The Lovely Lange Farm - Open House Event

We were so excited to be invited to the Lange Farm open house this past weekend. We have seen so many photos of beautiful weddings at this location but had not yet gotten a chance to go out there and see it for ourselves. This place is such a hidden gem and so unique for Florida. It's tucked between rolling pastures and oak trees in the small town of Dade City, just outside of the greater Tampa Bay area.

One of the great things about Lange Farm is the multitude of options for ceremony and reception sites, and the staff at Lange Farm did a wonderful job of showcasing this by setting up all of the areas so we could see exactly how they could look. We were so impressed by the natural beauty of the farm and how many different locations there were within the venue. The ideas are endless! You could have your ceremony in a spot under a huge oak tree, under a gazebo, or in front of the Garden House, just to name a few. The Garden House is their largest indoor reception space and has a huge wraparound porch and large back patio with gorgeous chandeliers and an open and airy feel inside. For smaller receptions or even another event like a rehearsal dinner, the barn is a very whimsical and fun area that can be given a casual feel or elegant tone depending on your taste.

There were so many great vendors that we got a chance to mingle with at the event, and some amazing food from Olympia Catering, Good Food Catering, Delectables, and Catering By Design. Lange Farm does not do their own catering, so one of these fabulous companies would be a great choice. Not only did we see a lot of our old vendor friends, but we also got to meet photographer Justin DeMutiis whose work we have admired for awhile now. He was gracious enough to share these beautiful photos from the open house with us. He's shot many weddings at the Lange Farm and told us that it is one of his favorite venues to work at because of all the photo opportunities in the beautiful, natural settings there. Thanks for sharing your photos with us, Justin!

We would love to help you plan a wedding or event at this one-of-a-kind venue so contact us today for more information on our special wedding packages created just for this location!

New Bridal Boutique!

Before becoming a wedding planner with Flawless Occasions, I first broke into the wedding industry as a bridal consultant for a local gown shop. One of the most important experiences I took from that job was the value in buiding a relationship with your bride and always giving her the utmost personal attention. This is why I love Tampa's newest bridal boutique The White Closet Company.

I recently sat down with owner Cindy Rivera who was kind enough to give me a personal tour of the boutique. It was such a pleasure listening to her speak about her new business venture and hearing how passionate she is about weddings and the bridal experience. Unfortunately Cindy did not have the best experience in her own wedding gown shopping which is supposed to be such an exciting and memorable time for a bride. It was because of this that Cindy was inspired to open The White Closet Company.

When I asked Cindy what she felt made her boutique unique, it was simple - the personal, one-on-one attention that every bride will get when she walks in that door. There will not be high pressure sales tactics or chaotic dressing rooms at this shop. She wants to build a relationship with her clients so they feel comfortable and enjoy every moment of the experience.

The White Closet Company is currently featuring 4 different amazing designers, with prices ranging from $700.00 a gown to $3,400, as well as some great bridal accessories and specialty items. Visit the White Closet Company's website or call to make an appointment at 813-249-GOWN.

Thanks, Cindy, for allowing Flawless Occasions to visit your beautiful bridal boutique! We wish you much success although it seems like after your fabulous grand opening this weekend, you are already off to a great start! Here are some wonderful photos of The White Closet Company boutique taken by the talented Carrie Wildes...

A Flawless Office Grand Opening Celebration!!!

This is one of the most exciting blog posts EVER. As some of you may know, Flawless Occasions had a huge change this past June - we opened our own office! We were lucky enough to secure a space in a wonderful new building called the Apple Blossoms Wedding Center, which is the brainchild of Scott Darhower of Apple Blossoms Florist. The idea behind it is a location that could potentially be a one-stop-shop for brides; several wedding vendors located in a convenient area for all of your wedding and event needs. Although we work and operate completely independent of one another, it's great to be neighbors with others in the industry.
The Wedding Center is setup with a main lobby area which also serves as a meeting space for those in the wedding center or other wedding and event vendors who wish to rent out the space to meet with clients. There are a few permanent private offices also located in the building, one of which is ours - The Flawless Office!
On Wednesday, August 18th, the entire Wedding Center in conjunction with Apple Blossoms Florist hosted a fabulous grand opening celebration. We had delicious food catered by Elite Events Catering, Dee's Delights, and Cakes Plus, an open bar, and RJ Vida spinning hits (there was definitely a late night dance party towards the end of the evening). There were so many great friends and vendors in the industry, as well as tons of beautiful brides and clients. We were shocked at how many people made it out on a weeknight to come and celebrate with us - it was literally a packed house for most of the night. A huge thank you to everyone who attended and made our grand opening a huge success!
And another big thank you goes to one of our Wedding Center neighbors, Joelle from Socialite Studios, who got some awesome photos of the night that we are so excited to share with you! Check out her video at the bottom too, it's pretty hilarious.. :)

Jennifer and Marlon's pro pics

A big thank you to Christie Curtis from Limelight Photography for sending over these great pictures from Jennifer and Marlon's wedding that we planned and coordinated a few months ago at the Marriott Sand Key. It was such a wonderful wedding and Christie's photos really captured all of the best moments and details of the day. Thanks again Christie!

Some Design Inspiration

I've been busy working tonight on a design scheme for one of our wonderful November brides, and I came across a ton of great inspiration boards on ProjectWedding.com. Check them out! And don't forget, many of our planning packages come with design assistance. We love to help you create a vision, and then coordinate it! :)

Is it all about you?

This weekend the New York Times had a very interesting article about vegetarians and vegans - to serve meat or to not serve meat at their weddings. Although I have attended and/or coordinated weddings that had food choices related to religious requirements, the idea of food choices related to personal life choices is a different situation altogether. I like this article because it gives several different points of view. What do you think about this topic? Take our poll at the bottom!

Here's an excerpt from the article itself and you can read the rest by clicking here.

At Vegans’ Weddings, Beef or Tofu?

Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
The pastry chefs Fernanda Capobianco and François Payard will serve meat at their wedding, though she is a vegan.

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA

Published: August 6, 2010

WEDDINGS are all about compromise. City or country? June or November? My religion or yours?

For Chelsea Clinton, a vegetarian, it was the decision to serve meat to the guests at her July 31 wedding. (Short ribs, specifically, though there were rumors of Angus steak.)

For some couples, that is a concession too far.

“If your family loves you and wants you to have that special day, I think they can go one meal and not eat meat,” said Cecilia Kinzie, a vegan and food consultant in Petaluma, Calif., who served no meat at her 2009 wedding.

“If you go to an Indian wedding, you don’t expect Italian food,” added Ms. Kinzie, who had already appeased her family by spending her savings on a hotel reception rather than the honeymoon she’d always dreamed of. “So why should this be any different?”

As it turns out, the most political decision of Ms. Clinton’s wedding was not whether to invite James Carville. By choosing to have meat, she reignited a sensitive wedding-season debate among ethical eaters and the people who love them: To serve, or not to serve?

To read article in its entirety, click here

Should a vegan/vegetarian still serve meat at their wedding?

• No way! They don't eat meat and its their wedding, so why should they serve it?
• No, but they should let their guests know ahead of time so they can make other arrangements.
• Yes! It's not all about the bride and groom. They need to think of their guests' comfort level, too.

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Flawless Contest Winner!!

There was a bit of a delay but I wanted to announce the winner of the Flawless Contest from last month. We were looking for entries describing a great memory that someone had with their loved one, but instead we got a great memory in need of preserving. Congratulations to our contest winner, Desiree, who was looking for someone to photograph her intimate wedding ceremony before her fiance is deployed in October. We feel really great about helping this bride and her soldier capture the beautiful memories that will be made on her special wedding day. Thanks to Memories by Erin Leigh for helping us to award this great couple with a free photo session. Can't wait to see how the photos turn out!

Congratulations Chelsea Clinton!

I admit I am not very much into celebrity news and am usually the last to know about a celebrity breakup or arrest or whatever - but I am all about Chelsea Clinton's wedding photos! Her dress was a Vera Wang and absolutely breathtaking. She mixed a little traditional with trendy by wearing a blusher veil with a more modern bling-belted gown. She and her fiance Marc had an interfaith ceremony mixing their Methodist and Jewish religious backgrounds. There were 400-500 guests at the lavish affair. I'm hoping they release some more photos because I would love to see the decor and details of this amazing wedding.
Click here for more -Dress details, Wedding details
(photo credit: US Weekly Magazine)