While sipping a glass of champagne with Alyssa Goff Stock … Former client, event planner and good friend!

 

It was such a pleasure to sit down with Alyssa and recap her wedding experience.  While Alyssa and I have been acquaintances for many years it was not until we worked together on her wedding that our friendship truly bloomed.  I was thrilled when she called and asked me to be her wedding planner.  She is an exceptional event planner and works on amazing large corporate events and festivals. I am so honored to be considered one of her friends, she is an exceptional and talented  person.

How are you enjoying married life? Is it what you expected? 

I am enjoying married life! It is so much better than I expected. I thought that once we got married we would go back to our life before planning a wedding. But something inexplicable changed; we are different, it is awesome

What is your favorite thing about being married? 

I have a good husband.

You recently t celebrated your first anniversary, did you do anything special?

My husband surprised me with a night at The Palmer House, where we spent our wedding night and took me to dinner where we had our rehearsal dinner.  It was perfect and I was so impressed with how much time and thought he put into everything.

What was your favorite part of your wedding day? 

Being surrounded by all of our friends and family. It was so wonderful to have people from all over come together to celebrate with us.

What was your favorite “detail” about the wedding? 

 Our venue was perfect (Prairie Productions in the west loop). We got to do something a little unique while still being a little traditional.

Were there any surprises? 

I was surprised by the things that made me nervous. I was very calm getting ready and then the photographer showed up and everybody started moving around and suddenly I was nervous. Also I was very nervous walking down the aisle but not because I was about to get married, but because I suddenly realized everybody was looking at me.

You are an event planner, was it hard to let go and trust Greatest Expectations to plan the wedding?  

YES. In the beginning it was hard to let go of some of the planning. But I mad a deal with my husband that if we got a wedding planner I would not work our wedding. So I told myself that the second the rehearsal started I was no longer in charge. I have to say it was great. I feel like I was a guest at my own wedding. (That is good news!  It means we did our jobs perfectly!).

Did you enjoy working with all of your vendors? 

Most of them. There was one I was not very happy with but she got promoted and her replacement was awesome. (The caterer was Weddings By Blue Plate).

What was your favorite place to shop for wedding items? 

The internet.  You can get anything and everything online!

What was your favorite part of the planning process? 

Truthfully having a wedding planner. Whenever we got stuck on something or did not know how to do something we had someone to turn to. That makes me smile from ear to ear.  I love hearing that!

If you could have changed anything what would it be? 

I am constantly seeing new wedding dresses and new hairstyles that I like. But truthfully I would not have changed anything. Neither would we.  Alyssa and Eddie’s wedding was just perfect!

Any regrets? 

 No. Again, just what I like to hear.

When you look back, how was your actual wedding different than you had envisioned it being? 

I was never one of those people that had a vision of my wedding day and I think that was a good thing. Truthfully everything turned out better that I thought it would when we were planning it. I have to say my wedding day was everything I could have hoped for and more.

Do you remember how you felt the day after your wedding? 

Happy, sad, tired, dazed. I was so happy to be married, I was sad that everyone was leaving town because I felt like I barely got to talk to anyone, and I was dazed the wedding sort of felt like a dream.

What five words best describe working with Greatest Expectations? 

 Organized, fun, hard working, stress relieving and budget concious  (I know that is more than 5). I think we’ll forgive you the extra word!

Thank you Alyssa for taking time to chat with us.  Below are a ew of my all time favorite shots from Alyssa’s wedding.  The photographs are by Rob Warner at Warner Foto.  The beautiful flowers are from Fleur, Inc.