Sheneil and Cory

Thinking of Sheneil and Cory brings a wide smile to my face. Although I met more with Sheneil and Emilee (her wonderful maid of honor) than Cory I got to know them and get along with them, building a friendship along the way. I liked Sheneil from the moment she interviewed me and it was fun getting to know her over the 9 months of planning. By the time it was their wedding day, when it came time for my client [turned friend] to walk down the aisle, I had a hard time keeping it together as I sent her on her way. I had to quickly wipe the tears of joy off my face and pull it together to get back to work coordinating the wedding. That is one of the best parts of my job. Sending a girl you have come to know down the aisle to her new hubby!

It was a special day and it ended with a big party under the stars! The reception was beautiful. Sheneil, Emilee and I sat down and put our heads together to design her ceremony and reception. She had a pretty good idea of what she wanted and trusted me to do the rest and make it happen. The colors were classic black and white but she wanted to spice up the party by adding magenta. There was a lot of color at this reception, from the pink chair ties to the pink up lighting to the pink champagne, it was truly "Pretty in Pink."

Congrats again you guys!!

This magical night was photographed by the very talented Kelly Chandler. Please take a look...


Photography by Kelly Chandler
http://www.kellychandler.com/

Diana and Jesse

Diana and Jesse are full of laughter where ever they go. They are so down to earth and were such a pleasure to work with. The vision for their special day was that they wanted a traditional church wedding coupled with a dazzling, action packed reception at Echo Falls Country club that encompassed all of their religious and cultural traditions. Their ceremony had a very serious and heart felt tone but by the time they got to their reception, it was a full on party/comedy fest. I don't every think I have seen so much laughter at a wedding reception.

Choosing green, brown and white as their wedding colors, their wedding was filled with white calalilies and green cymbidium orchids. The bridesmaids wore beautiful brown dresses holding bouquets of white calalilies while the bride wore white of course holding a bouquet of white calalilies, white roses, freesia and green orchids. Their reception was a mix of tall and low profile centerpieces giving the room some character. From the simple candle ball set in sand centerpieces to the tall martinis overflowing with long steam calalilies, it was elegant and very chic. The food was delicious and Alex Studio did a great job photographing this elegant wedding. Thank you to Jesse and Diana for choosing me help create this unforgettable night! You guys are awesome!!

Photgraphy by Alex Studio
www.alexphotography.com

Sara Anne and Brendan

Sara Ann and Brendan were the most delightful couple to work with! They are so adventurous in life and they really wanted to bring that aspect to their wedding. They are doctor and school teacher by vocation, but in their spare time they are world travelers, mountain climbers, wine connoisseurs and you can tell they just love to have a good time...although Sara Anne has a tendency to be slightly accident prone. Good thing she is a doctor!

They had many visions for their wedding that were out of the ordinary, but mainly they just wanted good food, good wine and good people around them all having a FUN time. Having a "Green" wedding was also important to them so notice the bamboo place settings in the photo below. Their wedding included a beach, bouquets of wildflowers, "Sand in my Pants" signature cocktails, 11 different wines on the wine list, a scaled down version of Mount Rainer made out of cupcakes, flip flops, custom printed frisbees as favors for all of their guests, a 12 piece band and a choreographed Tango for their first dance. It was sure a night to remember!

This unique wedding was photographed by the wonderful Kate McElwee! She really captured the spirit of this beautiful day! Take a look at a few pics...

Photography by Kate McElwee
www.katemcelweephotography.com

Yellow Weddings

A cheerful trend of 2008 and an even hotter wedding trend for 2009. The Yellow Wedding. Yellow is such a happy color for a wedding day and there is so much you can do with it. From lemon centerpieces to custard desserts there are so many beautiful ways to incorporate this color as your main color or as an accent. Yellow is often a wonderful accent to red and orange palate in the summer, green in the spring, brown in the fall and grey in the winter.

You can have an outdoor wedding filled with daisies, yellow checkered linens and lemonade or an upscale hotel wedding filled with breathtaking yellow cymbidium orchids, lemondrops for the ladies and margaritas for the men.

Yellow will bring smiles to a sunny day and sunshine to your rainy day.

Thanksgiving & Wine Pairings

I thought I would step away from wedding tips today and switch gears to tips when throwing your own holiday dinner party. Especially to all of you newly weds hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, here are some awesome planning tips and wine pairings:

Too Many People, Not Enough Place Settings?
Instead of rushing out to purchase more of that china and glassware you just received as wedding presents, add even more fall colors to the table by renting fun Thanksgiving china instead! From 50 cents to a dollar per plate, glassware or chargers you will save yourself money while adding festive fall flare to your dinner table. You can rent the china in the picture below from Totally Tabletops. Check them out at http://www.totallytabletops.com/. Or check out any other rental company in town, like AA Party Rentals. http://www.aaparty.com/


Decorate the Table
Everyone enjoys looking at a beautiful table and it is always fun to decorate! There are many ways to decorate without breaking the budget also... While you are at the rental company picking out your festive place settings, add a couple of festive linens, sheer table cloths or elegant table runners. Renting these will be far less cheaper than purchasing. For a cheaper version to some elaborate flower centerpiece, go purchase a bag of frozen cranberries put them in small vases (that you can also rent at most rental companies) and grab a couple of dozen roses at Costco for only $15.99. Inexpensive and festive all at the same time!

Thanksgiving Wines
Learning about wines is a hobby of mine. I taste multiple wines during wine tastings every week expanding my palate as well as learn lots about food and wine pairings!

Mouthwatering turkey, butternut squash and mashed potatoes deserve some thought when deciding what type of wine to purchase for your Thanksgiving dinner. Pinot Noir is generally the go to red wine to pair with Thanksgiving dinner. While you can spend a lot of money on a Pinot, for a less expensive option, I would recommend Montoya. A $16 Pinot from Oregon that is incredible for the price point.

The White wine I would pair with dinner would have to be Pure Platinum by Kestrel. This is actually a Viognier/Gewurztraminer blend. Although you might think, too sweet..think again. This wine is incredibly rich with citrus fruit and orange blossoms that will pair perfectly with your Thanksgiving Dinner! This wine should only set you back $13 per bottle.

Both of these wines can be found, purchased and special ordered by the half case or case at Village Wines in Woodinville. This is a darling little wine shop nestled in the heart of Woodinville wine country. They offer discounts if you order by the case, so if you are hosting an extra large Thanksgiving dinner this year, I would highly recommend you give them a call, stop by or log onto their website http://www.myvillagewines.com/. You can purchase these online at their online store http://www.delavin.com/ also.