Teaser Tuesday

We have had a busy two weeks to catch up on for this week's Teaser Tuesday, you'll see what we were up to this weekend and last weekend! Read on below to find out about our 5 weddings!

Alyssa and Josh were married in a garden ceremony by Water Lily Weddings at the Merion Tribute House. The venue is amazing, but Synergetic Sound and Lighting took it to another level by adding purple uplighting and a custom gobo that matched the stationery suite we created for them. Thank goodness for Jennifer Childress Photography! We love that her photos tell an amazing story and show off all the details...we can't wait to see the rest! It was such a fun wedding, thanks to Jason spinning and Becky and Nicole coordinating every detail flawlessly.

Last Saturday was perfect wedding weather and Christina and Frankie really took advantage! We started the day at Hotel DuPont, then took the whole gang over to Gibraltar Gardens for photos before the incredible ceremony at St. Anthony's Church. At the end of the ceremony, the couple released doves before climbing into their vintage Rolls Royce for a ride over to their fairytale reception in the Hotel's Gold Ballroom. As guests entered, they were amazed by decor done by Flowers by Yukie- the gold linens, tons of crystals and candles made for a sparkling and romantic event! EBE's Paris rocked the dancefloor all night and a great time was had by all. Once again, Mike and Jana from mkPhoto were awesome to work with and Amy, Christina and the gang from Society Hill Studios made the day fun and they all captured some really amazing stuff in the process! To see Christina and Frankie's fabulous video clip, you can go here.  It's so fantastic!

Our second wedding last Saturday was Brooke and Sean's at Manufacturer's Country Club. They were married outside of the clubhouse overlooking the golf course. The backdrop was simply gorgeous for their ceremony! Sean is a teacher at The Haverford School, so they had The Notables come and sing during the ceremony. It was a wonderful personal touch and all of the guests were talking about how great they were! This group was a dancing bunch and Nick from Schaffer Sounds got the party started for them and everyone was on the dance floor, all night long. Their cake, made by Cake Art Studio, matched their fall color scheme perfectly and tasted delicious! 

Cairnwood is our favorite venue, hands down. We love working there and Ashley and Nick's wedding was no exception! The bride and groom worked so hard on the elements of their day and we were so excited to bring everything to life! Lovely Locks did a fantastic job on Ashley and the girls' hair and Nina from Cheekadee added the last touches for makeup- all of the ladies looked amazing! Their ceremony under the trees was short and sweet but the couple's vows brought many to tears. Daisy, their dog, made a surprise visit to cocktail hour and the couple took cute pictures with her! Karen's Catering provided a great setup of stations for guests to enjoy and Dave Hoeffle from Sound Choice kept their dancefloor packed all night! The highlight of the evening was a surprise serenade by the groom to a very shocked bride :)

Erin and Rhett had a perfect day this Saturday at White Clay Country Club. They started their day with photos at Delaware Park Racetrack (a race was named just for them!) and followed it with a gorgeous outdoor ceremony on the veranda. Celebrations Design Group created beautiful arrangements for the guest tables that coordinated with the couple's Derby themed wedding. We incorporated a lot of racing related touches in their stationery and everything tied together so nicely! Once again, Synergetic Sound and Lighting rocked the house- everyone was up dancing and loved the added touch of purple uplighting- it really created a great ambiance to the room. Even with all the dancing, Erin and her bridesmaids looked fabulous thanks to great job done by Gloss Salon for their hair and Kristen Lober for the makeup. Thanks to Christine and Kate of Bev Michel Photography for the cute teasers and the fun night!

Kyle and Olin's Wedding

We showed you Kyle and Olin's wedding video in July and now we are sharing the beautiful images from their wedding! They held their classic and elegant wedding in June at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Before walking down the aisle, Kyle and her bridesmaids got ready at Hyatt at the Bellevue, where the ladies from Jillian Grace Salon came to do everyone's hair and makeup. After the ceremony, guests headed over to The Union League of Philadelphia. Synergetic Sound and Lighting up lit the room in amber and projected Kyle and Olin's monogram on the dance floor along with a dance floor wash. Their fun color scheme of navy blue and silver with touches of green, purple and pink, looked perfect in the ballroom! The centerpieces made by Carl Alan Floral Design, matched their color scheme and looked fabulous on top of the navy blue pintuck linens. We created their ceremony programs, menus and other various reception signage- along with their adorable "Do Not Disturb" signs, which guests grabbed on their way out of the reception! Guests were able to enjoy the photo booth provided by Go Festive and when they weren't in line, they were tearing up the dance floor thanks to Jellyroll! Olin even surprised his new bride- and all of their guests- by singing with the band on stage and Tweed Weddings was on hand to capture all the fun! A huge thanks to Philip Gabriel Photography for sending us these stunning images!

Congratulations Kyle and Olin!  

Another nice Thank You card!

We received a very thoughtful thank you card from Sherrie & Howard today!  Their gorgeous wedding took place in September and we were very excited to hear from them!

"Thank you for all of your hard work in coordinating our wedding day, and for all of the help and advice leading up to the big day.  Everything at the WaterWorks turned out more beautifully than we dreamed!  You and your staff were essential in organizing us and keeping us on track that day so that we had no worries.  We also loved the vendors you recommended; we have gotten so many compliments on Andy's personal and touching ceremony and Synergetic kept the dance floor packed all night. We also loved all the paper designed by TJ and your creativity in reusing our ceremony decor.  Proud to Plan really helped us relax and enjoy the best day of our lives.  Thanks for everything!! ~Sherrie and Howard"

We truly appreciate all the kind words!  Thanks to you guys for being so fun to work with!  Congrats :)

Featured Bride Friday

We're SO excited for Amanda and Andrew's wedding in two weeks! Read on below to find out more about the plans for their wedding day!

Names of Bride and Groom: Amanda and Andrew

Wedding Date: Saturday, October 29, 2011

Ceremony Location: St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ardmore, PA

Reception Location: The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, PA

How did you and your fiance meet?: We met online (plentyoffish.com). I set up my profile so I couldn't see anyone outside of 60 miles from where I was living in central PA. Andrew's profile came up as someone I might be interested in who recently checked their profile. I thought he looked cute, so I clicked on his profile and discovered he actually lived 150 miles away, in King of Prussia. However, I like to shop and his profile was smart and funny, so I messaged him regardless. No one else ever showed up outside of my 60 mile radius- we say it was fate! We started messaging through the site, then Andrew asked for my email, next my phone number, and eventually suggested we meet. Always the gentleman, Andrew offered to drive to see me for our first date in Lewisburg, PA. We have been together ever since our first date on October 18, 2008.

Tell us about the proposal: We went out to eat at Buddakan for our 2 year anniversary. I suspected he might propose that evening, but Andrew is excellent at keeping secrets, and I wasn't sure the entire time until he suggested we go on a walk after dinner. Andrew proposed on a bench beside the 2nd Bank of the U.S., near Independence Hall. Andrew was so nervous he forgot most of what he wanted to say. I cried and said yes! 

What is the overall theme of your wedding?: Classic elegance with a shot of color- our wedding colors are red and plum! 

What has been your favorite part of planning?: I have loved working with Proud to Plan, of course! I have loved picking out attire (I even had red velvet shoes custom-made for me inspired by a Valentino design), picking out the reception location, food, flowers, and planning the church ceremony with Andrew.

What has been your fiance's favorite part of the planning?: The tasting of our menu!

What are you looking forward to most on the wedding day?: I am most looking forward to being married and celebrating a wonderful day with people we love! I am also super excited to find out where we are going on our honeymoon- Andrew has planned it all by himself and will tell me at the reception!

What is your fiance most looking forward to on the wedding day?: Celebrating with friends and family!

Which vendor has been your favorite to work with?: Proud to Plan- I am very type A, and Erin has really eased my mind and helped me feel organized while planning this very large wedding! Her vendor suggestions have also been incredibly helpful!

What is your biggest worry about the wedding day?: I am worried about bawling during our ceremony!

What makes your wedding unique from all the others?: I think the combination of our unusual color scheme and architecturally significant reception location make our wedding unique!

Give three words to describe what you imagine you'll feel like the day AFTER the wedding: Elated, relieved and excited 

Where will you be spending your honeymoon?: I don't know- Andrew is surprising me at our reception. I do know it will be warm, and I need a passport!

Thanks for participating in Featured Bride Friday, Amanda! Here is a picture of Amanda and Andrew and an inspiration board she sent us!

Bridal Workouts and Nutrition

Who doesn't want to look great on their wedding day? You're going to be the center of attention and want to make sure that you're looking your very best! Let me just start this by saying that everyone will have different fitness levels so not all the workouts below will work for everyone. Try them out, see what works best for you and always keep your eyes on the prize!

There are tons of things you can do to lose weight. Some are more drastic than others and some will give you results faster than others. The rule of thumb is that if you lose 1 to 2lbs a week, it's considered healthy and you won't gain the weight back as quick as losing, say 10 lbs in a week. However, it is okay to have a larger weight loss the first few weeks after working out, especially if you went from not working out to working out on a daily basis. 

TheKnot.com has a great workout resource where you can check your BMI (Body Mass Index), this is based off of your weight and height and will give you an overall idea of whether you need to lose weight or not. TheKnot.com has a calorie burner tool as well. 

Found on TheKnot.com

Nutrition

There are also calorie counting and exercise tracking sites such as: Loseit.com, myfitnesspal.com, and sparkpeople.com. All of these are geared towards watching what you eat as well as incorporating exercise into your routine. Weight Watchers is another great weight loss program. They give you the option of going to meetings, or doing the whole thing on your own online. 

Some people start out small with cutting out sodas, sugary foods, greasy foods. You will probably see a loss in the beginning, but remember if you put yourself on a very strict diet, you're more likely to cave and binge eat. To start, try to just cut back portions so that you get to eat the foods you want, but you're satisfied. 

Fitness

There are tons of workouts that you can pick from. First, you need to find out what will keep you motivated, and what you enjoy. If you don't enjoy your workout and feel like you have to do it then you're likely to quit sooner. Maybe you need to do group fitness, or maybe you enjoy working out alone. Find out what will work for you. You'll also want to find out your fitness level before jumping head first into any of these workouts. You don't want to injure yourself right off the bat, so making sure you know what you can push your body to do is very important. 

There are a lot of group fitness programs out there. Kickboxing, Zumba, and Spinning are among the most popular. If you prefer to workout by yourself, the gym has tons of machines and staff on site to help you through your workouts. There are also so many video workouts you can do, as well as trying programs like C25K.  

If you don't work out already, make sure to start out slow- start at a beginner fitness level with at least 30 minutes of cardio, 3 times a week. Try to incorporate light weight-lifting, and stretch before and after each workout. Try to have fun with it, by downloading upbeat songs onto your ipod, or finding a friend who also wants to slim and tone. 

Everyone is different when it comes to working out, so finding what works best for your body and schedule is key. Keep these tips in mind and you'll look fabulous on your big day!

-Danielle

How to Choose a Playlist for Your Wedding

Jason from Synergetic Sound & Lighting
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Childress Photography

Wedding music has changed a lot over the past few years. As with most things wedding related, there is a lot of leeway- and while there are traditional aspects to a lot of weddings, many of them are making way for more modern equivalents.

It used to be you heard mostly classical music during wedding ceremonies. Some of the more traditional processional songs are, The Wedding March, Pachelbel's Canon in D, and Trumpet Voluntary. I still hear a decent amount of classical/traditional music, but more and more couples are choosing contemporary songs that have special meaning to them and their relationship. So if you have more than one song that is important to you as a couple, consider using one during your ceremony as the song for the recessional. 

Also, if you're not really into classical music and would rather use more current music, talk to your DJ- they'll be able to give you some suggestions as to what might work for the different parts of the processional as well as the recessional. At one wedding I was at, the bride walked down the aisle to In My Life by The Beatles. I also think that Marry Me by Train and, The Luckiest by Ben Folds, would make beautiful bridal processional songs- although they are both popping up as first dance songs. 

Matt from Synergetic Sound & Lighting
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Childress Photography

When it comes to reception music there are millions of possibilities. A good place to start is to hire a DJ that you trust. Of course you'll have songs you'll definitely want played and others that won't want played, but by hiring a DJ you trust, who can read your crowd, you take a lot of pressure off of yourself. You have so many other things to do when it comes to planning the wedding that you don't need to spend a ton of time choosing an entire night worth of music. Focus on your introductions, your first dance, your parent dances, your cake cutting and music for the bouquet and garter toss if you choose to do them. 

If you do want to make a list of some songs you'd like to hear throughout the night, consider your guests when making your decisions. If you have a mostly older crowd, a lot of rap might not go over well. But if you have a good DJ, they will find a way to work in a few rap songs that you like, while keeping everyone else dancing and having a good time. 

The most important thing is to have a good time. If there are specific songs that will add to you enjoying yourselves, then definitely make sure they're played. But if you're not set on any specific songs for dinner or dancing, then let your DJ do their job and have fun dancing the night away!

-Becky