1. Set your date, pick your color scheme and dress.

2. Be prepared to put deposit’s or retainer’s down with all your wedding vendors to hold your date.

3. Hire a wedding planner, this will make the process go much smoother for you in the planning stages as well as the actual wedding day.

Our top 3 recommendations for wedding planners are:

•  Cassandra at www.flaireweddings.com or 904-613-1228.
•  Heather at www.firstcoastweddings.com or 904-739-8003.
•  Tanya at www.southerncharmevents.org or 904-731-5978.

4. Get your venue(IE where you are going to have wedding and reception at) Sometimes the venue will help in determining your date if they are already booked.  Popular venues sometimes book out over 12 months in advance so if you want a particular venue get your date secured.

5. Get your caterer if you need one, they also book at really fast our number one recommendation for catering is:

•  Hope with www.d-vinecuisine.com or 904-742-7353.

6. Hire your Photographer – and get a good one do not rely on family or friends that dabble in photography do the honors for you. Find one that has the style and personality that meshes well with you, remember they will be your shadow most of your day and the photographs that are taken will be with you for the rest of your life. Getting a good photographer is essential to your wedding day so do not resist paying for a good one.

Our top three photographer recommendations are:

•  Ron B. Wilson at www.ronbwilson.com or 646-221-5351.
•  Christy Whitehead Photography at www.christywhiteheadphotography.com or 904-891-0359.
•  Mel Roby Photography at www.melrobyphotography.com or 904-707-2861.

7. Hire your florist.  Find one that you think will see your vision of your wedding day.  Flowers and decor are one of the most noticeable things on your wedding day.  Three of the most important things to remember about florist is:

•  Have a realistic budget for flowers do not expect to get expensive flowers(peonies, hydrangeas, garden roses, calla lily’s or large headed flowers on a shoe string budget, If you want expensive or large scale arrangements be prepared to pay for them.  Flowers are like food, they are perishable and have to be brought in the week of the wedding, processed, fed, cooled at certain temperatures, designed and then delivered and set up.

•  Make sure you let your florist know at the consultation what your vision is and bring pictures or any aids that might be beneficial to them to get your vision in their mind.

•  Compare apple to apples!!!!  When comparing estimate from more than one florist make sure the estimates have the same types of flowers on them. You cannot get an estimate of peonies from one florist and get another estimate for roses from different florist and expect them to be the same. Each flower has different prices so keep that in mind when comparing.

8.  Get your Cake and DJ’s about the same time as your florist.  Most Florist, DJ, and Bakers book out 6-12 months in advance so be prepared to get your date secured with a deposits. Our recommendations for great bakers and DJ’s are the following:

Cakes:

• Metro Custom cakes at www.metrocustomcakes.com  or 904-379-2571.
• Divine Designs Cake Boutique at www.divinedesigncakeboutique.com or 904-571-5407.
• Kakes by Katie at www.kakesbykatie.com or 904-716-9915.

DJ’s:

• Footloose Entertainment at www.footlooseentertainment.com or 904-854-8014.
• D’Land Entertainment at  www.delandentertainment.com or 904-880-7887.

When all the planning is done, RELAX and enjoy your wedding day with your family and friends and TRUST in the Professionalism of the vendors that you have hired.  Congratulations on your engagement and Happy New Year to All!!!!

Nicole took me to the back where Ben and her other horses are stabled and she got right to work as I watched.  She explained what she was doing as she worked. She told me the differences in the carriage’s and the different types of harness that can be used on the horses.  We hooked up and away we went.  I was truly impressed at how Nicole would watch and listen to Ben talk to her without words.  She does not have to use anything other than her voice to get him to obey.  We even got to a pretty good run in the carriage down HWY 218 in Middleburg.  Nicole gave me a quick lesson on driving Ben and then I got to take over.  It was so much fun and I can’t wait to try it again.

After we got back to Ben’s house I gave him some peppermint and watermelon that I had brought because I had heard he loves both.  He was a gentleman and shared with the other horse (Sonic) and the 2 pony’s that Nicole and Mike have rescued.

I truly recommend www.PintoCarriageWorks.com for any special event or wedding. Call Mike or Nicole today at 904-302-0502.

Thanks Nicole for the adventure with Ben.

 I am super excited about doing a wedding for a wounded solider Tyler Southern and his beautiful bride Ashley Statti. I will be partnering with Karen Richmond of Divine Designs www.divinefloraldesignsinc.com who saw the video on First Coast News and was so touched that she volunteered to do the flowers.  I was so thankful that she called me and ask me to help her in this endeavor in giving back to our soldiers who sacrifice so much in protecting our freedoms .

I am also excited to get to work with Christy Whitehead www.christywhiteheadphotography.com  and Trish and Steve with Metro Custom Cakes www.metrocustomcakes.com again. This should be fun.