Real Wedding: Jenny + Jared - Rickhouse, Durham

I am so excited to share Jenny and Jared's Wedding today! I met Jenny over a coffee about 8 months before her wedding. We immediately clicked. I loved her infectious smile, and how happy she was! I knew right off the bat that she was going to be so much fun to work with. 

Jenny had a very relaxed style with market lights, lots of flowers in bottles, and just the overall atmosphere of it being welcoming and warm. We added draping to the dance floor to designate the ceremony and then pulled them back during the reception. 

It was an epic flip for 175 people. Guests enjoyed yummy food from Catering Works and danced the night away. Her favorite dessert of all time is a cookie cake- so of course - we had to have that as well! It was truly a great night and we were so happy to be a part of it! 

Vendor Love 

Venue: Rickhouse 

Chalkboard artist: Merika

Catering: Catering Works 

Photography: Grain and Compass 

Cake: Sugarland

Rentals: CE Rentals 

Flowers: Pine State Flowers 

Market lights and Draping: Get Lit Special Event Lighting

Coordination: Dana with C & D Events

Who We Are: Organized

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up.” - A.A. Milne

Hey Blog World! I’m excited about my first blog post with the next topic in our “Who We Are” series - organized! 

I think this is one of the most important aspects of our business. Can you imagine if we weren’t organized? Oh, the chaos! We have to be organized from the moment we receive the lead form to the bride and groom's exit on their big day, and everything that happens in between. Each planner has their own workflow from start to finish, working with each couple to nail down all the details of their special day! I’m figuring out my own workflow as the office manager and how my organization can make things easier on the planners and our clients.

Organization not only includes everything leading up to the wedding and the big day itself, but also being prepared to handle the unexpected. We all know most things don't go according to plan. But I can guarantee you there is not anything that our team hasn’t already dealt with! (Hurricane Matthew, anyone?!) Our team is there to make sure the bride and groom, and their guests, don't see a single hiccup on the big day! Our team will remain calm and focused on the task at hand and continue to prepare for what's next on our to do lists.

One of the best feelings in the wedding business is when we receive the comments and thanks at the end of the night for making everything happen, even if it didn't go according to the original plan!

Sarah

Who We Are: Hardworking

Let's face it, weddings are a lot of work. They are a lot of work for the bride, the groom, for their family and friends and especially for all of the vendors. It takes blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears to pull a wedding off. 

I think this is the most valuable part of hiring our team- we will work our butts off to make your big day a success. We will be the first to arrive and the last to leave. There are no limits to our hours. Before I started working weddings, I had an idea in my head of what a wedding planner's job was like and in reality it is a lot different. We don't just tell other people what to do, we actually get our hands dirty in the details. We get physically involved in the design of our weddings by moving large wine barrels, moving tables and chairs, flipping spaces from a ceremony to a reception, moving furniture, standing on our tiptoes on chairs to reach high decorations, busing tables when needed, and anything else in between. It doesn't matter to us if it is a hot 100 degree summer day or the middle of winter, we will dress accordingly and get to work. 

Putting in an honest day of hard work is one of the most rewarding parts of this job. There is nothing better than getting home from a wedding and taking a hot bath with a glass of wine, what a great way to wind down! 

And the best part is we will do all of this with a smile on our face :) We are happy to put in the hard work to make our client's day a success! 

Kelsy

Who We Are: Love to Celebrate!

Happy Thursday! Whitney here (first blog post—ahh!) to chat a bit about our love of celebration. It’s the next topic up in our “Who We Are” series.

Whether you are celebrating a first home, engagement, new puppy, or your kid taking their first steps - there is so much in life to celebrate! It’s the big occasions and the little moments that create memories that will last a lifetime. Don’t get me wrong, life is not always filled with moments that you want to celebrate, but that’s what makes life real. It’s what makes the sweet moments, even sweeter. But we at C&D love to find life's moments to celebrate and cherish. It’s one of the things that fuels us to do our jobs as wedding planners. A wedding is one of the biggest celebrations in a family’s life and we love to be a part of that to help make those memories.

A big celebration like a wedding also has deep meaningful moments hidden around every corner. It's where the small memories overlap with the lifetime celebrations. I’ve been married a little over 2 years now and remember back on my wedding day with a lot of smiles and joy. What I cherish the most are all the small moments that really makes my heart swell. Like the moment sitting around the bridal suite an hour before the wedding talking to my best friends or talking with my mom when she was getting her make-up done. It was all the small things that made their love and our conversation so meaningful. The icing on the cake to a big celebration. 

Today, let’s all find one thing to celebrate, whether it's big or small.