Saturday, January 28, 2012

Wedding Shower - this time it's for me!!!!

Our wedding shower is today...I am so excited!! I have to force myself to not get up do a million things to prepare. I keep saying today is for you and Scott!! Difficult when you are the one used to organizing, planning and being in control of EVERYTHING!!!

6 of my friends and family have come together to spoil us with this shower and I have no idea what they have in store for us. The only detail I know is that it is New Orleans themed as it is a Honeymoon shower. Yep, we are headed to New Orleans for our honeymoon! But other than that I am clueless.

We decided to have the shower at our house because we feared we have too many people wanting to bring kiddos etc and didn't want them to feel unwelcome. Ha! It turns out no one is bring children!! The good thing about that decision was it forced us to push hard and get our back yard finished!! Our yard has been under construction since March 2010!! I need to post before and after pics...we went from a yard with lots of lawn area to one that has almost every inch of it covered or utilized. We added a pool, a pool house and a new basketball court/pad. Now when the grass turns green it is going to look amazing!! I can't wait. Scott put in a lot of hard work to get everything done for today. I love him!!

My dad passed away a little over two weeks ago. It has been a difficult time pushing through the flood of emotions but my wonderful friends and Scott have really helped me so much that I am feeling a lot better. Of course there are moments when I feel a bit sad but they are brief as I am forcing myself to focus on all the wonderful things that are going on in my life.

I have had so much fun planning weddings for 100's of brides over the years and now I am relishing in the process for myself!!

I will post pics soon and let you know how it all turns out! And hope the girls like the shower gifts I made them. They turned out super cute!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, January 20, 2012

San Antonio Weddings Fair


On January 8, we particiapated in the San Antonio Weddings Fair at the JW Marriot. It was a wonderful event for everyone involved. We had the opportunity to meet brides from all over Texas!

Half the fun was designing and putting up our wonderful booth!
We created beautiful paper flowers to decorate the space. There were these large flowers decorating our main table, interspersed with glowing candles. We also had small flowers in moss that gave off a wonderful, organic feeling.


We put together and designed these beautiful frames with pictures of our weddings. The individual pictures were framed with creative chalk designs!

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

How to Juggle Wedding Planning with Your Career - eleGALA.com

How to Juggle Wedding Planning with Your Career

by eleGALA.com Photograph by: The French Connection
Ensure your professional life doesn’t suffer while you’re in wedding-planning mode…
Planning a wedding is essentially a full-time job, and if you’re already a busy professional, guess what? Your workweek doubled the moment you said “yes,” and the delicate balance between your professional and personal lives is in danger of collapsing. So how can you juggle your career and your wedding without losing your sanity?
Your Daily Planner is Your Best Friend
Getting organized is the best way to avoid missteps and their accompanying headaches. Appointment books or electronic planners are literally the bottom line when it comes to organizing your work and personal life. There it is, right in front of you, a complete visualization of your day, week, or month. Use iCloud or your Google account to sync all your calendars so when you enter an appointment in your phone, it automatically shows up on your computer and tablet. You can also color code all of your entries so you can easily differentiate between work and wedding.
Stay Organized
If you have a method of organization that works at work, use it for your wedding. Take control of your all checklists with an organizational system you can stick to. Google Docs is great because you can access it from any computer, Smart Phone, of tablet, but if you aren’t a tablet toting, spreadsheet-loving bride then an old-fashioned three-ring binder will definitely work.
Divide and Conquer
Surfing the ’net for bouquet ideas while on the phone with an important client is generally a bad idea. Instead, segment your day into times when you are solely focused on work and solely focused on the wedding; letting one intrude on the other can slow you down. Designate your lunch hour for calling vendors or 30 minutes in the afternoon to look for dress ideas. If you’re taking time out of your workday, plan ahead to arrive early or stay late to make up for any lost time.
Maximize Free Time
You’ve got a lot on your plate, so what was once “free time” may now have to be used more productively. Try to swipe some items from your to-do list after hours. Instead of vegging on the couch during Grey’s Anatomy, use this time to multitask. An easy chore like addressing save-the-dates or organizing your Pinterest boards can be done in your pjs without missing any of the action on TV.
Don’t Be Afraid to Delegate
Your fiancé is your greatest untapped resource; divide wedding-planning tasks evenly between the two of you. (It’s his wedding, too, you know.) Then delegate even further. Accept help from anyone who offers, especially bridesmaids. Give small tasks to immediate family members or bridal attendants (key word is small – don’t turn former friends into resentful full-time wedding planners).
Hire a Wedding Planner
Sure, we know you can do it all on your own, but do you really want to? Lower your stress level by hiring a professional wedding planner. If you don’t want to give it all up, consider talking to a professional about how they can help with the parts that feel overwhelming. Most wedding planners offer a whole slue of services from décor design to simple day-of coordination, so you can pick and choose what services suit your needs.


Take a Break
Kicking up your heels as your task list exponentially expands may sound a tad indulgent, but allowing yourself some time to rejuvenate is essential to avoid burnout. Some downtime will even make you more efficient. Have you ever tried going for a morning run without a good night’s sleep the night before? The same applies here. What activities comprised your free time before the career versus wedding juggling act seized your soul? Reading? Hiking? Painting? Don’t let those activities slip; take that time to yourself and enjoy the relaxation that comes with doing something that you enjoy.


Don’t Be Afraid To Ask
So you’ve organized, compartmentalized, multitasked, delegated, and rejuvenated, but you still find that there just aren’t enough hours in the day, and your work is suffering. Don’t ignore the problem and hope it goes unnoticed. Schedule a meeting with your boss to discuss your situation. Avoid blanket complaints about being too busy and unfounded requests for time off. Instead, present the problem and possible solutions. Explain the job duties that are suffering, and share with your boss ideas for how you can accomplish them more efficiently.