Tina and Hamp Tuscan Italian Wedding

Beautiful Bride Tina dreamed of a wedding day reflecting her own personal style of sunflower yellows, rich chocolate browns and bright apple greens.  With Tina's Italian cultural background, a Tuscany feel was envisioned and what came to life this day was beyond Tina's expectations...

Tina walks down the steps of the cathedral anticipating her first look with her groom

St. Marks Catholic Church in Birmingham Alabama was the setting for Bride Tina's Catholic Italian ceremony

With her cathedral length train following behind her, Tina is about to see her groom for the first time on their wedding day

As expected, Groom Hamp is breathless as he sees his bride for the first time

As a wedding planner, I am always amazed at moments which occur on a wedding day that I do not, or can not possibly plan for.  This was one such moment when bride Tina went before the blessed Mother and her own Mother joined her in prayers.......  you just can't plan this and we are lucky to have this captured by our fantastic photographer Anita Maniscalco of InWhite Wedding Photography Design

Bridesmaids in bright apple green surround Tina at the alter of the church

Handsome groom and groomsmen taking a stroll

Tina loves the natural elements opposed to lots of flowers so her bridesmaids carried bouquets of berry and large leaf flower hand tied with ribbon.  Small and simple created by J Ross of Hot House Design Studio in Birmingham Alabama

Cowboy boots and a little fun before the ceremony begins

Another look at these lovely bridesmaids so happy for our bride Tina

So picturesque in front of this waterfall on a very clear and beautiful Spring day in April, Tina enjoys a moment with her groom

Beautiful bridesmaids in their apple green dresses waiting to take their walk down the aisle

Elegant guest book table right outside the church as guests arrive

Our little flower girl and ring bearer walk arm and arm down this long aisle at the cathedral.  They were so brave with over 350 guests looking on and were absolutely adorable!

Doors are about to open and bride Tina is about to walk down the aisle to her groom Hamp holding on tight to her daddy's arm

The long awaited moment for the entrance of the bride;  Tina is escorted by her Father down this long cathedral aisle

Finally married and ready for their fun reception!

For our reception at the Marriott Grandview,  Tina's vision was to have long estate King's tables for her 300+ guests to be seated for an elegant 4 course meal.  Every table had a different centerpiece all themed around the colors of yellows, greens, chocolate brown and organic touches.  This table displayed the larger urn centerpieces of sunflower and natural branches in addition to candles and daisy heads trailing down the center of the tables

Some of the smaller and lower centerpieces were these patchy squares of natural grass accented with a splash of color and burlap

Tall topiary sunflower trees added a third option of different levels of centerpieces wrapped at the base with burlap.

Large urns of sunflower and tall branches soaring towards the ceiling created the height on this tablescape along with low and lush centerpieces of mason jars tied with rafia and filled with more sunflowers.  Votive candles were placed down the entire center of the tables and using necessary items such as yellow menu cards tucked inside chocolate brown napkins,  green sache bags filled with candy kisses and even using the rich color of the sweet tea pre-set for all the guests added the right color elements to pull this tablescape together for this Tuscan theme

Dreamcakes Bakery  created this beautiful brides cake of whipped buttercream icing with each layer wrapped in rafia and including natural elements of sunflower heads and branches

along the center of all the tables were yellow daisy heads and votive candles adding lush color

An Auburn themed cake for this Groom and a beautiful picture of our bride and groom complete this festive table

Part of the lower centerpieces, these terra cotta vases add another organic element 

After a wonderful and elegant seated meal, it's now time for a first dance for our bride and groom

And time to bring on the Italian tradition of a song called "Lazy Mary"

This crowd of over 300 guests know how to dance and have a great time!!

A beautiful bridal bouquet sits on the bride's cake table still holding Tina's Rosary beads from her ceremony.  Beautifully created by J Ross of Hot House Design Studio  

A Balloon release by Bama Balloons was all ready and waiting for the guests to exit the lobby as the bride and groom leave their reception

And Tina and Hamp have had a wonderful time at their wedding reception and ready for their honeymoon!

An awesome display of our balloon release as Tina and Hamp leave their wedding reception

Off on their honeymoon, Tina and Hamp are off driven in a vintage car by Ron Marko of Vintage Auto

Many many thanks to this incredible team of vendors who came together to really pull this bride's vision together and made it come to life....  Thank you to J Ross of Hot House Design Studio for stepping in on such short notice and making this better than we ever expected it to be, Vann with Camm Video Productions for capturing the day on video, Marriott Grandview of Birmingham Alabama,  Mary Lou of Bama Balloons for our spectacular balloon release, Katie Moon of Dreamcakes Bakery for our very yummy brides and grooms cakes, Ron Marko of Vintage Auto and of course our fabulous photographer who shot all of these gorgeous images, Anita Maniscalco of InWhite Weddings Photography and Design

Hope you enjoyed this gorgeous wedding with all of these rich colors!  

Blessings!

Anita

Ak Brides - Wedding Planning Services

Just My Cup of Tea

There comes a time when you experience some growing pains in business but these "growing pains" were actually quite pleasant!  When I was approached by a good business friend to write for a magazine I was very hesitant and not quite sure of myself as a writer.  I met with the publisher/editor and he was so sweet in reassuring me that this would be a great experience.  Well, he was right!  I put off writing for a very long time, not just because I was fearful of facing this mountainous task before me, but it was also wedding season and time was extremely limited.

So the writing experience began.  A huge blank computer screen and the opportunity to write about whatever I pleased.  What came onto the page was complete honesty and vulnerability.  I actually loved doing this!  The link below is the result of the efforts of one of my first writing experiences....  Many thanks to Luke Camera, Editor and Publisher of ShelbyCo Magazine and Kelli Taylor of Daniel Taylor Photography for giving me this opportunity.   Also thank you so much to my dear friend Jerrod Brown of Jerrod Brown Studios for doing a very last minute photo shoot for me.

Hope you enjoy!  Blessings!

Anita


http://www.shelbycomagazine.com/2012/08/just-my-cup-of-tea/

Fun Cake Display for Christina and Phillip

When bride Christina and I met to plan her wedding day, I knew this would be something very special.  Not only because Christina is a precious girl, but because she was wanting to do things for her wedding that were not seen at every wedding.   We were thinking way "outside the box" in every way possible, from food to flowers, design to cake and even how the entire day flowed.  I knew instantly this was going to be a wedding remembered for years to come and was so excited to play a part in the planning process.

We started by forming the best team of wedding professional possible.  A team I knew would be the right fit for Christina's overall look and style and as her wedding planner, I worked off of my experience with these professionals and knowing just who to bring her to and not waste any time with the footwork and interviews.

Elements most important to Christina were the decor, style and overall "feel" of her wedding day.  She wanted several "WOW" factors, things that other girls have not yet done but have only been seen by a few in magazines and online.  Christina began showing me pictures of her ideas and colors and it was my job to figure out how to make this all work and who would be best suited to pull this off.  We focused most of her budget on decor, design and emotion.

The genesis of the design was from pictures Christina consistently showed me of purples and lavenders, some tall and some low centerpieces, silvers used for vessels and vases and the lighting elements she was attracted to.  With the help of an outstanding design team led by Andy Hopper of KG Designs and under the parent company of Kathy G & Company and owner Kathy Mezrano, we pulled ideas together and let the creativity emerge.  We chose linens of a champagne and ivory twist and mixed both square estate tables with round tables to give the room more interest.  Mahogany chiavari chairs were brought in to enhance elegance and even the cushions on the chairs had a damask ivory design.

Candles were abundant around the entire ballroom and with all the house lights off, we brought in our wonderful lighting designer Andy Tolar with Design Productions LLC to spotlight every guest table creating a very romantic and elegant look.  We also had purple toned uplights around the room, abstract lighting on the walls and of course a spot light on our fabulous cake.

In the image above, you can see more of the detail from one of our two linens and also the lighting design in the backdrop.  The entire dancefloor was draped with a white sheer and very soft fabric from floor to ceiling reaching 26 feet high

Of course the "show stopper" was this magnificent cake created by Jan O'Donnell of Cakes by Jan in Birmingham AL covered with buttercream icing, beautiful appliques over a white wedding and strawberry cake.  Christina's vision for her cake was from an image she showed me of a cake displayed on a swing hung from the ceiling.  With our ballroom having a 30 foot ceiling and a few rules from the resort we had to respect, Andy Hopper of KG Designs came up with the idea of building a pergola around the cake and having the cake suspend from the top which was about 12 feet high.  The pergola was made of iron and after several hours of worry (on my part) that the swing would not hold the weight of the cake, we decided to use 4 chains instead of 3 to hang the cake.  The icing on the cake for each layer weigh approximately 40 lbs and with a six layer cake, I was a little concerned.  Not to worry with the team we had working on this wedding however.  Andy tested the swing with several men sitting on the stand and we were certain all would work.  It did!

This cake swing was hanging from a 12 foot pergola with chains wrapped with a soft white fabric.  The base is glass and is surrounded by the most beautiful flowers to not only make this display gorgeous but to also hide the mechanics of the swing.  The actual cake sits atop a silver cake stand and was the subject of much debate as well,  deciding which would look better, either the silver or a glass stand.  The silver won in the end and looked fantastic!  Guests gasped at the first sight of the cake and the swing and gasped some more at the beautiful florals, design and dance floor.

There will be another whole blog post on this wedding when I have all the images released but one more element very important to Christina was the emotion of the day.  Most of my brides have a videographer in addition to their photographer to capture both still images and a video of the entire wedding day.  Christina, again thinking outside the box and wanting to do something different, had the idea of showing the video captured from the beginning of the day right up to the first dance after they were introduced into their reception.  She really wanted to surprise her groom and show him all the preparation that had happened during the early part of the day leading up to the climactic moment when they saw each other for the first time and also walked down the aisle.  It was also a complete surprise and delight to her guests who don't normally get to see all that happens earlier in the day either.  There was not a dry eye in the house and I would say our mission was accomplished.  Please take a look at this fantastic 4 minute video clip that was actually shown at the reception that night.  As a wedding planner and one who has planned weddings for 14 years from very small and intimate weddings to very large scale celebrity weddings, this was one of the most rewarding experiences.  To see this event grow from conception and ideas to drawings and sketches to watching the labor of love from all the professional vendors who worked through the night pulling this entire event together (I left them at about midnight to get some sleep) and to see my good friends John and Angela Deaver of Main Street Productions shoot their footage, then literally run to edit and see this amazing result proves to me over and over again why I absolutely love my job and why I have such a passion for my brides and their day.  My team of vendors and their talents is what you see in the end, but I know what it takes to put this together and how many meetings we had to meticulously plan the time line to allow for the editing and the set up and make sure everything was timed perfectly.  This team was perfection and I could not have brought it to completion without them.  I can not wait to blog the rest of the images from a fabulous photographer and friend Frank Carnaggio and Nicole Muro.  Enjoy this video and more to come soon!

Blessings,

Anita

Christina & Phillip Same Day Edit from Main Street Productions on Vimeo.