I would like to keep you aware of the Bridal Showcases and Expo's that are in our area that may be helpful to your couples!!
Bridal Showcase
Sunday, April 5, 2009
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
St. Pete Beach Community Center
7701 Boca Ciega Drive
View the beautiful Boca Ciega ballroom with ceiling swag decorations and mock reception tablescapes. Visualize a ceremony on the edge of Boca Ciega Bay. Meet with the best of the Bay Area's caterers, chocolatiers, photographers, DJ's and more!
COST: FREE
All registered guests will be entedred to win a 4 hour rental to the Boca Ciega room for a rehearsal dinner, shower, or reception! Hope to see you there!!
Brides........now is the time to think about getting your wedding gown, and what better way to shop than to know it is for a very worthy cause! Come to the Making Memories Bridal Gown Sale. Making Memories' mission is to grant wishes and memory-making events to terminally ill breast cancer patients and to educate the public about the best practices to prevent metastatic breast disease.
Their goal is to provide individuals and their families with a special time together, away from the realities of the disease and financial concerns. We desire that everyone losing their fight against breast cancer, pass from this world comforted by the joy of having left one final beautiful memory of his or her family.
Last year, my husband Dave and I, volunteered for the event, we moved gowns by the truckload to a central area and put them on racks in anticipation of the brides arriving the next day to get some great deals! There are hundreds of gowns to browse through, exquisite, name brand and designer wedding gowns, $99 to $799 donated by manufacturers, retailers, designers, and individuals valued up to $8,000. This is a WIN - WIN situation, brides are able to get a beautiful gown at a reasonable price, or brides can turn in their used gown for tax deduction purposes, and all proceeds benefit the Brides Against Breast Cancer.
This is a wonderful event for brides, bridesmaids, mothers of brides, aunts and counsins or brides, EVERY woman who every loved wedding gowns, and professionals who want to come and help volunteer for this worthwhile event.
Here are the details:
March 5, 2009 VIP night from 6-9 pm ($50)
March 6, 2009 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
March 7, 2009 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Location: Howard Johnson Travel Plaza
111 West Fortune Street
Tampa, Florida
Website: www.BridesAgainstBreastCancer.org
If you would like to be involved contact Krissy Messer at 727-343-0800
One of the opportunities for couples in Florida to receive a $30.00 discount off their marriage license - which is currently approximately $93.00 is to participate in the four hour marriage preparation course. As an ordained Minister, I am an approved provider to give this counseling to the clients that I have an agreement with to conduct their ceremony. This marriage preparation is not affiliated with any religious organization or denomination. It is an educational and interactive program that will allow your couples to enjoy the activities and games involved and will help them to become more familiar with each other through in depth discussions, and it will help them facilitate discussions on topics such as managing finances, and raising children, just to name a few. It is a pleasure for me to be able to offer this valuable course to my couples, and also to help them to receive a discount on the cost of their marriage license. I do not charge for my services for this counseling, it is my gift to them. Couples may contact me through LovingUnity.com or enjoy my wedding blog at http://lovingunity.blogspot.com
I began wedding planning because first things first I am a planner. I have to know who, what, where, why, when and how. It is imperative that I know the answers to these questions for anything that I do so I can always plan accordingly. My love of weddings began much later when I realized how much the process had evolved and how many decisions and options were now available to you that I felt like I could genuinely help. Plus, I must add that I love LOVE and being apart of two people's lives on the day they say "I do" is so special that words just can not describe. It is inspiring!
There are so many choices and decisions that every couple must make for their special day that a wedding planner becomes essential. My goal with each couple that I work with is to make this process as easy as possible because I understand that it can be very overwhelming and stressful. I guide my couples through every step of the process and are there along the way for support and confirmation. When I refer a vendor, I try to match up each couple's unique personality with the different vendors I recommend, which is especially important for your photographer, videographer and DJ and officiants. It is important to me that you feel comfortable with who you are working with especially since it is over the course of months.
I am sure by now you have realized that you definitely need a wedding planner. So when you sit down with one and try to decide who you want to work with, I always say to go with your gut. Do you feel the person you are talking to will be easy to work with or difficult? Do they listen to your ideas or do they tell you exactly what you should do and who you will work with? Do they seem to know what they are talking about or does something just not add up? Does she/he have references or reviews from previous clients? Do they carry at least $1,000,000 in general liability insurance? Pay attention to your gut and really listen to what each planner you interview is saying and hopefully the decision will be easy to make from there.
One of my favorite things about planning someone's day is seeing the end result because I have already created in my head a vision of how everything will look after all of our conversations and seeing it come to life is breathtaking! It is amazing and one of the most gratifying moments of my job. But my absolute favorite thing about helping plan my couple's special day is the responses from them about how I made their day so spectacular that they could never thank me enough. That is the most gratifying moment of all and means the world to me!
Thank you Cindy! I know that of the weddings that I am involved with, things sure go much smoother with a professional wedding event planner!!! They are able to have a stress free event!!
I so enjoyed meeting Gary and Candy Terringno at a recent bridal show. Their company, Serendipity Photobooth - was such a fun and unique idea to bring some life to your parties!! I had the opportunity to have my photo shot in the booth and I will try to get it posted on here for you to see, but it was quick and easy, and the quality output was great! The photo booth provides fun for everyone! It's the fun of a traditional photo booth in a new sleek and modern design and it will be a hit with each and every guest. Because this new booth is so portable it makes it available in an area where full size photo booths can't go. You can choose between traditional Foto Fun Strips, a unique Foto Cube, or the classic Portrait Studio outputs. Each can be customized with a graphic design of logo to make the event even more personal and memorable.
The Portable Photo Booth is an ideal addition for any special occasion both large and small. Some that come to mind are Weddings, Graduations, Bar/BatMitzvahs, Sweet 16, Birthday Parties, Anniversaries or even Corporate Events. There are also Photo CD's available to commemorate the event.
One of the ideas that I liked most was that the guests could have their photos taken, and then placed in the scrabook along with their comments for best wishes for couples. That truly makes it personal.
Here is a great guest post compliments of Georgia Watson of www.weddingsbyGeorgia.com There are many ways to have an Echo Friendly wedding and if you have others to add, please share! Thank you Georgia!
How to Go Green, and have a “Echo Friendly” Wedding:
With weddings often being extravagant affairs, many couples wanting to tie the knot are looking towards making their nuptials more environmentally friendly. Weddings are generally a consumption nightmare and produce a great deal of waste. There's invitations, decorations, gifts, travel, clothing and the list goes on. Many of the items used at a wedding are only used once.
There's an old saying in connection with weddings believed to have been coined in the Victorian era. It refers to the bride and how she can bring good luck to her marriage by wearing:
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a silver sixpence in her shoe".
Superstition perhaps, but there's some very green advice in that.
My friend’s wedding was held on a local beach, a few miles outside of town. It had a total of 2 guests (the witnesses) and a celebrant. No marquees, no fuss, no catering, just a beautiful setting - you really can't improve on nature.
Still, such a small bare-bones wedding certainly isn't for everyone, so with that in mind, here's some green wedding tips!
Invitations and paper
- Use recycled paper (It is more money at times) wherever possible for wedding invitations; most companies can offer this option. Also consider treeless paper made from materials such as bamboo, hemp and kenaf. Even the type of ink used for the invitation should be taken into account as some inks can be toxic. Some girls even opt to send their invite on a CD or DVD instead. Maybe even an email!
- Weddings can generate a huge amount of paper consumption, so give careful thought to items that can be reduced. For example, instead of a program for everyone, perhaps one per couple or group.
Communications
- Throughout the lead up to the marriage ceremony, you'll no doubt have news to communicate with your guests about progress, venues etc. Instead of mail outs or bulky inserts accompanying the invitation, consider starting a web site or blog. This can also be very cost effective also as services such as Blogger.com can provide a blog for you for free. If you've had no experience with setting up a site or blog, companies such as Blogger provide easy to use tools. If you can use a mouse and a keyboard, you can run a blog!
Catering
- Where possible, use an organic catering company that sources local ingredients. Spear caught fish, organic veggies, etc.
- Minimize the amount of meat on the menu and maximize the use of in season fruit, vegetables and local dairy products.
Flowers
- Flowers used at weddings and receptions have a tendency to be out of season and therefore imported. Transportation and care of these flowers requires extra resources. Try to use locally sourced flowers. RENT and RENT again! Use reusable glassware, with water, organic materials go far here!
- Perhaps use potted flowers as these can make a great addition to your home or garden after the big event.
Venue and travel
- As mentioned, my close friend chose to have her wedding on a local beach. There was a good deal of luck involved weather-wise; but I can't think of a much more beautiful setting than one provided by nature!
- When selecting a venue, also consider where your guests will be travelling from. Try and find a middle point if possible. The less your guests have to travel, the cheaper for them and the less oil consumed.
- If you decide to hold the event indoors, try and select a venue that makes the best use of natural light.
- Encourage guests to purchase carbon offsets for their travel. Explain to them what an offset is and how they can purchase them.
Car or van pooling
- Instead of having everyone drive from their hotels/motels or wherever they are staying to the wedding or reception venue, perhaps organize a car pool or hire vans to transport everyone to and from your wedding venue. A great deal of fuel can be saved this way, not to mention it will help ensure those who have imbibed in the spirit of the occasion a little too much will get back to their accommodation safely.
Photos
- Everyone likes a photographic record of a marriage ceremony, so instead of sending out hundreds of paper based photographs, save on postage, processing and toxic chemicals by storing digital images on your wedding blog for family and friends to download as they please; printing out only what's absolutely necessary.
Cutlery and crockery
- Disposable plates, cups, napkins and cutlery can create masses of waste at large wedding receptions. Consider hiring non-disposable cutlery and crockery instead. If that's not viable, try to use recycled paper products or treeless options such as bamboo.
Wedding dresses and clothing
- Does your wedding dress really need to be new? Consider a pre-owned dress - you can save a stack of cash by doing so!
- If you do wish to purchase a new dress, try to ensure that it is made from natural, organic materials such as organic silk or hemp.
- If you have no desire to keep the dress after the wedding, donate it to a charity who can sell it, creating funds for them and perhaps saving someone else from needing to purchase a new dress.
Gifts and favors
- Weddings can generate all sorts of well-intentioned but unwanted gifts. Consider setting up a green wedding gift registry; which is basically just a wish list of earth friendly products you'd like.
- Ask for no gifts be purchased, but donations made to your favorite charities or environmental groups.
- For wedding favors, i.e. gifts you give to guests, make those earth friendly too. It could be a carbon offset to go towards their travel, a donation on the guest's behalf, a tree planted in their name or a gift basket of green products.
Wedding rings
- The amount of natural resources and energy that go into creating wedding rings is incredible. Consider very simple rings, or perhaps a re-fashioned pre-owned ring and for the truly adventurous; maybe a wooden wedding ring - that may sound a little strange, but these are amazing and very individual creations!
Confetti
- Instead of having paper confetti, rice or seed, use flower petal confetti as a beautiful and easily biodegradable option.
Wedding cake
- Ask your baker to use organic ingredients only. This shouldn't present too much of a problem and is unlikely to increase the cost of the cake considerably.
Cleanup
- Whoever you are hiring to clean up after your wedding, ensure that they will separate recyclables from non-recyclables in order to minimize the amount of trash that winds up in landfills.
Greening your marriage ceremony and reception is sure to be a talking point among your guests, so it's also an opportunity to educate your family and friends about earth friendly living!
Good luck in planning for your green wedding, for the big day and may you enjoy many years of wedded bliss! Georgia is experienced in going green even for the brides who just want to make a small change!
It is a pleasure to know and work with Roger Slater of CCS Photography. I asked him to share with us some of his Best of 2008 and WOW!!! See for yourself!!! I can only say they are creative, beautiful, and breathtaking! Also of note, Roger was in a state-wide competition and received TWO Salon Merits from the Florida Professional Photographers Association. Congratulations!!! Be sure to check out the winning entries on his website www.cssphotography.net.
