Hannah Roseanne Gear arrived on January 14, 2012 at 3:22pm. Measuring 8 pounds and 6 ounces and 21 inches.
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Congrats to all those couples out there just engaged over the holiday season!  We love hearing those stories of Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's proposals....what a way to share the love!

Just wanted to share a few suggestions as you come down from the high of a sparkly ring on your finger and start to hit the planning road at high speed.
  1. After you've spent time celebrating with friends and family, start chatting with the families on budget, expectations, and dates....nothing needs to be set in stone, but it helps to start communication lines flowing in the same direction
  2. Start writing a guest list.  It's hard to shop for a venue when you don't have an approximate head count.  All too often you start shopping much too small (or large) than what you actually need.
  3. Consider hiring a planner.  We are fabulous resources, especially for vendors, design, and difficult family situations.  Even if you want to do the bulk of the planning yourself and want a planner for the weekend or day, start looking now.....our calendars fill up quickly!
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Happy Holidays! 12/19/2011
 
We are now less than a week away from Christmas!  Most of us are in the midst of holiday parties for work and friends and will play with our families over the coming weekend.  

 We are expecting our first baby in a month, so we aren't hosting anything ourselves this year but I wanted to give you a few ideas for unique holiday events:
  • Tea Time - ladies and little ladies love a girly get-together.  Schedule for a Sunday afternoon, make hot tea, cocoa, coffee and spread out all those sweet goodies.  The key to making this special: real teacups, napkins and all your favorite serving dishes!
  • Breakfast/Brunch - you all know I adore breakfast!  So make it easy and festive with cinnamon rolls, an egg dish, mimosas, coffee, and a citrus fruit salad.  Set a bright and fun table, feed your guests then send them on their way to do more shopping (or partying).  I used to host a brunch with girlfriends on Christmas Eve morning....that was the only time we had after work parties and before family events....it was a great start to the festivities!
  • Open House -  We went to an open house last weekend and it was great, the hosts knew everyone had multiple parties to attend so they had a tasty light spread, open door policy and simple drinks.  Keep this simple, an email invite works and encourage guests to bring their kids!
  • Dessert & Drinks - a fun party to schedule after a Christmas Eve service.  Everyone has had their dinner but are energized after the carols and togetherness of a candlelit service.  Invite them back for champagne and dessert....a cake and some cookies are perfect.  Make it casual so guests with kids can leave to put them to bed before Santa makes his deliveries!
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I don't know why I LOVE this catalog so much...perhaps because everything is unique and thoughtful!  But yesterday when I got home from several meetings and my baby bump was growling with hunger and I saw the latest Red Envelope catalog sitting on the counter I just had to stop everything and page through every last gift-able morsel! Sorry baby!

Here are a few of my favorite things:
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My lovely friends and adopted family hosted a shower in honor of 'Baby G' last Sunday....oh it was so wonderful and thoughtful.  Those ladies planned everything and literally made my husband chauffeur me there!  Here are some of the memories!  And yes, that was a baby pram made out of diapers made by an adopted Nana!
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I was chatting with an acquaintance the other day and mentioned I was working on addressing invitations for a large wedding we have in January.  He was shocked that was a service we provide, but commented it was such a valuable service as most people have never and will never have to follow the protocol involved in addressing snail mail.  So here's a behind the scenes look at what we do:
  1. We help most of our clients with the actual invite order, get the wording right for their situation and make sure the design is a good introduction to the guests of the look to come on wedding day.
  2. Once the invites arrive we open and inspect the paper and envelopes in case anything went awry during printing, packaging or shipping.
  3. The first thing we address are the RSVP envelopes. Those are hand-addressed, usually with the brides address but no name.
  4. Then the RSVP envelopes are stamped with a first class stamp.
  5. Next we hand address the Return address on the back flap of the main invite envelope.  
  6. Finally we get to addressing the guest names and addresses on the front of the envelope.  We are usually working off spreadsheets provided by the bride and groom.  All cities, states and street names are fully written, no abbreviations.  Proper names and titles are used.
  7. Envelopes are stuffed with the invite, RSVP card tucked under the flap of the RSVP envelope and any enclosure cards.
  8. Each envelope flap is sealed with a wet sponge.
  9. Every envelope is re-inspected to make sure i's are dotted, t's crossed and none of the writing was smudged.  
  10. Then we stamp the main envelope and hand deliver to a post-office for mailing.


All in all it takes between 4-5 minutes per invite, so for this recent shipment of 170 invites we spent close to 12 hours getting them just right!
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I've always loved pumpkins...I leave mine out on the stoop long past Halloween as a symbol of au and harvest.  So how fabulous would it be to incorporate white pumpkins for a fall wedding?  They can be carved with initials or the wedding date and placed on the entrance table, used as vessels for the centerpieces.  How about monogramming them with upholstery tacks or decorative thumb tacks?  Clustered down a long table with flowers or how about a harvest-time favor station?  Just picture pedestals and bowls filled with mini white pumpkins, orchard fresh apples, bags of caramels and nuts with a sign welcoming your guests to choose a favor!
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Together Time 10/19/2011
 
I'm sitting here listening to Joni Mitchell's Blue album with pillows propped over/under/around and pondering what to eat next.   I'm 7 months prego next week and this is the first evening in forever-and-a-day when my husband and I are just relaxing together sans TV or talk about work/baby/renovation/family/to-do lists/etc.  Seriously....other than chatting about how much we love our new crib, it's just listening to music and reading next to each other.

I had to grab my laptop and share my thoughts quickly on couple-dom.....

I meet couples everyday who spend each and every moment in each other's company planning their wedding day.  It consumes their conversations and thoughts, leaving them exhausted.  Can I just suggest to all my couples out there to institute one night a week as non-wedding/family night.  Be with each other, chat about work or your dreams for the next few years together.  Don't look at wedding shows on TV or surf the net for wedding ideas.  Don't mention your families.  

I don't claim to be an expert on marriage, but I've clocked nearly 8 years and we've gone through our fair share of moves and job changes together.  What I will say is that the mundane together means more to me now then ever before.  When my husband offers to go to Costco with me or do a wine store run for a client with me I'm just so touched.  That's a part of real marriage, living the highs and lows of life with one another.  A wedding day is a biggest high in a marriage, so when in the planning stages balance it out and be a little mundane together!
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Kudos to Rachel Fesko for getting one of our beautiful brides a feature in the latest issue of Carolina Bride!  This couple was AMAZING to work with....they were both so easy-going and wanted a wedding that was fresh, modern and fun....Congrats to the Woody's....hope you are enjoying Newlywed-dom!
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/10/2680450/youre-the-inspiration.html
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So we've just rounded the 6 month mark with Baby G and my friends and family are gung-ho on the shower planning. I must say, as the planner for most celebrations and fetes it's been hard to sit still and let the planning commence without me.  What's harder though is allowing myself to be the guest-of-honor....something I haven't had to do in 8 years since our wedding.  It's odd, I just don't want a big to-do with lots of people and presents.  So I got to thinking, there must be other brides and mothers-to-be out there that feel the same way, who would much rather spend time with their favorite people than with the games/food/gifts.  So here is a list of shower alternatives specific to Charlotte:
  • The Wine Palette in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood. It is a fabulous way to spend a fun-filled evening by creating your own original masterpiece painting (led by an instructor so no worries if you are a beginner or a professional) and the best part is you get to bring in your own wine/beer and/or food. Cost is $35 per person, but they are offering $5 off per person for Graceful Hosts out there (enter ClipArt online or call/email to book).
  • POLISHED I was just there yesterday as I can't easily reach my toes for a pedicure and the whole atmosphere screams fun party!  Three locations: Southend, Southpark and Myers Park this would be a great place to have the girls meet, drink and get pretty...your bride or mom-to-be will love you for thinking of this place!  
  • A Wine Bar...Ok, maybe more appropriate for brides only, but I have two favs: Vintner's Wine Market and the Black Chicken.  Plan a wine tasting with some yummy nibbles.  Everyone will be happy and maybe you'll learn a thing or two! The bride-to-be might even find a new favorite to serve at her wedding!
  • On-A-String Bead Shop A favorite girly hangout in Myers Park. You bring the ladies, nibbles and beverages, they will help you put together some jewelry masterpieces.  Cost is $12.50 per person plus the cost of beads, but they will have all the glasses, napkins and plates for you, plus the experience and creativity to get things rolling!  Maybe each guest could choose a bead for the mom-to-be and they can fashion it into a necklace for her to wear during delivery to remind her of all her friends and family who are cheering her on!
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