The events was held at the Cascades Event Center, at the newly built Fairfield Inn. While the event was intended for wedding planners, or those interested in pursuing a career as a wedding planner, I walked away with a wealth of information that I could apply to my own business. It was a great learning experience!

The beautiful stationery was designed by Carrie Foiles, owner and designer of The Event Messenger.

THE emergency kit. It’s serious. You’ll be in good hands when you hire Sweet Pea Events for your big day!

The tablescapes: lemon and lime!

Aren’t these ADORABLE favors?

I loved this simple, but sweet table number.

Kelly sharing her knowledge of all things wedding.

The attendees: (from left to right) Kelly Simants, Evie Howard, Stephanie Midkiff (Kelly and Lime),  Michelle Holland (Fret Knot Events), and Stephanie Torres (Stephanie Michele Events).

Thank you so much Kelly for your warm welcome! And it was great meeting all the attendees!

Event Design: Sweet Pea Events
Stationery: The Event Messenger
Wedding Planners: Kelly and Lime, Fret Knot Events, Stephanie Michele Events, Evie Howard

To get in touch with me, CLICK HERE.

]]> http://blog.catieronquillo.com/2009/08/sweet-pea-events-the-sweet-success-workshop-texas/feed/ 2 http://blog.catieronquillo.com/2009/08/happy-one-month-anniversary/ http://blog.catieronquillo.com/2009/08/happy-one-month-anniversary/#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:09:46 +0000 Catie http://blog.catieronquillo.com/?p=953 It’s been a month already?!

It’s passed by so very quickly, and to be completely honest, married life has been…WONDERFUL!

Having dated nearly our entire relationship (4 years in September) long distance, it’s so nice not have to pack up my things on a Sunday or dreading going to the airport. Instead, I get to see Cent everyday. We get to cook together. We get to eat together. We get to hang out together. It’s SO nice not having to say goodbye.

And I’m happy to report that we can once again see the floor. When we returned from our honeymoon in Kauai, we were faced with a sea of boxes. Like, more than I could imagine. A mix of wedding gifts and my belongings that made the perilous trek in a UPS truck. I’m just glad everything made it here! We’ve been able to clear most of the boxes out. Yesterday we built a bookshelf together which helped a TON to store my books that had been lingering in moving boxes. Here it is (sorry about the iPhone grain):

It’s been a while since I’ve built anything. Assembling this bookshelf was a much sweatier task than I anticipated. The back panels are also a little crooked, but I think I’ll always look at this shelf fondly and remember it was the first thing we built together.

If you follow my blog at all, you know I have a major weakness for the cupcake — any cake really, in most varieties. There had been some talk of cupcakes and so I decided to whip up a batch. To be totally truthful, these are made from Betty Crocker’s Devil’s Food cake and Buttercream frosting from a tub. Still YUMMY! Plus, I got to try out the cupcake set from my bridal shower (thanks work friends!). I’ll consider that each regular size cupcake is worth two-three minis!

Sunday I wanted to mix things up a bit from boring cereal and make breakfast. Bisquick helped me out with this challenge. However, I think I should have added more milk because these babies were SUPER thick. It was kind of like eating two pancakes at once. I got a couple of good pancakes out of the pan before I broke this one:

Here’s our breakfast from Sunday morning: pancakes, honey biscuits, and scrambled eggs. Next time: bacon or sausage!

Yesterday, I was determined to make dinner. As in cook from scratch. As in not from frozen or from a box. So, I called my mom and asked her how to make spaghetti sauce. I’m happy to report that I had a cooking success! Hopefully not the last…

Happy one month-a-versary! I love you!

Finally, on the photographer front, I have sessions to blog! So look out for those

It. was. fantastic.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better day. Ever.

I set out to plan our wedding a a couple of goals: Make it fun. Make it personal. Make it memorable. And I think we hit all three goals with full force!!

Our wedding day would not have gone as smoothly and effortlessly as it did without our amazing crew of vendors, who I must thank for all their hard work!

Our photographer: Travis Hoehne

Travis, in a word, AMAZING. His team of Charlton and Lindsey, AMAZING. His nonstop and unmatchable energy kept the party going. He was so easy to work with and all the guests couldn’t stop complimenting how awesome he was. Travis also set up a photo booth, and it was SWEET! I say this is the best way to get photos with guests without having to do the obligatory cheesy table shots that I know photographers *love* to take. I know that I, along with all of my guests, are sitting at the edges of our seats, ready to see the photo explosion!

Me, my sister, and my cousins working the photo booth. (Thanks Auntie Terry for the photo)

Our cake diva: Jen’s Cakes

Our cakes were FANTASTIC. Not only in style but in taste too. Delicious. And yes, cakes. Jen made us a Groom’s cake to my specs – a Super Nintendo system just for Cent! As you may know, I’m kind of a cake buff. Ok, who am I kidding, I’m cake obsessed! I’m so glad that we booked with Jen’s Cakes because she did a FABULOUS job and I enjoyed every bite!

Check out our EPIC Groom’s cake (thanks to David for the photo):

And our beautiful cake! (Thanks Charlene/Dianne for the photo!)

Our fantabulous florist: Huckleberry Karen Designs

The day of the wedding, Karen twittered that she had surprise for me. I had no idea what it could be. Well, let me just say that Karen is a miracle worker. We had our one and only initial meeting back in January. We had exchanged emails to confirm details, and she is wonderful to work with. So easy to communicate with and make changes. Anyway, the big day rolls around and we arrive at the church. Karen says she wants to deliver my bouquet to me personally.

She says, “Now what kind of flowers did you really want for your bouquet?”

“Peonies?!” I asked shyly.

She pulls the bouquet from behind her back. And there they were. Peonies. In the middle of July. See I told you she was a miracle worker. Thank you Karen!

She also pulled together some wonderfully fantastic centerpieces, which I wish I had had more time to check out and enjoy. They were lovely from some of the photos I saw from friends and family.

Our coordinator extraordinaire: Laura Saldana of Pink Petals Event Design

One of the best investments hands down to keep sane on your wedding day. Even if you are planning the wedding yourself, as I did, I’m so glad we decided to hire a day-of coordinator. After a few briefings, I passed the reigns to Laura and she took care of everything! She asked me all the questions and reminded me of things I had forgotten or overlooked. She brought pins for the money dance and pens for the guestbook. She was a lifesaver for sure. And I didn’t have to worry about anything the day of. I had so much fun!!

Our Make Up Artist: Yolanda Thayer of Prima Donna Makeover

Yolanda was our first vendor to arrive on the big day. She arrived at my parents’ home at 7:3oam. I’m no early riser, but I think the excitement didn’t let me sleep in. Yolanda worked her magic on us and it was great working with her. She stayed with us through the ceremony and came to the reception site to do touch ups before the reception started. Thank you Yolanda for beautifying all of us!

Our DJ: Mark Haggerty of Denon & Doyle Entertainment

Mark made our night. He kept the flow going and everyone dancing. I mean EVERYONE. I haven’t been to that many weddings, but I have never seen as many people as were at our wedding DANCING. Usually people are shy about dancing, but not at our wedding! He played all the songs Cent and I had personally requested (sadly he didn’t get to one song my sister and friend had requested sorry girls!) Everyone danced until the very last song. My father-in-law was getting ready to leave (all of Cent’s family had to catch a 6am flight Sunday morning), but when Mark played “Flashlight” by Parliament, he rushed to the dancefloor and waved his phone like a lighter. Awesome!

Here’s me in the middle (Thanks David for the photo!)

Thank you to everyone who traveled near and far to share our wedding day with us. I can’t say enough how much it meant to both of us.

And now, in case you didn’t know, I’m in Dallas, where Cent and I will set up our home base. I’m excited for big things coming to my photo business!

Cent arrived yesterday with his brother. We applied and received our marriage license from the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. It was an easier process than I had expected. About 30 mins and $84 dollars later we can officially get married. Make sure you bring a government issued ID as well as the decision about changing your name (if applicable). But other than that, we were in and out pretty quickly.

I finally met a handful of his close friends after hearing so much about them. This afternoon we went up to San Francisco and nearly froze off all our appendages. Considering that it was 100+ degrees in the East Bay yesterday, which meant 80+ in San Francisco, I figured that the weather would be pleasant in the city. I was wrong. I showed all the folks from Atlanta that California being a warm state isn’t necessarily the case.

I have a couple of fun sessions to blog coming up! About a month ago, I met up with my friend Rosie, and new friend Julie, for a fun little shoot where we played with light. Rosie’s friend, Maggie was our super awesome model. Here’s a little teaser: