Show Your Guests You Can Dance

My favorite “go to” dance specialists are offering up their workshops again next month. If you and your fiancé want to impress your guests for your first dance as husband and wife, why not check out one of the following workshops? You’ll be glad you did.

Below is straight from The Wedding Dance Specialists Web site. Also, if you become a Facebook fan or already are, you will qualify for a discount on private lessons!

Wedding Dance Workshop
Sample a variety of slow dances perfect for love songs to see which style you prefer.
Develop your individual composure as a dancer by learning foundation techniques.
Learn the fundamentals of partner dancing.
Get acquainted with dancing before committing to private lessons.
If your wedding isn't for a while and you haven't chosen a special song yet, this is the perfect way to get your feet wet!
Meet other engaged couples in the area!
Maximize your investment in private lessons by getting a head start with this comprehensive workshop.
Dance with your partner the whole time - no partner switching

Workshop attendees who are Facebook fans qualify for a discount on private lessons!
Location: Falls Church, VA
Date: Feb 27, 2010
Time: 2-3:15 (longer than the 40 min industry standard!)
Price: Only $25 per person!

Location: Columbia, MD
Date: Feb 28, 2010
Time: 4-5:15
Price: Only $25 per person!

I Am So Excited!

My company, Smooth Weddings, LLC, was selected as a recipient of the 2010 Bride's Choice Award given by WeddingWire.com. This is the second year in a row that we have won this prestigious award.

Following is the press release.

Germantown, Maryland – January 19, 2010 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Smooth Weddings, LLC has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Planning!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Smooth Weddings, LLC is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Smooth Weddings, LLC is among the very best Wedding Planners within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at www.weddingwire.com/biz/smooth-weddings-llc-germantown/50a0ecc6fa6aa445.html.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

Perfect DIY Escort or Place Cards for a February Wedding

If you or your bridesmaids are crafty and love to do DIY projects, then you may like this idea. I saw this project a while back on Martha Stewart’s wedding blog. I thought it would be perfect for a February wedding, especially if yours is on or near Valentine’s Day.

This is what you'll need:

Start with a standard tented card, either store bought or hand cut. These are 3" x 5", folded. Using a craft knife, cut a small diagonal line over the card's fold. This is where your heart will sit. Vary the placement of your cut on each card.



Choose your desired colors in cardstock, and cut out the hearts. You can use a craft punch for this or cut them out by hand.



Then, slide your hearts onto the cuts on the top of the cards.

Aren't they cute?



Happy crafting.

Want to be on TV?

Then, read on about the possibility of being on Get Married's TV show.

Get Married’s national wedding program is looking for passionate brides to appear on its television show. Throughout the half-hour program which airs every Saturday at 9:30am ET/PT on WE tv, host Stacie Francombe—Get Married’s CEO and founder—helps brides identify and match their personality with their unique bridal style. Brides are guided through an array of bridal experiences and participate in inspiring challenges with wedding professionals and experts.

Interested brides-to-be are encouraged to apply by visiting www.getmarried.com/omg where additional details are posted. Brides across the country could be saying “OMG! I’m going to be on TV!”

“Get Married’s show is all about the bride. By incorporating real brides in every episode we make a connection with our audience, showing them that every wedding element is attainable regardless of your style,” said Stacie Francombe, CEO and founder of Get Married Media. “Get Married’s show helps brides create the ultimate wedding that reflects their unique and personal style.”

Get Married’s television show on WE tv, a women-centric network dedicated to the wedding genre, is among an audience of brides seeking bright, innovative ideas and inspirations. Available in nearly 74 million homes, WE tv is the premier source for women looking to satisfy their curiosity with fascinating, original stories and entertaining content. The series will also simulcast to an additional three million on Wedding Central, a 24/7 multiplatform, interactive programming service devoted to weddings, dating and romance.

About Get Married Media

Get Married Media, a national, integrated tri-media wedding planning resource that reaches passionate brides on TV (WE tv Saturdays at 9:30am et/pt), online (www.GetMarried.com) and in print (Get Married magazine). Get Married connects brides with local and national wedding vendors and industry experts through entertainment and news.

Get Married magazine (circ. 300,000) - the new shopping and trend guide for the savvy bride - moves beyond the traditional ways of delivering a bridal publication - from the newest interactive technology and latest trends in bridal shopping and style to a colorful, fresh voice in the wedding genre. The first issue is FREE in single copy (www.getmarried.com/magazine) or bulk (magazine@getmarried.com).

Closely integrated with the TV show and Get Married magazine, the online portal at http://wedding.getmarried.com/ offers brides an interactive experience, including a wedding shop that sells wedding invitations, wedding favors, accessories and products as seen in the magazine, as well as a wedding blog (bloggerbrides.com), video segments from the show, articles, image galleries and wedding planning tools.

Favors of the Month

If you are going green for your wedding, check out these cute "Write from My Heart" eco-friendly note pad and pencil sets. You can purchase them at my Kate Aspen online store at www.smoothweddings.theaspenshops.com. These would be perfect for your Valentine's Day wedding with their cute hearts displayed on the note pads.

If you are into mixed drinks, why not "favor" your guests with these "Drink Mix Collection" favors in Rasberry Iced Tea, Lemonade and Key Lime Margarita?

Dazzle your guests with unique favors from Kate Aspen. Your guests will love them!

Turquoise!

What about turquoise, you ask? Well, according to Pantone - the color matching system, turquoise is the 2010 Color of the Year.

So, to get on board with the Color of the Year, I changed the color of my blog text to turquoise (or as close to turquoise as the color palette would allow.) I actually like the combination of turquoise and chocolate brown.

How can you incorporate turquoise into your flowers? Since there really aren't any "turquoise" flowers available, you can actually paint certain leaves, such as galax, or flowers, with large, flat leaves, such as anthurium, a turquoise color according to the Floral Design Institute. It won't harm the flowers at all.

If you haven't picked out your color scheme for your wedding this year, why not try turquoise?

Photo courtesy of Floral Design Institute

Wedding of Heather and Joel

Check out the post under "Another Smooth Wedding."

Enjoy.

Wedding Week - Completed!

Well, I absolutely had no time to update you on Days 4 and 5. On Day 4, which was New Year's Eve, I had to pick up the flowers in the morning, take them home and condition them. Immediately after I was finished with the flowers, I had to deliver the linens and centerpieces to the reception site as that is when the building would be available since they wouldn't be open on New Year's Day. I ended up staying to help them with the linens to ensure they would be installed correctly as well as show the volunteers how to tie on the chair sashes. So, from about 9am until 3pm, I was constantly on the move. Whew! As soon as I returned home, I had to get my house ready for hosting a New Year's Eve party. Everything turned out just fine and we rang in the new year on time! LOL

Day 5 was spent all day assembling the flowers. I still hadn't finished by the time I had to leave for the rehearsal at 5pm. As soon as I returned home, I finished the bride's bouquet and the second altar arrangement as well as hand pick petals off rose stems. The rose petals were going to be on all the guest tables, cake table, altar table and I ended up having enough leftover to spread on the escort table as well as the guest book table.

Day 6 was the wedding and I'll blog about that under my "Another Smooth Wedding" post. Look for it soon.

Unfortunately, I can't post any pictures right now because my computer is maxed out and I'm in the process of ripping off some old files to free up space.

Happy New Year!