Welcome Our Newest Team Member: Natalie Shaw

In 2007, I took the leap of faith in myself and my dream to launch Soiréebliss! Events. Initially, it was just myself and two Event Day Assistants.  I set-up shop in the spare bedroom at my house and started plugging away.

Since then my vision for Soiréebliss! Events has grown even more successful than I could have initially hoped.  We beat the statistics for success/failure all small businesses face in their 1st and 2nd years or business.  We overcame the economic down-turn and evolved with the financial challenges.  Instead of working out of a 8x10 room in my house, we now have a large well appointed studio in the historic Heights. My team has grown to include one Associate Planner and five Event Day Assistants. 

The newest addition to the SB! team is Natalie Shaw; our Event Production Manager.  Her role is to facilitate planning and design of each event.  She plays a vital role in managing each client's event needs.  She brings to the team a fresh, vibrant personality and "mad" design skills.  

To welcome Natalie, please say hello at natalie@soireebliss.com

My name is Natalie Shaw, and I am the Event Production Manager at Soiréebliss! Events. I absolutely love my job.  It is the place where my passion and skills come together.  Every event is so different, and making them as amazing and stress-free as possible is my constant aspiration.

I graduated from Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina in 2007 with a degree in Business Administration.  For the first four years after graduating, I worked with a small oil & gas investment company in Houston as office manager and investment analyst.   I love the organization necessary to run an office smoothly, and continue to perfect those skills in the Soiréebliss! Events office.

My track record of event planning goes back to my childhood, helping my mother plan unforgettable showers for all our family and friends.  I honed my skills on the Student Activities Board in college, and cemented my passion while throwing over the top parties at my own home as often as I could find a reason.

The one thing that has been pervasive throughout all my life is the desire to bring people together for those extraordinary moments.  I love the planning of every detail, starting with the initial brainstorm, to designing the invitations and decor, to orchestrating the event production.  This is my passion, and I am so thankful to be a part of the amazing Soiréebliss! Events team that shares my passion.

Real Wedding Video: Xochy & Todd's Houstonian Wedding

After a very busy Spring wedding season, we are happy to have a small break to catch up on our blog. We know you love seeing real wedding and were were perusing some of the amazing weddings we have had over the years.  One of our favorite weddings was in 2010, originally published on Style Me Pretty.

Xochy and Todd was a very spirited couple who had wanted to host an amazing wedding for their family and friends.  The evening started with a cocktail hour hosting a sushi bar, casino tables and live music. When the ballroom doors opened, guests were greeted with a ballroom designed to "WOW".  Guests spent the evening dancing and celebrating to the sounds of a band and DJ. Not a detail was missed! Check out this amazing video recap from 31 Films.

Wedding Inspiration: Turquoise Plum & Gold

After a recent trip to Taos, New Mexico, I came back to Texas with a love of all things turquoise.  It probably didn’t help that my fiancé bought me the turquoise necklace that inspired this embrace.  But nevertheless, I often am finding myself turning to turquoise while planning my own wedding.  While turquoise is normally always seen with silver, gold brings out an extra richness in the turquoise taking it from an everyday stone to something much more unique and glamorous.  Gold and turquoise are fabulous compliments both enhancing the each other without either stealing the spotlight.  Also as a side note, a wonderful accent color to this dynamic duo is the unassuming plum.  While rich in its own right, plum also serves to soften the boldness of turquoise and gold.

This wedding color palette would be beautiful for a late summer wedding.  Rich with a touch of bohemian, it would be sure to leave everyone stunned.

Love & Color,
Natalie Shaw

Product Credit:
Love Letter Balloons: Balloon Maniacs
Gold Dahlia Charger: Chilewich
Monogram Napkin: be.Designs
Wedding Gown Designer: Sarah Seven
Bride's Necklace: Doolittle Jewelry
Bridesmaid's Necklace: Kate Spade - Carried at Nordstrom
Bridesmaid Dress: J.Crew
Cake Topper: Better Off Wed
Shoes: Bhldn
Wedding Invitation: Bowarrow Paper Co

Real Wedding: Kelly & Ron's Vintage Chic Glam Wedding

Kelly and Ron is one of the most fun couples.  Their wedding was designed with a vintage glam influence. The design theme is carried through the invitations, bridal attire, cake display and wonderful get-away vehicle.

One of the most heart-warming traditions I am beginning to see more and more is for brides to wear their Mother's veil in place of wearing their dress.  In Kelly's case she had it restyled to fit her dress and theme.  Her vintage fur wrap was then her "something borrowed" from her Grandmother.  For a November wedding, it was just enough!

Kelly and Ron chose to have their wedding Thanksgiving weekend as they love the holidays so much. It's the perfect opportunity for all your family to be together, says Kelly.  In honor of their love for the holidays, they had traditional Christmas songs play throughout dinner mixed with Frank Sinatra jazz.  For their grand exit, Kelly had a vision of falling snow flakes and the sound of jingle bells.  The Phoenix Group had exactly that!  They created fake snow as guests were gathered outside with their very own jingle bells.  What a spectacular site......in Houston!

It was truly a pleasure for the Soiréebliss! Events team to be a part of their very memorable wedding day. Many thanks to our talented team of event professionals who helped make the day amazing.

Vendor List:
Church: Holy Rosary
Reception: The Bell Tower on 34th Street
Photographer: Joseph West Photography
Bride's Cake: Who Made the Cake
Groom's Cake: The Chocolate Bar
Cookie Bar: Michael's Cookie Jar
Florist: Wedding Flowers by Lisa/The Blooming Gallery
Videography: A&A/Nico
Grand Exit (Fake Snow): Phoenix Design Group
Transportation: Monarch Vintage Cars
Reception Entertainment: DJ's Unlimited

I Do Destination! How to Wrangle the Airline Hurdle

Photo Credit: Clint Shuttlesworth

With destination weddings within the Continental U.S. and abroad becoming more popular with couples.  There is a common challenge most brides face; "How do I get my dress and personal decor there"?

Many bridal boutiques have started recommending that a Bride consider shipping her dress via Fed Ex to her destination. If this option is chosen, I would certainly address it to your contact person at your destination location and allow (3) weeks for the process. If you are going to a very remote location, allow (4) weeks.

If the thought of packing your dress in a box and shipping it off makes you hyper ventilate, you can definitely can carry your wedding dress through a security checkpoint. Ideally, the dress can lay flat in its garment bag or other packaging and fit through the X-ray machine. If it can’t, our officers can screen the dress manually, but this will require opening the garment bag. Rest assured that TSA officers will use gloves for the alternate screening to avoid damaging the dress.

You should also consider the plane size and whether you are in business or first class. While some aircraft have closets in first class that can hold the dress, others may not, which could cause challenges in storing the dress above the seat. Airlines will also count the dress as a carry-on item, so be sure to learn about your airline’s carry-on policies to avoid having to check any items at the gate. If never hurts to contact the airline to confirm their individual policies as they may change without notice. 

If you are transporting personal decor for the celebration, consider the following tip: 

1. If you’re taking a special cake knife to cut the cake, please ship it or put it in your checked bag. 

2. Wired bouquets are allowed through the checkpoint, along with rice, birdseed, sand and candy coated almonds. 

3. If you’re taking gifts for your bridal party, it’s best to wrap them when you get to your destination in case they require additional screening. 

4. Pack all of your jewelry in your carry-on bag – don’t put it in checked bags

5. If you are taking a special set of toasting flutes, wrap each glass in bubble wrap and ensure they are well protected

6. If you have planned a lot of DIY decor items and plan to transport them via a suitcase vs. shipping them, make sure to weight the bag to avoid extra weight costs.

If you have special questions regarding the items you want to take on a plane you can call or email TSA’s Contact Center at 1-866-289-9673 or at TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov. 

Something Different for Event Entertainment: Rocking Octet by Divisi Strings

A new and innovative group hits the entertainment scene in Houston - NEW EIGHT-PIECE STRING ENSEMBLE, TATSU.  Not only is Divisi Strings the leader in string quartets in Houston, but now they are going national with Tatsu.  With such a high level collection of talented musicians, they will be a sure success.  This group would be a perfect fit for the client who wants to "WOW" their guests with a unique form of entertainment.

DIVISI STRINGS DEBUTS NEW EIGHT-PIECE STRING ENSEMBLE, TATSU
Classical performances get a boost with cutting edge rock-inspired group

Houston-based chamber music agency, Divisi Strings, introduces their newest eight-piece string rock ensemble known as Tatsu—and it’s poised to radically shake up the classical music genre. “It’s a unique concept that’s challenging the traditional way of playing these instruments from a group of fabulously trained classical musicians,” says co-founder Tony Sanville.

A collection of eight string players handling four violins, two violas and two cellos make up Tatsu, which is the Japanese word for dragon and represents the ensemble’s inception during the year of the same. Facing the audience, Tatsu players are seated in two groups of four, much like a mirrored quartet. Together, they produce several layers of music, creating percussive sounds normally only achieved with the assistance of drums and electric guitars, and enhanced by lively violin solos rocketing back and forth between the groups.

Tatsu’s renditions of rock tunes, like the group’s first undertaking “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N Roses, includes classic & folk to modern-day rock pieces from the likes of Metallica, Coldplay, The Animals, System of a Down, Mumford & Sons and more. “We are on the cutting edge of live entertainment,” says Divisi Strings founder Shelli Mathews. “We play music that is popular across generations in an entirely new context.”

Unlike anything they’ve ever done before, Divisi String’s new Tatsu ensemble—consisting of eight dedicated members—is quickly gaining momentum, booking national performances and even recording an EP for radio play. “We wanted to take what we’d been doing in smaller groups, in quartets, multiply it and go even bigger,” says Sanville. “For us, Tatsu is more performance-based as well as recording. We’re really looking forward to releasing our own CDs of music we’ve done.”

Based in Houston, Tatsu will perform in venues around the state and across the country, available for immediate booking. For more information or to reserve Tatsu for an event, call 713.229.8663, email tatsu@divisistrings.com or visit tatsumusic.com to hear audio samples and please click the Tatsu video teaser below.

About Divisi Strings
Founded in Houston, Texas in October 2006 by Shelli Mathews and Tony Sanville, Divisi Strings first began as a single string quartet focused on weddings and bridal events. They soon expanded to include new concepts, Amp’d and Collide, which perform pop hits and upbeat tunes including a string quartet and a DJ for the latter. Now, Divisi Strings represents an agency of diverse talent that performs around the globe for traditional to contemporary events and everything in between.

High-resolution images of Divisi Strings are available to the media by request. Please email tatsu@divisistrings.com for images, interviews and additional information

Planning My Wedding: From the Perspective of an Event Planner

As an event planner, it was extra special for me to plan my wedding.  I make it my career to plan memorable events and weddings for my clients and now it was my turn.  If you can imagine, I had a zillion ideas of what to do for our wedding; destination wedding in Colorado on top of a mountain, destination wedding in a tropical location over looking the ocean, a New Year's Eve bash, the options were endless for me as I knew all the possibilities.  The ideas were endless, more than the average bride as I have seen and done it all. It was quite the task for my fiance (now husband) to make me pin down just one location and wedding concept.

After experiencing a few bumps along the planning process, we opted to host an intimate affair at the Omni Woodway Hotel for a 100 of our closest friends and immediate family.  While a destination wedding in Colorado was our favorite option, we knew that not everyone would be able to go.  We felt it was more important to share the day with those who meant the most to us vs. the location we were in.  For me, I spent little time choosing vendors as I had the inside scoop.  This cut my planning time greatly in half. 

Now on to the fun part, planning and designing the look of the event.  This is truly one of my most favorite parts of planning. This is where you can see a couple's true personality shine through. We choose a classic vintage theme with touches of modern details with a black and white color scheme to fit the evening affair. When choosing the details and colors, I advise every couple to imagine their wedding pictures 20 years from their wedding date.  Do they want the classic, timeless look or will their choices make their wedding/event look dated by trends and fads?

Like most Groom's my my hubby didn't quite share my excitement in the paper thickness for the invitations, or how the napkins would be folded or what type of guest book we would have.  He was happy knowing that we would serve good food, have an open bar with a quality selection for our guest and have fun.

I do want to share that while the planning process was easier for me than possibly the average bride due to my experience and insight, I too had a few hiccups and bumps in the planning process.  It wasn't anything I could have avoided or anticipated. I won't lie to say it wasn't frustrating or upsetting.  I did experience stress caused by the hiccups. But, I knew it wasn't caused because the vendors involved were bad, unprofessional or lacked ability, it was simply a misfortune random occurrence.  The difference for me is how I handled it.  I kept a mindful perspective that the importance of the day was for us to be married and celebrate with our friends. 

One of the continuous questions I was asked by most vendors was; "Who would be my Day-Of Planner to manage the wedding day?".  Imagine, me an event planner, hiring an event planner?! This question baffled me greatly. How could anyone do it better than I? This was a great misconception of mine.  While I enjoyed my wedding day, it was truly very hard to shut off the "planner" in me and enjoy the day as "bride".  Looking back, I know I should have had one of my Associate Planners or professional colleagues oversee my wedding as the Day-Of Coordinator.  I caught myself numerous times asking to know the time to know if we were on schedule or going through the mental checklist of what needed to be done still or over-seeing the set-up when I could have spent the time relaxing and socializing with friends and family.

My make-up artist (Pink Palette) snapped a picture of me in my wedding dress while they were putting finishing touches on my hair and I'm scanning over the timeline just before going down stairs to shoot the "first look" pictures.  This is the complete opposite of how I should have been enjoying the last few moments before starting the whirlwind of festivities.

I want to leave you with a little wisdom I learned as a bride myself:

1. Stop and smell the roses as you're planning.  It's a once in a lifetime experience that you will want to remember with happy memories.  Going into your wedding day with this mental state of mind will increase your enjoyment that much more.

2. Know that if you have a few bumps through the planning process that it's not going to make or break your day.  The most important thing is that you're marrying the man of your dreams and have a lifetime of memorable moments to later share with your grandchildren.

3. Hire a Day-of Planner!!!  This is one of the most important investments you will make.  It is equally important to the photographer you choose.  Without a Day-of Planner, your wedding day has too many moving parts for you to leave them to chance that they will go just right.  The last thing you will want to do is think about it on your wedding day. It will absolutely detract from your enjoyment.  As a planner myself, I know first hand.