Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Four Seasons of Wedding

Hi everybody!



Slow as a snail...yes, this is me......but we've had a killer month and although it is wrapping up, we still have some clients coming up that needed help too!


Anyway, I promised you photos of the bridal show we participated in at the beautiful Weston Centre and our great hostess and hosts - Ms. Betty Cervera (Weston Centre) and Eric Holtz (Holtz Entertainment) and Elliott Hamilton (Elliott Hamilton Photography).


Our "season" was Autumn (one of my faves!)......and we decided to stay true to tradition, but add a few surprise elements! Our colors: orange, burnt orange, plum, eggplant, olive green, opalescent and chocolate sheers, old gold, deep red and burgundy. Oh my goodness!


Let me tell you who were the stand outs in our "booth!"


Not in any particular order and most of these vendors (in fact, I believe all) are on the www.sanantonioweddings.com website:



Katie Rider, "announcing...the celebrations of your life" (Stationery!) katie pulled together some really chic "paint chip" business card give aways for us and helped me with some really yummy ferrero rocher filled chocolate organza purse favors! (I kept a few for later use!)



Ambiance Event Design (Gene Weston and Tony Ferro) -These two designed some more than beautiful bouquets for our models, and Tony handpainted a forest scene to compliment the handmade chuppa he also created, painted, and then they decided to add a floral "chandalier" just for fun! The tablescape was a twist on a Preston Bailey design we all fell in love with, but definitely with Tony/Gene's name all over it! They also created (with a bit of input from moi!) a lounge area to end all lounge areas! We couldn't keep people out of it, so.......we made them stay and sign contracts with us! lol


Linens: Raemie Jones co-owner of Cover That Up! supplied all of our linens and they were (to say the least) fantabulous!!! Oh my gosh, the colors, the textures....I could shop there all day long and they have a warehouse that seems never ending....so, believe me, I shopped!


Sweets: Our cakes/cupcakes/and halloween treats were all supplied by Sweet Traditions! (owner Lynda Stansberry) and her tables looked awesome! (to say the cupcakes were great is an understatement!)



Table settings: A Need for Place Settings (Enid Shoquist) owner supplied our crystal, the beautiful opalescent china and the flatware. It was soooo beautiful.

Catering: World Cuisine (by Azuca) did the wonderful seafood martini bar....oh my gosh, it was all I could do to stay away from their table.....but they were there to sell to clients and kept shooing me away......I don't even like seafood! (guess I was wrong!)


Cake area!



























The Chuppa from afar..









The seafood bar....








The tablescape!










The oh so comfy lounge......those chairs.......ooh, those chairs!






Look at the colors and textures! Bichons and taffeta! yummm!!!
The bouquets!

The candleabra/chandalier and hand painted mural







Immediate Press Release! Hee hee, we made it in THE BOOK!


Hello all!!!


I'm so excited! In the overnight delivery box at our office was THE BOOK I've been waiting on for MONTHS! Spectacular Weddings of Texas.....and we're placed as the EXCLUSIVE wedding planner in San Antonio!



This is the hardcover front photo!!
Below is the press release........whooooo hoooo (how professional, right?? but I'm soooo excited.)


Dear valued clients and friends:


We are proud to announce the arrival of the beautiful new coffee table book Spectacular Weddings of Texas. Diamonds & Dreams is featured as the exclusive San Antonio wedding planner and we couldn’t be more excited for this honor!

Published by Jolie Carpenter with Signature Publishing Group (an imprint of Panache Partners). Publishers of large format, lifestyle books for discerning readers in the categories of high-end home, architecture, restaurant, golf and travel. Spectacular Weddings is a brilliant photographic and editorial collection of Texas weddings and love stories. The crème de la crème of wedding professionals across the state are presented

Filled with images gleaned from the portfolios of Texas’ leading photographers, the 304-page book features photographic highlights of 100 real Texas weddings. Mingled with the 400-plus photographs are the love stories—sassy and sweet—that led the happy couples down the aisle. The book is infused with insight from the people and organizations that make such spectacular weddings possible: event planners, jewelers, floral artists, caterers and bakers; venues, fashion boutiques, salons and spas. A portion of the proceeds of the book will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest grassroots breast cancer foundation, which doesn’t want another mother, sister or best girlfriend to miss their loved ones’ big day.

If you’d like a copy, books can be ordered at any major bookstore or amazon.com.


Thank you for your support.


Tina Humphrey, Certified Consultant / Owner

Saturday, October 18, 2008

St. Hedwig and Koscuisko Texas...

Its me........still!

Ok, Daneane Jarzombek (say that three times really really fast!). Daneane and I used to be coworkers EONS ago (Hi Sparkles!!)! She is one of the sweetest people on the planet and when she called to tell me she was getting married.........I was all over it! She was going to hire me, she just didn't realize it at the time!


Daneane and Casey's wedding was a small intimate affair....250 guests at the church in St. Hedwig....and then an expected 625 at the hall in koscuisko......quaint!


Daneane had a definite idea of what she wanted for her day.......she wanted her roots to show (NOOOOO, she's really a natural brunette!) and lots of Polish traditions and fun and good food and DANCING! Oh yeah, and more food! She needed the hall dressed up a bit (K Hall is a little rustic, and although she wanted a casual feel, a little BLING doesn't hurt any bride!).

So, we dressed it up! Daneane's family was a huge influence on the day and everybody pitched in during the 4 days of decorating! We had the ceiling totally transformed with drapes and twinkle lights and...chandaliers?? OK, at least one!


Beautiful classic colors, black, gold and ivory and a pinch of chatreuse and the day was perfect! I've even got video of the grand march (a word of warning.....turn down the speakers I was standing right next to the DJ!). Bridesmaids in "car wash" pants and sparkley tops, and the groomsmen in boots and tuxes...a groom we had a whole lot of fun with (mostly trying to ensure he didn't peek at Daneane before the ceremony...this one had fun and traditions all in one!


Here are a few photos!









Family time!

Ok, I'm still typing..........


This post has nothing to do with business........but everything to do with my family! My foster daughter, Maggie, turned two recently and we HAD to go to Chuck E. Cheese (we HAD to go because I didn't want to clean, cook or bake! :)--- hee hee




Anyway, the kids had a great time and even my mom seemed to enjoy the day (she's 89 and loves cake and ice cream more than me so she was willing to put up with a few screaming children filled with sugar!)




Maggie had a blast (she's the brunette in the striped shirt!), and now tells everyone she sees about her birthday at Chucky's house! (yes, at two, she's talking.......loudly, incessantly, most of the time coherently!) Someone help me!!! We love her dearly, but my goodness, is quiet time a bad thing for kids???!



Anyway, if you see us out and about, please don't hesitate to ask Miss Mags about her day! :)






Cummins Company Picnic

This was a great chance for D & D to get our feet wet in the corporate arena again! We've had experience doing corporate functions, but its been awhile and we've been so focused on the bridal market! It was fun for a change, and we want to do more...but we'll never give up our brides! :)

We had really great bbq from Next Door Catering, and of course, raspas were a "given" Goodness its not a picnic with those! We had a Velcro wall to keep the kids "occupied!" (parents loved us for this....kids stuck to a wall for a couple of hours.....c'mon.....life doesn't get ANY better than that! ) A moon bounce for the little little kids (we had trouble keeping the dads out of here for some unknown reason........and the best part......a dunking booth filled with the management team from Cummins San Antonio office......a bucket of balls with their names on them and a whole bunch of employees filled with a year's worth of pent up frustration! A match made in heaven! Can I just say, EVERYBODY in mgmt. got dunked! Super fun.

Thank you Shanna Wolf for allowing us the privilege of working with such a great company! Please ask us again!

Photos are not in yet, but they have been promised to me by next week! Stay tuned!

Falls City!

Let's start with the big stuff!



Clay and Emily Weston....engagement photo!newlyweds since September!

They were married in Karnes City (standing room only, please!) and then we moved on to Falls City for the reception. Bride and groom decided ITALY (more specifically, Tuscany) should be the theme, so we used burgundy, olive green and old golds and ivory! We draped the ENTIRE hall (the hall is really not attractive, but we needed the space for the 650+ guest count!)

Tony Ferro (Ambiance Event Design) painted 13 beautiful murals for us to hang in front of the draping...utilizing images from different areas of the Italian countryside he found in any magazine or book he could find ! This guy is FABULOUS at his craft! Tony's business partner, Gene Weston (groom's dad and artist in training) assisted with everything but the florals (and I'm not sure he didn't have his hands in those too!!) and I do mean everything!!He helped me put out about a million votives, hung all the murals, put up stand alone backdrops, carrried and placed wrought iron and SUPER HEAVY stone furnishings and cherubs.......and of course, helped me bring in the wine!! The decor was truly amazing and our couple had a great time! Food was fabulous and our DJ Sam from Cutting Edge Entertainment was of course, the BEST!


Congratulations Clay and Emily!



Here are a few photos...and I even caught our favorite photographer hard at work! Teresa Sandvig, from Elan Imaging didn't even see me comin'!!! :P



































Please don't be afraid of this ninja woman.......this is just a delirious wedding planner at rehearsal (after decorating a hall for hours!!) Yes, it doesn't get any better than this! (the woman laughing at me in the background is the bride's fabulous mom....Rita Jordan!)

Fun times!

Hi everyone! I'm finally back to this blogging thing and have I got stuff to tell you! :)

D & D has been busy (company picnic, birthday party, a couple of weddings and a small bridal show - all this past month!) and I've got some photos to share, too......but the pros haven't given me theirs yet, so I'll apologize up front for my lack of talent.

I have a video to share as well, courtesy of my "country bride" Daneane and her new hubby, Casey. Anyway, we had lots of fun with them, their families and each other!

We helped host a company picnic in Brack park (I really didnt realize how much work the City has done on the "old" parks! Lovely spots all around the zoo and Broadway/Hildebrand areas...I've got to get out more! lol

For the bridal show, a fashion show is a must! And naturally models are necessary, so the salon (Bella's Bridal) asked for help from all of us to find some for them....naturally, we go to the closest resource.....our clients! Some of my past and current brides helped out tremendously by volunteering their precious time to come and help (you guys made the gowns look soooo beautiful!). And family came thru for me, too!

Thanks to: Jenn, April, Kristie, Heather, Daneane, Christine's sister & her army models (Christine's in Iraq..hard to help from there, but she came thru anyway!!), Erin and her entire clan (Faith, Megan (my granddaughter), Kylie), my other granddaughter Alyssa, and my new "daughter" Jackie and one of my colleagues...Amanda...........and Paula and Kammie and if I'm forgetting anyone.......I'm old! Old People forget....so please forgive me......just know you are all super appreciated!!

Ok, so I hope you enjoy the photos. I have two more weddings this month, so I probably won't post for a couple of weeks, but just know this.......I'm lurking out here and I will return!