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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).

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!

We're Out for the Weekend

We have three couples getting hitched this Labor Day Weekend. Congratulations in advance to Krystal&Jason, Angie&Rich, and Esther&Michael! We're looking forward to having photos from all three events on the blog soon.

Come back on Monday for some BIG SOIREE NEWS. Seriously, it's big. You'll have to check back to see what's going on!

Washington Bridal Showcase - 9/7/08

Mark your calendars! The area's largest bridal show is coming to the Dulles Expo Center. The show is on Sunday, September 7th. There are also shows in Bethesda on 9/14 and Greenbelt on 9/21. We've participated regularly in this show and are looking forward to meeting you. Discounted tickets are available if you buy them online.

If you've never attended a show, check out our handy tips we posted before last year's show. They'll help you maximize your time there and make planning a lot easier afterwards.

This year we have some exciting news! We'll be exhibiting under a new name. Look for Wish Special Events instead of Soiree. I'll post more about our big news over the next couple days.

I have some free tickets to give away. To win a pair, leave a comment describing what you hope to accomplish at the show. Maybe it's comparing photographers or meeting several deejays? Perhaps you just want to come and stuff yourself full of cake? Be sure to leave your email address so I can find you. I'll select a winner on Friday at 5pm and contact you over the weekend. Good luck!

Live Chat @ Washingtonian.com

Every Thursday Washingtonian.com hosts a wedding professional to answer questions about DC-area weddings. Guess who's the victim for this week's live chat at the Washingtonian? Me! I'm honored and thrilled all at the same time. I'm so excited to see their offices and answer your toughest planning questions for an hour.

Submit your questions here and join me on Thursday from 11am-noon! We'll post the re-cap afterwards if you're not able to make it (but would still love to see you online for the real deal).

We're Committed

To Blog Action Day, that is!

We were proud to be a part of this force last year and are looking forward to it again. Blog Action Day is an annual event that includes big and little blogs around the world. Each blogger must write about the selected topic on the same day. This year's topic is Poverty and the date is October 15th.

If you're a blogger, won't you consider joining the cause?

Soiree Classifieds: Lemonade Jars

UPDATE: The jars have a new home! Congratulations in advance to Jennifer and Ben who will be getting hitched this Labor Day weekend.

We've had these lemonade jars for quite a while and they're always a huge hit at events. They are perfect for holding pre-ceremony beverages or just as a fun station next to your bar. There are three which is perfect for serving lemonade, iced tea, and water. Of course you can jazz it up and do three different types of sangria if you want...they are really versatile!The spigots at the bottom twist open and closed:I love the little nobby tops. Her hands give you an idea of their size:
Beautiful!Each jar holds 19 liters of liquid and we've used them for parties of 200 without having to refill. They each have their own box so they stack and store quite nicely. We're asking $115 for all three but will consider all offers. Pickup is in Reston, VA or I can meet you in Tyson's/Fair Lakes/Herndon/Sterling/etc. Email me if you're interested!

Happy Hour with Mervis!

Calling all brides- and grooms-to-be:

Soiree and Mervis will be at Chima tomorrow evening for an impromptu happy hour. Join us in Tyson's Corner around 6:15 for some non-committal wedding chat and a few drinks. If you plan on coming, please shoot me an email so I have an idea of a head count. See you there!

1% For The Planet

Soiree Special Events is very proud to be one of 1% For The Planet's newest members! This phenomenal organization is dedicated to helping our mother earth through corporate giving. Each company that joins makes a pledge to donate 1% of their annual profits to an approved charity. We're glad to be among the businesses involved like Clif Bar, SIGG, Volcom, and my own personal favorite Brushfire Records.Some of these charities include the World Wildlife Federation, Friends of the Earth, The Conservation Fund, and even some local ones like the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

There are over 900 companies and 1600 charities involved to date and they're growing every day. We're proud to be involved with such a fantastic movement. If you're a business owner like me, check out some reasons why you should make your pledge to do your part!

In a somewhat related thought, here is one of my favorite photos from a recent vacation. Can you guess what gorgeous piece of our Earth this is? The first poster to correctly identify the location gets a free copy of Wedding Chic:

Lookin' Good

Last night we multi-tasked while holding a team meeting and having our headshots taken for the website. Today we're thrilled to see what Regeti's Photography captured! Here's my favorite one of the team stolen affectionately from their blog:To see the rest of our pretty little faces, check out the Regeti's Blog. They'll be officially posted on our website when I have the files in hand. What do you think?

500th Post!

Wow - we hit 500 posts already? Actually, our post on Wednesday about Parisian trends was our 500th. I can't believe I came up with that many things to blog about since we started posting in February 2006! Time has flown since our first post, our 100th post, and our 300th post. Following tradition, I Googled "500" and came up with this sweet gem:In honor of the occasion, I've pulled some highlights from the past two years. Here are some of my favorite posts by category:

Real Weddings:
My Own Wedding Day
A Day in the Life of a Wedding Planner (and here)
Jelena & David
Jodi & Luke
Cleo & Rocco
Anna & Todd
Christina & Vincent
Robin & Brian
Crystal & Edwin
Danielle & Ryan (and here)
Sarah & Ross
Ritu & Rohin
Ryfie & Jason
Tamara & Russ

Company & Personal News:
Brides Washington Magazine Feature
Things I'm Thankful For
An Educational Weekend at ISES REC
Blogging Pink in October 2007
Blog Action Day

Planning Advice:
The Last 24 Hours
How to Cut Cost without Cutting Corners
Where to Hold Your Bouquet
How to Pin a Boutonniere
How to Have a Bubble or Sparkler Sendoff
How to Tip
How to Cut a Wedding Cake
How to Freeze your Cake Top
Green Wedding Ideas
Wedding Colors from Art

Happenings About Town:
Tabletops in DC (and here and here)
Our Booth at the Bridal Showcase
Our Tabletop Competition Entry

Decor Ideas & Resources:
Cox & Cox
Sparkly Things
A Pink Inspiration Board
A Tuscan Inspiration Board
A Rustic Inspiration Board
A Jet Setter Inspiration Board
A Nautical Inspiration Board
A Wine Inspiration Board
A Springtime Inspiration Board

Local Venues
The Hay-Adams (DC)
Newseum (DC)
Sequoia Restaurant (DC)
2941 Restaurant (Falls Church, VA)
Lee-Fendall House (Alexandria, VA)
Marriott Tyson's Corner (Tyson's, VA)
Signature Theater (Arlington, VA)
Farr House (Fairfax, VA)
Manor House at Linden Springs (Reston, VA)
Glen Echo Park (Glen Echo, MD)
Woodend Audubon Sanctuary (Chevy Chase, MD)
Queenstown Harbor River House (Eastern Shore, MD)
Famoso Restaurant (Silver Spring, MD)

Featured in Brides Magazine - Washington edition

Woot! We've been featured in Brides Washington magazine! Hot off the presses, these magazines haven't even hit most store shelves yet (believe me...I've been looking).Brides magazine wanted to know what tricks we had up our sleeves. What's hot in DC right now? Where do we find those cute little accessories that spice up any party? Which local vendors go under the popularity radar but have a cult following? Where do we turn for great inspiration?Pick up a copy of Bride's Washington or Bride's Maryland (same content inside) to check out our answers!

The Pink Book Blogs

If you haven't stumbled across The Pink Book Blog yet, go check it out! This fun blog follows brides, hot trends, offers advice, and also has several local versions tailored to specific cities. Currently they have DC, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis.

Why am I telling you this? I'm very excited to announce that I'll be a regular guest blogger on The Pink Book Blog and their DC version! Add them both to your Google Reader or check back every day for new posts.
If you're a newlywed-to-be in the DC area (grooms are okay too!), they're looking for some more bloggers. Shoot them an email to apply or email me to get your application.

Featured at The Smart Planner!

We're always staying in touch with the wedding industry...not only here in DC through the International Special Events Society but by going to regional conferences and also taking part in communities across the Internet. I met Liene Stevens (from Blue Orchid Designs) through a planner's forum called i-Wed. Liene writes a great blog for her company and also recently launched a new blog called The Smart Planner. Designed for wedding planners, it offers business advice, motivation, and resources.We're proud to say that Soiree was just featured on The Smart Planner! Read the interview here and be sure to post a comment.

Twitter Us!

Heard of Twitter.com yet? It's a cool new way to let friends know what you're doing. Similar to a status message on instant messenger, users post their current activities.We've added Twitter to the sidebar of this blog (check it out to the right) so you can see what we're up to at any given moment! Today we'll be buying luminary bags for Trish, finishing off her escort cards and table name cards, loading up the truck, and running her rehearsal at the Decatur House before sending them off to the rehearsal dinner at Hillsborough Vineyards.

If you have a Twitter account, please follow us! To create an account, click here.

We've been Topped!

Within the past few days, Alltop.com has added a wedding category! Never heard of Alltop.com? Never fear...we hadn't either. The site was created partially by Guy Kawasaki (one of my marketing heros) and automatically updates every ten minutes. In their own words...

You can think of an Alltop site as a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points—they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed.

Curious? Check out the Alltop wedding page to explore more wedding blogs or to keep updated on your existing favorites!

A Note on Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend is one of the busiest for weddings because the weather is beautiful and guests have a three-day weekend to travel. Therefore, brides love it! However, it tends to mean that our office is overwhelmed with phone calls and emails from vendors and brides during the last week.

We have five weddings this weekend and have been working nonstop to pull them all together. Our lucky Memorial Day weekend brides are Sarah, Jo, Arienne, Kelly, and Erin! Hopefully next week when we return to the office we'll have a lot of beautiful weddings and ideas to share with you.

Tagged!

Oy, tagged again! We actually love being tagged...you can see the evidence here and here. This time the game's a little different. Started by Saundra, here's the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others you like and tell why.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

SO, here are my 5 top embarrasing songs:


1. Good Old Fashioned Loverboy by Queen:
2. Burning Love by Elvis:
3. Waterloo by ABBA:
4. Hold on Tight by ELO:
5. Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners:
Apparently I have an odd obsession with music from the '70s and early '80s? All of these songs are great to turn up in the car and jam along to. If anyone spends abnormal amounts of time on the Dulles Toll Road, look for me dancing in my Honda!

I've decided to tag MK, WeddingWire, Kim, Chariots, Vicky, Tracy, and Armin!

UPDATE: Ryan apparently likes to dance to Bell Biv DeVoe: