the hiring:
becky heard about my day of coordination services from past brides and contacted me to see if i would fit in her budget. she already had all of her vendors hired but wanted to make sure everything came together smoothly.

the planning:
with becky and john living in las vegas, we didn’t meet until a few weeks before the wedding. we worked great through email!

the results:

ceremony

the ring bearers were identical twins!

the processional had to wrap around the back of the stage

john’s sister read “union” by robert fulgrum.

shannon from 831 catches the vows.

becky and john wrote their own vows (tear!)

i’ve seen quite a few sand ceremonies this year!

married!

reception
boarding passes served as place cards

guest tables

cocktail hour

grand entrance

bridal party dance

cookie table favors

dance time… including wedding favorite “i gotta feeling!”

bridesmaid and becky (and shannon from 831) enjoying the sneak peek slide show photos from 831!

the notables:
favorite planning moment: becky and john picked some great music for their ceremony and reception. their ceremony recessional was “two tickets to paradise” and their grand entrance song was “viva las vegas”.
something old/new/borrowed/blue: something old, becky’s mom performed the polish unveiling tradition by taking out becky’s headpieces and placing john’s bout in her hair.

unique detail: my favorite was the cake topper – a mini southwest plane as becky and john met sitting next to each other on a flight!

biggest challenge: the ceremony and reception location were right next to each other. and the groom and his men were in waiting upstairs while the bride and her maid were downstairs. getting the ceremony started and everyone in their places without the bride and groom seeing each other before was a little tricky.
sources: becky found her centerpiece vases at michaels.
fun fact: becky’s matron of honor’s husband, alex, officiated the wedding. he got ordained just for them!
pro photos: check out 831′s blog to see the pro photos of becky and john’s big day!

becky and john – you two know how to have FUN! it was a pleasure to help you on your wedding day!

the hiring:
jacqui and i have been in contact for over a year and a half with her being an awesome cake baker. i was honored she asked me to day of coordinate for her wedding – especially because i know she’s precise about her planning as she explained here

the planning:
jacqui is miss planner extraordinaire. i told her i hadn’t seen a bride more organized since… myself! every box of decor was clearly marked and labeled. she had running lists of to-do’s and need dones. i was happy to help with the timeline and flow of the day, but otherwise, this girl had it handled!

the results:
rehearsal
the rehearsal was fun and casual. we went through the line up and processional and recessional once. afterwards, everyone just enjoyed each other’s company and related the excitement! as i stood in for their pastor, i wasn’t able to get many rehearsal photos until afterwards.


i’m pretty excited eh?

jacqui’s nephew decides no more bottle, he’s ready for the rehearsal dinner!

ceremony
my day started very early with jacqui and her maids. i got there before they did and went to the set up along with the excellent staff at hillbrook. it was a fun relaxed morning with every lady checking out the 1,000 cranes that were hung in the pavilion area. i loved that they had all morning with their stylist to get ready and enjoy themselves. later in the afternoon, erik and his men arrived, also marveled at the cranes and got ready for the “first look” and pre-ceremony formals with the bridal party. the rest of the day was free to enjoy!

reaction shot! eeeeeeeeeee!

the teahouse

fan programs hung on chairs

first look time

oh hey rob, told you i’d blog you

after a break in waiting, it was ceremony time!

reception

paper crane place cards

table decor

each place setting got its own lucky bamboo shoot favor.

jacqui made the centerpieces and they had beta fishies in them!

and they were prepared for their guests to take them home with “care instructions”, a little bag of fish food and press and seal for the top of the vase.

head table

bar menu

and the best detail for last… the cake!

we all loved to see the baker cut her cake!

toasts followed the cake: first best man and brother of the groom:

then maid of honor and bestie of the bride.

after dinner, john and andrew from the dj crew filled the dance floor…

…while guests also could enjoy the rad booth photobooth with the fullest prop box i’ve ever seen!

on my way out i caught a photo of the super cute big balloon jacqui and erik used in their pre-ceremony photo shoot that was re-purposed as a sign marker.

the notables:
favorite planning moment: the excitement of the morning was so fun. it was so rewarding to see jacqui pleased with the execution of her plans and how well everything came together as we set up. even though i really didn’t have to rush, i wanted to set things up quickly so jacqui and erik could see all the loveliness! these two are so in love with each other and the two of them came out in every plan they made. it was really a great day to be a part of.
unique detail: an ancient japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. jacqui hand-folded each and every crane herself and she and her bridal party strung them to hang all over the pavilion. they were coupled with dozens of paper lanterns that were also hung around the pavilion.
biggest challenge: jacqui had these gorgeous cherry blossom branches that were to go on hillbrook’s teahouse. it was a little tricky to keep them up there without showing any string/supplies.
sources: jacqui did all of her own flowers since she wanted cherry blossoms and they’re not in season and are quite delicate when they are.
fun fact: jacqui made the cakes for three of my previous brides and grooms: tara & cj, maureen & adam, and lauren & mike.
bucking tradition: in order to see the cherry blossoms bloom, j&e went on their honeymoon to japan at the end of march. you can read all about their amazing trip on their travel blog “cherry blossoms are awesomes.”

jacqui & erik… one thousand congratulations. i’m sad to finish this blog! it’s an end of an era for your wedding to be done. it was beautiful!

previous posts:
heidzillas introduces cmykakes
viva la rock (and roll hall of fame)

be SURE to check out the oh-so-jacqui & erik-pro photos by rad productions

the hiring:
when lorraine and greg first started planning their wedding, they turned to the fox 8 cleveland hot list winners. she found heidzillas won first place there and contacted us about availability.

the planning:
heidzillas personally was booked with leah and matt‘s wedding that day, but helped l&g with some planning items before our associate doc, e, stepped in and took over the day of coordination duties!

the results:

rehearsal
there wasn’t much time for a traditional rehearsal with ceremony decoration being done and a grand welcome party for out of town guests being throwing all evening!

ceremony
lorraine was trying to find a lovely outdoor ceremony site when she first hired heidzillas. we suggested one of our favorites – the hanna gardens! luckily it was still available despite the popular holiday weekend.

reception
lorraine and greg’s international-themed reception included a purple hue through out and a unique set up.

some tables were grouped into threes to accomodate the room shape and to put more guests who knew each other together.

it’s difficult to see in this photo, but the cocktail tables had twinkle lights in them.

the head table pre-ceremony

and post ceremony once some more flowers were transported.

tables were named after the cities lorraine and greg had visited together

each place setting included photo strip book marks for the photobooth photos and a little sack of jordan almonds as a nod to greg’s heritage.

memory table for lorraine and greg’s fathers and lorraine’s uncle.

the luggage tag favors doubled as escort cards

guests could flip through the various scrap books of trips l&g have taken together

cake styled card box

the actual cake was several small round mini cakes all put together in one!

lorraine also surprised greg with a groom’s cake after seeing a similar groom’s cake on my blog in january!

there was also an international cookie display complete with fortune cookies from china, german chocolate cake, italian cassata cake… and more!

the notables:
how they met: i think lorraine and greg have one of the most unique love stories that i’ve ever heard. they both worked for a large fortune 500 company which held a employee reunion that they both attended. but they didn’t meet there, despite knowing so many people in common. instead, they met a few months later on match.com! they started dating and despite living in two different states, perserved through the long-distance relationship.

favorite planning moment: i think every planning moment was our favorite with these two! lorraine and greg came to heidzillas with so many great ideas for their international-themed wedding. lorraine had been in the travel industry for years, and since they’ve been together l&g have traveled the world together. they also had guests coming from around the country and even as far as hong kong.

cleveland-central: with so many out of town guests, the friday welcome party kicked off the weekend. on saturday, in between the ceremony and reception, guests could get on a tour bus for a cleveland sights tour, and on sunday a big fourth-of-july pool party was planned for everyone who attended the wedding.

biggest challenge: lorraine lost her uncle, a father figure, just a couple of months before the wedding. some plans went on hold and a few were decidedly overlooked but just about everything went on as intended.

sources: the most notable source for this wedding was PEOPLE! i’ve never seen so many people rally around a bride to help out! from sisters to best friends, a team of “staff” helped out lorraine with getting the invitations out, decorating the ceremony site, and more!

fun fact: lorraine and greg found lorraine’s engagement ring while at a port of call on a cruise with greg’s mother. the next port of call was venice where they took a gondola ride. while just passing under the rialto bridge, greg popped the question! lorraine says he got lucky.

the hiring:
i was very flattered when leah, an event planner herself, contacted me in june 2009 in regards to my day of coordination services. she was planning from several states away, and i got the opportunity to meet her and matt the next trip they took home.

the planning:
our initial planning was via dozens of page long and late night emails when leah and i had time in our busy schedules to correspond. once l&m moved back to the cleveland area and we could meet as often as we liked!

the results:
rehearsal
it was rather cool on the pier w rooftop at the rehearsal being that a nearby building cast a giant shadow on the space. we lamented that it was probably nicer to have the cool than the next day’s heat. without the chairs it was a little difficult to visualize the altar, but a few guests of the bridal party served as our visual markers where the aisle would be the next day. all enjoyed the view!

ceremony
leah and matt chose their wedding day over two years in advance… and they couldn’t have chosen any better! it was sunny, without a cloud in the sky and just gorgeous!

it was, however, awfully sunny and hot, which leah prepared for – she provide guests with lemon and lime filled water pitchers as well as cool cookies.

i think the ceremony was one of my favorite views of cleveland ever. and it really set the tone for the entire weekend – the thread of cleveland was woven in everything they planned.

leah’s reaction when it was difficult to get matt’s ring on his warm fingers got a great chuckle from their guests.

reception
the metropolitan ballroom also has a wonderful view of cleveland. with the red and blue uplighting from selective sound, there was this great feel of cleveland and fourth of july. guests enjoyed a long cocktail hour followed by a three course meal.

escort card mosaic:

guest book mosaic:

first dance!

the whole room:

the notables:
favorite planning moment: leah asked me for officiant referrals, one of the names i gave her was my former high school art teacher and ordained minister, annie peters, leah and matt hit it off with annie and hired her to officiate! it was nice to go to the ceremony knowing exactly who i was working with (someone who has a significant impact on my life, including encouraging my own artistic abilities.)

nwr memorable moment: when i arrived at the metropolitan ballroom, the streets were lined with people holding signs that read “HOME” and “COMMUNITY.” i later found out that when leah and her maids were en route from their hotel to the ceremony location, their limo held up a limo carrying a particular former cavs player who was leaving img.

unique detail: matt designed all of their stationery including programs, and guest to-do booklets that were given out post-ceremony. he chose table numbers based on favorite sports start. instead of being seated at tables number 1 through 10, guests were assigned to table 82 for ozzie newsome, table 13 for omar vizquel, table 23 for he who shall not be named, etcetera. leah and matt’s head table was named “jt” for the head coach of their favorite college football team. (their favors were peanut butter and chocolate treats who share the same name as the team.)

biggest challenge: the wind! outdoor weddings are challenging because of the elements and on july 3 the biggest challenge was the lovely breeze that kept guests cool but also kept the aisle runner a fluttering and programs blowing. of course, however, the view was SO worth it.

sources: leah found her yummy macarons a la parisienne at trader joe’s.

fun fact: leah and matt met 559 miles from cleveland in st. louis, but grew up in northeast ohio 30 miles apart.

the hiring:
heidzillas served as a friendor on this one! for the beginning story, see their ephotos post. i was one of the first people called when the got engaged. about a year later once erin and tony started planning, i had started my cleveland wedding planning business and sat down with erin to discussed vendors she had been hiring and how i could help coordinate them all!

the planning:
erin and tony had about two and a half years of planning but held off on getting started for about a year. erin and her mom rocked out the planning while tony was overseas. they had wild flour cake and met corey ann at my wedding and hired them both. erin also had seen shout perform and loved them. she also had experience with fresh tendrils in advance.

the results:
rehearsal
erin’s brother turned 21 on the day before their wedding, so they held their rehearsal on the thursday before instead. it was a bright sunny day and everyone gather very excited and ready to go.

ceremony
the weather was perfect, and short of a bridemaid dress snafu, everything ran smoothly and perfectly on time. there was this anticipation in the air for erin and tony who had been through so much when tony was in the army throughout their engagement.

as if i couldn’t get and post an action shot of corey… muhahaha!

reception

guests were greeted into the reception with a bagpiper, erin’s dad’s only request for wedding!

meanwhile, inside a cocktail hour pianist from la centre played while guests enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

erin used my how-to to make her own pride and joy card box!

i loved the head table on risers with the lit up back drop! it was so elegant.

back outside the room, i set up a candy favor bar and…

la centre set up the cookie take home bar.

the details were lovely, but reception itself was a blast. shout kept people on the dance floor all night long.

including the groom… tony you’re the best worst dancer i know.

conga!

later in the night, erin tossed several calles at once instead of just one bouquet for all the single ladies!

the notables:
favorite planning moment: i met with erin a few times during her planning process, but a final meeting including tony and her dad took the cake. the questions the groom and the fob have once all the plans are made are always quite good because they aren’t as close to planning along the way. at one point, i spilled soda on myself because i was laughing so hard at erin’s dad talking about “making it rain” in regards to paying for the wedding. image a proper business man pretending to smoosh hundreds out of his hands. hysterical.

unique detail: the lighting that e&t had done by la centre was outstanding. there was a purple wash to then entire room and pin spots on the high centerpieces and the cake. it was marvelous and made the look of the room so much more dramatic.

biggest challenge: it’s always tricky to coordinate with a band because the music is live and i can’t just walk right up to the lead singer like i would with a lead dj. shout did an excellent job of keeping the wedding formalities going while entertaining guests like a live band does. (as you had to have seen in the video.)

sources: the pastries from the cookie table came from michaelangelo’s bakery. i picked them up in the morning and had to rearrange my car because there were SO many. yum.

fun fact: all but one of the groomsmen had served in the military. they were a very distinguish group when they stood. a great big thank you for your service, gents!

previous post:
erin & tony’s ephotos

eric & tn – ya know i love ya! congrats!!!!!!!

the hiring:
jenna found me in september 2009. our highlight to fame was when we was interviewed as a part of a cleveland jewish news’ jstyle magazine story i was featured in january 2010. 

the results:
pre-ceremony
jenna and mike arrived not too long after i had and did a first look and bridal party photos while i worke to set up the ceremony site.

after photos, it was time for the traditional jewish pre-ceremony of ketubah signing and veiling of the bride.

rabbi matt e signs the ketubah as jenna and mike, their parents and bridal party watch.

ceremony

as soon as the signing ceremony was complete, the ceremony started outdoors on a sunny lovely day at happy days lodge.

j&m anticipated the hot day and had cool bottles of water, fans and…

parasols for guests.

jenna found stands for the chuppah poles so it could be placed before their bridal party members would process to hold each of the poles.

j&m picked very unique processional music, including 1, 2, 3, 4 (i love you) by the plain white tees that was played by adam keeler from epanache.

i caught the breaking of the glass on video. they had an actual floral vase which mike had to break… it took a couple of tries but he was a real fun sport about it. watch here or below.

reception
following the ceremony, guests went straight to the happy days lodge for dinner…

… and fine entertainment by a jazz trio.

jenna’s favorite cake is chocolate, while mike’s is white so they opted for multi-flavored cupcakes from main street cupcake!

the ambiance was lovely, and the food was FANTASTIC!

guests were also encouraged to take photos in the photobooth and place them in the memory scrapbook that was used in lieu of a traditional guestbook.

you can see all of the event’s photos here.

the notables:
favorite moment: jenna and mike’s family and friends were so sweet all day and were telling them how lovely everything was. they thanked their guests, family and bridal party in their own speeches after the toasts. jenna even surprised me and thanked me first for all my help, it was really kind of her! i sincerely ENJOYED helping them all day long.
jewish traditions: michael had his yamuka, tallit and chalice from his bar mitzvah which were all incorporated into the traditional ceremony.
unique detail: the reception decor – florals, napkin folds, cake and the photobooth strips all had peacock feathers! a few ladies wore them in their hair.
biggest challenge: it was a warm, windy day that sunday which made it difficult to keep the chuppah upright and with the tallit not flying off.
sources: j&m’s beautiful ketubah was called “a lover’s embrace 3″ and can be found on mp artworks.
fun fact: jenna is a chemist!

congrats! love! luck! and best wishes always, jenna & mike!!!!

the hiring:
in late 2008, sarah saw my wedding plans via the knot forums and we both read each others wedding blogs (hers is wed2010). by may 2009, we had communicated via blog comments, twitter, facebook and text message when sarah set up a call with me to discuss day of coordination. we finally met “irl” when she was in town from new york city in december 2009.

the planning:
sarah and i communicated almost solely through social media and google chat to plan the details of her wedding. we’re both strong online communicators so it worked out just fine! and it seemed fitting being that she found me via social media too.

the results:
sarah and zack’s wedding day was gorgeous. it was a little warm at the rehearsal, but saturday the weather was perfect for the outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour. their bridal party was some of the most fun – and supportive to the bride and groom – group of people i’ve ever had the pleasure of coordinating. at the rehearsal they decided to develop a twitter hash tag for all of the weekend’s tweets. read more about the tweeting here

rehearsal:
sarah’s officiant, ray and his assistant julie did a great job with running the rehearsal while i was able to add other suggestions whenever needed. sarah also gave me her nice slr camera to take some photos! thanks for sharing them sarah:

the ceremony
the bridal party went to an off-site photography location but made it back with plenty of time to relax and cool off at manakiki before the ceremony started. they even squeezed in a little dance session in the bridal party room

(iphone photo)

guests were in their seats and ready to start with over 10-15 minutes to spare, which is a rarity for a ceremony start. we still waited for the clock hand to go up for good luck at 5:30 for the ceremony. i started to cry seeing sarah in her gorgeous dress and all dolled up! if you look closely you can see my fanning sarah’s train.

(c) corey ann photography

there were three unique things about sarah and zack’s ceremony. first, they picked the loveliest music for their dj to play. the bridesmaids processional was jem’s version of yellow, originally by coldplay. check it out on itunes, it’s really sweet. sarah went down the aisle to “viva la vida meets love story.”  a piano arrangement of the two songs by coldplay and taylor swift. listen to it here!

second, s&z had one of the best readers – and readings – i’ve ever seen. i honestly have only been brought to tears at clients’ weddings maybe twice before. i was totally tearing up for this one:

third, s&z chose to do a wine box ceremony where they wrote letters to each other about why they wanted to be married. the letters were locked with a bottle of wine and two glasses and won’t be opened until their five year anniversary when they will drink the wine and re-seal the box with a new bottle and new letters.

reception
the room was lovely, complete with floral centerpieces in oranges and green – colors chosen as a nod to the university of miami (fl) where s&z met.

this was one of the first weddings i had with true place cards. guests found their table via the table map sarah designed.

i was happy to lend my wedding day card box to s&z!

the curtains framing the sweetheart table matched their decor selections perfectly:

the bridal party had a blast with their announcements which were to the song “rock me like a hurricane” (another nod to u of m) there were swing dances, miss america waves, photo taking/live tweeting, stolen dates, and the best man.. um… he did a round off. a round off into the reception. EPIC! when he asked me what the best direction to do a round off INTO the room would be, i absolutely thought he was kidding. that was followed up with a jump by the moh!  s&z entered to “empire state of mind” by jayz/alicia keys followed by a traditional CANES cheer!

(see video here or below)

the notables
favorite planning moment: the tweeting with the bride, groom and bridal party made my day. they were having so much fun with the #bigfun hashtag. at one point, i got a tweet of this photo of  ”my favorite groomsman.” it still makes me laugh days later.

i also got beckoned via twitter with the photo below to track down some more wine for the bridal party. this gang made doing my job so fun!


unique detail: s&z’s cake was modeled after sarah’s AMAZINGGGGGGG dress accent! i had the pleasure of meeting wendy kromer as she put the cake together.

slight challenge: sarah had a man of honor and zack had a groomsgirl. for the processional, recessional and bridal party announcements, we had to change up the order of the line up so the man of honor escorted the groomsgirl. it all worked out perfectly.
sources: sarah bought the ribbon for the cake from mokuba in nyc, an awesome store in nyc that wendy referred to sarah. she also utilized etsy store b.poetic for bridesmaids gifts. her dad handmade the birch tree vases for the reception decor.
fun fact: zack is a second cousin to joe of codi and joe bestie/mission moh fame! AND joe’s mom taught sarah’s little brother in elementary school. it’s a small, small world.

(c) corey ann photography - shown with corey herself!

sarah and zack, you two, your families and bridal party were awesome! congratulations again. see you on twitter!

other posts:
s&z’s engagement photos on corey ann’s blog
pro photos posted on corey ann’s blog

the hiring:
in late february, i got an email from cheryl who explained to me she already had a wedding planner.  the planner had been canceling meetings, not following through with deliverables on deadline or at all, and sounded all around unprofessional. i did not ask who it was, as it was none of my business but instead sought out ways to  help remedy her planning situation in less than 10 weeks. within one meeting, we devised a new decor plan, and started the final details planning for me to day of coordinate.

the planning:
i provided decor planning to supplement what had already been planned between cheryl and her florist, blooms and linen rentals l’nique. my task was to figure out how to incorporate orange and gold accents to the already orange-crushed filled room. i developed guest book table, cake table and candy buffet accents, the escort card set up, a custom card box, table numbers, bathroom baskets, painted aisle runner and a few other miscellaneous items.

the results:
as some of you have heard, my beloved mother in law passed away april 23. her funeral was the same day as cheryl’s wedding, so i was unable to serve as her day of coordinator. i always have a plan b, and a colleague took over and did a great job. cheryl even noted, she thought it was me as we have such similar styles! i loved that. here are a few photos of the actual set up, including two styles of centerpieces. please note: my point and shoot digital camera hated capturing orange and gold, so the colors weren’t so saturated in person:

the notables:
favorite planning moment: we laughed so much. i’ve never laughed so much with a bride about the actual planning process. cheryl was so easy going about planning and had great taste.
something old/new/borrowed/blue: cheryl’s grandmother had a habit of sharing handkerchiefs. cheryl had a basket full of them for guests when they entered the ceremony site.
unique detail: c&d chose indian scrolls for their programs, complete with gold tassels!
biggest challenge: utilizing the color orange without going too fall-themed nor halloween looking was difficult at times. the gold help to make the orange color more elegant.
sources: pat catan’s had some great sales on votives and frames that worked out well. i found the bathroom baskets while personal shopping at marc’s.
fun fact: cheryl was the eldest bride i’ve worked for.

a few details first before i show you ENTIRE reception room. we had springvale ballroom remove the decor that they had on the table in the breezeway by the restrooms and reused the gerbera daisy centerpieces that came in jillian and kevin’s reception package. we dual purposed the pew decorations, shown the pro-photography/videography/photobooth log in information sheets.

we also used the venue-provide centerpieces to jazz up the women’s restroom, shown with the table tents reminding guests to visit the photobooth and sign the scrapbook.

here’s the ladies’ forget something basket in place. i didn’t venture into the men’s restroom to get a photo of that one

okay back to the front…. when guests entered, they could see two photos from the ceremony that jillian’s mom took and was able to develop at an instant photo store on her way to the reception. this is a great idea to surprise your guests if there’s enough time between events and you have someone to send to walgreens or drug mart. we also laid out a few of the extra programs from the ceremony since guests who couldn’t make it had asked for them.

guests then stopped to drool at my pride & joy card box. okay they didn’t really…

(c) corey ann photography

they headed to the seating chart to see where they were to sit…

…and then could take in the entire room!

(c) corey ann photography

:::cue the choir::::

SINGS: “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

(c) corey ann photography

the draping was already at springvale ballroom but as i mentioned back in january, blooms by plantscaping did hot pink uplighting in addition to all of the floral centerpieces.

oooh, look! custom table numbers by heidzillas! to go with two centerpiece variations – tall pilsner vases with filled with hot pink uplit water…

…and shorter fuller versions, also in vases filled with uplit hot pink water. they looked marvelous – and just like the mock ups we saw in may.

my favorite part of the room was the head table. we utilized three round tables connected by two long rectangular ones to switch up the usual head table look and to accommodate the bride, groom and their 13 bridal party members.

the bride and groom were framed by the stone fireplace with candled-lined mantle provided by blooms by plantscaping.

 as well as the massive, beyond beautiful arrangement that was also on the alter during the ceremony.

i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED the full hydrangea used. the entire thing smelled so wonderful. i kept visiting the bride and groom during the reception just to catch a few more whiffs.

taaaa- daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(c) corey ann photography

another sight for sore eyes was the beautiful cake by ann dellinger of cakes of excellence. it turned out *just* as jillian had hoped!

somewhere in here were announcements, toasts – including a surprise slide show by the maid of honor – dinner, and the surprise video “same day edit” by 2nd mile productions, and the traditional first dances. when guests weren’t fully entertained by all of the reception events and dancing, they visited the photobooth provided by the rad booth.

in lieu of a traditional guest book, guests pasted in their photos and wrote notes to the bride and groom.

i chose to write my note on paper for when i took my photo in the booth. come to find out, the booth photos were mirror images, so i actually had to write my note backwards and try again!

the night went by so fast! and guests were so ready to dance, i didn’t even get a photo of the flip flops baskets before they emptied!  but i did get a chance to jump on the dance floor with the bride for one dance: the cha cha slide. (i love the newer pop line dances…. )

jillian and kevin chose to do the traditional tossing of the bouquet and garter. jillian tossed her bouquet to the oh-so-popular “single ladies” by beyonce.

after kevin tossed the garter, the lucky gent put it on jillian’s sister and maid of honor, ashley, who had caught the bouquet. this was done during the song “this is how we do it” by montell jordan LOL!

i had to catch a photo of the guest antics during the later portion of the reception…

…and bride jillian tearing UP the dance floor!

guests worked up so much of a sweat dancing, we were glad we had planned for geppettos to deliver 6 sheet pizzas during the end of the reception. before i could fold the 50 provided boxes, 4 of the 6 pizzas were gone. guests LOVED the snack about 10:30 pm.

if guests didn’t get pizza, or even if they did, they were also able to take home some of the cake that was pre-boxed.

somehow, before we knew it, the evening was over and the dj crew played the last dance! it was a long, exhausting, WONDERFUL day, so for it to end so quickly was bittersweet.

jillian and kevin, it was such a pleasure working with you for the last few months!!!! i’ll miss all of our super fun planning sessions. i hope you’re having a blast in the riviera maya!

coming up:  jillian & kevin – testimonial from the mother of the bride

previous posts
vendor preview
jillian & kevin – part 1: rehearsal
jillian & kevin – part 2: ceremony

i also alphabetized the uber unique escort cards – cranes tied with tags were placed on the table with strands of cranes hanging from the ceiling!

i assisted guests with finding their names amongst the origami and then encouraged them to sign the guest book nearby.

the back of the table numbers had the traditional story about origami cranes. guests marveled at how many paper cranes there were everywhere!

from the escort cards, to the table decor…

and even on top of the cake tiers!

once all the guests had arrived and were seated, i assisted the party with their announcements – especially being sure the bridal party knew which table was theirs since jennifer and kevin did a family head table in lieu of a bridal party head table.

post announcements, there were the traditional toasts… 

…followed by the cake cuting. (action shot of photographer mark davidson)

they also had a traditional cookie table (nom! nom! nom!)

after dinner, a slide show of photos were shown. (i missed that part, i was outside tending to a guest.)

followed by the new mr. and mrs.’s first dance… 

…in which they asked all guests to join in with them towards the middle of the song.

after that, guests could grab some “dancing shoes” provided in assorted sizes and colors:

also at the flip flop table, the marriage licenses of the new husband and wife and their parents were on display.

before i snuck out, mark got a shot of me with robert and jennifer. thanks again you two for letting me help you on your big day…. and congratulations!!!!!!!!!

(c) mark davidson

again, you can see the pro photos of the day from mark davidson on his blog here or a full slide show including the rehearsal, ceremony and reception here.

coming up: jennifer’s accolades

previous posts:
vendor preview
jennifer & robert – part 1: rehearsal
jennifer & robert – part 2: ceremony