Making it Happen // David & Candace

Sometimes even I surprise myself on how quick an event can come together. This one was a whirl wind!

First and foremost, I want to thank Valerie Bleser of Northeastern Fine Jewelers for bringing her best friend, Candace, to me for her wedding. There was a lot of “this feels good” for everyone in the room.

The wedding was to take place at The Inn at Erlowest on Lake George. The couple was thinking they’d use the dining room with the band in the foyer.  They’d hired a big band and a family friend was going to shoot the pics for the wedding.

First thing I did was move them out of the dining room and into the ballroom. There was no way they were going to be comfortable with their friends split between two small dining rooms,  then move to another room for dancing … with a big band.

Second thing, the ceremony was to be under a tent with all guests seated. The bride and groom would make their promises, and then cocktail hour. Hearing all this, I thought to myself, “this is not right.” Finally, I said, “You know what? How about your guests arrive with the bar open, you two show up half way in, get the “I dos” done, then enjoy the remainder of cocktail hour together?” They LOVED it!

David and Candace are both successful with very busy lives, and were starting to feel a little like … and I’ll quote David on this one … “We did not want to do this whole big wedding thing. We just want to bring our friends and family together and celebrate.” The small stuff was starting to get to both of them.

We had eight days left before the wedding, I said, “Talk amongst yourselves, and let me see if I can get a little help.” I pulled out my trusty iPhone and texted the 911 to my pros. Within 24 hours, they had a wedding planner, Christine Wheat, to handle the small and not so small stuff.  Also, I was able to convince photographer Tracey Buyce to give up her day off and drag along Dan Cooper to help us out.  She would give them exactly what they wanted — candid pics, no posed shots, no direction — just great images of the day with no pressure.

David was concerned the room was too big for the small group of 70 guests. I said, “what if I build a lounge for you next to the dance floor to eat up some space and give you a great spot to “hang out?” They LOVED it!

Instead of a guest book, we would do a table with pictures of the two of them. Christine hooked them up with a Polaroid scrapbook for people to capture and commemorate the day. One problem: they had no pictures of them together … for the love of Pete!! So … I asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?” They said they had a fundraiser in Troy and had to be there by 1:00 pm. I said, “I am not a photographer, but if you want to meet me around 11:30 am by the State Education Building, I’ll see if I can get one or two images we can use in frames on the table.”

Now it’s Friday. I had two huge weddings on Saturday. By the time I started on the custom bar, which I had been dying to build, it was 5:00am Sunday morning … Ha! Plenty of time … I took the three images they selected from the 48 I had sent them, loaded the pics on a flash drive, went to CVS and printed them. Zipped over to my store, changed the graphics on the van for the day (heeheehee) and while my team was loading the flowers, linens, candles, lamps and other goodies into the customized van, I went to Pottery Barn, bought the frames and headed to Lake George, stopping on the way to get the bar monogram designed and ordered. I called Tracey Buyce to see if she could pick up the monogram on her way to Lake George, and …  I was on my way.

When I walked into Erlowest, Michael and Manny had linens, flowers, chargers, candles, and table numbers down! My boys from CPRC, Todd and Dave, were on ladders getting the lights in place. Chairs and lounge furniture were already set. I screwed the piano hinges together for the customized bar. Tracey arrived with the monogram. I put it on the front of the newly-constructed bar. Got the flowers to the bride, had a ceremony pow wow with Christine, Tracey and Erin to ensure the promises would have a lake background,  lit the candles, and it was show time!!!

What a ride September of 2011 has been. Thank you, David and Candace for being the cherry on my September cake. Congratulations!

For More of my pics, check out ~C&D~