Weddings to Celebrate - Aileen and Jeremy

I was thrilled to be the day-of coordinator for Aileen and Jeremy's wedding at one of my favorite venues, Star Hill Ranch. I knew this couple would be a perfect fit for me when we first spoke and the groom told me that if he wasn't a movie producer, he'd probably be an event coordinator. And I have no doubt he'd be excellent at it! :) They are both so creative and with a great eye for detail. Take a look at some of my favorite details captured by Mel of She-n-He Photography, below. This was my first time to work with Mel, and I look forward to many more weddings with her - fantastic work.

Aileen and Jeremy, thank you so much for trusting me with the details of your amazing day. I loved every minute of working with you and am so excited to see what the future holds for you. Much love to you!
xoxo
jessica :)

Chucks purchased the morning of the wedding.

A loving nod to the groom, who's a lover of comics (and the producer of the Iron Man movies).

Wildflower bouquets - perfect.

Schedules of the evening's events - to make sure guests didn't miss anything! Love this.

Now THIS is a "first look."  :)

Escort cards, directing guests to their assigned tables.

Movie finish. :)

Cast of Vendors:
Something To Celebrate, wedding coordinators
Dagar's Catering
Simon Lee
Rosehip Flora
She-N-He
Brent Warnock
Complete Music - Coy Galloway
Transportation Consultants
Charlie Johnson Fireworks

Star Hill Ranch

I confess... I have favorites. Especially when it comes to wedding venues. And Star Hill Ranch is definitely at the top of my list!



We've done some amazing weddings at Star Hill Ranch, and even a killer 2,000 person corporate event. It's such a versatile and unique venue! And owner Adam Woolley is a delight to work with.

If you're looking for a wedding venue, be sure to visit Star Hill Ranch before you make your decision. And if you get the chance, visit at dusk.

Tell Adam I said "Hi!"
jessica

Wedding at Star Hill Ranch - M and J

I LOVED working with this couple! So fun, so chic, so Austin (which is a bit ironic, given they live in NY!). But you'll love them too. Check out these awesome photos from their photographer,

Lettuce Turnip

.

Doors to the chapel

Ring bearer's pillow

love love LOVED her shoes!!!

The cake, inspired by their dog.

Congratulations M and J!! Thank you so much for trusting us with the details of your day.

xoxo,

jessica

Cigar Rollers | Austin Wedding Planning

Back in October 2005, I did a fabulous wedding full of interactive activities for the guests. One of the novelties was an on-site cigar roller - it was a first for me but has since proven to be a trend that is gaining momentum!

You need to have several cigars rolled ahead of time because you don't want them smoked while still wet. The ones that are rolled on-site are best saved for the following day, complete with a cigar band showcasing your monogram!


This picture was taken by Hyde Park Photography at Reagan and Anthony's wedding in December 2007, and is featured in the current issue of The Knot Best of Weddings 2009.

Fun times

A sneak peek of Morgan and Brendan's super fun and a little crazy good times Star Hill Ranch wedding....

Need I say more?

~Becky

Photo credit:

SMS Photography

Katie and Eric, Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Planner

Two of my very good friends, Katie and Eric were married May 10th. This was a very untraditional wedding. Firstly, there were no attendants. Katie walked down the aisle in a vintage white dress with a black sash. And Eric wore a suit, not a tux.

They had cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake.

Even though it rained right after the ceremony, while people were walking from the chapel to the reception hall,

everyone had a great time.

The flowers were perfect.

They bought them the day before and we assembled them that morning. It gave the peonies in Katie’s bouquet time to really open.

We strung paper lanterns in the reception hall.

This was one of the harder weddings to plan, because almost everything was done by Katie, Eric and their families. And, Katie and Eric live in San Francisco. Hello, two hour time difference! There were a lot of late night phone calls.

But, everything came together beautifully. Don’t they look happy?

-cori

Pictures courtesy of friend Wesley Capps.

Reagan and Anthony, Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Planner

Wow -- this wedding was a true team effort (Jessica did the planning, Becky the day-of execution)! We had so many unique touches at this special wedding -- cigar rollers, s'mores, Whataburgers, cocktail hour donkeys, an espresso bar and on and on. We finished up the night with a fabulous fireworks show! It was a great night and a wonderful wedding with guests from all over the country. So many of them came up to me in amazement over all the fine details of this wedding.

Congratulations Reagan and Anthony! Have fun in Tahiti.

Special thanks to all the vendors who worked so hard to make this night so special:

Dagar's Catering

Society Finch

Blind Date

Hyde Park Photography

Mancino Iron

Event FX

Star Hill Ranch

Ilios Lighting

The Lost Pines

Ladyflash Productions

Ralph Fisher Photo Animals

Michelle's Patisserie

Marquee Rents

Grandparents Unlimited

And to ALL the Something to Celebrate interns -- you guys rock!

xo,

Becky

Photos courtesy of Hyde Park Photgraphy.

Leslie and Chris - Star Hill Ranch Wedding | Austin Wedding Planner

I adored this couple. They were sweet, funny and just seemed so happy together. They wanted to put on a great party at Star Hill Ranch, but they didn’t get overwhelmed with details and they held on to the real importance of the day – the fact that they were getting married. Their family was so wonderful too! They ended up with a beautiful sunset wedding, an intimate, candle glow dinner provided by Dagar’s Catering and lots of dancing thanks to Sensual Soul. The night ended with a surprise when Chris revealed an antique convertible to his bride from Tom Daniels Limousines. Leslie and Chris, I was honored to be a part of your day and may you continue to make many wonderful memories together. Thanks to these other wonderful vendors that helped to make the day great:

Fiori del Sole, Beverly Demafiles Photography, White Shoes Productions and Michelle’s Patisserie.

-kristie

Vicki and Chris' Wedding at Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Coordinator

I love weddings at Star Hill Ranch because the possibilities are truly endless. Vicki turned the small chapel into a receiving area, complete with a memory table to honor passed loved ones. At the reception, Vicki and Chris shared their first dance under the stars - and just in the nick of time! The skies surprisingly opened up with a brief downpour, but a little moisture couldn't stop these guests from having a great time. Besides, we always have a Plan B when it comes to Texas weather.

Congratulations, Vicki and Chris!!

-jessica

Photos courtesy of Schmitt Photography.

Email from Tamara and Richard | Austin Wedding Planner

I was so honored to receive this note from Tamara and Richard today.


Jessica,

I can't believe it's already been a month since the wedding passed!

The year leading up to it was a whirlwind of dresses, flowers, and cakes. I can't begin to thank you enough for being a part of all of it.

Every decision you helped me make turned out to be the RIGHT one. A bride spends so much time envisioning what a wedding should be like in her head, but she needs YOU to make it all come to life.

Thank you for all of your attention to detail, your reommendations for the fabulous vendors, for encouraging (pushing :-) ) me to get a videographer... and all of the amazing ideas before hand.

Thank you for wrangling our often nutty friends during both the rehearsal and the wedding itself.

On the day of the wedding, you and your staff were worth your weight in gold. The inevitable little problems were handled so quickly and efficiently that we never knew that any glitches had occurred until after. You made every event go off seamlessly and just the way we pictured.

When we decided to do a wedding at some place that did not have a coordinator in charge, we knew right away that a coordinator wasn't going to be a "luxury" expense. We knew a coordinator would be NECESSARY... the only decision to make was WHICH coordinator. We are thrilled we chose the RIGHT one. You were completely organized, confident, calm, cool, collected... All of the things you needed to be. You helped us to keep under budget (back when there WAS still a budget!) and helped make every decision so much easier.

Thank you for customizing your plan in a way that was perfect for our wedding! We loved the bridal borrowing!!! Thank goodness we didn't have to buy 1,000 votives.

Once again! Thank you so much. You made our perfect day even more amazing than we had imagined.

Tamara and Richard

P.S. -- I would be thrilled to be a reference for you ANY time. Feel free to give people my phone number and/or e-mail address.

Jill and Scott's Wedding at Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Planner

Now this was a FUN wedding! Jill and Scott live in Virginia and were willing to run wild with their Mexican-themed Texas wedding. The cocktail hour was a huge hit with the strolling Mariachis and miniature donkeys serving bottles of beer. (beer burros!) So much fun!!

-jessica

Photos courtesy of Schmitt Photography.

"Thank you so much for being such an amazing support throughout this crazy process! I never thought I'd be the kind of bride who would need a coordinator. I do this kind of thing for a living, and I swear I was born to get married : ) However, now I don't know how any bride can do it without one. Thank you for being honest, creative, supportive, and attentive. My family loved you, our guests loved you, and yes, even our bridal party loved you! The day after the wedding we had dinner with my dad and he couldn't say enough good things about you and your team. So many people told us they had never seen a wedding run more smoothly. That's so amazing considering all we had going on! I think you have a great product and a great attitude. I'm excited to see how much your business will continue to grow." -Jill

Tiffany and Jason, Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Coordinator

Photo courtesy of Photography by Vanessa.

Dear Jessica,

My dear, you were totally invaluable. You made the wedding day for us worry-free and kept everything on schedule. Thanks for everything and all your hard work. We really did appreciate it immensely. I just can't say enough good things about you and your assistants. You all were great!!!!

I know that you probably don't need references but if we can ever help you in any way, let us know. And...who knows, there is always Tiffany's brother....

Highest Regards,

Malu, Mother of the Bride

Melissa and Drew, Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Coordinator

Melissa and Drew are a great couple who chose Star Hill Ranch for their hill country wedding. The live local band kept the dance floor packed all evening. It was truly a wonderful Texas-styled celebration. Congrats Melissa and Drew!

- ashley

Photos courtesy of

Focal Point Photographics

.

"I wanted to thank you for your work on Mel and Drew's Wedding! I have been in almost a dozen weddings and this one went real well! Once again Thanks for your hard work, and God Bless you in your future endeavors! Adios!" - Clint (Groomsman)

"I first want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!! I don't know what I would've done without you. This is totally cornball, but you were everything I never knew I needed." - Melissa

"Wow, where to begin. I hadn't planned on having a day-of coordinator. I thought, "how hard can it be?" Boy, was I completely wrong. I know I said this about other vendors, but I REALLY can not say enough wonderful things about Ashley!! I know you all know her and how wonderful she is with ideas and advice and recommendations, but as great as she is with all of that, it doesn't even compare to how amazing she is as a wedding coordinator. I seriously don't know what I would have done without her. From the first time we met to go over everything, she was constantly asking me questions that I would have never have thought of (but needed to), constantly giving ideas. She was completely in charge and that was completely what I needed. I don't see how I could have enjoyed the day without her there. She took care of everything and I never knew the half of it til the day was long over. She was right where I needed her at any given time, but was never intrusive. She was incredible, incredible, incredible. " - Melissa

Ashley and Ethan's Wedding at Star Hill Ranch | Austin Wedding Coordinator

I really loved working with this young couple. Their love has a sort of innocence that is so rare these days! Their emotional ceremony was followed by a fun celebration and the dance floor was packed the entire night. And Kudos to the maid of honor for being such an excellent help to Ashley!

-jessica


Photos courtesy of Anne Marie Photography.

"Jessica is wonderful (and Ken & Lorena)! Everything went smoothly and flawlessly!! I really don’t know what else to say - it went wonderfully! We had 3 months to plan our wedding, and Jessica's vendor referrals and assistance with the planning was essential in getting it all done in time. When it came to the big day, I was able to relax knowing that when she arrived, she’d be there to take care of things and she did! She handled things very well without being intrusive at all. It was nice to have someone keeping an eye on us the day of. I'm so glad we hired Jessica & her team for our day-of-coordinators, it was well worth the fee we paid! They did a fabulous job!" -Ashley