Thursday, October 30, 2008

I trashed my dress!!

I had an awesome time last night with Corinna Hoffman and her hubby Bobby trashing my dress at the FAIR!

I had been intrigued with the idea of doing a session at the fair since last fall when I suggested it as a spot for engagement pics for one of my couples. (They ended up chickening out of that plan, but I still thought it would've been so cool!)

Fastforward to this fall. I had asked Corinna about trashing my dress back in the spring after I met her at a wedding, but never really acted on it. Then, she emailed me a month or so ago with the idea of doing the shoot at the Fair, and I have been so excited ever since!

Here is one of the sneak-peek pics she posted.. more to come when I have them!! You can see Corinna's sneak peek posting here:


Monday, October 27, 2008

Guest Blogger -- Flaire Weddings and Events on "Just Dandy!"

Danielle is one of my fun and fabulous Spring '09 Brides, so of course I was thrilled when she asked me to do a guest post on her blog!

In her wedding planning, right now we're focusing on designing a custom lounge area for her guests to enjoy during the reception.

My post features my Top Five Tips for designing your own lounge space.

Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Trashing it with Corinna!

I can't give any details yet -- (don't want to spoil any surprises) but this week I'm going to be trashing the dress with Corinna Hoffman! I am so excited -- my husband just laughs because he says I am addicted to weddings -- of course I am! Look a what I do for a living! =)

More details and hopefully images to come after Wednesday......

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Wedding Decor: Kristy and Dan

Last weekend, we were busy working on Kristy and Dan's wedding at DeerCreek Country Club.

I don't have any professional pictures from this one yet, but here are some decor shots I grabbed with my point-and-shoot camera. Hopefully they will give you a preview of their look! I know the pro pics will be great, so here's what I have to whet your appetite...



Here is a shot of their sweetheart table.

Lighting was such a key element in this wedding and I think it made a huge impact!

More shots of the room.

LOVED this cake by Sheila's!

Stay tuned. More to come from this wedding!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Busy Weekend for Flaire Weddings!

This weekend, we actually had TWO weddings! Needless to say, it was very busy. Here's a quick recap of both -- pictures to come soon!

Wedding # 1 -- Kristy and Dan

DeerCreek Country Club -- This wedding had amazing decor!

Linens by Connie Duglin,
Florals by Blossoms and Accents
Lighting by Jax Stage Lighting

Chocolate pintuck linens, gold chargers, and a rose at every place setting! Can't wait for pics from this one!

Wedding # 2 -- Brittany and Mike

The Club Continental

This bride had my favorite color scheme, Hot Pink and Black!

Linens by Connie Duglin
Florals by David Snyder of Curly Willow

Can't wait to see pics from this one too!

Stay posted! =)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Brides Beware: False Vendor Reviews

OK, so I hate that I even have to post this. But a girl's gotta have some place to defend herself, right?

Backstory first: Many of you may be familiar with the oh-so-hot wedding website "The Knot." I love The Knot. They have fabulous inspiration photo galleries, and I know their resources are helpful to many brides.

However, they also have their infamous "message boards." Now don't get me wrong, my company has gotten a lot of positive press on these message boards. I've got some fabulous brides who are knotties, and I can tell everytime they post something positive because my email inbox gets flooded with inquiries. (That was actually how I discovered these posts, I began to wonder one day after getting so many inquiries all at once, and after a quick internet search, I found an awesome testimonial about my services on the board!)

However, because it is a faceless environment, some brides have also taken to writing false reviews. Why you ask? I don't quite know the answer.

So imagine my surprise when after doing another search of my company, I found this comment posted this morning by a bride:

"So because our wedding is in January, I've been trying to finalize all the vendors as soon as possible, per my persistent mother. We met with several this past weekend, and as promised, here are my findings:
WC: Cassandra w/ Flaire weddings was really nice and her experience speaks for itself, but then we went and met with J.Lee w/ A Perfect Pair and that meeting went just as well. So we thought about it and decided to use A Perfect Pair since they were $100 less and contracted to do just a little bit more than Flaire."

Now, this is all fine and good -- brides can totally choose whoever they want... but here's the kicker. I didn't meet with this bride this weekend. I have never met with this bride. I didn't have any consultations this weekend. I was working on my mother's suprise birthday party all Saturday (pics to come soon!) and Sunday was busy too. So, not only did I not meet with this bride, she's now claiming to have met me and comparing my services to another company. I would love the chance to sit down with this bride and actually discuss my services and pricing... but that hasn't happened.

Why would she claim to have met with me when she hasn't? I'm not sure.

Does she maybe work for this other company? Who knows?!

Is she secretly a demented old lady who has created alter-online-ego's for herself? Could be. (Okay, okay. Probably not, but you never know.)

She may not have met with the other company either. At this point, her whole post is suspect due to her false information and claims.

All this to say... brides, take reviews like this with a grain of salt.

The internet, while a hugely helpful resource, can also be fraught with falsehoods. Be sure to do your own due diligence. If you are interested in a company, meet with them for yourself. Call references, check with the Better Business Bureau. Once you've hired a coordinator you connected with, then he or she will be a fabulous resource for you as far as hiring your vendors go. Most coordinators only recommend trusted vendors that they've actually worked with, so you know you're getting their best referrals!

Brides: what are your thoughts? How much stock did you place in "reviews" when hiring your own vendors?

Planners: has anything like this ever happened to you?

Share your comments!!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Real Wedding: Christienne and Justin

Christienne and Justin were such a pleasure to work with. They both live in Tallahassee, and needed some assistance with vendors and planning from afar.

From the beginning, Christienne had some amazing ideas, yet she was also really open to my suggestions and I think the final result turned out beautifully.

The wedding and reception were both held at the Club Continental in Orange Park. The flowers (which turned out AMAZING) were by David Snyder of Curly Willow. The absolutely phenomenal photographer was Agnes Lopez!

Thanks so much to Agnes for sharing these pictures with us!
These are just a few of the incredible details from this wedding.




I love it when brides get daring with their shoe choice!



This shot is definitely one of my favorites!



Isn't she stunning?


I absolutely LOVE this shot of the bridal party.

This image is so sweet, and I love how you can see Christienne's three bridesmaids enjoying the dance in the background!