Turf Valley Bridal Extravaganza 2012

Last Friday Felicity C Weddings LLC participated in the Turf Valley Bridal Extravaganza 2012.  I was so excited because last year's show was my first bridal show ever as a vendor and it was such a hit!  I have to thank Reverend Laura Cannon of Divine Transformation for giving me the heads up about the Turf Valley Bridal Extravaganza.  There are so many shows during booking season that my business side was definitely hesitant to jump in without a vendor recommendation.  Last year I did meet a bunch of great couples and was fortunate enough to work with them on their 2011 weddings.  This year I decided to team up with preferred vendor, My Flower Box Events LLC, to share a table and it could not have turned out better!  They are a local florist specifically focused on weddings located in Canton Square in Baltimore and their staff is just amazing as their arrangements!  

I have worked weddings at the Turf Valley Resort a bunch of times now and their event staff is top notch.  Getting the opportunity to meet with brides & discuss wedding plans is what I love to do and pairing with a vendor I trust was essential.  Kathy from MFBE is so knowledgeable and brought a fabulous selection of beautiful arrangements.  There was a great range of vendors at the show and before it all got started I was able to walk around and check everything out.  I will definitely be setting up some vendor meetings soon and I can't wait to get started on some of these 2012 weddings!  I took a few photos of the table and our display with my own camera, enjoy!          

 

 

 

 

  

 

Guest Post: Divine Transformation

One of the best parts of my job is meeting and working with great vendors who truly love what they do.  Rev. Laura Cannon & I make a great team for our clients and I am so thrilled that she agreed to write a guest post to discuss the most important part of a wedding- the marriage that happens after the big celebration.  Her experience as an officiant and relationship coach has given her some great insights, so read on and enjoy!

I am so lucky to be one of those people who absolutely loves their job.  How could I not?  Being a wedding officiant means that I get to spend one of the most joyous days of a couples lives with them.  But it isn't just the wedding day that I love.  I love being truly invested in my couples happiness, even after the big day!

One thing that I always discuss with couples is the importance of the engagement period.  Many couples look at the engagement period as the time to "plan the wedding."  By the time people meet with me to plan their ceremony they are already mentally bombarded with decisions about flowers, cake flavors, chair covers, linens, music... the list goes on and on. (Photo credit: Procopio Photography, Ford wedding 9/25/10)

I started asking couples,  "How much time have you spent planning your wedding so far?"  The answer was usually something like "too many to count."  On average a full-scale event planner takes 250 hours to plan a wedding, and remember, they know what they are doing!  I would follow up this question with, "How many hours of you spent planning for your actual marriage?" You know, the life that will be waiting for you after the cake is eaten and the music has stopped.  The response:  Deer in headlights stare.

Many of us get so wrapped up in planning for this one (albeit very special) day, we neglect to realize that planning for our married life is equally important.  Not only am I a wedding officiant but I am also a relationship coach.  I coach couples in all stages of their relationship from pre-engagement to post marriage.  From my work with these couples it became clear that there were definite indicators that I could see even before they walked down the aisle that would indicate how successful their marriage would be.