Phoenix Engagement | Amy + Gabe

As a wedding planner one of our most important jobs is finding the perfect wedding professional for each bride and groom.  One of the most important client-professional connection to get right is with a photographer. Photography is such a personal thing.  First and foremost, it is an art. Just as each painter and sculptor has a different style, so do photographers. Finding the right look and feel of photography is the first step. We wouldn't want to refer an abstract couple to have a formal and traditional photographer to take their photos. The photos may come out beautiful but they won't match who the couple really is. Once we determine a couple's style, we then have to look at personalities.  A photographer is with a bride and groom ALL day and at some pretty intimate moments.  If a couple doesn't connect with the photographer it will show in every image. You're surrounding yourself with friends and family to celebrate this occasion; why would you want to invite someone you don't connect with to intrude on that love and enjoyment? Hire someone who you can be yourself around! Once you find the right photographer for you, your photographs will come out not only showing the details of your day but also the love, friendship, and style that you naturally exude!

With our years of experience, the Celebrations by Amy Bacon team is full of experts who can match you and your fiance up with the perfect photographer to capture your day and your personalities. We establish relationships with all of our vendors (including photographers) so that we are able to know first hand what they are like on a consistent basis. This helps us give you an accurate read on both ends of the spectrum: who is talented but not right for you and who you have to meet. You could say we're somewhat like matchmakers for clients and vendors. Contact Celebrations by Amy Bacon today to start finding your perfect wedding vendor matches!

(Below is a post from one of our favorite photographers, MoxieMae Photography. We just knew that Amy and Gabe would click with Stacia; check out their fun filled engagement shoot and story of how the drizzly day turned out!) 

 I don’t know about you, but I am a firm believer that you are drawn to and destined to meet certain people.  It may not always happen often, but when it does…sparks just go flying!  This can be said for many love stories…and for me, it can be said for this couple.  Don’t tell anyone, but I totally have a crush my recent engagement shoot subjects!  It’s no wonder these two fell head over heels for each other.  They are both so fun, full of life and love, and it just oozes right out of them.  Thank you to my personal matchmaker, Mrs. Amy Bacon of Celebrations by Amy Bacon (an unsurpassed wedding planning talent) I was lucky enough to become a part of Amy and Gabe’s love story.  As I’ve mentioned so many times before, my absolute favorite thing is when a couple wants to bring something personal to the table for their photo shoot…and this day was just loaded.

Amy and Gabe’s love story begins with music, thrives with music and is music.  These two are incredible Jazz musicians and make music a part of their everyday lives and love.  I found this fantastic quote that I believe fits them to a T:

“If love is music in its purest form, then you are the notes on the page and the melody in my heart…”

 Total warm fuzzies right!?  That’s the stuff that love movies are made of!  We started off in downtown Phoenix at the very proposal location.  I stopped by Carly’s Bistro (one of my new favorite places) before they got there to scope things out and what do you know, a Jazz band was playing and the very table Gabe proposed to Amy was open. It was fate! From there, the day just morphed into a one filled with love, kisses, dodging rain, goofing around and running…..yes, I said running.

 

 

 

Here I will enter the running story I mentioned above.  As you can see, it was a cloudy and drizzly day. Not one lick of sunshine at all…until the last hour.  While recovering from the laughter of the shot above Amy noticed the entire sky turning pink.  Sun!  We headed to take a few shots in the middle of the street to see if maybe some sun was seeping between the buildings for us to take advantage of, but alas…no luck.  The sky continued to change colors and we continued to wish we could see the sunset!  I racked my brain to figure out what we could do and made a last minute decision to head to the top of a parking garage I knew of.  After we ran to our cars we sped on over to the garage I notice it was closed, but we were here and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!  I hopped out of the car and started jogging towards the staircase.  Amy and Gabe being as awesome as they are followed suit with no questions asked.  We were so close and I was getting super excited until one flight of stairs turned into 7.  By the time we got to the top my legs were complete jello and I could hardly breathe…but we were almost there!  Finally, we got to the corner I wanted to be in, I squeezed them together, told them to stop breathing so hard…and voila!  See below!  The sunset was so gorgeous and I am so happy we made it!  The trip down the stairs I have to say was significantly slower…

One more final stop before we ended our day. There was a piano at a local coffee shop with an wonderful old player piano.  Amy wanted some images of Gabe playing.  He has played since he was tiny and teaches and composes to this day.  It was an amazing way to end such a fun session.

Blog written by Stacia Mae Lugo 

Images by MOXIEMAE Photography

Email  stacia@moxiemaephotography.com

Phone 480.421.8727

Website  http://moxiemaephotography.com/

20 Creative Guest Book Alternatives

The Celebrations by Amy Bacon team fell in love with this blog post when we were playing on Pintrest.  We hope you enjoy and it inspires you to do something outside the box for your big day. 

Wedding guest books are invariably a terrific way to perhaps recall the special time you had with your guests at your wedding. It’s the first things about the wedding celebration your guest would probably see and give you a brief remark that you will appreciate everyday for a long time to come. Think about matching the theme of the guest book with the total theme of the wedding event.
Make a memory “book” loaded with heartfelt messages. The main factor to a brilliant guest book is actually a range of remarkable responses from your guests. Inspire them to express themselves. Let your guest write their best wishes, share their piece of advice, write a funny short story, compose a poem or recall a favorite memory. Indeed, these guest book ideas and alternatives are a perfect way to remember all of the people who help you to celebrate your big day. After the wedding party celebration, take them on your honeymoon destination and read them together with your new spouse.
Bored with the typical sign-in albums with listing of names where wedding guests basically sign and pass it around? Your wedding doesn’t have to be similar to everyone else’s. There are lots of creative ways to remember who helped you celebrate your extraordinary wedding day and record all the guests who came to share the joy of the celebration. Here are 20 awesome guest book alternatives for the wedding reception.

20 CREATIVE GUEST BOOK ALTERNATIVES

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01. Polaroid Scrapbook

Make sure the polaroid camera has plenty of film. Wedding guest can strike a pose then leave their photo on the guest book, together with their short message for the couple.

02. Guest Book Puzzle

Either side on the puzzle features a portrait photo chosen by the bride and groom and have the back side for the wedding guest’s personal comments. Put the pieces inside a glass container at the wedding venue, together with a message requesting guest to autograph the incomplete backside.

03. Wedding Caricature Sign-in Board

Bring life to your party celebration. You may wanna try hiring a caricature artist to draw the portrait of the bride and groom and let the wedding guest sign on it as they arrive. Wedding caricatures can be drawn up in full color or black line style.

04. Fingerprint Guest Book

Design your guest book as a work of art. Just let your guest press their thumb to create leaves in which they will place their signature or message for the bride and groom.

05. Typewriter Guest Book

Arrange an old-fashioned typewriter together with long pieces of paper for guests to type their good wishes as the mood strikes.

06. Wishing Stones

An Irish wedding tradition wherein they have their wedding guests write their best wishes on smooth stones. Put together a wedding guest book table with plenty of pebbles and a glass vase filled up with water. After the guest signed with a permanent marker, they can put the stones inside the vase. This represent and bring back the tradition of throwing stones into a river or pool.

07. Wedding Mad libs

Receive some marvelous and crazy feedback with these creative mad libs-inspired guest book.

08. Chalkboard Message in Photo booth

Cut-out bubble shapes and coat it with chalkboard paint. Place them by your photo booth and let your guest write a short message before having their hilarious pose infront of the camera.

09. Wine Bottle Guest Book

Now let your guest sign a bottle of wine with a glass marker and let them leave a note for the couple. Then let the wine be stored and kept in your new family home and be opened up during wedding anniversaries.

10. Vinyl Record Guest Book Alternative

If you are a music junkie, it’s more fun to use the vinyl record as a guest book instead. Use it on a table at the wedding reception with silver or gold marker pens and encourage your guests to have their autographs.

11. Photo Frame Guest Book Alternative

Celebrate your wedding day along with loving words of your friends flanked by your chosen wedding photo. Use an acid free fine point pen to protect your guest’s messages for many years.

12. Guitar Guest Book Alternative

If you have a music band or simply love music, you might want to repurpose one of your guitar into a guest book. This can generate an awesome conversation when hang and display on the wall with a protective coat.

13. Wine Cork Guest Book Alternative

For wine lovers, wine corks can be a guest book alternative for guest to write on.

14. Guest Book Platter

Grab the moments of your wedding event with the best souvenir and genuine messages that you can treasure and display for a long time. A platter is indeed a great guest book alternative. Don’t forget to bake in your home oven to protect and seal on the messages.

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15. Wishing Tree Guest Book Alternative

A Wish Tree as an alternative guest book coming from a Dutch wedding tradition where visitors are provided with a sheet of paper. The guests write their wishes to the bride and groom and then hang it on the tree. This creates a stunning focal point. The tree is positioned at the entry ways towards the wedding reception to amaze your guests as they walk in.

16. Guest Quilt

Another guest book idea is to choose a guest quilt. After it is sewn together, it reminds you of the people who come to your wedding day. Place a cardboard under the fabric to avoid the fabric marker from bleeding through.

17. Jenga Guest Book Alternative

A different way to engage with your guest is to have them take a block of Jenga stick to write their message to the happy couple. Every time you play the game, it will bring back all the memories for years to come.

18. Vintage Postcard

For those couple who have a timeless vintage or travel styled wedding, using vintage postcards as guest book complements it. Guest then compose their sweet wishes for the wedding couple.

19. Engagement Guest Book

Engagement guestbooks are impressive considering that it lets you show off lots of the engagement session photos, while giving yet another kind of guest book to sign at the wedding reception. Spaces inside the guest book enable wedding guests to jot down sweet advice and best wishes for the couple while displaying the best photos from your engagement photo shoot.

20. Wooden Slice Guest Book Alternative

Another guest book alternative is to have your guest sign a large wooden guest book that is almost the size of a tree trunk.




Source - http://weddingphotography.com.ph/9965/20-creative-guest-book-ideas-wedding-reception/#

Need help with the details for your big day? 
Call us for your free consultation!  602.762.1174
Website - www.celebrationsbyamybacon.com
email - amy@celebrationsbyamybacon.com
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Engagement Season .... Yes, we said ENGAGEMENT SEASON!

Merry Christmas, friends! Christmas time is one of the most popular times of the year to get engaged. Make this year's New Years' resolution to hire your wedding planner and day-of coordinator! The holiday season can be hard enough to keep stress-free and adding such an important life event to the mix can make that feat nearly impossible. By hiring your wedding planner and coordinator early on, you can save yourself a lot of anxiety by knowing you and your fiancé are being taken care of. If you or someone you know is celebrating an engagement this holiday, please allow us to be one of your first couple calls. Tell the family and friends, then call us.

We offer free consultations, and can save you or your engaged friends time, money and lots of stress. Ask any of our former or current clients; you don't want to do this alone! We provide referral information to all prospective clients so that they hear firsthand how much of a saving grace hiring Celebrations by Amy Bacon can be. You should enjoy your own wedding, and the planning through your engagement is no different! We can help from formulating a color-scheme, negotiating with vendors, or simply the day-of coordination.

Contact us today and have the peace of mind that one of our three coordinators and many assistants will be there for you every step of the way! Celebrations by Amy Bacon wishes everyone a merry Christmas, a happy new year, and a joyous engagement!

Contact us! 

Email - amy@celebrationsbyamybacon.com 

Website - www.celebrationsbyamybacon.com

Direct - 602.762.1174

Rollo Treats

 

What you need:

50 small pretzel squares/waffle style or mini's
50 pieces Rollo candies
50 pieces half pecans 

 

 

Directions:
1)  Place pretzel pieces on a baking sheet 

            - To make clean up simple I placed a piece of tin foil on the baking sheet 

            - You can also remove it and start another batch

                         - This will allow the first batch to cool

2)  Top each pretzel with a Rollo candy 

            - Unwrapping each Rollo is the hardest part of this recipe

 

3)  Place in oven at 350 degrees to just let the Rollo candy melt on top of the pretzel to hold it in place 

           - About 2-4 minutes 

           - Just enough for the Rollo to start melting 

                   - It should be soft but not melted over

          
4)  Remove from oven and place a pecan piece on top - then push the pecan down

 

5)  Let cool and harden.

Here are some other fun variations on the same recipe ....

Happy Thanksgiving from the entire team at Celebrations by Amy Bacon!

                                    Brought to you by - Amy Bacon

What I’m Loving!

Celebrations by Amy Bacon was recently featured in The Wedding Chronicle for local wedding planners.  
We were asked to share what we're in love with right now ... colors, flowers, and details. 

They quoted a section of our submission but we wanted to share the entire piece with our readers. 

Colors:        As a general preference, I LOVE the color pink so of course when a client says that they want to use it in their wedding, I automatically agree with them. Pink is such a fun, love-inspiring color that can be taken many different ways. Hot pink shades can show off the couple’s rebellious side when used with black and white; blushes and peaches can add to the feel-good nature of the reception; and coral can be mixed with so many other colors to add an element to the design that otherwise would have been missed. Sure, some guys feel that pink isn’t manly so they may not be keen on having it be used (after all, it’s their day, too!) but because of my experience with planning events, I make sure I point out how pink can be paired with masculine colors (i.e. navy blue, charcoal grey) so that they don’t feel left out of their own event. Regardless of when in the planning process a bride tells me her color scheme (start of brainstorming or even as soon as a month before the Big Day), I love being able to help couple’s achieve their wedding dreams, and colors, especially pink, are an easy way to accomplish this.

Flowers:      Being in a business where knowing all different shapes, types, and varieties of flowers makes it difficult to be able to pick just one that I love. Okay, I’ll be honest, I can’t pick just one! However, I do prefer working with flowers that possess unique textures. Going against the grain and using flowers that don’t stick to the norm of being smooth, contained blossoms adds in a little extra “oomph” to the design to make it distinctive and stand out in pictures. While peonies are temperamental and finicky to work with, the fluffiness of their many petals fill the space of any arrangement they are in, and aid to the beauty of a glowing bride. Working with flowers like hybrid tea roses can always add elegance to any event, but why not bring in a whole new element by featuring dahlias instead? I don’t like the idea of planning and coordinating the same event over and over again. A great way to help my brides have their wedding be special and distinctive is by encouraging them to pick textured and individualistic blooms for their wedding arrangements. Every bride is different; so should their wedding!

Details:        Many people focus on making sure they have a family heirloom, a friend’s cake, or any other personal elements they covet at their wedding. I agree that all of these are great to have, but a detail that I think that must be present at a wedding is a theme. The theme doesn’t have to be specific like Winter Wonderland but a couple (and their planner) needs to know what the theme is so that they stay on track with the look and feel they desire the event to exude. Celebrations by Amy Bacon is working with a wonderful couple right now whose wedding will be this upcoming February and they are pros at bringing this detail into everything about their ‘I Do’s. The bride and her Maid of Honor came up with the fantastic theme of Vintage Glam that they always have in mind when deciding what to use and what to leave out. From the beautiful multi-sized lanterns on the tables to the amazing sequins, chevron linen for the cake table, they’re matching the sophistication of times now passed with the contemporary pops that are in vogue today. Knowing what you want for your wedding and being able to voice this to others can be the difference between missing the mark of what you had pictured and getting more than you had ever imagined when all is said and done. Even if a couple does not know how to voice specific ideas for their wedding, as I work with them I am able to develop a concrete phrase for all involved to cling to throughout the process so as to bring their vision to life. My team and I pride ourselves on being able to see a couple’s vision and knowing just how to make this must-have detail shine as much as their love for one another as they start their new life together, as long as they both shall live.

Name of Planner: Amy Bacon

Business Name: Celebrations by Amy Bacon

 

Website URL: http://www.CelebrationsbyAmyBacon.com

Client’s Perspective: Lynn, Mother of the Bride

Image provide by http://www.ClassicDigitalPhotography.com

Erin called me on Easter Saturday 2011 and told me that Shane had proposed at the Tucson Reid Park Zoo, that she had accepted, and that she was a "hot mess"!  We knew it was coming, though, as Shane and Erin had recently visited us in Hawaii.  Ron and Shane went deep sea fishing one day, and Shane was gentleman enough to have "The Talk" with the father of his intended bride about a month before the actual proposal. At first, they planned on a two year engagement.  Six months after becoming engaged, they realized they wanted to get married sooner than that and so they decided over Thanksgiving 2011 to get married in May 2012.  Then we jumped into planning mode!

My daughter Erin was a full time nursing student in the months preceding the wedding, while I was a stay-at-home mom with a lot of flexibility in my schedule.  As a result, it made sense for me to step in and do a lot of the wedding planning and tasks for her. My husband is an Army officer, and so I often see things from a military perspective after having been an Army wife for 18 years.  In the military, there is the role of an "XO", an executive officer, who is in charge of executing the decisions made by his or her commanding officer. When it came to planning Erin and Shane's wedding, I regarded my role as being Erin's XO.  I looked at everything I did as a service to her, and hopefully I didn't overstep too badly! Today's technology (especially the internet) made planning from afar very feasible! Possible but difficult.  

Image provide by http://www.ClassicDigitalPhotography.com

The overall vision of the wedding - a morning wedding followed by a brunch - came solely from Erin.  I like planning and organizing things, and was fairly comfortable in finding the major vendors and reception space. It probably helped that I grew up in Scottsdale and was familiar with many of the potential reception venues. When Erin and Shane toured the Scottsdale Plaza and saw the gazebo area, they both fell in love with the setting.  Shane said immediately afterwards that it was the first place they had toured where he could picture them getting married. Erin and Shane liked the idea of having the ceremony and reception at the same location, and having it at a hotel where our out-of-town guests could stay for maximum convenience. Having the reception at Remington's was perfect, because they don't open until 5:00 pm on Saturdays, and we all really liked the idea of having an exclusive reception space versus mingling with the general public. The brunch menu was one that appealed to all of us, and in fact the quality of the food truly surpassed our expectations.  Finally, the Scottsdale Plaza charged a reasonable price for their upscale brunch; the cost of the ceremony site itself was particularly economical.

I definitely shared opinions and suggestions with Erin; I'm a pretty normal mother in that regard!  Many choices were determined or modified by our budget limitations, but I can honestly say that she made all the final decisions, particularly the major decisions. Despite having much of the key details decided and squared away, I began to worry about the many tasks that go on during the actual wedding day.  I knew I didn't want to be running around like the proverbial headless chicken when I should be focusing on the importance and joy of the day. My brother got married about a year before we started planning Erin's wedding, and he and my sister-in-law used a wedding coordinator.  At first, I didn't understand why they felt the need to hire help, but they too were planning from long distance, and it quickly became apparent just how many details and tasks that their coordinator was handling for them.  Their wedding went beautifully, and they attributed the success of their day, in part, to their coordinator.

One of my specific anxieties about the wedding was that our wedding officiant really didn't want to do a rehearsal.  We love the minister who did Erin's wedding, and he makes a very eloquent argument as to why he has found rehearsals to be pointless.  But all I could do was recall my brother's wedding just a year earlier, and the fact that all of us in the wedding party had regarded the rehearsal as being the key reason the actual ceremony went so beautifully the next day.  So I really loved the idea of having a day-of coordinator who embraced the idea of a rehearsal and treated it with the importance we thought it deserved.

Erin was very open to the idea of hiring a day-of coordinator, and when we were together over Christmas break, we agreed to explore the possibility. She and I called Amy together and spent about an hour getting to know each other over the phone. Amy asked such intelligent and insightful questions that both Erin and I were quite impressed; it became obvious that Amy was professional and extremely experienced in her field.  By the end of the conversation, Erin and I just nodded at other to verify what we were both thinking:  that this was the right person to help us with our day-of coordination! We hired Amy on the spot.

Amy proved to be a tireless sounding board for our many questions and concerns, both big and small.  It was a blessing to be able to call her, or e-mail her, and consistently get a prompt response. There are two things about our experience with Amy for which I am especially grateful.  First, she truly became our advocate, working tirelessly and passionately to coordinate Erin's wedding to the very best of her ability.  Second, she always maintained a sense of joy, enthusiasm, and confidence about the wedding. Erin also verbalized how much her stress level decreased once we hired Amy.  We knew that one of the important jobs of a day-of coordinator is to handle the unexpected emergencies or surprises that come up during the day.  By definition, these challenges are almost always unexpected, and have the potential of derailing a very important event. Erin said that she felt like we had an "insurance policy" for the wedding once we hired Amy, because we were both confident that she could handle, to the extent reasonably possible, any surprises that arose on the day of the wedding.  Even better, we felt like her careful planning and timeline coordination would itself prevent some of these challenges from arising in the first place. The timeline itself coordinated all the countless details of a wedding into a logical and useful format – and provided, for example, contact information so that the vendors, the family members, and the wedding party could all reach one another if needed.

Image provide by http://www.ClassicDigitalPhotography.com

Amy and her team seemed to be everywhere on the day of the wedding, taking care of the numerous details that the rest of us were too busy to do. They were the ones: who ran to Starbucks for the wedding party; who offered to get medicine for a sick flower girl; who ran to Men's Warehouse to pick up shoes that had been left out of an order; who placed the wedding programs on each guest's seat; who pinned on the corsages and boutonnieres; who provided ice water to our vendors on a hot day; who made sure the bride and groom had something to eat; who prevented my daughter's wedding cake from getting accidentally contaminated with an allergen. In fact, I am positive that I don't even know everything they did on our daughter's wedding day, but I know that they worked tirelessly to make sure things went as smoothly as humanly possible.

I would encourage parents to enjoy their very special and unique role as parents of the bride or groom.  It is likely to be an emotionally intense day, not only because you are watching your precious child get married, but because you are surrounded by a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of loved ones from across the country. My husband and I were able to better enjoy the day, spend more time with our guests, and experience less stress as a direct result of hiring Amy and her team to help us with the process.  There are just too many moving parts involved in a wedding for even an organized and detailed-oriented bride (or mother of the bride) to supervise and manage singlehandedly!  So even if the concept of hiring a wedding planner is a new one for parents, I would encourage them to keep an open mind on the subject and see the many potential benefits of hiring some degree of wedding coordination help.

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                   Blog Written by Patrice Klaum | Planner and Writer for Celebrations by Amy Bacon