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Tricia, it is Bobby and Angela, Mr. and Mrs!  Listen, we wanted to call you specifically this morning, we hope we are not waking you up.  We wanted to say that you originally started out as our wedding planner  and you evolved into such a great friend of ours during this one year plus process.  And we appreciate all your help.  We understand this is your job and it is what you are good at, but you took care of us as one of our good friends would take care of us.  And we love you very much and we appreciate everything, it was a fantastic night, as you can tell from my voice, and you were a major part of it.

 We want to make sure you feel good about what you do for people like Angela and I, because it was amazing!

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I truly love what I call a “job!”  To know that I helped create a day that two people will cherish for the rest of their lives is the main reason I love it so much!  Thank you for calling Bobby!

The ceremony occured at St. Marons in Downtown Cleveland and the reception was held at Casa di Borally’s.  I have to say, Bobby told me for months that the food was amazing…..and he was right.   The pasta tasted just like my Great Grandma Jennie’s with the shredded Romano cheese….Mmmmm! 

Thank you to Bobby and Angela’s families for making me “part of the family” for a night.  Bobby’s mother kept saying, “now I know why Bobby and Angela love you so much…!”  I’m so happy the day was everything they hoped it to be!

I do not take pictures at my weddings but I was able to snag a few shots from relatives to post on the blog.  As soon as I have the professional photo’s, I will post again! 

Bobby’s Uncle owns Sweetheart USA and they made the cake!  It tasted great and it looked fantastic! 

The first wedding of the season, and what a wedding!  I had the pleasure of helping to coordinate the wedding for Renee and Chad this past weekend.  What a beautiful, loving, committed couple and a joyful family. 

The wedding ceremony happened at the stunning Hartville Mennonite Church and the reception was at Greystone Hall in Akron.  Greystone has recently been taken over by the John S. Knight Center in Akron and the staff there did a fantastic job.  The minister for the wedding was a family friend of the couple and ironically was the brother of a good friend of mine – what a thoughtful and heartwarming ceremony!

This wedding was special for me from day one, as Renee is the sister of one of my favorite wedding professionals, James Nisly.  James and his lovely wife, Genevieve, are phenomenal photographers in Northeast Ohio – Genevieve Nisly Photography.  There was a bit of pressure to make sure this wedding was executed perfectly, but not nearly as much pressure for me, as for the photographers associated with this one!  James and Genevieve wanted to enjoy the wedding day, so they trusted the photography to Tom Forrest and the Inlux Photo Team of Jarred and Heather.  It was like Paparazzi at times…to watch these 3 photographers work was exciting.  They caught every angle and were just all around wonderful people to share the day with.  What an energetic and exciting wedding to be a part of.  And the photo’s….there was NO need for me to have a camera, so you will have to travel to see some amazing photo’s of this wedding!  Enjoy Tom’s Blog and Inlux’s Blog….fantastic work!

Renee and Chad – thank you for trusting me with your day.  I hope that you enjoyed every second of it.  You truly were a beautiful Bride and Groom and I wish you nothing but happiness!

We worked with some of Northeast Ohio’s absolute best professionals to create the evening.  Laura Woofter of Paper Allure, Dean Ross of Event Lighting, Abbott’s Bridal, West Side Bakery, Lnique Linens, Jerry Bruno Productions, 2nd Mile Productions, Canton Chair Rental, Be Seated, and ELM Rentals. 

Shall we plan another one?!?

Enjoy these pictures, taken by the phenomenal Genevieve and James Nisly!  And to see more, check out Genevieve’s Blog!

Neil Leeson mingles and answers questions with Brides!

Tricia and Genevieve welcoming guests!

Many of our professionals conducted mini seminars for Brides to gather additional information.

Brian Morris, of 2nd Mile Productions discusses videography trends.

Genevieve Nisly discusses how to get the most from your photography!

 Take away ideas, tricks of the trade, or just have a fun night out.   Some of the professionals joining Genevieve and myself for the Soiree – Neil Leeson Decor and Floral, L’nique Linens, Paper Allure, 2nd Mile Productions, Scott Jones from Jerry Bruno Productions, West Side Bakery, Abbotts Bridal, Event Lighting, and Be Seated Rentals.

This is an exclusive night that you will NOT want to miss.  More information on how to register will be published in the very near future, there will be limited attendance, so check back often!  Genevieve has also blogged about our Soiree, so check out what she has to say!

So yes, I become friends and recommend other coordinators.  One of my dear friends, Emilie Duncan, moved to Columbus a few years back.  When she lived here, we worked weddings together and learned from each other….I miss her but know she is very happy in Columbus with her business.

This past spring, I had the pleasure of becoming friends with a relatively new coordinator to our area, but NOT new to the business, Brandi Hammerstone of All Events Planned.  Brandi and I have little girls (2 year olds!) so we have a lot in common!  We now plan playdates and I even had Brandi help me at a wedding in August that was just incredible (I cannot share pictures at the request of the family).   And then she graciously coordinated my sister’s wedding as well in October!

Brandi is not afraid of competition either….and I think she thinks pretty highly of me and my business.  She recently did an interview of me for her blog….. her it is:  Brandi’s Blog!

The wedding took place at the Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake.  It was a great place to have a wedding as many of our family members were able to stay for the weekend! 

She was surrounded by some of my favorite wedding professionals.  It was very difficult for me to help her choose her vendors as I work with so many wonderful photographers, florists, videographers, bands…etc!  I was able to provide her with people to look at and allow her to make her decisions! 

One of my newest favorite wedding professionals is Laura Woofter from Paper Allure in Canton, Ohio!  She is something else!  What a talented lady.  She helped Laura and I design all of the paper products – from the beautiful Dupioni Black silk invitations to the blinged out placesetting chart.  Lots of pictures of these gems below!  She is amazing!

The Decor for the day was designed by the one and only, Neil Leeson!  Neil is about as talented as they come and more so, one of my very good friends!  He can pull ideas out of anyone’s head and that is what he did with Laura – he helped her create the day from start to finish!  We of course had lighting from Dean at Event Lighting and beautiful linens from L’nique Linens and chair covers from Sitting Pretty Linens!  The Beautiful Chargers Plates and cake plateau was from one of my favorite rental companies – Elegance by ELM….Thanks Eileen, Leslie and Magita!  And what a band….we had Redline, a Jerry Bruno Productions band, and they were phenomenal.  And one of the best things about Redline was they were not “too loud”….so many people commented on how they could still talk! 

The Bridesmaids dresses and my mom’s dresses were purchased at Abbott’s Bridal in North Canton, Ohio.  What great service we received from Barb and her staff.  Classy place, great selection….even worth a few extra dollars because there was not a worry to be had as there may have been at other locations!

The ceremony was my favorite part of the day!  I truly believe that the wedding is the most important part of the day and I wanted to help Laura create a ceremony to remember.  The music was awesome!  We had Mark and Kathleen Lyda as our organist and solist.  They are the music directors at St. Francis Assisi Parish in Mayfield Heights and they are so talented…seriously, we have nicknamed him “Josh Groban!”  We also had the Regis Bookshar Trumpet Ensemble, of Special Productions - nothing like Trumpet Voluntary with a fanfare.  And we ended the ceremony with a bagpiper, Donald Willis.   Laura had our Neice and Nephew do the Prayers of the Faithful - as you can see from the pictures below…this bored my neice Maggie to pieces! 

Since I was the Matron of Honor at the wedding….and I was also trying to make sure all the details were tended to….I decided I absolutely needed to call for reinforcement!  I am the type of coordinator that is not afraid of competition…there are plenty of weddings to go around.  And so I have thrilled to have become friends with with Brandi at All Events Planned!  She is bubbly, outgoing, detailed and just plain “good!”  I felt so relaxed on the wedding day, knowing that the details were in the hands of Brandi and my “normal” wedding assistant Laura Palmer!  Thanks ladies for taking this detailed day and crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s!

One of my favorite “wedding people” is Brian and Suzy Morris with 2nd Mile Productions.  They were our videographers for the day and they are so great!  They surprised Laura and Dean with a Same Day Edit that only they can put together!  Enjoy:

http://www.2ndmileproductions.com/blog

So would you like to see a few pictures?!?!  We had one of my favorite photographers with us all day.  Jonathan Koslen from New Image Photography.  He has more energy than I do…and for those that know me, that sometimes is hard to beat!  Below are some photo’s from the day from Jonathan , an absolute great guy: 

http://fox8.cityvoter.com/always-eventful-inc/biz/57307

This past weekend, my little sister Laura was married! Her wedding and the wedding of many other special people this summer kept me on my toes and away from my blog.

One of the biggest challenges of blogging is actually having great pictures to post with my blogs. I was part of some beautiful weddings this summer and worked with some fantastic photographers but the problem is after the wedding….we move on to think about the next wedding so actually connecting and getting a few pics to post on my blog becomes second priority!

I could bring along my own camera and take pictures of my weddings to post on my blog…..but truthfully, I do not have time during a wedding day to do anything but make sure my brides are thrilled and dealing with details. My need for photo’s is absolutely not a necessity so I stopped bringing a camera with me years and years ago!   No time for that!

So as I move into my “long winter’s nap!!!!” I promise to blog about my weddings this season and delve into some from the past as well!

I will post pics from my sister’s wedding soon though!

The wedding day started with a private, intimate wedding ceremony in Boardman, Ohio.  The quaint “little church” was straight out of a magazine.  It reminded me of the church in Little House on the Prarie – one of my older sisters favorite shows growing up. 

Davene’s daughter, Sydney, is 7 years old now and she brought the entire church to tears as she placed her hand on her mommy’s hands during the final prayer.  Her big smile throughout the ceremony was perfect!

After the ceremony, the bride and groom had a laid back afternoon of visiting with friend and lots of pictures.  Having a very early ceremony allowed for an afternoon of creative photographs.  Genevieve and James Nisly were the photographers for Davene and Andrew and they are truly one of the very best!  They are creative, laid back, and just fantastic photographers.  All of the photo’s in today’s blog are photo’s from Genevieve Nisly Photography! 

Later in the day, guests gathered at Glenmoor Country Club for an upbeat, exciting wedding reception.  Glenmoor’s staff was fantastic, as usual.  The UpEnsemble Trio entertained guests during a cocktail reception.  Later in the evening, Bill Bowens with Jerry Bruno Entertainment took over the DJ position. 

The decor for the evening was sophisticated, modern and very much the vision that the Bride and Groom carried throughout the planning stages.  Flowers were designed by Neil Leeson and he is so creative and one of my absolute favorite people!  The centerpiece of the room was an exagerrated vase of calla lillies – so large that it could not even fit under one of the chandeliers as it was originally planned. 

One of my favorite components that was chosen is the mirrored cake table.  The cake was placed on top of a 60″ round mirror – what a photo it made! 

I wish Davene and Andrew all the happiness in the world – and Sydney…you were the hit of the day!

Enjoy the pictures – and if you would like to see more – visit Genevieve Nisly Photography’s Blog!

A very happy flowergirl!

The Sweetest Little Church

My favorite photo!

Showing Davene the room for the first time - best part of the day for me!