Chelsey & Adam: Park Engagement Party

Nora and I met Chelsey in college. We walked into a S.O.A.P (Student Organization for Activity Planning) meeting at Salisbury University and never looked back. Clearly our love of planning and organization made us life-long friends. Or maybe it was the fact that we discovered we share the same birthday! Either way, we quickly become close friends and remained that way, even after graduating and moving to different states.

Chelsey and Adam have been together FOREVER. They started dating in high school and when their relationship lasted through college and Chelsey getting a job in Philly, everyone knew a proposal was coming. It finally happened one weekend while they were in New York and Nora and I were thrilled for them both. We were even more thrilled to throw them an engagement party! Let. Me. Tell. You. It is VERY difficult to plan an engagement party, in a different state, and collect the email addresses of family and friends, all while keeping the whole shebang a secret from the bride-to-be. But we did it! Chelsey was so surprised and spending the day with all of her and Adam's family and friends was SO worth it. 

We planned for the party to take place at a park in Chelsey's hometown. Since we had a 2.5 hour drive and an entire pavilion to decorate, we kept things simple. A homemade BBQ menu, lawn games and fun decorations set the tone for a fantastic afternoon!

Working with My Best Friend

Here we are on the brink of wedding season! There is a certain flutter in my heart and excitement in my veins. Another year of being part of the best day in our lovely couples’ lives. Another year of feeling accomplished with all the hard work we put into our passion. But most of all, another year I get to work alongside my best friend!

Taking the Plunge – Quitting My Part-Time Job

As I’ve mentioned before, I quit my part-time job back in October. FINALLY! It was a long time coming, but ended up being a spur of the moment decision.

Now that it’s been 5 months, I couldn’t be more certain that I made the right decision. First of all, NoLo is better than ever. I’ve had so much time to focus on the company and I’ve been able to direct all of my energy into my clients. It just goes to show that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it.

Photo by GoBrail Photography

Working From Home-- Finding the Balance

I quit my part-time job and started working from home back in October. Since switching to NoLo full time, and operating 100% out of my home office, I’ve had to learn how to manage my day. It’s AH-mazing how much of your day can pass when you don’t have a plan. There were so many times that I would look at the clock and wonder where the day went.

I thought that having so much more time to devote to NoLo would result in so much more things getting done for NoLo. Wow was I wrong. You see, the thing is, when you have an unlimited amount of time to do something, you procrastinate more. At least I do. I found myself putting things off because I “had all day tomorrow to do them”. Or, I would find myself cleaning up around the house and folding clothes because I had all of this time at home that I hadn’t had before. Sound familiar?

The more this went on, the more I realized I needed to develop an office atmosphere at home. I needed rules and guidelines, just like at a “normal” job. It’s so easy to get in a rut when you only have yourself to be accountable for so I came up with the following policies to keep myself accountable!

Happy 1st Anniversary, Josh

Wow. Where has the last year gone?

As some of you may know, yesterday was Josh and I’s first wedding anniversary. I know they say the first year is the hardest, but no one ever told me that it passes in the blink of an eye. It’s extremely hard to believe that at this exact time last year, Josh and I were newlyweds, exploring the aquarium with his family while waiting to head to the airport to fly to the Dominican for our honeymoon.

Ready. Set. GO!

It's officially official! The new NoLo Weddings & Events' website has hit the world wide web. After months and months of selecting colors, deciding on layouts, choosing pictures and working on a new logo, it's done. Whew.

Nostalgia, Mini Road Trips & Aaron Carter

Why hello, Monday. Although I appreciate your bright sunlight and chilly fall weather, you've come way to soon. After a weekend full of nostalgia and mini road trips, I wasn't quite ready to wake up.

A Quarter of a Century...

Twenty-five.

Why does that seem like such a substantial age to be turning? Maybe because I can finally rent a car. Maybe because it's the age that I always visualized my life at when I was younger. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because 25 is a quarter of a century.

Moving, A Full Time Job

Moving might as well be a full time job. With all of the insurance quotes, organizing, paint colors, packing, furniture buying and delivery scheduling; who has time for anything else?! Luckily, NoLo always seems to provide us with a late-summer break from weddings so closing on our new house is happening at the perfect time.

Rainbow Birthday Cake

Ok! So I'm not always the best at creative food-related projects. I tried those piñata cookies from Pinterest once-- Didn't quite work out. It might have had something to do with the fact that I tried to turn a cookie made with a sheep cookie-cutter into a donkey. But that's besides the point.

This little creative endeavor I am SO proud of! Back in March it was Eryn's (You know Eryn, she's the fabulous designer that I've mentioned before! Feel free to check her stuff out here!) birthday and I wanted to make her something fabulous to celebrate. I saw a picture of a crazy colorful birthday cake and about fainted-- It was perfect!

Now I'm not going to lie, this takes a lot of time and a lot of patience for someone who is not a skilled cake decorator (me), but it was so worth it! Here's my step-by-step instructions if you want to make your own :)

You'll need:

• 2 boxes of cake mix
• 4 containers of icing (3 have to be vanilla)
• Food coloring
• 6 sandwich-sized plastic bags or icing bags
• Star decorating tip (any size, depends on how large you wants the stars)

1. Bake 2 (2-layer) cakes, any cakes, per the instructions. You'll want to have 4 layers total when you are finished. Of course you can use less to make a smaller cake but 4 (8 inch) layers will give you the size above. I chose to mix it up and used both chocolate and funfetti!
   
   
   
   
   
2. After the cakes are done cooling, level them. You can do this using a knife (which never works out well for me) or this fun leveling tool. This will make them sit flat when you stack them and you will have cake pieces to snack on!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Stack the 4 layers, putting icing in between each as you go. Do your best to make sure the cake edges are even with each other. If you have any small holes from the cake sticking to the pan, don't worry-- Just patch them up with icing!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Use the vanilla icing and food coloring to mix whichever colors you want for the stars. You will need about 1/2 of a standard sized icing container for each color. I used the neon food coloring that you can find in the baking isle to get the 6 bright colors!
   
   
   
   
   
5. When finished mixing, put your icing into the icing bags with the star tip. You will probably need to refrigerate the bags for about 20 minutes to stiffen the icing a little.
   
   
6. Start icing with the first 2 colors! I chose to do 2 colors at a time, to prevent having to rotate between all 6 bags at once (and I only had 2 star tips of the same size). I simply started with one star of each color next to one another and left an adequate space to fill in the other 4 colors between each of the sets.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Repeat with all colors.
   
   
   
   
   
8. After using all of the colors, go back and fill in any spaces with a random color. You'll especially need to do this on top. I way underestimated how many of each color to put on the top of the cake the first time around. Filling in spaces will also make the cake color look random, as opposed to a pattern.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Cut & enjoy!

Happy Friday :)

I'm Baaaaaaack!

What a whirlwind April was for me! My blog took a spot on the back burner with everything else going on but, man was it a great month! Josh and I were married on April 20th (more on that later) and spent a relaxing 8 nights in the Caribbean, but the weekend right before I had a wedding and an open house to do for NoLo so I spent the majority of April planning for all 4 events!

Erica & Nick's wedding will be up on the blog tomorrow, but in the meantime I just felt it necessary to do a quick post so that you all know I'll be picking things back up :)

And here's a preview of what's to come tomorrow!

Ceremony Planning

The wedding ceremony-- The single most important part of the wedding day and the one thing that I had the hardest time with!

I'm not sure exactly why I had such a hard time with the ceremony. Josh and I had an idea of the wording we wanted and the things we wanted to incorporate but when it came down to it I guess there were just SO many readings and parts to choose from that it seemed overwhelming. Luckily, the person performing our ceremony sent over a typical ceremony which helped to get us started and I found a fabulous book!

There are tons of different types of wedding ceremonies, none right or wrong. What Josh and I wanted was a short and sweet ceremony that talked a lot about the commitment we were making. We definitely wanted a Christian ceremony and it was important to us to have prayers and readings but we really wanted the focus to be on the importance of marriage and our love for one another. That was the easy part. The hard part was deciding exactly which readings and vows and all of the specific wording.

That's were "The Wedding Ceremony Planner" comes in. If you are having a hard time with the specific wording of your wedding ceremony, definitely check it out of your local library! I'm so glad I did. Josh and I spent a couple of days going through it, bookmarking pages, and everything came together so well! We are thrilled with our ceremony and can't wait to share it with all of our family and friends :)

Congratulations to NoLo!

I am SO excited to announce that NoLo Weddings & Events is a winner of the 2013 WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards :) Basically it means that our brides from the past year think that we rock! And that makes me extremely happy because I think that they rock too!

Being recognized as a Bride's Choice Award winner means that NoLo Weddings & Events was in the top 5% of local wedding professionals this past year based on reviews from clients and surveys. 

I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, but I'm just so proud of what Nora and I have accomplished with our company in the last year!!!!! And congratulations to all of the other wedding professionals who won--You can find a list of all of them here. You can also see our pretty little award in the toolbar to the right of this blog post :)

I know I've thanked you a billion times, but thank you again to all of our amazing brides and grooms! We couldn't have even dreamed of winning any award if it wasn't for all of you trusting us with your special day.

Happy Wednesday!

NoLo getting ready to fly to Vegas back in October for the wedding conference!

Wedding Dress Woe

On Sunday I did something I had been looking forward to doing for weeks. I took my wedding dress out of my closest, removed it from it's bags, carefully stepped in to it and slowly zipped it up. And then I cried.

I tried my dress on when I picked it up from the bridal shop a couple of weeks ago, but there were quite a few other people in the shop and I didn't have the space to stare at myself in the mirror for 20 minutes, nor did I want to look THAT full of myself! So I took a few glimpses, made sure there were no stains or rips and packed it back up to take home. I finally got the chance to try it back on this weekend and I wasn't thrilled. To my horror, I hated it. Hated it. After about 10 minutes of breaking down, my 5-year old cousin hugging me while telling me I looked pretty and my mom talking me through it, I warmed back up to it. My problem was, I was looking at the dress as it was. I wasn't taking into consideration the alterations that still have to be done and the little changes that I want to make to it.

When I tried the dress on originally, the smallest they had was a size 10, so of course they had it clipped tightly on to me so that I could see what it would look like in my size. And of course it looked great-- It hugged me perfectly. But my dress does not. I have next to no shape and felt as though I looked like a bit of a marshmallow with all of the extra fabric that has yet to be taken off. After I calmed down a bit and started playing around with holding the fabric back here, and tucking a piece in there, it started looking like the dress that I remember loving in the shop.

So why am I sharing this? Definitely not so that I look like a crazy person who is overly emotional (although I felt a little like that on Sunday), but so that I can save maybe just a couple of brides from the "I hate my dress" breakdown! My message here-- When you try on your newly purchased dress at home, remember all of the things that still need to be done to it. Unless you have a model's body, chances are it's going to need some alterations and will look completely different on you afterwards. I for one cannot wait to get my dress altered, and I'm going to make sure that I have a darn good seamstress when I do because every bride deserves happy tears the moment they step into the most expensive dress that they will probably ever buy!

P.S. Just try to stay sad with this little darling telling you "You are so beautiful. Are you okay?"... you just can't do it.

Wedding Registry. Check.

So there Josh and I were, standing in the middle of Bed, Bath & Beyond, scanner in hand, absolutely clueless.

....let me back up. Last weekend Josh and I decided to tackle the task of setting up our wedding registries. With save-the-dates out and a wedding website up and running, we figured it was about time. I was psyched. Fast forward to 12pm on Friday afternoon and I was clueless. Everyone dreams about decorating their home, or at least we did, so I figured registering was going to be a piece of cake. That was until I realized that no, I didn't know all the benefits of stainless steel vs. non stick, I had no idea how many gadgets there are for your kitchen and that choosing the colors you want in certain rooms beforehand-- kind of imperative. But what I did know was that I wanted a light yellow KitchenAid Mixer. And a panini press. Definitely a panini press. Needless to say-- I thought I was prepared.

After about 3.5 hours in the store, 2 of which were spent with a wonderful wedding registry expert (I doubt that's her official title, but it should be), I discovered we had not been as prepared as I had thought and we left with 90 items scanned out of a recommended 300. Whew. Although I do not consider myself a master of all things wedding registry, I did learn something  a lot of things last weekend, so I thought I'd share my suggestions with you. If you too are clueless, or think you are prepared, take a spin through my list!

1. When choosing a store to register at, consider somewhere with a representative that will walk you through the main items that you need. Both of the stores we registered at (Bed, Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel) had someone guide us through the process as well as the basics that we should register for and it was a HUGE help. Keep in mind, neither of us have had an entire place to call our own, so we need a lot of stuff. If you're a couple that already lives together, you might not be in the same boat.
2. Pick more than one store! People like options, so give your guests options. Although we did not pick places with too much of a price difference, I would typically recommend picking one reasonably priced store and one that's a little more pricey. You will most likely have guests that want to splurge so why stop them?!
3. Decide on colors. Josh and I had some colors picked out. We knew what colors we wanted to paint the master bedroom, the kitchen and the basement. That was definitely helpful. However, we did not know what colors we wanted for the other bathrooms, bedrooms, etc, which made it a little difficult to pick out those towels and curtains! I figured we would decide on colors at the store, but it just ended up being overwhelming.
4. Register for sets. When it comes to pots and pans, you will probably have the option to register for them individually or together as a set. At first, I was thinking individually. Mostly because I know no one who wants to spend $400 on a wedding gift. However, they were SO MUCH cheaper as a set. People can always go in together on a gift and you will get gift cards. 
5. Pick a store that gives you a discount! Not only do both of our stores give you a discount on all items not purchased on your registry, but Bed, Bath and Beyond also has registry incentives! For certain brands you get a free gift just for putting it on your registry!
6. Decide on quantities. You will be registering for towels and place settings, which is a lot easier if you know how many you want!
7. Splurge. After all, these are your wedding gifts. Put what you really want on your registry, even if it's a bit expensive. Guests can always get you gift cards. I would be willing to bet that no one spends $350 on my KitchenAid mixer, but I so want it, so it's there. After the wedding, I'll happily go back with my gift cards and discount and purchase it!

Feeling overwhelmed now? Don't worry-- as overwhelmed as I felt when the scanner was put into Josh's hands, we still had a blast. Because really, what could be more fun than spending a Friday afternoon picking out the items that will make up your new home together?!

P.S. I mention my wonderful fiancé quite a bit, and since I'm the type that likes a face to put to the name, here he is :)

Happy Wednesday!

What Happens in Vegas-- The Wedding MBA

Ah... Vegas. I'll have to admit, it didn't quite live up to the movie-like expectations I had in my head. After dark-- AMAZING. During the day-- kind of blah. Just a bunch of buildings in the middle of the dry, dusty dessert. But, I guess most people go to Vegas for the nightlife and casinos, so the daylight doesn't really matter. However, when you go to Vegas for a 2.5-day wedding conference, you don't have much of a choice but to experience Vegas in the daylight-- the 6am, bright, sunny, morning light.

That being said, the Wedding MBA that took place in Vegas last week was fab-u-lous. Tons of seminars on wedding how-tos. How to avoid disasters. How to make an entire theme out of one simple word like "lipstick". How to master social networking. Every seminar was jam-packed with wonderful tips and tricks and the speakers could not have been better. If you are a wedding professional, I would definitely check it out. I'm so glad that I decided to attend this year, it was 100% worth the time and money!

My Tips for Vendors Wanting to Attend:

• Book your flight. Now. If you can afford to go, don't hold back. I had been wanting to attend this conference since I heard about it in 2008. It took me 4 years but I finally made it, and I should have made it sooner!
• Monorail monorail monorail. Stay at a hotel located on the monorail-- it's so easy to get around and you can purchase a multi-day pass! We stayed at the LVH, and it was unbelievably easy to get to the conference during the day and down to The Strip at night. (We also got a fabulous rate, over 60% off. Shop around and keep an eye on prices until they drop! Do the same with flights. It definitely makes going more affordable for new wedding professionals.)
• Go to as many seminars as you can. I don't know about everyone else attending, but I went to a seminar during every single time frame. The only break I took was the lunch break when no seminars took place. It made for a couple of long days but it was oh so worth it and I feel like I came home from Vegas with as much valuable information as possible.
• Don't judge a seminar buy it's title. There were a couple that I ended up going to on a whim and they ended up being some of my favorites!
• Go to AT LEAST one seminar by Sonny Ganguly. So informative and so much fun! He is the CMO at WeddingWire and gives valuable information on social networking, websites, SEO and the like.
• Make friends! There are so many people attending that do what you do and there is no better place to make friends, get advice and share ideas! You'll also have more people to hang out with in the evening. I personally left Vegas with a great friend from Australia!

P.S.You also go home with a ton of freebies. And as we all know, who doesn't like free stuff?!

Helloooooo Vegas sunshine.

Last day of conference and with our new friend, Elodie!

3 of 5 t-shirts handed out at Sonny's seminars-- told ya there's freebies!

Being a tourist...

 Don't know why, but I loved this!

 A friendly reminder at the airport departure terminal...

No new blog post? What's up?!

Sorry guys! The lack of blog posts has to do with my attending the WMBA this week-- yay! I'll get back to it next week. And with tons of things to blog about. Promise! In the meantime, I'm headed into the "Bite-Sized Blogging" seminar. How convenient :)

Lancaster Adventures

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to kill some time and explore Lancaster, PA! We decided to head downtown and I'm so glad we did because right there, in the middle of downtown, is the Central Market. One of my absolute favorite things is a good farmer's market-- go figure. Something about the local produce, fun trinkets and crowded atmosphere just calls my name. I'm really not hard to entertain! I've also decided that "within 10 minutes of a farmer's market" will most definitely be a requirement when it comes to purchasing a house (Josh is totally on board).

Below I present you with some of our findings!

Blue crabs... in PA... who would have thought!

Sunflowers :)

The Central Market

Locally grown veggies!

A waterfall smack dab in the middle of downtown, hidden in an alley.

Who doesn't love a bathtub full of soap?!

Speaking of soap... wedding soap. How appropriate!

One of my favorite things- stumbling upon a wedding photo shoot!

And last but certainly not least, an old fashioned Micky D's sign. How I love vintage things.

Now go create an adventure of your own-- It really soothes the soul! Happy Tuesday :)

NoLo E-Newsletters: Headed Your Way!

I'm so excited to tell you guys about a new project I am working on for NoLo!! Starting this month we are sending out monthly e-newsletters. They feature a main article every month along with a vendor spotlight, ask NoLo, proposal story, recaps of last months weddings and congrats for the month's upcoming couples. And I'm sure we'll throw in a few surprises here and there! Since I was a yearbook editor in high school, this is right up my ally, and I'm absolutely thrilled about where it can go!

If you want to sign up for the newsletter, go here and subscribe to our mailing list. You'll also be the proud owner of fun promotions and coupons every now and then (bonus for brides who still need a wedding planner)!

Have a wedding question that you want to be featured in the Ask NoLo section? Leave it in the comments below or email me!

Here is the first issue :)

Pinterest Favs!

Oh Pinterest...what did I do before you existed took over my down time?

I just thought I would share some of my recently added, favorite pins (wedding and non-wedding) with you. Happy Friday Eve :)

(Click on the pins to get to my pin board and the original source!)

Birthday cinnamon rolls - why have I not though of this?

I love Gossip Girl. I love inspirational quotes. Win!

I'm always trying to find cute party ideas. Now all I need is to purchase a house to have said parties.

How great is this?! Such a nice note to leave for your wedding guests.