Category Archives: beautiful brides

switching sides at the wedding ceremony

all images: amy shepherd photography 

So here is something crazy to consider, because you KNOW we like to shake things up.

You know at the ceremony (if facing the altar), the Christian and non-religious tradition is to have the Bride’s family and friends on the left side and the Groom’s respective family and friends on the right side.

At one of our weddings at the beautiful West Baden hotel, something happen seconds before the families walked down the aisle. There was some confusion and gathering of a large processional. So when the mother of the bride and father of the groom were escorted, they accidently went to the “wrong sides”. The bride’s mother was sitting on the right side (front row) and the groom’s father was sitting on the left side (front row). However, like tradition, the bride stood at the “altar” on the left and the groom stood on the right.

Standing in the back, immediately I saw this and thought, DOH! I still had a ring dog and three wiggly flower girls and ring bearer to contain.

Oh well, that is how weddings go. No such thing as perfection … just roll with it.

But wait, as the ceremony began I realized, this mishap is kinda brilliant. You see, the bride’s mom can now watch her baby’s face during the ceremony instead of seeing the back of her head. The same for the groom’s dad.

There are many speculations as to how this tradition started with having the bride on the left and groom on the right. My feeling it really comes from the right side traditionally being reserved for men as it is considered a position of privilege and power, (think Jesus is “seated” at the right side of God”. ) Perhaps that is why in Jewish ceremonies it is opposite.

I suggest, for keeping the tradition, but for the families, switching it up. Who cares where the parent’s sit? For us, the most important part is being part of the ceremony, the emotion and enjoying it. And as a mother, I would rather watch my son’s face while he takes his vows (15 years from now) than watch his new wife. Call me crazy.

What do you think? Love for you to weigh in … if you’re getting married, will you consider this shake up of this tradition?

our bride on the Today show!

We’re so proud of our bride who wed on 10/10/10. Mrs. Priya Malani Kovalseky who is not only beautiful but one smart cookie with a panache for being a gourmet foodie cook.

We congratulate her latest accomplishment on making the Today Show highlighting this concept of Mealku. This crazy and cool idea of sharing your meals with others.

Anyway, please check out the clip. Her interview was great, but the whole idea of Mealku is absolutely fascinating.

oscar 2013 gowns worthy of weddings

The Oscars were on last night. I was busy sipping wine, painting my nails, watching and tweeting the Red Carpet. It’s a girl-fest for sure.

I love seeing beautiful people in beautiful dresses. And while I did kinda zzzzzzzzzz through the show (sorry Seth McFarlane, it wasn’t that exciting), here are a few of my picks for dresses that may or may not be worn as your wedding dress.

First up, Charlize Theron. The hair, to die for. The dress, is beautiful and very mature at the same time. Christian Dior.

My absolute favorite of last evening, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence. I know she tripped, but you would too if you were that excited and nervous from winning Best Actress. This dress is swoon worthy. Dior Haute Couture.

My favorite color in the world. One of my favorite actresses. Seriously, if I re-did my vows with a formal ceremony, I would get married in a plum or raspberry gown. Jennifer Garner NEVER fails. ps Don’t feel bad Jen L because Jen G fell later at the Vanity Fair party. These gowns are dangerous. Gucci.

Oh Anne. I love you and congrats on your Oscar win. But why, oh why, this dress? I know you made a movie about a Devil and Prada…. le sigh. Prada.

Love the color. Love the dress. Love the back of the dress. Love me some Amy Adams, well played sister. Oscar de la Renta.

This may cause controversy but let me tell you who my female crush is, Jennifer Anniston. She could of walked in with a pair of jeans, white button down shirt and blazer and would of looked fabulous. Now I know she tends to have an affinity towards red gowns, but this one did not disappoint me. I like understated. Her hair is always down and flowing, thank you for not chopping it off OR doing an updo. You do you, Jen! Valentino.

Photo Credit: each photo is linked to the site.

Your thoughts on the evening? Did I miss something?

fab news from the pfe team

Here is Kerry, our event engineer.

Can you tell the good news? Sometime in March 2013!

As you know, Kerry and Chris just got married March 2012, we kinda documented her wedding starting here. They don’t believe in wasting time. Congrats Kerry and Chris! It’s Baby Shower planning time, soon!

awesome photo: garrette baird with eyenamics

vote for your favorite couple to win!

VOTING HAS ENDED. NO MORE VOTES WILL BE COUNTED.

We’d like to thank all of the beautiful brides and groovy grooms that submitted their entries to win a wedding day management service. It was difficult to narrow down the top three entries, but we did it. We wish everyone a fabulous wedding day.

Here are the top three entries. It’s now time for YOU, (dear reader, friends and family), to vote. For your convenience, we have put the poll at the top of this page, but we encourage you to read through each story below and see the couples. Remember to spread the word  … you’ll want to copy this link when spreading the news so people can vote easily.

Voting Period: Contest concludes Monday, December 19, 2011 by 12:00am
There is one vote per computer.  So you have to spread the word! This is a FLASH based poll program, so it may not show up on some smart phones.

Here are your finalists:

photo credit: stewartography

Brittany Gibbs + Jeremy Alexander

Wedding Date: April 28, 2012

Hi everyone! My name is Brittany Gibbs and I am going to marry the man I love, Jeremy Alexander, next April. We met almost 4 ½ years ago. I was a server at Buffalo Wild Wings when he and his buddies came in and were seated in my section. It was my third day on the job and I was awful! Luckily, they were nice. His friends bugged the two of us to death about how we should exchange phone numbers. Eventually, I gave in…..and I’m so glad I did! We were engaged on January 7, 2011 with over a year to plan the wedding. We are getting married in beautiful New Harmony and plan on a small, intimate wedding.

I have been so excited planning the wedding; event planning has always seemed like so much fun and so glamorous! But it has not been exactly what I thought it would be like. Jeremy and I are paying for the wedding and being fairly recent college graduates; you can imagine how difficult budgeting has been. Unfortunately, we are not been able to have family to help us, either financially or with the planning details. We really would appreciate the assistance from a wedding planner to help us solidify our ideas and of course, trust with our special day. We’ve never done this before or have a lot of experience. Since we are fairly new to Evansville, we would really appreciate your vote.

photo credit: jeffrey boyd

Katelyn Clevidence + Andrew Crowe

Wedding Date: July 29, 2012

Once upon a time there lived a princess who fell in love… with her dad.  Sounds strange, but at three years old I fell in love with my daddy.  Every night my dad would read to me the story of Cinderella.  My dad was a firefighter and would spend three days at the station at a time, on those nights he would call and tell me the story of my favorite princess over the phone.

Now, Cinderella is marrying her Prince, Andrew Phillip Crowe.  Andrew is the Prince my daddy prayed about for the past twenty-one years! In 2009, it was at the first night of a freshmen bible study on campus when our eyes met.  As an icebreaker everyone was paired off randomly to play a game, ironically called “Meet Your New Best Friend”.  As you probably guessed… Andrew and I were paired up to be each other’s ‘new best friends’, as corny as it sounds, it apparently worked because from the moment we began asking each other questions and revealing our hearts to each other piece by piece something amazing happened… Cinderella fell in love.  Our friendship grew rapidly over the next couple weeks because we knew that God was at work in our hearts for something HUGE.  Our entire relationship has been entirely grounded on God.

Our wedding is going to be fun and youthful, just like our love. Our life will begin together in New Harmony and more than anything we would like a day of coordinator to take the load off of our parents.  Our parents and especially my daddy have been looking forward to this day from the moment they first held us.  We want our gift for them to be this… that they can sit back, relax and watch Cinderella marry her Prince Charming.

photo credit: alex morgan

Cathy Gilbert + Marcus Chandler

Wedding Date: October 6, 2012