Congratulations to Madeline and Alex!

I have some of the coolest clients! I really do!! Madeline and Alex are getting married this September and have a chosen to mix their love for fall colors with an urban vibe. The talented Patrick Binder took their engagement photos. For more of the shoot, check out Patrick's blog.

Madeline and Alex customized the photo with their save the date information. I especially like the graffiti!

I cannot wait for September guys!

You're Engaged....Now what????

First, congratulations on your engagement! I know that you're beaming....looking at your finger constantly and just loving life! That's exactly how you're supposed to feel! hehe!


Now that you two are on the way to marital bliss, what should you do next? Well, here are a few tips to get you started.


1. Discuss your budget. That means talking to everyone who is contributing to the wedding fund. Also discuss contingency plans. What happens if someone loses their job or gets sick and cannot contribute? What will you do?



2. Talk about your dream wedding with your fiance. Will it be outdoors in a remote field, at the church where you grew up? Do you want a lounge/cocktail fete for the reception or a 5 course sit down dinner? Do you want it in the morning or evening? Get all of the ideas down on paper and come to some type of consensus....and remember it's two people getting married....not one!!



3. Make a guest list. This gives you an idea of how many people you've got to plan for. Yes, your parents get to invite their friends!


4. Select a wedding date and an alternate wedding date. What if your dream venue is booked on the first date? You want to have a back-up plan.


5. Select your bridal party (bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, flower girl, etc.) You need to know how many people will be standing at the altar with you. Nothing is worse than cramming in a lot of people in a little bitty space! Plus, your bridal party needs to starting planning and budgeting for the big day.

6. Research and visit ceremony venues. Look at different types and locations. Pictures often can't tell the story of a place. Remember to consider the vicinity to lodging if you will have a lot of out of town guests. Also consider the distance to the reception and how easy it will be to navigate.

7. Research and visit reception venues. The same notes apply. But, also look at the restrooms. Are they adequate? Is there space to store items (you and your maids purses and make-up bags) so that you can keep them handy, but safe. Is there enough dressing space? Take a look at the catering kitchen and know what amenities are present.

8. Now, go dress shopping! I know how exciting it is to buy a dress, but you want to make sure that the dress fits the ceremony space and reception space that you and the hubbie-to-be hav chosen. What if you picked this long, grecian style dress just knowing that you're going to have a simple, outdoor wedding and then fell in love with a beautiful chapel and decided to go a little more formal. That dress doesn't fit the venue and may look a little out of place. To satisfy the need to shop, look at lots of magazines and The Knot.

9. Choose a photographer. Pay attention to each individuals' style. Are albums included? What about the rights to images? Do they offer those cute thank-you cards you adore?

10. Hire an officiant. You do want to get married....legally.....don't you?

Okay, this should get you started for now. Does anyone have any questions about what to do next? If so, leave or comment or email me at Sharon@kiss-events.com.

Happy Planning!

Engaged! workshop-Part I

As a wedding planner, I meet with a number of brides in different stages of the wedding process, some frustrated, some over budget, some at a standstill. A year ago, an idea popped to mind. I saw a need to help couples with the wedding planning process by giving them some tips to consider along with some money saving tips. I didn't want to do another bridal show or open house, but instead have an event that was going to provide brides with some detailed information that would help them with all of the tasks they need to cover during wedding planning. For example, when a buying a CD of images from a photographer, the CD could be anything from a low resolution disc, to a high resolution disc with a limited number of images or disc formatted to only print 4x6 prints. Often couples are disappointed because they thought they were going to receive something else. So, in an effort to help couples in a variety of areas involved in wedding planning, the Engaged! workshop was born!


This relaxing and engaging workshop allowed the brides to have the opportunity to meet one on one with vendors. Each vendor also made a brief presentation to the brides giving them tips and suggestions and fielded questions from the brides. As one bride said, "Thank you for taking the time to put something like this together for those of us currently at a loss."

The Engaged! workshop was held at the uber cool event loft space in the Crossroads District, Third Eye Event space. The signature colors of the event were black, white and hot pink which proved to be such a fun and whimsical palette. The room was transformed with linens provided by Celebration Party Rental and florals by Bella Design Studio. I can't wait to see the pictures of the event taken by Erica May photography!

Above and Beyond Catering provided delicious appetizers and had a chic food display. Carson Swisher Cinematography served as our resident videographer and provided some live feeds during our presentations. Icing on the Cake not only provided the most moist and flavorful cake, Lynne, the owner, demonstrated how to cut a wedding cake. Archiver's Scrapbooking was on hand to show brides, even our non-creative girls, some easy and inexpensive ideas for save the dates, invites and favors. Debbie Jackson Productions provided the music to groove to!

Thank you to all of the vendors who participated!! KiSS Events was elated to plan this event and enjoyed meeting so many brides and grooms to be! I am still giddy with joy to see how an idea came to fruition. Or maybe my giddiness has something to do with the 5 pieces of cake I have had since Saturday.....I dunno????!!! (Thanks Lynne!!!)

Stay tuned for Part II of the post complete with pictures!!!