My sweet bride, Kara, ended up with a gorgeous wedding. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her.  Here are some pretty details surrounding her wedding day:

Her wedding colors were lavender and raspberry

Flowers by Belle Fiore Designs

Kara and JP got married in the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington

Wedding cake by Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

The Key Bridge Marriott offered lots of space for guests to spread out during the reception

The beautiful view that the Capital View Ballroom offered us all night long

Professional wedding pictures to come!

I just love this post and wanted to bring it up again. After 3 weddings in a row this last month, I am reminded of how valuable my role actually is!

Check it out:

http://www.megandaubertevents.com/blog/2009/08/site-coordinator-vs-wedding-coordinator/

Please mail in your response cards to a wedding as soon as you know if you can attend or not. The bride and her family have enough stress in the last couple months leading up to the wedding and do not need to be chasing after forgetful people. Be considerate and reply as soon as you can. Enough said.

Also, pay attention to how you sign the RSVP card. If you play jokes, the bride may play a joke back:

I kid you not, this was me and my husband at a wedding on May 30th.

Jason and Tammy Keefer get all the credit for these glorious wedding photos. They were the perfect match for Amanda’s wedding day. I can’t imagine her wedding without them! Amanda was such a beautiful bride – inside and out. She is one of my best friends and I am so incredibly happy for her and Cale. Here are some of my favorite details from the wedding day:

Jane and Josh got married at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Charlottesville and the reception was held at Ash Lawn- Highland. They had the most gorgeous April wedding day – sunny and 72 degrees. Here some beautiful moments from their wedding:

Two of Jane’s brothers, Charles and Will

The table centerpieces were made a slate boards covered in local cheeses, fresh bakery bread, herbs and fruit.  It had a very French-country feel to it and proved a hit with guests as they waited for their turn at the buffet.

Each bridesmaids wore a  black dress in her own unique style.

Rachel De Jong of Rachel’s Fine Baked Goods made a wedding cake to die for! Chocolate Peanut Butter was the flavor and it was so rich that you had to wash it down with a glass of farm fresh whole milk – compliments of the groom’s family!

Jane’s three brothers played a song for the bride and groom’s First Dance. They are all super talented and if you think you recognize the brother in the middle, it’s because he is the lead singer of Parachute! Just a fun little fact!

Aaron Watson Photography captured this gorgeous wedding day back in October. The wedding and reception were both held at Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard. I love this couple and, lucky for me, get to live near them very soon! Here are some shots of the wedding party before the ceremony began:

These are some of my favorite details from Brett and Nathaniel’s January 9th wedding.

The wedding took place in Williamsburg, VA at Williamsburg United Methodist Church and Colonial Heritage

Brett and Nathaniel had such a personal and gorgeous ceremony. I wish I had sound bites from their vows. They each wrote their own and read them to each other for the first time during the ceremony. I’ll post more pictures when I get the professional ones back from the photographer!

Ruth and Barlow got married at Grace Episcopal Church in Keswick, VA and the reception was held at the Keswick Hunt Club. Though unbearably cold outside, the wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Here are some details from the day:

Check out photographer Matt Eich’s wedding website for some amazing images of the wedding day!

Once you’re engaged, creating a personalized wedding website is a great way to communicate wedding information to guests quickly and efficiently. You get to have fun and upload photos, tell your engagement story, talk about your bridesmaids, create an online guestbook and much more. There are many useful sources available to build your site on:

TheKnot.com

MyWedding.com

WedOrama.com

My newly engaged sister just created one for her June 2010 wedding. Check it out here! Be practical – once you have the information gathered, add hotel contact numbers, travel directions, wedding attire, the weekend’s events, and local attractions. Have fun with it! It’s a great tool to use when planning a large wedding.

1. You will go over budget. Don’t be naive about the money it will take to make your wedding happen. Just count on going over. I see it happen every time.

2. Think of an upside down bell-curve: expect the beginning of your planning to be hectic, stressful,  and full of decision making. Then there will be a lull in planning followed by a crazy, stressful 1 month count down. Plan on it. (Also hire a wedding coordinator to help manage it.)

3. You will have trouble creating, cutting down and finalizing your guest list. Don’t break up with your fiance over this – it can be worked out!

4. You will have some guests who do not return their response cards and make it hard for you to chase them down by phone.

5. Your groomsmen will take their sweet time to complete their tux rentals.

6. Not everything will turn out exactly how you envisioned it – sometimes better, sometimes not as great.

7.  At the end of the wedding day, you will be married and that is what matters most!