A Hidden Treasure in Half Moon Bay

Nicole D'Ambra Wedding Consulting and Amazae Special Events http://www.amazaespecialevents.com/ teamed up to present a tour of the "Hidden Treasures (Wedding Locations) in Half Moon Bay, CA", Wednesday May 9th, 2007.

Our goal was to show the members of the Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants http://www.acpwc.com/ that there are lots of hidden Wedding locations in Half Moon Bay other than the obvious ones we all know about.

I'd like to highlight my favorite find, Long Branch Saloon and Farms. Long Branch takes you back to the old western days. Tucked deep within the rolling hills of Half Moon Bay, it is a treasure to behold. With it's miniature replica of old main street, a working saloon and casino, a huge fire pit BBQ for grilling up the best fixing's, lasso instructions, knife throwing exhibitions, chili cook offs, dress up clothes, a horse-drawn carriage, archery, pistol range, hay rides, old fashioned skits, petting zoo, dancing show girls, and so much more, make Long Branch unique amongst it's very indirect competitors in the area.

At Long Branch you can use their preferred caterer to fire up the BBQ, or bring in your own, and they can offer a complete or partial bar package for you and your guests.

Our visit was near the end of our tour day, and it was so fun! They greeted us in full costume, took us on a tour of the site, then poured champagne for us, and let us practice our shooting skills at a pistol range (with soft pellets of course!). It was so much fun!

Thank you to the owners of Long Branch, Kevin and Wayne for everything!

If you or a friend are looking for the perfect place for a western themed wedding, birthday, anniversary, or any event! Please contact them at http://longbranchfarms.net/

Yeeehawww,

Nicole

Lights, Camera, Action!

Recently Nicole D'Ambra Wedding Consulting took a first hand approach to creating a promotional video for the Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants with a lot of help and guidance from one of Northern California's top videographers Mark Shepherd of Shepherd Video Productions! This project was part of my final certification project for the association, and with Mark's help it was also a fantastic learning experience, and I now appreciate videography more than ever before! I learned that much like an event, before starting to produce a video, there is a whole bunch of pre-planning involved! First I took tons of footage from videos and photos and recorded what I wanted to use from them on a worksheet called a final edit decision log. Then Mark's loaded all of the media onto the computer we would use to edit it together into one cohesive video. Mark then used state of the art software to fuse the bits and pieces of video and photography together to make our first draft of the video. After several meetings, and many hours of work, we finally had our first draft of the video. The final test was to run it by the Board of Directions for the association. After finding out their desired changes, it was back to gathering more information to make the changes, then Mark and I met one last time to finalize the video. It was recently unveiled at the last Speaker's Day for the association where over 30 members and students viewed it for the first time. This video will be shown at all new ACPWC classes, including our next class in Texas, and will serve as a tool for marketing at all trade shows and conferences we attend.

Brides and Grooms who don't think they need or want a videographer, LISTEN UP! According to a national study, one of the top three things that couples most regret after their Wedding, is not hiring a videographer to capture those precious moments. Wedding videography today is modern and creative. No more of Uncle Bob's shaky home videos for your Wedding, this is the real thing! When a couple tells me they aren't having a videographer I always make sure to ask them to consider how nice it would be to have a video of them getting married to show their future children, and how important it would be to have an audio visual record of how they looked and sounded on that day! My husband and I often watch our video to remember loved ones who have passed, that we were lucky enough to have join us on our special day. We have toasts from our parents on this video, as well as from our dear friends. My favorite part is the incrimiating clips of my best friends busting a move on the dance floor, gotcha! Your Wedding day is only once, and after your honeymoon when all you can remember are faint glimpses of what you just experienced, you will be able to look back at your video and see the whole Wedding unfold before your very eyes! The Groom gets to see you walk down the aisle ladies, but don't you want to see how fabulous you looked!? Of course! So, don't worry so much about the cost of the videography, because your video will be priceless, and is worth every penny. There are videographers to match all budgets, and your Wedding Consultant can help you plan the appropriate budget for one, and direct you to the right videographer for your personality, lifestyle, and budget needs!

I would personally like to thank Mark Shepherd of Shepherd Video Productions for all of his dedication and hard work for our association! He is amazing and kind, and I highly recommend him to everyone who needs a videographer (notice I said everyone!)

Find out more about Mark Shepherd and Shepherd Video Productions at:
www.go-svp.com/weddings

To see our video and learn more about the ACPWC go to:
http://www.go-svp.com/weddings/wed_samples2.htm

And click on the first link.

You can also go to www.acpwc.com to learn more about our association.

Happy Planning, Many Huggs,

Nicole

Congratulations to Kathy and her snack, ummm I mean Husband Brian!

*All images except the top one courtesy of www.geoffwhitephotography.com

Congratulations to Kathy Ly and Brian Lynch! They were married March 24th, 2007 in San Francisco.

The photo at the top (taken by one of their pals) was used to decorate Kathy and Brian's favors, or shall I say snacks, which were paper gift bags with the photo mounted to them, inside was a snack for guests to take home with them, it consisted of a cute mini waterbottle with the couple's customized label on it, and a small white paper envelope with their custom seal, and a vellum baggie inside filled with colorful M&Ms to match their sky blue, tic tac orange, and apple green color scheme. A clever idea indeed!

Rings and kisses were exchanged at the Swedenborgian church in San Francisco. This church was built in the 1800s by naturalist greats such as John Muir to celebrate the beauty of nature, and it did just that!

A luncheon reception was hosted at chic Bacar Restaurant on Brannan Street in San Francisco. Owner Tonino, site manager Tracey, and their staff were amazing! The couple's guests were treated to delicious California fresh cuisine, followed by an intricate desert bar by pastry chef Cheryl, complete with cute mini cup cakes! Later on the Groom was surprised by a Groom's cake made to look like an antique diver's helmet, inspired by his love for diving, and created with love by I Dream Of Cake.

The theme was green apples! Floral decore, apple table card holders and place cards were inspired by florist great Nancy Liu Chin! The feel was fresh, light, fun, and sassy!

Guests danced the afternoon away to funky swing jazz band Majestic Swing Band, and shutterbugs Lara and Geoff White of Geoff White Photography captured every moment large and small.

Every Wedding starts with love, planning a Wedding with love creates a special day like Kathy and Brian's!

Congratulations you two! I will miss our late night chats!

Many huggs,

Nicole

24 Hours in Hollywood...

A lot can be done in 24 hours!

I recently spent a quick day trip to Hollywood at "A Soolip Wedding" a modern brial event featuring vendors much like any other show would, but with an extra added special touch!

The event took place at Social Hollywood, a new multifaceted restaurant and lounge located in the reclaimed, historic landmark, The Hollywood Athletic Club. Once known as the "Playground of the Stars", this private club attracted the biggest names of the Golden Era, including it's founders Cecil B. De Mille, Charlie Chaplin, Lon Chaney and Rudolph Valentino. After being completely renovated, it is now home to beautiful over the top events and bridal shows such as this one!

The vendors, lunch, cake and champagne tasting, conversations with experts, and fashion show were all spectacular!

My favorite part about exploring this event was assisting Linnae and Jonathan, couture floral designers and owners of Asiel Design http://www.asieldesign.com/ with their booth!

Check out the pictures attached to this posting! WOW!!!

My day in Hollywood proved to be a great team-building experience for myself and a group of vendors that came out to see the show and help Asiel Design, I gathered information on the latest tips and trends, and met new vendors with fabulous talent that I can share with you (my clients)!

Happy Planning!

Nicole

Introducing Marivic's Card Company!

Dear Brides, Grooms, Vendors, Family and Friends,

I'm honored to present Marivic's Card Company to you!

Marivic and Nicole D'Ambra Wedding Consulting have a very special relationship, as Marivic is our primary Wedding and event stationery designer.

Marivic has been in business for many years now, and is very talented at what she does! She can sit down and work with you to customize save-the-date cards, invitations, ceremony programs, table numbers, escort cards, place cards, menus, thank you cards, and more! When you hand over a big job like this to a professional like her, you will be very pleased with the outcome!

You can learn more about Marivic at www.marivicscardcompany.com

Or you can contact me and I will be more than happy to put you in touch with her!

Happy Planning!

Nicole

Welcome to Nicole D'Ambra Wedding Consulting's Blog!

Dear Brides, Grooms, Vendors, Family, and Friends,

Welcome to Nicole D'Ambra Wedding Consulting's Blog!

Please check back often for news, exciting resource sharing, event information, and more!

Happy planning,

Nicole