Wedding Blog

I had a great time on Monday chatting with Lisa Benz, host of “The Wedding Zone.” Below is the broadcast. I hope you enjoy it! Hopefully I will be able to make another appearance soon.

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If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland(at)pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

Happy Tuesday everyone. What a weekend we had at the Rosen Center in Orlando. David’s Bridal did a huge fashion show. There were wonderful vendors in every category for brides to meet, and more than 150 brides showed up for the You’re Engaged, Now What? seminar.

What were the hot topics on the brides’ minds?

• Brides are still looking for great vendors at great prices.
• Many of them are using purple color schemes (this definitely agrees with what trendsetters predicted for 2010).
• Quite a few discussed managing their guests list, as in, “I only want to have fifty people at my wedding, but my list keeps growing, what should I do?” (The Guest List Manager on PWG.com is a great tool for maintaining a good guest list. Check it out by clicking here!)
• Many brides are planning on having someone else organize the wedding day… Not mom! Most of them said they would be looking to a friend to help them on the day of because they think that wedding coordinators are too expensive. I say, not so! Be sure to investigate the many wonderful coordinators in your area. Some might be quite affordable. Trust me, it will help you and your families enjoy your day.

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,
Susan

Our adventure didn’t slow down one bit during our trip. Finally, the explanation for that now infamous photo…

Just Marry! vice president and good friend Terri Oster, her husband Darren, my fiance Scott, and I embarked on a little hike. I was warned it would be a little challenging, but I had no idea what was in store…A 5 kilometer, 1000 ft. drop, “walk” down muddy hills in the jungle.

I should mention that the hike is an exclusive tour from the villa where we stayed, Waterfall Villas, however, you can get there via horseback with other tour companies. The horseback riders go at an earlier time, so we had the falls all to ourselves.

The beginning of the walk was a bit misleading. It was a nice leisurely walk with a gradual slope.

We got to see some nice docile wildlife.

We picked flowers. These flowers are called “Hotlips,” which explains our very silly behavior.

Then things started getting a bit trickier…

…And trickier

At this point we had to put the camera away to finish the descent… but here is where we wound up!

It was amazing. We went swimming and ate lunch on the rocks. There was no one around… Just our small group from Waterfall Villas, Terri, Darren, Scott and me. Incredible!

The climb back up was really, really hard. I wouldn’t have made it without my fiance and friends. When we finally reached the top, I was euphoric. What an experience. I thought, this adventure was a perfect honeymoon activity. Relying on each other to make the return climb was a very intense experience.

I should mention that Terri did threaten to sell the company if I didn’t make it to the top. That was a great motivator.

If you would like to see more images and video from my adventure in Costa Rica, check out our Just Marry! fan page on Facebook.

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

There are some weddings I will always remember. Jenna and Justin’s weddings is one of those. We planned it in less than a week.
Jenna and Justin were scheduled to have a wedding in Mexico when the swine flu broke out. Their guests didn’t want to travel to Mexico, so with only a week to plan, they scheduled everything for Orlando. Thank you Jamesferrara.com for the beautiful photographs. Enjoy the photos and the interview!

Susan: What was the most memorable part of the wedding day for you?
Jenna: Exchanging vows with Justin

Susan: What was the most memorable part of the wedding day for Justin?
Jenna: Walking around the property and taking photos of just the two of us and of course taking our vows

Susan: What were you most worried about?
Jenna: That with all the last minute planning, something would go wrong.

Susan: How did I help alleviate any fear or stress?
Jenna: You were always there taking care of things and guiding us to where we needed to be. You and Jesse had a drink in hand or food right when we needed it. We didn’t have to worry about anything.

Susan: What did you think about the flowers, decor?
Jenna: Gorgeous! Loved all of it.
Note from Susan: The flowers and decor were done by Tommy Murphy of Greenery Productions

The wedding day was absolutely beautiful. Jenna and Justin stayed so relaxed in spite of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their wedding. It was an experience I won’t forget!

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

The guest list is coming along nicely. I have to say again how much I love the guest list manager on PerfectWeddingGuide.com. It’s really nice to be able to login on the Internet so that my fiance can update it too. He came up with a few people that I missed. It would have been really embarrassing to forget them. I don’t want you to think that I am so efficient at this that I already have all of the addresses done. We have names, now the search for addresses begins!

In the meantime, we have decided to have the wedding in Colorado. We both have a special connection to the state, and as it turns out, many of our friends do too. Everyone is excited about making the trip.

Now we are spending time searching for the perfect site. We have gone from doing a casual, mountainside barbecue with a bonfire, s’mores, and a story teller, to a formal reception in a castle outside of Denver. (My fiance said he thinks his princess should be married in a castle…oy!) Decisions, decisions. I will let you know what we come up with!

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan