Blog

Hotel. Motel. Holiday Inn.* *This blog post is not meant as an endorsement of Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels Group, or any of its subsidiaries. I just really like Rapper’s Delight. So, you wanna book a block of rooms for your upcoming wedding. Piece of (wedding) cake, right? LOLZ. Blocking out a hotel is just one of many way-more-complicated-than-it-should-be indignities of planning a wedding. Unless of course you’re REALLY chill about the whole thing (“My guests are all adults! They can figure out where to stay for themselves!”). But if you’re like many of my...

Buckle in – this is a long one. I didn’t get into this business because I have Scrooge McDuck dreams of swimming around in a pool of gold coins. As I’ve said on many occasions, there is a difference between the WEDDING INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and small business owners – like myself – who are just trying to run a tight ship, keep their clients happy, and have enough money to pay their bills, raise their families, and take the occasional vaca. And in most cases, my clients come to me with budgets...

I am thrilled to announce that we’ve received The Knot Best of Weddings 2016! It would not have been possible without the fantastic, generous reviews written by my wonderful, luminous, genius clients. I may be the one who received the reviews, but you are the ones who hired me, put your trust in me, and envisioned the wonderful weddings I have the honor to play a part in. So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!...

I have been planning weddings now for going on 6 years. I have planned over 50 weddings in dozens of venues. I have planned weddings for friends, and I’ve planned weddings for complete strangers who have turned into friends. I’ve planned weddings for doctors, lawyers, artists, PhDs, and at least one rock flautist. With all the weddings I’ve worked on, there are still a few items left on my wedding “bucket list.” (If you are planning a wedding that includes any of these items, I might even be persuaded to institute a “Bucket...

For the second installment of DIY IRL, I thought I’d open up about my own wedding (since I DIY’d the crap out of that). I’m a professional, so I only bit off as much as I could chew. I hired a florist who did a lot of the heavy lifting on the actual wedding day, but in the weeks leading up to it? That’s a horse of a different color. Case Study: Me, myself, and I… and my husband, Mike (you can judge for yourself whether my wedding planner *cough* me *cough*...

I’m writing this post today for those of you who are buried in wedding magazines, up to your eyeballs in fabric swatches, and so sick of wedding jargon that you swear if you hear one more person say the words “wow factor,” you’re going to glue your own ears shut. For you, I offer this simple, straight forward piece of advice. Wedding planning is just project management. How is that for a non-sexy blog topic!  “Ooh, project management! What I’ve always dreamed about for my big day!” But this is a message worth...

I am a lucky woman. I lead a blessed life; I have my health, friends, family, and every so often I get to work on a wedding that is so beautiful that I can’t believe I actually get PAID to do this. V and T’s wedding in Brooklyn was just so, and they themselves are so lovely and wonderful that I just couldn’t wait to share this wedding! The wedding was held at a super off-the-beaten-path venue in Brooklyn – Lot 45. The groom had previously hosted his record release party there,...

Welcome to my new blog feature, DIY IRL (“Do It Yourself, In Real Life” for you newbs out there). It occurs to me that every wedding blog features DIY-this and DIY-that. If you go on Pinterest, you can get step by step instructions on how to make coffee filter flowers. But nobody really covers the financial, logistical, and sometimes emotional toll “DIY”ing can really take on your wedding plans. Now, I L. O. V. E. done-yourself details at a wedding, but I also coach my clients on how to get...

You’re out to dinner with a few friends. The restaurant has some lovely, fresh flowers on the table. There is a pianist banging out a jazzy cover of your favorite Beatles song. Your table splits a couple appetizers and a nice bottle of wine (JK… two bottles). Your best friend orders the sea bass, but you know better and get the filet. You can barely contain your excitement when the flourless chocolate cake is delivered to the table. After 3 hours of dining delight, the server drops off the bill...

I was literally about to go to sleep when – despite knowing better – I clicked on a link titled “18 Ways Real People Had Their Weddings for $5000 or less.” What followed upset me so much that I sprung from my bed to blog what was the matter. (“A Visit from St. Nicholas” reference, anyone?) Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge advocate of respecting wedding budgets. Yes, I make a living from helping couples plan their weddings. But there is an actual difference between the...