FESTIVUS!

No secret - I am a big time fan of the Baltimore Ravens. And my boys are in the playoffs - we had the "fish fry" in Miami last weekend where we "cooked" and served up the Dolphins on a plate..now we are headed to Nashville to "BBQ" the Tennessee Titans :)

My friend and fellow wedding planning colleague, Kathy Strukel of Indiana-based The Perfect Solution, gave my hometown team the proverbial "shout out" on her blog today by posting the cutest garters, festooned with the colors and emblems of my Ravens. Made by the Garter Lady - these are a great way to bring your love of sports (for the many, many brides out there who are into football just like their men!) into your wedding celebration....

GO RAVENS!!!!

P.S. For those of you not familiar with the term "Festivus" - it's code for the word "playoffs". Former head coach Brian Billick would not let the team get caught up in the whole playoff/SuperBowl hype, so he forbid the use of the word "playoff". So the team came up with "Festivus" instead..with "Festivus Maximus" as the word for the Super Bowl..

A Premiere Wedding - Izabella & Dave

I was honored to act as the wedding coordinator for my assistant, Izabella, as she wed David Downs on a chilly December afternoon. Izabella has been with me for the past three years and is one of the most beautiful people (inside and out!) that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you saw the episode on Style Network's "Married Away" where I was producing a destination wedding in the Grenadines - then you also saw Izabella, who graciously flew all of those miles to help me pull of that event. Oh - the stories we can share about that trip!!

It was that trip, however, that introduced Izabella (and me!) to the amazing photographic work of Ruth Rackley. When we saw the images from the island wedding, Izabella was adamant about having Ruth capture her special day on film. Izabella & Dave were engaged last Thanksgiving in front of Macy's in New York - they both play for the Baltimore Ravens Marching Band..and Dave proposed to her on bended knee in Heraldry Square - the rest is simply amazing.

From the deeply spiritual and traditional Catholic mass, complete with beautiful music and songs to the festive, Latin-inspired reception where everyone got down on the dance floor, this was a wedding full of love, emotion and glorious color! We even had a few snowflakes dancing around for good measure!! Check out the slideshow on Ruth's blog for the complete photostory...

Izzi & Dave - I wish you all the best!!!!!