Celebrity Weddings and Gold Events

Most American brides today, look to magazines for inspiration regarding the style and feel of their upcoming wedding. I am not sure if you remember Jessica Simpson having a beautiful hard cover book that discussed her vision and wedding. I think 90% of our clients brought her book in for some idea they wanted to incorporate into their special day. There are many ideas that can be made to look "celebrity " but not cost celebrity. I am a firm believer in trying new ideas. While it's nice to mimic another's style, I love to make weddings special for each individual. It shows off who you are and your creative side. Trends are started by those who reach deep down and "own" their wedding. There are many brides who have started trends without even realizing they did. Thanks to bridal magazines and their "real weddings" section you can come up with some great ideas. Ok...I know you have been writing in and here is the cliff note version of what we are doing... It seems as though my secret with planning celebrity weddings is out of the bag. For years I have kept this as a secret to honor our clients privacy. It's hard enough to keep our own clients ideas hidden to prevent things being overdone. Celebrities are just like us, they want privacy too! I do not advertise this, there is no point. I want to keep the doors open for anyone who is in need of our services. Yes, we are working on some celebrity nuptials this year. I have received numerous emails about Malinda Williams lately. She recently announced about our working together and is currently writing a special blog with Essence magazine to keep her fans abreast of her planning thus far. So if you really want to know her taste and thoughts about her upcoming wedding to Derrick Jones (D-Nice), take a peek on line. Malinda is definitely true to to her style in keeping everything simple but elegant. She is a very genuine down to earth person. I would describe her as someone you could walk up to and she wouldn't snob you. Derrick is exactly the same way. It's nice to see a groom who is involved during the entire process. He may not have much to say when it comes to design, but he is very savvy when it comes to music. We are going to try hard to keep him as the guest instead of the DJ if he'll let us! Unfortunately at this time, I cannot tell you when or where they are tying the knot it's in 2008. I can tell you that. I promise to keep you in the loop with her style and some little peeks here and there with ideas they have chosen. Essence mag is going to do a beautiful exhibition of their wedding when that day arrives! We are currently working on more celeb nup's, but cannot share at this time due to our clients request. When I get the heads up you know I will share! One person emailed us and asked if Kathy Griffin was going to be the officiate (that's funny). No. I think Kathy is going to stay with comedy. She did an excellent job with the couple from Queens. It was a great honor to work with her and I know the couple had a great time. How could they not?? It was an experience that not many will have in their lifetime.

Kathy Griffin's My Life On The D List Our Episode Aired Tonight!

Tonight was the night! Our show with Kathy Griffin officiating a wedding on Bravo aired tonight. IT WAS AWESOME! I loved every minute of it. First of all, Kathy was awesome. She is a fellow Mid-Westerner from Oak Park IL. Once you get 2 people from the same area in the room you can't shut us up. I always thought we were similar in that we do things to get a reaction. We speak from the heart, but we do shove foot in mouth too. That is not always the best thing I agree. However, you will never have to fear we are not telling the truth when you do ask for our opinion. http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/03/09/2008-03-09_comedian_kathy_griffin_weds_couple_in_qu.html The entire show was a blast. I love that she made me look like the "annoying planner"! I definitely will work with her again. I hope the couple liked the experience. It was nuts trying to rearrange a room, deal with reporters and plan around the couple. I wish the couple could have seen what we had to go through! Jenny Orsini and I worked our buns off along with her team. They did not show that and THAT pissed me off. I wanted to show the couple how hard we worked that day. I guess only we will know that. This was right during my Heparin scare. I was exhausted. It was right after another hospital visit. But it was worth EVERY minute. I loved Tom...Ha I called him Todd on accident..Sorry Tom! I know Kathy teased you about that. Anyway, I have some great shows in the works...Not with Style. But with some interesting adventures. I cannot figure out what I want to do. I love my clients! I am not sure if I can ever give them up. My day to day activities are even better with calls about silly bridal drama and we always laugh about it. I may not be for every bride, but the ones we have we LOVE YOU! They always make me laugh and on their wedding day, they are calm, collected and ready for the bigger picture. I am so proud of you all! And for the planners and brides or just viewers THANK YOU for being there for me when you see I am not at my best. We all have what we call bad hair days..... Its nice to know I finally was portrayed in a funny sense. Most people would never look at this as funny. It is due to the fact that the planning of your wedding is taken too seriously. You are not having fun. Do you actually think a planner would be rude on someones wedding day? Come on!! I look at weddings with fun, admiration for the relationship and the love for what I do. Shouldn't that be enough? We always ask at the end of the day what is the prize? Your new life with someone who is VERY in love with you! How lucky is that! Have a great 4th everyone! If you are getting hitched this weekend Congrats! To our 4 bride and Grooms we are going to have a fabulous time! xoxoxx Samantha

Wedding Corrdinators Course CAES 100 August 9 2008

Well, we finally made a date for the next Coordination/Event Planning course! it has been a very busy summer for both Jennifer and myself and we are ready to start the school year off! Our next course will be at the the Mountain at Villa Lakes www.frungillo.com (enter and go to The Villa at Mountain Lakes tab) a fantastically designed beautiful venue nestled in Morris county. The Frungillo family brings thirty years of quality catering to this new location and specializes in making anyone's wedding or event a memorable one. From the steps of the entrance you will feel and see this magnificent venue with all the modern day architectural splendors combined with great traditional hospitality. The course will cover as aspects pertaining to sales, personality profiling the client, starting your business the right way and how to STAY motivated! The Date: August 9th 2008 Time: 9:30am to 3:30pm Fee: $750 Includes Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks! Certificate provided at end of course including all materials to start on your own! Please contact Samantha Goldberg directly at (908) 450-9766 or email samanthagollberg@goldeventsplanning.com Limited space available. We currently have 12 students enrolled and will allow 6 more. We do apologize as this is a very intense hands on course that cannot work with a larger audiences. We look forward to seeing you in August! Samantha and Jennifer Orsini

BUDGET BRIDES I FOUND THE PERFECT GIFT FOR BRIDESMAIDS!

I have to share an awesome idea for Bridesmaids Birthdays or even Bat Mitzvahs!

I am always being asked for original ideas for brides who cannot afford to give a token of appreciation to their bridesmaids. We want to give something personal, but also something that reminds them of the day they witnessed your marriage.

Everything with weddings is customized lately. It's been crazy with the monograms, the drinks, even bottled water and recently a planner friend of mine found they are even selling customized pints of ice cream! How cool is that? Your having a tented wedding and you get a yummy treat that is in an adorable package...Or you are dancing in the sand and you can't do it in heels, would n't it be awesome to have these in a basket for your guests to enjoy?

Julia Bornstein president of Sandals 4 Events http://www.sandals4events.com/ has come up with a fantastic idea. She was kind enough to send a pair. I never have been able to wear flip flops because of that one area between the toes, it gave me horrible blisters! I am so excited that these are comfortable! I hate my toes and they actually make my feet look normal. What is normal again?

You have to call her! Tell her you found her information on my website!!

Missing Pieces...Style Network

I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes today. I was not able to see the show yet and like most of the country I have to wait until 10pm to see it. This is the first time in 5 seasons where I was unable to see the wonderful workings of a hard wedding to plan. I am still recuperating from a very scary ordeal. I cannot explain what it felt like to become so ill and find out that I may lose my life. I am sure as you all have learned about the Heparin poisoning, that was what I became ill with while I was taping this episode. One minute I am caring for my daughter who fell ill, and the next minute I am told that I was given medication that was tainted and recalled. There is not one day where I don't think about this subject. I remember calling the Bride Amy, (which was edited out) while being rushed to the hospital, on my cell and my husband looking at me like your blood pressure is 70/50 and you are calling your customers? I knew she deserved to hear first hand from me what was going on. Call me crazy...But she was ok. I was sad to see that the groom said"I chose" not to come...But the truth was I could not... Glad to see that my vision did come though....Thanks Amy!

We're Married Now What? STOP Bridal burnout before it happens!

First and foremost, I want to thank you for your emails and get well wishes. I have never felt more connected than when I lived in Chicago. While Gold Events has continued to flourish, it has been hard year for me physically. I am doing better and back in the "saddle" as one would say. We have expanded our staff to 11 planners. I am not sure how I could have done anything without my team. Or from other planners who took over the work load when I physically could not do it. I know this was my warning...Slow down Sam...I can't be everywhere and do everything. I know you type A+++ fans understand exactly where I am coming from. Don't you???? Ha! I can already feel the smile. That brings me to a VERY important subject. Something that has been discussed, but not to the extent it needs to be. BRIDAL BURNOUT. What does this mean? I am asked this ongoing...I always try to explain to my clients or other planners during our classes to watch for this. You, "The Bride", become so engrossed in the process of planning that you forget WHY you are doing this. You become frustrated, saddened, showing signs of anxiety that can last for the whole process and thus destroying your day. Many brides daily have had to take medication to calm them down over what? Is it the marriage, is it getting cold feet, wanting to be in control? Wanting everything to be perfect. PERFECT....Remember there is NO such thing. It may be in the dictionary, but it still remains to be in the vision of one person... When I think of the word perfect, I think it truly is in the eye of the beholder. One persons "perfect" may be way off from another. And we must learn to respect that. When it comes to weddings, we wish for perfection. We worry about what others will think about our event. We fight with our inlaws (to be) over things that do not pertain to your relationship with your new husband long term. We fight with our families because they do not respect our wishes. We even fight with our partner to be about things like music and decor? These are NOT typical issues. Once you say I do, do you really think that your hubby will fight with you about decor (for the most part?) Come on think about it! You need to focus on your relationship continuously during the planning of your wedding. Some would agree that counseling is good, or having weekly meetings with your mate about anything other than wedding plans? We tend to work ourselves up when we are waiting to get engaged. We get engaged and then we go on a quest to make the perfect wedding. There goes that word again. I wish I could erase it I would have stress free clients 100% of the time. There are times during the planning with our clients where we don't speak for a month or maybe 2-3 months. Some brides get worried as though we are missing something, because we haven't chatted about the wedding. While the world continues to live day to day, would it be a crime that one could take a break from talking about the wedding? I ask this purely as an outsider. I don't know each story. I am not the cure all for wedding perfection. I am just a tool. If you invest in a "tool" than you must know that everyone needs a break from the wedding chats because it gets to be too much. Leaving room for unnecessary anxiety, arguments and even breaking off the engagement. Have I had this happen yes and I too am saddened. When I met the couple and saw such wonderful communication such happiness become destroyed over one day...A GLORIFIED PARTY. Some say better to know now that after. I am not so sure that is 100% true. I will say one thing, it does test your communication skills. It is very stressful just to share your life with one person...Forever as we say it..what is any relationship without great communication? That is the #1 reason for divorce in the US. Lack of.... Some work it out, they take the plunge, and then the excitement settles down. This is not just centered around the bride but the groom as well. A deeper feeling of loss settles in. There is nothing to focus on???? Is this over? Is this it? So a bride or groom may feel that spark..that excitement we had during the engagement and planning process is GONE. And some become saddened, and even worse some become severally depressed and are in need of therapy and medication. It's very similar to what someone would call the Baby Blues or PPD. I know several Brides who have gone through this and several more will. I am not a therapist, I am someone who focuses on making a special day for everyone to enjoy and remember. I guess all one can do is try to train ourselves to focus on the here and now, Because when the day is over, we can't get it back. All we have is tomorrow and so on... I think I have stated my concern, my thoughts. I know that if this advice helps one person at least I did someone a favor. Or even better saved a relationship. I leave you all with one thought: When you do get engaged or if you already are please just use the following guidelines 1. That you promise eachother that you will only focus on wedding talk a few days a week. And when your on a date, that all you do is keep your head in the "now" 2. You promise not to judge your significant's opinions whether they are realistic or not. Just listen... 3. Most importantly, you remember why you are doing this. It is not for mankind or to be in "Town and Country Weddings" or the talk of the town. Your doing this because you have found your balance...Right?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE

I wanted to thank everyone for the offers to assist my friend in NZ. It looks like she will settle things on her own. I also wanted to thank the people for the unbiased opinions. It helps when you don't know what to do for someone that is in that much distress. xoxox Samantha