What?? You're still here?

Are you still checking this blog? Don't you know we moved a few weeks ago? Check out our new digs at wishspecialevents.com/blog!

We have a great Real Wedding today and lots of great posts this week. Make sure you update your bookmarks, links, and feed readers!

Have you updated your bookmarks yet?

Don't forget to update your bookmarks. We've moved!

If you're reading this on Google Reader or another blog reader, add this as a new blog: wishspecialevents.com/blog

Join Us at the Wish Blog

We've moved!

Since we've changed our name, our blog is moving too. Don't worry -- we'll still publish the same awesome posts as we always have. On Tuesday we'll even have an amazing 'Real Wedding' to share with you. Click here to get on your way.

If you came here from a bookmark, please update it. If you link to us on your own blog or website, we'd appreciate if you could switch out your link. Copy & paste this: http://www.wishspecialevents.com/blog

See you on the flip side!

Big News!

We have been working on some big news for a while and are so thrilled to finally share it with you. As of today, we'll be known as Wish Special Events!We've formed a more perfect union with The Dandelion Patch and will be offering event planning services to their brides. We'll still be open for business as usual so if you're not ordering your invitations through their adorable stores then don't fret. From the surface we are essentially just changing our name and our look.If you're a current Soiree bride, your contract, payment terms, and coordinator will stay the same. We are keeping the entire team, cell phone numbers are the same, and email addresses will be active. The services you've contracted us for are not going anywhere. We are very much looking forward to working with you on your wedding.

If you are a potential client, please check out our new website! The information is very similar to the Soiree site as we're offering the same services, keeping the same people, showcasing the same weddings, etc. Our rates have gone up a tad but they are still competitive for planners in the DC area. All new weddings will be booked through the new company.

If you are a vendor, please update your website links and address books. Our team members' emails will now be firstname@wishspecialevents.com. Our contact number is switching to a central line at 866-410-WISH (9474). We plan to also send out a formal email announcement...add your address in the comments to be sure you're on our list. As always we appreciate your positive recommendations and referrals.

We're so thrilled to announce this partnership. It allows us access to bigger and better business resources and the opportunity to grow in the direction we've been aiming. Stay tuned for an announcement about our new blog...you'll likely need to update your bookmarks and links to follow us.

Post your comments below! I'll be checking back regularly to answer all your questions. You may also email me anytime with concerns. To chat on the phone, our snazzy new toll-free number is 866-410-WISH (9474).

Free Bridal Show Tickets

Want FREE admission to the Washington Bridal Showcase? Thanks to WeddingWire, you can get in the Dulles show for free! Be sure to print more than one coupon if you have a date or a helper coming along. See you at the show!

Congratulations Rama and Neel!

My very first wedding! Well, not really...I've assisted the amazing Laura and Jessica with QUITE a few others, as well as helping friends and family members with their weddings for years. But Rama and Neel were my very own clients, and for that I am SO grateful! My first wedding was certainly a new experience...a 400 guest, all day Indian affair! Having never been to an Indian wedding, nor having been to quite a large wedding, I was worried, but luckily Rama and Neel had a ton of family members to help. I couldn't have done it without them!

The wedding was held at Foxchase Manor in Manassas and was decorated by the fabulous Prabha Bambri. Check out some of these amazing photos, taken by one of Soiree's favorite teams, The Regetis:

The ceremony included so many amazing colors, and there were even costume changes! I'm a sucker for a costume change...maybe it's the Diana Ross in me?

Outfit #1:

Outfit #2:And later in the evening, there were even more costume changes! Outfit #3: (How cute are Rama and Neel, with Rama's sister Deepa and her fiance Anand?! Their wedding is coming up next month...congratulations to you two as well!)

One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was the rice ceremony. The showering of rice on each other symbolizes the offering of mutual love, faith, fertility and prosperity.

After the ceremony there was an amazing luncheon catered by friends of Neel's parents. They catered dinner as well -- yum! The beautiful cake was provided by Cakes by Marida. Marida is retired from baking the cakes...her daughter, Donna, does the baking now. However, the adorable Marida, her husband, and her grandaughter arrived to deliver this beauty!

The ceremony flowers were also provided by Prabha...I love how th tall centerpieces are lit from below with what I can best describe as a jello like substance with a light in it. I had to explain to a table full of college guys from Emory University that no, they could not eat the "jello"!Speaking of college guys from Emory, Neel's little brother, Ajay, is in an A Cappella group at Emory called No Strings Attached. Not only were these guys sweet and hilarious, but MAN could they sing?! I don't know how Ajay did it, because he had just given a toast that didn't leave a dry eye in the house...especially mine! Little brother has an AMAZING voice!!

Special thanks goes out to both sets of parents for working with us before the wedding, as Rama and Neel live in New York City. Congratulations again to the happy couple...thanks for making my first wedding an amazing one!

Our Big News is Slightly Delayed

Our Big News was supposed to be ready to go over the weekend. Due to some unforeseen last-minute changes, it looks like we'll be up and running NEXT weekend. Sorry for the delay. We're planning on unveiling our change at the Washington Bridal Showcase on Sunday -- check us out there OR tune into the blog. Thanks for your patience!

Why You Don't Want to be a Wedding Planner

Since the beginning of the year, we've received 100+ resumes from aspiring wedding planners. That's pretty typical and the list has stretched long since we started in 2005. Apparently being an event planner is the 'it' job of the millennium. I'm sure any other planner out there has tons of those emails (on iWed we affectionately call them the "it's my dreeeeeaaaam" girls).

Unfortunately the reality of being a wedding planner is that most of us are chained to our laptops 90% of our time. We blog about all the fun things we do....picking linen with clients, visiting new venues, going to networking parties, and of course running the wedding days. Like any other job, though, there is a ton of correspondence with clients and vendors, business paper work, tax documents, and everything else that goes with owning a company. Not very often do we blog about the boring things but they're equally as important.I took a few minutes today and averaged the number of emails I send on a regular basis. Last week I averaged 30.2 emails a day! Keep in mind that I was out of the office from 10am-8pm on both Thursday and Friday so the bulk of these were spread over the beginning of the week. On Wednesday I topped out at 42 emails for the day made up by 31 separate conversations. They span 15 hours. Can you imagine a 15-hour workday talking with 31 people simultaneously? The kicker is that most of my emails are about the same amount of text as this post.If planning events is still your goal, be persistent. We offer a great internship program and are looking forward to seeing what you can offer. The wedding industry always has room for better vendors. If the thought of 31 simultaneous conversations and office hours from 8am-11pm slightly scares you, turn and run just as fast as you can!

If you're one of our spring brides, we love you and promise we're not trying to ignore you. We always strive to get back to client emails same-day (sometimes same-hour) but can't always reach that goal. Our fall brides are taking the front seat for the next few days as we finalize their details. We'll get back to you just as soon as we can.