Embrace the holiday season when planning your wedding!

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Greatest Expectations

Now that we are approaching the holidays we thought it might be nice to discuss “holiday themed events.” For the most part, we tend to shy away from events that are too “over-themed,” but that does not mean you shouldn’t take inspiration from the holidays and the seasons in general. Why not consider embracing the holiday season when planning your wedding? This post features lots of ways to have a wedding that is fun, creative and full of seasonal love.

Picking the month, date and location for your wedding is an important factor in deciding how you want the rest of your wedding to look and feel. It’s also important to consider what is going on in your city over your preferred dates. In Chicago we find that the months of September and October are the busiest wedding months, however, planning a November wedding can offer you cost savings and a plethora of venue options. Once you enter December you will fight holiday parties for event space, so it’s best to be a little flexible on your dates.

Use your wedding date and season as inspiration for your location. If you are planning a fall wedding look into parks, orchards, vineyards, farms or ranches. Fall seems to call for an outdoor or rustic, yet elegant, setting.

A winter themed wedding is ideal in a ski or mountain lodge or a small inn. These venues will provide the small intimate cozy setting that’s fitting for a winter wedding. If you choose to have your wedding at a lodge, you may be fortunate to have a snowy mountain as a natural back drop. There are some beautiful destination spots within a few short hours from Chicago. Or take this an entirely different direction and embrace the beauty of the city during the holidays – the sparkling lights and decorated store windows. How about transporting your guests via a carriage ride down Michigan Avenue or State Street?!

Selecting a color palette guided by the holidays is the perfect way to begin. It can be fun to get a little non-traditional! Consider, earthy green and brown in November or silver and blue in December. You may also need to consider the type of decor your venue will have in place for the holidays. If you are in a hotel or club they may have permanent holiday decor that could influence your own design. Take advantage of the natural beauty of the season as well and include it in your decor.

Build your menu around the season as well. We always encourage you to use locally sourced food items and the best way to do that is to serve what is in season at the time of your wedding. Consider the way the food will appear on the plate and how it is served. Remember that food styling is as much a part of your overall look as anything else. Everyone can appreciate a beautifully arranged plate! Specialty cocktails can be especially fun this time of year, consider spiced apple cider or wine (with a stick of cinnamon inside), eggnog or hot buttered rum! Give gingerbread cookies as late night snacks and hot chocolate as guest favors.

Dress the part! Don’t forget to cover up when outside. Beautiful faux fur shrugs or shawls can keep you warm and are beautiful in pictures. These can also be great bridesmaids gifts for your wedding party. If you are brave enough, consider a short outside ceremony in the snow and provide blankets to warm your guests!

Lastly, remember to have some fun with your pictures! Photographers love doing out-of-the-box shots to incorporate your personalities and the season, so get creative!

Here are a few other little details that may help inspire your holiday themed wedding.

Featured images are from the following:

Document The Day Photography

Heather Parker Photography

The Boho Wedding Blog

A Salute to Military Wedding

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Greatest Expectations

We wanted to take a moment to thank all of our men and women in the Military for their sacrifices and services to our country. As a little nod to you, we though it might be nice to do a little piece on how to plan the perfect Military wedding.

Almost every girl dreams about their wedding day. They Imagine walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress in a perfect setting with her knight in shining armor. For many modern brides this dream does come true and planning a military wedding is not only an honor but a privilege! Having a military wedding in many cases can be just as much work if not more than a traditional wedding (so don’t forget to hire a professional to help you through the process). Here are some things to keep in mind when planning a military wedding:

Paperwork: In addition to getting your marriage license you must also fill out the proper paper work through the chaplain. It is important that you get permission from proper military officials.

Location: base or other venue? As a military couple you have the option to get married and have the reception on a base, but quite often many military couples choose to stick to their traditions and have their wedding and reception at a church or another venue. Beware: it is extremely important to check the chaplain or commanding officer about the proper protocol for a traditional military wedding which differ with each branch. If you choose to have the wedding off the base, be sure to check with the vendors to see if sword and gun use is allowed on premises.

Things to Remember:

Military chapels, like any other venue tend to book up fairly quickly in the spring and summer. Therefore it is important to book as far in advance as possible.
In most cases, you will be required to take pre-marital counseling, so be sure to check on that in advance.
One of the benefits of getting married on base is the fact that military chaplain never requires a fee.

Wedding Clothes: no tux just uniform up to military standards (how’s that for being eco-friendly and saving on the budget!)

Evening: Wear your formal uniform blue in winter, white in summer.
The uniform will often change depending on the branch that the bride/groom is in.
Non military guest wear traditional wedding clothes.

The Arch of Sabers

One of the most famous and rememberable parts of a military wedding is the arch of sabers. In this, the bride and groom walk under an arch of swords. It is believed that the arch represent a safe transition into the couples new future. Depending on what branch the bride/groom are in, there are different commands to drawing the swords, so be sure to check with your commanding officer on the appropriate terms and use.

The Reception

Again, you have the choice to have the reception on base or another venue.

Things to remember:

Military guest are seated according to their ranking.
The American Flag can be used as a source of decoration.
The bride and groom are allowed to cut the cake with a saber of sword!
With these tips you will be well on your way to having a fantastic military wedding!!

Planning your reception from the top down

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Greatest Expectations

One of the things we love to do is get creative in a reception venue. Often times people wonder what they can do to take their venue to the next level, but the ideas elude them. This is where we come in! As event planners and designers it’s our job (and our passion) to help you “style” your wedding!

One way to really make an impact is to design from the top down … Yup, you guessed it … We are talking about ceiling decor!! I love the images below from the WeddingWire blog. There are so many wonderful things we can help you design!

Celebrate Earth Week by Having a Green Wedding and Living a more Eco-Conscious Life!

Posted on April 24, 2010 by Greatest Expectations

Here at Greatest Expectations we put a lot of focus on the eco-friendly aspects of event planning. We work hard to incorporate as many “green” things into our events, offices and daily lives as possible.

Many of you may think that having an eco-friendly wedding is cost prohibitive but honestly that does not have to be the case! There are many, many things you can do to make the carbon footprint of your event smaller with out spending tons of money!

On a very basic level consider making use of the internet! A great way to save trees is to send an e-save-the-date. This does not have to be a plain old email – you can still have someone design a beautiful “card” and then email it to everyone on your list (remember that if you send someone a save-the-date you must send them a wedding invitation).

We also suggest getting a free wedding website. We really like the ones offered on wedding wire and OneWed. These offer excellent planning tools all around. They can help you manage your guest list, budget, vendors and even help you do seating arrangements!! Consider having your guests send in their responses online (through the website) instead of using a traditional response card (thus saving the printing of the card, envelope and cost of postage!). I realize having guests RSVP online is extremely non-traditional but if you are planing a green wedding it is truly the way to go! We have done it several times and it works out great.

When it comes to the actual wedding invitation consider having them printed on 100% recycled paper, using earth friendly printing methods with an eco equipped studio, and carbon free shipping! We really love the ones offered by Earthly Affairs. They have a very clean and elegant look with tons of design choices. Their price point is great also! For 100 invitations with printed return address on the envelope you will spend about $314!! They do take a little extra time to produce (about three weeks) so be sure to allow plenty of time when placing your order.

We love the idea of “reusing” items … Whether this is something you already own or purchasing something previously used, this is an excellent way to go green in your wedding planning! The Recycled Bride is an excellent website that allows you to find just about anything you can imagine for your event from clothing to rings, table and ceremony decor to jewelry and accessories. You would be surprised by all of the items you never even think of that cost tons of money but you only use once … Like jars for your candy bar, LED candles (for those historical venues that don’t allow live flame), even fun and unique vessels for your centerpieces. You can also sell items, that can still have life in them, after your wedding is over … The Recycled Bride really takes reduce, reuse and recycle to a whole new bridal level!

You can also consider finding a wedding dress resale shop in your area. Here in Chicago I love to send people to White Chicago where you can purchase designer seconds (at a significantly reduced price) or a gently used dress. You can also consign your wedding dress here.

If you have your heart set on having a new wedding dress then how about one made of eco-friendly materials! We are completely in love with Threadhead Creations Eco Wedding dresses found on etsy (another amazing resource all around). These beautiful gowns are custom made (although they do offer a small selection of ready to ship dresses) with the fabric of your choice. Another fantastic company is Natural Bridal. They make amazing gowns that can be purchased through their etsy site here. They also offer wraps, garters and other eco-friendly accessories in addition to their wedding dresses. To make them even more wonderful, 5% of your purchase goes towards environmental non profit groups!!

Your bridal party can have dresses made as well! We love ECONICA for something custom or consider purchasing them from sites like Wore it Onc e or Recycled Bride. This option is excellent if you have a very small bridal party. If you have a slightly larger bridal party why not put them in black and allowing them to wear any dress they want … Then they know it will fit their body type and they can wear it again!

When it comes to Bridal Jewelry everyone loves BLIG! What bride does not want to dazzle and sparkle on her big day? But who can afford to spend tons of money on diamonds!! That is where a really cool site like Adorn comes in. Greatest Expectations has a special relationship with the people at Adorn. If you rent items from them and enter our unique code (CHBC2018) you will get a 20% discount on all items!! That’s a little Earth Week treat from us! They carry so many beautiful pieces but we especially love the items with Saphires … Something Blue anyone?

When it comes to items for your guests I always suggest using reusable bags (instead of paper or plastic) for welcome bags. You can even have them personalized at Factory Direct Promotions where everything is eco-friendly!! They are even better if you have reusable water bottles inside! If you order them in advance and get enough, you can get great deals on both items! When filling them consider using small local companies that use sustainable products. If you are in Chicago how think about Rare Bird Preserves or Rich Chocolate & Candies … YUMMY!!!

If you plan on doing favors (and we firmly believe you can skip this part with out any complaints) we suggest something edible, plantable or better yet making a donation in your guests honor to a charity that is special to you! We had clients a few months ago that simply could not decide what charity to donate to so they selected three and allowed their guests to pick their favorite charity!

When it comes to food and beverage ask your catering company to not use bottled water (as long as you live in a city with good tap water, like Chicago), recycle as much as possible after the event and use sustainable, locally grown items! Something you wish you could do but cannot is donate left over food to a shelter. They have some pretty strict rules (Health Code related) and cannot accept items that have been opened or partly consumed by others. I did have a friend that once went to lower wacker and gave food away to the homeless – now that is something you can do!

And don’t forget about implementing as many green items into your everyday life as possible … Always use your own water bottle. I really like the Intake from Thermos, if you brew coffee at home get a coffee maker with a reusable filter, carry your own coffee cozy like one from Green Pockets on Etsy. Consider using an efax instead of a traditional fax. They are actually really helpful, your faxes come in as PDF’s (saving paper and ink) and can be saved directly into the right file. You can also send faxes without printing them out! And don’t forget to shop and eat Local!!! This helps keep your neighbor’s in business, your community vitalized, and your overall carbon footprint smaller

Happy Earth Week!! We hope this post (and many others like it) will inspire you to make green decisions, even the small ones count!! And please remember to be green all year around, not just one week a year!!

A great article from Every Last Detail …

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Greatest Expectations

As with most of you, I wake up each morning and read through my blog roll. I am always excited to see what everyone has to say and hoping that will interest and inspire me. This morning I came across an excellent post about working with your wedding vendors from Lauren at Every Last Detail (a really fantastic wedding planning blog). I wanted to share her thoughts with you …

Part of the objective of {ELD} is to educate brides throughout the wedding planning process. So, I thought that sharing some tips about working with wedding vendors would be beneficial to both brides and vendors. No, these aren’t bad things or industry secrets. These tidbits are just things to consider when working with your wedding vendors.

- Go to your meetings prepared. Bring photos, swatches, contracts- whatever you desire really. Have a couple of questions. If you don’t have any clue about what to expect for the meeting, it doesn’t hurt to ask beforehand. If you’re going to an initial consultation, have an idea in your head of what you want your wedding to be like. If you’re at a complete loss, try the {ELD} Style Dictionary for some help. If that’s the case, tell the vendor outright that you haven’t decided on what kind of wedding you want.

- Going along with the previous statement, TALK to your vendors. They can’t read your mind and know what you want. If you don’t have anything specific that you want, tell them so they can give you ideas and suggestions.

-Don’t be afraid to ask your vendors for other referrals. Good vendors working with each other results in a good experience for ALL!

- Your wedding vendors work weekends, of course, as most weddings are on weekends. However, just because they are “working” does not mean that they are sitting at their desks all weekend. They’re out, on location, at weddings, working. Please don’t be worried or mad if an email you send on the weekend or at the end of the week isn’t returned immediately. I know they’re all super awesome at returning emails during the week, but come Thursday or Friday, things can turn into a madhouse preparing for weddings. Please have patience with your vendors if you send emails during “peak days”, and give them time to get back to the office and respond.

- Running late for a meeting or did life just get in the way? Call the vendor and let them know! Wedding vendors don’t have the most normal schedules, and although most of the time they’re very accommodating, more times than not they also have lots of other things on their plate.

- Something else to remember: your wedding vendors’ respective profession is their career and job. They don’t do it “on the side” or as a “hobby”. Meaning it’s their livelihood and how they put food in their family’s mouth, just like your job. Yes, they love what they do and it’s a fun, rewarding job, but they also have to make money. Their prices are what they are because it’s what they live off of.

- Some vendors you have that may be working with family members on the day of your wedding (coordinator, planner, photographer, videographer, DJ) won’t know what their names are unless you specifically tell them. Give them specific names for your bridal party and any family involved. For photos, have a family member act as the “round up person” to get needed family members efficiently.

- And of course- sorry to sound like a broken record- everything is better and easier when you have a wedding planner/coordinator. It’s pretty much unanimously agreed upon by all wedding vendors.

Thanks for the excellent advice Lauren! As always, I will check in with you tomorrow!

Inspired By This …

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Greatest Expectations

If you have not already checked out Inspired By This I think you should get right to it! I simply adore this blog and make sure to check it several times a day We added them to our blog roll a few weeks ago, so I sure hope some of our loyal readers have checked it out!

I was “inspired” by their post this morning about custom chocolates! Leila from Inspired By This is passionate about chocolate and let’s be honest … I have had quite a love affair with chocolate myself.

When it comes to favors I normally suggest making a donation instead. There are so many amazing charitable organizations out there and it is easy to select one that is special to you and your fiance. But if you really want to give something then I say it simply must be edible (or drinkable).

Leila’s post today was the perfect combination of both the edible and charitable ideas. Introducing Chocri: Mein Schokolade! A site and service dedicated solely to make delicious and custom chocolate bars. Founded in Germany and just recently brought to the US in January, Chocri offers the most options out there to customize your bar; there are more than 100 toppings!

What really puts me over the edge in love with this custom chocolate bar company is that all of the chocolate is organic, fair trade chocolate from Belgium. As if that were not exciting enough, Chocri is also dedicated to giving back! They donate a percentage of their revenues to DIV Kinder which is an organization that supports children at the Ivory Coast. You can even make an extra donation at check out if you so desire. These facts basically make the custom bars a perfect wedding favor! A delicious treat and charitable giving … A Perfect Pair!

Be sure to check in out Inspired By This … I promise you will not be disappointed!

Not Your Grandmother’s Bridal Shower …

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Greatest Expectations

If you are like many of the couples we work with you already have all of the stuff you need for your home. That said, you still want (and deserve) a bridal shower! So here are a few fun and creative ideas for “non-traditional” bridal showers … Here’s your chance to do something different and get things you really want!! Be sure to send this link to your bridal party, mom(s), and anyone else who might be throwing you a shower.

Entertainment Shower

Truly for the bride and groom that have everything. Your guests will enjoy thinking outside of the box while getting creative and the happy couple will enjoy utilizing all of these fun gifts! Each guest brings a gift that entertains, such as CD’s, DVD’s, magazine subscription, theater tickets, board/card games, movie passes, books, passes/memberships to museums, video games, tickets to sporting events … Or anything you can think of that the couple is interested in and will entertain them! Consider suggesting guests pool their resources and purchase a larger item like a subscription or even airline/hotel gift certificates.

Linen Shower

We are keeping it clean with this one! Here is your chance to finally get those bed linens like DreamSacks bamboo sheets (trust me you will never want to sleep on anything else again), beautiful new towels, or those place mats and table cloths you have not been willing to buy for yourself … This is a fun and easy shower that even your grandmother can enjoy!

Four Seasons Shower

No, we are not talking about hosting a shower at Chicago’s five-star hotel … This is a shower where each guest is asked to bring a gift for a certain season. For example if the guest had winter, a slow cooker, a warm blanket, mugs with spiced apple cider or hot chocolate; for spring, a picnic basket with supplies, an umbrella stand or a variety of cleaning supplies (hit spring cleaning head on!); for summer, beach towels and flip flops, a lemonade pitcher and glasses or grill tools; for fall, dishes for a holiday meal, an apple peeler/corer, pie pan and rolling pin.

You can either indicate the “season” on each invitation (I suggest having them printed with all four and then circling or highlighting – perhaps with glitter – the season for that specific guest) or tell them their season when they RSVP.

Lingerie Shower

Get the girls together! This one is not for the groom to attend, save those surprises for the honeymoon! A lingerie shower can be romantic and a little risqué, but no doubt a lot of fun! Each guest is asked to bring some type of lingerie and they can be as creative (think wedding night) or traditional (warm cotton pj’s) as they want.

This type of shower is normally hosted at someone’s home but if you are looking for a fun alternative consider a local lingerie shop that rents their space for private parties like G Boutique in Chicago (where they also feature a sex ed class) or Baubo’s Garden in Forest Park (where you can explore their “tool shed” during the event).

I think this is a fun shower to pair with a “question and answer game.” This requires a little effort upfront but the pay off is fantastic! Simply “interview” the groom on camera and ask him loads of funny (and perhaps tricky) questions. Then at the shower you ask the bride the same questions and see how many of their responses match. If you are pairing this with a lingerie shower I say go for it and make the questions a little racy!

Holiday Shower

Everyone loves to have special things to pull out at the holidays. This is a great opportunity to help your friends stock up on their holiday ware! Simply assign a holiday to each guest and have them bring a gift appropriate to the season. Be creative when thinking of the holidays and don’t leave any out … The guests will have fun picking out something for their specific holiday. Example: Fourth of July – A picnic basket decorated in red, white and blue, and, inside the basket red, white and blue plates, cups and napkins.

Gift Card Shower

This is a great shower for people who live out of state (or the country) and are not able to travel with a bunch of gifts. I suggest guests purchase gift certificates from the local shops in the Bride and Groom’s hometown so they can be utilized throughout their first year of marriage (i.e. grocery store, department stores, specialty shops, restaurants).

A fun spin on this is the “#10 Envelope” shower. A #10 envelope is a standard mailing envelope (the long one). The rule is that every gift has to fit in the envelope. Hopefully the guests will get really creative in fitting larger gifts in the envelope.

Basket shower

The concept here is pretty simple … guests are asked to bring their gift in a “usable” container. While it is called a “Basket Shower” encourage the guests to think outside of the basket so to speak (think luggage, hat boxes etc…)

Some examples are “Kitchen Basket” – which is filled with things for the kitchen, “Bath Basket,” “Bedroom Basket,” “Entertainment Basket,” “Movie Night Basket,” “Romantic Basket.” Use your imagination and come up with all sorts of “Baskets!”

Around the Clock Shower

Yes, this is exactly how it sounds but there is a lot of opportunity to have fun and get some seriously unique items here. Each guest brings something for a certain time of day. Example: for 8 a.m., a coffee maker with mugs that match their dishes; for 7 p.m., cookware and a jar of spices; for 9 p.m., a popcorn maker and some movies … Don’t forget about late night, those are the gifts that are really fun to watch the bride open!

Around the House Shower

Not unlike the Around the Clock Shower, each guest brings a gift for a certain room of the house. You might bring towels for the bathroom, a vase or picture frame for the living room, a teapot for the kitchen, or lingerie for the bedroom. The Bride and Groom need help with every room in the house, so don’t leave anything out (including the backyard)! Obviously you will have more than one guest with each room (unless they have a really large house!) but that works out perfectly … Who needs only one set of dishes?

Wine and Cheese Tasting Shower

This is a great couples shower. Arrange for an elegant afternoon or early evening of wine tasting (wine, cheese and finger foods, what more could a guest ask for?). Ask the guests to bring a gift that is fit for entertaining (wine glasses, cheese markers, cocktail plates). Have some fun with this and consider these wine line reviews, they will keep your guests entertained all night. If you are really ambitious consider having a wine tasting contest!

Stock The Bar Shower

Invite the guys because they’ll want to be included! Have guests bring a bottle of wine to share, and a gift to help stock the couple’s bar. Encourage them to bring bottles of the couple’s favorite liquor, bar mixes, glassware … Anything you would use when cocktailing!

Alphabet Shower

I love this idea! On the invitation spell out the Bride and Groom’s names and assign each guest a “letter” from their names, the gift must start with the coordinating letter! At the shower, serve cookies with letters on them (this is a great guest favor). For a game idea, ask the guests to write down an attribute of marriage that begins with the same letter – something they would like to share with the bride.

Kitchen / Cooking Shower

Clearly the gifts are easy to figure out here but I love the idea of asking guests to email you recipes, then create a cookbook for bride (you could even make copies as favors for all the guests). If you simply do not have the time to coordinate an actual cookbook, enclose a blank recipe card with every invitation and ask that each guest write down a favorite recipe on the card to bring to the shower. Then present the bride a recipe box which filled with “tried and true” recipes. Suggest that the guests write a personal note on their recipe card for the bride to enjoy through out the years. For the bride this is much more practical than receiving a cookbook of recipes which no one has tried before and, at the same time, it adds a very personal touch! If you really want to take this one over the top hire a personal chef to come to the shower and give a cooking lesson!

The Pampered Wife Shower

Sometimes you have a bride who truly does have everything they need. If you’re sure the bride doesn’t need (or want) more housewares, then shower her with items to really pamper herself with like spa gift certificates, candles, bubble bath, and wine. I am sure she will thank you for it for a long time to come!

Another fun and eco-friendly thing to consider is a “display” shower … Ask your guests not to wrap their gifts. When the guests arrive set the gifts out for all to see and enjoy. It is also a great way to avoid the awkwardness of gift opening!

Personalize Your Event With A Signature Cocktail.

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Greatest Expectations

Here at Greatest Expectations we consider ourselves experts in “the details.” We believe that little things go a long way, don’t have to cost a fortune, and make all the difference.

One thing we love to do is a Signature Cocktail. Most catering companies will help you customize a specialty drink from the items already included in your bar package, so this little detail often does not end up costing you anything extra at all!

We suggest picking a “cocktail” that best represents you and the type of event you want to have. We have seen things from the super traditional “Blushing Bride” (peach schnapps, champagne and grenadine syrup garnished with a raspberry) to the “Bomb Shell” named after one of our most fun brides, Shelley (vodka, cranberry, orange juice, splash of pineapple and 7-up garnished with a pineapple wedge). One couple who got engaged at a Mexican Restaurant served Sangria as their Signature Cocktail (you can have your caterer prepare this fresh which may cost a little extra but is totally worth it or purchase a pre-made mix and just add in the fruit).

If your event has a strong color theme you may want to consider a drink that matches your decor like this Blood Orange Martini (vodka, triple sec or flavored orange liqueur and blood orange juice. For this wedding we used a red star fruit as garnish) from our Red Hot Wedding.

And if your last name inspires a food or drink you should roll with it! When our clients Kristin and Ben Apple got married they featured these beautiful Apple Martini’s (vodka, sour apple pucker and apple juice garnished with an apple slice).

Not all specialty drinks need to be served in martini glasses! Thinking outside the “glass” is a fun way to spice things up. We served this cucumber lemonade (a Berghoff Catering Group secret recipe) in white wine glasses.

I love the shapes of these glasses … There are so many choices out there!

I love the idea of adding a little “flare” to your signature cocktail with personalize garnish labels, swizzle sticks or umbrellas!

** photos curtsey of Warner Foto, Amanda Hein Photography, Rosalind Weddings, SnoStudios and theknot.com.

We’ve been blogged!

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Greatest Expectations

Every once in a while, when I have some time to kill (ok … So about twice a year, but that is not the point!) I will Google Greatest Expectations. I was prompted to do so the other day. We were lucky enough to be listed in a national magazine (yeah!) the only problem is the magazine used my name only and not the company name. Oh, and they spelled my name wrong.

That had me thinking … What happens if I typed my misspelled name in and did a search. Well, it turns out that about five hits down you do find the real Heather Lynne Vickery and Greatest Expectations thank goodness!

I also discovered that we had been blogged!! I love that. I’d like to thank Tickled Pink Brides in Orlando Florida and Rusty Worden Photography in North Carolina for the blog love they sent our way.

And to remind you about some blog love from the past you can always visit OneWed and Northern Nuptials. We thank them for allowing us to be part of their beautiful sites and hope to do so again!

Now go forth and plan!!

What an honor …

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Greatest Expectations

I was recently contacted my Marta Segal Block, a writer for OneWed. This is a really great wedding planning website that offers tons of tips and advice. She has been doing a series of “top tips” articles and has interviewed several wedding vendors (including bands, officiants, travel agents and photographers) . Marta asked me to be her Wedding Planning Expert for her piece “Top ten things to know about wedding planners”. I was so honored to be picked for this piece and think Marta did a great job. Check it out and let me know what you think!