Rocky Mountain Wedding

TV News Reporter and my friend from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Valerie Castro, got married to her lovely fiance, Chris Mosher, in a stunning Rocky Mountain wedding this past September.   The marriage took place at the Chapel at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, and a reception followed at the Terrace Gardens Ken Caryl.  



As always, the Colorado weather held up beautifully and the sun was beaming against the famous Red Rocks.  Every well known musician in the world wants to perform at the Red Rocks Amphitheater and to get married there is a real treat.  Their wedding photographer, Lindsay Pierce, captured the day wonderfully and managed to get the bride and groom to roam through the fields for some contemporary photography.



The bride looked gorgeous in her Pronovias and carried a bouquet of lilac, hydrangeas, roses and orchids.  



Details:  Instead of a Champagne toast, they toasted with a liquor called Aguardiente which is the national drink of Colombia.  The bride's mother's side of the family is Colombian so it was a special touch that made the family and friends feel close to one another.  The Aguardiente is what led to the idea of tailor made shot glasses as wedding favors!  And of course, they also made sure the DJ played lots of Latin music.  The DJ did such an incredible job that the bride and groom extended the music license three times on the evening!

A Winter Wedding in London II

As a follow up to our previous post on Kayleigh and Dan's upcoming wedding, we'd like to take this time to thank all of the vendors who have offered their services for this special wedding.  Kayleigh and Dan will have their ceremony at St. Thomas' Catholic Church Wandsworth, followed by a reception at Selsdon Park and Golf Club on Saturday 19th of February 2011.



Some of the below vendors are no longer involved in this wedding due to a change in date and venue, but we'd like to thank them for offering their time and services/products for such a special couple:



Athena Network

Renata- All About Pearls

Eltham Palace

Sarah Jagger

Euphoric Flowers

Blue Strawberry

Payne and Gunter

Acclaim Food

Vsj Marquee Hire

Drake Algar Flowers

Young Guns UK

Giles Penfound

Unique Thinking and the Windjammer Landing in St. Lucia

Beautiful Bosom

Pearl Pictures

Move Three Sixty

Gift of Bio Energy

Parfum Parfait

Kerry McNair Photography

Cherry Crimp

Palecek-Principles

The Hire Emporium 

National Coach Hire

Nicole's make-up and hair

John Vassallo

Frank Noon

A Winter Wedding in London

Bride-to-be Kayleigh Brannan is one of the friendliest, personable, funniest and caring people I have ever met.  She's only 21 years old and has cancer from a brain tumour.  Kayleigh is thought to have two to six months left to live but with her positive attitude and ability to love everyone around her, there is hope.

In October 2010 there was an article in the South London Newspaper and The Evening Standard about Kayleigh's condition and how she wanted to get married to Dan as soon as possible.  Since the articles, many wedding vendors have come together to offer their services or products on a complimentary basis.

Kayleigh and fiance, Dan, have set their wedding date for 29th January 2011 as the 30th of Jan holds great significance for them as a couple.  They will have their reception on the 29th then be whisked away in the wee hours of the morning on the 30th and spend the entire day together as Mr and Mrs.  

There will be a fund-raising for them this Saturday the 27th of November in South London.  If you'd like to attend, or donate any services, please contact Erika at weddings@flutterflyevents.com or on 020 536 9160 / 0787 217 1660.  

Wedding Planning Begins

I ask Kayleigh to describe her perfect venue.  She gives me words such as, "greenery, beautiful, princess, castle, water".   I knew right then that Eltham Palace would be the perfect suitor in this fairlytale wedding. 

17 November 2010

Myself, Kayleigh and Dan's parents meet at Eltham Palace.  Kayleigh says, "Erika, you read my mind. I can't believe it. This is perfect!"  Sarah from the Events team showed us around then we had a two hour meeting to discuss the suppliers that have come forward to offer their services.  We haven't signed a contract with Eltham as of today because we need to work out the honeymoon to see if this fits with the overall budget.     **All suppliers will be mentioned in an upcoming blog post.  

Wedding Party

8 bridesmaids, 6 groomsman, 4 flowers girls and one pageboy.  

Design Ideas

- Rose Pink and Ivory colour scheme

- Bride loves Peonies, Gerberas, stocks and delphiniums

- Kayleigh would love to add height to each banqueting table.  She wants the vase stem filled with swarovski crystals and the bowl filled with impact flowers such as stocks and delphiniums but also some round feminine flowers like a rose.   

Music

- A Rat Pack band will play during the canapes reception, followed by a DJ for after dinner dancing

Catering

- We're currently working on the catering but it looks like some canapes, a two course meal and a cheeseboard around 9:30pm.  

Next big task to tackle:  The Honeymoon.    

The honeymoon is extremely important to Kayleigh and Dan as they want to spend good quality time together after the wedding.  

More to come on Kayleigh and Dan. 

Sri Lankan Elephants meet Canadian Maple Leafs

One of the best things about being a wedding coordinator in London is working with International couples and learning about their customs and traditions.   One of our recent couple's flew in from Canada to get married at the Royal College of Greenwich in London.  The bride had been living in Canada for the past few years but grew up in London so decided the best place for her nuptials would be in her home city.  



The couple met in Cuba so they jazzed up the cocktail reception with a hot shot Cuban Band, Tony Danger, and continued with the Cuban theme by surprising the guests with a sexy Cuban dance for their first dance as husband and wife.   The ceremony started with traditional Sri Lankan Buddhist steel drummers dancing down the aisle, followed by the groom, bridesmaids, father of the bride and bride.   During the signing of the Registrar, the groom had the song Brown Eyed Girl playing on the speakers, but rather than playing the traditional vocals, "Brown Eyed Girl" he had dubbed it to sing,  "Brown Eyed Amanda" which is the bride's first name.   Guests were crying and laughing.



After the swanky Cuban cocktail reception, 190 guests made way to the dining room where they found a hand carved wooden elephant with a maple leaf tied to the foot.  The elephant is a symbol of good luck in Sri Lanka, and the Maple Leaf is the national symbol in Canada.  It was the first time I'd seen every single guest take their wedding favour home.  The after party was moved to the undercroft where there was an open bar, a video booth and a 12 piece band all the way from Sri Lanka!  The venue closed at midnight and many of the guests hopped on the Thames Clipper to take a midnight cruise down London's River Thames.  It was a magical evening.

Photographer: Peter Darvin