Day Of Coordination: Shadrack + Ludy

To say that this wedding ran perfectly is an understatement. I think the statement "You could see God's hands all in it" is more appropriate. It was just funny, the way things happen. Things that could have gone bad worked out perfectly. Like my car not starting (more on that later). Or the chuppah being knocked down. Or the threat of rain....it was perfect.

Since the Day-Of Coordinator comes in about a month before the wedding, there can sometime be some anxiety on the part of the day-of because you may be working with vendors who, quite frankly, don't know what they're doing. This wasn't the case with Shadrack and Ludy's wedding. All her vendors were fantastic. To begin with, I had the fabulous Shelley Cameron of Better Half Weddings and Events, Inc. on my side to help me out. Check out her website to pick up one of her wedding planning CD's to give you all the tools you'll need to stay organized on your wedding day!

Ludy went with Beca Companioni as her photographer. Now it's a well known fact that I am VERY particular about photographers and when I found out who her photographer was, I immediately jumped on her site to check her stuff out. I was REALLY impressed. She's professional and provides some really great images!

Ludy and Shadrack opted to do a first look to give them more time for pictures and to have time to enjoy the cocktail hour. Of course, I had to take a couple of sneak shots...

The ceremony and the reception was held at Plantation Preserve. Shannon, the venue coordinator was fantastic and such a sweet woman to work with! The space for the wedding opens up to water overlooking the greens and it's quite beautiful!

Field of Flowers in Davie provided the flowers. Major cool points go to them. About halfway through the set up, the chuppah they were setting up fell down because of the 15+ mile an hour winds. Sandbags needed to be brought in. 20 minutes and a couple of red lights run later, they arrive in enough time to weight down the chuppah and all hands were on deck!

Timing went so smoothly! It was important to Ludy and Shadrack to start on time, no matter who was there! The unexpected windy conditions through us behind only about 10 minutes, which in wedding time is fantastic.  The skies also threatened to open up on us throughout the ceremony. This next part is important; now with me being a Haitian wedding noob, I assumed the wedding would take the usual 30-45 minutes. I was quickly corrected by Ludy. Apparently Haitian weddings can take up to 2 hours! Bring your bibles everyone and get ready for a full on service. However I was quickly assured that this wouldn't be the case at HER wedding. 35 minutes was the pastor's limit! And he stuck to it with enough time to get everyone inside for the cocktail hour!

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch! DJ services were provided by Soul Movement Crew. It was important to Ludy and Shadrack that the Lord be glorified through everything and they definitely provided an evening that was right in line with their expectations! 

To Ludy and Shadrack: You guys were truly amazing to work with. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of one of the most important parts of your lives. May God truly BLESS your marriage. Enjoy the Dominican Republic and all those little umbrella drinks!

 

Creative Shoot: Carnival Playtime

Hannah- "I'm coming home for Thanksgiving and I want to do a shoot where two different things come together." Me- Ok sure......all the while not knowing at all what that meant. Then we finally sat down and got to the root of it. Bringing two seemingly different things together. While we both had great ideas with no budget and no connections to make it really spectacular, we settled on this. Bringing together two adults, and putting them in a child-like situation. And it was awkward. And it was fun. And Kyle kept making funny faces while we made him stand with his face to the sun, play with a toy truck, and act like a giant kid. But Shelley and Kyle were such great sports. And they take great pictures. I mean, have you seen their wedding pictures? Please...

And these pictures? Well they're a lot different than my usual style. Or should I say edited much differently than my usual style. But it was fun to play around with different editing techniques, trying to get the pictures to say the story I wanted them to say. Or rather, what the fabulous Hannah Roberts and I wanted them to say. Enjoy!

Engagement:: David + Amber

When she first met him, she thought he was cute. When he first met her, he thought she was nice. Even as Amber crushed on him full force, he was clueless. Even through thumb wrestling, tickle fights, and hand holding, David was still completely blind to the obvious vibes that Amber was throwing his way. You see, I've known Amber since I was 14; and if there is one thing that Amber is not, it's subtle. She's a full force, says it how it is, quirky kind of person. And David? Well David's.....not. David is laid back, relaxed, and confident in who he is. But throughout their relationship first as friends and then as something more, one thing that David valued most in Amber was that he could be himself. There was no show to put on, no wall to hide behind. It was easy with her.
FInally, when they got together to talk things over, Amber went through months of feelings and reasons why she liked him and David just listened; taking things in and realizing that this woman sitting next to him knew who he really was. He couldn't hide anymore, and the best thing was that he didn't have to hide anymore. It was clear to him. But not as clear to Amber as she found out they were dating through a Facebook relationship change and lots of texts and calls from friends.
So this February they're going to walk down the aisle and say promises to each other which mean eternity. I've been honored to know Amber for almost 10 years and I am so happy to be able to share this experience with her and David. I promised Amber years ago that she deserved someone amazing and that God was preparing him for her. And He did, and David is. Congratulations you guys, I had such a blast taking pictures with you both and I am so happy to be sharing this time with you. :)

 

 

 

It's exhausting

Doing anything the right way can be exhausting. Purely. Exhausting. Budgeting, eating right, being a christian. All of it. Probably because it requires all you. Requires you to sacrifice yourself to gain something more, which is not something that the flesh wants to do.

Let's look at budgeting......let's be honest here, it sucks. Straight up. Being honest with yourself and your terrible habits and then cutting those habits in half? Takes sacrifice. Being careful with EVERY cent and knowing where all your money is going? Ridiculous, yet necessary and beneficial. I've only been at this for 2 weeks and I'm already tired.

Eating right? I don't think I have to look at that very closely. This is denying your flesh and the "need" for unhealthy foods and replacing it with things you wouldn't choose directly.

Being a christian. If anyone ever told you that being a christian is easy, they are lying to your face. Because it's not. What does it require of you? Everything. It requires you to sacrifice everything and run in the opposite direction of what the world tells you to be like. Cutting loose the sins that bog you down and keep you from righteousness hurts. In some cases, it leaves a scar. For me, it requires me to get up very early to spend some time with Jesus. And no one wants to do that. It also requires me to be a leader, an example, and a mentor, which as the title of this blog suggests, is exhausting. But I can't complain because when I look at the scars on the hands of Jesus, the fight with my flesh looks silly. My "sacrifices" are fleshly, my Jesus' meant eternal redemption through His blood.

So I can get through this. Being an adult, doing things the right way, walking in His faithfulness. Though exhausting at times...worth it. Totally. Worth. It.

The Dilemma...

The Dilemma: I have goals and ambitions to start my own wedding planning business. It's going to be great because I know I'm going to be great at it. But you see, to do that, you need experience in order to get hired. And I wouldn't say planning 2 receptions and 1 wedding is enough for that.
There are two ways to get experience, and the first if preferred. The first would be to work/intern for someone who plans wedding and glean as much as you can from them. This would be ideal because this is the kind of environment I thrive in and learn the most from. Hands on. Shove a book in front of my face and it doesn't stick. Same problem I had in college.
The second way would be to get a wedding planning certificate from an accredited school. Again, not my first choice because while you can read and be taught so much from a classroom, there are so many things you pick up on during on the job training that you could never learn in a classroom, even from the best teacher.

So herein lies the problem: I don't have anyone with which I could work/intern for in order to learn everything I would like to. I can't afford a volunteer position because while I do still live at home to save money, I do in fact need to...save money. No job, no saving money, no work....and you get the picture. The choice of getting certified could be my other option but hey, these things cost money. $560 at Broward College (and I always promised myself I would never go back) or I could pay $1,300 elsewhere...

FANTASTIC....

So I'm a little stuck. How do you get a job with no experience since no one will hire you because you don't have experience but you can't get experience without said job?

**ORGANS FOR SALE!! MAYBE A KIDNEY?? I HAVE 2!!.......**

Sandi, Samantha, & Dave

Have you considered what it means to listen to people? Not hear them. Listen and comprehend. Do you realize the impact that can have. And no, not just to the person talking, but to the person who is doing the listening. In this case, me.

Tonight I listened to the stories of Sandi, Samantha, and Dave tonight. And I can honestly say it was one of the best evenings I've had in a while. Rather than being concerned with myself, which is what is generally on my mind, I put my ego aside and listened to someone who just wanted to talk.

I learned that Sandi is struggling with finding a church which doesn't look to her past as a homosexual as a weakness in who she is.
I learned that Samantha has read every Jane Austen book and is completely confident in saying that Emma is the best book she wrote.
And I learned that Dave comes to Barnes and Noble every Saturday night to read a chapter of the bible because it's the only chance he has away from his Atheist wife who won't allow bibles in the house. He's in Romans, I believe.

I got to pray with Sandi, talk Bennet with Samantha, and encourage Dave. My pumpkin spice latte got cold, but that's what I get for paying $4.25 for a hyped-up cup of coffee.  I walked away humbled. And with a better understanding of people, knowing that everyone has a story to tell if you'll just listen...

September 9th-15th

 I realize that these are a bit late. I'm a terrible blogger.....really I am. I seem to lack some inspiration. Anyway, here are the photos for the last 6 days. What I'm realizing as this month goes on is that a.) I live a terribly boring life and b.) it's a lot harder to take pictures of new things than I thought.

September 9th: Braids

September 10th: I grew something on my face...

September 11th: Friendly brunch. That right there is bacon and ketchup wrapped in a flour tortilla. A Pasquale specialty...

 September 12th: Clearly he understands what days off are supposed to look like

September 13th: A sunset glow

September 14th: If I could hashtag this picture, it would be #tanlines

 

September 15th: The very BEST part of a loaf of bread...