Lindsay and John September 15, 2012

John is in the Navy and one poker night with the guys he had mention planning his wedding.  Eric a past groom of CMT’s, I believe over 7 years ago, referred him our way.  When I first met with the two of them Lindsay was nervous she was going to have a hard time making decision.  I assured her I would make it as easy as possible.  A few months later planning was on its way. 

Lindsay and John had planned on getting married at Little Island Park.  But the wind was so strong that day they could not get married on the beach.  But we had a beautiful backup at Baja in Sandbridge overlooking the water and dunes plus a beautiful sunset.

The reception was under a tent at the Baja, with dancing in the tiki bar!  The reception would not stop, a lot of guest stayed and danced till the late hour! 

Working with Lindsay and John was fun, watching them work together made me laugh each time.  The amount of love they have for one another is amazing!  

Amy and Carl September 1, 2012

Amy and Carl…one of the most laid back couples…Ever!  From the very beginning, Carl attended every meeting but one.  At each meeting I would ask them both questions and he would point to Amy and say, “it is up to her.”  Even though he let Amy plan the wedding, he was always here for her. 
I knew at rehearsal…well, we really never had a rehearsal, more of a pre-party, to what the next day would bring. I understood from Friday night that they had one great family who loved them both!  I love when two different families come together, and they get along so well that you cannot figure out who is on whose side. 

Amy and Carl got married on the beach outside their home in Oceanview. 

I have been planning weddings for over 9 years and again this was something new to me.  All these years guests watch as we setup, take down and get things done. (It is what you are supposed to do as a guest) Carl turned around after the ceremony and said, “Everyone help these ladies put everything away.”  I couldn’t say no fast enough – everyone grabbed something and put it in my car.  

Thank you to everyone!!!

Amy’s sister was kind enough to have the reception in her beautiful backyard in Suffolk.  This was one hot day, but that did not stop anyone!  It wasn’t till the very end for someone to “fall” into the pool. 

I know I am a romantic at heart, but seeing a couple so in love and willing to do so much for each other…warms my heart! 

Thank you to everyone who helped! The food was amazing, by East Beach Catering, lighting was talked about so much once the sun fell, by Blue Steel!  Roger at Astro DJ and Shockley Bakery.

Veronica and Matt August 2, 2012

Veronica started her planning early, and I do love an early starter! She knew that planning a wedding along with being a Math teacher, the time would be limited for her.  Veronica and Matt were married on the deck of The Lesner Inn, with the reception following inside. 

The guests had a ton of fun with the photo booth!  Veronica did an amazing job with all the details and designing of her wedding, and it was great to see a couple who had been together for so long finally tie the knot!

Thank you The Lesner Inn, Roger with Astro DJ, Photobooth with Astro Entertainment, Cake Delights and all the hard working vendors.

Julia and William June 30, 2012

Julia and William…my first phone call was from the groom, he was worried about his bride and the stress she was already under with planning the wedding.  The couple lived in New York and started planning the wedding to be there, but soon after the planning had started Julia’s moms health would not allow her to travel. 

You could hear the worry in Bill’s voice about planning a wedding at a distance and the eternal love he has for Julia.  He had arranged for me to meet Julia when she was traveling home to be with her parents.  From the first meeting I knew this was going to be fun! 

With only a few visits to Hampton Roads we made all the wedding plans happen with very little stress.  Julia and Bill decided to get married in her family church, St. Andrew Episcopal in Norfolk with the reception following at the amazing Orion’s Roof Top!  With almost all the guests traveling from out of town, a family/cocktail style seating was the intimate way to go.  They even pulled in a craps table for some extra entertainment for the guests.  I do think Bill’s 90 year old grandmother out danced everyone that night. 

Julia and Bill, if you ever need that personal assistant to follow you around all day, I am your lady!

Thank you to Astro Entertainment for the up-lighting, craps table and Larry DJ! Nate Kinnison Photography, Shockley Bakery, Affinity Limos and SETransportation. 

Nice Thank You from a Past Mom

This made my day today...

 

Malissa,

 

Most importantly, I want to thank you for everything that you did for Megan & Devin!!!  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it was EVERYTHING that I wanted it to be for Megan but never thought I would be able to actually afford.  So thank for that and for helping me to give my daughter the wedding that SHE dreamed of.  I cannot tell you how much I will always appreciate that.  And I will tell you that there was NOT one thing that I would have changed, there was nothing that I wished we had done that wasn’t done.  You are amazing and along with your staff you make an unstoppable team.  I am truly impressed and tell anyone that will listen the same thing.   I also wanted to thank you for stepping in and taking control with the little hiccup we had with the guest at the reception.  Megan was devastated (and it got worse after the reception), but you handled it so well that I am not sure what we would have done without you.  So thanks again for that.

 

Thank you,

Lori Walder

May 4, 2012

Featured Blog of Megan's Wedding - Enjoy

 

 

Alicia and Paul July 28th "The Great Gatsby" Wedding

First I know I am way to far behind on my Blog updates!  I do apologize to all of my amazing couples who are married now.  I cannot wait to feature everyone's special day very soon! 

I was lucky enough to have been selected by Alicia and Paul to help plan "The Great Gatsby" wedding at her grandmothers home in Hartfield, Virginia.  While standing back and watching Alicia and Paul's first dance together, I felt as if we were in a movie; if I could only had made everything black and white. 

It was wonderful to work with Joyeuse Photography, Blue Steel Lighting Design, Williamsburg Catering, Distinctive Event Rentals, Glen Boswick and The Sound of Swing Orchestra and so many other great vendor who helped make this day possible. Thank you to Caley and Zach who helped me all weekend long with setup, take down and getting it all done! I could not have done it without you! Alicia and Paul were so much fun to work with, I truly enjoyed helping designing the wedding and pulling all of Alicia's ideas together with her.

Alicia and Paul's wedding has been featured on ruffledblog.com, I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed working and planning this wedding. 

Channa and Mike…their first date, was a wedding…Mike had asked Channa if she would like to be his plus one.

They had a long distance relationship that was strong for many years, with many more to come. Channa lived in Maryland and Mike here in Virginia Beach, it was only a few months prior to the wedding Channa had gotten a job in Virginia Beach and moved back home.

Channa and Mike had a romantic ceremony with a beautiful reception to follow at MOCA. While taking pictures on the bridge at MOCA an “odd” man stopped riding his bike right behind Channa while she was taking her bridal picture. We all looked at him and asked him kindly if he would not mind moving. He said no, that he could not breath, very strange. Then two cops on bikes came by and the “odd” man quickly jumped on his bike and was gone. I think his breath came back pretty fast. Something I think Bill from On On Digitography, the couple and myself will always remember. 

Paula and Omar June 9, 2012

One afternoon, Omar’s assistant called me to setup an appointment to meet with him. When I arrived at Omar’s office, I had found he has been planning most of the wedding for Paula, his fiancée. They both are new to the area, Paula starting her residency and Omar just opening an accounting office in Newport News.

Omar already had so much done and did an amazing job with all the details in their wedding. I was really impressed! A month later, I finally got to meet Paula and I helped tie up any loose ends to make their day perfect.

Omar and Paula were married in the garden of the Mariners Museum in Newport News. The day was warm, but it certainly was a beautiful day to get married. The reception that followed was inside the museum. There were many vendors that helped make this day extra special. The lighting was provided by Astro Entertainment, the catering by Williamsburg Occasions, the DJ from DJ Silk and the cake from Cake Delights.

Emerson and Chris May 19, 2012

Let’s start this off with Classy Southern Style Wedding! This is the best way to describe the wedding party and wedding. Once I had left the rehearsal, I called the photographer and said you are going to LOVE this wedding party. The ladies are southern bells and the men southern gentlemen. Seeing everyone together on the wedding day, men with their bow ties and ladies in lovely knee length dress, it was classy all the way.


I worked with the mother of the bride for most of the planning. Mom had done an amazing job making sure each detail was touched in some sort of way, from when the guests were greeted at the cocktail hour to the departure. There were signature drinks, each having swirly straws with a cute tag attached to them. On the tag listed its signature name. Along with the drinks, the ambiance was set by lanterns, candle light, and so many more details.

The reception was at the Princess Anne Country Club along with a live band. The band, 10 Spot, was amazing and kept the guests on their feet all night long. The evening almost didn’t come to an end because they kept requesting, “Just One More Song!!”

As always, Ramone was a pleasure to work with. I am looking forward to sharing his pictures. Shockley’s created a delicious southern style cake and Blue Steel lit the night and danced the room along with the guests. Everyone certainly enjoyed this Classy Southern Night!

Megan and Devin's Wedding Featured!!

Alice in Weddingland Blog featuring Megan and Devin

I was very excited to learn this morning that one of my couples wedding is featured on Alicia and Weddingland's Blog!  Megan and Devin where amazing to work with and I already miss them plus Megan's mom.  It is always exciting to the couple and event planner to see one of our weddings featured.  See the link above to see their beautiful wedding. 

Megan and Devin May 5, 2012

Megan and her mother Lori started planning Megan’s wedding with me in November of 2010, but due to an unexpected deployment they had to change the wedding date. But that never stopped their wedding planning excitement.

Megan and Devin exchanged their vows at their family church, Bayside Baptist Church. Everyone at the church was welcoming and very excited to help with their day. The church was beautifully lit by candlelight that gave a nice romantic glow.

The newlywed couple headed to O’rions Roof at the Cavalier Hotel after the ceremony for a mascaraed reception. Megan and Lori painted, designed and crafted about 200 masks for the guests. So many people asked me where they had purchased such beautiful masks. Many guests designed their own to match their personalities.

The O’rions Roof was beautifully decorated, every detail was thought about carefully. Grant and Deb Photography did an amazing job capturing the vision Megan had. I am excited to share pictures soon.

Megan and Lori where great to work with, I am looking forward to always staying in contact with them. I enjoyed hanging out with Devin and Megan at the end of the reception, our own small after party.

Thank you to Roger with Astro DJ, Catherine with Distinctive Floral Design, Karen with Classy Covers, and Diana with Cavalier Hotel. 

Maria and Chuck April 28, 2012

Planning with Maria and Chuck was so much fun and easy. They had only come to me a few months prior to their wedding. But they knew exactly what they wanted so I just had to make it happen for them.


They got married at the Baja in Sandbridge, prior to the ceremony it had rained but that did not upset their day. They were so excited about marring each other, rain or shine could not have changed that.

The reception continued at the Baja under a tent with dancing in the tiki bar! I am not 100% sure how long Maria and Chuck had been dating but the families seemed as if they had known each other for a lifetime. At times it was difficult trying to figure out what side each family member was from. Such a loving family!

Special Thank you Notes from Past Couples

Last week was such a great week, I had two brides, one I helped plan her wedding in August of last year and the other I helped over three years ago. The bride from last year stopped in my office to bring me a gift and a heart-felt thank you letter. The other emailed me on Sunday just to say thank you. I am so lucky to have such wonderful couples and to be able to be a part of such a special day with them.

Dear Malissa, March 24, 2012

This is a much overdue thank you note. David and I appreciate very much your assistance, guidance and motivation to get our wedding planning and executed. We do not believe it would have been possible to have the wonderful wedding we had without you. You were invaluable to our success. Friends and family all had many compliments and statements of enjoyment.

I also appreciate your friendship while we went through this process. With no one else around you made the lack of close family bearable.

Thank you & God Bless!
Cynthia and David
August 4, 2011



Hi Malissa, April 1, 2012

I don't know if you remember us, but we were married March 3, 2009 at the Contemporary Art Center. As our third anniversary has just passed, it is WAY overdue to send this email to you. I have wanted to contact you for 3 years now, but as I am sure you know, life gets in the way sometimes. :)
I can't say thank you enough for helping to create the most special day of our lives. I don't know what we would've done without you. Everything ran so smooth that evening, not one glitch in the whole day! I am so appreciative of you and all your help to put that day together. Even three years later, guests from the wedding are still talking about how amazing it was!
My wedding day was a relaxed, put together, wonderful experience... Everything I imagined it would be! And I want to thank you for helping to achieve that for me. Thank you so much for everything. You are wonderful at what you do. I will always remember you and how you helped us, and you will always be a part of our special day.

Many Thanks,Quinn Boyette (formerly Klocko)

Kerry and Rick January 7, 2012

Kerry first contacted me to help with setting up her wedding day at the Fred Heutte Center. At our first meeting, Kerry and Rick decided to do a custom package; they decided to do almost a full service package with a day of service as well.

When I first meet Kerry and Rick, they had the location. They only had a little done and less than two months to get everything perfect. My goal was for them to have almost everything complete before Christmas so they could enjoy the holiday’s with their children.

I helped design the upstairs of the Fred Heutte Center; they had a sit-down dinner for 70 guests. We had did long banquet tables with seating on both sides, it looked amazing! It was a nice wow for the guests as they walked upstairs.

The downstairs was setup for cocktail hour, dancing, photo booth and full of good times!

Everyone was having such a great time we extending the reception to keep everyone dancing on their feet!

Thank you to Danny at Astro DJ, Astro Photobooth, East Beach Catering and Dianna Casey Photography.

Kathleen and Michael December 30, 2011 Chrysler Museum

Kathleen and Michael both live in DC. When Kathleen contacted me, she wanted to meet; however, I was not going to be in town. But it worked out great for them and me. I was on my way to DC for a family vacation. When I met with them, they had so much already complete and ready to go, just little details needed to be complete.

The ceremony and reception were at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk. Her centerpieces had been inspired by the Tiffany Gallery located inside the Chrysler, which is a great location for the cocktail hour. The families started a hunt for Tiffany glass everywhere they went; they had five different colored glass and pieces of Tiffany on each table with candles inside. It was so beautiful to see the tables shimmer in different colors.

One unique detail about their night was the way they were to be introduced at the reception. A friend looped the intro and guitar riff to the AC/DC song "Its a Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock and Roll". The wedding party was announced while this was playing. Once the DJ announced Kathleen and Michael, a bag piper started playing the bag pipe section from "Its A Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock & Roll" live with the loop of the drums and guitar playing. It was a nice surprise to the wedding party. The bag piper also stood outside as the guests arrived for the ceremony.

Kathleen and Michael’s wedding was so much fun. I enjoyed working with the both of them! I loved how every decision was made together, great way to start off a lifelong marriage.

Thank you Sam Hughes Photography!

Andrea and Andrew November 5, 2011

I have to say this fall wedding season was filled with so many loving, romantic couples. When I first met Andrea and Andrew, I would smile inside to watch the two of them. Andrea is business professional, so our first meeting was professional, but Andrew would say something to Andrea, and I would watch her look at him with a smile or laugh as if her heart was melting for him.

At our first meeting, they both knew what they wanted, but did not know the direction to go. I helped them find the ceremony location at Freemason Street Baptist Church, then the reception at Town Point Club. Every detail was very thought out and things turned out beautiful!

Andrew’s son had a special dance prepared at the reception, everyone was laughing and enjoyed his performance. I have heard many toasts throughout the years, but his 13 year old son had given the best toast I have ever heard. He is going to grow up to be an amazing person!

I was a blast to work with Leslie Hartig Florist, Eleise Theuer Photography, The Rhythm Kings Band, and Abby at Town Point Club.

Ashley and Nick October 22, 2011

Ashley and Nick…What a couple in Love! Watching them together on their wedding day was romantic. Their looks of Love lasted all night long; I would watch them whisper to each other all night. Sometimes followed by a giggle, other times a soft look into each other eyes.

They had planned the wedding from Richmond, with one trip to Virginia Beach to get all the details complete. It was so much fun to be with Ashley, Nick and her mom for a few days while we met with vendors. Ashley and Nick had so much going on while planning the wedding, I know many couples do a lot while planning a wedding, but truly, they did A LOT! However, the entire planning process, Ashley was so positive, happy and always seemed stress free.

Ashley and Nick had their wedding ceremony at the Wyndham Virginia Beach Hotel on the patio overlooking the beach. The reception followed inside the restaurant also overlooking the beautiful oceanfront. It was a neat atmosphere to have the reception inside; it felt and looked like a reception but had a fun feeling to it.

As always, it was great to work with Roger at Astro DJ, Alexander’s Photography, Wyndham Hotel, Distinctive Floral Designs, LeTempt Video Productions and Blue Steel Lighting.

Mary and Robbie May 7, 2011

Here are a few pictures from Mary and Robbie's wedding on May 7, 2012.