I am back!!!!!

What a holiday, my head is still buzzing! Here are some photos I took to share with you.

This is the house I spend my first 10 years of my life.

My High School, it was pouring rain, so I took it from the car!

Sony Centre

Brandenburger Tor

City Centre

My Dad and I went to get fresh bread rolls every morning for breakfast!

I certainly will miss them. Yumm!!

Berlin Bear, the town maskot. Every country could paint one. This is Australias version.

Back to my hometown - Berlin

I am off to Berlin? Germany tonight till the 21 June. I am taking myself on a little holiday back to my hometown as it is my parents 5o Wedding Anniversary. I have not been back in 9 years and I am quite excited to see family and old friends again. Of course drinking lot's of German wine!!!!

AUF WIEDERSEHEN

Couture/Boudoir day!

Jennifer and Natasja are planning their next boudoir/couture day for Saturday the 20th of June.

WHAT IS A COUTURE SESSION?

Their approach to Boudoir is not just about lingerie. You don’t have to pose in your underwear unless you want to. Capturing naturally glamorous images in the style of fashion magazines. These will be the most beautiful photographs of yourself you will ever have. Surprise your fiancee, husband or do it for yourself.
HOW TO BOOK
It’s strictly first come, first served and places are very limited.

Email Natasja: natasja@nkphotography.com.au
Email Jennifer: jen@annarose.com.au
Sitting fee: $150 which includes an hour of shooting, 2 outfit changes and a 7 day online print ordering gallery.

Check out their blogs for a treat. Enjoy!

http://www.nkphotography.com.au/blog/ and http://jensblog.bigfolioblog.com/

Flowers and Florist by Tammy

I thought I'd share a few tips with you today about the questions you should ask when you're 'interviewing' florists for your wedding day. Experience has taught us that taking a little bit of control and responsibility, as well as building a rapport with your florist from the very first conversation really does mean you'll enjoy a more positive experience.

Here are my top five questions for florists...

1) Are you available on our wedding date and how many other weddings will you be providing flowers for on that day?

It's good to establish a florist's availability as soon as possible so as not to waste their time, or yours. Equally importantly, finding out how much work they're prepared to take on for a single day will enable you to make a judgement about how important your wedding is going to be to them - and how flexible they are going to be able to be with any last minute changes to your order and delivery details.

2) Can you provide what we need within our budget?

Use the expertise of the florists you're talking to, after all, they will know a lot more about flower combinations, volumes of blooms needed and the viability of your ideas, than you will! It's important to establish that the things you want are achievable within your budget and, if not, what alternatives you could consider.

3) Who will be delivering, and setting up, the flowers on our wedding day?

Find out if the florist sends a qualified floral designer out with their orders or if local couriers are used. This will enable you to decide if you're going to need to look at additional help on your wedding day as couriers are employed to literally deliver the order and leave, whilst a floral designer will spend time ensuring your flowers are set up as previously discussed.

4) Have you worked at our ceremony/reception venue before and, if not, would you be prepared to visit with us?

Florists who are familiar with your venue(s) are worth their weight in gold, as are those who are happy to meet you at the venue(s) to discuss your requirements. Money can be saved, arrangements can be dual-purpose and nothing will come as a surprise if you're working with someone who knows, and has provided flowers for, your venue(s) before.

5) Please could you put us in touch with some couples you have recently worked with?

As with every other wedding supplier, a good florist will happily put you in touch with couples whose weddings they have recently worked on. It's important that you follow up and contact them in order to get an objective description of the service they enjoyed from the florist(s) you're considering. Whilst it's highly unlikely that they'll put you in touch with unhappy clients, it's still extremely useful to get an idea of what working with individual florists is really like.

And remember, floral arrangements don't have to be flowers to be stunning. One of my favourite images is of these voile-covered bay trees, lining the entrance to the wedding ceremony (source: "The Best of Martha Stewart Living", Potter). Absolutely stunning and totally achievable as many florists now hire out bay trees and lengths of voile and ribbon can be bought inexpensively and transform these trees into a magical scene. You could even add battery-operated white fairy lights for extra sparkle!

Take care and I'll speak to you soon!

Commander Limousines

I had the honour to be visited by the only stretched Jeep Limousine in Australia. Pure luxury, beautiful presented and the service is top class. So unique!!

Good service is so important and Commander Limousines GOT THAT!

Do yourself a favour and visit Commander Limousines website. Great website, very informative and you will ALWAYS get FABULOUS service.

Becoming a Wedding Planner

I regularly get email enquiries for internships, job enquiries or to give advice in “How to become a Wedding Planner”.
I wish I could help each one but do not often have the time to answer all the emails. Trust me there are many.
Vendors often tell me of new wedding planners trying to get into this business, lacking confidence, are often confused and find it quite hard starting a new business. I know, I have been there! There are plenty of wedding planner courses on offer in the Eastern States, but none which gives you a hands on in Western Australia.
Jenn from The Original Wedding Company and I have joined forces and created The Wedding Planner Hub. We thought we share our knowledge and experience to help you start a wedding planning business from scratch, give you step by step guidance in how to create your packages, timelines, how to stay organized and much much more. The one day comprehensive seminar will give you a fabulous start to build a solid and successful business. Your new knowledge will provide you with all the confidence you need to deal with your clients. This seminar will also provide you with a 6 months FREE membership, this is especially good for when you finish the course and need help to get establish.
So what are you waiting for? Take your first step towards your new career, join us at our next seminar on the:

08 August 2009
10:00am to 5:00pm

Morning Tea: 11:30am - Lunch: 1:30 to 2:15pm

Tompkins Park

Cnr.Dunkley Avenue & Canning Highway, Alfred Cove

For more information please visit our website

THE WEDDING PLANNER HUB

Lily & Cino - Couture Stationery

New online stationery boutique Lily&Cino. All their designs are personalisable with different paper, colour and envelope choices and they even offer a range of environmentally sensitive papers including 100% recyled paper. They are fabulous. Simple and so refreshing.

Benefits of failure - J.K. Rowling

What a fabulous speech! I know it is 20 minutes long, but well worth listening too. Such a value to life. Just loved it!

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

On The Day Co-ordination - a wedding planner's perspective

Way back in September 2007 I first spoke with Diana - she was the very excited winner of a competition we ran with Grazia magazine and Kirsten Goss jewellery!

Eighteen months, numerous emails, meetings & telephone calls later, I pulled up in front of Clearwell Castle, thrilled to be stepping out into glorious sunshine. Thanks to an incredibly organised bride and an On The Day wedding coordinator service that is second to none, I was confident that everyone at the wedding would need to worry about nothing except having a wonderful time.

I had very comfortable shoes on (still pretty ones though!) and was more than prepared for anything that might need a quick response. Admittedly, most of our hard work had been done in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Contacting every supplier involved in the wedding to double-check, then triple-check, details of the bookings, ensure that everybody knew exactly what was expected of them and when, and then deal with the few last-minute issues that arose. All the while keeping Diana in the loop so that she could truly relax and enjoy the last few days of being engaged, knowing that someone who plans and co-ordinates weddings for a living, was in control of everything.

So, it was relatively easy to appear relaxed and happy during the wedding. After all, what newly-married couple wants to be surrounded by fussy, frantic people when they can instead chat with someone they've grown close to over a number of months and who they trust to ensure that they have the day they have meticulously planned, not just the one that is easiest for their suppliers to provide?

We did had a couple of last minute 'issues' and this is what we thrive on - spotting potential problems early enough to make them disappear without ever troubling the bride and groom, or any of their guests. My reward on Saturday was seeing a couple who didn't stop smiling and who took time out of their day to come and thank me for all my help, before I slipped away. When bridesmaids and parents of the happy couple also sought me out to thank me, I was the one smiling like a Cheshire cat and I drove home buzzing with happiness. See, it really is the best job in the world!

Elsia and Peter

Magic in the Australian outback. Balingup is a 3 hour drive from Perth south-west. 202 guests! Romano, the great chef and his team created the antipasto, entree, main course and dessert in the middle of a paddock of a farm. (Fine Food of Margaret River & Margaret River Jam &Co). 2 main tents (10x30m)+(6x10m) were from Lonsdale Party hire. The 4 Raj Pergola tents, furniture and all the magic came from Villa Kula.

The road to the farm a 20 minutes drive.

Scare Crows where all over the farm.

Ceremony set up on top of the hill

With this ring...

Marquees getting set up

Jenny from Florist Gump did all the flowers. An amazing Lady who created beautiful arrangements. I will always highly recommend her.

Creations Unlimited did all the table decor, bridal table ceremony decor and chair covers.
Neil and Adele where a great support during the day. Such a professional team and great fun!

Candy buffet ----- of course!

My seating chart
Vanessa from Villa Kula creating magic in setting everything up and the did the big flower arrangement by the bar. She is sooooo creative! Villa Kulas furniture were fabulous and a must for every wedding for guests to relax on.

Cake made by Carmello Edible Art, a true Michelangelo for cakes!

Elsia with one of her beautiful flower girl.

Magic by night. (my apologies for the bad quality of photos - it was a busy day!)

I had a FABULOUS team for the day. They ALL gave 150% to make it all happen. More photos to come. It was such a huge day!!!!

THE END

My last THANK YOU is going to Margery from Misty Valley Views.

Through my line of work I meet many wonderful and talented people. Marg looked after me while I was staying in Balingup. She is an amazing and inspirational person and I was lucky to have met her. Her property is overlooking the magical misty valley while you are having a cooked breakfast with the LOT. If you like a relaxing 'Getaway", this is the place to be. I certainly will be back with my family!