2008 was a fabulous year and I have my many wonderful clients and colleagues to thank for that. I love love LOVED being a part of so many wonderful events and was inspired by everyone I worked with. But as much as I have loved 2008, I am equally READY for 2009! I am so excited for the events that are already in the works, as well as those that I don’t even know about yet. I’m looking forward to all of the stories and surprises that the new year will be bring.

My New Year’s resolution is the the same as it is every year – to put my gym membership to actual use! If there are any Urban Active members out there who want to help me with my resolution, let me know! I’m much better at going to the gym when someone else guilts me into going. And if YOUR resolution is to have a stress-free wedding or event, then contact me and I can make sure it happens :)

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

Best wishes,

At my last wedding of 2008, the bride and groom commented to me multiple times how surprised (and happy!) they were that the day was going so smoothly and seamlessly. Their secret? Very simple – they chose high-quality, professional vendors (more on that to come in their recap which will be posted soon). On your wedding day, your wedding vendors work as a team to make sure that everything happens precisely the way you envisioned, so having a team of professionals that complement each other in style and process is key.

That said, what if you could have two high-quality, professional vendors for the price of one? For the month of February 2009 only, Lifetime Video is offering complimentary wedding day coordination with any package booked. The process is simple – when you book Lifetime Video for your videography, you’ll receive complimentary wedding day coordination from your choice of 3 companies (including Aviva Events) as well as special discounts from Brideface. For more details, contact Matt Pine – (513) 231-0080 or matt@lifetime-video.com.

Please spread the word – it’s a deal to good to be missed!

In Cincinnati, we’re very lucky because there are an outrageous number of photographers, and within that outrageous number there is somewhere between 7 and 10 that are (in my opinion) truly amazing artists. Steph Carson definitely falls in that “artist” category, and today was her birthday! She celebrated by having a surprise (on the guests!) party at her newly opened studio downtown. Purple was the theme, to celebrate her new logo/blog design (or maybe she just really loves purple? or both?)… Nancy was on hand to prettify and purpleify the guests before they each got a photo taken on the purple couch, and purple champagne was popped just for the occassion. Now if I were smart, I would have broken out my brand new Flip Video (thank you, Seth) which was in my purse and taken some quick shots of the fun to share with everyone. But I’m not used to having my awesome new technology yet, so I didn’t even think to until after I had left. But– Matt Pine of Lifetime Video was there to document it all, so be sure to check his blog!

Steph, I’m glad I got to see your new space and celebrate your birthday with you, even if I didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked to. I hope you had a truly fantastic day!
*** had to update to include this pic, which I stole (yep, I’m bad) from Steph’s blog. LOVE it.

Nancy and Rich were married in late October at her parent’s home, which was the perfect setting for this small wedding. We lucked out with PERFECT weather, and the small group of guests (about 40 of their closest friends and family) gathered on the deck to watch Nancy and Rich exchange their wedding vows. Nancy’s children were included in the ceremony as well, and when they were asked if they would accept Rich as their dad, there was not a dry eye on the deck! Beautiful, beautiful ceremony.

To transform the Dawson’s home and yard into a ‘wedding venue’, we rented tables and chairs (and a porch heater) from All Occasions (thank you Beth & Kristen), and draped the porch and yard with string lights and hanging lanterns. Loads of candles both inside and out helped to warm the space and set the mood. Much credit has to be given to Nancy’s father for all his work on the lighting scheme! Additional small porch heaters were purchased from Target to help keep the porch space warm enough for guests to dine comfortably.

Being her fabulously stylish self, Nancy of course put a lot of DIY work into her wedding. When I spoke with her the morning of the wedding she said to me “I want it to look like Anthropologie threw up in my living room”. She succeeded (in the best of ways, of course!). She found a great vintage-inspired fabric online and had a local seamstress create table runners to liven up the simple linens provided by her caterer. Nancy also hired an etsy seller to create dresses for her daughter and niece using some of the same fabric – they were ADORABLE.

In the screened-in porch and connecting living room we combined banquet tables to create long, family-style seating to best suit the space and to compliment the slightly more casual feel of the event. The center of the dining tables were lined with small potted plants, mercury glass candlesticks, small bell jars, and other ‘found’ objects — the final effect was beautiful, and very “anthropologie-esque”. Nancy’s bouquet was created by Courtenay Lambert, and I have to say that it is one of my absolute favorites from all of 2008.

Funky’s Catering provided the beyond-delicious dinner and desserts (displayed on silver cake stands we found at one of many post-meeting trips to Home Goods), and the backyard fire pit was put to good use as a S’mores station… way too much fun for both the kids and the adults. Tine Hoffman (tm photography) photographed all the gorgeous details (all the images in this post I have swiped off her blog as well as from Nance’s facebook – sorry/thanks Tine!) — and had the very first s’more of her life that night!

It sounds a bit trite but it is absolutely true, it was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple and family!