Vivian, Jen and I held our Best Wedding Ever Workshop last week at Space in Highland.  I can’t tell you how much fun we had putting this together.

Hold on a second.  Yes, I can tell you, and I will.  We had so much fun!

It all started with Jen’s presentation, an enlightening education on the essentials of wedding day timing.  She warned about the dangers of not leaving enough time at those critical moments and suggested an ideal timeline for maximum enjoyment…and minimum stress…throughout your wedding day.

I’ve attended hundreds of weddings, but my perspective is so different from a videographer’s.  Jen’s suggestions were spot on, and things that I would never know to advise a bride.  She stressed the importance of eating, especially if your friends are going to force you into doing shots later.  Yep, you can imagine how ugly that can get!

Vivian followed with and amazing, inspirational demonstration of color and individuality.  With her trusty assistant/beautiful model in a wedding gown, she showed us how to kick up your look with colorful accessories and details, from shoes to hair and sashes.  In seconds she threw together a show-stopping (cheap!) centerpiece idea.  The colors and ideas were flying!

Finally, I gave my presentation on the importance of finding your Wow Factor and using it to make your wedding totally unique.  It’s all about telling your story.  I won’t rehash that now…I’ve been blabbing about it on this blog for months, but one of my brides volunteered to share a bit about herself and her fiance so that we could brainstorm how to weave it into her wedding for added uniqueness and meaning.  Man, I love telling stories!

I am so pleased at how everything went and so thankful to all the brides who attended.  Oh, and to Jeff, who was the only guy in the room.  (Truthfully, he didn’t mind a bit.  He likes it when ladies get together and talk fashion, especially when the conversation comes around to undergarments.)

Got a wedding topic you’d like us to cover?  Leave me a comment and I’ll work it into our next workshop.  ‘Cuz you know there’s going to be another one!

Best Wedding Ever Workshop:

How To Make Your Wedding Totally You and Enjoy Every Minute Of It!

WHEN: Thursday May 28^th 6:30-9pm

WHERE: Space Studio in Highland

SPEAKERS: Jen Cassaro of Masterpiece Video, Stephanie Padovani of The DJ Solution and Vivian Lanzarone of Vivian Photography

The three of us wedding gals will put our expertise to work for Hudson Valley brides with an evening of wedding insights, inspiration and FUN. And we’re giving out over $100 in door prizes!

Here’s just a sampling of what you’ll learn:

• The secret that makes your wedding day a unique experience that is totally you…and how to pull it off without spending one dime extra!
  
  
• How to avoid a cookie-cutter wedding with these 3 accessory details of color, design and texture to blend elegance, personality and meaning into a wedding you and your guests will never forget.
  
  
• The 4 common mistakes most brides make that lead to stress, wedding day “drama,” and unnatural photos.

• 7 inexpensive or free ways to “Wow” your wedding guests.
  
  
• How to pick the unique touches that perfectly fit your personality and wedding in only 5 minutes.
  
  
• Timing tips that guarantee a relaxed, stress free wedding day…so you won’t be one of those brides who says, “It all just went too FAST!”
  
  
• The often overlooked wedding essentials you need to enjoy every minute of your wedding day and stay gorgeous for your photos.
  
  
• Why the wrong color choices can ruin your day…and the easy way to pick the palette that’s perfect for you.

Don’t worry…we’re NOT going to bore you with a stuffy lecture.  This workshop will be fun, upbeat and interactive.  Come prepared to have fun, check out the coolest new accessories and dresses on real models, and meet other awesome Hudson Valley brides to get inspired about your wedding.

The cost is $20 per person or $15 if you bring a friend. Snacks and beverages will be provided. We’re so excited about what we’ve got in store that we’re offering an Unconditional Money Back Guarantee: if you don’t have fun or you’re not satisfied for ANY reason…you get all your money back!

Seating is very limited so RSVP immediately to reserve your spot.

Call Stephanie at 845-473-1086 or Vivian at 845-691-4680 for more information and to make your reservation.

P.S. We’ve only got room for 20 brides and it’s first come, first served. Reserve your seat right now by clicking on my email address below.

We rocked!  If I do say so myself.  You can check out videos of the performances posted in my previous Guitar Parlor post here.

Our final total donations made to Hospice was $1,150!

Here I am plucking the heart strings (and purse strings) of our generous guests, about to introduce my all-time favorite singer songwriter, Jeff Padovani.

Jeff and Mike Murphy from Hospice.  Gee, I wish Jeff smiled at me like that…

Handsome Jeffrey opening up for Guitar Parlor V.

Here’s a rare photo of the camera-shy Kyle Davidson in action.  It’s been said that Kyle is a musician who transcends his instrument.  Ethereal, bittersweet, spiritually transformative music.

And finally, Lawrence accompanying Gary Levitt of Setting Sun.  Gary’s music is a quirky, provocative addition to the Hudson Valley indie  music scene, performing here with Lawrence as his “soul.”  You can see how much Jeff is diggin’ it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…it is such a pleasure to support talented Hudson Valley music and local charities.  Music for a cause, baby!

(Thanks for the awesome pics, Viv.)

Michael Polito Photography

Jeff and I are preparing for our fifth semi-annual Guitar Parlor cocktail party fundraiser this Thursday night at Vivian Lanzarone’s gorgeous studio, Space, in Highland.

So what is the Guitar Parlor?

We throw a party, invite all our friends, ask the coolest local musicians to perform, and collect money for a Hudson Valley charity.

This year we’re raising money for the music therapy program at Hospice of Dutchess and Ulster County.  In case you’re not familiar with Hospice, they provide medical care and treatment for terminally ill patients.  It hits close to home for me after watching my grandmother languish and die in a cold, ugly hospital room…instead of in her home surrounded by her family and friends.

Why Are We Doing This? We love any excuse to throw a party.  And live music ROCKS!  We get to support Hudson Valley music and charities at the same time.

How Does It Work? You show up as a guest, have fun listening to music and hanging with some of the coolest people around, and donate a little or a lot to a local charity.

Are You Interested? Send me an email for more details.

Not Able To Attend? You can still donate to Hospice in the Guitar Parlor’s name.

Our talented Hudson Valley musician performers are:

Jeff Padovani

Stephen Johnson & Friends

Setting Sun

Here’s a picture from one of our past Guitar Parlors held in our living room.  Jeff is performing with his son, Luke.  Let me tell you, there’s nothing like the feeling of having live music in your living room and partying with your closest friends!

Jeff and I are co-hosting this fundraising event with our photographer friend Vivian Lanzarone at her beautiful studio/living room, Space, in Highland, NY.

What is the Guitar Parlor, you ask?

We host a cocktail party, invite talented Hudson Valley musicians to perform, and collect money for a local Hudson Valley charity.

It’s music for a cause!  It also happens to be a really good excuse to throw a party while feeling good about making a difference.

This Guitar Parlor’s beneficiary is Hospice of Dutchess County.  They’ve got a severely underfunded music program that provides musical inspiration for hospice residents.  100% of our proceeds will go to the charity.

Our talented Hudson Valley musician performers will include:

Jeff Padovani (Of course!)

Stephen Johnson & Friends – Woodstock resident originally from Staffordshire, England with a haunting and uplifting guitar and vocal performance, Stephen has played with Peter Gabriel among others throughout his musical career.

Others TBD

How can you help?

If you’d like to attend our Guitar Parlor, send me an email and I’ll add you to the invite list.  If you’d like to contribute, email and I’ll send you the details.

In addition, SPREAD THE WORD.  Get inspired to use your love of music to make a difference in our community.

Leave a comment with your thoughts about our Guitar Parlor project.

Jeff and I started the Guitar Parlor over three years ago.  It began as one of Jeff’s crazy, spontaneous ideas.  We were planning a party and it went sort of like this…

Steph:  Let’s have a cocktail party and invite all our Hudson Valley wedding peeps.

Jeff:  If we’re having a party, we should have some live music.  Wouldn’t it be cool to have musicians jamming out in our living room?

Steph:  Uh, sure.  But where are we going to put them?

Jeff:  There’s plenty of room.  Hey, I’ve got an idea.  Since we’re gonna have live music, why don’t we make it a fundraiser?  Like, music for a cause…

And the Guitar Parlor was born.

It’s a cocktail party/fundraiser to raise money for a local charity.  Jeff invites his talented local musician buddies to perform in our living room, and while guests munch on hors d’ouevres and sip good wine, we collect donations for charity.  Over the years we’ve collected hundreds of dollars for Adopt-a-Family, the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, and the Community Foundation of Dutchess County.

It’s all about supporting local music and charities serving our Hudson Valley community.

Up until now, we’ve kept it small, usually only 30-50 guests invited to our home.  But our vision has been slowly growing…

Next month, Jeff is collaborating with Vivian Lanzarone to host our best Guitar Parlor yet at Space in Highland.  We’ll be taking donations to support the music program of a local hospice that’s desperately in need of funds.

Jeff will perform his original songs (I know I’m biased, but he’s really good!)  Stay tuned to learn more about our chosen charity and the musical acts who’ll be performing.

It’s one of the most exciting and rewarding things we do every year.  We get to hang out with all our friends while we are entertained by some of the best local musicians, and we get to make a difference.  What could be cooler than that?

Thursday February 19th is the date.  Interested in attending or helping out?  Leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Let’s use MUSIC to make a difference!

Where will you get ready on your wedding day?

With all the hours you’ll spend planning the tiniest details of your wedding…from the colors and flowers to the soles of your shoes and the polish on your nails…this is one question that often doesn’t get the consideration it deserves.

Why is it so important to think about where you’ll get ready on your wedding day?

Well, according to my photographer friend, Vivian Lanzarone, the environment you get ready in sets the tone for your entire wedding day.  Start out calm and serene–you’ll be glowing and relaxed the whole day.  But if you start out agitated and stressed, that negative energy can hang over you like a cloud.

Think about this scenario:

You decide to get ready at your house.  You wake up feeling excited and maybe a little nervous about your day.  You get up…and your bridesmaids arrive.  They immediately start rummaging through the house looking for hair spray and bobby pins and coffee…yelling out questions every five minutes.  Meanwhile, your makeup artist and hair stylist show up and start getting you ready, but you keep getting interrupted because you have to play hostess to their needs.

On top of that, your visiting family pops in for breakfast.  Then your photographer shows up to take photos of you getting ready.  The girls have dumped their stuff all over the place, the house is a cluttered mess, and you’re going crazy.

Seeing this chaotic wedding day scenario play out again and again inspired Vivian to create Space, a studio/living room/bistro designed with a bride in mind.  It’s the perfect place for you and your bridal party to escape the craziness as you get ready for one of the most important days of your life.

As you can see from these photos, Space has lots of natural light, neutral colors, and simple decor…necessities for great pictures.  Vivian urges you to create a peaceful, quiet environment to get ready in so that you can start your day out right.

Space is an ideal environment for getting ready on your wedding day.  I wish I was getting married again, just so that I could hang out there!  It’s relaxing, peaceful, and really romantic for a photo shoot.

But even if you aren’t getting ready in Space, here are some tips to make your wedding day stress-free.

1) Choose the place you’ll get ready in carefully.  Ideally, it should be a quiet space outside your home (to avoid distraction) with lots of natural light, neutral colors, and simple decor.

2) Choose the brightest room in that location to get ready in.  Natural light and muted colors will complement and accentuate your gown in the photographs.

3) Clean and de-clutter the space BEFORE your wedding day, so that you can relax and be pampered on the day of the wedding.

4) Ask your photographer’s opinion beforehand if you aren’t sure whether your home has enough light or the right decor for great photographs.

Here is space at night in cool uplighting.  Jeff and I will be hosting our Guitar Parlor fundraiser here next month.  I can’t wait!

(All photos courtesy of Vivian Photography.)