Blogging Brides!

MasterPiece Weddings, Blogging Brides, is so excited to have Michelle back! Michelle and I have been chatting back and forth about her wedding, and she was telling me about her Water Ceremony - I was really interested, I love new takes on different traditions. So without further ado, let's welcome Michelle back to Blogging Brides!I think a unity candle is a beautiful symbol. I used to think that this must be a tradition from way back when bridesmaids dressed like the bride to confuse evil spirits. At my tirade at a church not allowing candles and denying the age old tradition, my mother (my fulmination audience of 1) looked very confused and...

Read More

Riddle Winner!

Answer (Gosh, I wish I could do this upside down!):The only items we recently used at a wedding! Explaination:Our BBQ Lighter wouldn't work so I had to borrow a candle from the offering at the church, and the sunglasses - goodness knows why I have 2 pair of sunglasses, but I do, we needed them so the Bride and Bridesmaids could take a super swank picture of themselves outside near the lake with an 8' Alligator (okay near the Gator)!!!!Winner: No one, but you guys had some great, funny and sarcastic answers... it was fun! I still have this great prize to give away, anyone had any idea's for another conte...

Read More

Riddle...

Just a few more hours, any guesses??What do these items have in common? Answer here to w...

Read More

Huge Thank You!

I have a few people I must thank, and it's long overdue!! I can’t be in two places at the same time. It’s impossible. Trust me, I’ve tried!But I prayed, and prayed – and I was sent Kristin. She has become invaluable to me, and I trust her implicitly! She has worked so hard for us, pulling 15 hour days, and 40 hour weekends – we had a rough couple of weekends. And I want her to know how much I truly appreciate her hard work, and her friendship! I don’t know that I would have made it through the past few weekends without her. I absolutely feel as if I can be in two places at the same time with her by my side.I also wanted to thank Amanda at Blissful...

Read More

Riddle...

What do two pair of Sunglasses and a Taper Candle have in Common?{Leave the answer in the comments to see who wins what!} I'll let you know who wins on Monday!And the guess is totally worth it...

Read More

Shoe Fete' ish!

I heart these shoes! I wish these shoe's would just show up in my closet mysteriously. Like the shoe fairy would just drop them underneath my pillow. I must find a client to live vicariously through me... new missi...

Read More

With This Ring....

In case you missed it, one of my favorite Blogging Bride's got married this past weekend, and while she's away, I got to play.Check our our super fabulous Guest Post, at With This Ring...

Read More

Blogging Brides!

Name: MichelleLocation: Currently in Pensacola, Florida, but this winter I'll be headed west to Los Angeles!Blog: Starry-Eyed Barefoot Bride Wedding Date: April 4, 2009What do you do in real life? My background is in astrophysics, but I currently work at the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). I know, its a mouthful. I work on a project called Sensory Substitution for Wounded Servicemembers (SSWS). It sounds complicated, but its a simple concept with amazing moments. I have literally had my spelling corrected by a Marine with 2 glass eyes... and no, it wasn't braille, he was reading what wrote.Favorite Part about Planning your Wedding?...

Read More

Check it Out!

Our Emergency Bag Series continues on Be A Planner - be sure to check it o...

Read More

Starting Tomorrow!!!!

Starting tomorrow, look for our exclusive series aptly named, Blogging Brides! Every Tuesday, here at your Friendly MasterPiece Weddings, Adventures in Wedding Planning Blog!We'll be introducing you to brides that blog, and their trials, tribulations and success stories! It’s going to be tons of fun!!! Let's make new friends, and offer our advice, helpful hints, or maybe just get a chuckle out of something silly.Starting tomorr...

Read More

My Clients Rock!!

At the wedding we did this weekend, our client's first dance was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!It's my favorite first dance EVER! Seriously!What do you think?Renee and Jim had a beautiful, amazing day! This video was done by the DJ, so it's not the best quality, but you get the idea - pretty fun stuff, h...

Read More

Friday Fun!

This is totally not wedding related, I mean 100% not! But it's Friday (so goof off!), and when I saw this on Blissful Bride, I knew I had to try!So you go to this website and upload a picture of yourself, and then pick a year, and off you go! You can have a picture of you, from any year starting in the 1950's through the 90's... Here is me in 1958!And in 1968...Personally, I think this is better than my 1980's actual yearbook pictures! Have Fun, and Happy Friday!...

Read More

Monogram me!

I've always wanted a personal monogram, ALWAYS! And frankly, I know so many people I could have paid to design one for me, but, well, honestly, I am too cheap to have done it. See, it's not a necessity. So, I waited. And waited. And waited.And then something miraculous happened.I won not one, but two personalized monograms!!! From none other than my friends at The Event Essentials! I explained what I wanted, BAM she nailed it!!Here's the beautiful work she did for me!Now I can create custom note cards, and envelopes, and return address labels, and put it on paper, and memo pads, and Christmas Cards, and....... maybe now I need one for the business......

Read More

So Pretty!

Renee and Jim got married on Saturday, and it was amazing! The wedding was incredibly personal amazingly amazing and beautiful and fun!There are going to be so many amazing photographs and video's (yes video's!!!) I can't wait to show you!!!Check out these beautious images from Bryants Photography (a nice little tease...

Read More

Such a Deal!

You never know where you'll find the best deal. Regardless of what it is. Sometimes in the most unlikely of places.For our bridal shows this year, we had an idea. We wanted to create a pill bottle called "MasterPiece Stress Relief" with a fun and funky label and fill them with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans.Our final product was too stinkin' cute, huh! But our problem was that all of the brides thought they were too, and we ran out at the first Bridal Show. We went through our entire stock! So I had to rush to re-purchase all of the items we needed, the bottles, more lables, more pills.So on my rush to find the pills that I could get and fast, this...

Read More

Happy Blogoversary and a Month!

It's our One Year and One Month Blogoversary!!! Happy Blogoversary to us!Can you believe it's been over a year! I still feel so humbled by the warm welcome our little polka dotted blog got into the blog world and I feel like we can finally fit into our Big Blog Pants!I really would like to thank the bloggers that be-friended us in the very, very, very begining and guided us on this fun and amazing journey: Earth Friendly Weddings, Blush Events, Lucky Me, and a HUGE thank you to Our Weddings Plus and Hostess with the Mostess!I feel blessed to call you all my friends! And so quickly, so many more friends were made, thank you all!!!(Birthday...

Read More

Thanks!!

We had such a great time meeting bride's yesterday at Gainesville's Wedding Expo! Thanks for stopping by! And for reading the blog!Bride's came up to us and say they already know so much about us, because they've read the blog, how fun is that! We know how overwhelming the bridal shows can be, if you need some help going through the bazillions of brochures you collected, let us know. We are more than happy to help!We are giving away another planning package this week, so be on the look o...

Read More

Best Bridal Advice!

Over at Elizabeth Ann Designs, Sara has some great advice today! Here's a snipit (I'm going to post a wee bit of what she did, check out EAD for the whole kit-and-kitboodle):Start with the Big Picture, Not the DetailsDistinguish Between Wants and NeedsDon’t Let Your Wedding Overshadow Your RelationshipBuild Relationships with VendorsDon’t Forget the CeremonyJust BreatheAnd my favorite bit of advice:"When you become too irrational, read the newspaper and remind yourself that the world has much bigger problems."Thanks Sara for posting some fantasical advi...

Read More

Biggest Wedding Expo, EVER!

The 40th Annual Wedding Expo is Sunday (September 14th)! That's right 40th Annual! The Wedding Expo this year is the biggest it's E.V.E.R been!So make sure you tell your friends and families and anybody you know getting married to make sure they come see us and all of our friends, we'll point you in the right direction!And we'll be there, with some of the most fantastic vendors in the industry! Come and see us at The Performing Arts Center of Gainesville! Doors open at No...

Read More

MasterPiece Stress Relief

We had so much fun at this past bridal show and can't wait to do it all over again this Sunday! Come and see at at The Performing Arts Center of Gainesville from Noon-5! (more on that tomorrow)Here's what you'll be looking for: {Bossy Associate (Kristin), Myself, and Amanda} {Our new invention, MasterPiece Stress Relief!}See you Sund...

Read More

What Happened to my...

Recently, I was talking with my new twin, Monica. We could have talked for hours, actually we did. We could have talked for days, seriously, days!She is amazing! If you don't read her blog, you should, and if you do, you are doing a good thing! Her wit and hilarity is, most of the time, exactly what I want to say, but just don't. But I am getting away from my point.She mentioned a situation that happened recently at a wedding, and I just thought it was unfathomable. And the way she handled it was with grace and elegance. With a sense of professionalism that we would all be proud of!And, recently, I received a phone call – my band canceled our...

Read More

Blogging Brides!

If you are a Bride that has a blog, and you read this blog, can you email me? I have a project I'm working on and I'd like your help! It's not hard and won't cause you to need to study...Email me: melissa {at} masterpieceweddings {dot} netImage Sou...

Read More

Circle Date Stamp

Dear Blog Readers,I hope you are doing well, today, I had my own experience at the Post Office, and I'd like to share it with you. As I often tell my brides to have their wedding invitations Hand Canceled by the post office – and having my own experience having things hand canceled, I know it can be an ordeal. But I think that every once in a while you must experience things for yourself to get the full familiarity.Now, I know what Hand Canceling is, I really do. Instead of being put through a machine, it’s hand stamped, as to avoid damaging what is inside an overtly large or strangely shaped shipping object. However, we suggest Hand Canceling...

Read More

First Bridal Show....

We had our first Bridal Show of the Season yesterday, and boy are we pooped! I can't wait to share with you the pictures of our new and snazzy bridal show booth space!Kristin, Amanda and I worked our tails off! But we had a blast! If you stopped by to say Hi ~ Thank You! We'll be drawing the name of the winner of the Full Coordination package this week! So check back everyday to see if you won the $2500 prize package!Thanks Aga...

Read More

Bridal Show!

The first Bridal Show of our season is Sunday (September 7th)! So be sure to come on by and check out our new Fancy Schmacy Booth! We'd love to see you! We'll be right next to our friends at Unique Designs! There are some fantastic prizes this year including:A wedding day package up to $15,000Honeymoon package- 4 days, 3 nights cruise to the Bahamas$500 Giftcard to Bed Bath & Beyond$150 Shopping Spree at Dillards$150 Gift Registry at Belk$150 Gift Registry at MacysThe fashion show will be featuring bridal gowns, bridesmaids, and mother of the bride dresses from Solutions Bridal.And to top it all off, there will be a Reception on pre-function...

Read More

Do me a Favor!

Giving to your favorite charity isn't a new trend. But giving to your favorite charity in lieu of doing favors for your guests is fairly new.Thanks to Michelle for kick starting the idea! I’d like to offer any bride now through February wanting to donate to Let’s Eat Cake! as an alternative to providing favors for your guests will receive free favor cards for each of your guests, from MasterPiece Weddings, free of charge.A few bride's I've talked to about this agree, that guests probably don't keep or cherish what you have them as much as you'd like them to. So why not help others instead!And as an alternative to Christmas presents,...

Read More

Series Finale!

We'll call this our Series Finale, and make it a Two-Parter. Starting with:Taking the Plunge- LiterallyThrill Seekers can choose to jump out of a plane together. Elope in Colorado promises an uplifting experience for our clients later this year. After landing, the couple will make a grand enterance for the on-ground ceremony {that's where I'll be!} with parachutes in tow.Speaking of plunging, have you seen Celebrate!'s recent wedding?Your As Cold as IceSo does getting married in the Ice Hotel, make you Hot, or Cold? My husband wants to go to the Ice Hotel, so badly! {One Day, Sweetie!!} This to me is so fantastically unique! Get married in an...

Read More

Wacky Wedding - Today!

It was reported today that a couple tied the knot a funeral home... The groom said that he felt it didn't make difference, a church or a funeral home, in reality how many times has there been a funeral at his church? How do you feel about a wedding a funeral parl...

Read More

Just Her, Him and Lots of Big Red Rocks!

Hop a helicopter in Sedona, AZ and land for a private ceremony in a secluded spot like the top of a mesa or the canyon at Red Rocks. After a champagne toast, the officiant and photographer depart in the helicopter and leave the bride and groom to enjoy a picnic for two. The chopper returns after the meal to take the couple for a whril around Sedona. Super Fantastical idea! If you want more information check out their website.There is just one more installment to come on Wacky Wedding We...

Read More

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day to our American Readers! Our offices are closed today and will reopen tomorrow with regular hours.This is our un-official end of summ...

Read More