Beat the Heat with Beverage Stations

Help your guests beat the Florida heat at your outdoor wedding with beverage stations. These are great to set up at your outdoor wedding ceremony so when guests arrive they can have a refreshing drink while they wait. There are tons of options - lemonade, pink lemonade, ice tea, fruit punch, water with lemon slices, etc. Guests will definitely appreciate this added detail and your thoughtfulness in trying to keep them comfortable.

Flawless Occasions can now set up your very own beverage station at your event with our stylish double drink dispenser. Contact us for details and check out these inspiration photos below!

Alicia and Steve's Pro Photos

I am so grateful to Carrie from A Fly on the Wall Photography who sent us over some beautiful professional photos from Alicia and Steve's March wedding. I've enjoyed working with Carrie and becoming friends with her throughout the past few months, and I really think she is an amazing and talented photographer. Alicia and Steve were such a loving and happy couple, and her photos really show the emotions of the day. Thank you Carrie!

Cool Down for Cocktail Hour

I'm a self-proclaimed foodie and I have no shame admitting that one of my favorite parts of being a wedding planner is seeing all the interesting and amazing food. Recently I've been seeing more and more creative appetizers during the cocktail hour. The cocktail hour is definitely an opportunity to wow your guests and what most brides and grooms don't realize is that almost all venues and catering companies are willing to create custom food items for you.

Now that late spring is upon us, we are already feeling the upcoming summer heat. I think my car gauge said 91 degrees today or something crazy like that. In the spirit of humidity, I decided to show you some wonderful ways to cool off during your cocktail hour - these ideas are all from Martha Stewart. Don't forget, if you see something you like or have an idea that is not on their standard menu, just ask if your caterer will make it. Ahhh... I'm feeling less sweaty already.








































































































1. Mini-wedding cake shaped sorbet
2. Vodka in frozen fruit ice blocks
3. Bite-sized ice cream cones
4. Adult ice cream floats
5. Sangria jello squares

Bridesmaid proposals

I felt really special yesterday when I received a beautiful potted rosebush delivered to me with a card, saying..
Dear Shawna,
Donnie and I are getting married exactly one year from today and I would be honored if you would be a bridesmaid.
Love, Natalie
I was very touched by not only being asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding, but also this thoughtful gift that hopefully I can keep for many years to come.
When asking someone to be a bridesmaid, you can obviously just talk to them about it in person, take them out to dinner, or call them on the phone... or you can have fun with it and be a little more creative. Here are a few ideas on how to ask your special friends in life to stand up with you on your big day.

Bridesmaid cookies - For the foodie bridesmaid, these bridesmaid cookies from www.advantagebridal.com have a beautiful personalized poem and after you read it, you can eat it! They are only $10.00 and perfect for your bridesmaid with a sweet tooth~ :)

The Ugly Bridesmaid Card - If you google "ugly bridesmaid dresses", a plethora of unfortunate bridesmaid style choices come up. If you are skilled at photoshop, you can add your own bridesmaids' faces to these photos and then print them into cards at your local photolab. Of course don't forget to write in the card, I promise I won't make you wear a dress like this. Will you be my bridesmaid?

Friendship Photobook -- For the sentimental bridesmaid, create a photobook of memories from your friendship together. With sites like shutterfly.com, for just $12.95 you can create a photobook with text as well as photos. Consider putting a quote about friendship on each page, and at the end of the book, say "Thank you for being there for me all of these years. Will you be there for me once more by being a bridesmaid in my wedding?"

Bridesmaid Bling -- For your glamorous bridesmaid to be, send her this Tiffany's box complete with diamond paperweight. Diamonds are a girls best friend, and they can also be for a girl's best friend... find them at www.favorsbyserendipity.com for only $9.95.

A Sweet Thank You from a Great Groom :)

Beth is out of town for a few days but I just had to post this sweet, sweet review from one of our most recent clients.

We love our couples, especially when they are so appreciative of our hard work. Sharee and Daniel were no exception...they were so grateful the entire day and Beth and Christina really enjoyed making their special day a success. I only worked with Sharee and Daniel in the beginning but even with the small amount I contributed to their wedding, they were still thankful which just goes to show how wonderful they are. We often get sweet notes and emails from our brides, and we've had a few grooms post reviews as well, but Daniel's is so kind and special that I had to post it here. You know how much wedding planners love details...and his review is full of them! Thank you so much Daniel (and Sharee) for this review, we are so glad you were happy with our work and that you loved your flawless wedding.

Shawna, Beth and Christina of Flawless Occassions made us feel like a special couple from the very beginning. Our initial meeting began with a fantastic overview of what levels of planning they could provide for us. Even though we selected the Day Of Package, the trio were an integral part in our planning efforts. We were able to ask them for ideas on vendors and they provided us with their recommendations. Their knowledge of vendors and ability to give us insight into the world of wedding planning made the selection of quality vendors easy and left us feeling confident leading up the wedding day.

A few days prior to the wedding, we sat down with Beth to discuss the day of the ceremony. Beth had reviewed with us the many items that were needed for the rehearsal dinner and actual wedding day. Her list of items to review identified numerous things that we had not thought about; which meant that we were able to solve them before the wedding day! Thank goodness! Beth contacted all of our vendors to make sure that all the vendors were lined up for the wedding day, which alleviated one of the many things we were working on for the day. Even prior to the wedding day, Beth was coming up with solutions to items, Flawless Occasions was able to suggest a violinist for the wedding.

On the actual wedding day, Beth and Christina made the day perfect. Beth and Christina were there at every moment in the day to handle any issues. My fiancee's hairdresser had a mix-up and Beth was all over solutions. At one point, my fiancee had a moment where she needed a bobby pin, BAM! Beth and Christina had a whole roll of bobby pins (That's how prepared they were).
The violinist worked great. They made sure that everyone was relaxed and enjoying the actual day! During the reception, anything that I needed was taken care of (at one point, I asked for a glass of water, and Ta-Da! it was done).
My wife is saying that this review is going a bit long; so to make a long testimonial short, choose Flawless Occasions. They made our day great and we are sure they can do it for you.

Don't forget, if you would like to see more reviews, please visit our page on weddingwire.com!

Sharee and Daniel's Tampa Palms Country Club Wedding

On April 10th, Cristina and I had the honor of coordinating Sharee and Daniel's Tampa Palms Country Club wedding. This was our first wedding at Tampa Palms and it was a wonderful venue! Sharee and Daniel's ceremony took place on the veranda which overlooks the golf course. Since the veranda is covered and has ceiling fans, the guests were able to enjoy the shade on this beautiful sunny day. The guests were also treated to the beautiful music of violinist, Levi Mitz.

Pastor Mark Wood did a wonderful job officiating the ceremony for this special couple as they were surrounded by family and friends. The scenery at Tampa Palms is absolutely stunning, so photographer Carolina Araujo and her second shooter, Esther Louise, were excited to be able to take all of the after ceremony shots on the lush Tampa Palms grounds. I really enjoyed working with Carolina again and meeting Esther and I can't wait to share some of their professional photographs!!

The cocktail hour took place in the courtyard so the guests were able to truly enjoy the gorgeous weather! After coctails and scrumptious hors d'oeuvres, the guests moved indoors (just a few steps away) to the ballroom where they enjoyed a wonderful dinner and dancing.
Fishhawk Florist created very unique centerpieces that went perfectly with the simple but elegant design of Sharee and Daniel's wedding. Alessi Bakery
designed an amazing cake that had chocolate branches with real orchids. It was not only great to look at, but it was delicious too!

Sharee and Daniel are surrounded by so many wonderful people. Everyone danced the night away because the DJ Mike Mello from Frank Lebano & Company really knew how to rock the house! This crowd could really dance!!

There were so many personal touches that really made this wedding unique to Sharee and Daniel and the love they share. My favorite was their card box which was a vintage suitcase with stickers from their travels together. Another detail I loved was their guestbook - Daniel proposed to Sharee at a castle in Germany, so they used a photo book from that castle as their guestbook.

Sharee and Daniel are such a cute, kind, genuine, and loving couple - the kind that you can look at and tell that they are obviously madly in love. They are truly lucky to have found one another and to be surrounded by so much love and support from their family and friends. There is no doubt that they will have a very happy marriage together!

A quick shout out to Janelle who referred this amazing couple to us! Thanks Janelle!!!! We really appreciate you putting in a good word for us and connecting us with Sharee & Daniel!

I also wanted to thank Christina, my assistant coordinator, for all her hard work! She did an amazing job - including knocking on just about every door in the Tampa Palms hotel to find Sharee's Mom so she wouldn't miss Sharee stepping into her wedding gown!

Sharee and Daniel - Thank you for hiring Flawless Occasions to coordinate your wedding day. Christina and I had so much fun working with you both and being a part of your big day! Welcome back from your Aruba honeymoon!

Here are some (okay, actually there are a lot!!!) of the pictures I took from Sharee and Daniel's wedding! Enjoy!!









Ready for the ceremony!



The ceremony was full of smiles, laughter and tears of joy...






I loved Sharee's purple shoes!!!!


What a fun crowd!! Such gorgeous views at Tampa Palms too!




Cocktail hour and reception...