Ashley and Robby, our amazing couple from Birmingham, were married on July 19 on Pensacola Beach.  We had a great time planning their purple and green soiree. The ceremony was gorgeous (perfect weather!).  Chuck Randel did a fabulous job officiating along with Ashley's cousin, Kate, who played the guitar for her processional. At the {Skopelos} reception, guests enjoyed an array of food stations including a Southern grits bar with all of the “fixins”.  Ashley surprised her bridesmaids and friends with a very meaningful cake pull. For those if you that don’t know what a cake pull is, click here.  Guests were surprised with Ashley 's dress change followed by the Second Line Dance departure lit with sparklers.  Photography by {Kim Sellers Photography}. Ashley and Robby are such a caring couple and I wish them a lifetime of happiness together! ~Leah

We have thousands of these candid behind the scenes shots!  Enjoy this little peek into Bliss...

Clockwise from top left: Bliss girls photo shoot with {Rae Leytham}; Lara assisting with the cake cutting {Almasy Photo}; Bliss girls photo shoot with {Kim Sellers} and {At First Sight Photo}; straightening chair covers {Kim Sellers}; the before and after effect we love so much! {Salter Photography}; installing flowers at a Travis Tritt benefit event;  Laura N, Bria, Leah and Ashley ready for Lauren and Craig's wedding {Rae Leytham}; Lara, Kirstin, Stef and Amanda holding mini pinneapples after installing massive florals for a Kid's House benefit (note Amanda's battle wound from a glass vase attacking her!); at the Bragg Mitchell Mansion with Bliss model Tammy {Rae Leytham}; prepping flowers for Travis Tritt; Danielle and intern Lindsey fixing a bouquet at a bridal shoot; Lara at a photo shoot--too many brides, so many beautiful bouquets! {Kim Sellers}.  Happy Saturday!

So, I am moving from LA to Chapel Hill in less than 2 weeks (no, I haven't started packing! too busy blogging..) and I am ready to take on an intern or two.  I've been here all by my lonesome in California for 2 years, so I am extremely excited to take a new Bliss girl (or two or three) under my wing.  If anyone knows of someone fabulous, please email me.  Potential interns, please send me your resume, internship requirements from your school if you would like to do your internship for credit, and a short note about you and why you want to intern with Bliss in NC.   Email [lara at bliss event group dot com]. 

North Carolina vendors, please email me and introduce yourself.  I plan to have a Bliss/SWS party when I get there and I look forward to meeting all of you!  I have already met some wonderful professionals through email and can't wait to finally get to know them in person.  ~ Lara

Here's a little Saturday inspiration for you ... I keep coming back to this image.  It just makes me happy!  from {Martha} 

We are so inspired by wedding professionals posting their personal and professionals goals on their blogs for the world to see.  It takes a lot of courage to put these things out there! 

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

A few of our favorites... {Millie Holloman's Goals}, {Melissa Jill's 101 in 1001}, and {Jessica Claire's 101 in 1001} (my fav is #70!). If you have a list of your own, we want to know about it--post a comment here with the link so we can pass along the inspiration! We're going to start our own lists this week and put them up for you.  Stay tuned... 

We have a big Bliss weekend ahead--two very exciting weddings!  Our Saturday wedding will be with {Rae Leytham Photography} and our Sunday wedding with {Arden Photography} from Birmingham.  Stay tuned for all the details. We will post pics from last weekend's fabulous event too as soon as we get them!

A huge thank you to the phenomenal new Bliss Girl, Wanwisa Posner.  Her entries this week were so inspiring for all of us!  What a gift she has for attention to detail.  Look forward to hearing much more from Mrs. Posner in the near future. 

So, we have thousands of behind-the-scenes pics and everyone always wants to know what's behind the beautiful big day.  I thought I'd share just a sampling of our many adventures in wedding planning...  We could post a hundred of these entries! So, enjoy these pics and have a Blissful weekend!

Clockwise from top left: Our favorite intern, Kirstin, hanging lanterns for Linquida and Jarret's big day; Amanda, Sam and Danielle standing in the place where Laura and Matt were to be married so Lara could envision the ceremony decor; Lara checking model Jessica's Nicole Miller gown before a shoot {Kim Sellers Photography};  beautiful bride, Natalie, getting her makeup done in the Bliss office before her bridal portraits {Cook Images}; this is what our office looks like before a wedding... boxes and boxes of fabulous little treasures and goodies for the big day!;  Lara leading a waterfront wedding rehearsal {Kim Sellers Photography}; keeping a bride from the blazing coastal sun;  Tiffany behind the scenes at a photo shoot {Kim Sellers Photography}; Danielle decking a bride out in all of her jewels {At First Sight Photo}.

People always ask us, "What's a typical day for you?"  Well, there is no "typical" ... every day is a surprise and every day brings new challenges.  We tend to thrive on the challenges!  Every week we get a slew of resumes from people wanting to step into the "Blissful Life". Our job is essentially solving problems and coming up with perfect solutions to needs, dreams and desires.  So, if you don't love the thrill of conquering stress, pressure and fully putting yourself in the bride's shoes and usurping all of her stress as well, then this job may not be for you.  We love it!  "How?" you may ask.  It's just like your job-- you have a skill set.  You have trained and worked your tush off and learned and trained some more until you became the master at what you do, so eventually it comes easily to you.  We are committed to constantly learning.  Just as in medicine, there are always new techniques, tools, ideas, and new patients/brides with different personalities and needs.  There are no one-size-fits-all weddings here.  OK, so, a "typical untypical" day for us is starting bright and early and spending an hour or so sorting through emails (many of us will confess doing this in bed via crack I mean, blackberry with one eye open before the sun comes up.)  Many times we get up before brushing our teeth to conquer tasks and attend to brides needs first thing.  Then, we realize we should shower and get dressed for the day, but inevitably one of us has called the other person and started talking through the day's business before that happens.  We talk about how our brides are doing and we consult each other on weddings, new ideas, and fabulous finds (we are ALWAYS hunting for the latest and greatest!).  We go through a few decor proposals together and figure out how they can be even more fabulous for the couple and then we go back to attempting to get in the shower before anyone else calls! Leah, Erica and Danielle take meetings in the afternoons with new brides, current brides, vendors, locations and run errands.  The post office, flower markets, office depot, fabric and craft stores, magazine racks and vendor offices are where you may find us during this time.  Late afternoon and early evening we have team meetings, conference calls with our many brides who plan from afar and may be on different time zones, more emails, phone calls to vendors, and somewhere in there is a bite to eat... maybe ; ).  Late night the Bliss Babes are all abuzz!  This is high time for new ideas, discoveries on vendor blogs and websites, planning for the next day's meetings and yes, spending time with our husbands.  Right before bed, we check emails and our online office system for the next day's menu of excitement.  Phew!  Weekends pose a different schedule of events with most of our weddings starting (for us) at 6am for set-up and making sure everything is on time, in place, and FLAWLESS.  We bring the bride and her bridesmaids breakfast and start her day off beautifully, tending to every need she has... all the while coordinating with the rest of our team to ensure the ceremony, reception, and groom/groomsmen men are well taken care of at the same time.  I won't go into what happens next... that's the Bliss magic.  (read our wedding day and standard services on the {Bliss Website} for all the details of what we do).  Post-wedding we come home late to our husbands and crash with visions of sugar plums and fondant roses dancing in our heads.  But it's not over yet... the next day we send linens back to the warehouse, re-stock our storage unit, make sure the venue is completely cleaned out and all the vendors are happy and check in with the couple to see if they need anything pre-honeymoon (and make sure they got a piece of cake!).
 
Monday nights we have a team meeting to discuss the weekend's wedding/s and how we can constantly evolve and continue to raise the bar in our industry for quality and flawless attention to detail.  There you have it!  When asked what we do, Danielle always says "well, it would be easier to tell you what we DONT do!".  We do it all (except control the weather and how many tears your groom will shed when he sees your radiant bridal beauty on the Big Day) and we LOVE what we do.

The reward at the end of all the work is the bride and groom, their families and all of their guests and friends having the time of their lives and never having to do any part of our job. Our Brides are guests at their own weddings.  They never know about the challenges we have faced, hoops we've had to jump through, or long hours we have put in... all they know is that their wedding was PERFECTION and those memories will last them a lifetime!  ~Have a Blissful Day,  Lara

Monday, December 31, 2007

Where has a year gone?

The image above is me, my precious, and my husband.

They put up with my crazy life on the weekends and provide so much support.

I couldn't write this post without a "Thank you" to them!

As I sit here at my computer in my little office, I am truly amazed what has happened in one year's time. Last year, I was working for Bliss as an Event Producer, but had no idea how much this business would come to mean to me. Throughout 2007 I have been a part of so many wedding days that you would think I could never remember them all...but I do. Please indulge me as I reminisce...Erin and John make me want to plan a trip to New York City...Natalie and Beau will forever be the hot pink/leopard print wedding...Nikki and Rob still make me smile every time I think about Nikki's friends calling us to go out on the town at 2:00 in the morning after the wedding...Laura and Matt first introduced us to the Babikows and their grace and class shine through the entire family...Summer and Gregg, I'm definitely looking you up when I make it to San Diego...Kelly and Jake, congratulations on your upcoming addition and I will always remember the sweetest lady I've ever met, Mrs. Nancy Hart (and I'm so proud of her for not bringing ferns to the wedding!)...Jessica and Tim, it may have rained all day but you two were troopers and showed what it means to remember what the wedding day is all about...Danielle and Len are so in love and I've honestly never seen a groom look at his new wife the way he looks at her...Becky and Jeremy truly know how to throw the BEST party...Christine and Joe have the most amazing family and let me experience my first family sing-a-long at a wedding (Sweet Caroline..da, da ,da!)...The Babikows blessed us again with a 50th anniversary party honoring Dave and Wyona...Mark and Lori wrapped up the year in style and I cannot think of a better ending for 2007.

Reflecting on the past makes me excited for the year to come. Tomorrow I will put away my Christmas decorations (including the hot pink tree in my office...yes, the TREE is pink) and prepare for the year ahead. There are already so many fascinating plans on the horizon, I cannot wait to see what else will pop up. To my partners in crime (aka, all the other wedding vendors) how lucky are we? This is the most amazing and rewarding business that we are a part of and so many people will never love their "work" as much as we do.

Lastly, to Mrs. Lara Casey...where in the world would I be without you? How did we even get here? Thank you for taking a chance on me and trusting me with something that you poured your heart and soul into. I know that there is not another person in this world other than you who can understand how I feel on a day like yesterday. The sense of accomplishment, pride, exhaustion and relief all mixed together is indescribable to someone who has not been there. You've taught me the importance of trusting your instincts, always putting the bride first, and never allowing yourself to lose focus of the business. You are a remarkable woman and we are going to be on Oprah. I don't know what will happen next, but whatever it is, I think we're ready.

God bless you all in the upcoming year and may you find your peace.

Danielle Flowers Atkinson