An Engagement Story: Conor and Taylor

I mentioned yesterday on social media outlets that we absolutely adore getting new clients. I love the idea that so many couples have chosen myself and Team ACE to plan, coordinate and design their weddings. It tugs at my heart strings every time. I love working with these clients throughout one of the most exciting times of their lives, and I love sharing them with you.

It's funny...each time I share one of these engagement stories, I contact the client to find out a bit more about their story. What makes them tick. How they fell in love. You know, the mushy stuff. But I don't usually share word for word as that's not my style. However, this time when I emailed the client, our groom wrote back. And I love what he had to say about how they met:
    
     We met through a series of common acquaintances. I was at a party at a fellow rugby player's house one Saturday afternoon. Yes, a party in the afternoon. Taylor was hanging out with her friend two doors down. Being the well-lubricated, social butterfly that I am, I decided our man-party needed a feminine presence... and not the usual type that hung out with the rugby team. Maybe I should capitalize feminine. I invited them to come over, but they declined due to it being "movie day."
This is probably as good a time as any to describe my wardrobe selection that day. I woke up that morning and decided that it was a good "sweater vest and jeans" sort of day. Later, I realized that was a bad idea as it got hotter. Not wanting to miss a minute of the action, I quickly grabbed a pair of scissors and fashioned myself a brand new pair of jean shorts (jorts). Back to the story.

     In my opinion, there is no movie, or series of movies that could come anywhere near as much fun as hanging out with the rugby team. Not to mention it was a beautiful day and our parties rarely ever took place exclusively Inside. My determination getting the better of me, I walked with Taylor and her friend to the house and managed to talk them into coming over. Though I could tell immediately Taylor was impressed by my style and fashion sense. I was of course drawn to Taylor because she's... Taylor. Have you met her? She's so alluring. And I was smitten. 

     The party itself was uneventful. In the weeks after we exchanged texts and Facebook messages. It wasn't until we hung out at the pool a few weeks later that we really started seeing each other. From then on, we were inseparable.

(I knew I was going to love them from the start, both are CNU alumni and she's a former CNU cheerleader...just like me! It was meant to be)

First, Conor shared a few images of the moment he proposed to Taylor:

How I asked her to marry me:
     As much as I wanted to bring back the sweater vest and jorts for this occasion, I resisted. Instead I planned an extravagant public display of love and bad singing. We met in Port Warwick and frequented Port Warwick Square while I was living in the area. Taylor's dad has a work out studio (cue shameless plug for Brian Cole & Associates) in the square. The brick gazebo in the middle of the square seemed like the perfect place to stage a surprise engagement.

     Just like the "how we met" story, I need to cut away for some background. Taylor had been nannying for a family with 3 kids, or nuggets as she calls them. She was, and still is, very much in love with them! Back to the big plan.

     The scheme was to have the family come visit from Williamsburg so Larry (the dad) could work out with Taylor's dad. Larry would then call Taylor and ask her to watch the kids while he was busy... and would you look at that, that big grassy area near the brick gazebo is the perfect place to take the kids! I would be standing on the steps of the gazebo, guitar in hand ready to sing either "Then" by Brad Paisley or "God gave me you" by Blake Shelton. Side note: those were the ONLY two songs playing on my iPod for weeks so I could learn every single syllable. Wow. What a great idea! It all changed the second I got the ring.
     
     All it took was having the ring in my hand to know that there was NO way I was waiting for this plan to come together. Plus, I was still a terrible guitar player. I was standing in our kitchen with the ring in my hand when our little dachshund Riley came prancing along (we got Riley together as a Christmas present to each other). I picked Riley up, attached the ring to her collar, and joined Taylor on the back porch. Ah, but not before setting up my iPhone on the counter to record the whole thing through the glass door.

     I sat down across from Taylor and put Riley on my lap. I was very much ok with letting this drag out a little because even though I was sure Taylor would say yes, it was still a HUGE deal! I pet Riley for a minute before she crawled over to Taylor's lap. I did my best not to crack a smile at her unknowingly petting the ring wielding wiener dog. I took a few screen shots of the event and made it my Facebook cover photo. I'll attached it to this email so you can get an idea of what went on. The only thing you can't tell from the photos is that she forgot to say yes!







(Thanks Heather Hughes Photography for these great engagement photos. 
Aren't they a GORGEOUS couple?). 





Cool Product Alert: The Wedding Party App!

Hey Brides and Grooms! While searching aimlessly on Pinterest, I came across a new fun new app! So of course, we wanted to share it with you right away! The Wedding Party App is currently perfect for IPhone users (and android users in the very near future!). This App is so easy "even your flower girl can use it" (it's true, their site even says so!). Print out the sites great "place card directions" so your guests know what to do, upload your images and share away!


The registration is simple,you may sign up using your e-mail or through Facebook. You design your own cover photo, notify your guests and let the uploads begin!

An Engagement Session: Sirena and Derek

Today's post is a little more sentimental than usual! We would love to introduce you to Sirena and Derek! An awesome couple that are getting married on the Eastern Shore next May! Sirena is a long time friend of Antonia's...they were pals in Student Government in High School, fellow Christopher Newport University Classmates and even life long sisters in Alpha Phi! We are so honored that Sirena and Derek have chosen Team ACE to walk beside them again in another one of life's journeys...the walk to the altar.

Please Meet Sirena and Derek: (thanks Katie Nesbitt, photographer extraordinaire)











Cool Product Alert; Wedit

We Love Fun Products and look what we came across yesterday: Wedit! We thought this was a great option for those clients that don't have a large cinematography budget yet still yearn to have a very cool video from the perspective of their guests.

So Here is the LowDown:
You receive 5 HD camera's that you can with as you please for 3 days. You can place them anywhere you want, or give them to your guests to capture all the action of your fabulous day! Then...you send the cameras back to Wedit and they either upload all of your raw footage or for a small additional fee they can create a wedding video with your guest shot video. So Cool right? And you get it for a few days so you can really capture the moments leading up to your big day...

Here's a great sample below: 


Wedit Trailer Bahamas from Brett deMarrais on Vimeo.

Real Wedding: Shawn and Page

AHHH! I could scream with all of the fun and excitement these clients brought to the table, literally...brought to the table. Meet Shawn and Page: A hilariously funny, extremely unique, out of the box, adorably in love couple! Their intimate affair was held at Bay Creek Resort in Cape Charles, Virginia. (one of our favorites!) Page is a creative soul, creating unique jewelry out of her Pennsylvania Shop, and Shawn is an IT guru...They were surrounded by the most inventive group of individuals I had ever met.

Their wedding was full of great details...and a lot of joy. We especially loved their pinata centerpieces (a request from the groom), Pages' "Mini" wedding gown (a little number that made our groom tell me he "loved his "guns 'n roses" girl moments before walking down the aisle) and their wedding bands (that of course our bride made). Here are a few images from Jen and Ashley Photography. This wedding was PERFECT for this fab photography duo to shoot...a bundle of FUN!

Did I mention that the couples creative friends made Pages gown for her? 
 

If I had legs like this, I'd wear a mini too! 


Who needs cake when you have homemade pies and cobblers?


Adored these paper flowers. Such a gorgeous pop of color walking down the aisle! 

Page looked stunning in her mothers wedding veil.

Remember when I said Page made their rings...Here they are....and they are swoonworthy. The touch of white enamel on her dainty band was so unique and stunning. 

Photography: Jen and Ashley



Scratch Weddings

Throughout this month we have shared with you a variety of vendors from around the nation that inspire us for numerous different reasons, and of course, what inspires them! Today we thought we'd end the month with one more awesome vendor, Rob Principe and Scratch Weddings.

First we'd like for you to meet Rob:
Rob Principe is one of the world’s leading experts on the DJ and music industry and the founder and chief executive officer of Scratch Music Group, a venture-backed, high-growth music and technology company that is the nation’s leader in DJ booking, technology and music education. An internationally-recognized brand, Scratch Music Group is comprised of three business units: Scratch Events, which provides DJ talent  for some of the most influential brands in the world; Scratch DJ Academy, the world's leading DJ learning center, which Principe co-founded with the late Jam Master Jay of Run DMC; and Scratch Weddings, the nation’s leading provider of highly skilled, experienced and affordable marquee DJs for weddings.


We asked Rob a few questions about the inspiration of Scratch Weddings, their brand and outlook on the event world...Here is what he had had to say!

1. What was your inspiration in the creation of Scratch Weddings?
Given the success of our events business, clients began approaching us for their own personal events and weddings.  We felt honored that they would entrust one of the biggest nights of their lives to our DJ services and saw an opportunity to provide a level of quality, skill and professionalism that was unprecedented and do so nationwide.  Based on the needs of our existing customers we were inspired to launch Scratch Weddings and provide all couples with their choice of highly experienced and affordable marquee wedding DJs through the most stress-free and hassle-free process.

2. Where is an unexpected place, that you have found new inspiration for furthering the vision of Scratch Weddings?
Music is very personal and it’s important to find entertainment that fits your style and taste; we recognize how critical that is when planning such a momentous event!  Our goal is to personalize and deliver an experience that will make your event unique. We are able to achieve this by providing the most skilled DJs in the space who can build a soundtrack around even the most out-of-the-box requests. And what inspires us to continue to do this? Comments like these from happy clients:

“Scratch should be everyone's first choice for their wedding DJ. That's all there is to it. The service is impeccable, their DJ's are incredibly talented, and their crews are like ninjas with the equipment set-up and strike. All of this makes for a 100% worry-free day with guaranteed success on the dance floor.”

3. What is one piece of advice you would give to a bride looking for inspiration, in beginning with her search for an amazing event flow and music selection?
Since every couple comes in with a different vision for what they want out of their night, we have a list of questions to help guide them through the decision-making process. And we encourage our couples to explore what’s possible by providing examples and options.   The choice of wedding DJ should fit this vision and to help them achieve that, here at Scratch, we hand pick several wedding DJs from our team based on a couples interests and provide them with bios that include videos, mixes and photos to make the perfect match.  Once a choice is made, the couple has the opportunity to meet with the DJ for a live demo. In addition, they can have DJs simultaneously perform along with musicians; couples can even learn to DJ a short set at our Scratch DJ Academy and wow their guests with a performance of their own, and have a mosh pit on the dance floor if that is their desire.  It is their night, and we want to help make it the most memorable.

 

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