Vendor Spotlight - Custom Jewelry by Lani

I thought that I would share one of my most recent experiences with a very fabulous custom jewelry designer, Lani McEvers, owner of Custom Jewelry by Lani. Lani found her passion when she started beading back in April of 2000 and has been creating custom jewelry ever since. She uses the finest materials, with Swarovski Austrian Crystals being the cornerstone of her designs adding a rainbow of color with faceted gemstones, pearls or other unique materials.

Now besides all that, this is why Lani is in the spotlight, one of my brides recently told me that she absolutely hated the earrings that she had chosen from an upscale department store. Now this was only 4 days before her wedding, so in an attempt to reassure her that her selection was in fact just fine, I asked to see the earrings along with her gown. I have to admit, it was not at all a flattering match up.

So, the following day I went in search of earrings for her, remember this is now only 3 days before her wedding and finding something in stock might not be a possibility, but the first place I checked was Brides by Demetrios in Scottsdale, where I knew that Lani had some items displayed. I walked in, asked the ladies where Lani's display was set, they informed me that there were only a couple of chandelier earrings available, but I asked to see them anyway. Sure enough there was the set that I thought would go perfectly with her gown. I quickly snapped a photo, with permission of course, remember when you are dealing with anything custom whether it be a gown, jewelry, floral, whatever, you want to make sure that you have permission, anyway, I snapped the photo, called my bride but unfortunately she was unavailable. Not knowing whether she would like them or not I left the bridal salon and e-mailed her the photo. She absolutely loved the earrings and wanted to know if we could put a hold on them. It was rather late in the evening, so I e-mailed Lani and she responded immediately, told me that she would call the salon in the morning and have them put on hold for my bride. When I called the next morning to Brides by Demetrios, I explained who I was and the nature of my call, I was asked to hold on for a moment and when someone came back on the line, it was none other than Lani herself. She made a point to make a special trip into the salon first thing in the morning, pack up the earrings in pretty wrapping and put a card personally addressed to my bride. WOW, talk about customer service!!!


So needless to say, my bride was ecstatic, she must have told me at least 3 times on her wedding day, how happy she was with the earrings, how perfect they were with her gown and how happy she was that we were able to get her something she loved on such short notice.

Thanks Lani, you are the best!!!

All the best & 'til next time,

It's Wedding Day for Myriam & Guy

Well it's come time for Guy & Myriam to tie the knot today and I am really excited to be a part of their wedding celebration. They started out planning for a backyard wedding and ended up expanding just a tad, winding up at Cibola Vista Resort in Peoria, Arizona. They still wanted the feel of an intimate celebration with family and friends and that is exactly what they are going to get.

Check back in a few days and we'll have some pics to share!

All the best & 'til next time,

Freakin' Fabulous Friday - What do I do with my Napkin?

I am not sure if this just pertains to the southwestern U.S. or if this is a national issue, but I think that most of us are not really comfortable in a formal dining atmosphere. For me personally, my family generally adheres to a very casual dining style and I guess most of the people that I know do as well. I notice this many times during some of the networking dinners that I attend or when I am with a client and we are at their tasting for their wedding reception, they are just not very comfortable, Which is my bread plate? What are all these forks for? So with that said I think we are going to start out our new series with proper dining etiquette.

First up the napkin! As soon as you've been seated, remove your napkin from the table, placing it in your lap, if possible folded in half. Please, please, please resist the urge to tuck it in your shirt, that just isn't cool and definitely not the vision of fabulousness! If you need to get up from the table at any point during the meal, place the napkin on your seat, NOT on the back of your chair and definitely NOT back on the table. Your napkin should only be returned to the table at the completion of the meal and when you are leaving the table for the evening.


There you have it, our first tip towards a more fabulous you!

All the best & 'til next time,








Featured Resource:

Along the Rabbit Trail - Solemates

Every once and a while, I'll be reading a blog and that will lead me to yet another blog and another, until, I have no idea where I started in the first place, hence the "Rabbit Trail". But sometimes along that trail I will come across a new product that I'd really like to share with my readers.

Here in Arizona, I would say that approximately 75% of my wedding ceremonies take place outdoors, in a garden or at a beautiful golf resort and inevitably that will cause issues with the ladies high heels sinking into the grass.

This wedding in Texas was at a brand new venue, with a brand new lawn and as this particular bride came out to survey the ceremony site before getting dressed, she unknowingly stepped off of the artificial turf that the venue had placed in some VERY soft places (read as muddy) and she got STUCK! and I mean stuck, she is actually grabbing a hold of her leg and trying to pull it up out of the lawn. Now instead of the photographer immediately coming to this poor bride's aid, he just had to take a quick shot. Boo, bad photographer! I can say that because the photographer was her future father-in-law (my hubby helping out with set up) and the bride is my daughter-in-law who is a really good sport and we can giggle about it to this day.

But I wish that we would have known about Solemates back then, because during the ceremony it was now my turn to walk down the aisle and let me tell you, that was not the only soft spot in the lawn. My calves got really tired of me attempting to walk on my tippy toes! I think the guests must have thought that I started the cocktail hour before everyone else, 'cause it was really difficult to walk, let alone stand up straight.

Anywaaaayyyy - Discreet and easy to use, the SoleMates High Heeler™ attaches easily to most stiletto and kitten heels. By increasing the surface area on the base of the heel, it reduces the pressure on this area and prevents the heel from sinking into grass or falling into cracks! The patented design of the SoleMates High Heeler™ is mechanically engineered to fit snugly on most heels and yet the flexible material grips securely without damaging the heel or compromising the aesthetics of the shoe.





After the ceremony and once indoors, slip them off your heels, toss them in your handbag and no need to clean off the mud all over your heels!

Have you ever tried these? If so, we would love to hear about your experience.

All the best & 'til next time,

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Marcello Caputi

We're taking you back to Saturday, March 21st, when I had the pleasure of assisting Sherrie & Marcello with their wedding at Sassi in Scottsdale, Arizona. They started out as clients and after a year of planning their nuptials, these two became really good friends. We didn't start out planning a year in advance, they were going to wed in October of 2008, but Sherrie works in the banking industry and with all of the mergers, she was kept quite busy traveling back and forth from Ohio, so needless to say there was a postponement along the way.


It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a wedding, with family in from New York, Utah and Illinois the sunny spring weather was a welcome change for most of their guests. Sherrie & Marcello are both Italian and it was a high priority for them to greet their guests with a pre-ceremony hors d'oeuvres reception with some lively jazz tunes by Jazzola. They served Mimosas, Mini Quiches, Fritattas and lots of other goodies. It was a wonderful start to an amazing day!





You may notice that Sherrie is wearing a short ivory cocktail dress for the pre-ceremony reception and that was a very long trick played on Marcello. All the way thru the year of planning, Sherrie was adamant that she was going to wear a pant suit and did not want to wear a gown at all! So as the wedding day approached she told him that she was compromising and at least going to wear a dress. As the guests moved from the fountain courtyard to the ceremony lawn, Sherrie ducked into the Bridal Suite and quickly changed and I mean lightning fast. I couldn't believe how quick this lady was, there was no messing around, she wanted to get down that aisle and surprise Marcello.























The very romantic ceremony was performed by none other than Larry James, here they are making it legal.




All of the florals were provided by Jacque and her crew at Endearing Floral Design, the favors were delectable truffles from Julia Baker Confections and Barb with Let Them Eat Cake designed the scrumptious cake and cupcakes

The day was concluded with a luncheon reception in the beautifully appointed banquet room just off the fountain courtyard.

The wonderful photos are a result of Kate Wall's artistic eye and ability to capture a couple that didn't want to hire a photographer in the first place. It took a little bit of arm twisting, Sherrie & Marcello said they hated to have their photos taken and did not want to have a photographer, but from their first meeting Sherrie, Marcello & Kate hit it off. Their personalities were a perfect match for each other, putting this shy couple at ease. After Sherrie viewed the photos, she told me she was so glad to have them, that she could hardly remember what had happened that day or who was even there. Great job Kate!

Congratulations Sherrie & Marcello, I am going to miss our planning meetings, but so happy to have two new friends!!!

All the best & 'til next time,

New Series - Freakin' Fabulous Friday

As I was walking thru a bookstore recently, I saw a book that grabbed my attention, Freakin' Fabulous by Clinton Kelly. As I flipped thru the pages to preview the content, I realized this might just give me a giggle or two, but after taking it home and delving into the book, I could hardly put it down. Clinton has a playful and sometimes catty way of giving his readers a crash course in how to dress, entertain, behave in social arenas and basically be a more Fabulous version of yourself.

Sooo, I thought that I would start a new series, called Freakin' Fabulous Fridays, where I will give excerpts from his book, as well as some tips on how to be a more fabulous bride. Check back on Fridays for our latest and greatest tip or just pick up the book yourself and find out for yourselves just how fabulous you can be!

All the best & 'til next time,