Friday Inspiration

Happy Friday! Today we are sending some inspiration your way with our intern Melissa's very first inspiration board! We just love the blues and browns with the natural details. What do you think?

(chocolates)(brides and bridesmaids)(napkins)(table bamboo decorations)(invitations)(tree centerpiece)(shoes)(boutonniere)

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Ahoy There! A Pirate Post.

A few Bridal Shows ago, we had the opportunity to run in to some fun pirates. Yes, PIRATES! We were so enjoying their company and they told us all about The Black Raven Pirate Ship adventures in St. Augustine, Florida.

The Black Raven Pirate Ship is a high entertainment and educational cruise for young children and adults. Depending on what kind of program you are looking to book, the Black Raven offers it all. Everything from weddings, kid birthday parties, to 21 and up parties full of skits, gambling, and music.

If you are getting married in the area, how fun would a rehearsal dinner of after party be for your wedding day? It's so different and your guests would always remember how fun it was!

{source}

Sounds super fun, right? The MasterPiece Weddings team wants to plan a fun trip towards the end of the year. Whose in for a night of pirate fun!?

*All images from The Black Raven website

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Gainesville Wedding Expo

Don't forget that we will be heading to the Gainesville Wedding Expo this Sunday to chat with brides-to-be about how awesome we are!

You are not going to want to miss the opportunity to mingle with Gainesville's exclusive wedding vendors and see the fabulous dresses from Jay's Bridal. You can pre-purchase your tickets here. See you Sunday!

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MasterPiece Weddings Certification Course!

It's that time of year again! MasterPiece Weddings is holding a certification course October 3rd and 4th and we want you there! If you are interested in becoming a wedding planner, you don't want to miss it!

This class is a two day course, basically it is a very intense, but enjoyable, two days filled with everything you need to know about planning an event. It is like having a degree in event planning with a major in wedding planning. We feel that you could walk out of the class with enough knowledge to plan and direct a wedding on your own, or for a company without a second thought – and if you are already in the industry, it will give you the credentials as well as the some tricks to the trade, and how to work with a difficult client, and meet and exceed the needs of your current clients.

It is a fun weekend, filled with tons of information that will be super valuable to you whether or not you decide to pursue a career in this industry. We talk about how to handle those simple but unique details to suit most extravagant request, the proper way to cut a wedding cake, dressing a bride, working with vendors, how to acquire contacts, receive referrals, how to work with a client, how to acclimate to new location, how to start a business, and A LOT MORE! This course has been approved through the Department of Education in Florida, and we are very excited to bring it back to Gainesville.

For more details, please visit our sister website:

Be A Planner

or e-mail Melissa at:

melissa{at}masterpieceweddings{dot}com

And don't forget to check out our most recent class recap here!

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Kate White Photography Special

We recently met with Kate & Ryan from Kate White Photography. We are so excited to announce that they will be offering special packages for all MasterPiece Weddings clients! Check out their photos, how fun are they?

To see all of their special MasterPiece Weddings Packages click here. Don't forget to check out their website as well as their blog!

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Social Media Soiree Recap!

Remember our Social Media Workshop we were promoting last week? Well if you weren't there, you totally missed out! The workshop was a huge success and we are so thankful Leah from Celebrations let us use Cafe C's awesome venue!

Our topics included blogger tips and how to set up a company blog, learning how to tweet, and learning how to utilize facebook for your business. Overwhelming? Yes, but totally fun and worth it!

Just look at everyone hard at work!

Debbie of Ms. Debbie's Sugar Art

Jarad & Lauren of G-Nys Entertainment

Amy of A'vie Weddings & Events, Kristin from Footstone Photography, and our very own Melissa of MasterPiece Weddings

And we even took some time to mingle and discuss what we've learned...

Dawn from Party Time Rentals, Ana Soler from Golden Ocala and Stewart Powers from Powers Photography:

Jeremiah and Jena from AP Limo:

Betsy from The Plant Shoppe and Becky from Eric Redmond Music
Kristin from Footstone Photography and Intern Erinn from MasterPiece Weddings

We have already seen so many people take advantage of what they've learned...check out what they have been working on!

KB Kake Kreations

@KBKakes

@KBKakesErica

Redmond Music

@Redmond Music

G-Nys Entertainment

@GNYSEntertnmnt

G-Nys Entertainment on Facebook

Powers Photography

@PowersPhoto

Footstone Photography

@KristinPrivette

@PaulPrivette

Platinum Digital Video

@GainesvilleWed

Celebrations Catering

@CateringCrumbs

AP Limo

@APLimo

The Plant Shoppe

The Plant Shoppe on Facebook

The Gator Cater

@GatorCater

Gabriel Tyner

Keep an eye out for these vendors on facebook, blogger, and twitter! They are taking social media by storm!

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Gainesville Wedding Expo

We have another bridal show coming up! Jay's Bridal is hosting The Gainesville Bridal Show and you don't want to miss it! Tons of premiere vendors will have booths set up with goodies, prizes, and super fun displays!

The Gainesville Wedding Expo will take place at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts from 12 PM to 5 PM. You can pre-purchase your tickets here.

Don't forget to stay and see the NEWEST 2010 wedding fashions in a fashion show by Jay’s Bridal. The Fashion Show will open it's doors at 1:30 PM and start at 2 PM. You won't want to miss this incredible show!

So go purchase your tickets and come see us! We are so excited and can't wait to meet you!

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Friday Inspiration

We have these super fun clients that we just couldn't resist making an inspiration board for! Jen & Tony are so outgoing and are planning an outrageously fun wedding. Food stations, dessert bars, and plans to dance the night away are just a few of our favorite details.

Their colors are black, white, and a light blue. We think the colors fit them perfectly as a couple.

{dessert shots} {lamp} {bridesmaid} {venue} {groom} {invitations} {flowers}

What do you think?

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Thursday Inspiration

We are so excited to be coordinating a Cambodian wedding in the Spring. Erinn in our office put together this board for our client and we think it is super fun! The colors, although bright, just pull together so nicely!

Table Setting Tent Invitations Bouquet Drinks Cake Placecards Green Flowers

What do you think?

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Bridal Show Mania!

We had such a great time at the Bridal Show on Sunday! We met some fabulous engaged brides and grooms, and we also got the chance to chat with brides that we are currently working with!



But first there is set up and getting ready... and Leah snapped this one of me flat ironing my hair in my compact... the gloriousness that is being a wedding vendor!

The vendors all had bets on if my shoes would stay on all day... they did! AHEM!

Our booth looked so fun with the lanterns hanging from the ceiling (thank you Intern Melissa!) and Erinn, Intern Melissa and I had so much fun chatting with everyone!

(Erinn on left, Intern Melissa on Right)

{I had to get a better picture of the laterns... LOVE THEM}

{Decor....galore}

{MasterPiece Stress Relief, served up Martini Style!}

{and of course, every bride had to receive 101 Reasons why we are Awesometastic!}

And our neighbors ROCKED! We had Celebrations Catering on one side, and The Plant Shoppe on the other, we all used green to accent our booths (totally planned!) And it was a blast!

{Celebrations and Cafe C/Villa East)

{Plant Shoppe}

Then, I had the fabulous opportunity to give away a $2500 Planning Package to one lucky couple! So I got on stage (with my cute shoes on) and Maria and Josh are our newest clients! They won! Yayyy!

{Proof the cute shoes stayed on alllllll day!}

{Meet Maria, our newest client!}

We'll see you on the 27th at The Performing Arts Center for The Real Gainesville Bridal EXPO!



Images taken by: Me, Leah from Celebrations, Betsy from the Plant Shoppe and TJM Studios (he took the good ones!)

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True Blood Week!!

So, one of my favorite shows' finale is this week and myself and a bunch of wedding planner friends thought it would be fun to create inspriation boards, bouquets, and basically just fun stuff to celebrate this.



True Blood...



True Blood takes place in the heart of the south, so this is my Southern Style Vampire Wedding, my inspiration was firstly that it would have to be a Southern Wedding and since it's a Vampire Wedding, Bloody Martini's would need to be served, in a Garden (can't be in a church, right!) and black would certainly be part of it, and that it would have to be at night, and the rest sort of feel into place.



What do you think?



If you love it, you can find more this whole week, at Bella Designs, Sparkliatti, A Regal Affair and It's a Jaime Thing!



Thanks Jaime for organizing this, and there is more True Blood Season Finale fun to come!



Sources

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Social Media Monday!

Tomorrow at Cafe C (in Gainesville, FL) we are hosting a Social Media Workshop.

Basically, what the heck is Social Media? What does it mean to you? How can you grow your business by properly utlizing Social Media (ie: Twitter, Blogging and Facebook, and much, much more!)

Also discussed will be:

• The importance of utilizing your blog (or a blog in general)

• How to communicate with your audience

• Getting the most out of your SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

• Generating Traffic to your blog

• How to use FB for your business to gain business (and in turn income)

• How to turn fans into clients

• Utilizing Twitter for your market

• And Much, Much more!



Space is still limited and there are some seats available, you must RSVP! So email melissa {at} masterpieceweddings {dot} net - to make sure your space is reserved!

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Florida Bridal Expo

This Sunday we are heading to the Floridal Bridal Expo hosted by Solutions Bridal Designer House. We are so excited and can't wait to meet all of the brides-to-be! The Florida Bridal Expo will be at the University of Florida Hilton and doors open at 12 PM! Don't miss this opportunity to check out Central Florida's premiere wedding vendors and get the chance to see some of the most beautiful dresses out there!

And if it couldn't get any better, we will be giving away a complete wedding day coordination package to one lucky bride! The MasterPiece Weddings team will be set up right next to Celebrations Catering. We better see you there!

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And the Winner Is....

We are so excited to announce the winners for the Carolee LUX Jewelry GiveAway!! And the winners are....



Congratulations Jennifer and Tiffany! Please e-mail me, Melissa{at}MasterPieceWeddings{dot}.net to claim your prize! We look forward to hearing how much you love this beautiful jewelry!

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Sushi Party!!

We had such a great time this past weekend making our own Sushi! We had a list of our favorite ingredients, and went to town! I am not going to say it wasn't a fair amount of work, especially for something I've never done before, but it was darn healthy and delicious.

The best part, we could customize our rolls (and eventually bowls)...but that part of the story comes later.

Our friends Liz and Aaron came over and we started with a ton of ingredients!

And I was on Chopping, Dicing, and preparing duty:

Then figuring out how to roll (since we've never done this before) - have I mentioned this before?

Getting your hands ready with what the internet said to use, Mayo (frankly we thought water worked better in the end) - Have I mentioned we've never done this before:

And then the rolling begins (Aaron was a pro!):

Ta Da! The final product, didn't Aaron do a great job on the rolling!!

In the end we had a fabulous time, and it was a super healthy meal, you could use whatever you wanted for filling, Grilled Shrimp, Chicken, Tofu, really whatever you wanted. And it was cheaper than buying it out...but it was time consuming.



Speaking of time consuming, we decided after rolling 4 sushi rolls, we made bowls... and they were delcicious too!

After we were done, I thought it would be fun to do this for an Engagment Party or some kind of dinner party, but maybe with a Professional Sushi Roller..



{My husband took most of the pictures... either him or me...}

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