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Follow Ciara DaykinHoly crap...9 days with no tweets!!! Film shoot went well-BB Declan is growing and doing REALLY well & I still need to write an ezine...LOL
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Chelsea Clinton, 30, and her fiancé Marc Mezvinsky, 32, were married this Saturday of the August long weekend. The ceremony took place at Astor Courts in the small town of Rhinebeck, New York.
The former First Daughter Chelsea wore a Vera Wang dress and later changed into another Grecian dress for the wedding reception according to PEOPLE. Chelsea and Marc rocked the dance floor and surprised the 400 guests. It was obvious that they took lessons.
Some of the celebrities who attended the wedding included, former President Bill Clinton, current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vernon Jordan, Terry Auliffe, Madeleine Albright, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Steve Bing and Vera Wang. It was rumored that Oprah and Tom Hanks were also invited yet they were nowhere to be seen.
According to Radar Online, Chelsea and Marc were together for five years and were childhood pals. Their wedding planner was Bryan Rafanelli of Boston.
After the wedding the newlyweds jetted off to their honeymoon at an undisclosed location. Rumor has it that guests stayed to party at the wedding until 3 a.m.! Who knew these prestigious politicians knew how to party? Famous or not, It sounds like the wedding was an absolute success shared with friends and family.
Photo found at: http://foreign.peacefmonline.com/entertainment/
“Despite the fact that we have had interesting careers, we still consider the most important job we ever had being the parents of Chelsea.” – Bill Clinton.
JessiFirefly posts your weekly dose of pop culture.
Pirates of the Caribbean star, Orlando Bloom, 33, and his new wife, Miranda Kerr, 27, are back from the honeymoon in the tropics. The couple vacationed in the Caribbean for four days after the wedding. They stayed at the Viceroy hotel on the luxury island of Anguilla.
According to Radar Online, the wedding was a complete surprise to fans. News about the wedding was leaked after Kerr stated that she was not going to appear at the Australian department store David Jones.
She said: “David Jones very graciously released me during this period so we could celebrate an intimate ceremony and honeymoon together.”
Looking back at their history, the couple wed after only being engaged for a month however they have been dating since late 2007 according to PEOPLE magazine. The couple made their first public appearance back in April of 2008. Last year during Thanksgiving they spent time in Morocco vacationing.
Even celebrities want their own personal space sometimes. The couple deserves their privacy and it’s no shocker that they requested their wedding details be kept a secret. As of yet, not many wedding details have been released. -We wish them the best!
xo-JessiFirefly
JessiFirefly posts your weekly dose of pop culture.
Last Saturday Khadijah Haqq and Bobby McCray (former New Orleans Saints football star) tied the knot in Los Angeles. According to Radar Online, Khloe Kardashian is the bride’s best friend and was a bridesmaid in the wedding. Khloe and her husband Lamar Odom seemed to be having a wonderful time together at the reception.
www.radaronline.com
Khloe also brought her entire family who showed up in style! (As always)
Kim wore a tan and fitted dress with silver studded heels. It’s a small world… Kim’s ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush was one of the groomsmen at the wedding. Awkward. Regardless, Kim kept her cool and glowed with confidence as the ex-couple kept their distances.
www.radaronline.com
As for Kourtney, her and her boyfriend rolled up in a brand new Lamborghini.
www.radaronline.com
Their mother Kris and step-dad Bruce Jenner also attended the celeb wedding.
As for the bride and groom? Well, they were stylish as well. Khadijah wore a white layered dress with a sweetheart fitted top and Bobby wore a gorgeous tan tux!
www.radaronline.com
Lesson to be learned for all you future brides out there: Be prepared to have your thunder stolen when inviting A-List celebs like Kim Kardashian to your wedding. 
For more info about the celeb wedding day, watch the Keeping Up With the Kardashians TV episode to be aired soon. If you can’t wait, go to www.radaronline.com for more details.
-xo JessiFirefly
Follow the fabulous lives of the firefly team every Thursday. See what our past clients have had to say and take a sneak peak at our events, weddings and other special events.
by Ciara Daykin
I have been super busy with weddings and events. We’ve been building our team and things are rocking! I also just got back from my live event where I was coaching wedding planners from across North America. We’re so pleased that so many of you have written to tell us how much you like our new website and logo. We’ll be launching more and more new and exciting ways for you to discover cool wedding ideas with us so stay tuned.
I know that there are a lot of places you could be getting your wedding information but I really appreciate that you’re getting your info here from me. We now have over 10,000 brides who subscribe to this ezine!
I also have some very exciting news to share with you today… I’m expecting a baby! A baby boy in fact! He’s due July 15th and he’s our first. Simon and I are really excited. But you’re probably thinking- what about weddings Ciara? Well, I’ve got some fantastic clients lined up for early summer but I won’t be doing any weddings personally in the late summertime. That’s why our team has been growing! And our Associate Planners are making a fabulous impression on our brides and grooms. They have been trained in the Firefly Occasions style of planning and handpicked by me to represent the company. We are quite booked up for the summer already but we do have some opportunities left to work with us so please do email us by clicking here to find out which program would be the best fit for you.
Now what about weddings going ahead? Don’t worry! I’m not going anywhere. But I am becoming more and more exclusive in regards to the brides and grooms I’m working with. I’ll only be working with haute couture brides and grooms whose weddings we are fully planning and designing. This is really where I shine as a planner and designer and where I’ll be focusing my attention. If you feel that you could be one of these couples please contact us by clicking here to come in for an interview to ensure it would be a good fit.
By Simon Daykin
What a crazy few weeks, sorry I missed last week’s ezine. I have been travelling my ass off but I’m back now. Last week I was speaking to a group of wedding planners at the Wedding Institute of Canada’s annual conference in beautiful Turks & Caicos. I can tell you it was AMAZING! I spoke on the subject of Décor and Design and how to get an amazing look and atmosphere at the weddings they plan. The week before that, we attended the Association of Bridal Consultants conference in Indianapolis where my wife spoke to 250 planners. So many airports…so many crying babies on planes, but we do what we must right.
We’re back in Canada now, putting the final touches on a huge New Years Eve wedding, this wedding is gonna be so cool, we’re making it snow in a ballroom at midnight. We’re also taking bookings for 2010, so if you’re currently engaged or looking to get engaged over the holidays and you want to reduce the stress of the planning on both you and your wonderful wife to be…just click here and we’ll make it all better.
By Ciara Daykin
I had the pleasure of sharing my story with 300 wedding planners this past week at the Fall in Love with Indy Association of Bridal Consultants conference.
Tonya Shadoan, a member of my elite mastermind group for wedding planners did such a great job of designing the enchanted woodland lunch (complete with a scent machine!) that I spoke at. The atmosphere and the energy of everyone in the room were absolutely amazing!
I just wanted to share these pictures with you quickly, as I am off to Turks and Caicos in less than 24 hours for another speaking engagement. Hope you enjoy!
It’s been a crazy week here for me, my wife is off in sunny Los Angeles supervising an event we planned and I am stuck here in the cold and snow. Oh well, she returns just in time for Thanksgiving dinner tonight so I’m looking forward to seeing her again. This is the longest we have been apart since we got married. OK, enough sappy stuff. We had a great Bridal Expo a couple of weeks ago and now I’m fielding so many emails from people wanting to book our services for planning their weddings. Seriously, I haven’t worked this hard in months. So if you’re on the fence about hiring a kick ass planner, get off that fence and come hang out in my yard…no frilly pink wedding for you my friend…I GOT YOUR BACK!!!
Cheers,
Simon
Click here to book your free consultation.
By Simon Daykin
It’s been a wild and crazy few weeks for us. In the last month we have done 5 weddings and we still have quite a few more to go before the year is over. We just booked a great couple who are getting married on New Year’s Eve and I’m really looking forward to that one.
A couple of days ago I packed up my tote of tricks and headed into the City TV studios to chat on Breakfast Television about the “Mighty Man Shower”. I wrote an article about this a few months back and people are really getting into it. So at 7:30am I outlined a few key points and showed off some cool stuff that would make any Man Shower a BLAST!
I don’t have the dedicated link but you can find the clip here: Simon chats about the Man Shower on Breakfast TV. Just scroll along the video clips until you find me.
I’m home from Grand Cayman after an amazing experience at Engage’09, a luxury wedding business summit. I met so many amazing people like Darcy Miller of Martha Stewart Weddings, Randy Fenoli the Fashion Director of Kleinfelds, the cake artist to the stars Sylvia Weinstock, Abby Larson blogger extraordinaire of StyleMePretty.com and so many more. It was truly an honor to be with the crème de la crème of the wedding industry and to be the only Western Canadian company represented and one of only 2 Canadian companies in attendance.
But as you’ll see below… We’ve expanded! We’ve opened an office in Beverly Hills, California and we are taking on clients in the Los Angeles area. I’ve been getting requests for a long time to do weddings and events outside of Calgary and with our new LA office this is a reality. Having our LA Division Manager, Annette Hoegner on the ground in LA to scope out the wedding scene for me has been invaluable. She’s awesome! In her first week she even went to the Young Hollywood Awards. We’re having a launch party in LA in September and I’m super excited and of course I’ll share all the details with you first.
Simon and I have really enjoyed being away together (we worked in a little Seadooing and snorkeling in Cayman) and we came up with some great ideas together. The fact is, that we plan our client’s weddings together. The different energy we both bring to the table makes our clients unlike any other wedding. They are truly special and a work of art. That’s why we’re really stepping up to bring that energy to all brides and grooms planning their wedding through our newly redesigned SheAndHePlanWeddings.com blog. Our blog brings you the she said, he said perspective on weddings. And like you and your groom, we don’t always agree. So make sure you check it out with your groom because our motto is… “Plan it Together.”
We just completed an amazing Midsummer Night’s Dream wedding at the Calgary Fairmont Palliser this weekend and it was amazing. The bride was overwhelmed by the transformation of the room and she and her groom had a fantastic night. I’m so glad. On the other side of town, another bride and groom had a fantastic day as well. We helped grant a wish to a lucky couple through Vibe 98.5FM in Calgary. This couple had been living in a shelter with their 4 kids and they had recently gotten engaged. A letter had been sent into the radio station about them and I helped grant their wish for an amazing wedding day. I rallied the Calgary wedding industry and they totally came through with much generosity and love. I want to thank everyone who helped put together this wedding by acknowledging them here:
Linens & Rentals: Great Event Rentals- Whenever I need cool rental items, great linens or a fab tent, I call on Great Event Rentals. Monica and her team there rock and they have been so generous with their assistance with this wedding.
Bridal Flowers: Mandala Floral- Mallory is a true artist. She always wows my clients with ideas and did she ever wow this couple. When the bride saw her bouquet she was floored.
Photographer: Cory Tomlinson Photography- The power of Twitter was proven when I tweeted about this wedding and Cory tweeted back saying he would do it. He gave the couple a day in the limelight that they will never forget, even producing a print of the couple in time for the reception (and providing us with the picture aove!) His photos are great and his heart is big!
Dress: Beautiful Bride- Simone is the owner of Beautiful Bride and she’s an angel on earth. I looked high and low for a wedding dress for our bride with no luck and Simone came in during her vacation to donate a wedding dress to this cause. She really came through and is an asset to all brides looking for their wedding gown.
Tux: Bridal Centre- Peter and the team at the Bridal Centre are great friends. We refer all our grooms into their expert hands. Our groom for this wedding said that he felt like James Bond in his tux and that truly touched my heart.
Caterer: Savour Food- Carla and her husband at Savour Food didn’t have to be asked twice when I told her about this couple in need. They jumped at the chance to help. She is such a sweetheart and a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen! She made so many delicious items and they looked too good to eat (but of course, I ate, and ooooohhhh it was good!)
DJ: Prism Sound- Cam has been with us since the beginning and we adore him. Simon and I hired Cam to DJ our wedding and he has been a staple at our functions ever since. I can tell you how great Cam is by telling you what he’s not- a cheeseball, a DJ that likes to hear himself talk, a DJ that doesn’t read the crowd- Cam is always the utmost professional and I can always trust him to play what the crowd wants and have them chanting for more (seriously, that happened at one of our weddings with him “One More Song, One More Song”).
Hair/ Makeup: Pink Lime Salon- Bassem and his team at Pink Lime Salon are the type of people that you just want to put in your purse and take everywhere with you. They are so kind and generous and just make you feel like a queen, and I know that they did that for our bride on her wedding day. It was an experience that she’d never had before and they made both her and her young daughters feel like royalty when they did their hair and makeup.
And I have to give a shout out to Colleen at Central United Church who’s always a friend to brides and wedding planners and Marlene at the Albert Park Community Center who made us feel so welcome. To Jennifer at Inn from the Cold who wrote the letter to Vibe 98.5FM. To Dani and the whole morning crew at Vibe 98.5FM- thanks for thinking of us to be involved. And to our wonderful bride and groom, Edna and Kevin and their 4 kids… Thank you for having us be a part of this magical day with you. We’re so happy that you had the wedding of your dreams.
Sorry I have been MIA for awhile, I know I didn’t get an E-zine out last issue…I’m sure you all couldn’t sleep because of it. It has been a bittersweet few weeks around here. We had a great time in Cayman for the Engage 09 Summit, I met a ton of great people and got so many new ideas I’m looking forward to bringing to both my Grooms and their Brides, truly an amazing experience, can’t wait to see what island it’s on next year!
Sadly the following week I had to make an impromptu visit to Toronto to see my Grandmother, she has been sick for awhile (she was 92) and the doctors had told us it was nearing the end. I got back, spent 4 days with her and we said our goodbyes. I came home and the following week she passed away quietly with my mother and sister at her side (The 3 generations…as my mum called it). I am now heading back to Toronto to attend the funeral. Having my Grandmother be a part of my wedding was very special to me and I have all the photos from that day to remember her by, plus much, much more.
Also last weekend we had our Midsummer Night’s Dream wedding, I can tell you it was simply stunning, the Bride broke into tears when we showed her the space for the first time…yup, real tears! We really out did ourselves on this one, from the crystal backdrop behind the head table to the 8’ fountain in the center of the dance floor…this really was one of my favorite wedding designs.
