Melanie Wishes She Knew...

From our “I Wish I Knew…” series! I wish I knew where we were planning to go for our honeymoon before we set our wedding date.  We had already booked our venues for December 1st before we had even thought about our honeymoon destination.  We eventually decided on St. Lucia in the Caribbean in January.  This happens to be the peak season for most of the Caribbean and the prices for hotels and air travel are at their highest.  Our honeymoon cost almost double what it would have if we had gone in April.  If the date or time of year for your wedding is not a priority, consider planning around your honeymoon destination's off season.  You may find some great deals, and less crowded beaches or attractions.

Melinda Wishes She Knew...

From our "I Wish I Knew..." series! Planning a wedding can be very stressful.  You probably have all the skills and knowledge to plan your own wedding, but in order for it to be successful, you need help. Hire a planner even for just the day of the wedding, so you can be relaxed and not too stressed about the arrangements. I wish I had known that.

Melinda and her husband, Reynold (photo by Camera Bliss Photography)

I Wish I Knew...

I recently asked our team what they wish they had known as they were preparing for their own weddings, or what they learned looking back. In the next few weeks we will be sharing these little tidbits, starting today with our intern Melinda!

Wedding Day Snacks

Snacks may not be one of your top priorities as you are planning your wedding day.  But guess what?  You'll need them! I had a meeting with one of my Spring '09 couples on Saturday that reminded me of this point.  As we discussed the bride's love of sunflowers, the groom asked if they would still have seeds in them.  Then when we talked about using hypericum berries in the boutonnieres (I love berries, by the way!), he made another snack comment.

So, for all of those grooms-to-be out there that love to munch, here are some yummy recipes for Trail Mix that can fit nicely into a plastic bag on your wedding day!

SUGAR FROSTED TRAIL MIX

4 c. Sugar frosted corn flake cereal 2 c. dry roasted peanuts 2 c. plain chocolate candies 1 c. chopped dried apricots 1 c. raisins

In large bowl combine all ingredients. Store in tightly covered container or plastic bag. Yield 10 cups.

ULTIMATE TRAIL MIX

1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup dried blueberries 1 cup dried pineapple 1 cup dried apple pieces 1 cup peanuts 1 cup cashews 1 cup almonds 1 cup marshmallows (any kind) 1 1/2 cups puppy chow 1 cup chocolate chips 1 cup peanutbutter chips 1 cup butterscotch chips 1 cup white chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

VANILLA CHIP TRAIL MIX

1 stick butter, melted 2 tbsp. cocoa 2 tbsp. sugar 4 c. Cheerios cereal 4 c. Wheat Squares cereal 1 c. slivered almonds 1 c. golden raisins 1 (10 oz.) pkg. Hershey vanilla milk chips

In 4-quart bowl, place butter. Microwave on High 1 minute or until melted; stir in cocoa and sugar. Add cereals and almonds; stir until evenly coated. Microwave at High 3 minutes, stirring every minute; stir in raisins.

Microwave on High additional 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Cool completely stir in vanilla chips. Store in tightly covered container in cool, dry place.

(I found these recipes on Cooks.com - check out the website for more!)

Angelique and Matt's Engagement Shoot

Here is a preview of good things to come!  Angelique and Matt are busy planning their November wedding at St. John The Divine Greek Orthodox Church and reception at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, but they took an afternoon off for super incredible photographer Scarlett Lillian to capture these engagement images.

Visit Scarlett's blog for more! I am so excited about the wedding day!

Spotlight: One Ocean Resort Hotel & Spa

Today Danielle and I attended a National Association of Catering Executives meeting at One Ocean, Jacksonville's newest hotel and event venue.  The food was delicious!  Here are some snapshots I took during our tour:

If you want more information about booking your wedding at One Ocean in Atlantic Beach, contact Hetty Ubilla at 904-853-2329.

An Excellent Open House

It was a great night last night as The Wedding Party, Jacksonville's only wedding mall, welcomed dozens of brides and grooms to our open house.  The passion and energy that you feel walking through the doors of The Wedding Party really lets you know that all the businesses inside strive for excellence in everything they do.  If you missed it, watch the blog for announcements about the next one! The food by Serenatea was delicious - especially the Pina Colada dip!  (these are my snapshots, stay tuned for pro pics from Kevin Winter!)

I could eat a hundred of these truffles!

Ham rolls, stuffed olives, sausage wraps, oh my!

And of course to top it all off, fabulous wedding cake from Simply Delicious!

These cake truffles live in the freezer just two doors down from my office...very dangerous indeed!

Another fun treat for the night: a photo booth!  This is "glamour girl" Kimberly, a former client and now friend, goofing off for the camera.  I would highly recommend this for a wedding, birthday party, any even really!  This one from Photobooth To Go, a division of Dan Harris PhotoArt.

There is so much more to write about!  But I'll wait to get Kevin's photos...

Cheryl & David (09.14.08)

So Cheryl and David weren't technically married on 09.14.08.  They actually renewed their wedding vows today, 36 years after they originally exchanged rings in Hawaii.  It was a touching ceremony (that I actually got to perform!) to reaffirm their love for each other.

Cheryl is the best wedding officiant in town, so it was interesting to see her on the other side of the ceremony!  She surprised David with a performance by Prince Pele's Polynesian Revue, beginning with the Hawaiian Wedding Song.  The show ended with Cheryl, her sister, and I getting a hula lesson!

I feeling truly honored to take part in this special day!

Open House at the Wedding Party

You are cordially invited to attend anOpen House Reception to explore Jacksonville's first wedding mall

It's like a bridal show every day!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm 8640-8 Philips Highway, Jacksonville

Planning a Bachelorette Party

Last weekend was my sister-in-laws wedding, and it was a beautiful, fun and exciting day.

I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid and also coordinating the Bachelorette party.

I wanted to do something fun but also a bit different to the traditional Bachelorette parties that l had attended in the past. I decided to do some online research to get some fun party ideas. After some intensive research, l decided to order a Tarot Card Reader / Belly Dancer to attend the party. I was a little skeptical of how this would work out, not knowing how entertaining a Tarot Card Reader/ Belly Dancer would be. The company found at this web site: http://www.aleena.com/magi/ was very professional and leading up to the bachelorette party promptly returned any of my phone calls or emails.

On the night of the Bachelorette Party, I decorated the house with some fun items from Party City! Melanie, the Tarot Card Reader/ Belly Dancer arrived right on time. She immediately made everyone in the room feel comfortable and got straight down to business. We all got to have individual readings, which l must say were incredibly accurate. Everyone in the room was buzzing with excitement about their readings. Once the readings were complete, Melanie then gave all of the girls a lesson in Belly Dancing, which was quite a work out!

Melanie stayed for a little over two hours, and l feel like it was money well spent. She fit in with the group of girls splendidly! Everyone who attended the party had so much fun, especially the bride to be!!

Bridal Show Fun!

This weekend was extremely busy for the First Coast Weddings team! Not only did Danielle and Donna have a wedding at beautiful Deerwood Country Club, I co-produced one of the largest bridal shows in town, the Jacksonville Bridal Connection.

Melanie and I spend several hours Saturday night preparing goody bags for the brides, and then my co-producer Sharon (also publisher of North Florida's Premier Bride) were at the University Center until 3:30 am supervising the setup.  This is the "glamorous" stuff they don't show on TV!

I was back at the University Center at 8:30 am Sunday to greet vendors, put out last-minute fires, and get ready for the 375 brides to arrive.  Thank goodness Danielle and Melanie were on hand to handle the First Coast Weddings booth!  Here's a snapshot of them setting up, taken from my Blackberry (so it's not great):

We were part of The Wedding Party's booth, which as our matching t-shirts claimed, "ROCKED!"  What a great atmosphere full of fun and professionalism.  From what I heard, everyone that stopped by loved it!

Our friend Wes Taff of Scenecrafters stopped by to shoot some video of the show, which I can't wait to see!

And now I'm taking a well-deserved day off to recuperate.  :)

Special Contest for Blog Readers!

This Sunday, September 7th, we will giving away a great prize to the first bride or groom that comes to our booth and mentions this post!

FREE WEDDING WEBSITE FOR 6 MONTHS from Wedding Window!

Wedding Window offers the best customization and easiest setup of all the sites we have previewed.  This $59 value goes to the first bride or groom that comes to our booth (look for us with The Wedding Party) and mentions this post!

How much easier could that be?!

Remember This

College roomie Melissa and I outside our old dorm room - 13 years later

Today I spent a fun morning at my alma mater, Flagler College, helping students move in to their dorm rooms.  Luckily I was joined by my good friend and former roommate, Melissa.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't remember college.  At all.  I have a few random memories, but I don't remember the classes I took, professors I liked or hated, or big events on campus.  I go to Alumni Weekend events and don't know a soul, other than the three people I keep in touch with on Facebook and two close friends I see frequently.

But, as Melissa and I were wandering the halls of Ponce and the streets of St. Augustine, she was able to jog my memory a little bit.  I realized that I do have memories of those three and a half years (couldn't wait to graduate, had to get done early!), they are just buried somewhere deep inside.

As I was driving home along A1A, I know that the 10 years since I graduated have gone by so quickly too, and I'm sure I have forgotten lots of things along the way.  It's a great thing to have friends and family and photos to help you remember, but how great would it be to have a journal?

My mom has my great-grandmother's daily journals from the early seventies.  By that point, Great Grandma was in her 80's, but she lived to be 104 so that was still pretty young!  Her diaries include fascinating info like the weather forecast and her day's activites (always including "watched stories" - her term for soap operas).

While I'm certainly not disciplined enough to keep a daily journal, I would like to encourage everyone to start a journal of some kind - whether it is online in the form of a blog, a Word document you add to on a regular basis, or an old-fashioned hand-written dairy.

Especially as you plan your wedding, you will have so many great memories - advice you are given, fun moments with friends, the time you and your mom spend choosing your wedding gown.  Write it down!  Or document it through photos or video.  Anything to make these momemts last, because trust me, you will be celebrating your 10th wedding anniversary before you know it!

A Comment on Comments

As the CBA (Chief Blogging Addict) for First Coast Weddings, I am always reading other blogs looking for inspiration.  I even went to a seminar last weekend at the Association of Bridal Consultants' Florida State Conference about blogging.  Super-sweet Orlando coordinator Kerline Docteur gave a great presentation about the basics of blogging to an audience ranging from experienced bloggers to newbies to the completely clueless.  What a challenge! Kerline brought up a point about comments on blogs.  When I set up the FCWE blog, I outlawed comments.  Not only did I use the "don't allow comments" within the blog framework, I went so far as to delete all references to comments in the layout.  A good friend and local magazine publisher agreed with my decision and I never thought twice about it.

Well thanks to Kerline, I have now reconsidered.  She talked about what a great network you can create by commenting on other vendors' and brides' blogs, and how comments can really add to that sense of community that we tend to lose on the internet. That made me think about all the other vendors' blogs that I post comments on - mostly photographers when they post photos of one of our clients. Why not give them the opportunity to post comments on our blog?

So as of today, you will see the comment option back on our blog.  I haven't gone back to re-instate it on all the old posts, only on those from the past two months.  I'm still going to require approval on comments, to avoid spam and other nastiness, but hopefully our readers will like this new feature! Leave a comment and let me know!

Kimberly & Victor (03.29.08)

I've been a little behind in posting photos from our spring and summer weddings! Here is a slideshow with photos from Kimberly and Victor's gorgeous wedding.

View Album

Get your own

Ceremony Venue: Bethel Baptist Institutional Church Reception Venue: Omni Hotel Jacksonville Floral and Lighting: Wilson's Ltd. Seating Group Rental, Movie Premier Lights and Red Carpet: PRI Productions DJ: McGee Entertainment Cocktail Hour Music: Biva Jazz Linens: Connie Duglin Photography: Kris Graham Photography Videography: Turner Classic Weddings

Free Bridal Show Tickets!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Be sure to visit First Coast Weddings and Events in The Wedding Party booth at the Jacksonville Bridal Connection bridal show!  We'll have great give-aways, yummy treats and lots of fun!  You won't want to miss it!

If you would like free tickets to the show, give us a call at 904-739-8003 before Thursday, September 4th.

My Wedding Party Rocks!

It's true! It's Your Wedding is now The Wedding Party!

What is the Wedding Party?  Well, first of all, it's where our office is located!  Second, it's like a bridal show every day!  Not only can you stop in to see the First Coast Weddings team, but you can visit with Jacksonville's top wedding professionals:  DeLand Entertainment, Celebrated Occasions, Simply Delicious, Serenatea, and more!  All in one convenient location, two miles north of the Avenues Mall.

Be sure to visit The Wedding Party at two upcoming bridal shows:

Fall Bridal Fantasy Renaissance World Golf Village Sunday, August 31 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Jacksonville Bridal Connection UNF University Center Sunday, September 7 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Or stop in Tuesday through Friday at 8640 Philips Highway, Suite 8!  (As an added bonus, we're right next door to the Connie Duglin Specialty Linen showroom!)

Kristen and Matt's Photos By Agnes Lopez

Super wonderful photographer Agnes Lopez just sent Danielle and I the link to her blog post with some of Kristen and Matt's wedding photos. Love them!

Boudouir Is Back!

Fabulous photographer Jennifer Brum just sent me an email with a sneak "peek" of her latest project, and I'm so excited to share it with you!  She has launched a new division called Peek Romance Photography, dedicated to making women feel sexy, alluring and romantic. According to Jen, her style is "fresh and creative without being too revealing," so there is a lot left to the imagination!  Here are some sneak "peeks!"

Waina Hui and Other Fun!

Did you know that Roy's in Jacksonville Beach has a great private dining room that is perfect for rehearsal dinners, engagement parties, or other events? I am such a huge fan of the food and atmosphere at Roy's. Plus, once a month, their Waina Hui (Wine Club) meets for a wine tasting. You can sample 5 wines, all paired with yummy appetizers, for only $20!

Be sure to check out www.RoysRestaurant.com for more information.