The Best-Laid Plans

Planning meetings have begun for the 2009 season. These are so important because this is where we will work out the details of your day such as family photo configurations, timelines, photo locations, requested photos, etc. The questionaire is vital to this process and serves as my "Bible" for each wedding. I actually bring this document with me to your wedding so all of your information is right at my fingertips. If your venue is being held at a place that I have not shot before, I do like to see it prior to your wedding day. If we've worked at your location before, a lot of times the planning meeting can be conducted over the phone as long as I receive the hard copy of your questionaire before your ceremony day. All of this planning allows all of us to thoroughly enjoy the day and to allow the creative juices to flow.

Friday, I will be meeting with Kristin and Kevin for their planning meeting. Here are a couple of engagement photos- Isn't she gorgeous?!

And So It Begins

This was just an amazingly busy day today- answering e-mails, planning meeting for Meredith and Andrew, working on books, and preparing for tomorrow's wedding that officially kicks off the 2009 season. I do want to take a moment out to wish Danielle and Dieken a Happy Wedding Eve!! Tomorrow will be amazing....

Ragazze Italiane

Italian Girls- you've got to love us! Last Friday, I was able to shoot the engagement session of Teressa and Anthony. As you can see from the images, they selected Little Italy as one of their venues for the shoot. Teresa is the owner of T-Star Productions, a video company that shoots weddings as well as their many corporate accounts and like me, she is 100% Italian. Teressa and I last worked together at the wedding of Melanie and Nate (summer 2008) and I am so happy that she selected us to photograph her own wedding which will take place in December 2009. She really wants snow for her wedding, but I just can't think about that right now:). Check out her website at http://www.tstarvideoproductions.com/.

Let Us Eat Cake!

Today, I was thrilled to receive an e-mail from one of my 2008 brides, Molly. Molly's wedding reception was held at the Old Arcade, a popular venue in the Cleveland area. Anyway, the purpose of Molly's note today was to tell me that her wedding cake bakery, The Wild Flour Bakery in Rocky River, plans to have this image printed, framed, and hung in their bakery! What an honor!

The Wild Flour Bakery had held the esteemed honor of The Best of the Knot in both 2007 and 2008. Take a look at them in the list of "My Fabulous Links". Thank you Wild Flour Bakery!

Worth Noting

As we ease into the 2009 wedding season, I have been completing many, many wedding books mostly from the 2007 and 2008 season. This makes me especially nostalgic as I revisit the weddings of my past couples. While going through some items, I ran across this note I received not long ago from Carrie and Aaron, an amazing couple from the 2008 season. It reads:

"I can't put into works how lucky we feel to have found the two of you. The wedding pictures are more beautiful than we could've imagined. You captured so many wonderful moments and we are extreemely grateful. Please keep in touch, as it was so great to meet you both. Thanks again for capturing all of our wonderful wedding memories."

How lucky and grateful I am to meet such beautiful and fabulous people through my work. Here are a couple of images from their wedding- I'm off to have a good cry!

Amy: The Seating Chart Guru

Last night, while meeting with Amy and Jonah for their planning meeting (their May 23rd wedding is just right around the corner!), Amy revealed the best little seating chart secret. She made a diagram of some sort of the reception room and then added post-it-notes of each guest to the room diagram where they would be seated. As each guest returned their RSVPs, she was easily able to adjust her seating chart by moving post-its where necessary. For example, if guests were not attending, she simply removed the post-its of those guests not attending and easily revised the rest of the chart by moving the other post-its around. It's a sort of musical post-its! I think it's a fabulous solution to what can be a frustrating task. Here are pics of our little Seating Chart Guru at her engagement session. Way to go, Amy!

Amore d'Italia Mia

I have been busy this week attending planning meetings for my May couples. Being of 100% Italian descent, imagine my excitment when hearing that one such couple, Toni and Tim were planning an Italian theme wedding. During their engagement session, they held up signs, which we later added Italian cities, as you can see from these images. They have printed these images and will be using them on their reception tabletops and each guest will be seated at a designated city. These guests have no idea that they will be taking an impromtu trip to Italy. Salute!!

My Best Little Man

Hey Girls- Meet Leo. Leo is the true head of my household. Actually, he has many jobs; Greeter, Doorman, Night Watchman, Menu Planner, Social Director, Personal Trainer and Assistant, Model, Refrigerator Monitor, and House Entertainer. He would make a great Best Man or Wing Man- he already owns his own tux. Leo is also very popular and can be seen on the web sites of many of our houseguests and business associates. Let me know if you want to see more of Leo- I'll check his social calender to see if he's available!