Jean M Invitations

My beautiful pink box arrived during the holidays! We are now a Jean M Wedding Accessories and Invitations Dealer. I first saw their line of products at the ABC convention when I took their seminar. I was very impressed by the quality of the invitations and creativity of the associates giving the seminar. You have your choice of paper, ribbon, design, cuts and monograms, envelopes, ink and colors. It's like they took the DIY idea and combined it with the customized idea. I have been playing with my kit nonstop! There are at least 20 different paper colors, 32 ink colors and 3o ribbon colors. I can't imagine not being able to create some awesome wedding looks with this. Check out their site at http://www.myjeanm.com/. But you have to see and feel them to appreciate them!!

New Friends! Wine By Design in Winter Springs

I just arrived back home from our Brides Against Breast Cancer kick-off meeting. In keeping with the party atmosphere I have going on in my life (attended The Knot Vendor appreciation party last night and cub scouts party with my son the night before) I decided to have the meeting at a boutique winery called Wine by Design. What fun!!

I met the owners Mitchell and Sharon about 2 or 3 months ago and had been looking for a reason to get to their shop. Before our meeting we had a wine tasting. I opted for the white wines and sampled two Pinot Grigios called Poets Muse and Radiant Rainbows End. A Reisling named Sweet Liquid Waltz. The Chardonnay aptly named Peachy Spike Concerto and a blush Zinfandel named Raspberry Rhapsody. Mind you all the wine probably added up to one good glass. Then we had our meeting and took a tour of their facility.

What a great idea for weddings especially when the bride and groom are wine enthusiasts. You can taste, ferment, bottle, cork and label your own special vintage for your wedding reception. I think I am going to arrange a night of fun for me and my sister-in-laws after the holidays. Just as a special "wine" down evening. Check them out on their website www.winemasterpiece or stop by the winery at 855 W SR434 in Winter Springs. Tell them LaVoria sent you!

Brides Against Breast Cancer

It's that time of year again! Not the holiday season (although I do love this time of year). It is time to start planning our annual Brides Against Breast Cancer charity wedding gown sale. All proceeds from the gown sale will help grant the final wishes of terminally ill breast cancer patients via Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation.

We already have the venue and the dates. We are having the sale at Fairwinds Alumni Center on the University of Central Florida campus. The dates are March 14-15, 2008. This will be my third year participating in the sale. Last year we raised $30,000 and welcomed approximately 150 brides through our doors. We poured Pink Champagne, listened to harpist Kathleen Attanasi, and had a great time helping the brides in finding the gown of their dreams. This year we hope to do more of the same and throw in some new ways to make the sale special for all the brides and their families.

For more information regarding volunteering, donating your gown or attending as a bride send me an e-mail at MomentsInfo@aol.com.

3 Cord Strand Ceremony

Today I had a meeting with Michelle to discuss her vision for her vow renewal ceremony. As we talked she mentioned that she and her husband were not going to do a unity candle because they were already married. Instead they will perform a 3 Cord Strand Ceremony. I hadn't heard of it so Michelle told me about it.

It is taken from Ecclesiastes 4:12 "A cord of three strands is not easily broken". During the ceremony they will braid three cords together to symbolize the roles of the husband, wife and Jesus Christ in their marriage. After they finish braiding the cord, their daughter will tie it off. Check out this web site for additional information www.godsknot.com/cord_of_three_strands.cfm .

I love this kind of personalization. I can't wait to see it performed during the ceremony.

ABC Convention

I can't believe I am joining the bloggers. I hope using this blog will give you all a chance to get to know me and allow you to get a feel for what we do here at Moments and Memories by LaVoria.

This past week I attended the Association of Bridal Consultants Business of Brides conference here in Orlando. It was incredible!! Imagine approximately 400 bridal professionals from United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Argentina and even Japan all in one place to learn about current wedding trends and ways to help out our couples.

The speakers we had were awesome: Mary Dann and Susan Southerland (love to see these ladies on "Whose Wedding is it Anyway'). The keynote speaker was the incredible David Tutera. I have to admit I had not paid much attention to his television show "Get Married" and had only seen the "Party Planner" a few times. Now I am a die hard Tutera fan. He was so accommodating, he answered questions, took pictures and signed autographs without an ounce of negativity or attitude. Usually speakers like David come do their thing and are gone. He immersed himself right into our conference. During his seminar a planner asked " Why don't you talk about your celebrity events that often?" his answer "Because the non-celebrity events are usually more exciting and I believe ALL clients should be treated like celebrities." YEA DAVID!

We also took a trip out to Disney World to visit the Wedding Pavilion and experience one of the Disney's Couture Wedding Collection by David Tutera. The decor was fabulous, the food delicious and the service....well what can you saw it was Disney all the way outstanding.

Now let's see if I can get a few pictures up here!