{Well hello there!  Took a little bit of time off from Friday Favorites (and the blog in general) to get our house ready to sell!  It sold in less than 2 days but now we are on the hunt for someplace to move to!}

Just a little update and couple of fun links for you to take a peek at today!  We’ll be back with Friday Favorites soon and we have pictures to share as well from some recent events.  In the meantime, make sure you are following EDEPWeddings on Instagram to see all the fun pictures from Jessica and Shane’s wedding festivities this weekend!  We’ll be at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in German Village and The Renaissance Hotel with the largest bridal party we’ve had to date – 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen plus a flower girl and ring bearer!

Seriously, how cute are they?  Thanks to Keels Photography for the gorgeous picture!

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I also came across some very cute products for weddings that I wanted to share:

If your dog is going to be part of your wedding (even if just for pictures) shouldn’t they get a new outfit too?  Enter Silly Buddy on Etsy!  Leashes, collars and doggie bow ties that can be custom made to match your wedding.  Just look at that little face!  Adorbs!

I thought these would be fun for a beach wedding/honeymoon or bridesmaids gift – you’ve seen the flip flops that leave a message in the sand?  They’re usually pretty generic so how about a custom one?  For around $20 a pair, you can have a custom message put into the bottom of different color flip flops from Flipsidez.com!

Have a wonderful weekend and make sure to follow EDEPWeddings for Jessica and Shane’s wedding!

We had a wonderful time at kicking off wedding season on March 23 with Amy and Drew.  Amy was a bridesmaid in one of my past weddings so it was wonderful to catch up and get to help plan her wedding with Drew.  We had great vendors, beautiful weather (still chilly but the sun was out), and a fantastic couple!

I will have lots of amazing pictures to share from Little Tree Studios next week but for now here is their wonderful short film from Prodigy Cinema!

Planning and Coordination:  Emilie Duncan Event Planning
Logo and Stationary Design:  Seedlings
Video:  Prodigy Cinema
Floral Design:  Flowers on Orchard Lane
Church:  New Albany United Methodist
Reception:  Creekside Conference and Event Center
Wedding Gown: La Jeune Mariee
Cake Designer: Anita Kline
Rentals: Event Source

BIG thanks to all the vendors who pulled together the gorgeous details and to Amy and Drew and their friends and families for letting us be a part of their day – we loved working with you!

We ADORED everything about Katie and Brad’s rooftop wedding last August at the Renaissance Hotel.  What’s not to love?  We had perfect weather, a gorgeous (inside and out) couple, lots of fun details and an amazing vendor team!  We aren’t the only ones who loved it – hop on over to Style Me Pretty because they loved it too.

Seriously, how cute are they?  Make sure to visit the full gallery for TONS of fun pictures from Benjamin James Photography.

As we look forward to 2013, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on 2012. It was a wonderful year with great weddings and projects – here are some of our favorite highlights:

*Our season kicked off with Andrea and TJ’s wedding at Franklin Park Conservatory on February 18 – would you believe it was warm enough for them to do their first look and take pictures OUTSIDE? In February? In Ohio? Believe it! I also just found out that Andrea and TJ are expecting a little addition to their family this summer – so excited for them!

{Photo: Chelsie Burkhart}

*On February 24, we helped with a fun party for a local company’s 13th anniversary – they are healthcare related so we did a Haunted Hospital theme complete with a talent show and the senior management surprising everyone with a flash mob to Thriller! First time I have ever worn scrubs to an event – we had to be in theme after all!

*The 3rd Annual Cakes for a Cause took place on April 5 and we raised enough to feed 24 people every meal for a year! It was an amazing night with tons of food and sweets plus lots of great auction items! The 4th Annual Cakes for a Cause is scheduled for March 28 – make sure you mark your calendar now!

{Photo: Karen Evans Pictures}

*We continued our wedding season with Lauren and Geoff’s gorgeous wedding out at Darby House on May 12. We had beautiful weather for the outdoor ceremony and pictures and then headed in for a great night of dinner and dancing to dueling pianos from the Big Bang Piano Bar!

{Photo: Simon Yao}

*We were under a huge white tent in Dublin on May 19 with Jean and Chris. They’re a really private couple so they asked I not share pictures of their faces but rest assured they were a gorgeous couple! Here’s a shot from their lovely head table:

{Photo: Brandy J Photography}

*June 2 found us moving Elisabeth and Chris’ entire reception from an impossibly windy Pool Deck at the Renaissance Hotel inside to the ballroom. Elisabeth works in a really big House that happens to be White planning travel and events so she rolled with the changes beautifully! This wedding also proved once again that Columbus is a very small place – it turns out the Bride’s sister (her Maid of Honor) and I had both been bridesmaids in another friend’s wedding way back in 2006!

{Photo: Keels Photography}

*June 16 was the epic wedding of Katlin and Parker at The Athletic Club of Columbus. Not only gorgeous but hilarious with truly great friends and family, this couple was a blast to work with! When the bride and groom wind up dancing on the tables, you know it was a heck of a night! This picture pretty much sums up this couple perfectly!

{Photo: Kitty Maer Photography}

*Leslie and Daniel’s July 7th wedding outside under a big white tent at the Columbus Country Club goes down in the books as the hottest wedding we have ever done – it went all the way to 107 degrees! Luckily, the couple, their bridal party and guests were all troopers – several big fans and GREAT attitudes kept everyone dancing late into the night. This is also the wedding that the emergency kit was put to full use with a split, very broken bridesmaid gown zipper! Thank goodness for veterinarian surgeon bridesmaids who know how to sew things up!

{Photo: Keels Photography}

*We helped Laura and Mark celebrate their wedding at The Westin on July 28. We also found out that you can see fireworks they put on at Columbus Commons from the windows of the Westin Ballroom – it was like a personal fireworks show just for their guests!

{Photo: Red Gallery Photography}

*A number of Worthington based wedding vendors came together to create an adorable, preppy photo shoot on August 13. Katlin and Parker served as our bride and groom and they brought along their DARLING puppy Indie as well! Watch for a fun event coming up in April from the Worthington Wedding District!

{Photo: Little Tree Studios}

*Mother Nature made up for the last time we were at the Renaissance with Katie and Brad’s August 18 wedding – perfect weather and zero wind! Katie and Brad were married on the roof top, went downstairs for cocktail hour with their guests and then came right back up for an amazing evening of dinner and dancing with a phenomenal band!

{Photo: Benjamin James Photography}

*Christina and Marc traveled all the way from sunny San Diego to celebrate their wedding at Creekside Events Center! Marc is in the Navy and we had lots of nautical touches including hand carved naval boats as table numbers. Doesn’t Christina have the best smile? Seriously, she can light up a room!

{Photo: Caroline Hilty Photography}

*Heather and Chris’s Ohio Statehouse wedding on September 15 was a reunion of sorts for me – not 1, not 2, but 3 former couples and their parents were in attendance! It was wonderful to catch up with them all! I love that this couple scheduled time to go back to their house to take pictures after the ceremony to have a private toast with their bridal party (and make sure the Duchess, their beloved cat, was in the pictures as well!)

{Photo: Jacquelyn Poussot Photography}

*Lesley and Jason were married on a gorgeous fall day at Camp Mary Orton. It was truly one of the most unique and extraordinarily personalized weddings I have done to date – we had zip lining before the wedding, the bride and groom getting dressed together, the bride’s super colorful dress, a gorgeous ceremony in a meadow with guests on blankets, Mikey’s Late Night Slice serving up a snack during dancing and everyone heading to the after party at Ace of Cups for karaoke. It was an absolute ball and absolutely perfect for them!

{Photo: Paper Photographs}

*We helped create another photo shoot on October 18 at The Athletic Club of Columbus. The photographer described her vision as moody and mature – I’d say we hit it on the head! We also just found out that the shoot will be featured on a major wedding blog early next year – I’ll share more pictures after that!

{Photos: E.M. Anderson Photography}

*We closed out 2012 with Meredith and Dave’s wedding at The Athletic Club of Columbus. They wanted their December 22nd wedding to be a Christmas wedding without the commercialization. Lots of Christmas bulbs, lots of silver and red, and lots of good cheer all around – we achieved just that! Thanks to the super speedy editing of Kimberly Potterf, I already have a picture to share!

{Photo: Kimberly Potterf Photography}

*On a personal note, my family had 2 big milestones this year – my husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage and our oldest daughter Ellie started kindergarten! We celebrated it all with a surprise trip to Disney World in December.

2012 was a fantastic year and my team and I were honored to have been a part of each wedding and event! So far 2013 is shaping up to be wonderful as well – we’ll back at Creekside, Columbus Museum of Art, The Athletic Club of Columbus, The Renaissance and Franklin Park Conservatory to name a few. We have a few more open spots for the year (we only take a limited number of couples every year) – send us an email or give us a call {614.678.6320} to set up a meeting to talk about how we can help you have an incredible wedding!

Happy New Year to you and yours from Emilie Duncan Event Planning!

If you are reading this with a shiny new ring on your finger (or enough of a promise of one to start the planning) – welcome and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  We’re so excited for you!

The next months will be filled with a million and one decisions – here are a few basic facts to keep in mind:

*The average wedding in the Columbus, Ohio area costs about $28,000 and has around 150 guests.  Your budget can be more or less – it all comes down to the choices you make.  When deciding on a venue, bear in mind that a backyard wedding can easily cost more than a ballroom.  Also, be sure to check what is included with your venue – rental of tables, chairs, flatware, glassware, tableware, etc can take up a big bit of your budget!

*Bridal gowns take an average of 6 to 9 months to be made and delivered and some can take up to 12 months.  Bridesmaid gowns take an average of 3 to 6 months to be made and delivered.  Plan accordingly!  Visit here for a list of Columbus, Ohio Bridal Gown Shops.

*Not all wedding vendors accept credit cards so don’t count on putting everything on plastic for the wedding but many do, so make sure to ask!  I’ve had multiple couples pay for their honeymoon flights using points earned by putting expenses on credit cards with rewards programs and paying them off right away.

*Consider hiring a planner!   Even if full service planning isn’t in your budget, consider hiring a planner for a couple of hours.  Most planners offer hourly assistance for just a little bit of help and can get your planning process headed in the right direction.

This is a series I did a few years ago with the first things you should be thinking about as you get the planning process started:

A is for Attendants
B is for Budget
C is for Contracts
D is for Date
E is for Eating
F is for Formality
G is for Gowns
H is for Hair
I is for Inspiration
J is for Jewelry
K is for Keepsakes
L is for License
M is for Mailing List
N is for NCAA, NBA, NFL, NHL and MBA
O is for Old
P is for Priorities
Q is for Questions
R is for Relatives
S is for Size
T is for Theme
U is for Unfortunate Monograms
V is for Vendors
W is for Wedding Planner
X is for eXercise
Y is for You
Z is for Zzzzzzzzs

And if you aren’t in the mood to open 26 different pages, you can browse the whole category here: First Things First.

Good luck with the planning and remember to have fun and enjoy this time – yes, it can be overwhelming and a bit stressful at times but the result really does make all the work worth it in the end.

Congratulations and feel free to give us a call – we can’t wait to hear from you and get started planning with you!

{Big thanks to Kyle from Little Tree Studios for the lovely photo!}

I just got the disk of pictures from Red Gallery of Laura and Mark’s July 28 wedding at the Westin in Columbus and I was so excited to go through them all. However, I stopped after about 2 minutes because I could. not. wait. to share these particular pictures.

Care to guess what Laura and Mark are reacting to in this shot?

That would be this jaw droppingly pretty ballroom that they were seeing for the first time – completely appropriate reaction, right?

So then, there is that moment that every planner/designer lives for on wedding day – the “oh-my-God-it’s-so-beautiful-I-love-it-thank-you-so-much” moment.

You’ll see more of Laura and Mark soon but for now HUGE thanks to Red Gallery Photography for the beautiful photographers, The Westin for the lovely location, Flowers on Orchard Lane for the gorgeous flowers, Lasting Impressions for the linens and chairs and finally to Laura, Mark and their families and friends for letting me and my team be a part of the wedding!

I should have pictures from Leslie and Daniel’s gorgeous (and incredibly hot – it was 104 degrees outside!) July wedding very soon but I couldn’t wait to show this video – Daniel and Leslie’s reaction to seeing each other for the first time is easily one of my very favorite moments from any wedding film EVER!  Believe me that when you see it (it’s about 56 seconds in) you’ll know exactly who this couple is – so genuine, so madly in love with each other and life in general. They’re just plain awesome.  Oh, watch for when Leslie joins Daniel at the altar too – pure joy at finally being at that moment!

Daniel and Leslie Peltier from Originate Lab on Vimeo.

Thanks to William from Originate Film Lab for sharing!  Will be back soon with pictures from Keels Photography too!

I realized the other day that I never shared the styled shoot I had the honor of producing for the now defunct (*sad*) Capital Style Bride Magazine.  I was asked to produce a rustic style shoot for the magazine’s Winter/Spring 2012 issue and I had a blast putting it together!

The shoot took place on a drizzly, very chilly day last year in the barn at Jorgensen’s Farm - trust me, our bride might look warm but she had space heaters pointed at her at all times!  We used the farm’s gorgeous wood farm table and their collection of chairs.  We dressed the table with simple runners, chargers and tableware from Event Source and added lovely glass candlesticks and bright, cheery flowers from Rose Bredl.

We had pretty stationery from Print Julep and we added an extra bloom to each place setting and finished it off with an antique broach from Ritzy Rose.  Amanda from Bakery Gingham created a wonderful assortment of different cakes (I got to take one home and can attest it was quite yummy!)

 The dress was a gorgeous hemp silk number from White of Dublin.

Hope you like this rustic wedding shoot as much as I did!

Just this week did a Pretty Preppy Shoot with Worthington vendors and some past clients of mine – I will share those pictures as soon as I can and I promise not to wait so long!

You might remember Katlin and Parker from their pretty much perfect engagement story: She Said YES: Katlin and Parker.  I had the pleasure and honor of planning and coordinating Katlin and Parker’s incredibly joyous wedding on June 16 – and yes, the wedding lived up to that proposal!!!  While we wait (impatiently) for pictures from Kitty Maer, I am thrilled to be able to share the Same Day Edit from Steve at Studio Z.

http://vimeo.com/44683128

I got to work with this wonderful couple for over a year and a half and will truly miss them and what I can only describe as their incredible love of life!

Okay, so if you see a bunch of gobbled-gook up there, Vimeo isn’t playing nice with my blog today so just click here to see this gorgeous video – a Same Day Edit, by the way, is shown during the reception and includes film edited on site throughout the day.  This was shown right after Katlin and Parker’s dinner.  The guests absolutely loved it and yes, it made me cry.

We were out at one of our favorite venues – The Darby House – a couple of weeks ago for the kick off a very busy wedding season!  We worked with Lauren and Geoff for nearly a year and a half through some very busy times in their life (Lauren started a demanding new job and Geoff passed the Bar Exam!) but even through that stress, they were a joy to work with!  All these gorgeous images you see are by Simon Yao Studio - huge thanks to Simon for sharing!

Lots more picture of this GORGEOUS couple to come – wait until you see the flowers from Bloomtastic and the cake from Suisse Shop - both were jaw droppingly amazing!  And again, thank you to Simon Yao for the beautiful pictures!

Lauren and Geoff were kind enough to leave a review for me on The Wedding Channel that brought tears to my eyes – I’ll let you read and see why:

Couldn’t have done it without her!  

We came to Emilie almost a year and a half before our wedding-we knew we wanted a planner and we knew we wanted to start planning right away, as I was going to start a new job and my husband was studying for the Bar Exam. We knew we wanted to hire Emilie the moment we left our initial meeting with her. She made us feel so at ease. Over the last year and a half, she helped us hire vendors, pick linens, select flowers, and a million other things. Whether we had a huge, pressing concern or a trivial question like “How many songs are in a prelude ?”, Emilie was had the answer for us right away. I never felt like we were left in the dark-her communication was oustanding, and her expertise saved us countless hours and so much stress. As we got closer to the wedding, everyone I saw would ask if I was nervous, and I always had to say no- We felt so confident in Emilie and her team, there was no reason to be nervous. Our wedding day proved to be more beautiful than we ever imagined, and all our visions came to life that day thanks to Emilie and her team. The night went SO smoothly-it really was like a fairy tale, and I know it would not have been possible without Emilie and her team! We hired a spectacular planner at the beginning of this journey, and gained a friend along the way.

Yep, that made me cry.  Thanks to Lauren and Geoff for letting me be a part of your gorgeous day – it was an honor!!