AQUATICA

We had a great day today at Sea World Aquatica - although a bit chilly in the morning when we got wet and the wind was blowing but it was a beautiful, sunny day and the kids had a blast! That is definitely my new favorite park!

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

It was baby day today as I was lucky enough to make one stop at Winnie Palmer Hospital to see Tina with her new son, Jake, and a former client, Ashlee with her new daughter, Taylor and my sister-n-law Regina with her new daughter, Isabella!

Seriously, what are the odds? They all came via c-section (only one planned that way) and Jake entered the world first on St. Patty's Day at 6:16 am and then Taylor followed at 9:30 pm and Isabella was born today (the 18th) at 3:10 pm!

PAR-TAY!

This past weekend we had a wedding at Knowles Chapel with the reception at The Orlando Museum of Art and I have to say this was definitely a crowd of partiers!

The locations alone are amazing but having Cuisiniers cater the event and Dan from White Rose mixing up the music - it was a night to remember!

Kimberly looked amazing in both dresses - and Anthony wasn't looking half bad himself! :)

Thanks to Rhett Pyle for getting me these images so quickly (artisticphotography.com).

NIGHT UNDER THE STARS

I recently hosted an open house party with Brian Adams (bapg.net) and Rainer Flor (simplycinematic.com) to help showcase a new downtown location - Star Tower.

It's located on Osceola Avenue, around the corner from The Sanctuary and Fifi's, Graze and The Beacon provide all the food and drinks for the rooftop venue! It's so chic and amazing.

Anyway, it was a fun night and perfect weather for the event.

HOW SWEET IT IS .....

This past Saturday I had the privledge of working with Jacquie and Cory in their wedding at Portofino Bay Hotel. They planned this wedding in about 2 1/2 months and it was such a sweet day!

I have to say that Cory is about as good as it gets! He was so involved with planning and the love he has for Jacquie and her three wonderful children showed so much throughout the planning process and especially on the wedding day!

He took the time to read vows to the children and present them with gifts and as I stood back and listened, I couldn't help but get chocked up! It was truly one of the most touching ceremonies I've ever seen!

My good friend, Jen Fortin was on hand to capture the day and here are a few photos but you can go on her site at fortinphotography.com and click on her blog to see a slideshow!

Special thanks to Tommy at Greenery Productions for the amazing flowers and always being so fun to be around (even if you think I'm a dork for wearing a name tag)! To All Star Ice for the ever so popular martini luge! And of course Holly and Ashley for always being so helpful and such a joy to work with! :)

WINTER WONDERLAND

This was a wedding I did a couple months ago at the Country Club of Orlando but Rinat Halon (halonwp.com) just sent me some photos for my website and I had to take a minute to blog and brag on my good friend, Tommy Murphy of Greenery Productions!

I absolutely loved how he created exactly what Stacy and Eddie were looking for! The cake was amazing (Shanna Rae Sweets) and you can never go wrong with BBJ Linen!

WEDDING UNVEILED MAGAZINE

I heard from Anne Almasy today (almasyphoto.com) and she notified me that Jessica and Brett's wedding (12-29-07 at The Duncan House) is going to be featured in a new publication called Weddings Unveiled Magazine (weddingsunveiledmagazine.com) for their Spring Issue!

Super exciting!

CENTRAL FLORIDA BRIDE PARTY

The new Lake Mary Events Center played host for the Central Florida Bride party tonight and it was a blast! A bunch of us danced for most of the night and Lisa Konecny of E-Events had me out on the dance floor learning Soldier Boy (thanks Bryan Taylor of Complete Music & Video for being patient with me!) It's so nice to get out and have some fun with everyone!

KNOWLES CHAPEL

I love the campus of Rollins College and Knowles Chapel is just gorgeous! We did a wedding out there a couple weeks ago for Ginny and Mark and it was beautiful! The reception was at The Orlando Museum of Art (another favorite)!

I worked with Ashley McCormick (ashleymccormick.com) for the first time and here are a few shots from the day!

Indian Beauty

I had my first Indian wedding last month at the Hilton at Walt Disney World and it was absolutely stunning! Jeannie and Arun were amazing to work with and the day was fantastic! Tim Co (whatistimco.com) was nice enough to send me a few shots from the day and there is also a trailer you can watch from First Sight Pictures! (http://www.firstsightpictures.com/new/trailers/sm2trailer/smtrailer.html)

GO KNIGHTS!!!!

Sophia was visiting with Aunt Kelly the other day and she got her cousin Karlie's old UCF outfit and she loves it!

I swear she is so darn cute! Could you not just eat her up! :) Okay, so she is my daughter but come on!

She is starting to sing the fight song and loves Knightro as long as he stays away from her!

E-Session

Liz and Michael (4-12-08, Casa Feliz) were here in Flordia visiting family for the holidays and had a chance to spend some time with photographer Nathan Root for their e-session out on Park Avenue.

I love the style of Nathan and think these photos are so cute!

E-Session

Jacquie and Cory spent some time with photographer Jennifer Fortin for their engagement session recently and this is a favorite of Fortin's.

The couple are counting down to their big day on February 9th out at Portofino Bay Hotel!

I just finished a wedding out at The Duncan House for Jessica and Brett.

Jessica was so great on all the details - she had this design made and used it on the programs (pictured) and menu cards and seating cards and favor boxes and even had stirrers and napkins with the jb on it!

Congrats Jessica and Brett!

Merry Christmas!!

Here is wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas - we hope that Santa was good to you!

The Marinis

KNOT PARTY

My favorite magazine, The Knot, had their vendor appreciation party last night at this cool place in Winter Park called Hannibal's Lounge and it was a blast! The best part was being able to hang out with Tina and some friends in the industry and enjoy an evening full of laughs!

There was a photo booth set up in the back of the lounge and my good friend Tommy of Greenery Productions pulled me in the booth for photos! :)

I LOVE WHAT I DO and LOVE THE VENDORS I WORK WITH! :)

At the end of the night, names were drawn for prizes and I WON!!! I screamed so loud and ran to claim my prize - a 2-night, 3-day trip to Boca Raton resort! With two small kids and no time alone, this was the best Christmas gift I could have gotten!

IT'S A SAD DAY

Today we had to say good-bye to Miss Christy and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done!

She started watching my kids 2 years ago and soon after starting helping me on wedding days as well. She quickly became a part of our family and she was like a daughter to John and I.

My kids absolutely loved her and the best part was Christy loved them about as much as we do! We'd love having her around and will miss her so much!

We will see her again, it just won't be the same having her around the corner!

We wish her all the best as she returns home to her family in Naples (after graduating at UCF) and her boyfriend (who graduates from FIT this weekend as well)! Pretty soon we'll be planning her wedding!

We love you Miss Christy! :)

SANTA VISIT

Two weeks left unil the big day and the kids and I headed with Christy (our favorite sitter) to the Oviedo Mall this afternoon.

David had a list for Santa and it had all the John Deere toys listed that he wants (I keep trying to tell him he is not getting them all!)

Sophia was a little shy at first but got brave quickly when she saw big brother on his lap. She did tell Santa she wants a bike!

It was a fun day for all - now it's nap time for everyone, including mommy!

It is one thing in this crazy industry of weddings to know and work with good quality people - it is another thing to truly enjoy being around them and work with them!

I have just finished my fourth year of business and for the past two years I have advertised with The Knot and could not be happier. Such great brides and just a wonderful publication BUT working with Rhonda Haberkamp has been fabulous! She truly cares about her clients advertising with The Knot and is always striving to help them. She is also the best at keeping me company at networking functions and assisting me in trying all the desserts!

About 4 months ago I started working with Tommy Murphy, Director of Marketing and Sales at Greenery Productions and I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Happy that I have met him and just LOVE working with him and hanging out with him or sad that it took me so darn long to meet him and work with him. (I always tell my brides - Orlando is great because you have so many vendors to choose from, but it sucks too because you have so many vendors to choose from! - It's hard to work with them all and to get to know them all).

Anyway, as I finish out 2007 and look back on this wonderful year that Eventfully Yours has had and how much the business is growing, I am most thrilled with the relationships that I have formed in the industry. I truly enjoy what I do and know that I am doing what God has called me to do - but to be around people who feel the same way and who make me smile when I see them (or hear their voice or read their e-mail) is icing on the cake!

Thanks Rhonda and Tommy for some great memories and I look forward to many, many more!

WINTER WONDERLAND

Stacy and Eddie tied the knot on November 24th and saw their visions become reality as Tommy with Greenery Productions wowed them (and their guests)!

They wanted the winter wonderland look with blue, white and silver and it all looked amazing that night with blue lighting in the centerpieces with gorgeous calla lillies and hydrangeas.

Rinat Halon captured the night and I will soon have photos of this incredible wedding on my website (recent weddings).

Stacy and Eddie are off to Las Vegas and hopefully winning lots of cash!