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!

Until TheKnot publishes their Best of Weddings 2010! It’s rather anti-climactic but nevertheless I am excited to pick up a magazine and see Megan Daubert Events listed in the issue. Good times to come!

More often than not your DJ will ask for your insight into the reception playlist. You can at least come up with a “Must Haves” list and a “Do Not Play” list. Just in case you need some help allow me to suggest a few songs to add to your “Do Not Play” list:

“Irreplaceable” by Beyonce

“Since You’ve Been Gone/Already Gone/Breakaway/Walk Away” by Kelly Clarkson, you get the point

“Me and Mrs. Jones” by Micheal Bubble or others

“Bad Romance” by Lady GaGa

“Whatcha Say” by Jason Derulo

“3″ by Britney Spears

and so on…

If you ask why, simply google the lyrics to any one of those songs. You’ll get the point. I’ve heard nearly all of those songs  played at various wedding receptions and I think keeping a positive view of love and romance is the best way to go during a wedding. I’m just saying…

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!

Patrick and Jenny got married on May 23, 2009. They had a gorgeous lakeside venue complimented by a warm, sunny day.

Location: Lake Ritchie in Bealeton, VA

Photographer: Kristen Gardner Photography

I just love them!

I received a surprise phone call this week from The Knot informing me that I am a winner for The Knot Best of Weddings 2010. I was voted by past clients as one of the Best Wedding Coordinators/Planners in the DC/MD/VA region! How awesome is this?! I am thrilled to be awarded this title and feel so blessed by my past beautiful brides who made this happen. I had no idea that I was even in the running for this award.

The publication of The Knot Best of Weddings 2010 will kick off on January 22, 2010. I will be listed in the two Virginia magazines in 2010, I get the privilege of using The Knot Best of Weddings logo and will receive a plaque to be displayed in my future office. What great confidence booster! I’ll find out more about this award as time goes on.

For each one of you who spent time filling out The Knot surveys and putting in a good word for me, thank you a million times over. I am so grateful and thankful to have had fun relationships with you! You’re the best!

As an invited guest to a wedding, it is best to stay throughout the duration of the reception. Receptions typically last from 3-4 hours but it is just a fancy way of having a big dinner party with all of your closest friends. So many evening weddings these days lose about half their attendees by the time the newly married couple makes their Grand Exit to the get-away car. It makes me sad to see what could be a huge celebratory send-off at the end of the night become a small line of mostly bridal party members waving good-bye.

I recognize the obstacles that some wedding guests may have such as young children, sleepy husbands, or other plans. Those are legitimate reasons to need to leave but try your best to plan ahead – hire the babysitter for the entire evening, get the hubby a cup of coffee, and clear your schedule for that day. If you’ve ever planned a wedding you know full well the stress that goes into making the guest list just right. The bride and groom chose to invite you over someone else so don’t disappoint them by dipping out early.  Clearly, these are my opinions and not law but a wedding is a special occasion that deserves special time and attention from all parties involved!

Buying “off the registry” is a gamble.  Most engaged couples these days assume that guests will check out their gift registry. Registries are a great tool to see what the couple really needs and wants for their new life together. I’m sure we’ve all heard our mothers talking about how they received 4 waffle irons, 6 crockpots, 12 gravy boats, 4000 coasters but no silverware. People love to give gifts that they are sure the couple will need. There’s usually nothing wrong with purchasing a gift that is not on a registry but when the registries are available try and use them.

Registries aren’t fool proof though. I registered for one 9×13 Pyrex baking dish and received 8 of them! Sometimes people forget to take the purchased items off the registry. Luckily most stores are great with exchanges and returns. We were just visiting with some friends of our who got married this summer and were laughing about their 3 different, everyday salt and pepper shakers. They had only registered for one type, but a couple guests just wanted to be sure they didn’t go without seasoning their meals! When in doubt, use the registry.