New Venue Alert

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! We had such great things happen over the past few days, with winning "The Best of the Knot" 2010 and booking several weddings in just a few days. I feel very blessed to have been brought into this (thank you Beth!!!).

Anyway, the week before Thanksgiving I dined at a fabulous new restaurant in Tampa called Brio. Brio is a Tuscan-inspired Italian restaurant with delicious food and a wonderful ambiance. It has white draping from the ceilings and columns, and rich colors of deep red and gold which give the restaurant a warm and elegant feel.

Brio has several banquet rooms on the second floor of the facility, many of which have their own outdoor terrace and lounge area. Some of the rooms have flat screen tv's (perfect for showing a dvd slideshow of photos or whatever you desire). The rooms can hold small parties or be opened up to hold large parties of over 150 guests. They are decorated so beautifully that you would need minimal additional decor, and their food prices are reasonable, which makes this a very budget-friendly venue without losing out on quality or ambiance. The attached outdoor terraces are perfect for cocktail hours prior to your event, or just a place to relax during. The staff is very attentive and the food is excellent. So if you are looking for a nice place to hold anything from a bridal shower luncheon to a holiday party to a rehearsal dinner to a wedding, check out the new Brio at International Plaza. We would love to help you plan an event there! For more information, including room layouts and banquet menu pricing, click here, or just email us and we will help you start your planning. Here are some photos of the event facilities sent to us from Tammy at Brio.

We are proud to announce that Flawless Occasions has been selected as "Best of the Knot" 2010!

I received a very exciting (and surprising!) phone call today from The Knot!! Flawless Occasions has been chosen by our brides to be ont he Best of the Knot 2010 list! We are excited and flattered that our brides have taken the time to rate our services, rave about us, and nominate Flawless Occasions for such a prestigious award!!
A great big heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our brides who contributed to the Knot surveys and ultimately helped us earn this honor.

For those not familiar with The Knot, it is a wonderful reference for wedding planning. They post tons of ideas, have lots of wedding planning tools, and have talk boards for brides to discuss their weddings, vendors and anything else related to the big day. They also have local boards where brides in a particular area (such as south west Florida) can talk about local resources.

In past years the Knot "Best Of" winners were all published in a magazine. In 2010, there will not be a magazine - but all winners will be published on the Knot on January 22, 2010. This link - http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/best-of-weddings-2008.aspx - will tell you more about how vendors are selected for this award. (It is not by who advertises with them, but completely based on bride feedback!)

THANK YOU again to our brides for your continued support, feedback and friendships! We are thrilled to have earned this honor while doing a job that we absolutely love!

Great Holiday Gift Idea for the Engaged Couple

Do you know someone who is getting engaged over the holidays or a Bride and Groom to be who would love some help with the wedding planning process??? We have the perfect gift for them!!

Flawless Occasions offers gift certificates for any denomination. The gift certificates can be used toward any Day of Coordination package or Planning Package. It is a gift that any engaged couple would absolutely love!

To find out more information, send an email to Beth at beth@flawlessoccasions.com or call us at 813-340-5108.

Brides Florida Event

Beth and I had such a great time at the Brides Florida event last night at the T. Pepin Hospitality Center. First of all, this venue is so cool. It is definitely not your average banquet hall - it's modern, beautiful, and artsy at the same time. Second of all, this event was fabulous. Ashly Olivier did a wonderful job putting on this event with Brides Florida magazine.

We had so much fun mingling with our friends in the wedding industry such as Shem and Carolina, a few of our favorite photographers, and Alexis, our friend from the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. We also got to try some amazing food from Puff N Stuff catering - as you can see I loved the flatbreads so much that I took a photo (I admit I am slightly obsessed with delicious food). We also were treated to entertainment by Black Violin, which I would describe as hip-hop-meets-orchestra. I love live music, and these guys put on quite a show. The awesome decor you will see in some of my photos was created by conceptbait and Botanica Florist. Linens by the Sea provided the beautiful specialty linens.

We are very appreciative to have been invited to such a fantastic event. It's really nice to be able to be a guest sometimes, and we were definitely pampered by these wonderful vendors. If only all of our Wednesday nights could be like this.... :)
Here are some fun pictures I took of the evening!

Holly and Ryan's Professional Pictures

In October, I posted about Holly and Ryan's Safety Harbor Wedding. Holly was an absolutely stunning bride! Shem from Blue Lane Photography did an amazing job capturing Holly's natural beauty and all the elegant details of Holly and Ryan's wedding day. We are so excited that Shem has given us permission to share some of her gorgeous photos!! (Also, check out Shem's website and blog to see more of her beautiful photos!)


























Congratulations once again to Holly and Ryan! You are a wonderful couple and we wish you a very happy life together!

Megan and Sean's Professional Photos

As usual, Jason Angelini and his wife Lucia have somehow managed to send us tons of wedding photos amidst their insanely busy schedule. They are so wonderful! These are from the wedding I coordinated just last week, on October 24th, and they really bring out the beauty of the event and all of the amazing details. Thanks for sharing guys!! By the way, I think this portrait of Megan is one of the prettiest pictures I've ever seen - she was such an elegant bride!