Tickled Pink Brides - Orlando, Florida's Premier Wedding Planner

Real Weddings: A ceremony at Holy Family Catholic Church

Photographer John Unrue captured some beautiful portraits of Jovan and Allison's wedding in March at Holy Family Catholic Church and the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes.  For now, here is a sneak peak of their ceremony shots.  They honored Jovan's Filipino heritage with a traditional Catholic ceremony complete with the veil, cord and candle, and later in the night they paid homage to Allison's Polish background with a traditional Polish wedding dance.  We love celebrating our couples' unique heritages and finding ways to incorporate classic traditions in their weddings!  Allison was such a stunning bride and I'm so happy to share these images of her and Jovan.  

Jovan and Allison's Same Day Edit Video

Terri and I had the utmost pleasure of working with bride and groom Allison and Jovan on their wedding at Holy Family Catholic Church and reception at the Ritz Carlton, Grande Lakes.  Orlando was the perfect destination for this out of town couple and their extended family and friends.  A beautiful and seamless ceremony, an abundance of delicious food (can you say lobster tail, oysters, and a mashed potato bar...and that was just cocktail hour!), and a ballroom decked out in the most elegant silver and white floral and decor by Lee James were just a few highlights of the day.  Allison was such a gorgeous bride and we all loved watching her reaction to the "same day edit" video that Jovan had planned and videographer Jose Ortiz showed during the reception.  What's even better is that he went back and edited her reaction into the same day edit so that you all can see!  

Same day edits are such a special way for you and your guests to relive the wedding day right away by watching a quick video trailer during your reception.  Talk about instant gratification!

The beautifull SDE experience of Jovan and Allison. Surprise!! from Jose Ortiz Films on Vimeo.

Cypress Grove Wedding Video by Imprint Cinema

My dear, dear friend Ashley was married (!!) in December and the fine folks of Imprint Cinema were there to document the entire day.  Just last week, they debuted her wedding video trailer and I could not have been more excited to watch it.  On repeat.  With tears.  Watch for yours truly, as I doubled as both planner and bridesmaid!

Ashley & Sean's Wedding Trailer from Imprint Cinema on Vimeo.

Real Wedding: Whitney and Ben at the Gaylord Palms

I just love real wedding posts.  I love reliving wedding day moments through photographs, and then sharing them with you so that you can see what our Tickled Pink Brides experience on their wedding days.  Whitney and Ben were such a fun couple that live out of state but celebrated their wedding weekend at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando.  Whitney's quick, witty, and hilarious personality made planning the wedding with her so much fun, and her parents will always be some of my favorite MOB and FOB characters.  

Whitney's color scheme was black, white and green, with a touch of bling for good measure (check out the rhinestones on the bridal bouquet stem holder!).  The entire event was intimate and elegant, but far from stuffy as this group knew how to party!  Unique details like a black aisle runner amidst an otherwise white wedding ceremony, amazing black and silver table linens, pops of green orchids in each bouquet, and a last dance that finished with a shower of confetti made this wedding one to remember.  Now on to the pictures!  Thanks as always to Binary Flips for capturing each moment.  Click on any photos to see a larger view.

Venue: Gaylord Palms

Floral by Tommy Murphy of Greenery Productions

Band: The Buzzcatz

Hair and Makeup: Makeover Station

Officiant: Rev. Jason McKinney

Videography: Perfect Sky Productions

Cake: Party Flavors

"On Behalf of the Bride" - Finding the Perfect Wedding Gown

As a wedding planner, I’m constantly surrounded by weddings; so naturally, I’ve spent a lot of time imagining what I would walk down the aisle in. Would I want something traditional?

Sexy?

Romantic?

Couture?

Finding my dress was the part of planning my own wedding I was most excited about. Over the past few weeks I have been trying to find my dress, so I thought I would give a few tips that have helped me.

1. Do some research and figure out what styles you like. I knew I would have a hard time walking into a store without having done my research, so I started looking at gowns over the internet early on. I first researched the bridal boutiques in my area to find out what designers they carried. Next, I would go to those specific designer’s websites and save any picture that caught my eye. Be sure to save the photos in a folder labeled with the designers name and save each picture with the style number. This way, when you visit the boutique you’ll be able to ask a consultant if they carry any of the dresses you have saved. I did this by downloading the Dropbox application to my iPhone and iPad. Dropbox allows you to save and share files, its free, and can be downloaded onto most smart phones/tablets (use this link to download Dropbox). Even if they don’t carry the specific dresses you have saved, it will still give your consultant an idea for what you’re looking for.

2. Don’t bring too many people to the appointment. Finding your dress can get stressful when you bring too many people along to the appointment with you. Having too many opinions will only confuse you and keep you from ultimately choosing the dress you like.  I would recommend bringing no more than three people. Be sure to pick only the people whose opinions really matter to you. I took my Mom with me not only because I wanted to share the experience with her, but because her opinion really mattered to me most. I knew she would be honest, but ultimately support my decision.

3. Know your budget before you start trying on gowns (don’t forget to include sales tax and alterations). I know not to try on dresses outside of my budget, and still made this mistake! There is nothing more disappointing than trying on a dress, loving it, then realizing you can’t afford it. If you think you might stretch your budget to get that dream dress, try to pull the extra money from another part of your wedding budget.  I have a feeling this is what I'll end up doing.

Best of luck in your search!

"On Behalf of the Bride" - Establishing Your Wedding Style

I find so many brides that I work with have a lot of great ideas, but aren’t quite sure how to reign them into one cohesive style. I too had this problem. I find myself liking so many colors and styles that I wasn’t sure which way to go. After giving it a lot of thought I had to ask myself, what do I really want and what do I want to look back on in my wedding photos? For me it was easy…I’m pretty traditional, love all things romantic, soft and girly and I knew I wanted it to be formal. Next, I turned to my wardrobe for inspiration. What colors did I see most hanging in my closet?  Black, white, lace embellishments and neutral beiges, golds, and pinks. I had to admit to myself I like things simple, timeless but with a unique twist. After having done this I felt confident I knew what style I would go for.

Picture this: a soft, romantic gown, lots of candlelight, fluffy flowers, and colors of white, silver and blush tones. I then started to browse the internet for inspiration. I researched flowers, décor elements, bridesmaid dresses, venues, wedding gowns, shoes, I mean everything!  Sure enough I found a trend. I had saved way too many pictures, so I forced myself to go back through and pick my favorites. I always urge my brides to make inspiration boards. An inspiration board is a collection of photos of various wedding elements used to visually explain the style of your wedding. Seeing all of your favorite photos together will help you clarify the overall direction and vibe of your wedding. They’re also great tools to share with vendors like your florist and coordinator. You can make one in minutes through websites like knot.com and weddingwire.com.  See below for one of my own :)

Establishing your wedding style first will then allow you to narrow down what types of venues to look for, the style of your gown, your wedding colors, what your stationary will look like and so forth. Find your style first and everything else will start to fall into place – I promise! Look for inspiration from stylemepretty.com, knot.com, weddingwire.com, etsy.com and various blogs from wedding professionals. Before you know it, you will be on your way to finding your wedding personality! Also, be sure to check our blog frequently for trends and creative ideas.

Happy planning!

Real Wedding: Sara and Juan at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne

In October, our Tickled Pink coordinator Terri had the pleasure and honor of working with Sara and Juan to bring together their heartfelt and super-fun wedding at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne in Orlando. Recently, Becka and Nate of Studio 222 blogged about this wedding and had the sweetest things to say:

"They aren’t afraid to laugh big and laugh hard and be goofy just because there are people with cameras around and we LOVE that because now, when I look through these images from their wedding, the smiles captured are absolutely contagious. You can’t look at a photo of Sara laughing and not smile yourself, because the laugh is so big and so REAL. If ever there was a day to let your happiness flow free, it’s on your wedding day…"

Some sweet and inspiring details were included in this wedding, like Sara's shoes (gorgeous!), the pops of yellow in the paper pom-poms and bridesmaid dresses, and the delicious cupcake dessert table.  Cheers to Sara and Juan and congrats again from the gals at Tickled Pink!

Introducing "On Behalf of the Bride"

    It’s a new year, and we have decided to energize the Tickled Pink Brides blog with new and interesting posts every week- one of which will be written by me every Wednesday!  The blog will provide tips, inspiration, guidance, and anything that might be of interest to brides going through the planning process, but with a twist…

    I recently got engaged over the holidays (yay!) and thought it might be fun to blog about some of my personal experiences from the eyes of not only a planner but also a bride! I have planned my fair share of weddings, but I'm still learning new things all the time, especially now that the shoe is on the other foot. Look forward to my first post next Wednesday about establishing your own personal wedding style.

Sincerely,

 

 

Wedding Video Trailer from Waldorf Astoria Bonnet Creek

Maryam and Scott's video trailer from their October wedding at the Waldorf Astoria Bonnet Creek has arrived!  A professional videographer and close friend of the bride and groom, Mike Sarricchio, documented the wedding day and added in touching and heartfelt voice overs by the couple.  The groom is a talented musician and as you'll see, he took the stage at the wedding ceremony to serenade his bride.  What a joyous, sentimental, and memorable event!

Scott and Maryam - Reflections of the Day: 10-22-11 from Michael V. Sarricchio on Vimeo.

Real Wedding: Susan and Christopher at the Ballroom at Church Street

We wanted to share these sweet photos by Sandra Johnson Photography of Susan and Christopher's wedding at Winter Park Presbyterian Church and reception at the Ballroom at Church Street in downtown Orlando.  Susan incorporated sunny touches of orange and yellow with floral design by Greenery Productions, an elegant, fashion-forward gown by Lazaro from The Collection, and classic harp music at her brunch reception.  I especially loved the black and white photos from Susan's ceremony and all of the emotion shown between Susan and her loved ones.