Part II: Creating the Perfect Moment

Day 2 our bride steps out of her home with a fresh pair of heels and new expectations. She gathers her crew and begins her dress shopping:

Imagine entering a gorgeous wedding gown boutique met by a fabulous white staircase. Upstairs you become surrounded by various different sections of exquisite gowns separated by top designers. A sales associate approaches you and assists with picking out various dresses of your choice making suggestions along the way based on your body type and skin coloring. Your hands run across all the different fabrics enjoying the textures, layers, and beading. This sales consultant will bring you and your family into a private dressing room where she will help you try on all the gowns of your liking. Based on your response she will bring you more dresses that will compliment your figure so much you could just cry. At the end of the day you will find a dress. This dress will likely make you do a little dance in front of the mirror, your mom will begin to cry, and sure enough the tears become contagious and the whole room, including you, will have smiling wet cheeks. The perfect dress has been found and a moment has been created.

Experiences are everything in life. Make sure this experience is so perfect that words can not express the joy and excitement you feel. Meet me for Part III for a few wise suggestions and a glimpse into the newest wedding dress fashion trends.

Always Learning, Always Fabulous,

Vanessa Sinatora
Associate Planner

Part I: The Wedding Dress Saga

When shopping for a wedding dress it is vastly important to know where to go and who to meet with. As minor a task this may seem you would be surprised how much a wedding planner can do to make sure you have an excellent shopping experience. Without the advice of a wedding planner you may find yourself in the following situation:

Imagine entering a cutely decorated store glancing around, excited to try on your first wedding dress. You reach for a beautiful pearl gown to get a closer look and feel the fabric against your skin, WAIT, a sales consultant stops you with a drill sergeant like demeanor. “Please use these hand wipes and clean your hands thoroughly before touching any gowns” she says. So you clean your hands feeling like a four year old who just got scolded by her mother. When you try to enter the actual salon where the dresses are being kept there is a small stop sign requesting that all customers wait to be escorted into the room. You have brought your sisters, best friend and mother to help pick dresses to try on. The sales consultant says “I am sorry, only one person can help you pick out dresses.” Every where you walk and everything you touch is being patroled by the sales associate standing in the corner of the room. Here you are ready to spend $1,000-$20,000 and this is your shopping experience? Well, as a wedding planner I would not let my bride experience this. Shopping for a dress should be an exciting experience and a bride should enjoy every moment that leads up to her big day.

After an experience like this you could imagine what a disappointment day 1 of wedding dress shopping was. After a long discussion with her wedding planner she will be out on day 2 with new direction and many new expectations. Tune in for part 2: Creating the Perfect Moment!

Yours Truly,

Vanessa Sinatora
Associate Planner

Cutural Weddings: Eritrean Weddings Celebrate With Great Flare

My first cultural wedding! I love culture! Coming from a family with an Italian father and Mexican mother gave me a lot of culture to start off with but nothing compared to the insane amount of tradition that was involved in this extravagant wedding. When I am working on an event I usually remain focused on what needs to be done to ensure everything is running on schedule. Although this was the case, I found that there were points in time that the traditions being handled by the family left me standing in awe. I cannot repeat enough how much I love culture. It was an honor to partake in all these ceremonies and learning about the different traditions that they hold so closely to their heart.

The ceremony began at 4:30 pm at the Chapelwood United Methodist Church. Before the ceremony there were seven bouquets to hand out to the bridesmaids, seven boutonnière’s to pin on the grooms men, the ushers needed instruction, and finally I had to get all 14 of them in order to walk down the isle. Yes, the made of honor and best man made it down the isle with the rings safely tucked away. Soon after, the most beautiful bride I have yet to work with floats down the isle bringing tears to many loved ones eyes.

Picture time! With the help of a few family members we must have had 200 plus pictures snapped. Nancy Aidee, the photographer impressively managed a bridal party of 30 plus people maintaining a sweet smile. Now to get everyone on the limo bus, all 16 of them…Where is the bride?
Finally we rallied the women onto the bus where they commenced the celebration opening bottles of champagne accompanied by lots of laughter. 15 minutes later I thanked EJ for the fabulous ride by Royal Carriages and we enter the beautiful Omni Hotel. Here Samantha greets me with two other soireebliss! members and hands me a list of infinity things I must accomplish before the introduction of the bridal party.

One thing I did not account for in this cultural wedding is that the band did not speak one word of English…Hmmm. Another problem we run into with other cultures is that time really is not very important. Luckily we had a wonderful DJ named Will from Def Jam Blaster who was so incredibly flexible and wonderful to work with because if the band was still outside during their break, he would just keep jamming. Thank you Will.

Everything is running on schedule! The food at the Omni was absolutely exquisite. The décor in the banquet was breathtaking and the guests were all on the dance floor having the time of their lives. The bride and groom did a lovely toast and we cut the beautiful cake made by Who Made the Cake.

The stress is over, the event was lovely and most importantly we made the bride and groom, as well as all their loved ones truly happy! They celebrated till 2am the new beginning of the merging of two very lovely families. Congratulations to Mewael and Elise!



Yours Truly,

Vanessa Sinatora
Associate Planner

Your venue allows you to bring in your own alcohol, BUT not how much?

You can imagine, having the opportunity to provide your own alcohol can be a huge cost saving. For the state of Texas, you will still need to hire a TABC certified bartender which will cost $100-150 per bartender for a 4 hour event.

For alcohol in general, rule of thumb is to consider the following:

Each guests will consume 2 drinks their first hour and 1 drink each consecutive hour after that. Of course, you will have guests drink more, less or none at all. The numbers provide averages.

If you have a large number of guests whom are heavy drinkers, increase the total number 25%

So, for 150 guests for a 4 hour reception = 750 drinks

On average, the bar consists of 50% beer, 25% wine and 25% liquar. These percentages can be adjusted based on your specific group of friends and family

Beer would equal 375 cans = 16 cases
187 glasses of wine
187 glasses of cocktails

It's always best to consider buying beer in cans vs. bottles as it is safer and more "green". You may consider recycling the cans.

- A bottle of wine will yield 6-7 glasses which would require 31-32 bottle

When purchasing alcohol, the breakdown is as follows:

- A 750 ml. Bottle will yield about 16 cocktails.
- A liter bottle will yield 22 drinks.
- A 1.5 liter bottle will yield 39 drinks.

Wedding Feature: Stephanie & Benjamin's Summer Wedding

With each couple that I work with in helping to plan their wedding, I can't help but to feel the buzz of excitement the week of the wedding. Having been a Bride myself, I know what the couple is feeling and it simply gives me butterflies as I know they are about to embark on one of the happiest and most memorable days of their lives. With being 3 days away from Stephanie & Ben's wedding, who needs coffee when you have the wedding buzz?!

For me, Stephanie and Benjamin has been a truly adorable couple to work with. When they look at each other, you can see just how much they adore each other and are in love. Their summer wedding is filled with detail, detail, detail from custom hand towels to gourmet styled meals and an array of eclectic songs to ensure that every guests dances the night away. They are having a wedding surrounded by family and friends with a collection of truly talented wedding professionals to bring it all together. Of course, with yours truly, they will be assured that the event will run flawlessly. As many have teased me in past, my events usually do run down to the minute in exact precision. 8:39 for the first dance....really!

Event Ingredients:

Church: St. Michael Catholic Church
Venue: The Courtyard at St. James

Photographer: Morgan Lynn Photography (engagement pics shot in New Orleans)
Florist: Events in Bloom

Cake: Cakes by Gina

C. Music: Divisi Strings

Hair/makeup: Your Beautiful Face

Linens: Elegant Beginnings

DJ: JM Productions

Transportation: The Original Trolley Company

Host Hotel: Hotel Derek

TLC is casting for "Four Weddings" in Dallas/Ft. Worth.....could this be you?

Yup, that's right! "Four Weddings" is now able to include September weddings on Season Two!

We were very excited because we know a lot of you have brides getting married in September who were interested in being a part of the show. But don't forget, we still want to meet your brides getting married in June, July & August as well. This season is turning out to be better than ever and the vacation prizes are out of this world. Below is a reminder about how the show works and send us your brides quick! WE want to give everyone a chance to be a part of this incredibly fun show:)

"Four Weddings" is a new hit show on TLC, but it's NOT like a "Bridezillas" type of show or anything that is snarky or negative...it is the exact opposite. We're doing a show that actually wants to see their wedding day turn out as perfect as they've planned it. TLC is giving these brides the opportunity to feature their wedding on the show and a chance to WIN an all expense paid, 5-star vacation that they can use for their Honeymoon or 1st anniversary trip or whatever they want! It's also fun because they get the opportunity to exchange ideas and vent their frustrations with other brides and attend each others weddings.

They're looking to feature ALL types of weddings. It can be your first, second, third or thirteenth wedding. No wedding is too small or too big! Any and all ages welcome.


Here is a link to the show's page for clips and more info and I've attached our one-sheet for you to forward to your brides. We look forward to hearing from you!!


If you'd like to be considered for the show, please email or call the Casting Department immediately at: TLCBrides@gmail.com or 212-505-7775.

Support the Pink Door Organization and embellish your wardrobe - June 12th

One of my admired colleagues in the fashion industry, Misti Pace-Krahl, owner of Misti Style has teamed up with Pink Door to create an amazing event filled with glam and luxury showcasing truly unique items from the most couture designers. This is a perfect way for any group of gal pals to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon. With a portion of the ticket sales benefiting Pink Door what better excuse do you need when choosing the hottest and most unique accessories to "pop" your summer wardrobe?!

So, come get your "Sparkle" on June 12th from 9am-6pm. And support an amazing cause!!

Purchase tickets here: www.MISTISTYLE.com/events