It was a great night last night as The Wedding Party, Jacksonville’s only wedding mall, welcomed dozens of brides and grooms to our open house.  The passion and energy that you feel walking through the doors of The Wedding Party really lets you know that all the businesses inside strive for excellence in everything they do.  If you missed it, watch the blog for announcements about the next one!

The food by Serenatea was delicious - especially the Pina Colada dip!  (these are my snapshots, stay tuned for pro pics from Kevin Winter!)

I could eat a hundred of these truffles!

Ham rolls, stuffed olives, sausage wraps, oh my!

And of course to top it all off, fabulous wedding cake from Simply Delicious!

These cake truffles live in the freezer just two doors down from my office…very dangerous indeed!

Another fun treat for the night: a photo booth!  This is “glamour girl” Kimberly, a former client and now friend, goofing off for the camera.  I would highly recommend this for a wedding, birthday party, any even really!  This one from Photobooth To Go, a division of Dan Harris PhotoArt.

There is so much more to write about!  But I’ll wait to get Kevin’s photos…

You are cordially invited to attend an
Open House Reception
to explore Jacksonville’s first wedding mall

It’s like a bridal show every day!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
8640-8 Philips Highway, Jacksonville

This Sunday, September 7th, we will giving away a great prize to the first bride or groom that comes to our booth and mentions this post!

FREE WEDDING WEBSITE FOR 6 MONTHS
from Wedding Window!

Wedding Window offers the best customization and easiest setup of all the sites we have previewed.  This $59 value goes to the first bride or groom that comes to our booth (look for us with The Wedding Party) and mentions this post!

How much easier could that be?!

As the CBA (Chief Blogging Addict) for First Coast Weddings, I am always reading other blogs looking for inspiration.  I even went to a seminar last weekend at the Association of Bridal Consultants’ Florida State Conference about blogging.  Super-sweet Orlando coordinator Kerline Docteur gave a great presentation about the basics of blogging to an audience ranging from experienced bloggers to newbies to the completely clueless.  What a challenge!

Kerline brought up a point about comments on blogs.  When I set up the FCWE blog, I outlawed comments.  Not only did I use the “don’t allow comments” within the blog framework, I went so far as to delete all references to comments in the layout.  A good friend and local magazine publisher agreed with my decision and I never thought twice about it.

Well thanks to Kerline, I have now reconsidered.  She talked about what a great network you can create by commenting on other vendors’ and brides’ blogs, and how comments can really add to that sense of community that we tend to lose on the internet. That made me think about all the other vendors’ blogs that I post comments on - mostly photographers when they post photos of one of our clients. Why not give them the opportunity to post comments on our blog?

So as of today, you will see the comment option back on our blog.  I haven’t gone back to re-instate it on all the old posts, only on those from the past two months.  I’m still going to require approval on comments, to avoid spam and other nastiness, but hopefully our readers will like this new feature! Leave a comment and let me know!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Be sure to visit First Coast Weddings and Events in The Wedding Party booth at the Jacksonville Bridal Connection bridal show!  We’ll have great give-aways, yummy treats and lots of fun!  You won’t want to miss it!

If you would like free tickets to the show, give us a call at 904-739-8003 before Thursday, September 4th.

It’s true! It’s Your Wedding is now The Wedding Party!

What is the Wedding Party?  Well, first of all, it’s where our office is located!  Second, it’s like a bridal show every day!  Not only can you stop in to see the First Coast Weddings team, but you can visit with Jacksonville’s top wedding professionals:  DeLand Entertainment, Celebrated Occasions, Simply Delicious, Serenatea, and more!  All in one convenient location, two miles north of the Avenues Mall.

Be sure to visit The Wedding Party at two upcoming bridal shows:

Fall Bridal Fantasy
Renaissance World Golf Village
Sunday, August 31 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Jacksonville Bridal Connection
UNF University Center
Sunday, September 7 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Or stop in Tuesday through Friday at 8640 Philips Highway, Suite 8!  (As an added bonus, we’re right next door to the Connie Duglin Specialty Linen showroom!)

Fabulous photographer Jennifer Brum just sent me an email with a sneak “peek” of her latest project, and I’m so excited to share it with you!  She has launched a new division called Peek Romance Photography, dedicated to making women feel sexy, alluring and romantic.

According to Jen, her style is “fresh and creative without being too revealing,” so there is a lot left to the imagination!  Here are some sneak “peeks!”