Massages at Spa West

So I had a blast on “girl day,” aka the Bachelorette party, where we treated ourselves and Tiffany to glorious facials and outdoor cabana massages at Spa West in Westlake. It was 90 degrees, but with the oil on your skin and a light breeze, combined with light music and birds chirping, it was all I could do to keep from laughing at the wonderfulness of it all. Heaven. We topped the day off with swimming, sun, dinner, and dancing in a sweaty down town club, where all the boys straddled between jealousy that someone had snagged the beautiful Tiffany and relief that they were still single themselves.

Hand-made favors at the wedding shower

The wedding shower, put on by Tiffany’s family, was as pretty as many of the weddings we’ve performed at! I cleaned off my plate, a delicious dinner at Crowne Plaza Independence. Then the other bridesmaids and I ran around fetching presents and cleaning up wrapping paper as we came to the realization that being a bridesmaid comes with honor as well as duties!

I love my strapless, form-fitting fuschia bridesmaid dress from Caché; I will be wearing it at many other weddings that book The Avenue! Finally, a bridesmaid dress that really will get more wears. I also love Tiffany’s theme of Watermellon. Pink & green are so fun, bright and summery!

Now we’re trying to figure out our hairstyles. I’m just sure that all my favorites will be too complicated for my stylist. Here are some that I may print out and take along for inspiration:

Maybe this...	El cute-o	l-o-v-e
My favorite! The front...	side...	...and back!

Thank you to Kristin H Photography for those last three photos, love them! I would love to see your hair photos, please comment with links!

Tiffany and I were singing together at Pickwick & Frolic, pre-Avenue, the night she met Rick there seven years ago. I’ll never forget her face lighting up as she said, “he’s cute!” I’m so grateful to share in this experience with them!

The wedding is this Saturday, at St. Basil the Great in Brecksville and the Hilton Fairlawn. Seeing as how Tiffany and Rick are so well connected in the entertainment industry, word has it it will be quite the event, and of course, The Orchestra will be playing.

Stay tuned for pictures!

How we heard of and decided to use Jerry Bruno Productions: My maid of honor is related to Jerry, but I have also booked his bands for charity functions I have put together.  I wouldn’t have thought to use anyone else.

Biggest wedding planning challenge: Our biggest challenge was trying to find the perfect restaurant for the rehearsal dinner.  Everything else went smoothly.

Biggest wedding day pay-off: The reception was fantastic.  Hiring Rick and the Cutting Edge was the best thing we could do.  They helped keep the reception on-time by MC-ing, and from the first song they played to the last there were always people on the dance floor.  People are still talking about the wedding and how it was the best wedding they have been to in years, which is exactly what we wanted.

Photos by Perfect Image Photography:

Cleveland couple Mary King and her groom Andrew Rothacker, are huge Cavs fans. (No surprise there.) They wanted to do the Cavs’ style grand entrance that is becoming popular at Ohio weddings.

But Mary had a great idea, and went one step further. Not only would her bridal party run in to the reception to Young Jeezy’s “Put On” and Kevin Rudolf’s “Let It Rock,” they would do it while the real, live voice of the Cavs, Ahmaad Crump, announced their names. And, she completely surprised her groom in pulling it off!

“It was amazing and it electrified the entire reception,” said DJ Scott Jones, who was also hired by the smart bride. “Ahmaad was a stellar guest MC and he really helped kick off the party.”

Here is Ahmaad announcing the party at Tom’s Country Place in Avon, and posing with DJ Scott and the happy couple.

How he proposed: I woke up one morning to a room full of flowers and an engagement ring.
 
How we heard of and decided to use Jerry Bruno Productions: I played on a softball team with Scott Jones’ wife (Scott is the Office Manager for Jerry Bruno) and we started talking about music at my wedding. After I told Scott that we wanted “as much Motown as possible at the wedding reception,” Scott told me that he had the perfect band for us! Scott gave us a promo DVD of “Bottom Line” and we were completely sold after 3 minutes of watching the disc.
 
How we decided on our other vendors: I’m a former professional classical flutist and a self proclaimed “foodie” and Brian is an Architect, so it was important for us to have live musicians, good food, and interesting architectural facilities. Booking musicians for the church was easy since they were all friends and finding the band was a stroke of pure luck (I should mention that I am VERY particular about the quality of the music and musicians and really couldn’t have asked for better than what “Bottom Line” delivered).  The cake was easy once I tasted a piece of cake from “The Cake Loft” at a Bridal show, I knew I couldn’t go wrong. Choosing Sammy’s University Club was like killing two birds with one stone – Good food and a BEAUTIFUL building. Our flowers were done by Hirt’s florist out of Strongsville, they’ve done wonderful work for other events and have been around for quite some time. We knew exactly what flowers we wanted and Paul was really great about refining our selections.

Biggest wedding planning challenge: I decided to play Martha Stewart since I’ve done event planning before, so the biggest challenge was managing my own time. Thanks to my friends and family (who now know how to do an array of different wedding craft projects) I was able to get everything done in time. The management staff at Sammy’s really made everything easy as well. I gave them all of our decorations (centerpieces, menus, favors, etc.) several days prior to the wedding. They set everything up the day of the wedding so we didn’t have to worry about taking care of anything at the reception hall.

Biggest wedding day pay-off:  That’s a tough one to narrow down. We were extremely happy with our venue and cake (I’ve never tasted a cake so good!). But I think forgoing a videographer (we just had a few friends record with their cameras) and tossing that money towards a great photographer and live band was the biggest pay-off. “Bottom Line” was exactly what we wanted and the vibe they created was perfect. I must have had 40 different people tell me how wonderful the band was and wanted to know how we found them. They really kept the evening lively and fun, and thankfully all was captured with beautiful, artistic pictures (which you can click below to view full size).

 
Wedding Date: June 21, 2008

How we met: Matt and I met (by fate) through a local Cleveland radio station website. Though it sounds a little “taboo” we corresponded via e-mail and then eventually decided to meet one another. We both agree that it’s the best “chance” we ever took!

How he proposed: Matt and I are avid Scrabble players, so one Saturday morning he asked me if I wanted to play a game. When I started to set the game up, I noticed that the board was missing. He looked over to the couch and said “what’s that sticking out over there?” I looked over, pulled the board out, and Matt had arranged the Scrabble letters on the board to say “Rachel will you marry me?” I used my letters to spell out “yes.”

How we heard of and decided to use Jerry Bruno Productions: Our wedding coordinator from Cleveland Browns Stadium and Levy Restaurants, Sherri Cataffa, suggested that we utilize the services of Jerry Bruno. She had wonderful things to say in regards to past events that she had coordinated and knew that they possessed the professionalism and equipment required to host a great party in a place like Cleveland Browns Stadium.

How we decided on our other vendors: Selecting our vendors was rather easy. We had a lot of assistance from friends and family. We were fortunate to have the help of our Pastor when searching for a church. Matt is employed by the Cleveland Browns so it seemed natural to invite our families (who originate from both Southeast and Northwest Ohio) to the stadium for a great party. Levy Restaurants is the licensed caterer of the Cleveland Browns Stadium so their services were contracted with the rental of the Club Lounge. We trusted the very talented members of our family to provide us with our floral arrangements, our hair and make-up, and party favors. We created a hotel block at Hyatt Place in Independence, OH for our guests who were 95% from out of town. They offered Matt and I a free stay the night of our wedding as well as for our 1^st anniversary. MW tux provided our tuxedos. Our bridesmaid’s dresses were from David’s Bridal and our flower girl’s dress was custom made by a friend of the family.

Biggest wedding planning challenge: The two biggest wedding challenges for us were figuring out who to invite and logistics. Matt has an extremely huge family (23 aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.) and with both sets of friends and family being from out of town directions, hotel stays, and coordination of our wedding party was nerve racking.

Biggest wedding day pay-off:  It was such a relief for Matt and I to know that our party was running smoothly and our guests were entertained. It’s awesome to hear people tell us how great the party was!Click the images below to view Full Sized:

“LCD was recently named one of the best wedding photographers & videographers in the region for 2008 by The Knot. This will be their 2nd consecutive nomination, after being recognized for their work in 2007. LCD was also voted the Best Pick nominated by The Knot for their services in 2008! The studio has every intention of maintaining this award-winning reputation and strives to deliver beyond each client’s expectations. Your love is our inspiration!”

Wedding Date:

How he proposed: Chuck proposed to me while we were on vacation in Las Vegas. Things didn’t go quite as he had planned.   I kind of ruined the proposal by finding the ring box in our hotel room safe.  He ended up proposing to me right there in our hotel room after I accidentally found the ring!

How they heard of and decided on Jerry Bruno Productions: We had been researching DJ’s online when we came upon Jerry Bruno’s website.  We read the reviews and then contacted Scott.  After meeting with him, we knew he was the guy for us!

How they decided on their other vendors: Our florist and cake maker were used at our brother & sisters weddings.  We liked the results, so we went with them too! 

Biggest wedding planning challenge: The guest list.  There were so many people we wanted to share our day with; it was difficult to keep it to a certain number. 

Biggest wedding day payoff: Having a great party!   Scott played the best music and Chuck and I had a great time dancing the night away.  Scott honored Chuck by calling him the “best groom dancer” he had seen!

View More Photos:
        

Wedding Date:

How they met: “We met at a wedding in Chicago, March 2006. He was friends with the bride and I was friends with the groom. We were sitting back to back the whole night at separate tables with our families. His friends bet him he couldn’t talk to me, and he did.”How he proposed: An elaborate scheme. Study this one, guys! Danny rented out an entire movie theater room and placed a fake ad in a fake version of a newspaper about the theatre bringing back movies from the Golden Age. The second week would feature Areal’s favorite movie, “Roman Holiday.” Areal saw the ad, called the number to purchase tickets (the number was her friend’s new cell number, which her sister has strategically removed from Areal’s phone so she wouldn’t recognize it). Fake tickets to a fake movie screening arrived in the mail.

When they walked into an empty theatre, Areal was elated that she and her boyfriend would be getting a seemingly private screening. Once the theatre went black, Areal’s beloved movie did not play. Instead, a video montage put together by Danny of their favorite photos appeared, with Nickelback’s “Far Away” as background music (their song, as the two lived in seperate towns).

At the end, the screen read, “I love you, beautiful. The End?” As the lights came up and Danny got on one knee, both their families emerged, Areal’s father prepared with pink champagne.

How they heard of and decided on Jerry Bruno Productions: While Jerry and Areal’s father, Christopher Maduri, go back for years, Areal saw The Avenue perform at Catan’s Bridal Fashion Show at the Renaissance in October, 2006. She knew right then that that was the band she wanted to play at her wedding, even though she was not yet engaged at the time! Ironically, The Avenue’s Geoff Short was working at Channel 3 at the time, where Areal works now…at Geoff’s old desk!

How they decided on their other vendors: Bridal fairs and past experience of working with the vendors for other events.

Biggest wedding planning challenge: “We planned on getting married outside and it actually rained the morning of. It worked out to our benefit because we ended up getting married under the gazebo at Barrington Country Club where I had wanted the ceremony originally. The rain cooled the temperature and it was so romantic the way steam was raising as we walked down the isle.”

Biggest wedding day payoff: “Everything. Honestly, the whole thing was PERFECT. Seeing the ceremony set up in such a romantic way, dancing the night away with my friends and family, my flowers were incredible!! Everything had it’s ‘best’ part.”

Click the photos to view larger:

New to our Web Site – Featured Weddings!   

Kicking off this new feature is the wedding of  Jodi Chesler and Jeremy Audino

Wedding Date: Dec. 15, 2007
Venue: InterContinental Hotel for Ceremony and Reception
Used from Jerry Bruno Productions: Jerry Bruno Orchestra for reception; Solo Piano for cocktail hour; Sonata String Quartet plus Trumpet for ceremony
First Dance: “If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful”
Florist: Stephen Tokar
Photographer: New Image
Videographer: Fran Goldlust – Heirloom Video (216) 464-1696
Dress: Catan Fashions
Wedding Coordinator: Marilyn Miller
Honeymoon: Hawaii, then Las Vegas for New Year’s

“I know it sounds trite, but you really could feel the love in the room.
I remember people dancing as they walked in the ballroom. Jody and
Jeremy were having the time of their life. That’s a band leader’s
greatest reward.” – Jerry Bruno

Where they met:
“Jeremy and I met on a Jewish dating website called jdate. We had been looking at each other’s profiles for a long time and he finally decided to ask me out. A year and a half later he proposed on October 27, 2006. He took me, by limo, to Ken Stewarts for dinner and in between dinner and dessert he asked me to marry him. The whole restaurant knew but me. Also, I was so surprised to find out that my family knew for a week and never said a word. After dinner, Jeremy took me to a beautiful bed and breakfast in Akron.”

How they decided on their vendors:
“We got engaged on a Saturday and all the vendors were booked by my Mom by the following Monday. She knew the best wedding vendors and everyone was available. So there were not many choices to be made; I trusted my mom’s judgments and she definitely hired THE BEST!”

Biggest Wedding Planning Challenge:
“Coordinating the seating for the reception. I think it took us 3 days!”

Biggest Wedding Payoff:
“I think the best part was that everyone we loved was gathered in one one room to help us celebrate the most special day of our lives. People traveled from Seattle to Texas, from Canada to Florida and several cities in between to be with us.”

Where they heard about Jerry Bruno:
“My mom heard about Jerry Bruno because of many weddings she had attended.” Jodi’s mother Lynn added, “He and his wonderful orchestra were one of the very special talents that made Jodi and Jeremy’s wedding such a beautiful memory that we will forever cherish.”

What it was like having the Jerry Bruno Orchestra at their Wedding:
“What struck me the most about using Jerry’s band was that he was more than willing–even two weeks before the wedding–to learn two songs for us…and they sounded AMAZING!!!!”

What Some of Her Vendors Have to Say:
Wedding Coordinator Marilyn Miller:
“It was a magical, joyful day – everything they wanted. It was a pleasure to work with them, and Jerry – whose band was at its best. Jerry was a wonderful MC for the evening.”

Videographer Fran Goldlust:
“The perfect wedding video is like a symphony…many parts need to come together to create the ultimate experience. All the elements are important, but the key players in achieving perfection are the bride and groom.

Jodi & Jeremy are the quintessential couple. Easy to work with, their fun attitude allowed for some “outside the box” creativity. Even with 300 guests to entertain, they generously gave us time for beautiful & unusual shots.

Coupled with a great band, fabulous food and a magical décor, their wedding was sensational. We have all the elements we need to complete their ‘symphony’ and preserve it forever on DVD.”