My friend Danyelle Daniel came up from San Antonio this weekend to attend a wedding of a lady she mentored a while ago. I attended the wedding with Danyelle. I thought it would be fun to go to a wedding in which I could just attend, watch their wedding coordinator, pick up some tips and enjoy. Danyelle was part of the ceremony, she was part of it by saying a few words to the bride and groom and was to be introduced as the brides mentor. Since Danyelle needed to know when she would be speaking and a few other details, we got there early. We looked around at the decorations and found the reception hall. We waited to find out more details and the bride showed up at the reception hall to see what was going on. I thought it strange that no decorations were up. After all, the wedding was going to begin at 11:30am and it was about 11:10am. The bride was a bit frantic trying to let people know what was going on. I then realized that the bride was in control and others did not know what was going on. I just could not stand there and not help. I told the bride that I was a wedding coordinator, just let me know what the flow was, what she wanted and I would help. I told her that she really needed to go to the bridal room and relax and wait for the wedding and I would take care of things. The bridesmaids were helping along with her house party and a great friend of the family who just really pitched in. The bride should NEVER have to stress over things like this at the last minute and I just couldn't stand by and let that happen. It still pains me to think about that even now. My heart just went out to her. I told Danyelle that I'm not sure I'm going to make it to the wedding and that I was just going to stay and help out until it's done. I sent the bridesmaids back to their room as well and the rest of use just stayed and in no time, we got everything set up. To her credit, the wedding coordinator of the church did know what was going on. It just took a while to find her and she was so busy with the wedding and other things that she wasn't able to have time to work on the reception.
NOTE TO BRIDES: You should always have someone in charge of the set-up for the reception and it should not be you. If you do not have a wedding/event planner, please convey your thought and ideas to someone NOT in the wedding party and make sure they can take charge and get things done the way you want it. You need to be as stress free on the day as possible.
Ceremony: The theme of the wedding was vintage (which is very popular right now) and Christmas.The ceremony had some nice personal touches that I thought were special. I always encourage brides to make it your own, add personal touches. What is special to the bride? What is special to the groom? Is is a song, is it a person? Make it your own. when I do a wedding, I do spend a good amount of time with the bride discussing the ceremony. I know that the reception is a fun party and the decorations are important, but the main thing is the ceremony. The couple is entering into a covenant with each other and God and that should be important.
A few unique things they did:
1. A ring warming ceremony- this is where everyone in attendance was passed a little bag with the rings in it and was told to say a blessing over the rings for the couple.
2. A mentor speak to the bride and groom - They had Danyelle speak since she was a mentor to the bride.
3. The grooms daughter - the groom had a daughter about three years old. The bride wrote a letter to her which was read by the grandmother of the little girl, which was very special, and they included the little girl in a part of the ceremony.
4. Snowflake girls - The little flower girls were adorable. They were called snowflake girls. They dropped plastic snowflakes in the aisle for the bride.
TIP: For wedding programs, if a bride decides to do them. Make sure the print is readable. I found with this wedding program, the font was pretty small. Consider people over 40, they are usually the ones that read and maybe keep the programs. :-)
The Reception:
At first everyone went to the a coffee bar and could get either hot chocolate or coffee. (Just FYI, in December, you expect it to be a little chilly outside. It was unusually warm on this December 1 and was in the high 70's...Texas is so unpredictable) Then everyone went to the reception where there was a dessert bar, hot chocolate or pop (yes, I'm from the north and call it pop)
TIP: If you are just having dessert, please try and consider anyone who doesn't eat sugar like diabetics or just those dieting. The desserts here were great, but there was nothing to off-set the sugar. I would suggest some fruit and always have water for your guests.
The Entertainment:
The bride hired a well know radio personality and MC/DJ for her reception. There were maybe 30 or 40 people in attendance so this might not have been a necessity, but he has a great voice and is well known in Dallas. I recognized him from the Association of Wedding Professionals meetings that I have attended. This is another area where the bride was in charge and I could tell she was struggling with trying to greet her guests and mingle with them as well as try and coordinate how things would go at the reception.
TIP: Brides need to convey the flow of the reception to a wedding event planner/coordinator so that she can thoroughly enjoy her reception. I know that people try and save money by trying to cut this part out, but you might be surprised how much return you get on your investment for hiring a wedding planner or coordinator. It can be a lot less than you think and very worth it. I can tell many stories of disasters that have been averted that brides still have no idea about. I'm sure I will relay some of those as I do more writing on this blog.
Here are some pictures from the wedding:
Me and my former co-worker, Danyelle Daniel (she's also a fantastic Realtor for Keller Williams in San Antonio if you ever need one)
I wish I had a better picture of the bridesmaids dresses. They were really pretty. I liked the brides dress as well. Her jeweled Shaw was a nice added touch to her attire.
This Snowflake girl was so adorable, but this is how interested children are at weddings...but adorable when they come down the aisle! :-)
Danyelle speaking to the couple
First Dance...beautiful dress
Me and Jeff Christenson, a radio personality known as Jay Fox (the wedding DJ)
A Concert:
Stonebriar Community Church (Chuck Swindoll, Pastor) had their annual FREE Christmas concert called O Magnum Mysterium. It was fantastic as usual. My favorite this year was the Ladies Soprano Trio singing The Bells of Christmas.
And ICE!:
At night we went to ICE! featuring DreamWorks' Merry Madagascar at the Gaylord Texan. It is 9 degrees in there, but it was fun. We even went down the ice slide! http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-texan/lone-star-christmas/ice-experience/index.html
Inside the Gaylord Texan
The Nutcrackers tell you where to go
The best part was the clear ice manger scene at the end. They didn't try to hide the true meaning of Christmas! This was a welcomed delight to us!
An adventurous and fun day of events!!
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