Stop. Right. There.

I did it. No only did I graduate from the 2nd most rigorous university in the nation while working somewhere between part and full time, but I became a wedding planner all in the same day. I am so very fortunate to drop one thing, and immediately move on to the next, but now I am thinking it was a little too fast. Don't get me wrong, I am relieved that I no longer have to conceal my true identity and explain why I am always in a 'meeting' from 11:30 to 1:30 consistently on Mondays and Wednesdays. Apparently, I am living every girls dream. thanks to J Lo and Say yes to the Dress. I had no idea until recently, a young girl said to me 'You're a wedding planner? NO WAY! That's my dream, and you know that's every girls' dream, right? Wow, you're so cool!" I, of course, was fascinated by this response, I was flattered, and yet I was thinking, "Girl you just don't even know how not dream-like this career is."
Ever since watching the famous film The Wedding Planner, I have had this feeling in my gut that guided me towards that profession. That was me. And I thought this dream job was so very unattainable, just like most young girls, until last summer. What I am amazed at now is how funny it is that this 'dream' is mostly a rude awakening to a 5 day old 'real adult'. (Real adult is my term for those that have graduated and moved on to the 'real' world.) I have moved and changed my life all in a matter of 3 days. I went to work for the first day as a 'glamorous' wedding planner with a car loaded down much like the Clampits, and went full speed ahead returning emails  and making phone calls and executing my bosses never ending to do list, not even a chance to unpack let alone breathe and process I just left my family and my friends. Oh and did I mention that I have my first ever solo wedding next weekend along with the company's 7 in the next 8 days? Yeah its madness....I am mad. As I type this I know I am complaining (mainly from lack of sleep:)), but I have lived my life like this for my lifetime...I can't imagine it being any other way, even though I wish I knew how to take a breather (my goal for the summer is to master that.) But all the while these questions keep ringing in my head. Why don't they tell you in college what this transition is REALLY like? Why don't they tell you that it is the scariest feeling in the world to not know when you will make your next deposit into your bank account? Why don't they tell you it stinks to not have your best friend beside you brushing her teeth at night? Why don't they tell you that not seeing your mother on mother's day for the first time is just plain sad? Why don't they tell you how to shop for a bank, an eye doctor, and all the other bajillion errands I ran today? Friends, saying 'here comes the real world' like our parents and professors say does not do justice to the emotions I am feeling. I really was not expecting this, but what in life have I expected correctly? Exactly...NOTHING.
The title to my blog says it all. This journey I am on is truly for better, meaning I make it, or for worse, meaning I fail. The latter is a terrifying thing for me, seeing as I have rarely if ever failed at something--I realize now how bad this sounds...rather narcissistic...but its true. By the way, love does not count in the fail category because I fail at that all the time:) Yes I have had my challenges along the way, and thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I have overcome. Tonight, I am feeling almost defeated before I even begin the race. Faith is a beautiful thing, and right now that is what I am clinging to.
Let me tell you my favorite part...I come home everyday to 5 beautiful children (not my own:)) who love me unconditionally and do not care at all that I got rejected by 2 clients today. My friends, there is nothing better than this. I would not trade the hugs I receive or the screams of joy or the running of feet above me at 6am for a million dollars.
I know that this entry has been a lot of complaining, but I want this to be raw. I want you to be able to understand where I am coming from. My hope is that I will blog often, people will read (maybe even people I don't know:), and they will be inspired by my story to overcome the challenges of being a 'real' adult. I know this is only the beginning. I know that it will get better. All because I have faith, and 5 children that will play a round of hide and seek with me regardless of what happened to me earlier that day.

Check Out This Pop of Color....

I want you all to see this chic preppy bohemian wedding Lizz did back in May here. The deep purples and pinks were amazing! and wasn't the bride's dress gorgeous!

Then check out this wedding from Sara's A list here...This is the one I talked about a few weeks ago that was like something I had envisioned for myself...the flowers and the cake at this one are KILLER!

Exciting news on the job front...I designed the ad for Southern Protocol for the Charleston Weddings magazine, set to be printed this fall and next spring! It's pretty ballin' I must say, so buy a copy and see if you can find it! I will be happy to autograph it! Clients are in town tomorrow, and I get to attend my first tasting! Of course I am so excited to taste all of the wonderful food and the cake! I have been having so much fun with my friends that are in town this week! Lots of fun hangout and chill time and lots of good food! Yay for homemade peach ice cream and fresh fish!

The Weekend

Hello friends!!! I hope you all are doing well...I had a very busy, but wonderful week, and the dog, Bubba, I have mentioned previously returns to the story! 

As I told you all in the last post my dallas clients were coming into town to plan their wedding, and I have to say it was a success! I was pretty nervous going into Thursday because although I have attended a lot of meetings, I have not run one yet. Once I got going it was totally fine! In fact one of the vendors asked me, "I'm sorry, but are you Lizz?" which just goes to show how well she trains us. Melissa and Josh are the wonderful couple from Dallas, and we had fun getting to know each other and talk about wedding things for 48 hours. Josh is a good sport! We planned decor, basics with flowers, venue, date, invites, cake, photographers, and a few other things I just cant remember right now I am sure. I will continue to blog about this for the coming months since this will be my big break!

Lizz was at another friends wedding this weekend, so I was left with Bubba, and let me tell you this dog is crazy! And so anxious! He likes to chews things up and eat strange things. So I have made several realizations over the summer...1) do not have a house dog unless, he stays in a kennel at night and is only allowed on floors that are easy to clean waste off of...

and then 2) I would love to have a family someday. As many of you know, for about a year after the dude ranch, I did not want children at all becuase of how bad the kids at the dude ranch were, but after being able to play and spend time with a good, solid family, the thought of having a family one day is again enticing. By no means do I want this to happen any time soon, but one day in the far off future! Hide and Seek is still very popular, but it is starting to wear off, so if you have any game suggestions toss them my way! for instance tonight, we played a very low key game of pet shop, and I was the one purchasing pets, so I am a proud new owner of 5 adorable puppies:) Cole gave me a fabulous hair do...mom did you get that pic?...and the older boys were bringing down my dishes to me after 'bedtime' one night, and they saw I was eating a popsicle, and then proceeded to tell their mom I was breaking the rules...lol...kids are just hilarious! They make you want your innocence back, and the things they say and think of crack me up! Check out these photos, and see some of the fun times that can occur while procrastinating folding clothes (yes these kids know how to fold their own clothes--even the 2 year old!)...

The boys liked these photos because they felt like I couldnt see them because they were ghosts! 

Now the wedding this past weekend was AMAZING! I was concerned on Wednesday what it would be like as I made some quick welcome cards, found out it might be raining, and then found out we had to glue her programs in a special way (which took forever, but that's what we do...the not fun stuff sometime). We had the best weather, besides one other wedding, we have had all summer! It was 85 degrees and chilly in charleston in july!!! Crazy! No rain this weekend, but I traded rain for falling up stairs, and moving 130 ceremony chairs(which were set up in a very cool 'V' pattern btw) from the front lawn to the tent. I showed off my 'big guns' by moving 4 chivari charis at a time, but it unfortunately did not gain any male's attention...lol...and I will add 4 chairs was more than any other girl carried:) So for the details of the wedding...it was at Lowndes Grove, and the layout was different than ususal but I must say, I really loved it! The dancefloor did not have a tent over it (typically it does), but we hung a chandelier in the tree over the dancing area, and it was gorgeous! The draping for the tent was very romantic and whimsical (and we outsourced hanging drape so set up was relatively easy), and the linens were ivory. This wedding had a very muted color palate, ivories, greys and deep lavenders, but I enjoyed  it because it wasn't like any thing I had seen this summer; most weddings have been bold saturated colors. Another logistical difference was that we had food stations, but the bride had assigned seating for everyone, so it was combining the best of stations and seated dinner (for stations we often only suggest 50% seating). The band for this past weekend, Playazzzz (or something like that) were awesome! They started out with some classic Al Green, and some "Do you remember" and beach music, but by the end of the night we were breaking it down to "teach me how to duggie" and two step...ahhh my kind of party:) It was a fun crowd to watch! Props to Sara for always going with something different in her wedding planning! She gets really unique ideas sometimes and runs with it!

I came to the dramatice realization that I only have about 3 weeks left in charleston for the summer before I return to Furman, and guys, that hit me hard! By no means am I ready for this to end! It will be so hard to GET myself back to school but once I am there and see ALL MY FABULOUS FRIENDS, I will be fine. I have gotten and will get to see 2 great friends, Lauren and Ellie, over at Wild Dunes this week! We just had an awesome Bachelorette party with Lucy! Lauren's Parents cooked us an awesome seafood pasta with homemade peach ice cream for dessert! 

got some photographer's blogs coming sooooooon!!!

The Rain that Poured....and Poured

Hi friends, and fam! I think I have told some of you, but the wedding this past weekend was a down pour like no other! Now before you start to feel bad for us, it was awesome this happened for 2 reasons 1) It is good luck to have rain on your wedding day and 2) it was an awesome learning experience for the interns. this wedding, although simple in design, required a 2 day setup becaure there was a lot of draping involved wiht fabric and drum lights! Friday we arrived at Lowndes Grove, perhaps one of my favorite venues, and unfortutanely the rental company put up the wrong size tent. All we could do was wait for the next tent to be put up...about 2 hours! The draping was simple to put up, but yet looked amazing (you can kind of see the amazingness below, but my photos do not compare to the photographers..can't wait to show you that link!) Now the drum lighting, the big lamp shade looking thing with the vine, those take more work because of the wires and making sure everything is plugged in correctly. This took a long time to hang and make look good! Now the bride LOOOOOVVVVEESSS blue, so all of her decor and her AWESOME cake are a Tiffany Blue, but Lizz, the magic maker, convinced her to have bluch pink uplighting in the tent on the draping and it was the perfect touch for this all blue bride! Another different aspect to this wedding was the bridesmaids' dresses were printed! So fun and different! It was a blue floral print. Printed bridesmaids dresses were popular in the late 60s early 70s, and are starting to come around again...I personally like the trend! 

Now I haven't told you the best part of this day...we knew rain was in the forcast, but we just weren't sure how much rain because in Charleston it seems like there is a 30% chance of rain everyday! We have a brisk, brief storm early in the afternoon, but the sun quickly came out and dried it all out. And then we began to question if it was going to rain again....I really did not think it was going to...boy was I wrong! Lizz and I left for the ceremony, which was beautiful, and I am so glad I got to see the wedding planner in action at a church ceremony vs. an on-site ceremony. Sometimes, it can be difficult to work with the churches because they have their own way to do things, and we have our own way to do things. Lizz and I stepped out of the church from the ceremony, and it was BLACK. The wind was whipping like it does when a storm is coming, and rain drops began to fall, and then the more we drove back to the site, the rain was falling in sheets. Lizz and I did not have umbrellas, and naturally the only parking spot was far away, so we got drenched running back, and then immediately we began to squeegee water out of the tent. it was ankle high water in some places, the band had set up, and the guests were arriving!!!!!! Luckily the rental company, because Southern Protocol is soooo nice to them, got us walls to put up on the tent within 30 minutes, but still there was so much water, you would squeegee it out only for it to come right back in! Another helpful thing was the great effort put on together by the wait staff and the Southern Protocol team; it literally could not have been done alone! Fortunately the decor and tables, chair cushions, etc did not get wet, so we were quickly able to prepare the tent for guests to enter. Once this mishap was over, the rest of the night was very smooth! 

Tomorrow is an exciting day for several reasons...my Dallas clients are coming into town, so today I am working very hard to help get them some vendor meetings. I am nervous, but I think it will go so well!

Also, tomorrow night is the Harry Potter premeire...the Finale!! Some girls from work and I are going, and it should be tons of fun! I also get another few days with my beloved canine friend, Bubba. Yes, Lizz is going into Birmingham for a friend's wedding, which means mary susan takes care of bubba. Hopefully this time will be less eventful than last time:)  

Bit of exciting news for Southern Protocol, Lizz and Sara have been asked to write the new "Up a Knotch" column for Southern Living in the December/January Issue!!!! This new column is about entertaining, so Lizz and Sara will talk about holiday entertaining. Be on the look out for that! Southern Living is pretty close to the Bible to ladies here in Charleston. 

Hope you are all well! Stay Cool!

Loooong Time

As the title of this post suggests....it's been a looong time since I have posted! A lot has happened since then too!

Where I left of last time we were going into a packed wedding weekend for the holiday. Lizz had a wedding on Saturday and Sunday, and Sara had a wedding on Saturday. I am dying for the photographers to get all of the links together from the weekend because all of the weddings were stunning. Lizz's on Saturday was jam packed with details (wish I could have seen it in person:)) but I hear the photos were amazing! Sara's wedding on Saturday was the one that I helped with, and we began set up on Friday. This set up was more difficult and time consuming than others because it was a design we had never done before. Instead of using the top of a tent, we rented just the frame and we then strung lights and hung drape in the openings...it was gorgeous at night!!!! Friday night we were all biting our nails because a terrible storm looked like it was going to roll through Charleston, which would have ripped all of the drape we put up. Luckily just a few pieces of drape were out of place, which was easily fixable!

The wedding I worked with Sara on Saturday was just a cute, fun, relaxing wedding, which as a wedding planner is our goal for the night. This couple was by far the nicest I have encountered so far. They were genuinely happy to be there, and were sooooo appreciative of everything we did for them. They even tipped Taylor and I at the end of the night, my first tip in the business! Check out all the photos I took from the wedding here, and then check out what the photographer did here....you have to see the tent picture...it makes me want a tent like this hands down! One interestin idea that this couple did was a wishing tree, where friends and family could write down well wishes to the couple. In lieu of favors the couple opted to donate funds to a local research foundation for a disease their nephew has...great idea! and thier cake was a key lime cake....yuuuummmm!!!! The other layer was red velvet and I have to say its hard to find good red velvet wedding cake...Mom if that's what I want, you're making it!

Now for that Sunday that was the most hands on wedding I have participated in. This was simply because this was Lizz's best friend's wedding so a lot of people just pitched in to help. It was very simple but defitiely super cute and relaxing. Lizz and I made a hydrangea wreath for the ceremony area in the Courtyard of william aiken, center pieces for the tables upstairs, decorations for the tent, hung lanterns, , made pew markers, and then the ladies at Stems helped us out with some other center pieces and a LARGE one for the coral room..see in photos below. The other cute thing about this wedding, was the bride's mom made her cupcakes, and she opted to have a candy bar with favor toothbrushes because the bride was marrying a dentist! How cute!!!  

Lizz's wedding from that weekend too was especially amazing; she was so excited about it, which after doing this for 9 years should say something. I will be sure to post the photographer's link when we get it! 

Last week was an enjoyable week! I was at home for the holiday, and it was the first time in a long time that I could be at home and only worry about what was going on at home, which made it exceptionally enjoyable! I was not quite ready to come back to charleston, believe it or not, but I have learned recently it is always better to leave wanting more:) The kids missed me dearly, and it has been quite the battle for my attention this week. We played hide and go seek, and it amazes me how that never gets old! I am still trying to come up with some good spots! 

This week there will be lots of posts...so get ready!