Moving on Up!

Okay so, I know I didn't post on Wednesday, but I thought I would skip this week since I have posted quite a few of them, almost right in a row. I don't just do cake posts so I slipped this week. :P

Anyway, on to what I am really posting about. I am helping with a Corporate Event! My first! I am so excited and have had a blast so far! So, there you have it! More to come soon.

Happy Planning!

You're Invited... Electronically!

Okay, so anyone who knows me, knows that I am a large geek. I love anything geek related and I never pass up a chance to show it, either. So, here is something new and interesting. Rift, a fantasy based MMORPG, is trying for a Guinness World Record and they need your help! Why, you ask, does some lame video game need a bride-to-be's help? They are going for the record for Most In-Game Marriages in a 24-Hour Period. How fun does that sound? If you are getting married in the real world, why not have some fun with it and tie the knot in-game, too. I know your hubby-to-be will be thrilled to be doing something he might enjoy.

Here are the details. Rift will be holding the ceremonies in-game on the most romantic day of them all, February 14th. That's right! Valentine's Day! Any players who get married between the hours of 9:00 AM PST on Feb. 14 to 9:00 AM PST on Feb. 15 will go down in history, and on the record books, with Rift. How romantic! So make a Valentine's moment out of it and get hitched right before you go out on your special night - hypothetically, of course. I know I will!

The link to find out about all the specifics can be found here. And if you have any fun stories of that night afterwards, please share! I would adore to hear them!

Wedding Cake Wednesday: Wacky Wedding Cakes

So, I thought I would do something fun and simple this Wednesday. We have all seen the fads for wedding cakes in this modern day with the stripes and polkadots, and we even sometimes see some vintage type wedding cakes. But what about those couples that go out on a limb and do something really crazy! The Knot (which, by the way, I love that freaking website!) had a really cute, short article about Wacky Wedding Cakes so I thought I would post some fun pics I found of some really interesting wedding cakes. If you would like to view The Knot's fun article, you can go here to view it.

I hope you enjoy these insane (and often times wacky) wedding cakes!

This one is tame considering the rest. I actually thinks it looks almost classy, looking like a chandelier.

Via Oddball Daily

Lego fun!

Via Oddball Daily

Some very, um, dark(?) people.

Via Oddball Daily

I had to post this one because I loved the second cake shown. I am a huge nerd and I have played WoW (I know, you are judging me, right now) and had to post this most awesome wedding cake.

Via Daily Fork

I am, like every nerd, a Mario lover! I love the third cake so much!

Via Daily Fork

I am not sure what the second one is about but I posted this for the awesome his and her Wii remotes.

Via Daily Fork

Twinkies! No way!

Via Daily Fork

They are really into space traveling or they are really smart people.

Via Oddball Daily

And who doesn't love the Beatles! I love this one! So colorful, and I can't say 'no' to anything Beatles.

Via Prewife Dot Com

I loved some of these cakes. So unique! I love people who love to be different. Weddings are about you and your groom and everything in it should reflect you as a couple! There is nothing that is not kosher in my book. As always if you have something fun to share, let me know, I would love to feature you.

Happy Planning!

Silver and Stars

Eleven-Eleven-Eleven! Or better known as November 11, 2011. I had the great pleasure of planning and coordinating a wedding on this special day! It was a beautiful reception for Danny and Mackenzie Kelly (Formerly: Christensen). They did their reception at their stake center but we enlisted help, of course, to some extremely wonderful vendors. Her colors were Purple, Black, and Silver and her theme was Stars and Mirrors. The decorating was help of Design Elite LLC with Lorna Reid. She was fabulous to work with, patient and helpful. For her catering she used And Then There Was Chocolate who were also fabulous to work with and I know I will be calling them back. Their cake was done by Granite Bakery. I always love their wonderfully done cakes.

I would like to thank Ashley Hickmon, my assistant, for her help. She was absolutely fabulous and we learned together. It was definitely a great experience for both of us!

Wedding Cake Wednesday: Carrie's Cakes

I am not going to blabber on about wedding cakes much because I have already done that in a previous post, of course. Today, I am here to feature Carrie's Cakes. Carrie's Cakes, with their exquisite designs and character work in fondant, specialize in your personality. They have years of experience and even more technique to their cakes. They have been featured in People Magazine and InStyle Weddings. Nationally known, they are worth every dime you will spend on your beautiful personalized cake.

Here is some great advice from Carrie herself, courtesy BrideAccess.com and YouTube.com.

And here, of course, are some of Carrie's Cakes.

Obsessions

So, I recently discovered the social networking site, Pinterest. It took me awhile to finally jump on board but the first day I joined I pinned 121 pictures! I have never had more fun wasting time in my life! Anyway, this is going somewhere, I promise...

I built a board around wedding planning, and it's my favorite board. There are so many ideas out there on the internet, it's hard to keep track of them all and where to find them. Pinterest is a fabulous way to keep them all together. I love it! So, I thought I would share my Pinterest Wedding Board with all of you. Below are some of my favorite pictures and if you would like to see the whole board, just click here.

The best sparkly cake!

Wedding Cake Wednesday: Cake-A-Licious

Wedding Cake Wednesday! A new tradition for a new year. Every Wednesday I will be featuring a special wedding cake of some kind. I will try to stick within Utah, so all you brides can get ideas of who you might think would be a great baker for you. But occasionally I might venture outside of Utah's tiny walls, just to get a little culture. 

For my first Wedding Cake Wednesday post, I will be featuring Cake-A-Licious. I have mentioned Cake-A-Licious before but not to this extremity. And she is in the news (in the bridal world, at least) after all. So, I thought what a perfect moment to start Wedding Cake Wednesday's with one of my favorite cake bakers in the Valley.

Bride Access did a fabulous blog post about Cake-A-Licious and featured some of her cakes. Marcie, the writer of the post, mentioned she was lucky enough to test some of her yummy flavors but I would have to agree. I have also tasted these delectable flavors. Fortunately, my list of tastings is immense and I wouldn't be able to find anyone yummier than Tasha. But she isn't just taste, she is also creativity and detail. Each cake is made unique to you and has an incredible amount of detail, whether it be simple or extravagant. These are not your ordinary cakes, my dears, these are cake-a-licious!

Make sure to check out the blog piece written by Marcie from Bride Access, as well. It is a wonderful article on Tasha from Cake-A-Licious. You can friend Cake-A-Licious on FaceBook here.

Want some great tips on how to decide on the perfect wedding cake for you? Go to my blog post "Choosing the Perfect Wedding Cake" for help.

Happy Planning!

Color of Festival

As you all know, I absolutely adore unique engagements or bridals. There is just something about looking at an engagement photo or a bridal photo and being in awe at the masterpiece of art that sits in front of you, because let's face it, photography is art at it's most creative. And this time, I believe, I have done it again! I found some amazing bridals that are just plain gorgeous.

This bride, Avi Stoddard (formerly Burgess), decided to get some of her bridals done during the Festival of Colors. She went clad in a wedding gown and everything. The artistic eye in these photos is absolutely stunning and I had to share.

This is Avi and her husband.

New Year Resolutions

Okay, after some time away, the new year brings on exciting new adventures and, of course, new resolutions. I know that one of my personal resolutions is to make sure I am paying more attention to my blog. The first thing on my agenda? To post about the two events I had in November. They were extremely successful, beautiful, and I can't wait to post about their wonderful stories. I have new features, tips, and, of course, events and it will all be coming your way. So, here it is! The new year!

Win a Dream Wedding!

Such exciting news! If you haven't heard about this yet, listen up!

StrongerMarriage.org, in partnership with FOX 13, is providing one lucky Utah couple with a dream wedding. 

Couples enter by visiting www.facebook.com/strongermarriage, uploading a photo of themselves and explaining why they deserve a Dream Wedding. 

Submissions are from September 21 – October 9, 2011.

On October 14, 2011, five (5) finalist couples will be announced on FOX 13’s Good Day Utah.

Fans can vote for the couple they think deserves to win on www.facebook.com/strongermarriage. The voting period is from October 14-26, 2011.

The winning couple will be announced on FOX 13’s Good Day Utah.

Once the winning couple has been selected, FOX 13 viewers will help plan the winning couple’s wedding by voting for various elements of the wedding onwww.FOX13now.com

The StrongerMarriage.org Dream Wedding will take place on December 3, 2011.


Good Luck, Wonderful Brides! And Grooms!

Tip of the Week: Choosing the Perfect Wedding Cake

I had the pleasure of attending a cake consultation with one of my brides this week, MacKenzie. Her and her groom asked for advice on where to go for a quality wedding cake for a cheap price. I immediately suggested Granite Bakery, one of the best bakeries in the state. They do quality work for a low cost. We headed on down for a consultation and started hammering out what MacKenzie wanted in the perfect wedding cake... or at least, what she would consider the perfect wedding cake. Now, I am not going to give way the surprise of her cake, although, I can tell you that it is going to be spectacular and I am extremely excited to share from her photos but we'll come back to that later. However, the consultation did get me thinking about the perfect wedding cake and what you, as a bride (or groom), should apply to that question. So here are a few tips:

Aaron and Jessica Durrant's Wedding

Aaron and Jessica Durrant (formerly Gustafson) are a match made in heaven. I loved meeting with them and finding out all the wonderful details of their wedding. They were married on July 21, 2011. I can't take much of any of the credit for the wedding but it was a beautiful wedding. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple and had their reception at Wheeler Historic Farm.

When I met with them we went over their budget. In the end I only helped with a few details of the wedding although, like their flowers which were from Skyline Flower Gardens based in Salt Lake City. I also sent them in Ashley's direction for their gorgeous invitations! It was so much fun to watch it progress and come together and it turned out fabulous!

The happy couple!

The get-away!

The bride with the little ring bearer. Isn't he adorable!

Feature: Handmade Creations by Ashley

Ashley Hickmon of Handmade Creations

Today I will be featuring a talented individual and close colleague, Ashley. As I have mentioned before and would like to reiterate, she is an extremely creative craftsman. She can think of anything and then create it. Today, however, I am going to focus on her invitations because I have never before seen hand crafted invitations like she does them. Her invitations, rather than being one dimensional, have depth and character. She takes what you can imagine and then turns it into something spectacular. She uses any type of type of materials that you can imagine to create something special and unique. Using a graphic design can be extremely impersonal and you will most likely see that design somewhere else. When Ashley creates your invitations it is one of kind and made just for you!

Zombies in Wedding Traditions?!

I just had to share this! I am a total nerd myself and zombies is often the talk of my social circle and when I saw these engagements I fell completely in love! What a wonderful and unique idea! Would you be daring enough to try something this unique? If so, let me know, I would love to feature you. :) Enjoy!

Zombie Themed Engagement Pictures

Courtesy of Amanda Rynda/www.amandarynda.com

Tip of the Week: Budget 101

So I am going to try to keep up with a "tip of the week" each week. This week is Budgeting for a Wedding.

There is probably nothing more stressful in a wedding than going over cost and where all that money is going to come from. My first suggestion to any bride or groom would be to hire a wedding planner. Any wedding planners first job is to keep you on budget and to keep the prices low. But what if, you just don’t want that planner to be involved. Then what? Well, here are the basics, in all their glory, to having a budget.

Find out who is paying. Talk with your families. They are going to be your greatest support in many aspects, and one of them is definitely going to be money. Traditionally, the bride’s family picks up the tab of the wedding, but this is the 21^st Century! Now, it is more often than not, that either the bride and groom themselves are paying for their own wedding or all sides of each family are contributing.

• Talk with both sets of parents and determine a specific amount that each will be willing to pay.
• Another way is for each set of parents to determine what they will be paying for rather than a specific amount.
• Lastly, determine how much you, as the couple, can contribute to the festivities. A good way to start  is by figuring out how much of your total income you can put a way in a month. 

 How much do weddings cost? Keeping everything straight can be stressful and overwhelming. But determining where your money is going to go can be easy. Here are basic percentages of where your money should be divvied out:

• Reception: 48-50% (This includes venue, decorations, cake, catering, favors, etc.)
• Photography: 10-12%
• Attire: 8-10%
• Flowers: 8-10%
• Entertainment: 8-10%
• Ceremony: 2-3%
• Invitations/Stationery: 2-3%
• Transportation: 2-3%
• Gifts: 2-3%
• For Everything Else: 8%

This is just a generalization to help you. What can help more is a tracking sheet of some sort. There are so many budgeting trackers online that you can download and use. My suggestion would to be to get one and make sure not to lose track of your expenses. Keeping on your budget is hard but if you keep track and have a visual aid, it can make it easier for you.

If you have any questions on budgeting for any event, not just weddings, I would be more than happy to answer general questions. I hope you enjoyed this, and Happy Planning!

The Beginning

This is where I begin my journeys as an event planner on my own. While I was with All Things Included I did a few weddings and my boss Michael, taught me a lot. Along with that knowledge, I am continuing my education to be the best event planner I can be. I am currently going to Utah Valley University to get my bachelor's in Marketing and then will move onto a hospitality school in Las Vegas to get a certificate in event planning.

My passion is weddings but I do everything from birthdays to corporate events, and everything in between. I love the little details and are here to not only make it perfect for you but also save you money. I will do everything I can to help you in every way I can. Your wish is my command. :)

I am working on a couple of projects that I will soon post. I hope you enjoy the fun as much as I do and if you want to talk, call me!