Great minds think alike

So lately I've been talking with my friends in the wedding industry and we have so much in common:

1) Most of us have ADD/ADHD tendencies.

Some I know were diagnosed with it, others prefer to call it a "genius mind." Somehow the ADD helps when we have to multi-task and juggle 10 things at once. Sounds crazy, but it works!

2) We're super creative and have a constant flow of creativity streaming from our brains.

For example, I'll go to get my hair done at the salon and notice a lovely vase in the corner of the room. That vase will start a color palate in my head that leads to decorations, which leads to flowers, the dress, ect. By the time I've finished my hair appointment, I have an entire event styled and decorated (in my mind), and it all came from that vase.

From this --------------------------------------> To this.                   

3) We're night owls.

I have a lot of night time/early morning conversations with pals who love the night time as much as I do. The ability to set your own schedule is nice and apparently there are others who prefer the night to the day, (or at least waking up around lunch time.)

I've been asked the following questions due to my sleep/non-sleep schedule:
Are you a vampire? -No.
Does the sun hurt your eyes? -Yes.
Do you wear sunglasses and sunscreen to shield yourself from the sun? -You bet I do.
Are you sure you're not a vampire? - No, I'm not! If I lived in California or the Pacific Ocean I'd fit in just fine. For now, the odd schedule will do...God help me when my son starts school in the fall.

4) We're constantly working to improve our skills/passion.

Seriously. There's not one professional wedding vendor I know who doesn't eat, sleep, live their job. Sure, we do a lot of other things and have a separate life outside of work. But the folks I know are always attending seminars, catching up on the newest trends in the industry and working to better themselves in their specific area of expertise. No matter how seasoned we are in our position, we are always striving for improvement to be better and better.

5) We LOVE what we do and are very happy with our careers. 

There are a few weekend warriors out there and a few vendors who'll ask, "What do you want? I am/am not available for your date. This is my price," and that will be the end of the conversation. These are not folks I work with.

The pros who are successful in this business are in it for the right reasons: it's because we love what we do and have a passion for helping others and being part of outstanding events.
We ask questions, evaluate the clients thoroughly, and take the time to get to know the clients so we know exactly what the clients want and can deliver results. Not only do we go above and beyond the call of duty for our clients, we work hard for each other and help our fellow wedding vendor in their time of need.

It's a passion and a blessing to do what I love. Thank God I found my calling and am able to work without "working" and enjoy what I do. I hope each and everyone who reads this blog finds and harnesses your passion to turn it into a career. Thank you all for reading and Happy Planning!

Love,
Krystal

2011, what a year!

Hello Friends,

Wow, I can hardly believe that 2011 has passed by so quickly. I've been blessed so much by God with a wonderful family, amazing clients, even more amazing wedding vendors and I can't wait for 2012 to start!

I'm looking forward to putting together the next Free Bridal Show in January and have to finalize some details before I get the go ahead. I plan for 2012 is to do FOUR bridal shows, coordinate 25-30 weddings and do six mini-bridal shows that showcase Rehearsal Dinner Venues for brides. I'm so glad I've hired my sister, Ashley, as my personal assistant. She's even more organized than I am!

I had several memorable brides this year and wanted to share bits of their stories with you:

My Tasteful Bride - Everything she designed was done elegantly and tastefully. She understood the value of enjoying her wedding day and let the DJ and I handle certain guests when they showed up uninvited. They loved movies and had mini-movie posters at guests tables of different love stories. It was all very cool! She and her hubby were super tired at the end, but attended the after party at night and lived happily ever after.

My Crying Bride - She cried almost on a daily basis. She tried being a DIY bride and couldn't handle the pressure. I dried her tears, we planned together and she danced with joy on her wedding day. If she'd had another 1-2 months to mentally prepare for everything she wouldn't have cried so much, but I'm glad she hired me. I was able to get her the decorations/discounts she needed to pull off her wedding AND I made a good friend in the process. :)

My Diabolical Genius Bride - This thrifty gal took my advice and didn't pay full price for her wedding gown or anything else. She pulled from all of her resources, ordered her $1,200 designer gown from China and paid $150 for it (including shipping!), and she and her handsome groom lived happily ever after.

My Perfect Bride - Her wedding was a fairy tale come true. Literally. She married prince charming, wore a princess gown, had nearly 300 guests and danced the night away in wedded bliss. She was the happiest bride I've ever seen; even when a bird crapped on her head she still kept smiling and saying, "I'm so happy, everything is perfect, it's my wedding day!" This bride and groom are actually famous and are part of a famous local family. I won't show any pictures or reveal names to give away who they are, but their wedding was a fairy tale come true!

Jessica & Joe - I have to mention this couple by name because they are my good friends from college. I happened to introduce them when we were in the UTA Library one day and we started our Spanish study group together. Jessica and I never knew she'd marry the cute guy we'd giggle about and call, "Hot Spanish Guy Joe." They then began a friendship that lasted for years. They later fell in love, got married and lived happily ever after...and I got to witness their love from the beginning. It was an extra special wedding for me. :)

My Vintage Couple - This bride designed a vintage themed wedding, circa 1940's Hollywood with lace decorations, homemade plum jam, antique decorations, wildflowers & candle light everywhere! This wedding was fun, delicious and exhausting because I had to do double duty by clamping down linens to the tables due to strong winds, (it was an outdoor wedding), and I had to help clean up after the reception was over. (Her people on the "Responsibility List" all got drunk and left the family there with a HUGE mess to clean up as thunderclouds hovered overhead.)
FYI Brides, make sure the people you put on your "Responsibility List" are actually going to stay for the night and do what they say they are going to do.

My Stressed Out Bride - This sweet bride was put through a lot of crap. A LOT! Venue backed out on them 8 weeks before the big day, (yeah, talk about stress. The bride is as detail oriented as I am and would call me on a daily basis to find out what was going on. Venues were SLOW as hell to respond and her stress fed into mine and vise versa. We were both in hell not knowing what would happen next!)
Let's see, what else happened: Room blocks were sold out from under her. Cake vendor brought the wrong cake. Caterer ran out of food early. Hair & Makeup artist arrived an 1.5 hours late and threw off the entire pre-ceremony schedule. Supplemental florist arrived late in delivering flowers. On site coordinator yelled at my already stressed-beyond-belief bride on her wedding day and limo driver didn't know where he was going.
The only folks who pulled through for this gal were her family, husband (thank you Jason!), the
DJ (thank you Glenn Roush!), the photographer (thank you Darrell Knight), and myself (yay me!) This wedding was definitely one to remember. At least she had a happy ceremony, a fun 6 hour reception that included LOTS of dancing and wine, and they drove off in their horse & carriage ride in happy wedded bliss.

My Cool Bride - My last wedding of the year. This bride was a breath of fresh air. She was very laid back and cool the entire day, even when the lady at the church yelled at her and the wedding party 5
minutes before the start time saying, "Hurry up, we're running out of time!" Thankfully that woman was the only stressed out person there, I could not have handled another stressed out person. What my happy clients did not know was that I was sick as a dog that morning (nothing that would contaminate anyone of course), but I pulled through and they got married, had a fun party and even more fun after party.

I am on unofficial vacation for now, which means I am not running any weddings until January 21st, and I have free time to meet with my vendor friends for lunch, spend more time with my son and begin preparations for The Free Bridal Show.

Looking back on 2011 has made me so thankful for the blessings God has given me: my wonderful, rambunctious son, great family to work with, fun and interesting clients, great vendors who I plan on working with more in the future, and I finally joined the AWP (Association of Wedding Professionals). I'm definitely looking forward to the AWP Christmas Party and getting to dance and actually enjoy myself at a party instead of working one.

If any of you have any questions or would like to comment please do so below. Thank you again for taking the time to read by blog and have a wonderful day!

Happy Planning and Lotsa Luv,

Krystal :)

Top 10 Things You Don't Know About Your (THIS) Wedding Planner

Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a LONG time since I've blogged, just been so busy with weddings and such that I haven't made the time to blog. So as I lay here in bed, dead tired and recovering from the most recent wedding I think to myself, "Krystal, you need to update that blog and post the top 10 things people don't know about your (this) wedding planner."

So without further adieu, here it is:

THE TOP 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT YOUR (THIS) WEDDING PLANNER:

1) I barely sleep the night before the wedding.

I am too excited thinking about all the lovely details to sleep! Wine, counting sheep, reading, sleeping pills and horse tranquilizers cannot put this planner down to sleep.....trust me, I've tried everything and nothing works.

2) I barely eat before the ceremony.

My stomach is tied up in more knots than the Bride & Groom combined! If I must eat because I need to decorate or make bouquets, I generally run on bites of peanut butter sandwiches, snicker bars, coke and adreneline.

3) When I do eat, I sneak bites of food in between events or after everyone else has finished eating.

FYI, it's a good idea to set up some sort of snack table for your vendors to nom on during the wedding day events. Your vendors work very hard and a bite here and there helps us keep our strength up.

4) I'm an ordained minister though The Universal Life Church.

I've never married anyone before, but it's nice to know you've got a backup person to legally marry you in case your officiant gets sick, is a no show or some other emergency comes up. I don't advertise this much because I prefer to be behind the scenes instead of in the spotlight. Twice, I've had to almost marry people, but their officiants arrived in time before I could do it, whew!

5) My average wedding day lasts 12+ hours.

With all the driving around, making things happen and pull together, the average day lasts a little more than 12 hours for me. I once had a 21 hour wedding day, complete with snow, ice storm and NO air conditioning system to heat the building. The real kicker was the sunny days we had before AND after the wedding day.

Yeah, that was a pretty bad day for everyone involved.

6) It takes me an entire week to recover from one wedding.

Seriously, I need an entire week just to clear my mind and my body from all the organized chaos that goes into planning and running a wedding. You would think that after a wedding the back muscles are the group of muscles that get sore in the body. Not so, it's the legs and butt muscles that feel the most pain!

7) I wear my running shoes on the wedding day (instead of fancy high heels).

I have to walk, run and occassionally leap on the big day. High heels just don't cut it when I'm moving around 90% of the time. If you want me to wear fancy heels on your wedding day, I won't do it. For me to be at the top of my game I need to be able to run and run fast.

8) I wear my fancy high heels (or no shoes at all) the day after the wedding.

You: "High heels the day after a wedding? Wtf?!?"
Me: "I know, it's sorta backwards isn't it?!"

My feet, legs and butt muscles are so worn from running shoes that I need a drastic change just to move around and keep from falling over. My black, 4" heels from Vera Wang are my favs!

9) I've got your back, seriously.

I carry my huge emergency kit with me to every wedding and I've never had to not use it. Safety pins, tape, hair pins, cork screw openers and stain removing pens are people's favs from the kit.

10) I cry at every wedding.

It could be as the Bride walks down the aisle, when sentimental vows are read, during the first dance or even during the goodbye. At some point during my client's weddings I shed a few tears for them.
How could I not? By the time I'm through planning and coordinating a wedding I've gotten to know clients so well they're more like old friends rather than clients.
And every bride is so beautiful in her own way...the dress, the hair/makeup, seeing the happiness and love between them...it gets to me. Oh gosh, I'm gettin' teary eyed thinking about it all!

I sincerely love what I do and thank God every day for having finally found what I was meant to do. I hope y'all enjoyed reading the Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Your (This) Wedding Planner. Please leave comments!

Thanks, and happy planning!

Love,
Krystal <3

So many blessings, Happy Good Friday!!!

Hello everyone,

It's Good Friday and I just had to write about all the blessings in my life and to fill you all in with all the juicy details!

Since lists are easier and more compact I'm going to list all the blessings and great things happening:

1. The Free Bridal Show was another HUGE success!!! Vendors and brides alike had a great time and enjoyed the show. I gave my first seminar about how to plan a stress-free wedding with Christi Tuck and it was awesome. I didn't stumble or fall apart or faint like I thought I would and I have God, Christi and my friend's support to thank for it.
2. I made so many new vendor friends from the bridal show that another great idea dawned on me: "The Real Wedding Women of North Texas" - a Ladies Nite event where wedding vendors can get together for happy hour and catch up, gossip and have a good time. We rarely see each other in between bridal shows and weddings, so this will be a great filler for us to get together and hang out. The name is not set in stone yet, but I like the idea that we can get together for a drink to relax and share stories. Brides are welcome to come and mingle to meet fabulous women who are in the business and run our own small businesses. 
3. My son Karl continues to grow and amaze me and my family, friends and clients. He has is bad days where he wants the world, but most of the time he's a great little guy whose smart, happy, healthy and full of life & love! 
4. God has sent many clients to me who are in desperate need of a wedding planner. My clients were sad, stressed out and ready to throw in the towel before they met me. But now that I've taken over and am helping them plan their big days they are happy, excited and ready to walk down that aisle with a smile. I am so happy that I get to help people plan the happiest day in their lives. I get to live vicariously through my brides and they get their dream wedding on a budget.  

Here are some of the fabulous weddings I'm planning for my new happy clients and their respective labels:

"Adoration at the Atrium" - a very low-budget, yet attractive wedding at the Atrium in Garland. Picture dark turquoise & black linens w/ white/silver sparkly trees as tabletop decorations. This wedding will be filled with family & friends who are happy to be there for the bride & groom from their ceremony at the groom's grandmother's church, to the grand reception at the Atrium. It will be flashy, fancy & fun!

"Party at River Legacy Park" -  a moderately budgeted wedding that is modern, filled with friends, family & kids, and of course, love. Visualize this: lilac & ivory colors with hints of dark purple & indigo to offset the lilac and really make it pop. Instead of flowers for centerpieces, there will be white rose petals drizzled on the lite purple linens and stacked pillar candles wrapped with assorted lilac, lavender & purple ribbon. This all-outdoor wedding ceremony & reception will include a HUGE white peak tent, a bounce house for the kids (and the groom, who is a big kid himself), home-style brisket, ribs & chicken, beer & wine, and a day that's modern, beautiful and full of fun!

"An Evening with the Stars" - another moderately budgeted wedding that is classy, elegant and chic! Envision aqua blue with white & trimmed with diamond accents & glitz <--(just enough glitter & glam on the classy side, not the trashy side). Imagine short, elegant centerpieces on the tables, complimented with dim candle light. Add a starry night on the ceiling and a champagne bar and you're in business! Glamorous, elegant & luxurious (w/o the price tag)!

"A Night in New Orleans" - a large-budget wedding that is rich, dark and lavish with everything of old world New Orleans. Picture a color scheme of dark, rich purple with gold & accents of slate-black & scarlet red. Tabletop decorations of twiggy branches, Spanish moss & candles behind crackled glass candle holders. This wedding is going to be so amazing, the bride and I see exactly eye-to-eye so much that I feel like I'm talking to myself. This Japanese/Cajun/All-American wedding will be rich with food, color, history and details, details, details!!!

I am so happy. I don't think I could say it enough! I have a family who loves and supports me. Friends who compliment me and give me support when I get nervous. Clients who are just WONDERFUL to work with and I can't wait to add their wedding albums to my portfolio.

Happy Good Friday to you all, have a Happy Easter and Happy Planning!

Love,
Krystal :)

What a FANTASTIC DAY!

I HAD THE MOST FANTASTIC DAY TODAY!!! 

Today I spent the afternoon with my clients (my Vintage couple - think Old Hollywood-Glamour, oh yeah, it's gonna be pretty!), my family and their families and dogs at the groom's parent's house in Kaufman...and it was WONDERFUL. Their log cabin home in nestled in a wooded area and they have a huge lawn (at least an acre or more) complete with a fishing pond and a simply breathtaking view. It was meticulously clean inside AND out, I think I only saw two bugs when I was there, and this is the country, which is supposed to be crawling with bugs!!! (And you all know how much I HATE bugs!!!! Bleh!)

So we went over the details of the wedding (as I usually do with all my clients), and we talked about the ceremony layout, where the tent/dance floor would go, decorations, lights, etc. It's going to be a stunning wedding indeed:
Flowers will consist of purple/white hydrangeas, caspia, babies breath, lite green coffee berries and assorted filler flowers. Tabletop decorations will be antique metal buckets that will be decorated with ribbon, flowers & assorted vintage pictures.

Clear light bulbs will be strung up all around the tent and lawn to light up the night and wholesale linen/tulle will be used as additional decorations to drape around the poles of the tent and give it added flare.

The bride and groom will say their vows at sunset with a backdrop of tall pine trees and hanging glass jar lanterns (I think they were pine trees, but I suck at knowing one tree from another, lol!) Bridesmaids will wear vintage lite purple/gray gowns (don't think lilac or lavendar, think Victorian lite purple/gray blended into one fabulous color!) and the Bride will be in white. Wish I could say more, but I don't wanna give it all away!!! The Groomsmen will dress in white or lite purple/gray shirts w/ white ties and the Groom will have a white shirt w/ purple tie.

After the ceremony guests will have musical entertainment from a DJ and can go fishing in the fully stocked pond with old-school twig & line fishing rods. (My son was able to catch his first fish today, courtesy of the groom's step-dad, thank you Ivan!!!)

The reception dinner will be a savory BBQ dinner (with caterer yet to be chosen), and of course there will be a bride's cake, a candy station and they are still thinking about having an ice cream sunday station. The Bride was a bit worried about it, but it should be just fine: serve ice cream after the cake is cut/served. It will be awesome!

And after a night of fun, drinking and dancing, the couple will (cross our fingers) enjoy the end of their reception with fireworks and sparklers as they head off to their honeymoon. It will be an amazing night and I'm thrilled to pieces for them!!!

It truly was wonderful for me to meet the families and get to know them before the wedding. They were so hospitable and generous...I don't always get the happiest families or the most level headed clients or even both, but I think I hit the jackpot with these clients. Not only are they level headed, honest and have realistic expectations about their wedding, their families are too! And everyone wants to pitch in and help them make their day as loving and memorable as possible. These are people are wholesome, down to earth, and have honest-to-goodness hearts and I see it in all of them!

The last couple I knew that were this amazing was my Air Force Couple back in November of last year. They and their families (minus one rude and overbearing aunt) were wonderful to work for and I didn't think I'd ever see it again.

Too often the brides I know have families that won't lift a finger or help in any way/shape/form on the wedding day and it puts a lot of strain on the couple. It is refreshing to see that these families are coming together to actually help, as opposed to saying "You should do this," or "I think you need to do it that (my) way," or "I'm footing the bill so it's gonna be my way or the highway."

For example, I once had some clients who forgot their "Responsibility List" and didn't email it to me, so at the end of the night they didn't know who was going to help clean the reception hall. At the request of the Groom, I kindly asked some of the guests/family if they could help clean since the Bride and Groom needed the extra help, (and I was specific; it was little things, like gathering up linens and piling them on one table or packing up the leftover cake to go home). Do you know what they said to me? "How much you gonna pay me?" Can you believe that? Even now I'm at a loss for words.

It's just sad how most people are selfish and don't care about helping their own friends or family, so when I come across people like today, I really feel like I hit the jackpot and won the client lottery!

Anyway, after the wonderful afternoon with my clients, the fam and I grabbed dinner at Red Robbin's in Arlington and I did some impromptu shopping at Charming Charlie. I was able to get a few new accessories to update my wardrobe (without having to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe). It was a wonderful day, a marvelous evening and I thank God for the wonderful clients who hired me and to bless all of us through this fun planning process.

Thank you all for reading and say a prayer for the ones you love you as much as the people I described above. Happy planning!

Luv,
Krystal

Business is finally picking up!

Hello again brides & planners,

What a busy few weeks this has been. Wedding season is in full swing and I have been living with my cell attached to my ear speaking to tons of brides, vendors and other planners. With all the cell phone use I seriously would not be surprised if I came down with a brain tumor!

Christi and I are putting together another bridal show and things are going splendidly! --> Click here to see the page and RSVP on Facebook to the show. There will be lots of super-cool, super-affordable wedding and party vendors there, door prizes, free food to sample, and the best part: FREE FOR THE BRIDES & GROOMS, AND FREE CHAMPAGNE/WINE!!!

On a lighter topic, I booked two new clients today...well, one new one and a sort of new one.

New client #1 is a shy, sweet gal who looks more Spanish than Hispanic...and yes, I do mean Spanish as in Spain. I can already envision her portraits and she will just glow! She and her fiance have been together since high school, (I know! High School Sweethearts!!! My heart melted when she told me this!), and I can just tell they'll be together forever.
Said client was frustrated with the first planner she hired due to lack of involvement and current health issues, (the planner, not the bride). After meeting with her today she hired me as her new planner/wedding coordinator and we are both on the same page with details and handling all foreseeable situations.

I am thrilled to do her wedding for the following reasons:
Colors are teal, fuscia, white & silver accents. Imagine submerged white orchids under water, fuscia dahlias, tall white manzanita tree centerpieces and lots of color that just pops! I love it! Since the bride and her fiance are big movie buffs they are having a movie themed reception. Each table will be the name of a different movie and dance music will be songs from their favorite movies.

How cool is that!?! Yet another reason I love being a wedding planner is I get to live vicariously through my client's taste and selection of food, flowers, decorations, etc. This wedding will be literally a melting pot of nationalities and mixed traditions and (in my opinion) is a perfect representation of what living in Texas is like, (for me at least).

Bride #2 was an almost client last year. She was getting married but then things didn't work out, which I see a lot of in my business. :(
But things worked out for the best, because she met a new man who loves her dearly and wants to give her the world. I am so happy (and just a little bit envious) because we all want to find the one who loves us to pieces forever and ever until the end of time. <sigh>

This bride is so cool because when she learned that her wedding date was already booked, she wanted to move her wedding date just so she could hire me as her planner. How adorable is that! This too makes my heart melt! I love hearing a bride tell me she doesn't care about the date, that she'd rather have me as her planner than to not have me at all. I must be doing something right, praise the Lord! <3

Last time I blogged I wanted to talk about November Bride #2, the Airforce couple. I have to get to bed soon so just click here for the Facebook pictures. This couple was another amazing couple, they both laughed, smiled & enjoyed life (more than I usually see other couples do) and are now expecting a baby! Hooray for them!!! And you know their baby is gonna be the cutest little baby in the world too! Mixed babies are the prettiest little darlings! I know, I'm kinda tootin' my own horn here, I'm a product of a mixed marriage too. If you think I'm pretty y'all should see my sister, that girl is GORGEOUS like a model!!! :)

Nighty nite everyone, and happy planning!

Luv,
Krystal <3

Long time, no post

Oh my goodness it has been soooooooooooooo long since I've blogged! That's how busy I've been...I guess that means I need to do this more since this is my outlet for stress.

Let's see, November was a good month. I got to do two weddings:
Wedding 1: An extravagant 1/2 Jewish, 1/2 Vietnamese wedding. Ceremony was held in the San Jacinto ballroom at the Marriott at Legacy. It was a picture perfect scene complete with string quartet, red carpet, flowers galore and a stunning bride with a designer gown that had orchid accents on the dress to match her bouquet.
The reception was held at Zander's House in Plano and the food and scene was just spectacular! Michael Tiegs with The DJ Company provided spectacular entertainment by playing wedding-related games with guests as the bride & groom took pictures with friends and family.
Kuddos to the bride for doing her own wedding flowers & centerpieces...she had a real eye for color and design and did a wonderful job on decorations.

My little one wants to go play outside in the dirt so I'll blog about wedding 2 later.

Happy Planning!!!