What can I say…. this was an AMAZING wedding!
It was held at the beautiful Greenacres in Indian Hill. What a unique place. The staff there is amazing to work with as well. The photos really speak for themselves. What I loved about this bride and groom is that they wanted a lounge ares and decided to buy furniture from IKEA since it was the same cost to rent, so they are going to use the furniture in their new home after the wedding. Brilliant!
I had actually sprained my ankle two weeks before this wedding, and it was a bad sprain, but with extra hands to help, all was well!!! I will do everything in my power to be at my weddings!!!   A big thank you to my girls for helping like they did!  Also, huge thank you to Tine with TM Photography for these gorgeous photos!  ENJOY…

I thought this would be a great question to touch on after I was looking over some of my clients photos from the summer.  I found several pictures of me doing different things.  There are a few fun pictures of some of the things we do the day of a wedding.  There is so much involved, but in case you were wondering, here is just a small sampling.  If you are considering someone to assist you, at least on the day of the wedding, you are going to be very pleased!  I hear far too often from past brides, “I wish I would have hired a coordinator for my wedding!”  Well, if you are reading this blog, it might just be what you have on your mind.  Don’t let that be you if this is what you are considering.  Saying that after your wedding is too late I am afraid!  Thanks for visiting and happy planning.  

Oh, we have seen so many situations with children, but I do still think they are so cute in weddings!  If I can handle 13 children in one wedding, I can handle the average 2 or 3!

We do it all!!!  We can’t have you bending over and putting a crease in the front of your gown!  

I do love the moment right before the brides goes down the isle.  It gives me chills every time!

The photography is so important….  I really do my best to stay out of the way!  The candid photographer grabbed these, but hey, the lead photographer couldn’t see me!  ha

Some of those gowns sure can be tricky!  A crochet hook is a MUST in every emergency kit!!!  It really helps at the end of the night when your husband is trying to help you get out of the dress too!!  ;-)

 even with a sprained ankle (that was me) I am hanging out with my bride, making sure she is calm with her champagne, while I am on the phone taking care of any last details or conflicts!  

At the end of the day, the hugs and compliments shared by friends, family, and of course the bride and groom, it is all worth it!  The 13 plus hours on your feet running around to make sure everything is as perfect as it can be…  well, it is just in you or it isn’t, and I am happy to report, it is still in me!

and thankfully they feel the same about me!!!
I recently got these reviews from a couple past clients and I just loved what they had to say. I don’t often get a chance to hear things this way, but it really goes to show that I love what we do, (and you have to in this business) to keep up the pace and keep it going for yourself too. Thanks girls. It really means a lot!! I loved working with you too.
Hopefully I will get to post some other past comments from this past summer. Hope you all are staying warm. New, fabulous pictures coming soon!!!

Details by Dawn is fabulous!
12/16/2008
What was the best thing that the wedding planner did to make your wedding day better?
Dawn took care of everything for me! I felt completely pampered and as a person who is usually stressed, I didnt have a bit of stress the entire day (and i was stress free during the rehearsal too! even w/ a wedding party of 20 people!)
What useful suggestions did the planner make that you hadn’t thought of?
Dawn had great vendor selections and got me awesome deals with her amazing vendors. She also had great color suggestion and design ideas, I came in with a few small ideas and really wasnt sure where to go and Dawn got things going and helped me hone in on what my ideal wedding would include
What did this planner do to reduce your wedding stress?
She just was always 1 step ahead and only a phone call away. She was there to answer any and all questions, and helped calm me down everytime I got overwhelmed (including tearful phone calls the week of the wedding) I didnt have to deal w/ a single vendor thing the entire week before the wedding which was so nice to know that everything would be taken care of
What was the best thing about having this wedding planner?
She REALLY REALLY REALLY knows the wedding industry and she wants to do what YOU want, she doesnt come in with an agenda about how YOUR wedding should be, she listens and is attentive and offers up great suggestions, she is fabulous with parents and calming their nerves also, my parents are very hard to please and they were THRILLED with her services, I would recommend Details by Dawn to anyone, she really helped make my wedding perfect, I wouldnt have changed a thing!

You Really Need This Wedding Planner for Your Big Day!!
12/18/2008
What was the best thing that the wedding planner did to make your wedding day better?
Basically Dawn took care of all the little details to ensure that we could have as little as stress as possible on our wedding day. She created a timeline for me so everything ran smoothly, and made sure she had everything she needed to set up the church and reception hall so my mom and I had no worries the day of the wedding.
What useful suggestions did the planner make that you hadn’t thought of?
Dawn had great vendor suggestions that helped keep us within our given budget. We were so pleased with every vendor we ended up using. I was unfamiliar with our reception hall Wunderland, but ended up loving it.
What did this planner do to reduce your wedding stress?
What didn’t she do? Based on talking with friends that didn’t have wedding planners, I think having Dawn take care of all the follow-up with vendors the week of the wedding, and creating a wedding-week and wedding-day timeline were some of the most valuable stress reducers.
What was the best thing about having this wedding planner?
Dawn went above and beyond the services in the package we purchased. She was always a phone call or e-mail away to help calm me down when I felt overwhelmed about something. Everything turned out better than we ever could have expected, and we know for sure that wouldn’t have been the case without Dawn!

I know… I have been bad about blogging lately, but I am really going to try and focus on making the time for it.  We have so much great stuff to share from this past year, and I look forward to getting some of it on here, I promise!!

Be sure to check out the new issue of Cincinnati Magazine coming out in December.  We were interviewed for three spots in the magazine this month!  I hope they all come out well.  It is a beautiful magazine and what a great reference for Cincinnati brides like you!

I also have to give a shout out to Steve with Glass Eye Video.  He has a trailer on his blog of one of our October weddings, and it is amazing.  This was one of my most fun weddings we have done in a while and just a great couple.  I hope to have pictures posted here soon from their wedding as well.  But, for now enjoy the preview…

go to www.glasseyevideo.com and enter his blog.  It is the first preview currently as Amanda and Ryan.    Enjoy!

We are sooooo excited to be moving downtown into our awesome new loft office with three other amazing vendors!  I am blessed to be sharing such a great space with such wonderful, fun people:

Tine with TM Photography, Steve with Glass Eye Video, and Tim with Timothy’s Floral Event Design.

It sure will be nice to have people to talk to more often in person!!!  So excited.  It is also a great money saver to get to share with everyone…

Our October weddings were so amazing and all so different.  I should be getting photos very soon, so be sure to check back.  And, I am sure I will be taking pictures of our new space once we are all moved in!  Enjoy this amazing weather!!

Happy planning,  Dawn

Ok, I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this at first, and then I presented it to one of my brides for next year who wanted the drama of the cake, but that wasn’t necessarily what they wanted to serve for dessert or even to spend so much money on a real cake and then serve a different dessert with it. SO, I brought this up to her, and she is just loving it! This just goes to show how different all my weddings can be, and I love the thought of this for several reasons. Especially if you have an outdoor wedding when it is going to be hot, hot, hot this could be an fabulous alternative!

So, enjoy the link and I would love to hear what you all think about this idea!!!

http://www.cakerental.com/index.html

Hopefully I will get to post some new pictures of our weddings from the summer, and with 3 fabulous weddings to go in October, we will have lots to show you… especially the one we are doing next weekend where we are using a couple pedicabs to get the guests from the parking lot to the reception site if they don’t want to walk through the gardens that get you there… what fun!!! Well, maybe not to fun for the Peddlers…

Have a great weekend!!

Hello!

I finally am having a chance to update my blog with pictures from our amazing wedding at the Schuster Center. Now that I have managed to sprain my ankle, while on vacation this past weekend, I have some time on my hands while I lie her idly on the couch! UGH!!!

I hope most everyone has power, unfortunately we are some of the ones that still do not. Thankfully my parents live in town and we are all camped out with them. Please God let the power come back on fully for everyone soon!

There were really some amazing details to this wedding and the flowers and photography were amazing per usual! Thanks Tine, (TM Photography) for giving me the pics to share with our viewers. ENJOY!

I love when couples see each other before the wedding! Makes for great Pictures!!

Stunning flowers! Thanks Tim.

This room was so amazing! The Schuster Center was a beautiful backdrop for a beautiful wedding.

Alright girls… I had the sweetest groom this weekend!!! What a great couple and what a great wedding they had at St. Cecilia’s and Hilton Netherland Hall of Mirrors…

The bride was already in tears when she just looked at the girls bouquets! Then comes groomsman number 1. He had a card with a gift card for a massage for her from her groom. How sweet… (tears again). Well, about 10 minutes later comes groomsman number 2 with a beautiful silver bracelet… (tears again). Mind you this was after she had her make up done, ugh! Then about another 10 minutes later comes groomsman number 3 with a bouquet of beautiful roses… (tears again). At this point I am thinking, great, we only have one more groomsman to go… I see a trend here! So, a little bit longer and here comes groomsman number 4 with a diamond pendant necklace that she chose to wear for the wedding, it was just beautiful, much more tears! I went to the guys suite and told him to give me a break since she had already been all dolled up and his response was, “I gotta take care of my girl!” Oh, my that melted my heart too!!! They were so in love and I just had the best time with this family. Another favorite was how involved the Father of the Bride was. He was always watching his daughter and had a huge smile plastered on his face all night. So sweet! At the end of the night he thanked me and told me he and his wife got to enjoy the whole day since we were there to direct everyone and everything for them. Again, like I always say, these are the moments that make the HARD work pay off!!! I do love my job!

On a cute note… I haven’t ever introduced my “little helper” to you all yet, but I snuck this picture of her assisting me getting my cooler ready for my bridal party on one of my other weddings. I thought it was so precious, she just loves to help Mommy! I wonder how long before she grows out of that phase!!!

I hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day weekend, and I hope to post some other pictures of our many weddings in the month of August!

Can I just say WOW!!!  We are soooo excited to be coordinating a wedding at this spectacular location, and for quite a wonderful couple as well! 

I went to view the site for the first time the other day and was just blown away.  New sites, and especially a site such as this really get you pumped!  This location just opened last year after extensive repair and remodeling.  Boy did they do a great job.  You can learn more about this facility at www.green-acres.org.  I have had the pleasure of traveling to Europe several times and you really do feel like you just got off a plane and landed there!  One of my favorite features is the Moat!

We are also very excited to be coordinating a ceremony and reception this weekend down at the Hilton Netherland, in one of my favorite rooms in Cincinnati, the Continental room.  It is going to be just beautiful!!!  Looking forward to assisting you Kat and Wes!  You have been just amazing to work with!

is all it takes, and something I like to create in the weddings I work on. I learned this from Preston Bailey when he came to speak at an event in Cincinnati. I was on the committee, and getting to meet him in person was such a great experience. We don’t all have budgets that he has to work with, obviously, but that is why he mentioned to focus on one element that will have your guests talking about it for some time to come. It is so fun to try and brainstorm with our clients and get a real vision of what they are dreaming about. Sometimes it just takes a little talking and reviewing other photos to dream up something wonderful together. Here is the link to Preston’s blog that I thought was right on topic www.prestonbailey.blogspot.com the tabletop garden entry. Hope you like it!

On Preston’s most recent blog entry he speaks of just this idea. Having one wonderful focal point can really make a difference, and a wonderful impact. So, if you don’t have a huge budget try to have one unique idea that really stands out and that will set your event apart!  Pictured below, one of my favorites from last year is we grew a special grass that we would use to hold the escort cards, which were made out of a natural paper cut into the shape of a leaf. The calligrapher did all the writing and we had an amazing centerpiece to set it off. The guests just loved picking their leaf and actually thought it was fun to be on a stick. Also, the foyer/entrance to the reception was made into a garden setting with specialty lighting and a lot of plants and flowers to finish off the look. So, no matter what your budget you can usually create a little something special! Enjoy, and happy planning!

~ Dawn