Uberbooth Photobooth

{Me and Zachary: Yeeeeeee Haw!}

 We had a great time at the kick off party for Celebrations Catering's new BBQ Division! It was a down right good time, with the some good eats! We all put our booths on, ate some delicious BBQ, learned some square dancin' moves from Gnys Entertainment, and ate some Funnel Cake, and S'mores!

One of our favorite things was the UberBooth photobooth, we all got in one the fun!

The Whole Gang is a bit silly! {Me, Gabriel, Janelle and Zachary: Age 16 months}

 So, if you are looking for not just any photobooth, but an uber cool and super fun one... check out Uberbooth!

Giddy Up Cowboy! {Gabriel: Age 3}

Draping the Ceiling

Found on Pinterest via This Blog

Draping the entire ballroom for your wedding can create such a dramatic effect, it's so gorgeous, romantic, and frankly, it's a bit costly.

But it's so pretty!

So, what if you just draped over the head table or family table, and then utilized the drapping effect against the wall?

I love this! This goes in my top 5 Awesometasticness!

Ohhhh, maybe I should create an award? The Awesometastical, Awesometasicy, or just Awesometastic... hmmmm....

GNYS Entertainment

 

This week we wanted to share a little love to one of the most awesometastic entertainers around, Jarad of GNYS "Genius" Entertainment

It really isn't a party 'til this guy gets started. Gnys Entertainment is the most professional DJ we have ever worked with, with the perfect mix of fun, and has a way of getting everyone off their feet to dance, have fun, and walk away saying that was the 'funnest wedding ever' and they will say funnest!

If you are in Gainesville, Ocala or anywhere in Central Florida and are looking for a DJ, you MUST call Gnys Entertainment!

And I don't say that about just anyone...

(Oh and don't forget to ask about their dancing classes, make your first dance incredible and memorable)

Makeup by Kara Winslow

It's hard to find a makeup artist you mesh well with when coordinating for the big day. You don't want to look like a clown, you still want to look like you, and you'd also like to see makeup still on your face in photos taken during the reception.

We love Kara Winslow she will make sure you 1) don't look like a circus freak and 2) give you a natural look that will last all day. Seriously, the girl's got talent.

Check out Kara's website to see all her amazing work, I mean she's good enough for Ryan Lochte and he jumps around in the water all day! (Ok, swims reallllly fast in the water all day.)

Go USA!

KB Kakes Grand Opening

We had an awesometastic time celebrating the opening of the new KB Kakes storefront and couldn't wait to share all the pics! We're lucky we got a taste of some the yummy treats before they all disappeared!

All photos by HOME Magazine

Come out and show KB Kakes some love at the official grand opening today, Monday, May 14 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.!

Dive into the depths of darkness in an elevator

Wedding Talk

Have you heard, have you been?

MasterPiece Weddings introduced their new blog this week! Wedding Talk is now live and ready to talk all things weddings, specializing in weddings in North Central Florida.

Rachel is so excited to share with you her ideas, weddings, DIY projects, and tons of other wedding professionals opinions and articles.

So head over to Wedding Talk and get into the conversation!

Open Letter to Wedding Vendors

I found this post recently on one of my dear friends blogs, and it is verbatim what I have been thinking lately, so I thought stealing borrowing, plagiarising, quoting her, would be the best way to say what I mean.

Photography by: Footstone Photography

This post has been brewing in me for a little while now. It is NOT directed to any one person or situation in particular. But a accumulation of occurrences.

As wedding engineers (er, planners), we get a plethora of wedding vendors that contact us requesting to be on our referred vendor list. Facebook messages, emails, cards, phone calls, and more. We have a process when we recommend a vendor (and yes, we will occasionally recommend vendors that we have not worked with before… as long as they have some stellar testimonials that we check out).

We are also offered many things, one of which a little “kick-back”. “Refer me and I’ll give you $50.” says wedding a vendor.

Honestly that’s not our motivation when referring vendors. For the record, we do not accept kick-backs of any kind. What we prefer is that you (the wedding vendor) extend that $50 towards our client’s service package. You look good, we look good. Win/Win.

However here’s the real needle in the haystack that I want to address in this blog post.

What we really would love, (we = wedding planners) are for wedding vendors that we recommend to do the following:

• Bring your A game and a little more. Seriously. Treat the clients that we bring to you with such great care that they want to be your Bestie as well.
• Want to work with US. That’s right. We bring you into the team-fold to spend all day with you on a Saturday (away from our family), we want you to work with us. If you have ever experienced working with the {wedding planning} team, you KNOW that we don’t ask you to do anything that we wouldn’t do ourselves. In fact, there is no such language as, “That’s not our job” at an event. We pitch in and work hard right along side of you.
• Watch each other’s backs. It takes a full vendor team to execute a fabulous wedding. Everyone doing their part and a little more. We all make mistakes (yes, us too). We’re human. Help us and we’ll help you.
• Be a little more flexible. You know that your job is going to be a little easier with us on site. Timelines and production schedules are complete. All vendors are contacted prior to the wedding. So don’t lump us with all your other DIY clients. We are professional. Time is money and we know what we are doing. A little flexibility goes a long way to repeat referrals.
• Have fun on the wedding day. We pull 17 hours sometimes. Often, we’re the first ones there for setup … to the ceremony … the reception and breaking out. We love what we do, but I won’t lie. Sometimes it can be a long hard work day. Bring a smile and a great attitude. The day will go by faster and easier.
• Communicate with us. Sometimes client’s don’t tell us everything. A rogue Father of the Bride goes off and plans special events during the reception as a surprise and we don’t know anything about it. Let us know ….
• Refer US. You read that correctly. Throw our name out there to YOUR clients. Ask them, “WHO is your wedding planner?” and tell them about us. Tell them why you like to work with us. You should know, we SELL YOU before our clients call you to meet. This is a tight wedding vendor circle and throwing back some love to us is just as important as us always referring you. One sided relationships almost never work. Think about it.

This blog post was from the heart and for educational purposes.

Bouquet of Love and Support

We recently had a bride who incorporated the Bouquet of Love and Support into her ceremony as a substitution for the Unity Candle or Sand Ceremony.I had never seen this done before but I L-O-V-E it!! It is a super awesome option and I think more brides should use it!

Our particular client we had used a vase that had been passed down from generations. They used silk mums as their flowers but you could use literally any flower you like, fake or real!

So instead of pouring sand, water, wine or lighting a candle, the bride and groom each put a flower in the vase. Then have the important people in your life come up and put a flower in your vase and give hugs to the bride and groom. They can come up in couples, or as individuals, whatever you like, personalize it for you.

It was really sweet and emotional for the bride and groom. And it was a great way to involve the family and thank them for being there and supporting the forming of their new family. It really touched my heart, I couldn't help but get teary-eyed.

Thank you Russell Martin for capturing this beautiful ceremony!!

Jay's Bridal Expo!

Jay's Bridal will be hosting their EGainesville Wedding Expo on August 28th, 2011 from 12pm-5pm in the Phillips Center here in Gainesville!! They will be featuring tons and tons of local vendors, you can plan your wedding in one day! You can get tickets online or at the door.

Eat cake, sample food, check out some of the vendors - remember this is your opportunity to check out their work, talk to them, see if your personalities mesh... it's fun, and totally worth it!

Check out this video or click here to learn more!

Gainesville Wedding Expo - August 28, 2011 from Platinum Digital Video on Vimeo.

Gainesville Wedding: Rachel and Scot

MasterPiece Weddings was honored to be a part of Rachel and Scot's wedding this past weekend! They were wonderful and their wedding was absolutely gorgeous.

Here are a few pictures from Lindsay Novak Photography for you to enjoy!

So sweet, brings tears to my eyes!!

Cutest flower girls ever!

Amazing vendors from this wedding:

Photography: Lindsay Novak Photography
Flowers: Joan at Prange's Florist
Cake: Cakes by Jenny Wagner
Planning and Coordination: MasterPiece Weddings
Ceremony: Christ Community Church
Reception Venue: UF Hilton
Music: Wayne's World Entertainment
Hair: Graceful Strands
Make-up: Cliff Weir from Your Wedding Make-up

Gainesville Wedding: Sam and Joe

It's no secret that we love our clients - like seriously love our clients. If they weren't getting married, I'd marry most of them myself.

And Sam and Joe were no exception. They are sweet, and adorable and fun and sweet, and nice! I was literally the first person to cry when Sam got her gown on... I am a sap.

Check out these images from Footstone Photography.

Vendors who created this gorgeous wedding:

Photography: Footstone Photography
Flowers: Joan Prange of Prange's Florist
Reception Entertainment: Gnys Entertainment
Ceremony Music: Duo Cellissimo
Ceremony Venue: Baughman Center
Cake: Ms. Debbie's Sugar Art
Planning: MasterPiece Weddings
Venue: Sweetwater Branch Inn

Gainesville Wedding: Shannon and David Preview

Although all of our demands were not met, we decided to let Bobbi and Mike off the hook because they took these amazingly fun pictures of Shannon and David's nacho cheese Gainesville wedding!

The umbrella can live to see another day.

And of course the Nacho Cheese Fountain!

We had such a great time at their wedding! Shannon and David were seriously the greatest!

Guestbook Fun

When I stumbled across this, I just knew I had to share it with you guys! Bleu De Toi has come out with this fun and unique way of remembering the guests at your wedding. This guestbook fingerprint tree can become a lovely keepsake to hang on your wall instead of just some book that sits in a box in your attic.

Each woodcut print is hand printed and personalized just for you! The branches are left bare and you can choose the ink colors you want your guests to leave their thumb prints with.

I just love this idea! It's different and cute and fun for all of your guests!

You could even do balloons!! So adorable!



[Source]



Real Wedding: Erinn and Andrew

Have you ever seen such a B-E-A-utiful bride! As most of you know, Erinn used to work for MasterPiece Weddings, and we all miss her dearly! I have looked at all of her wedding pictures a zillion times and just can't get enough of them!

Her wedding was spectacularly gorgeous and we give a big hoorah to Pure by Lindsey Tropf for capturing her true beauty!

Doesn't she have the greatest smile :)