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looking for a deal…
Our friends at the Hotel Palomar – Philadelphia just shared some great holiday surprises with us…
They are running a promotion where if you book guest room blocks, meeting space, event space or food and beverage with them for January or February you can get some great rewards.
If you book between $5,000—$9,999 worth of business you get your choice of:
•iPhone 4s, 16 GB hard drive
•iPad 2, 16 GB hard drive and 3G enabled
And if you book $10,000 OR MORE you get choice of:
•iPhone 4s, 16 GB hard drive
•iPad 2, 16 GB hard drive and 3G enabled
AND you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing to receive a two-night stay at ANY Kimpton hotel (transportation included). How’s that for an incentive!
So if you’ve not seen the Hotel Palomar, you should check them out – great space for a boutique wedding reception or rehearsal dinner, great spaces for meetings or bridal shower … the guest rooms are luxurious and the food is AMAZING.
And we LOVE working with their team of wedding professionals!
*The business must be booked by December 5th and there is some fine print –
I suggest you contact Octavia Watson the Group Rooms Coordinator at: Octavia.Watson@hotelpalomar.com or by phone at 215.525.9472 for more details and to see this beautiful hotel.
Now how’s that for spreading some holiday cheer?!
The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants in The Knot Magazine!
We're so excited to be featured in two places in the new, Spring/Summer issue of The Knot Magazine! Rebecca was featured in the "Inside Scoop" section and the team was featured for planning The Knot's "Cocktails and Connections" event at The Please Touch Museum. Check it out!
The Truth About Thanksgiving …
by Mark Kingsdorf, MBC
This year’s Thanksgiving is extremely challenging for me, I’ve become a little over analytical in light of the over commercialization of Black Friday morphing into Thanksgiving Day and maybe a little cynical.
The original meaning of Thanksgiving, as an American holiday, was to celebrate the harvest and working together as community to prosper after a busy growing season…
It became the day of coming together with family, over eating, watching football and in some cases even pausing to thank God, G*d or whatever higher power you may believe in- for something, usually the good meal, but often not more than that.
Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of my mother’s passing, so I guess I’ve done more than my share of reflecting – and while I’m truly grateful for what my parents taught and gave me, for the love and friendship of my siblings, my partner and my extended family – this isn’t about that.
This is my reflection and being thankful for the blessings that are related to The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants and our extended family; as sometimes after 12 years working with amazing people, the depth of being thankful never gets clearly expressed.
I am Thankful …
- To the friends who stood behind me when being a wedding planner and starting my own business was only a dream
- To Gayle Bailey Scott and the team from Anne Bailey’s Bridal Salon who when I can to her as a new wedding planner (and a guy) to learn about gowns gave me a shot and taught me so much.
- To the late, great Donna Bartoletti, who took me in during the roughest part of growing my business and taught me tons about flowers and floral design.
- To Siobhan (Nicolas) Welsh and her family for giving a new planner a chance, for trusting me with her wedding and for being such an AMAZING first client.
- To Marty Grims and the team of the Moshulu who trusted me to bring ‘Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?’ on to the ship, even when I may not have earned that trust.
- To my friend and colleague from Chicago Frank Andonoplas, MBC – who has been a great friend, mentor and role model.
- To my friends at the Association of Bridal Consultants and other wedding planners who have taught me, shared stories with me, listened to the craziness of a growing business and helped me grow
- To the HUNDREDS of couples who, over the past 12 years have trusted me (and our team) with the biggest day of their lived – who have referred their friends and family knowing that we will treat them all like family.
- To the families who have embraced us enough to trust us with weddings of multiple children.
- To my INSANELY AMAZING and supportive team! Each one of them was picked, much as we do every wedding professional, for their own specific talents and personality – having each of you allowed me to grow The Queen of Hearts as if I personally were on site with every wedding; knowing that the same love and attention to detail, caring and passion would be there – even if I wasn’t.
- To the 3,000+ Wedding Professionals we have had the honor of meeting and working with, I trusted you with the weddings of our couples and you rarely let us down. A wedding planner cannot do this alone, it takes a talented, supportive team to make beautiful weddings and I’m thrilled that many of our relationships have grown into something where I consider many of you to be great friends.
- To my friends and colleagues at City of Hope, Let Them Eat Cake as well as Wish Upon A Wedding for allowing my fellow wedding professionalsand I an opportunity to give back.
While I am grateful that I’ll be having dinner with my partner and family, that we have plenty…. The reflection on the bounty that I have from becoming part of your lives because of The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants is truly overwhelming…
And I thank you!
Unplugged Weddings
By Rebecca Richman
Ever go to a wedding and witness a guest literally crawling on the dance floor in her nice cocktail dress so she could get into a position sitting underneath the photographer so she too could get a picture of the bride and groom on the dance floor? No? Well I have. I've also seen more digital cameras than flowers at weddings lately. Instead of watching the bride come down the aisle I've witnessed guests stand part way into the aisle (YES I know, it's insane) to get a photo of the bride straight on.
Instead of clapping and cheering for the bride and groom as they come back down the aisle, it's been getting quieter and quieter because every guest has a camera in their hand snapping away.
Now I have no shame in admitting that in the past I was the one in our group of friends with a digital camera glued to my hands snapping away at everything taking place. I would then get home and put the pictures on my computer and frankly never look at them again. There is a new concept taking place at weddings now called "unplugged weddings" and it's something that I've found myself suggesting to my clients as I help them plan their weddings and events.
Brides and grooms have been asking their guests to turn off their cell phones and digital cameras in an effort to encourage their guests to be present during every moment of their wedding. We all know how quickly things happen during weddings, I promise you that while you are staring into your viewfinder you're missing the things happening around you. It's also possible that you're standing in the aisle, getting in the way of the professional photographer that your friends paid good money to photograph their wedding. You can very tactfully do this too. A photographer friend of mine David Zaveloff, is getting married this month and is having an unplugged wedding. He is posting this sign near the ceremony location to kindly ask guests to put down their cell phones and cameras and enjoy every moment of their ceremony.
Now, I know the alternate side to this issue. Many photographers offer an online gallery for wedding guests to purchase photos but frankly at $10 for a 4×6 this just isn't feasible for most people. For my photographer friends: you may find that if your client is having an uplugged wedding they may request the hi res disc of images as they are able to share these photos with their friends and family who hopefully decided to put down their camera and enjoy every moment of the wedding day.
Just food for thought as you plan your wedding!
This never gets old…
by Karen Peterkin, PBC
I was so surprised to open our mailbox this week and find a card from my former clients- they had an amazing wedding earlier this Fall and I was thrilled to help them plan their wedding!
We've said it before and we'll say it again, being able to assist clients on one of the most meaningful days of their lives and make the planning process easier for them is why we do what we do. Hearing their appreciation is the icing on the cake. I really do feel blessed to have some of the most amazing clients on the planet!
" We just wanted to say thank you for helping us plan our wedding day. We really feel lucky that we were able to work with you- you handled our crazy schedules, random questions and a very LONG wedding day with grace and ease, and created the most beautiful wedding day for us. It was honestly more incredible than anything we could have imagined and that was due to you and the team you put together. Subha and Jay "
Awwwww… thanks for your kindness Subha and Jay! It was beyond a pleasure working with you and your families!
Wedding Video from a Cape May Wedding at the Southern Mansion
By Rebecca Richman
Like I said in my previous post about this wedding, it may have been the hottest I've ever worked in but it was so beautiful and Darrell from Aubert Films captured it so well. Check it out…
Welcoming Our Newest Team Member!
The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants is proud to introduce our newest team member!
Eliza Christoph Peterkin was born Thursday, October 27th!
Congratulation to the entire Peterkin family, she's beautiful!
Karen, who coordinated a beautiful wedding at the Horticultural Center on October 22nd, (yes, 5 days before giving birth!) will be taking some time off to spend with her family before returning to wedding planning late spring of 2012
Toasting the Bride and Groom
By: Rebecca Richman
So the big day has finally arrived, for both you and your maid of honor and best man. For them, their best friend or sibling is getting married and they are serving the bride of groom in a place of honor and they too want everything to be perfect for you, including that nerve-wracking speech. As the bride and groom you can make things easier for them by scheduling their speech towards the beginning of the reception so that they don’t have to wait the entire evening to make it. Nerves tend to build over time and we’re sure you too want them to enjoy the evening.
For all of our maid/matrons of honor and best men, keep these tips in mind when making your speech!
- Plan plan plan: Don’t wait until the last minute to write your speech! You more than likely have been asked months in advance to participate in your friend’s big day so take the time to sit down and think about what you would like to say.
- Think about who you’re speaking to: You aren’t just speaking to the bride and groom, you’re speaking to the audience about this great couple an audience with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, co-workers, maybe even bosses. Keep what you say appropriate.
- Forming your speech: Begin by introducing yourself to the audience without necessarily starting with “for those of you who don’t know me”. Most people won’t know you, an alternative to start with is “Good evening Everyone, my name is _________ and I am the sister, brother, friend of the bride or groom”. Next, I always think it’s nice to thank the bride and groom for inviting you to be part of their special day and for bringing all of their friends and family together for the evening. A nice next step is to talk to everyone about a special (appropriate) memory you share with the couple allowing the audience a more personal glimpse at the couple or your relationship with them. Finally, wrap it up with a toast, make sure you are speaking and looking directly at them when you toast to their happy future.
- Don't write a novel: I know you could talk about your best friend for hours but please consider the guests and the chef cooking your delicious meal. Weddings have been timed to allow for courses to come out at just the right time and while we can always make adjustments when the timeline runs off course we can't accommodate for a 30 minute speech. You also want the guests to be listening and enjoying everything you have to say, not checking their watches to see when it will end.
- Practice, a lot: Practice makes perfect and it also makes you feel more comfortable, it can also lead to you memorizing your speech. We often see shaky papers when nerves get the best of the speech giver and you’re also more likely to lose your place when glancing back and forth from your paper. It’s absolutely okay though if you can’t memorize the speech, just keep your notecard handy and have a backup in case it gets lost.
- Some quick don’ts: It’s best not to mention any previous boyfriends of girlfriends, try not to curse, don’t drink too much before hand, never talk politics, and try to refrain from inside jokes (only the two of you will understand it which leads to a quiet and awkward room).
- Finally, enjoy yourself! This day only happens once for all of you, soak in the moment and enjoy toasting your best friend or sibling into a happy future!
Fall Wedding Inspiration
By Rebecca Richman
Fall is by far my favorite season, I love getting out my boots (and buying new ones) and I love Fall weather clothes. I also love Fall weddings, the details are usually so yummy and the weddings are always so cozy and intimate. With the leaves finally changing around here in PA I was in the mood to share some fun images that served as inspiration for my Fall weddings this year.
Photo credit: Rustic Wedding Chic
Photo Credit: Susan Stripling Photography
Photo Credit: Mat and Ash Photography
Photo Credit: Little Winter Bride
Photo Credit: Design Sponge
Circular Ceremony Seating
By Rebecca Richman
In some cases, depending on the venue, we have to get creative with the way we seat gets for the ceremony. The venue could be limited in space available or there could be physical structures like columns that prevent us from doing a traditional set up.
In these cases, we find ways to get creative with the seating to accommodate the guests. In other cases I have a bride of groom who want to be untraditional in the way they seat their guests. I am currently planning a wedding ceremony in the Planetarium at the Franklin Institute and the bride and groom are requesting a circular seating arrangement, which I really love. I think it creates a really intimate environment to have all of your friends and family surrounding you as you say your vows.
When planning a seating arrangement like this just be conscious of any large structure that might have sides which would obviously obstruct your guests view.
Photo Credit: Kevin Chin
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