Jewish Wedding at Hilton Netherland Plaza Hall of Mirrors

Jessi and Mike are one of the sweetest couples we've ever worked with! This was a Jewish wedding, so you will see the key elements of a Jewish wedding: The ketubah (the marriage contract); the chuppah (where the wedding ceremony takes place); bessing over the chala (hamotzi); and the hora (dancing on the chair). Instead of a cake, this bride and groom decided to have a "first bite" of their chocolate station instead, compliments of Chocolate Passion. It took place in September, 2008, at the Hall of Mirrors at the Hilton Netherland Plaza.

To view the couple's coffee table album, compliments of Ron Shuller's Creative Images, click here.

Martini Louge

Ketubah, the legal marriage document of the Jewish faith

The Chuppah, the place where a Jewish wedding ceremony takes place under. At the end of the ceremony they will break a glass wrapped in a napkin. Mazeltof!

Reception setup in the same room. We flipped the room in 45 minutes while guests had cocktails someplace else.

Chocolate Station. The couple opted to do this instead of a wedding cake.

Jessi also had her wedding bouquet preserved by Freeze Frame. We are an easy ship partner for Freeze Frame, so all you have to do is give it to me at the end of the night and we get it to Freeze Frame for you by Monday afternoon. It's important to get your bouquet to the preserver as soon as possible, the longer you wait the less real your preservation will look. It just arrived last week and here is what it now looks like.

Huge thanks to Ron Shuller's Creative Images for the photos and Debbie and her staff at the Hilton Netherland for organizing a great event ! Other vendors this evening included RMAX; Ford Ellington; Arctic Diamond; and Airwaves for their services that day.

Wedding Day Stories that you'd never expect...

Today, Matt Pine from Lifetime Video hosted the Association of Bridal Consultants monthly meeting at his home office studio. Thirty seven members enjoyed lunch catering from Paella at Your Place, wine, and drinks. I love my job!!

Afterwards, Kevin Ford from Ford Ellington came over to see our new Blue Ash office on Millington Court in the Design Center. While we were there, we started talking about "disasters" that have happened on wedding days that no one could have planned for. He insisted that I blog about them, so here goes!

One time, a matron of honor was arrested the night before the wedding because she hit her husband in the parking lot of a restaurant after a rehearsal dinner. We spent the next day not only implementing the wedding, but trying to get her out of jail so she could stand up at the wedding that evening! Ironically, we succeeded in getting her out in time, but she was a little shaken by the whole ordeal and decided to sit out the role. The most important advice I gave her that day (which she followed) was to tell no one but the people that were in the room that morning, because the more people that knew, the less the focus would be on her.

Another time, I had to call an ambulance for the best man because, after throwing up in the limo on the way to the reception and giving a best man toast, he passed out in my car with ice cold hands while I was taking him back to the hotel to rest. Needless to say, we called 9-1-1 and he was taken by ambulance to the ER. He recovered from food poisioning and a virus during the next 10 hours in the ER. The guests never knew what happened and the best man asked me to let him tell the bride and groom after their wedding night. The bride and groom found out (to my knowledge) the next day.

We've also had situations where unwanted guests have shown up at weddings that have had to be escorted off the premisis (ex spouses, black sheeps of a family, etc) discreetly by our staff. Kevin said that these examples alone are the reason why people need to hire a wedding planner to deal with this type of drama that can happen on the wedding.

Someday, I'll write a book! lol.

Hawaiian Wedding, Ault Park

These photos are from Michelle and Dennis's wedding at Ault Park. They were the neatest couple to work with! The couple owns a recycling company in Cincinnati. Their dream was to take all of their friends and family to Hawaii, but logistically that wasn't going to be possible. So, we brought Hawaii to Cincinnati for them!

In creating the look for this wedding, we didn't want to fall into the trap of all the traditional Hawaiian / Lou-ou (is that how its spelled?) decor like grass skirts, lays, which are readily available but can come off looking cheap and tacky at a wedding. Using coconut cups, lighting, bamboo chairs and the colors of pink, orange, green and brown, two dozen tiki torches and tropical flowers, we created an elegant event that impressed Michelle, Dennis and her guests! Instead of a guest book, we had a plasterboard where guests could etch their names into the (permanant) sand or put their fingerprints in. Guests placed their gift cards upright in a container of sand instead of a box or a birdcage. Each guest was presented with a personalized coconut cup, and most guests filled those up with margaritas or wine from Vinkolet Winery, which is owned by their friends! Enjoy the photos (compliments of Images by Daniel Michael). A huge thanks to Ford Ellington, Village Pantry, DJ Toad, Brideface, Goodwin Lighting and Maribelle's for their services that day.

Happy Planning!! :-)