Category Archives: Coordinator

2018 Roundup

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2018 has been my best wedding year yet – and I can’t be more excited about what 2019 will bring.  I rang in the New Year coordinating a wedding for Events by Katherine which had so many unique elements – not the least of which was cake cutting with a Samurai sword!

How could 2018 not be great after that?!

I got to visit some of my favorite venues including Serra Plaza and Plaza Magdalena in San Juan Capistrano, as well as Casa Romantica.  And I also got to explore some new venues that I loved:

  • Riverbed Farm in Anaheim seems like a wonderful best kept secret.  If you’re looking for rustic charm – this is your place!  It’s set among vegetable gardens and wood chips, which farmhouse tables and an adorable ceremony area.  Crystal and Martin were also incredibly loving, and welcomed their young daughter up to the ceremony when she was having some separation anxiety from mommy ❤
  • Carbon Canyon Regional Park: This is one of the few weddings I had a chance to blog about this year, so you know I really loved it.  Sometimes, all you need for your ceremony decor is nature!  We recently took the boys to a Christmas even at this park, and discovered a beautiful woodsy area in the park that I’m sure would also be a stunning ceremony location.
  • Driftwood Kitchen: if you’re looking for something intimate with spectacular views, it doesn’t get much better than this. Jennifer and Jahir had an intimate ceremony and reception in the upstairs room of Driftwood Kitchen, with large windows looking out to the ocean.  This was the first ceremony where I also did partial coordinating just for some of the decor set up – sometimes all you need is an extra pair of hands for an hour or two!
  • Charthouse in Dana Point: I’ve officiated at this venue before (on New Year’s Eve, 2017!), but this was one of a couple weddings for 2018 where I was lucky enough to be the officiant AND coordinator.  This is a beautiful location for outdoor ceremonies with an ocean view.
  • Muckenthaler Mansion: this seems like another hidden gem of a wedding venue.  Beautiful little venue with separate areas for the ceremony, reception, and an art gallery!
  • Vibiana: I finished out the year by driving outside of my usual geographic area and officiating a ceremony in LA.  I’m so thankful that I don’t suffer from stage fright or performance anxiety, because this altar would have been terrifying!  It’s an impressive and LARGE venue.  It also has confessionals along the sides which I have to imagine get pretty interesting towards the end of the night!

All in all, I officiated 18 ceremonies, and coordinated 5 weddings (two of them were officiating and coordinating, and all but one day of coordinating were through the wonderful Events by Katherine team).  Thank you to all the wonderful couples that found me and decided I was a good fit for their ceremony.  I love being a part of these special days for everyone.

Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2019!

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Busy year ahead!

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Hello there!  Wow, has it really been over 2 years since I’ve blogged on here?  This might just be a huge coincidence, but it’s also the exact age of my son, haha.  We’ve got baby #2 coming in April (boy name suggestions are welcome!) so I can’t promise I’ll be much better, but I can tell you that it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy with wedding stuff!

2015 has been a busy wedding year and I still have one more wedding scheduled on Thanksgiving weekend.  I was able to officiate two very special weddings this year (among many other awesome ceremonies): one for my friend Bobby and his beautiful wife Alison, who got married in Temecula, and another one for my very dear college friend Maria, and her husband, Jose.  Both of these ceremonies were so personal and touching, and I was just so happy that I was invited to be a part of them.

the merry ministers arteaga wedding the merry ministers schley wedding

For the last couple years I started getting more involved with event coordinating with Events by Katherine, and this has been such a wonderful experience.  I’m starting to run my own weddings through Katherine which is incredibly exciting, and I have several weddings booked with her for 2016 already.

I’ve also been working on my Wedding Wire page for the officiant side of things, and have already booked 2 wedding ceremonies for 2016, which is very exciting!

On top of that, my cousin is getting married next year (yay!!!), as well as one of my best friend’s from college, and I’m happy to be “all hands on deck” for both of these.  I’m excited to be able to share with both of them all of the wedding knowledge I’ve gleaned from my own events throughout the last few years, and that they both know they can call me with any random wedding questions they have.  It’s so nice to be able to provide the comfort of knowing what you’re doing to people who are going through something for the first (and only) time.  I’m still trying to convince one of them to have a mashed potato bar during their cocktail hour, but I don’t think I’m going to win that one…but seriously, have a mashed potato bar during your cocktail hour…you won’t regret it!

Here’s to a busy, bright, and awesome 2016 wedding year!

New Services: Event Coordinator!

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This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to coordinate a wedding for a very good college friend of mine.  I can’t thank her enough for really encouraging me to take the next step in what I hope is a long and fruitful career in event planning and coordination.

I’m not sure that any other paid job has felt as perfect of a fit as this did.  With every other job, there are things that I like about it, and things I absolutely hate, and like most people, I did it because the bills needed to get paid.

The bills still need to get paid, but I really really enjoyed the coordinating, running back and forth, and generally making every one else’s life a little easier in any way that I could.  It also helped that my husband was there to help with certain things, like putting up lights and keeping me sane, haha.  What was great was that it started out as a super small favor, just helping the bridal party know when to walk down the aisle, etc., but it turned into a full blown wedding coordinator job (including handing out payments to the DJ, photographer, and rabbi)–I love that they trusted me with all the little details that needed taking care of.

I realized right away that I loved my clipboard and time line, and I enjoyed rounding up people for the photographer, getting the bridal party in line for their grand entrance, letting people know what they had to do next, etc.  I probably went up to my husband at least four times and said “I’m loving this!”

I loved being able to tell the nervous and anxious mothers of the bride and groom: “don’t worry, I’m gonna take care of everything, you just relax and enjoy the wedding.”  And I did, and they did, and all was great!

My favorite part, hands down, was the AMAZING emergency kit that the bride made for me, with future events in mind.

This thing has e-vry-thing, including a mini hot glue gun!  Which totally came in handy when one of the flower clips for the flower girls came apart.  Sewing kit?  Yes.  Mints and gum?  Yes.  Bobby pins?  Yes.  Bandaids, floss and tums?  Yes, yes, and yes.  This little thing came in handy more than once on Saturday!  And it all conveniently stacks up:

Pretty neat, huh?

Granted, the day wasn’t perfect, but it’s a wedding and some things are bound to happen or go slightly astray.  Like one of the ring bearers running off to frolick in the trees (there was a back up ring bearer who did a fantastic job by himself), or the valet guys leaving before I had a chance to give them their ca-a-ash (the caterer knows them and was able to take their payment to them).  But for a first time event, I’d like to think I did all right.

I can’t thank this couple enough for the opportunity and allowing me to explore another side of weddings and event planning that I had never really considered before, but absolutely loved!  As a close friend, I am so incredibly excited for them and know they will continue to be an absolutely amazing couple, and as their wedding coordinator: I couldn’t have asked for a more organized, prepared, and laid back couple!

Mazel tov!