. Because her father has passed away, Lisa chose to dance with her mother and first gave a very moving speech about what a wonderful support her mother has been. When I first did their engagement session so long ago Lisa told me about her family history and I was embarrassed I knew very little about the Cambodian Genocide where nearly a third of the Cambodian people were killed in a horrible human tragedy. Lisa’s parents escaped the Khmer Rouge and the genocide and came to the US where they were married in 1982 with no property. Lisa’s father, Heng Lim, had to abandon the medical school he started in Cambodia and worked as an electrician. Lisa’s mother was also stripped of her Cambodian education and had to work in warehouses and as a waitress. While on vacation visiting family in Philadelphia, Lisa’s father was the victim of a hate crime in the middle of the night and killed on Father’s day in 1990. I’m tearing up just writing about this. Lisa’s mother, Mala, moved to Orlando because it was where she and Heng had wanted to move to before he died. She raised Lisa on her own, having difficulties being the first generation in America with fear of losing her daughter and learning the culture. Lisa told me a story of her first day of kindergarten knowing not a single word of English and being terrified of the policeman at the school. Obviously they were strong and successful together because Lisa now has a doctorate in pharmacology from UF and is a pharmacy manager. I have such an immense amount of respect for everything these ladies overcame to have a successful life in America, and because of the amazing person Lisa has become. She has such a genuine care for people that is amazing to watch.

Edgar then had his dance with his mother and also gave a beautiful speech about what she has done for her family. His mother and father, Lourdes and Eduardo, were married in the Philippines and moved to America where Eduardo became a cook in the Navy. They raised 3 boys, Edwin, Edwardo, and Edgar (he was the miracle baby because Lourdes was not supposed to be able to have any more children and 7 years after her second child, she had Edgar in Naples, Italy). When Edgar was 16, his dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was struggling through chemotherapy because he wanted to see Edgar graduate high school. He did not make it; as everyone thought he was getting better, he passed away. Edgar told of how his mother made a commitment to get all her children through college without debt and was able to achieve that goal as a single mother and how much respect he has for what she has accomplished. Both Lisa and Edgar’s mothers never want to remarry.

So one of the Cambodian traditions is to go around to each table to hand out favors and collect the cards... and apparently some guests believe in making you reach for it. Wasn't sure what was going on, but was VERY amused! :)

American Wedding Coordinator | Melissa DiStefano from Masterpiece Weddings

Photography| Lindsey Tropf from Pure by Lindsey

Venue | Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club

Videographer | CollabCreation Films by Eric Torres

Flowers/Décor | Unforgettable Events by Dan Hathcock

Hair | Manou Retting from New U Salon & Spa in Jacksonville, FL

Ceremony Music | Bella Strings with Stephanie Bower

Cake | Chef Albert Barrett from Stella’s Modern Pantry

Cambodian Master of Ceremony | Lanh Srey from the Jacksonville Cambodian Temple

Cambodian American Wedding

If you haven't seen Lisa and Edgar's Cambodian Wedding Ceremony, first be sure to check out the links below!

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

Because of their Cambodian heritage with their American roots as well, Lisa and Edgar chose to have both wedding ceremonies on the same day. After the Cambodian Ceremony, we headed over to Golden Ocala for their equally gorgeous American ceremony.

And remember, there are MANY more pictures of this amazing event on Lindsey's blog, so if you love this wedding as much as we do, please check out her blog!

You may recall the knot tying Ceremony from the Cambodian Ceremony ~ the couple leaves the knots on until they fall off naturally. I loved the reminder of the previous Ceremony throughout the American one!

This was my first time doing this, but culturally Lisa and Ed were expected to do images with each guest in their receiving line after their Ceremony and with the perfect light and joyous guests it was actually quite enjoyable. Here is just one of the images:

One of my favorites with bridesmaids ever! :)

FAVORITE! (down there)