Morning everyone. Actually before I get started on my weekend - check out the Winterthur Wedding website on the section for Photos and Testimonials - we have some new things posted for you to take a peak at.

So I hosted my sisters shower yesterday. Garden Fair was this weekend - no catered events so I took the weekend off and planned a party. I wanted to start it in the morning so everyone would have their afternoon and evenings free to be with their families or even just relax. The shower was from 11am - 2pm. Guests were pretty much all there by 11:30.

My sister wanted something different then a typical shower. I knew she wanted some type of entertainment and it was really difficult coming up with something that everyone could participate in yet not have to squish into one room and sit and not be able to talk. The winning idea was to set up some casino games with dealers. We opted for Roulette - which a lot of people can play at one time - and black jack - which had 6 people playing at all times. We kept the food as finger foods so guests could eat and move at the same time. It was really fun and kept people engaged and amused until time to open gifts.

 Theresa Clower of Theresa Florals did some arrnagements for me, 1 on the dining room table, 1 on the bar, and one in each bathroom. They were beautiful and added to the overall feel. I always thinnk flowers finish the look of the party!

We had some signature drinks served as well as some hot spiced cider and coffee for the guests. Food - mini quiche, individual yogurt parfaits, mini crabcakes, cheese, and my sisters friend Lynn had her mom make some great ethnic food - egg rolls, fried rice, and noodles - yum!

Back to real work this weekend - a wedding on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Hi Everyone. I have not written about just the latest things to be happening at Winterthur with our weddings in a little while so here is a little update as to what Rachel and I have been doing - other then working with everyone on all of these events you read about…This past Tuesday evening Rachel and I were in Philly for an industry party sponsored by The Knot. It was great to see some of our favorite people:

Mike Kehr - he is responsible for half of the new photos on our photo section of our website and spends a good amount of time at Winterthur. Mike is here with us on Saturday and he shot the Seliger wedding from 7-19 that you saw.

Faith West - Faith is here tomorrow night and she shot the other half of the photos that went up on our gallery - those are from the Kloss wedding on the 14th of June.

Donna and Mia from Beautiful Blooms - they did last Saturdays Scida wedding with the amazing orchids.

Kendall Brown of Eclante Events partnered with the Knot for the design and schematics of the party which was all about the environment and what we can all do to make a difference. Tell me anything you want with a glass of wine in my hand and it gets even more interesting!

Ed and Greg with EventQuip were there. These guys are hopefully about to become my new best friends. We have some interesting things happening at Winterthur and hopefully in another few weeks I can unveil some big stuff - and don’t email me and ask for a preview!!

Coming up this weekend we have 2 weddings, 2 the following weekend, Garden Fair the following weekend - no weddings allowed then - then 2 more after that and 3 more the following week - Whew! And we are already booking like crazy for next September and October so that promises to be just as busy.

I have not talked about my sisters wedding in a while - her shower is at my house on the 28th - yes the weekend I don’t have any weddings here I will send you an update on that after the fact - the date and time are not a surprise to her but everything else so I better not spoil it here.

And everyone - if you have things that you feel it would be helpful for Rachel and I to write about - let us know. We can always use suggestions. Have a great night and I will be back on tomorrow night!

in May we were blessed to work with a great planner - Beka Nave. Beka is getting married in just a few weeks and there is a great online article about her and the wedding. She also talks about one of her special weddings she did and includes some pics from Laura Novak - overly talented!! So happens the pics are of Christina and Marvin - one of our May weddings. Thought you might enjoy reading about a wedding from the planners prospective….http://thebridescafe.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/meet-beka.html

So, while Nicole was here by herself for 3 weddings this weekend, I was playing the part of bride’s maid number 4 in my cousin’s wedding. Christy is from Upstate NY right around the Rochester area. It is certainly a different world up there! She asked me to be a bride’s maid earlier this year and I gladly accepted. With all my wedding knowledge I thought I could be helpful!

I wanted to go up for the whole weekend to help my cousin with any last minute things she needed since I was unable to attend her bridal shower.  I met up with her at the Reception Hall the night before and her vision all came together for me. Her favorite color is red, and so red was certainly everywhere! I kept asking her what I can do and what she needed help with. She is such a calm person and told me not too worry about anything and it was all taken care of.

Since I am not used to doing nothing when it comes to weddings, I jumped in and helped her finish decorating the room. When we got back to her house the night before the wedding I realized not everything was taken care of. We had place-cards to do, and other things to still get ready. That is where all the bride’s maid work came into play.  My cousin is unlike many brides in the way that she is so relaxed, and not a care in the world. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself–I felt lost without my check list of things that still needed to be done.

So, the ceremony was under a gazebo right at the location.  We took pictures following the ceremony and were not allowed into the reception room until we were announced after cocktail hour. At this point I was starving and looking for something to drink. Boy–I wished we had a shadow that day! I had to ask my mother to run into the room and get me a cocktail. The food was okay, and I still have not gone a weekend without wedding cake in about 3 months.  The night was complete with a fireworks show. All in all it was a really nice time with family that I do not get to see often, and it was nice to see what all the brides and maids go through!

Many people ask me if I like to go to weddings or if I find I can’t relax. I think the answer is two fold. I love to go to weddings. First and foremost I really enjoy seeing 2 people I care about find happiness. Secondly - I love to see what other places are doing and gather new ideas to keep myself and our team here on their toes! Third - If I see something I don’t like - I use it as a learning experience and share it with my staff so they can improve and build upon their services.

This past weekend I attended a beautiful wedding of two close friends in Long Island. We all had such a great time and the couple are absolutely 100% destined to be together!

 Some of the highlights - Our waiter at our table was fantastic. He watched us all evening, brought drinks as needed and was very pleasant. He could not really answer my questions about the food but he was very attentive. The food was great. I have to been to a lot of weddings and being a vegetarian I have eaten some very bad food. As a general rule I try to eat a lot at cocktail hour (and cake of course) so I am full if my entree is bad. The apps were great and the entrees were great as well.  I had to dance off the extra food I ate.

 Some of the areas that I was a little distracted by - The staff! They did not know what they were serving!! There were about 4 groupings of stationary hors d’oeuvres at the cocktail hour. One there was carved beef - I watched the gentlemen manning it actually slice off some beef when nobody was in line and eat it himself!! I went to the Asian station, asked what was in the dumplings and the gentlemen could not tell me if they were vegetarian or what was in them. The pasta station had no forks and I was told to go find them on another station. Um, okay.

Did anybody else notice these things - well at my table there were 5 other guests who had worked in catering. But again - when the couple is so happy, it is easy for the guests to feel happy! But yes, I will be letting my staff know how proud I am of them and what I noticed!

A couple weeks ago I attended a bridal show right here in Delaware, only about 15 minutes away from Winterthur. One of my good friends is engaged and asked me to go as a favor to her. Since I have been to other shows in the past, I did not think going would be helpful to her who has already chosen her reception location, church, and photographer. She was more interested in the free give-aways.

I went with her regardless how I felt about the situation since she is the bride to be. First off, there was not much parking there, so we had to park in the next shopping center over. Entering the building, we were just swarmed with people and vendors. The Doubletree did provide some food, but it was almost impossible to get to it, and the beverages were no where to be found. The room where most of the vendors were set up was so crowded that we could barley move, and the other room was set up for a fashion show. Just as I thought, there was no one there that my friend wanted to talk to or that could still help her with any of her wedding plans.

 We stayed through the give-aways, and then I thought we would be able to leave, but ended up staying through the entire fashion show. There were some gorgeous dresses and even some brides maid outfits that we liked, but I felt the show was going on forever.

 Overall, it was not a great experience for me, and was not at all helpful to my friend. After being at this show for 3 hours, I vowed that I would not be going to a bridal expo for a very long time!

I was able to attend an ISES (International Special Events Society) meeting this past Wednesday and the topic was Going Green. Some of you may know by now that I consider myself to be very into the environmental cause - I personally recycle, compost, have a rain barrel, got new windows, have energy star compliant appliances - and I am a vegetarian to boot, so I was really excited to see the new concepts coming out. On top of that it got me thinking about how we could have more “green” events/weddings here at Winterthur or for anybody. Some of my suggestions…

China - there are some great new products on the market - I drank out of a plastic cup on Wed. made from corn!! But don’t forget - with the advances in industrial dish machines - china is the  most green option since that leaves no trash and there is now less water needed to fill the machines.

Alcohol - There are Organic Wines and Vodkas. I have been made aware of Organic Rum and I am sure there are more to come. We are considering an option for the future, when the products are available, of having a fully Organic Bar.

Paper Trail - Of course everybody loves to pick out and receive beautiful invitations and in the day and age of emails it really it is a treat. But, how about emailed save the dates, invitations to the the showers, bachelorette parties, and rehearsal dinners. Even thank yous from those events are acceptable. Save the paper for the wedding invitation and the wedding thank-yous and save a tree in the process.

Favors - Edible is the way to go. Who needs more clutter or one lone picture frame or votive candle? Cute dress shaped cookies, candy stations, and colored M&Ms are the most coveted items we see and they never get left behind on the tables for us to throw in the trash! Don’t forget, everybody feels good about a donation made to a cause that is near and dear to you and your fiancee.

Also - there was a great feature story in the News Journal this weekend about eco-chic weddings, written by Gail A. Sisolak. Some great tips she mentioned include buying a vintage gown or vintage rings at an antique dealer, having your reception and ceremony at the same location to decrease driving, recommending a car share program (like PhillyCarShare) that utilizes hybrid cars for people to get to your wedding, and letting your bridesmaids pick out different dresses that fit their style in the color you choose so they will wear them again.

 If you have a Green Wedding Idea please email me and let me know - I would be happy to post it and add it to this blog.

Hi Again!

I got a call from one of my friends on Sunday night when they were flipping through the TV stations and they saw Winterthur on TV. Last year in March we had a beautiful wedding for Kim and Adam that was filmed for the Learning Channels ‘Whose Wedding is it Anyway”.  It was so much fun to work with the TV crew and to see that “our” show is still playing on national television 11 months later.

I always get asked how Adam and Kim got picked.  If you have not seen the show, there are 2 couples featured for the hour long program. One couple had already been picked and a notice went out looking for a couple getting married on a certain weekend that fit with the filming time of the other show. Kim and Adam were that couple. They interviewed and did a tape for the show and they were an instant hit. They did not get picked for the show until about 6 weeks ahead of time if I remember correctly!

I will tell you that I never noticed that they were late decision makers as the show portrays them. I had worked with Kim and Adam for a few months and they always were on top of giving me everything I needed. Of course it is TV so they have to try to make some drama where there isn’t any!

 Joani was great to work with as well. Joani actually is the owner of VIP Magazine - one of the local magazines in this area that show great places to have your wedding - like us! Since Kim and Adam were so close to the time of their wedding they asked Joani to jump in and pinch hit and I know Adam and Kim were so grateful.

At the end of the show there are the beautiful fireworks being set-off from outside the Visitor Center. I know we are one of the only places, if not the only place, that is capable of having fireworks at our weddings. We work with Fireworks Concepts and they are the ultimate professionals. And talk about a memorable way to end an evening - how many of you can say you have been to a wedding with their own private fireworks display?

One of our favorite vendors to work with is Flowers by Yukie from Wilmington Delaware. Yukie provides so much more then just flowers - including draping tents, coming up with the Asian lantern look that everybody loves so much here at Winterthur, and even doing lounge furniture. They are such professionals to work with and they think of everything. We especially love how punctual they are when setting up and returning that evening to remove everything!

I had the pleasure of sitting with her and her colleague Molly recently to go through my sisters ideas for her wedding. They are so talented at taking every persons ideas and roaming through the store to put something together in front of you on site that works beautifully for everybody. My sister had brought some pictures with her and explained that she was looking for flowers that were different, inspired, modern, and fun. What we have ended up with is everything we could have hoped for. I look forward to sharing some pictures with you once the wedding is over!

This past weekend I went bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister for her wedding, something that I quite honestly, had been dreading! We went to a fabulous place in Skipjack Pennsylvania - Page Six. They are located about 55 minutes North of Winterthur, Delaware. I had one of the best dress shop experiences that I have ever had. We made an appointment and they had a room set aside for us as well as an associate to help pull the dresses and help me try them on. They were ready for us even when we walked in about 10 minutes early. My sister had a few pictures and the associate went and pulled those dresses for us right away. After seeing the pictures she was then able to guide us with some other dresses in those same styles. We found a dress we both liked within 20 minutes. They will also ship the dress when it comes in if I do not have time to go there and pick it up (which if it is in May or June I am sure that will be the case!).

They were so helpful and accommodating. I would highly recommend others to go there and try them out!

This past weekend I was privileged enough to travel to Jamaica to witness one of my friends (and employees) get married on a pier in Jamaica, overlooking the crystal clear water. We flew in on Friday and Saturday I worked on my tan until it was time to head off to the wedding at 3pm. Glasses of wine were poured beforehand and the ceremony started on time and was only about 15 minutes long. After the ceremony we went inside to a private room and that is where I really started to notice the different vibe of an island wedding vs. one here. The couple sat down, champagne was poured and the toasts began. Since it was an intimate group everybody gave a toast. The coordinator had the couple cut the cake (yup - right after the toast) and then pieces were passed around. And that was it for the expected festivities. We ate a light hors d’oeuvres reception and the couple started with photos. Once the couple headed outside to look for picturesque sites for photos (um, hello, its Jamaica - everything is picturesque) we had cocktails by the pool and waited for them to finish. The couple had arranged a private dinner for all of us which was a great way to let the guests get to know each other better. If it were not for the dinner the entire wedding was over in 45 minutes - quick and beautiful.

One piece of advice for couples looking to do this - be conscious of the location of the hotel in regards to the location of the airport. When guests are flying in for 72 hours or less, every hour is coveted. The closer you are to the airport, the more you can relax and unwind with friends and family.