Gone on Vacation!!!!!!!!

Headin out for 2 weeks!!! Will be fresh and ready with new posts when I get back.

See you soon!

Brooke

We’ve come to a decision.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on my blog “HELP” last week. Shawn and I gave it a lot of thought and considered all the good advice and we are going to skip a wedding reception. You my readers were right, I was only doing it because I thought it’s what everyone else wanted but it’s not what I wanted. We decided instead to hold a house-warming bbq on our 1 year anniversary. I think it’s the best way to enjoy our first year together as a married couple. What better to have good food and good company in our new home! We decided to take the money we would have spent on a reception and to have a true honeymoon before we start trying for kids.In the grand scheme of things you would look back on and regret, I feel like that time alone together means more to us than a big reception and I would not want to regret missing that.

Note * to all my reader who are friends and clients, I am NOT knocking big receptions!!!! I just didn’t think it was right for us!!!*

Thanks again for all the good advice!

follow your heart…
Brooke

Wide world of flowers

Today’s topic is for girls like me, let’s call us “Brides on a budget”. If florals are what you envision in your centerpieces than below is a quick and easy color guide to let you know what’ sin season during the month of your wedding. If you stick to these flowers your budget with your florist will be significantly lower. Anytime you order florals that are out of season or not grown local your price can skyrocket! A helpful hint get pics of things you like and a color scheme you want then let your florist do the rest. Remember they are professionals in what they do and they have a better knowledge of flowers and what will and will not work well. I walked into my floral appointment and said I want flowers in a long low rectangle shaped vase and I want them in all blues and whites, that was the extent of my involvement with the florals. I trusted my florist knew better than I did and below is the finished product!

My table before it was set

Summer Flowers
Alstromeria- Orange, pink, yellow and cream
Chrysanthemum- White yellow, orange and pink
Gerber Daisies- Pink, yellow, orange, red and white
Hydrangea- White, blue, purple and pink
Statice- Purple
Sunflower- Yellow
Zinnia- Red, Orange and Pink

Fall Flowers
Aster- White and pink
Chrysanthemum- White, yellow, orange and pink
Dahlia- variety of colors
Statice- Purple
Zinnia- red, orange and pink

Winter Flowers
Amaryllis- Red and white
Bells of Ireland- Green
Poinsettia- Red and white
Ranunculus- white, pink, red/coral, lavender/purple
Tulip- Many colors
Jasmine- White

Spring Flowers
Anemone- Blue, red, pink, white
Casa Blanca Lily- White
Delphinium- White and blue
Peony- Pink or white
Sweetpea- white, pink, red/coral and lavender/purple
Hyacinth- Purple, Pink or white.

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The list above are just a start, for more info on seasonal flowers check out http://www.datehookup.com type in seasonal wedding flowers. They have a more complete list.
Most importantly find a florist who listens to your budget and trust them to do the rest!

Have fun!
Brooke

Help!!!!!!!!!

The day I married my best friend!

Dear readers,
I know I am still fairly new to this blogging thing and I am supposed to be a wedding pro but I have come across a question of my own that i just can’t seem to answer. My husband Shawn and I chose to do a small, quick wedding back in June, we got engaged in the end of March. There were a lot of reasons to why we didn’t want to wait more than a few months to get married and to why we wanted to do a small wedding ( think 20 people small). I will never regret that decision and that day was the best day of my life but we did give up certain things and missed out on a few moments. That being said it’s been expected that we have a reception on our 1 year anniversary so that we can celebrate with the guests that didn’t attend the ceremony and also it allows us the opportunity to get back special moments ( first dance, toasts ect..) that we missed the first time around. When we first discussed doing a small wedding we always intended to hold a large reception a year later, that was the plan! However after over half a year of marriage it is starting to seem unimportant. Things like buying a house and having a baby are more pressing issues and I am having a hard time justifying the money for a reception when I am a year deep in my marriage. The problem is all of our friends and family that weren’t invited to the ceremony already feel slighted and I don’t want to cause anymore hurt feelings then I already have. What to do in a situation like this?
I find myself at a loss and considering I almost always have the answer when it comes to this type of stuff I feel like I am traveling foreign waters.
Comments and suggestions are most appreciated especially if anyone who follows has been in a similiar situation, and to my family and friends please don’t hesitate to be honest.

Thanks for the help!
Brooke

Freebies!

Ah a new year! How I love the months of January thru March… Such a busy time of year for me! Typically our phone starts ringing non-stop on the 2nd of January and keeps on until the end of March. That means that we aren’t super busy in the ballrooms but crazy hectic in our office. I love being really busy at work nothing is worse than sitting at work twiddling your thumbs and wondering when 5 o’ clock is going to come.
I’m not sure if all halls are like us but typically we are busy because of the different booking specials we offer which brings around to my blog topic for today!
Don’t wait to book if you haven;t decided about a hall for your event for this year take advantage of the deals that you can get by booking January thur March. Most places typically want to encourage same year bookings so if you are planning something special for this year now is a good time to do the research and consider where you will be holding your event. Take advantage of the freebies that you can get when you put a deposit down during winter months. Think of this time of year like a fire sale for halls and venues and take advantage of the specials that they have to offer.
Good luck in your shopping and have fun planning whatever might be on your calendar for 2013!

Brooke