I recently saw a Tweet about Columbus Food Adventures and instantly thought it would be a fantastic bachelorette party for some of my more food inclined clients!

Columbus Food Adventures is a series of tours highlighting some of the fantastic culinary delights in Ohio’s capital – they can do private tours for up to 14 or you can join one of their public tours.  Those include:

Alt Eats – 5 stops for some awesome ethnic eats including Somoli, Vietnamese, Persian cuisine and more.

Short North – 6 stops in the Short North starting at North Market and ending with Jeni’s.  Need I say more?!

Taco Trucks – 5 stops at Taco Trucks on the west side.

Tours range from $45 to $60 per person and include transportation and food at each stop – a great alternative for brides who would rather eat awesome food with their friends than get overly drunk at a bar.  This would also be great for those brides whose bridal parties include underage folks – they can be included and then you can head to the bar after eating all that great Columbus food!

PS – if you do the taco truck tour, I totally want to be invited!  I’ll even bring a gift. 

I LOVE when brides and grooms pick different gifts for each member of their bridal party or similar but personalized gifts – I think it shows that some care was put into their gift.  That personal preference may be way I am so in love with the clutches from Davie and Chiyo.  They have so many different styles to choose from that you could easily pick a different style for each of your bridesmaids in a matching color.  Cohesive gift but personalized to each of your lovely ladies – brilliant!

The clutches run about $75 but if you order 3 or more of their custom bags, you get a 10% discount – buy 6 or more and you’ll get 15% off!  So I guess the question is whether your MOH is more of a Three Frills Clutch kind of girl or a Bow Clutch?  Somehow, I think she’ll be thrilled either way.

The photographer from Kristin and Michael’s July 3 wedding is sending me pictures and I will post their story once I have those but for now, Kristin’s friend shared this fun video recap her friend made of the day. Such a great couple and this video really captures how lovely they were – enjoy!

Llama Gets Married! from Donkeymentary TV on Vimeo.

One of my amazing couples from last year has been featured in the The Knot magazine as well as in the Real Wedding section of The Knot Website! (And your guess is as good as mine as to why the wedding is in the Cincinnati site versus the Columbus one since the wedding was in New Albany!)

Below is the feature from the Fall/Winter edition of The Knot Ohio Magazine:

To see tons more pictures from this gorgeous wedding, click here!

I have done luminaries for weddings in the past – they look lovely so lining a sidewalk to help guide your guests to your reception or rimming a patio – but never like these pretty little ones from Paper Acorn:

Everything from the font to the color of the luminaries is customizable.  How sweet would these be on the ledge of a window wall?  Or along the back row of your outdoor ceremony so the guest see them as they are seated?

They also have really cute Custom Wine Markers which would be fun at your rehearsal dinner or a bridal shower!

A note: I am going a little out of order on my weddings but I am waiting on some things from some other weddings I have waiting to post (hint, hint Christy!) and then those will go up too!

The Story

Amanda and Keith are high school sweethearts who met at Delaware Christian and continued their relationship through their years at Cedarville College.  They planned to get married right after graduation and before Keith started his MBA in the great white north (i.e. Rochester, NY).  I actually met Amanda and Keith when I planned and coordinated his brother Eric’s wedding in Cleveland last year – always such an honor when I get to work with the same families again and a lot of fun because I get to see so many familiar faces!

Amanda and Keith were married on a beautiful spring morning with the kind of weather that wedding planners hope for and wish we could always guarantee our clients!  Their ceremony took place at Berlin Presbyterian Church in Lewis Center.  They were married by their high school bible studies teacher in a lovely ceremony that was full of personal touches.  Before Amanda walked down the aisle to meet Keith, the screens on either side of the altar played a video of pictures of each of them growing up and their years of dating.  I have seen a lot of slideshows in my day but something about when their slideshow was shown made it very symbolic – sharing their past with their guests and then inviting them to witness the start of their future.

They exchanged vows in front of the one of the prettiest stained glass windows I have ever seen – a giant wooden cross with a rainbow of stained glass surrounding it.  The sun was coming through the window perfectly and made the entire room glow with the prettiest light – it was just gorgeous!  Amanda and Keith also signed a copy of their vows as a physical reminder of what they promised each other that day.  On the same paper were lines for each of their bridal party members.  One by one, their bridesmaids and groomsmen joined Amanda and Keith in signing their vows as a sign that they would be supporting the newlyweds and helping them to uphold their vows to each other.

After the ceremony, the party moved to The Lakes Country Club in Westerville for brunch.  Since this was a brunch wedding, Amanda and Keith didn’t plan a traditional cocktail hour instead they had a hot and cold bar – one serving smoothies and one serving lattes.  They even had a signature smoothie and signature coffee drink for their guests to enjoy!  Guests also had a great time in the photobooth – Amanda put together all kinds of fun props for the guests to use and those pictures served as their guestbook as well.

Guests enjoyed brunch in the tent at The Lakes with gorgeous flowers including some of the biggest, most fragrant peonies I have seen so far!  Amanda and Keith chose not to have any dancing at their wedding but had a big table full of games to keep their guests entertained.  They had a huge cupcake tower with two different kinds of cupcakes with raspberry or chocolate filling that guests were raving over! I will admit I had to grab one too – they smelled and looked way too good to pass up! It was a truly sweet wedding perfectly suited to this truly sweet couple!

Amanda and Keith are madly in love with each other and with life and with God and it shows in everything they do.  It is so cool to see such a young couple so sure of what they want and what direction they are going – while the direction may change, I have no doubt in mind that they will follow whatever that path is together – hand in hand, laughing along the way.

Stay warm in Rochester guys and thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding – it was an honor and a pleasure!

The Elements

Wedding Coordinator: Emilie Duncan Event Planning
Photographer: Henry Photography
Makeup: Alison Feamster
Florist: Elegant Touch Events
Cupcakes: Suisse Shop
Reception Music: Stephen’s Audio
Ceremony Site: Berlin Presbyterian Church
Reception Site:  The Lakes Country Club
Cocktail Drinks: Latte 2 a Tea
Photobooth: Clix Photobooth

The Pictures

Lots more coming from Henry Photography but here are a few teasers:

Had to include Amanda’s hanger in here!

I have a confession to make – I am a binge crafter.  At least that is what the husband calls me – I go through spurts where I get really inspired and try all kinds of projects and make lots of stuff and buy random things to make things and then it just stops.  I am currently in the middle of a binge and one of the things I have tried to make is fabric flowers.

I can’t do it.

I have tried every different kind of fabric, all kinds of shapes, sizes – you name it.  I apparently have no ability to make flowers in that manner.  That is why I am so glad that someone else, i.e. Bethany Lorelle can make them and makes them really well.

Yep, those are feathers.  How gorgeous is that?  And she has so many more varieties in her shop.  Go visit.

I am also coveting, yes, coveting the Sabrina Swarovski Crystal and Pearl necklace.  Soooo pretty.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that my participation on the Board of Directors for Wish Upon a Wedding’s Ohio chapter. I am so honored to be part of this incredible organization!

Wish Upon a Wedding is a charitable organization that gives weddings to brides and grooms facing terminal illness.   Our couples have quite often been together for quite a while or already planning a wedding but when faced with a catastrophic illness, priorities change.  That is where Wish Upon a Wedding comes in – we give them a day, without any thoughts of existing health issues, while surrounded by their closest family and friends to celebrate LOVE.  One day to forget that by their 3rd anniversary, one of them will be gone.  Pretty incredible and really powerful.  WUW was started in California in January of 2010 and has already spread to chapters across the country – we are getting things up and running in Ohio and hope to start granting wishes for deserving couples very soon!  Keep your eyes open for our launch party in January and our Blissful Wishes Gala in November 2011.

Whenever I mention this to vendors and brides and random people on the street (I like to talk after all), the first question I get is “how can I help?”   The answer to that varies by who you are:

For my fellow wedding vendors:

Sign up to be a Wish Granter – we’ll call on you to help make these special couple’s day amazing by doing what you do best!

Donate to the Wishing Well – donate 1% of your profits from one event or from the sale of your products to help fund weddings for our couples.

Donate your Services for Auction – In October and November, brides and grooms will be able to bid for wedding related services with all the proceeds going back to Wish Upon a Wedding.

For everyone:

Volunteer as a Committee Member - we have lots of roles for committee members to help us spread the word, plan events and operational needs.

Make a Monetary Contribution or Donate Airline Miles or Donate In Lieu of Favors/Instead of Gifts

Bid on Auction Items for Your Wedding – You need vendors for your wedding – why not bid on their services and benefit Wish Upon a Wedding at the same time?

Follow Wish Upon a Wedding on Twitter and Like Wish Upon a Wedding and Wish Upon a Wedding Ohio on Facebook

If you would like to get involved, please feel free to contact wish Upon a Wedding via at cwo@wishuponawedding.org or {877} 305-WISH.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that my participation on the Board of Directors for Wish Upon a Wedding’s Ohio chapter. I am so honored to be part of this incredible organization!

Wish Upon a Wedding is a charitable organization that gives weddings to brides and grooms facing terminal illness.   Our couples have quite often been together for quite a while or already planning a wedding but when faced with a catastrophic illness, priorities change.  That is where Wish Upon a Wedding comes in – we give them a day, without any thoughts of existing health issues, while surrounded by their closest family and friends to celebrate LOVE.  One day to forget that by their 3rd anniversary, one of them will be gone.  Pretty incredible and really powerful.  WUW was started in California in January of 2010 and has already spread to chapters across the country – we are getting things up and running in Ohio and hope to start granting wishes for deserving couples very soon!  Keep your eyes open for our launch party in January and our Blissful Wishes Gala in November 2011.

Whenever I mention this to vendors and brides and random people on the street (I like to talk after all), the first question I get is “how can I help?”   The answer to that varies by who you are:

For my fellow wedding vendors:

Sign up to be a Wish Granter – we’ll call on you to help make these special couple’s day amazing by doing what you do best!

Donate to the Wishing Well – donate 1% of your profits from one event or from the sale of your products to help fund weddings for our couples.

Donate your Services for Auction – In October and November, brides and grooms will be able to bid for wedding related services with all the proceeds going back to Wish Upon a Wedding.

For everyone:

Volunteer as a Committee Member - we have lots of roles for committee members to help us spread the word, plan events and operational needs.

Make a Monetary Contribution or Donate Airline Miles or Donate In Lieu of Favors/Instead of Gifts

Bid on Auction Items for Your Wedding – You need vendors for your wedding – why not bid on their services and benefit Wish Upon a Wedding at the same time?

Follow Wish Upon a Wedding on Twitter and Like Wish Upon a Wedding and Wish Upon a Wedding Ohio on Facebook

If you would like to get involved, please feel free to contact wish Upon a Wedding via at cwo@wishuponawedding.org or {877} 305-WISH.

I guess I have a thing for fingerprints.  I think this Love Silhouette print from Nella Designs would be a fantastic addition to your newlywed home!

I absolutely adore her Crossword Print too which would be a perfect Save the Date or shower gift too – so cute.