I won’t lie – this Colorado real wedding has a special place in my heart. It isn’t every day that you get to plan your best friend’s wedding!

It was a lot of fun to help Stacy and Kevin plan their wedding. The end result fit their fun, laid-back, vibrant style. Nothing screams Stacy more than shoes, so those quickly became a focal point of the wedding. The bride wore ivory shoes with black polka dots and hot pink trim. Each bridesmaid wore shoes that coordinated with their bouquets in an assigned vibrant color. The guys all wore flip flops – Kevin’s shoe of choice. Sharing the couple’s love of reading, guests each received a custom bookmark as the wedding favor.

Guests enjoyed a beautiful setting, delicious food and a night filled with singing and dancing!

Event Details:
Venue: Cielo at Castle Pines
Caterer: The Food Guy
Photographer: Jenni Maroney Photography
Florist: The Flowerhouse
DJ: Double Down Productions
Rentals: Event Rents
Makeup: Heathyrre Kautz
Officiant: Judge Jim Patterson
Wedding Dress: The Little White Dress
Transportation: ddg Classic Limousine Service
Wedding Coordinator: Sapphire Celebrations

As I’ve mentioned, my best friend of 30 years is getting married this summer. We have been busy planning her big day and having a lot of fun pulling it all together. Stay tuned as I post tips to help you with your wedding planning!

Selecting a venue for your wedding is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make when planning your big day. Where you host your event sets the overall tone for the event. My best friend is hosting her wedding and reception at Cielo at Castle Pines a beautiful venue in Castle Rock.

Below are some questions to ask when searching for the perfect venue for your wedding:

• What is the cost for hosting your wedding ceremony? What does the ceremony site look like?
• What’s included in ceremony site fee (chairs, set up, aisle runner, etc.)?
• Is there a site fee for hosting your reception at the venue?
• What’s included in reception site fee (chairs, tables, linen options, china, silverware, crystal, etc.)?
• How many events take place at the venue at one time?
• How much time to you get the venue? Does this include set up/tear down time?
• Does the venue provide the food or have a preferred caterer list you have to select from?
• If catering is done in-house, what is the food and beverage minimum?
• Does the venue have a pastry chef on site or will you need to find another vendor for your cake?
• If outsourcing the cake, is there a cake cutting fee?
• How is the bar handled at the venue? If they have a liquor license do they have consumption, hourly, and cash bar options.

My best friend of 30 years is getting married in June and we’ve officially started her wedding planning! As we work on different areas of her planning, I thought I would take you along for the ride. Stay tuned throughout the next several months and I’ll give you tips to help with your planning as well!

Last month we started our search for her wedding dress and found “the one” at our first shop. This doesn’t always happen, but we just knew our search needn’t go any further. Here are some tips I gave to her (as I give to all Sapphire Celebrations’ brides) before we headed out.

• Eat before you go and in between appointments.
• Bring bottled water with you.
• Gather pictures of dresses you like and show them to the sales people so they can get an idea of your taste (magazines and theknot.com are great resources).
• Wear “full coverage” underwear and your own strapless bra.
• Don’t do more than 3-4 appointments in a day. It’s overwhelming!
• Bring a digital camera and ask permission from the salon to use it. It’ll help you remember which dresses you like.
• Try on all types of styles at first, you never know what you will look best in until you’ve tried it on.
• Don’t feel pressure from sales people. You have time to buy. Be sure you’re 100% happy with your gown.
• Limit the number of people that you take with you. You don’t want too many opinions!
• Go with a budget in mind.

Happy shopping!

Photo by Jenna Walker Photographers