Wacky Wednesday: Caves

This week's wacky Wednesday brings us underground in caves. Enjoy these photos.

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First Dance Song

I keep hearing this song on the radio by Blake Shelton and it gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it, so I wanted to share. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Just press the play button!

Winter Flowers

After Thanksgiving, it is now time to get into Christmas mode. (even though the stores were in Christmas mode since Halloween). I will be posting different ideas for Christmas/Winter weddings and events. Today I will give you some information on what flowers are in season this time of year. Remember that it is cheaper to use flowers that are in season. Stick with blues, purples, and whites to keep your winter theme. If your event is a Christmas theme, then go with greens and reds! 

Winter Flowers:

Amaryllis - Red, White
Anemone - Blue, Red, Pink, White
Bells of Ireland - Green
Camellias - White, Pink
Casa Blanca Lily - White
Cosmos - Pink, White, Brown, Other Colors
Daffodil - Yellow
Forget-me-nots - Blue
Holly - Green with Red Berries
Jasmine - White
Narcissus - White, Yellow
Poinsettia - Red, White

Ranunculus - White, Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow

Star Gazer Lily - Pink and White

Star of Bethlehem - White

Sweet pea - White, Pink, Red/Coral, Lavender/Purple

Tulip - White, Pink, Yellow, Red, Purple, Other Colors
Waxflower - Pink, White

Flowers always in season:

Baby's Breath - White
Bachelor's Button - White, Pink, Red, Blue
Calla Lily / Mini Calla Lily - White, Other Colors
Carnations - White, Red, Yellow, Pink, Orange, Other Colors
Delphinium - Blue, White, Purple
Eucalyptus - Blue, Silver
Gardenia - White
Gladiolus - White, Pink, Orange, Red, Yellow, Purple, Other Colors
Heather - Pink
Lily of the Valley - White, Pink
Orchid - Pink, White, Purple, Other Colors
Protea - Pink
Rose - White, Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange, Other Colors 
Scabiosa - Purple, White

Holly

Jasmine

Daffodils

Wedding Video

My friend posted this video to his facebook. I watched it and was so moved. I don't even know this couple. When you are looking for a videographer for your wedding, you want them to create a video like this. Be sure to watch prior videos that the videographer has done, so you can get an idea their work is like. Take a look:

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. Have a blessed holiday with your family. 

Wacky Wednesday: Rollercoaster

This week's Wacky Wednesday comes from my friend Carolyn! She knows that I do this every week and she saw this and thought of me! Although I can't ride them due to nausea issues, rollercoasters are so awesome! There are some people who plan their vacations around rollercoasters, so it would make sense for them to have a rollercoaster wedding!

Wedding Blooper!

At Amber and Russell's wedding, they decided to have a fun entrance for the groom. Since their wedding was on a lake, they had a pontoon boat pull up and drop the groom, the preacher, and the best man off at the shore line. Well, the pontoon boat came in a little too fast and the boat took out a bench. The wedding guests busted out laughing! It was great and the groomsmen were all smiles. A blooper created such a unique moment for the wedding. So just remember that blunders are not all bad!

 I wish I could have gotten that on video but you will have to settle with a picture.

Father-Daughter Boogie

I saw this clip on youtube and I had to share it with you all. It's sentimental up until .50 seconds, then they break it down. This is so creative and really gives the dad and daughter a big bonding point and shows how fun their relationship is. Instead of choreographing the first dance, why not have some fun with your parents?

Guest Favors

Amber decided to give away plantable seed wedding favors. I love this idea because it is an absolutely useful wedding favor and it doesn't add to your waistline like a candy bar. The seeds inside were sunflowers, which is so fitting because that was her wedding flower! One place to order these favors is here.

DIY Decorations

Keeping with my friend Amber's wedding, she was on a tight budget and therefore decorated her own ceremony and reception. Her theme was "Fall". She used a pink purple, sunflowers, and mason jars to capture her theme. You can decorate your own wedding beautifully, just remember to stick with a theme and that will make your life easier. Two easy and cheap decorations that can make your event shine - candles and crystals (see below!)

Shepard's Hooks with Candles and fake flowers in her color

An October wedding with a nicely carved pumkin

Floating candles, rocks, and twine - nice fall theme

She took the lanterns from the ceremony site to place on the tables: Cost Saving!!

Head Table- look at how the crystals make the table stand out

Beautiful Location! Kingsley Lake, Starke, FL 

Wacky Wednesday: Wedding on Wheels

For this week's Wacky Wednesday, I'm taking you on the road! Reverend Darrel Best converted his 1942-edition American La France fire engine into a chapel on wheels. He is based out of Illinois. Now the truck barrels down the road sporting stained-glass windows, a pipe organ and an altar. The reverend charges a $200 fee plus $2 per mile. Best says that his truck fits himself, the bride, groom, and the best man and maid of honor.

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Rope Braiding

Amber and Russell have a very close and personal relationship with God. Instead of a unity candle for their ceremony, they went with a ceremony called "God's Knot."  The three strands represent the groom, the bride, and Jesus Christ. "A cord made of three strands is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:12)  

Ehow.com describes the ceremony as this:

1. Secure the ends of the ropes to a metal ring.

2 Give the groom the metal ring to hold. He should hold it tightly and apply a little tension so that the bride can braid the strands tightly.

3 Instruct the bride to braid the ropes. To do the three-strand braid, bring the left strand over the middle strand. The left strand becomes the new middle strand. Bring the right strand over the new middle strand. Alternate bringing the outermost strands to the center.

4 Secure the end of the braid with a clasp to ensure that the braid does not come undone. The bride and groom can display the braid in their home to symbolize their union.

The colors signify:

• Gold Strand - Represents God
  
  The divinity of God is represented in Gold. This covenant relationship is initiated by Him, will be built under His authority, and is intended to glorify Him.
  
• Purple Strand - Represents the Groom
  
  As a new creation in Christ, the majesty of the Groom is represented in purple. As the husband loves his wife and submits himself to the Lord, the Lord in turn will demonstrate His great love in the marriage relationship.
  
• White Strand - Represents the Bride
  
  Having been cleansed by salvation in Christ, the purity of the Bride is represented in white. As the wife honors her husband and submits herself to the Lord, the Lord in turn will nurture and strengthen the marriage relationship. 

Visit this website to learn more about it or purchase cords. This ceremony is exclusively meant in a religious manner, but you can make the other cord stand for something else, like an ideal: loyalty, love, trust, etc.  

Amber and Russell

This week is dedicated to my college friend Amber and her new husband Russell. I had the privilege of working closely with Amber in the beginning of her engagement to help her plan her wedding. This week I will be showing you pictures from her wedding and give you advice of things I saw that could be run a little differently.

Here are some pictures. Her wedding took place at Camp Blanding in Starke, FL. It was absolutely beautiful.

My first piece of advice is to hire a wedding planner to keep your wedding on schedule. This is where a day of planner is wonderful to have. Most of the weddings I have been to have been at least 30 mins late. This is awful because dinner gets cold and the dancing time gets cut by a half hour. You need to build in 1.5 hours for pictures if you don't do a first look. You need to budget even more time if you don't take individual pictures or attendant pictures before the wedding.

Veteran's Day

I am taking a break from normal posting to thank all the veterans and current military men and women for their service to our wonderful country. Please remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us all safe. Pray for those who are over seas now and remember to support them.

A great organization that I was a part of for many years is Soldier's Angels. Each week you get sent a different address of a soldier that is overseas currently. Click Here to join! The soldiers absolutely love getting mail. A lot of them do not receive tons of mail, so it is really nice for them to get your letter. Most of the soldiers write back!

Noche De Gala VIP Room

At Noche De Gala, there is a VIP room that gets it's very own decor. For this year, the designers at Keith Watson Productions went with a turquoise and red color scheme with a birch wood accent. They shipped in the birch wood from Wisconsin! A lot of the accent pieces in the VIP tent was from IKEA.

The mirrors, lamps, and butterfly burst decorations are all from Ikea. However, the butterflies were added to the bursts with U-GLU dashes. My favorite thing about this tent was the cracked ice vases, circular mirrors, and candle holders.

Wacky Wednesday: Bungee Jumping

This Wacky Wednesday I am going to show you another extreme, adrenaline pumped wedding! Bungee Jumping wedding, right after you say "I do" you take the plunge... so to speak :-)

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Exciting News!

Hello blog followers!

I have some exciting news to share. I just got a seasonal job with the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. I will be the group coordinator for ICE!  Ice! is an event where Chinese artists come to Orlando and carve characters out of ice. Click Here for more information. The job orientation starts today and the job starts on Thursday. The job ends on January 2nd. The major stinky part of this job is that I have to work Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. I just wanted to let you all know that I will do my best to keep my blog up to date every week day. Hopefully, I will have some fun event information to tell you all!!

More really great information coming this week from Noche De Gala and next week, photos and ideas from my friend's wedding!

This is me from Noche De Gala. I had to take the place of one of the performers who called in sick! I was supposed to be a living flower bed. Keith Watson Productions hired about 15 performers to dress up as fairies, trees, deer, etc. all coming to life as part of the enchanted forest.

Decorator's Quick Fix

At this huge event, Noche De Gala, I learned that improvising is imperative in order to finish decorating for an event on time. The follow list are items that are a must have!

1. Zip Ties  - both black and white

2. Safety Pins - All sizes

3. Wire Cutters  - depending on how huge the event is having one wire cutter per every 2-3 workers is a good idea - these are used to cut zip ties and floral wire

4. Floral Wire

5. U- GLU  dashes- buy it off google

6. T-Pins

7. Paper Towels

8. Garbage Bags

These were the things we were constantly running out of. Zip ties are wonderful quick fixes for hanging up fabric and other large decorations. They can also be used to hang up fabric over poles to make pole covers... then use floral wire to make it look decorative, then the t-pins can be used to cover the pole completely with the hanging fabric.  Believe me, after my many hours (87 hours in 8 days) at this farm for Noche De Gala, take my word for it and when you are decorating a huge event, buy loads of this!!

Noche De Gala Decor

This post is to show the decor from Noche De Gala with the theme Enchanted Forest. All next week I will be discussing different techniques that we decorators used for the event to help you all better organize your party and know what you need!

Some of these pictures are from Footstone Photography and some are from my personal pictures.

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Five different centerpieces, Five different color table clothes and napkins, Two different color under cloths and chair covers