Rowe and Chris's Wedding at The Douglaston Manor- Sunday, June 9th, 2013

At the end of January of this year, I received an inquiry via our contact form. It was from a bride getting married at The Douglaston Manor in June. She had found us through our link on Douglaston's website. I replied back promptly with two quotes. I followed up  a couple of times, but to no avail, it fell off the map so to speak.  I figured, it was after all the beginning of February by then and even if she contacted me in a few weeks, it would be alright.

During the month of March, I received an email from a groom regarding his wedding. Before I replied back, a sense of deja vu kicked in and I went back into my file of previous quotes to delve a little more. As it turns out, this was the same couple, who had inquired back in the end of January.
Honestly, I'm so sure that I may have even seen Chris and Rowe during one of the Bridal Showcases Douglaston holds at the venue during the year. It was deja vu two times over for me and it was well worth it.

We all finally met at Douglaston a short time after that.  That was about the end of March.  It was the first of our many meetings at Douglaston.

Fast forward to Sunday, June 9th. After a week or so of weather which was anything but rainy, we were blessed with great weather.  Seeing both sides of the wedding party emerge from the limo (albeit at different times) brought a lump to my throat. There is nothing like seeing two people in love getting ready to say I Do. 

The love between Rowe and Chris was evident from the first day I met them. And even more so when during their first dance together, he scooped her up in his arms. Seriously, it doesn't get anymore romantic than that!

I wish them nothing but all the happiness in the world! It was a pleasure working with Rowe and Chris on their special day! On behalf of all of us at The Blissful Bride, thank you for letting us be apart of it!

A special shout out to my team for their help on the day of.

The wonderful vendors involved in Rowe and Chris's special day were:

Ceremony and Reception: The Douglaston Manor
Officiant: Rev. Gregory Sutterlin
Photo, Video, Limo, DJ: Ariana Studios 
Flowers: Metro Florist
Hair: Hair Comes the Bride
Coordination: The Blissful Bride Weddings and Events

It's Wedding Season 2013!

Just shy of a week, The Blissful Bride Weddings and Events will kick off it's 2013 Wedding Season with Rowe and Chris' wedding at The Douglaston Manor and we couldn't be more excited to be working with our affiliated venue. 

This wedding season features what looks to be our largest weddings and most intricate weddings to date, one of which we are co-planning with Paisley Events and has a guest count of 500! Along with working on that, we've been helping Katherine and Tom plan their January 2014 wedding. This season will take us out of our comfort zone of weddings and into wedding related events, as we will be doing 2 Bridal Showers as well. 

We would like welcome to the BBW&E family, our new assistant, Szarina, who will be working with us throughout the season. Stay tuned to our website as we will be including her in our About Me section!!

In addition to our weddings, we will be taking part in Bride's 5K Run (www.bridesrun.com) which is taking place on Sunday, June 16th in Marine Park, Brooklyn. We will be on site to cheer Brides, Grooms and their wedding party's on along with featuring our packages and promotions for future couples. 

 

 

It is going to be an amazing wedding season for us and we look forward to sharing it with you throughout this year!! 

 

 

Stay Blissful!!

 

xo

The Blissful Bride

 

 

 

Why having a 2015 wedding date isn't crazy....

Once upon a time, there was a couple who had just changed their status to ENGAGED. This same couple then proceeded to choose a date, which just happened to be approximately a year from the date they first met. Calculations show this date being approximately a little over 9 months. They planned a 100 guest wedding without a hitch and lived happily ever after.

In the years, that I have been coordinating and planning weddings, I have seen both sides of the spectrum.

I have seen one couple plan their wedding in 4 months, between medical school and BOTH their residencies. Somehow they managed to fly down to Florida, graduate, fly back, get married, and move to Pennsylvania.

I have helped another couple plan their wedding in 6 months, finding a gorgeous venue in the city in September after looking for the right city feel at several locations, finding most of their vendors in October and November, commencing with Limos and Out of Town Guest Bags in January. They were married in February.

And I am currently working with another couple who were engaged in August 2012 and began planning their wedding immediately. The wedding date you ask? October 2014.

Yes, you heard it right. 2014. I said 2014.

Granted as always, changes have been made since the original October date was set. My bride's grandfather asked her, "Why wait so long? Move up the date."

She changed the date at the beginning of this year to January 2014. Although she had cut down her planning time, she had already booked a majority of her main vendors (including yours truly) and put down deposits.

She is not alone in this.

Many brides, many couples have gotten engaged and chosen a wedding date that is further away than anyone anticipates. It's not crazy to hear a date such as March 1, 2015. Here are some of the reasons why:

The economy seems to be back and its a wonderful thing. But we're still in recovery. So in essence, couples are  saving as they go through the planning process. They want the best of the best and who wouldn't?

A wedding is a one time thing (and sometimes it's not). But it's meant to be a one shot deal. You want the best.  You want something as close to what you vision for your wedding. When given a choice, you'd pick doing the wedding later, so you can try to get as close to your dream wedding as possible.

Another reason is what date you are thinking of. June is a wedding month and from my 2013 wedding schedule, October is probably going to bump up to the second best wedding month (which I wholeheartedly support, see our October Love blog) followed by September and May. These weekends are prime and couples want them. So if you wait to book your June or October 2015 wedding till next year..you may be out of luck. Especially if you are looking for a Saturday Evening.
This isn't just to say that it's only venues booking 18 months out. But the biggies, photographers, videography, music and entertainment, hair and makeup and heck, even day of coordination is booking earlier.

Which leads me to my final reason. Couples are booking earlier to lock in pricing. By locking in, they not only secure a price, BUT this allows them time to pay everything off as the time goes by. If there is one thing I have learned from my experience as a bride AND the planner, is that those last 6 months go by super fast. The last thing a couple wants to do is worry about how they will make their final payments.

This is not to say that a wedding can't be planned in 6 months. There are variables that need to be considered before doing so (date, time, guest amount and overall budget). While it is not for the faint at heart, I've seen it happen successfully and was proud to be apart of them.

Happy Planning!

xo

The Blissful Bride

The Color of 2013: Emerald

I have a confession to make on this first Wedding Wednesday of 2013.

I wasn't crazy about last year's color, Tangerine Tango, when I originally heard it was the color of 2012.  I only got crazy about the color in the latter half of the year, namely the fall. Maybe it was because the fabulous orange went so great with the fall season, that it went so nicely with my gold charger plates at the showcase.

When I heard about this year's color, Emerald.  I decided to give it a few days to see if it would grow on me, so I could blog.

What can I tell ya?   It did.  I'm liking Emerald.

I'm digging Emerald and Gold.

Picture from Every Last Detail.com
 

I'm digging Emerald and Sapphire Blue. Bring on the Peacock Feathers!!



I really like the Emerald and Navy Blue together.  It feels very earthy to me.



Picture from Wedding Obsession

 

 

What do you think of the color of year? Will you consider incorporating it into your color scheme for your event?

 

 

Stay tuned to see what table design we feature at  The Douglaston Manor Bridal Showcase on Wednesday, January 23rd!!

 

Xo

 

Stay Blissful!!

 

The Blissful Bride



2012 in Review: Year of the Involved Groom

We are already 12 hours into 2013 and  I am feeling super good about the year.  Not to say that the year 2012 wasn't a great one for The Blissful Bride Weddings and Events...  it was a year of not only fabulous weddings with incredible couples, but one of new affiliations, new team members, new brides for the future and a new look for BBW&E.

We began our year becoming one of the affiliated partners at The Douglaston Manor and were apart of four bridal showcases in which we were able to interact with future couples and taste the fantastic food Douglaston offers. For myself personally, it was great to be in the same place I had gotten married myself 5 years before. They have done some great work to the Manor and it is such a stunning place to get married. (www.thedouglastonmanor.com)

In the midst of preparing for our showcase, we were getting ready for our first wedding of the year. Katisha and Chris were married at Manhattan Penthouse (www.greenmansionscatering.com)  in a wonderful wedding. I met this fabulous couple back in August of 2011 (Katisha was on crutches when I met them), and we planned their wedding together in under 6 months. Katisha and I braved The Great Bridal Expo together (we ditched the crutches and had her sit in a wheelchair) and had a great time talking about the plans in the aftermath of the events. 

Our May wedding for Clarissa and Mike, was held at Fox Hollow (www.thefoxhollow).  I met Clarissa a long time ago in High School and we had gotten reacquainted on Facebook. It was an honor to be asked by both Clarissa and Mike to be their day of coordinator.  Clarissa and Mike had meticulously planned their event for well over a year and it was flawless.

The month of August marked change for The Blissful Bride. We began thinking of re branding and changing our website. It also gave us 2 wonderful new brides in the form of Katherine and Tom and Anjali and Antoine, two 2014 brides who wanted to be ahead in their planning. We are looking forward to 2013 as we will be assisting them throughout the year in preparation.

At the end of August, we added our team member, Elisabeth, who is such a wonderful addition. We're looking forward to working with her on weddings in 2013 and beyond.

Madelyn and Mark's wedding at The Montauk Club of Brooklyn (www.montaukclub.com) was our long awaited wedding of the year. I met Madelyn and her mom back in July of 2011 and we were the second vendor she booked after the venue.  Like her fellow 2012 BBW&E brides, she was meticulously with her wedding planning and like Chris and Mike before him, Mark was an involved groom. It was an intimate affair filled with great music, great food and lots of dancing!

To close out our year, we re branded in time for our Douglaston Showcase and our showcase with A Bridal Affair to Remember.  Our Bliss Bags made it debut and lucky brides got to walk away with one. We also gave away a Free Day of Coordination to October bride, Jane Blankson, as well. We look forward to meeting her this month and beginning working with her.

In addition, we are now apart of the NYCityWeddings.com (LIWeddings.com) Family!

A special thanks to all the vendors we worked with and met along the way in 2012. We look forward to working with you in 2013 and beyond!

Now that we've looked back, we're excited at what lay ahead of us for 2013!!

Congratulations to all the couples who got engaged recently over the holiday season!  Happy New Year!!

xo <3 p="p">The Blissful Bride
 

From Engagement to Wedding Day-Katherine and Tom- Part One- Engaged!

I met Katherine almost 4 years ago through a phone call I placed to her while I was just starting out in the wonderful world of planning. That one phone call, was the start of a friendship that is still ongoing. We aren't just friends, we are also associates in event planning and each other's soundboards when it comes to the wonderful world that are weddings and events.  About 2 years ago, I knew, she and I would be the perfect planning team. But before I could snap her up for The Blissful Bride, she went off her own and has her own successful firm, Paisley Events.

Here is the fun part about our friendship though.

Despite all the calls, emails, and biz chats..we had never met face to face. Ever.


That changed though on the morning of September 8th, 2012, when I finally not only met Katherine, but her boyfriend, someone she had raved about for months after she met him, Tom.

I was honored to have finally not only met her, but the both of them together. And I will tell you this, these two are so disgustingly in love. There is a certain kind of look a man gives a woman. A look of adoration and love.  Tom was no exception to this rule, he was looking at her in that same way.

I knew then, that Katherine, whom I now dub, the biggest believer in love, found "the one".




Yes, this is what touched down in Brooklyn that morning I FINALLY met Katherine .
Go figure.

When I received the call this last Saturday morning (in the wee hours), from Kat, I automatically picked up, because she has never called me at that hour. But this phone call was definetly worth picking up.

HE PROPOSED!

 

 

The details of the proposal, however, will remain between them (for now).

 

 

You know how they say a little girl  usually has dreams of how she wants her wedding to be?

 

I know who that little girl is.

 

Katherine has had wedding on the brain forever. This is a girl who knows what she wants for her day. She's been dreaming about it her entire life.

But as any good planner knows, you don't really plan your own wedding.  So guess who's along for the wonderful wedding ride with her?

 

I can't wait!  And I'm taking you along for the ride!

 

 

To be continued....

 

 

 

*This is Part One in a new series of blogs I am doing about my newest brides to be, from engagement to the wedding day. *




xo
The Blissful Bride





Timing is Everything..

As The Blissful Bride's very own 5 year wedding anniversary comes to a close tonight, I found myself thinking back to my wedding day. Its amazing, I can tell you I don't remember much, only snipets of details. But its those details I want to share with you and encourage you not to do the same things I did. I guess that's why you can say I became The Blissful Bride and have made it my team's mission to ensure that those same few mistakes that were made, won't be made.

LATENESS:  I reiterate to all my couples, especially my brides, as do many other vendors, namely photographers, venues, etc. to be sure you are on time, and when I say on time, I mean at least an hour earlier (if you are doing first looks, even earlier than that). I have a confession to make, I was late to my own wedding. My wedding ceremony was supposed to start at 5:30pm. We weren't doing first looks, but I was supposed to do many before shots along the grounds during the daylight hours with my bridal party and my family. Maybe even sit down in my suite and enjoy a few moments and maybe a few drinks...what time did I arrive?  I arrived 5:45pm. Needless to say, we got some bridal picture shots (because we pushed my ceremony time back to 6pm), some family shots and some of my personal shots. My sister in law took a few pictures seperate of the photographer and caught a different version of the events as they were unfolding...in one picture, I'm posing (without my veil, because it would have gotten crumpled in the car) and to my left is my officiant, getting ready to ask me..."Where is the license?" and in another picture, you see me getting ready to sign off on the documents. Guests saw me taking pictures, so it kind of ruined the allure of mystery I wanted to bring. Why was I late? Traffic on a considerably warm, Saturday in October. I decided to get ready at my new apartment..in Brooklyn. I was married at Douglaston Manor...

Which leads me to this next tidbit...

IF YOU CAN GET READY AT THE VENUE WELL BEFORE HAND: You do it. Especially if there are no weddings before yours. I should have never stood in Brooklyn. I should have rode out to Queens, met up with my wedding party out there and with my MUA/Hair person. I may have been locked away, but I would've been there...ON TIME. Inquire with your venue or location to see if you can get ready there or atleast get dressed on location. Or you have to pick a hotel nearby and no more than a half hour away.

Go ahead, ask me in your head....ask me what time makeup and hair were started...it was started reasonably early enough..BUT it could have started about an hour earlier if...

ALL BRIDAL ITEMS (DRESS and ACCESORIES) SHOULD BE PICKED UP THE DAY BEFORE or: You have someone (a bridesmaid, and/or a coordinator) pick it up for you. And if you have to leave anything for the last minute, let it be a veil, let it be something that isn't your wedding gown or anything that is directly related to it (bra, petitcoat, etc). Without that, you can't even get the dress on. If you are waiting on a veil, you can still get shots in without it if necessary and make up for it later.

And while I've heard bridezilla's (on television) say, the wedding is about me and can't start without me, I must say, yes it can't start without you, but show some courtesy to those vendors on a schedule who may have another wedding later on. And marraige is between two people, so its not just about you, its about you and your fiance. If he's there, you should be too...ON TIME.

THE EFFECTS OF LATENESS AT YOUR WEDDING:

YOUR MONEY:  You are now a half hour late to your ceremony. This means your ceremony time will trickle into your cocktail hour/ reception. So you are losing time, because there may be another wedding after yours they have to set up for. And even if your wedding is the last of the night, some venues may not give you the extra half hour you lost at the beginning. Check with your venue about overtime charges (same thing applies with DJ's, bands, videography, photo).  Not only are you eating up the clock on your party, but your eating up possibly travel time for the officiant to get to their next ceremony. In short, time is money. And there will be a late charge.

FOOD QUALITY:  The venue's chef and staff were there early enough, or the caterers are there well before and have had this ready for awhile. Things sometimes tend to dry up if its on the heat too long and its not their fault because they have a specific timing to do things...

PHOTOGRAPHS:  Expect to lose out on certain pictures because of this lateness. Sure you can ask to have these photos taken later...but nix the outside idea if its dark and more importantly, do you want to be pulled away for long periods of time so you can miss that one song you wanted the DJ to play for you?


As my anniversary comes to a close tonight and I look back, I find myself saying, I wish could have done many things differently. The first thing has to be my lateness and switching my locations. There are so many pictures that are normally done with other brides, that I missed out on.
I was incredibly stressed because my veil was picked up the minute the store openeed the same day and I think at a certain point I became numb, in the "oh my, I'm getting married...did I do everything I needed to?"

 Which is why I encourage..



And no it doesn't have to be me...but a coordinator or planner can work wonders. Trust me.

Stay Blissful!

xo

The Blissful Bride

 

 

PS: We will be back at Douglaston Manor on October 17th! Come and See us and our fellow vendors!