cHill Weddings, LLC

Become a Fan!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:30:00 +0000

We finally created a Facebook Fan Page! Whether you're a past client, mother of the bride, current client, or you just love our blogs, come and join! We will love you forever....

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Philadelphia-PA/cHill-Weddings-LLC/160641207557?ref=mf

Testimonial from Mrs. Synder!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Sweet Jesaida recently emailed me a testimonial to add to my website:

When I started planning the wedding, I was very stressed out trying to figure out who was going to set up the reception venue. That's when we decided to start looking for a day of coordinator. When we hired Christina my stress immediately went away. She was more than a day of coordinator. She recommended our photographer, DJ, where to buy the flowers and decorations. She gave us a lot of ideas and kept everything in our budget. She's very professional and organized. Our wedding day was perfect thanks to her.

Thank you, Jazzy! It was great working with you too!

In case you don't watch The Office

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

How cool is it that the Office parodied a real wedding processional? I do love Jim and Pam's facial expressions.

Off to Dallas!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:00:00 +0000

This weekend, I am in Dallas spending some much needed time with my parents and my sister. Unfortunately, this trip isn't much of a vacation... but more of a challenge of eating as much as I can, shop, and make some spa time.

ad from http://www.dallasobserver.com/

Uh, yes, Giraffes. People in Dallas love to do things BIG. I guess a Korean spa is not much different, although giraffes have nothing to do with spas.

King Spa: More images here http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2009/01/king_spa/

We'll be eating at Omi Korean Grill, an all you can eat Korean BBQ place.

I'll also be visiting my mom's great soul food restaurant (Tomorrow's Seafood). One of my most common requests when in Dallas is to bring back my mom's fried chicked. I really wish I could. Even better, I wish there was a way my mom could ship it to Philadelphia. Until then, I'll keep flying out to Dallas.

Somewhere around there, we'll also be going to eat some authentic Japanese food, and hitting up some lobster and clam bake. Kudos to my sister for seeking out some quality places.

I will be back Tuesday. I'll be the one being rolled off the plane.

Angela and Matt get married at the Downtown Club!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:38:00 +0000

This past weekend, I came home from a wedding with this...

Yes, that is a tree, or part of a tree, in the front passenger seat of my car. This is the "most random thing I brought home from a wedding." But we'll get to that later.

It was early 2008 that I first met Angela and Matt, who were both third year law students back then. They had just gotten engaged and were about to book a venue, and somewhere along the line, they decided they needed a wedding coordinator! Almost two years later, their wedding day finally arrived, and the day could not have gone any better.

Please do not mind my iphone images. The photographer was the great Jeremy Evans Thomas, and I will recap again once the images are processed. Until then, please try to enjoy my photos which do not do their wedding any justice whatsoever.

The ceremony took place at the Arch St Meetinghouse where Jewish wedding ceremony components were integrated into their otherwise nondenominational ceremony. Their friend, Karl, who was ordained online, was a great officiant.

Whimsical Welcomes set up the chuppah and pew flowers.

I remember as Tasha and I rolled out their aisle runner, we were caught off guard by the monogram on the aisle runner. We had no idea! It was beautiful.

The weather man promised scattered thunderstorms, and I worried that my no-rain-on-wedding-day streak would finally come to an end. But the weather gods must love cHill Weddings because it barely drizzled after the ceremony, allowing Angela and Matt to walk to their reception venue and get portraits along the way.

After the ceremony, cHill Weddings headed over to the Down Town Club, where we were greeted by Kelly and staff. What a great team of people to work with (and food was aplenty and delicious)!

So here's the beautiful tree that ended up in my car.

Whimsical Welcomes created this escort card centerpiece. It was so unique, we loved it! Their initials were carved into the tree, and adorned with two small pomanders.

Angela made these cute leaf escort cards. You can open them up, and inside was your table assignment. Guests loved them.

The escort card table also had the Adesso Photo album and two Polaroids. Bree, the intern, and I manned these and took picutres of guests as they came off the elevators. Guests loved looking at all the polaroids! And I think Angela and Matt will forever love having these cute images of all their guests. *

Angela and Matt had 4 different type of centerpieces:

It was great working with Angela and Matt. They brought me in as their Day of Coordinator, but since we met so early on, I feel like we've been working together forever! I was happy to refer them to some of my favorite vendors.

Vendor Roundup:

Day of Coordinator : Christina and Bree of cHill Weddings, LLC

Photography: Jeremy Evans Thomas

Ceremony Venue: Arch St. Meetinghouse

Reception Venue: Down Town Club

Flowers: Whimical Welcomes

DJ: 4 Most Sound
Hotel: Penns View Inn

Makeup: Bella by Design

Become a Fan!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:44:00 +0000

We finally created a Facebook Fan Page! Whether you're a past client, mother of the bride, current client, or you just love our blogs, come and join! We will love you forever....

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Philadelphia-PA/cHill-Weddings-LLC/160641207557?ref=mf

The Birthday of the Love of My Life

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Today marks the birthday of my wonderful husband. He's typically behind the scenes of this company, taking care of the legal and business side of things. He's also helped friends in the industry as well. He prefers to stay behind the scenes; doesn't "Facebook" or "MySpace" or blog (except occasionally on our personal doggie blog), but he's made some appearances on my web pages, here and there.

Well since today is his birthday, I thought I'd post some of our wedding photos featuring my handsome man.

Getting ready, putting on his silver cufflinks I got him for our anniversary.

Looking all contemplative (aka Nervous)

He shook hands with all his groomsmen once they were lined up. Totally impromptu and took the guys off guard, but it was such a nice touch. It meant a lot to have his friends up there with him.

Here he is with his beautiful sister, Jenn. She shares the same birthday month as me, and is a few days older. I'm fortunate to have married into such a loving family.

His Reservoir Dogs shot: all the guys looking extremely sexy and tough.

See that ring, ladies? He's mine!

I'm so lucky to have a husband like Chris. Not only is he supportive of everything I do, he's also there to take care of me when I'm sick, laugh at me when I'm being silly, and always there to bring me back to reality, but not afraid to let me fly when I'm dreaming.

When I told him I wanted to forget med school and start my own business, he didn't laugh at me, but helped me plan to start my company effectively. To this day, he analyzes my finances, contracts, advertising stats, and cheers me on as I leave the house for a wedding. It may seem silly, but one of the most important things he did for my company was coming up with our name! cHill Weddings. I thought it was stupid. He said, "Just try it out. Trust me." And I went to my first networking meeting, and people loved it. They can't forget it. It holds my name and also describes my working personality and the type of clients I work with.

He's smart and business savvy, and without him, my company never would exist. I never would have met the wonderful couples I work with, and I never would have met the great friends I made in the industry.

But most importantly, he completes my life: marriage, home, family.

I am so lucky to have married this man.

Happy Birthday! I love you.

All images by Chris Bickford: http://www.chrisbickford.com/

Gabrielle (Bri) and Carlos's Mexican Inspired Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Tasha) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Gabrielle (Bri) and Carlos’s Wedding (Sept. 26th, 2009)
(Photos shot by Kella MacPhee)

This wedding was a perfect example of the beautiful cultural weddings with which we work. Bri and Carlos showered their guests with blasts of bright and joyful colors in honor of Carlos’ Mexican heritage. The couple’s fun and refreshing personality made this a great event to work!
From start to finish, Bri and Carlos made sure to immerse touches of Mexico within every aspect of their wedding- starting with invitations designed by their family friend. Invitations, RSVP cards, and Additional Information inserts were orange, teal, and purple with raised print written in English and Spanish for guests from both sides of the family to appreciate! It was also a clever way to hint to guests what was soon to follow for their Mexican inspired wedding day...

On the morning of the wedding, the couple chose a few non-traditional photo spots for some of their pictures. These included stopping at various Philadelphia murals and Eastern State Penitentiary, which surprisingly served as an excellent backdrop for photos. The couple, and Bri’s colorful and overly sized bouquet, stood out perfectly against the monotone atmosphere of the penitentiary backdrop.

Bride and Groom were then off to Philadelphia Magic Gardens, located on South Street, for their ceremony where they incorporated another maelstrom of color and artistry into their wedding day. A Mariachi band added stimulation to the sense of hearing as they blended playful notes and sounds of traditional Mexican music with the maze of tile, glass, metal, and other miscellaneous items all strewn together to create an entire building covered in art! In addition, the guests were treated to a complimentary tour of Philadelphia Magic Gardens as well as a symbolic and heartwarming butterfly release at the end of the ceremony.

For the reception, The Society Hill Dance Academy was transformed into a scene reminiscent of a traditional Mexican Market for the reception. Pumpkin orange linens were draped over tables and centerpieces made with mason jars and various colorful flowers were simply designed and filled the room with an absolutely stunning effect. In addition, the couple had strings of custom made ornate paper art (Papel Picado) flown in from Mexico and hung all over the reception hall, making the room a festive sight to see!
Catering was provided by Stephen Starr Events where they fused delicious Mexican flavors into the foods and presented a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. We also had a face painter present to add color and fun for guests and their little children as the night went on! The couple had their first dance as husband and wife to a salsa song and everyone danced salsa, merengue, and bachata all night with splashes of top American pop hits thrown in as well.

And of course, for all of you who know me, my favorite part of the wedding is… THE CAKE! So gracefully breaking western tradition again, Bri and Carlos opted for a fabulously made chocolate cake with coconut and nuts as a filling instead of the more common white icing and vanilla cake. It was decorated with bright orange and purple flowers with fluttering butterflies dancing within each floral bundle! In addition, the cake table had Mexcian Catrinas on display to represent their remembrance of family members passed.

Bravo to Bri and Carlos for treating their guests to a feast of color, sound, and taste throughout their entire Mexican inspired wedding day. It was great working with you!!!

Here is a list of the wonderful vendors we worked with throughout the day who really played a major part in helping to make the day run smoothly and magnificently.
Vendor Round Up:
Day of Coordination: cHill Weddings, LLC (Tasha Bunch and Sara Doughty)
Flowers: Flowers by Priscilla
Ceremony Venue: Philadelphia Magic Gardens
Reception Venue: Society Hill Dance Academy
Catering: Stephen Starr Events
Photographer: Kella MacPhee
Videographer: Digital Creations Videography (jim@digitalcreationsvideography.com)
Mariachi Band: Oro de Mexico (mariachiorodemexico@yahoo.com)
Face Painter: Philly Face Painting
Transportation: American Trolley Tours/ Choo Choo Trolley

a cHill Wedding featured in Wedding Nouveau Blog

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:55:00 +0000

http://weddingnouveau.com/2009/10/interracial-wedding-mexico-philadelphiafolk-art/

I was so pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Fri of Wedding Nouveau early this week. Our very own Bri and Carlos was featured on her blog! Thanks to their photograper Kella McPhee for submitting their beautiful wedding!

Must give props to Tasha, our associate coordinator, and intern, Sara, for working hard and making sure Bri and Carlos' wedding went off without a hitch!

Tasha will be following up soon with her blog post on their wedding. In the meantime, please check out Wedding Nouveau! This is a great blog, and we love it since cHill Weddings loves intercultural weddings.

Jazzy and Pete get Married! Part 3

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Last month I blogged about Jesaida and Pete's wedding day with teaser pics from their photographer, Andrew Ippolito, and our behind the scenes and vendor roundup here . Well, we have MORE images, and I am so excited to share them with you.

Jazzy's bouquet made by her very talented friend, Pety.

All personal flowers were done by Pety, one of the bridesmaids. They were great!

The wedding party, bride, and groom went to Valley Forge Park for portraits. The day could not have been more beautiful.

This image should be blown up. I love the skies.

At one of our meetings, I remember Jazz being concerned that red roses wouldn't look nice with the torquoise blue dresses. She worried they would look to Red White and Blue. Well, I think they looked great! I sent her some images from past weddings and inspiration boards from other wedding blogs, and she was convinced. I think this color combo is so fresh and bold.

Jazz had a great support group! Friends to help with flowers and the cake!

Another bridesmaid made this cake, and the cake below.

Tien and I put together the simple hydrangea centerpieces the morning of the wedding. I love blue hydrangeas; a personal favorite!

Swoop stopped by to congratulate the couple. He definitely got the party started!

Congrats again to the beautiful Jesaida and Pete! And best wishes to you and your new family! They may be having the first cHill Weddings baby!

All images provided by great friend and talented photographer Andrew Ippolito of Strive Studios.

Tara and Matthew get Married!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Engagement photography by Philip Gabriel.

Last Saturday, Duyen and I had the pleasure of working Tara and Matthew's big wedding day!

I first met Tara and Matthew at a cute coffee shop in Philadelphia. They were interested in Day of Coordination services. A few months later, they upgraded to full service, so I was able to be with them every step of the way of their planning.

Tara and Matthew are such a wonderful couple, who really complement each other's personalities. They're both beautiful inside and out, yet do not take themselves too serious, so they're fun and it's obvious their friends think so too! They had a guest count of almost 200 people, and their wedding party was pretty large.

It was such an honor to work with them, and get to know them and their families.

Without further ado, please enjoy my iphone pictures... more images to come from Philip Gabriel.

Ceremony was held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Lindenwold, NJ. A beautiful church, and the staff there were great! The ceremony was officiated by Matthew's family priest, Monsignor Youtz of Lancaster, PA. All flowers on pews and alter were provided by Domenic Grazianos.

The first thing the guest were to see when entering the ballroom was this foyer centerpiece. It really was a WOW piece (once all the votives were lit). This table was first the card and gift table and plate/sign, and later transformed into a very busy candy buffet!

Tara and Matthew opted to go with high centerpieces for each table - 18 tables! Tammy from Domenic Grazinons worked REALLY hard to achieve the look they were going for. Peacock feathers, leukadendrons, lilies, delphiniums, orchids, and hydrangeas were all part of this elaborate centerpiece. Each centerpiece was pinspotted, in addition to a dance floor breakup lighting, and uplighting, all provided by the great guys at Synergetic Sound.

The adorable menu was placed inside a pocketfold napkin, cocoa cameron napking, on top of the latte bengaline - linens provided by Select Event Rentals. These two linens were used throughout the cocktail and reception to tie the decor together.

They had their table numbers done in Calligraphy by Michael. The table number holders are from Crane and Co.

Another close up of the centerpieces.

The mother of the groom, Stella, wanted to surprise Tara with an additional arrangement for the escort card table, also provided by Domenic Grazianos. The escort cards were little envelopes by Crane and Co, calligraphy done again by Michael, who does beautiful work.

We had some great vendors for their wedding, and everything went off without a hitch. A successful event really relies on good communciation between all vendors, and this wedding was a great example of that.

Vendor Round Up:

Full Service: cHill Weddings, LLC

Flowers: Domenic Grazianos

Ceremony Venue: St. Lawrence Church

Reception Venue: Woodcrest Country Club

Photographer: Philip Gabriel Wedding Photography

Videographer: Janis Productions

Lighting: Synergetic Sound and Light

Band: Barry Warren

Rentals: Select Event Rentals

Calligraphy: Michael at mjwcallig@comcast.net

Transportation: ETA Worldwide

On Monday, I received the sweetest email from the Groom's Mother, Stella:

Dear Christina:

Well, everything went so smoothly on Saturday – thanks to your planning and attention to detail! Your calming presence allowed the bride and groom to enjoy their wedding. The whole day was just perfect for Tara and Matthew. Everyone had a wonderful time. The ballroom at the county club looked so elegant, and the flowers were spectacular. Please let Tammy (the florist) know that we received a multiple of compliments on the floral arrangements.

I’ll forward you some photos when we get them.

Our sincerest thanks and best wishes for cHill Weddings continued success,

Warmest regards,
Stella and Peter Faranda-Diedrich

Thank you to the families of Tara and Matthew, and special congratulations and thanks to the newlyweds, Tara and Matthew! Hope you are having the time of your life in Jamaica!

Neighborhood Food Week starts Oct.11

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Our friends at Ardent Management are hosting their first annual Neighborhood Food Week!

We'll be dining at Hokka Hokka to support our local restaurant.

Enjoy!

Vicki and Larry get Married!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:19:00 +0000

A few weekends ago, cHill weddings had the HONOR of working Vicki and Larry's wedding in Philadelphia. Vicki and Larry hired us for full service planning, and we first met at a little cafe in Mt Airy last year. One of the things I remember from our first meeting was that she felt like we were very similar and knew that I would identify with her since my marriage to my husband is a cross-cultural one. We also shared a love for good food and drink, anything city and stylish, and retro fashion. Vicki's never seen Mad Men, but I think her wedding resembled that a bit.

Please enjoy some teaser pics from our beautiful friends at Doll Face Studio. More images can be found on their blog!

Vicki was all happy tears today. She's beautiful even when she cries!

The ceremony took place at Old St. Joe's - the oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia. The cermeony also incorportated Filipino traditions, such as the Cord and Veil, and incorporating Sponsors.

The girls all wore charcoal dress of different styles, and they all looked amazing. What a great group of ladies! Not sure when this adorable bulldog came from, but it's perfect, since Vicki and Larry are dog lovers.

Her shoes were so Hot! Blue Tux shoes dyed a beautiful blue color. They looked especially great with her second dress, which was shorter, and totally showed off her hot heels.

The reception took place on the rooftop terrace of the Philadelphia Free Library. It was very "Sex in the City" but with a very happy ending. During cocktail hour, Vicki and Larry took pictures in the stacks and in various parts of the library. I love the composition of this one.

Margaux of Fleur De Lis did all the flowers for this wedding, and they were spectacular. Very unique and creative, and was amazing about working with their budget. The wedding looked like a million bucks because of Margaux's expertise!

This picture was taken at the reception after Vicki's dress change. Vicki climbed onto the ledge (ah!) with Larry supporting her... it was so scary, and I was so nervous, but they were both so brave, and Doll Face is also pushing the limits to get a great shot, and it was worth it!

Now, some non-pro detail pics from my iphone:

Awesome seating chart created by June Park, or June Park Designs. She also did their invitation suite.

Cake by Tartes in Old City. I didn't get a chance to try a slice, but I heard it was delicious.

Submerged callas and orchids for the family photo table by Fleur de Lis.

Gift table arrangement, also created by Fleur de Lis. The same tall arrangement was used on all the middle square tables under the tent for dinner.

More pictures to come in a few months!

Vendor Round Up:

Full Service Planning: cHill Weddings, LLC

Invitations: June Park of June Park Designs/cHill Weddings

Photography: Doll Face Studio

Catering: Cricket Catering

Rentals: Select Event Rentals and Cricket Catering

Ceremony Venue: Old St. Joe's Catholic Church

Reception Venue: Philadelphia Free Library

Music (DJ and Band): Magical Sight and Sound

Transportation: Philadelphia Trolley Works

Dress: Melissa Sweet

Makeup: Tricia McKeown of Cheekadee

Hair: Hair by Natalie

Jeremy Evans Thomas Photography Promotion

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:03:00 +0000

My good friend and extremely talent photographer Jeremy Evans Thomas has a new Fall promotion. The promotion expires at the end of the year, so act quick!

We will have some images from Karen and Dave's May wedding soon, photographed by Jeremy, so stay tuned!

Introducing Cheekadee and Kamila Harris Photography

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:00:00 +0000

For a while now, Emily of Cheekadee and I have been emailing, but haven't had a chance to work together. Finally a few weeks ago, Emily and I worked together for Ms. Bruschetta's wedding. Emily was fantastic and all the girls looked so beautiful. Then I was thrilled to find out that my Friday's bride also contracted Cheekadee for her make up.

I was very excited to find out that Cheekadee has a new studio in Chestnut Hill, in my neck of the woods. It's also fun to find other wedding professionals in the neighborhood.

Cheekadee shares the space with talented photographer Kamila Harris. The studio is only open by appointment, but it's a stylish place for boudoir, starlet sessions, portraits, and make up trials. Here are some teaser pics of the studio from Kamila's blog, and I really want to take pictures there!

Here is Emily hard at work in her new studio...

Now my favorite part... Cheekadee and Kamila Harris Photography have founded Starlet Sessions. They are vintage pin-up glamour photo sessions, and the photos are used to promote the Doo Wop Organization and help in the preservation of 50's architecture and culture in the Wildwoods. Check out these images! They are so cool.

Thanks Ladies for letting me share in the joy of your great project and your new studio! Congratulations and Welcome to Chestnut Hill.

Starlet Sessions
Kamila's Blog

Kamila Harris Wedding Photography

Cheekadee

Cheekadee's Blog

Jesaida and Pete's wedding teaser pics

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:27:00 +0000

I first wrote about Jesaida and Pete's wedding, but I had to post about them again when their photographer sent me some teasers!

Most of these are of Jesaida as she was getting ready, but isn't she beautiful!

Andrew is always so fabulous to work with, and it's always fun to work with talented people who are also your friend!

You can see more of his work here: www.strivestudios.com.

Spruce up your tent!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:57:00 +0000

I finally caught up on my Mad Men, and I was SO happy to watch a recent episode with a tent! I couldn't help but keep saying, "I love this tent!"

I searched and searched for more photos from the tent, but this is the only once I could find. (source)

The tent reminded me of our past June wedding - Liz and William. They purchased panels of sheer curtains, and we tied them to the tent. We used these curtain panels in lieu of french window or the average tent walls.

Back in 2008, another client used curtain panels for her tent.

(DollFace Studio)

When adding curtains to tents, it's not too difficult. Just make sure you communicate this to your wedding planner and/or tent people before installation of the tent. Some tents are lined with thick rope, that holds the tent together. I have seen curtains use this rope as the curtain "rod." For our more recent wedding, since the curtains were so light, we used ribbon. If you look closely at the Mad Men picture, it looks like it was draped over (which is an option if you don't plan on drawing the curtains).

Renting a tent is expensive, but adding a bit of flair does not have to be! Look to Ikea or curtain speciality stores for sales - and you can buy panels for cheap! And they are easy to add to your tent. It's time consuming, but it's simple, and if you have a wedding planning team, or a great group of friends, it can be done in a pinch.

Ms. Bru gets married!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

On August 29th, cHill Weddings had the pleasure of working with Mr. and Mrs. Bruschetta.

They wed at the beautiful church at Villanova, and celebrated at F.U.E.L (former Philly Real World home). The weather called for scattered thunderstorms, but the rain stayed away for photos and most of cocktail hour. It POURED while we were packing away for the night, but it was worth it!

Cindy Patrick was their photographer, and she got some awesome shots throughout the day. The Bru's were sure to have some great places scoped out for portraits. Cindy put up a couple teasers, and more will be coming when the newly weds return from their honeymoon!

Stay tuned for a full recap! Click on the link below for Cindy's teasers!

http://www.cpatrickphoto.com/blog/?p=2185&cpage=1#comment-192

Customized Invitations

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

As previously blogged, cHill Weddings has an in-house designer, the very talented June Park of June Park Designs.

She has been working hard for many of clients, creating logos, seating charts, personalized stationery, and now a full invitation suite.

My clients, Vicki and Larry, saw an invitation suite in a bridal magazine that was perfect for their wedding. But the design was for NYC. Since their wedding is in Philadelphia, we needed a new design. This is where the fabulous June steps in.

I'll let her work speak for itself...

(Main invite and envelope images provided by Kristin at Twin Ravens Press.)

(I apologize for the blur. I prefer to keep last names and actual date of the wedding a secret until the wedding as past. Just in case!)

The main invite and envelopes were printed by a wonderful Kristin at Twin Ravens Press. Kristin is so fabulous to work with and is our go-to letterpress printer for all our invitations and other components.

The other invitation components: the reception card, RSVP postcard, and accomodations cards were printed by Overnightprints.

One of the issues we came across during the printing process was trying to match the colors. Because Overnight prints works digitally and letterpress works with pantone colors (and real mixed ink), the colors did not match the first time. Fortunately, all vendors were understanding and wonderful to work with, and it was fixed right away. If possible, using one type of printing will eliminate color discrepancies. Even if you are using the same company, the colors will vary depending on the printing method (letterpress vs flat, for example). Also, paper quality may differ. These are just some things to keep in mind when you are thinking of printing your invitations.

Vicki and I had a fun day of looking up pantone colors, and I also learned a lot about letterpress and other printing methods along the way. It was a great experience and the end result is immaculate and beautiful. It really set the tone for Vicki and Larry's wedding and the theme of their Philadelphia wedding shines through.

Stay tuned for other designs currently in process by June!

A fabulous wedding at the NCC

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:30:00 +0000

cHill Weddings had the pleasure of planning S and S's wedding in June! It was an elegant Indian affair held in Center City. But it didn't just start with a wedding, but with a mehendi party days prior to the wedding, and an elaborate Sangeet celebration at the Marriott, which was hosted by the bride's brother and sister-in-law.

We concentrated more on the wedding day events. The beautiful Hindu ceremony took place at the Marriott. The mandap and its decor and the gate were provided by Elegant Affairs. We rolled out a delicate ivory aisle runner and sprinkled rose petals along the edge.

After the ceremony, guests were shuttled to the National Constitutional Center for the beautiful reception.

The NCC is a beautiful modern venue. We had so much fun working here. The staff is excellent, both from the venue and the caterer (Max and Me).

Favors were bundles of chocolate put together by the bride and groom. Some of the candies had individual personalized stickers - it was so cute!

Since the ceremony was more elaborate, the reception was designed to be more simple, but elegant. No tall centerpieces, but low bowls with floating orchids (in gold and red) with floating candles. The orchids were purchased through http://www.theflowerexchange.com/ and the colors went perfectly with the reception colors. We put together all the centerpieces on-site, by my wonderful assistants, Duyen and Lauren.

For cards, the couple borrowed our cute bird cage.

The couple designed their own seating chart. Seating charts are a great way to be "green." You eliminate the need for escort cards, which guests misplace all the time during cocktail hour. With a seating chart, guests can always return to check their table assignments. Also, they can be saved and displayed in your home to remember always who attended your fabulous wedding! Their seating chart was placed in a framed provided by cHill Weddings.

My favorite part of the wedding was the orchid strand on the stair rails. This was the first thing guests saw once they entered the venue. All guests had to walk up the staircase, so adding a bit of flair was definitely called for to add a bit of pop.

We had a lot of orchids left over from the floating bowls (a box of orchids easily provided enough for bowls and for other decor). I premade strings of orchids by stringing clear fishing line through the base of the orchid bud, then we tied them to the stair rails. It was a bit time consuming, but definitely worth it if you ask me!

The overall night was a huge success. Guests danced all night to banghra music and other music selected by the couple. It was an electic set, but it worked, and everyone loved the music. Even I couldn't help bobbing along.

Congratulations to the wonderful couple!

Special thanks to Jordan Cassway for providing images for this blog. It was a pleasure working with Jordan, and Jess and Jess (of Paired Images) during their wedding weekend. They are all so talented and I can't wait to work with them again!

Vendor Roundup:

Full Service Planning: cHill Weddings, LLC
Photographer: Jordan Cassway and Paired Images
Video: East Coast Productions
Ceremony: Philadelphia Downtown Marriott
Reception: National Constitutional Center
Sangeet Caterer: Palace at the Ben
Reception Caterer: Moghul
Mandap and Sangeet Decor: Elegant Affairs
Flowers at Reception: cHill Weddings, LLC
DJ: EBE- Matt Ostroff
Lighting: Synergetic Sounds and Lighting
Transportation: Dave Thomas Tours
Carriage for Baarat: 76 Carriage
Hair and Makeup: Calista Brides
Cake: Brown Betty Dessert Boutique

Weekly Obsessions

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I think it's fun to blog about things that are not always wedding related. Sometimes, when planning a wedding, it's so easy to be overwhelmed with all the planning, linens, themes, colors, guests lists, and drama. So, I'd like to introduce a new column called Weekly Obsessions. It may be local, it may be not... but it's Fun!

First up, food of course!

My husband is an attorney that gets to work with some great chefs and restaurateurs in Philadelphia. One of the perks of being married to Christopher is getting to know these talented people and sample their food!

KONG officially opened last night in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, in the former Sovalo space (which was another restaurant we loved). We were invited to attend their friends and family private opening the night prior. I had been looking forward to this all week! I can eat Asian food for every meal every day. Kong specializes in "street food" prevalent in Hong Kong, where the executive chef's, Mike O'Halloran, wife is from. He took the food and played around with it, to make it his own.

Here is their menu: http://media.philly.com/documents/Kong+Menu.pdf

We ate a lot that night. We tried the hot and sour soup, 3 way pork dumplings, peking duck buns, and the braised short ribs rice bowl. OH MY GOODNESS. It was so good. The service was fast, and the food really did come out in lightning speed as it would on the streets. The decor was great (hanging birdcages, buddha statues, and a cool mural), and everyone was very knowledgable in the food and drinks.

My favorite was the peking duck buns. Chef O'Halloran said making the buns is a very long and meticulous process, but the end product was perfect. I told them that they should market the buns as wedding hors d'oeuvres, similar to those mini cheeseburgers.

The food is great on it's own. But the kitchen is open until 1am! So it's a great place to go after a night out in city and after a couple of drinks. It's the type of food that tastes better with a few beers, and Kong has a very interesting selection of Asian brews. For those who live in the Nor Libs area, they will also offer delivery in the near future. For the first time in a while, we were sad to have moved away from the neighborhood.

Chef O'Halloran is also the owner of Bistro 7, a fabulous BYOB in Old City.

After a good meal, what's better than a pampering session?

I am a self-claimed spa-aholic. Sometimes, I think I have a problem.

Recently, I discovered a spa in Chestnut Hill that I completely fell in love with: Diamond Spa. Last week, my little sister was in town from Dallas, so I thought I'd treat her to a pedicure. We first walked into a different spa, only to be turned away because they no longer to nails. So we walked across the street and meandered about, and came across the little storefront of Diamond Spa. We were seated in our massage chairs with our feet in a hot tub of soapy water almost right away. It was heaven. Not only did we get the typical scrub, clean, and color, there was long leg and foot massage and a hot stone therapy massage!

I decided to go back over the weekend to sample another treatment, the deep tissue massage. Since I've been sick the past month, I've been feeling a bit achy, and felt in the need of some pampering. The masseuse, Roy, was very nice and calming, and worked on specific areas that I requested. I think I actually fell asleep. The hour long massage felt more like 2 hours, which is a good thing! My favorite part was the head rest, where it was infused with aroma therapy, which relaxed me right away, plus it was comfortable (I hate sticking my face in the stiff ones).

The pricing is great - given the quality of service, location, and compared to other spas. It may not have the full spa experience, where you can walk around in your robe, or hit the sauna, or lounge around by the pool, but it's perfect for the quick and fuss-less experience.

Lastly, for a good laugh:

I love NPH!

Vote for Us!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

cHill Weddings was nominated again for My Fox Philly's Best Wedding Planner!

Please vote for us if you think we are the best in the area!

Thank you to all those who already voted! It is because of all the wonderful couples we work with, and also with our great vendor friends, that make our jobs rewarding and fun!

It's time to revive the blog!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:03:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

I'm so sorry that this blog has been quiet the past few weeks. I wish I could say I was on some great vacation or relaxing, but truth is, I have been home very sick. The good news is, I'm finally starting to feel like myself and ready to plunge back into work!

Back in 2000, I was diagnosed with a chronic inflammatory disease. Fortunately for me, it has been an easy illness to keep at bay and my life is very normal and healthy most of the time when I am in remission. However, every few years, it pops up and my immune system attacks itself, leaving me to be holed up at home. The best treatment is a steriod treatment, which also lowers my immune system, and with the latest bought of the flu everywhere, I've been extra cautious of staying home so I do not get worse.

Earlier this year, I was disappointed that my August month was slow for weddings, but now I see that it was a blessing. It gave me time to recover and focus on taking care of myself again. It also reminded me to eat better and live better, which is something I usually put on the back burner when I am busy with weddings and meetings.

With that said, I'm am PUMPED to get started on my 2nd wave of weddings for 2009!

We have a wonderful wedding coming up at the F.U.E.L house later this month, which we are so excited for. I have been fortunate to work with the very sweet Ms. Bruschetta of Weddingbee.

In September, we have weddings coming up at the awesome Philadelphia Free Library and it's rooftop terrace, Society Hill Dance Academy, and the Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill.

As for the blog, we have some more fun posts coming up. We have more recaps from our weddings from the spring and summer, and also a beautiful invitation suite that our designer, June Park, made for us.

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here is a picture of my baby, who has been my best companion at home!

Kristen and Paul's big recap!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I feel like this is a very special week! Two big recaps!

Kristen and Paul are also very dear to my heart. I've blogged about them a few times, but there is the first recap with the teaser pics and vendor details: click here.
They are both very artistic and talented, and it definitely showed throughout their wedding. They were married Easter weekend in April earlier this year. Although it was not an easy task to a find a church that would marry them Easter weekend, we did find one eventually, and it was PINK!

The Easter and Bunny theme did play out through the wedding, but it was very tastefully done (especially tasty the peeps!).

Special thanks to Dollface Studio for sharing these images with us! I love working with them.

Kristen made the signs for both their rooms at the fabulous Loews. Kristen was hooked up with a sweet suite!

Kristen's gown was so exquiste. I'm personally a fan of delicate lace, and so I loved her gown:

Her something blue:

And a Penny in her shoe:

I absolutely loved her dress. Check out the train!

The bridemaids and junior bridesmaid look great too in their different shades of pink!

Kristen's make up was done by the fab Cindy Singer at Dylan Michael Cosemetics.

We hung a K an P on the gates of the church to make the proper entrance to the ceremony:

Here they are inside the beautiful Arch St. Presbyterian Church:

I love that they ran into another couple during portraits!

The dashing couple after the ceremony in Love Park:

and in front of city hall:

Check out her cute flip flops!

Her bouquet was a piece of work! And it was heavy. Carl Alan did a great job with it:

The reception was held at Knowlton Mansion and had beautiful full rose centerpieces created by Carl Alan:

Kristen and Paul made the table numbers themselves.

This is a little piece that they made which we placed in various places in the house for added decor. They are all about the details!

For escort cards, they hand made a paper flower of different styles and colors for EACH AND EVERY guest. The flowers were pinned into a moss base. It was adorable!

On that same table, we set up their card box, which was actually a smaller version of an antique mail box!

Paul's father made this!
What a talented family!

Instead of the traditional guest book, they used a blank canvas and guests took the liberty of drawing and writing messages. I thought it was a great idea!

The cake was awesome too, and very tasty!

But the best part of the cake was the cake topper - created by Paul himself!

One of the sweetest parts of the wedding was Paul's bestman singing their first dance. It was great. He played the keyboard and sang while the newlywed couple took their first moments of being married:

But he wasn't the only musical one!

Knowlton Mansion has a small wine cellar, and this was open to guests during cocktail hour:

Later in the evening, Kristen and Paul snuck away with the ladies of Doll Face and took some great pictures. Very sexy, but also very victorian.

Doll Face did it again and this time it was for Kristen and Paul's post-bridal shoot. Check it out here!

If you're looking to have cute details added to your wedding but don't have time, email Kristen. Kristen and Paul would love to help you with your wedding! kristenseese at mac dot com.

Christine and Marc's wedding recap! Finally!

chillweddings@gmail.com (cHill Weddings, LLC) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:00:00 +0000

From Collages

This is what my brain looked like when I first started going through Andrew's images from Christine and Marc's wedding... it was wedding inspiration overflow! I tried to be conservative and pick only a small number of my favorite images... and I pared it down to 70!

So, it is with a deep breath, and a large cup of coffee, I attempt to write a recap; to do justice for all these great images and the wonderful memories that went behind the planning and executing their gorgeous wedding.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Christine and her beautiful bridesmaids started the day early in Christine's room at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Phoenixville, PA. Natalie Pagano and Mila (from Face the Occasion) came to make the pretty girls even more beautiful.

Um... isn't her hair absolutely stunning?! But then it went up into a neat, but very sophisticated up-do.

In lieu of a veil, Christine accented her hair with a silk flower.

Christine's family friend is a florist, and Christine's father brough hydrangeas, hypericum berries, and loads of roses down. We used all those flowers to create bouquets, boutonnieres, and all the ceremony and reception pieces.

A simple ivory rose wrapped in a lime green satin ribbon for the guys.

I saw this picture and wondered if her mom knew about her little tattoo in the back! My mother found mine about a few months before my wedding and I remembered being very nervous about it. Well, her mother is super sweet, so I'm sure she didn't say anything, except maybe, "That's a cool tat!"

Christine and Marc decided to see each other before the ceremony. A very wise idea! I love Christine's face in anticipation here!

A tip for the budget conscious: inquire at your hotel if they have a shuttle van/bus you can use for a few hours. This van was used for the wedding party, and also shuttled all guests back and forth during the entire day, for a very low cost.

The day prior, on my way into their rehearsal, I saw that there was a local carnival set up a few blocks down. I told Andrew about it, and sure enough, the entire wedding party headed over their for some cool portraits. Check out one of the girls up on the monkey bars!

Of course, Marc and his boys can make a pink background look very masculine. :)

I have no idea what Christine was thinking here! But hey...

It made for a very cool picture!

I think the guys are in a jungle or something here.

They eventually made their way back to the Columbia Station for some quick photos before the ceremony.

Can you tell they're all very excited to get married?

We used some of our shepherd hooks (a very popular item this year), to hang a few pomanders. We made them with carnations, roses, and hydrangeas.

The bouquet you see here is a totally different bouquet from the portraits. Truth be told, our first bouquet wilted... completely. On May 15th, it felt like it was 100 degrees with 100% humidity! The hydrangeas all died. But we had a new one ready before arrived to the Columbia Station. So this one was fresh and brand new for the ceremony. This is one of the reasons why I love having extra stems on site for each wedding. We also had a few roses left, so we were able to make additional boutonnieres as well.

Here, Marc greets Christine's father in a very traditional Asian way.

At the end of the ceremony, they both bowed to both sets of parents and to all the guests. It was a very nice touch; very respectful towards their families.

I loved the damask runners! Christine purchased them along with all the glass vases of different sizes from a weddingbee reader. Columbia Station bought them from Christine after the wedding for a future bride who wanted to achieve the same look.

Centerpiece #1: green apples with rose accents, in a black ribbon band.

Centerpiece #2: 3 hydrangeas with green hypericum berries, with a lime green ribbon band.

Instead of a guest book, they framed one of their favorite engagement photos (also by Andrew) for guests to sign.

For favors, they had a candy bar in their wedding colors! In the back, Christine made a neat chart of all the candies. This picture was taken before the reception. Once all the escort cards were picked up, we spread out the candy buffet so it was easy for guests help themselves.

Columbia Station's caterers - Robert Ryan Catering- always do a fantastic job with their food decor.

Apple caramel was their signature drink. It looked so pretty!

Cupcakes and cake (pictured below) by Brown Betty Dessert Boutique. Always lick-your-fingers good!

The cupcakes took up one entire table, so last minute, we decided to put it on their sweetheart table, since they didn't have a centerpiece.

Christine and Marc were true hosts for their wedding. They had Korean and Filipinio dancers perform during dinner.

First up, we had the Korean folk dancers perform a traditional Korean Fan Dance.

Then the kids from the Mutya Dance Company performed. First a dance with candles:

Then a very exciting Tinikling performance. I think we all held our breath praying that the dancers didn't lose any toes!

The Korean folk dancer came back ground for some drumming.

Check out this video to learn more about the Korean drum dance.

After dinner, Christine and Marc changed into their respective cultural clothes. Marc wore a barong tagalong (which looks very comfortable!) and Christine wore a beautiful hanbok, which came with matching shoes and purse.

The dance floor was packed all night! Magical Sight and Sound's Tom Carroll keep the people dancing. All the vendors couldn't help but smile and nodd along to the beat. We had some break dancers, some slow dancing, and lots of line dancing! Who knew!

We had both Lauren and Duyen on the job with me. With all the flowers and other decor, in addition to managing both dance troupes, I needed an extra hand, and it worked out perfectly!

So that's a wrap! Thanks to Christine and Marc See for allowing cHill Weddings into your planning process and inviting us to coordinate your wedding day. We love you guys so much!

Vendor Roundup:

Wedding Planner: cHill Weddings, LLC - with Lauren and Duyen as wedding day assistants
Venue: Columbia Station, Phoenixville, PA
Caterer: Robert Ryan Catering
Photographer: Andrew Ippolito of Strive Studios
DJ: Magical Sight and Sound
Flowers: cHill Weddings, LLC
Dessert: Brown Betty Dessert Boutique
Filipino Dance: Mutya
Korean Dance: Korean American Folk Dance Company 215-927-4318
Hair: Natalie Pagano
Makeup: Face the Occasion, Mila