breck & joe: vintage pop

July 16th 2011 was a wonderful Saturday in downtown San Diego. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the Padres fans were cheering, and Breck & Joe tied the knot at the Hilton Bayfront. This wedding was anything but ordinary; from the bride's choice to assign an accent color to each bridesmaid and groomsman, to the very non-traditional "cocktail reception" fully stocked with signature drinks, food stations, a dessert bar, lounge furniture and one amazing piano man!

Breck knew from the moment she said yes that she wanted something completely different for her big day. Her dress was found online within weeks of her engagement on sale at BCBG, the bridal party's accent colors were chosen to really bring a pop to the black dresses and shirts, Breck & Joe's boston terrier (Gary) was roped into a ring bearer's outfit, and the hunt began to track down one amazing piano man Breck had seen in a restaurant.

A year later her dream became a reality as she married the man she loved in a small intimate outdoor ceremony in the Hitlon's lawn, Padres fans cheering the whole way through. The cocktail reception was a hit with guests, giving them the ability to move around snacking, drinking and mingling the night away. The Piano Man, John Foltz, was an absolute amazing addition to the evening. Setting the perfect tone and making the guests swoon over hit after classic hit.

The entire team of vendors was nothing short of perfect. From the stunning images Resolusean captured, to the bright fun flowers by BRANCHES... a floral studio, to the full year that Day of LOVE spent planning this day with Breck. It truly is a day no one will forget: for it's uniqueness, it's beauty, and most of all it's good old fashioned fun!

Wedding Planner: Day of LOVE, Jen Haase

Florist: BRANCHES... a floral studio

Photographer: Resolusean Photography

Piano Man: John Foltz

Hair: Nicomi Morris

Make-up: Xochitl

Lounge Rentals: Lounge Appeal

LIVE from Brittani & Jon's wedding!

A BIG thanks to our first couple to give a live testimonial for our new YouTube channel! Thanks Brittani and Jon for spreading the LOVE! Aren't they adorable??? ;)

Teasers: Breck & Joe

Last weekend (7/16/11), we had the honor of working with an amazing team of vendors for one awesome wedding. Breck and Joe are perfect together and their wedding was nothing short of reflecting just that. While owner Jen Haase has been helping Breck plan her wedding for a year now, she also was a bridesmaid (being one of Breck's friends from high school). Our sister-company, BRANCHES... a floral studio did the flowers (triple duty for Jen) and we got to work the the always amazing Resolusean Photography.... These pics can show you why Sean is just so amazing! Can't wait to see the rest, and to be able to blog about the day and all the wonderful vendors we got to work with! Breck, you're one beautiful bride! :)

Help us become #1 on the A-list!!!

Every year Channel 10's A-list lets real, everyday people, vote for their favorite vendors in San Diego. We always compete in the "Best Wedding Planner" category. We've come in the top 20 or 10 each year out of around 150 fellow wedding planners, but we'd REALLY like to take home the gold and the #1 spot this year! So head on over and give us a quick vote, it would mean so much to us if we win! Spread the word, tell everyone you know to Vote for Day of LOVE!!!

Sister-company, BRANCHES... a floral studio, is also competing this year too in the "Best Flowers" category. So vote for BRANCHES too!

Let's take the A-list and show em what we're made of (winners!)!!!! :)

Day of LOVE is now WeddingWire Rated for 2011

Carlsbad, CA- July 6th, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation's leading wedding technology company, is pleased to announce that Day of LOVE is WeddingWire Rated 2011 for Wedding Planners in San Diego, CA. WeddingWire Rated is an annual award program that distinguishes wedding vendors across the country for their excellence. Based on hundreds of thousands of recent wedding reviews, WeddingWire Rated is the most recognized and trusted brand among engaged couples looking to find the best local businesses for their wedding.

Day of LOVE has 15 reviews on WeddingWire. Reviews by our newlywed clients include detailed ratings and insightful descriptions about their experiences working with our business and staff. Our reviews provide transparency for potential clients, assisting them in making the most informed decisions for their big day.

"We are delighted to unveil the 5th annual WeddingWire Rated program," said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire, Inc. "Day of LOVE has made a commitment to capturing their clients experiences on the nation's leading wedding review site."

As the largest site for wedding reviews, WeddingWire empowers engaged couples with the most comprehensive and trusted review system available. The WeddingWire Rated program provides Day of LOVE with a simple platform to capture customer feedback from their wedding planning experience. Newly engaged couples can easily access all of the reviews for Day of LOVE on WeddingWire.com. We would like to thank our newlyweds for our WeddingWire Rated 2011 recognition.

For more information, please visit Day of LOVE on WeddingWire at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/day-of-love-carlsbad/7ff05e33656bf34f.html .

For more information on WeddingWire Rated 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.

WeddingWire, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including ProjectWedding.com, MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Weddingbee.com, and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

Hello Blog!

So it's been almost a year since I've posted a blog piece. Whoops! Sorry all. I'm not really good at this blogging thing. My main reason (read: excuse) I use for not blogging is I'm always waiting for professional photos from the photographers I work with at weddings to be able to post on here. Well, I think I'll just scratch that and blog whenever. To start I'd like to introduce some postings titled: "Did you know...." This will be dedicated to little tidbits of interesting wedding information. So without further ado.

Did you know....

that the reason a bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other before the wedding dates back to the days where marriages were arranged? It was bad luck to see the bride since it could result in negative feelings from the groom and the wedding being canceled. Still want to keep that tradition ladies?

In today's busy wedding days filled with touches that show off the bride and groom's personality it's more common to stage a photography "reveal" well before the ceremony starts. While it captures the first time you look at each other all done up in an intimate and beautiful way, it also gives the bride and groom a little quite time together on the biggest day of their lives. It can calm nerves and give each of them a chance to truly enjoy the day's emotions with each other before the "craziness" ensues.

A Tax Day I'll Never Forget

On Thursday April 15th 2010 Sommer and Jake said "I do" and it was cause for much celebration from family, friends, and most of all me! We jumped through many hoops throughout the year while planning this wedding. Picking the perfect venue (out of the 13 we went to, they loved them all) and getting everyone to agree on, well, anything in a timely manner. Then there was the time they decided to drop all their San Diego plans and re-plan a much smaller scale wedding in Colorado, only to come back to SD.

The venue we chose was simply perfect. A blend of all the elements Sommer and Jake were looking for: tropical but not at the beach, lots of vegetation, and a lounge, downtown San Diego rooftop feel. Very different elements to put together! One site came to mind, the perfect place: The W Hotel's BEACH bar. Outside on the second story of this wonderful hotel holds a small bar covered in sand, lots of lounge furniture, and it is surrounded by the big city buildings. It was love at first site, and after meeting Jarrod (the W's amazing events manager) there was no question: this was it!

So fast forward through months and months of planning to end us at the biggest hoop of all; and it came 3 days before the wedding. What was supposed to be the final relaxing days leading up to the wedding turned into a frantic panic that no one could have foreseen. On Monday at 10am I received a call from our wonderful Jarrod at the W "Have you seen the news yet today?". "No" was my only response....silence.... (me starting to sweat).... "BEACH suffered a very bad fire last night, we won't be able to host Sommer and Jake's wedding there Thursday. We need a new plan. Call Sommer." Panic is running through my veins. I now have to call my bride, my friend, 3 days before her wedding and inform her she has no venue, on her last day of work before her vacation begins no less. I make the call, she's clearly upset. Game plan, wait for Sommer to get home from work, pick her up and drive as fast as possible to W to come up with new options.

We make it to the W in record time. We look at many alternate sites. I thank god for my blackberry about a million times that day, vendors are emailing me new site suggestions, offering their hands in any assistance they can, brides and friends are emailing me about hearing the news, it was a crazy time. The sites are a no go, not what Sommer and Jake are looking for. Once back at the W we go to see their indoor room; very swanky, very hip, and not at all a relaxed beach theme. Sommer starts to say no and I stop her. I begin to rattle off the top of my head how this room could work; tropical chic! I pitch them new floral arrangements, (thank god I was doing the flowers too) new setting, new themes, and YES this can work! They agree and we're back on track! A few days later we're ready to rock this wedding!

The day was perfect! The room looked amazing! The flowers were so cute thanks to our sister company, BRANCHES. The bride and groom were so happy, no one would have ever been able to tell what they went through that final week. The W's staff was phenomenal, on par with Disney's I'd say, by far the best staff I've ever had the chance to work with. Sean from Resolusean Photography captured everything in the most perfect way; I still can't stop looking at the images. Our pastor, Pastor Kreig, customized a ceremony just for Sommer and Jake, and even incorporated all their interests into it. My favorite line was regarding putting in effort every day into your relationships, he said "the grass is not greener on the other side. It's greener where it gets the most water." After the ceremony guests spent the evening eating and drinking the night away. There was lots of dancing with music by Positive Energy Productions, and the groom even did the splits! At the end of the night all the guests had the same thing to say, "Best wedding ever!" The next day a friend overhears the bride say "It was the happiest day of my life". Go team! We did it! That is the ultimate compliment right there!

Looking back now I can smile, and know with all certainty I can do anything!