The Ultimate Wedding Giveaway

It was another busy night of weekday planning with Cori, Chris, and I. I am always amazed at how brides and grooms find time to squeeze in wedding planning in their already very full lives! Cori and Chris are no exception. Chris, for example has to manage his full-time career at the Bay Bridge Airport, find time to tend to his new home (and the lawn that goes with it!) as well as his addiction to the gym! Cori is quite the same with a demanding job in Radiology, also lovingly caring for the INSIDE of their new home, as well as spending time with her family and friends in PA as they welcome new babies and new life moments. It has been my pleasure to work alongside this great couple and help make planning as easy and stress free as possible!

Onto one of the most fun meetings in wedding planning – meeting with your DJ! We met with the amazing Christopher Temple of C&J Entertainment to talk about music selections for the big day. C&J Entertainment has been in the market for over 30 years. The company was founded by Chris’s father, Jim Temple. They’re headquartered in Odenton, MD, which makes them centrally located to serve Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington D.C, and Northern VA. C&J is well respected as a fair, reputable, and talented Entertainment Agency. Don’t just take my word for it — check out their reviews online at weddingwire.com and you’ll see they have over 200 reviews and a five star rating!

Chris Temple has serviced hundreds, if not thousands of events, and has a great working knowledge of what works and does not. He is an expert in all things music and clued the couple into some great new trends. C&J is also an expert on logistics – we are having the ceremony in one location, cocktails in another, and the reception in a third! It was not a worry for Chris, who instantly scribbled down the notes and ensured we’ll have music at all three sites and it will be no problem. It’s such a pleasure to work with a knowledgeable, friendly expert!

Our meeting began with Chris talking the couple through the details of the day, starting with the ceremony. Chris suggested the Vitamin String Quartet. This is a group that plays contemporary scores with classic quartet instruments. What a great idea for the ceremony processional! It was so helpful to meet in Chris’ office so he could play us songs in real time as we were talking about them, and also build on the couple’s suggestions and ideas. We were able to listen to many options and made a few selections.

Chris then walked us through some of the reception moments we would need to choose songs for, such as introductions of the bridal party, the couple’s first dance, parent dances and even cake cutting! Cori and Chris loved Chris Temple’s suggestions and were so happy to be in “the right hands” musically for the big day! They really felt that Chris Temple “got” them as a couple, and they are excited to see him on the big day.

We walked away with a lot of musical homework between now and October but we know we are in the most amazing hands. Stay tuned to hear what we decided for the wedding music and also to see our upcoming sample table, photobooth, and more!

From the planning frontline,

RS

Time is flying by and I can’t believe we are only just over 100 days away from Cori and Chris’ wedding day in the new Adirondack Room at the Bistro! That means it’s time to dive into the details and bring our design to life.

Cori and Chris’s design priorities consist of a simple, natural, rustic fall season look with a soft, romantic, & elegant feel. Our goal is for everything to have a comfortable, natural feel mixed with elegance and personal touches. That’s a lot to accomplish – good thing we have an AMAZING rental company to help bring each and every one of those design priorities to life with the perfect rentals.

This past Monday, I stole Cori away from settling in their new house in Annapolis to meet with Grand Rental Events, our star vendor providing anything rental-related for the wedding.

Grand Rentals is located in Odenton, MD and is only a short drive from Annapolis. I love Grand Rentals because they consistently deliver at each and every event. I can trust with Grand Rental that what you order is what you get on the event date, or they will come out and make it right. I am also always impressed with the condition of their inventory. Everything is carefully maintained and it shows.

Grand Rentals has been in business for over 30 years and has become a well-known name in the Annapolis market over the last 10 years. I have had the pleasure of working hand-in-hand with Steve, the co-owner, on numerous tents, heating, and power situations. When I need a job done right, Steve is definitively on my list to call and get it done, at a fair price.

The other favorite thing of mine about Grand Rentals is their amazing Event & Sales Manager, Kathy Saulino. I’ve known Kathy over the years as she worked in different positions and I was so happy to see her at Grand Rentals. She’s helping to build an amazing clientele and a reputation of success – I know you would enjoy her as much as all of us at Wedding Savvy do… go see her so she can help you craft a stunning event.

Cori and I met with Kathy at their Odenton showroom so we could do just that – create an amazing look! Meeting in the showroom allows us to mix and match linens & chairs around acutal banquet tables. Kathy has over 20 years of experience in event planning, management, and sales and marketing, so she was a huge asset to have around. We were also very fortunate to have Kathy Dennin-Meagher of My Flower box Events to help consult on colors based on the floral proposal (check out our blog in August to learn more about myflowerboxevents.com and the amazing sample table they’ll create for us!) Chris was unable to join us for this meeting – work kept him busy – but between us three ladies and linen swatches, he was probably happy to miss out on all of the gabbing!

After a short discussion, Kathy from Grand Rentals went in the back and pulled out the perfect linens for the event. We decided on a white begaline for the head table with a beautiful burlap runner and a stunning ivory krinkle crush for all the guest tables. Yes, you heard us right – white, ivory, and burlap! I’m a huge fan of mixing white and ivory, and adding in some texture makes it very 2012. This year is all about depth, color, and texture. What a great year to get married!

Kathy Dennin-Meagher brought along a sample of the white candelabras we’ll be using on the head table for us to simply play a bit with. It’s so hard to visualize an entire room of beauty based on just one table but Cori is the perfect bride and really trusts in her amazing vendors. Everyone is excited to give it their all for this well-deserving duo.

Cori (and you!) won’t have to wait too long to see a complete mock up of a guest table. Stay tuned for a later blog that will feature one of our ever-talented florists, My Flower Box Events. They, along with Marina Rowley of Contessa flowers will be providing flowers for the event and it is sure to be amazing!

If you haven’t already, please check out the Adirondack for your fall 2012 or 2013 wedding. As the area’s newest facility, dates are filling up quickly, so be sure to get your inquiries in!

- Raquel Shutt, Wedding Savvy