Let's Get Physical

Planning events can be a physically grueling process especially when you do a lot of it yourself and aren't hiring outside people. I've done events where we had multiple carloads and even truckloads of supplies. For any event, the teardown is usually the most physical part of the process, but it is oddly one of my favorite parts. Many times I would make multiple trips up and down several flights of stairs to put decorations and other items in the bride and groom's suite. I've finished tearing down weddings at 3am! You are on your feet for about 12+ hours straight, and it is just exhausting. But I would not trade it for sitting at a desk permanently any day!

No one does events like my dad. Here is a guy that should be pursuing an event planning career. He looks for any excuse to throw a party, and he has taken my graduation party and run with it! He and his crew set up a stage and dance floor today, and we filled two flat carts and two normal carts of food and
alcohol at Sam's today.

I looked like this all day at Sam's as I tried pushing those heavy carts around:

The physical part of the planning starts in all the preliminaries of an event

The cashier was as the Dixie Chicks put it...Ready to run! Okay, not really. 

We had people in the parking lot stop and ask if we needed help loading, and everyone kept telling us they wanted to come to our party! 

I am so thankful, but my stress levels were slightly high because I never expected this party to grow this large! I am so excited to have so many people come together and just have a good time.

I could not be more thankful for my parents! My dad has taken car of ordering everything and will be cooking all day tomorrow and just doing all the production of this thing from A to Z. As the official planner in the family, I feel slightly incompetent. He has thrown parties like these so many times that he just gets into a zone and goes! He is the Energizer Bunny. My mom is such a trooper for keeping up with him, and has been so helpful from all the shopping with me, to being in charge of all the mailing, and encouraging me in all my decorating. She's been so great and practically bed-ridden due to a back injury!  Speaking of, she is one of the shyest people you will ever meet, and my dad threw a surprise party for her 40th birthday. No, it was not a quaint intimate affair. He put carpet down in my high school gym and a dance floor, and we filled it with 300 people who came to celebrate this phenomenal woman. She totally deserved every bit of it, but the poor thing ran out the door as soon as she walked in!!

My dad just does not do anything small! One day I will be able to keep up with his pace.

Tomorrow, will consist of setting up tables, filling ice chests, cooking, some decorating, cleaning, and just the all around process that goes into a party in which everyone we know is invited.

Since I am a party planner and hate being the center of attention, I am going to have a hard time accepting the fact that people are coming to celebrate a milestone in my life. I am so thankful for all the love and support, and I know I am going to be completely overwhelmed!

Dad, I hope I can one day produce as effectively and efficiently as you! And Mom, I'm sorry you have to put up with our crazy selves! You've been nothing but supportive and so much more!

Stay tuned for a re-cap!!

Doin' Business!

In every step of my life there has always been something next whether it be the next grade after summer vacation, graduating into high school and college, and now graduating into…adulthood?? I just feel like saying “Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning! Never Never Land!!” Everyone keeps asking…what’s next?? Good question! For now, I will be working for my dad to earn some extra money and before we know it, coordinating a wedding in October.-not as an intern, but as the official planner! So scary! I am also looking into an event planning internship with a nonprofit foundation in October then hopefully I can go back and take some classes in Orange County, get some more experience, then start my very own company. If someone has a good name, let me know! =) 

I am so excited to finally show off some pictures from my October couple’s engagement shoot. This wedding means so much to me because I grew up with the bride and groom and even shared a house at one point with the groom in college. I knew these two before they even started dating so I have seen their relationship flourish from day one! I can’t wait for their special day to finally be here!

Lance and Laura’s photography team is Fallbrook Photography. This may sound really weird, but it was surreal coming into contact with my first vendor as the coordinator. I guess one day I will get over it and realize I am the person in charge or I've said before the coach, not the assistant. 

The engagement shots are absolutely adorable and were taken in a jackpot area, the Castle Dome Museum. Our little hometown of Yuma, AZ doesn’t have many resources as far as areas to photograph and Fallbrook really demonstrated their creativity in finding a key spot! Here are a few of my favorites: 

The desert is so green! 

Aww he is romantic!

I have to go visit this place!

To see the rest of the photos checkout Fallbrook Photography's site here! 

Blog Hiatus

Ahh!! It is has been such a long time since I have blogged, and I apologize to my loyal readers! I actually made myself ignore my blog and all the ones I read so I could focus on the last few weeks of school. Over the past few weeks many things have come to a close, but I am embarking on new beginnings-ones of many unknowns and uncertainties, but it is exciting nonetheless! 

Well...I did it! I graduated from college, and may I just brag for a minute..can anyone say magna cum laude? Yep, those endless nights I endured studying with a select few fellow students has paid off! I never imagined I would actually reach those heights, and to be honest, I never aimed to. I was just never satisfied unless I got a good grade despite my brother’s constant reminders that I was not going to be a doctor. No, my GPA is not going to matter when it comes to planning weddings, but I can tell you that that work ethic will. Okay I am done bragging...I have to market my services somehow right?? =) 

Can't Get Enough of These Guys! 

Some of the most influential women in my life

I cannot thank my friends and family enough for getting me here. I wouldn’t be able to do  this without them. 

Along with graduating, I helped produce my last few weddings with Blair Britt and Constance Curtis, and am so thankful for the opportunity they gave me and the things I have learned from both of them. When I say last few weddings, I mean as an official intern because I plan on helping them with future events. I have so much more to learn before I start running my own show, but I better learn quickly because I have a wedding sneaking up on me in October! 

I have moved home for a little bit and am getting ready for an ever growing graduation party this weekend! I had a lot of plans to invest a lot of energy into the design, but the guest list is growing to the size of a wedding, and I don’t have the budget of a wedding! So this weekend we are just going to eat and dance....can't realIy ask for more than that! love having an excuse to get all those I love together! I think that’s why I like weddings so much. You always get to catch up with people you never see! 

I have a lot of blog post ideas so I will keep this one short and expand on each later so I look forward to my last wedding re-cap, details of my October bride’s wedding as well as their engagement pictures, and my plans for the near future! 

The heat I have experienced while coming home to Arizona has officially reminded me that is is SUMMER!!!