Random Reflections

I have been so busy the last few weeks. I love being busy because it makes me feel like I am useful and that I am contributing to something. Unfortunately, this kind of busy has left me exhausted and vulnerable.

On Wednesday, without any warning at all, I got very sick. I thought it was a sinus infection because I had a sinus headache and all the bad stuff that goes with it, but then I think it turned into the flu and I have been rather miserable. Along with the sickness comes a forced break. I haven't done ANYTHING in 3 days! My house is a mess, my husband is forced to eat like a bachelor again, and my to-do list is getting longer and longer.

I cannot stand being forced to sit and do nothing for days on end. The only thing keeping me confined to bed is that I feel really yucky, which sounds like a lousy excuse to me. Out of desperation I finally called my mom yesterday to ask her for advice on miracle treatments to make me better within the hour. She didn't have any, but she did reprimand me for not telling her I was sick. Two hours later she was at my door with a pot of homemade chicken soup and fresh homemade bread! My mother is amazing!

So I sit here alone while my ever-faithful husband is at church fixing other people's problems. I have just run out of orange juice and I am trying to be reflective and religious while in my pajamas. It is Easter after all, the special day when we remember Christ's atoning sacrifice for man-kind. I am struck by the fact that the pain and sickness that I am currently enduring, Christ also suffered for me in Gethsemane, so that He would best "know how to succor His people." This is such an important piece of knowledge for me; it brings such comfort, yet it makes me sad that there are so many others who do not have this knowledge.

How blessed I am to know that Christ lives and to know that He is aware of me in my trials, however small they may be. I pray that we will each feel His spirit with us in our daily lives, whatever our current situations may be.

Despite my runny nose and cough, I cannot help but proclaim in my heart, "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God!"

I Was Good, I Promise!

And that is basically all I have to say about our trip to visit the in-laws last week in Phoenix. I was good. It almost killed me, but I was good...mostly.

Sebastian (Alexander's brother) came home from his mission in Atlanta on Thursday so we drove down there to see him before life becomes busy for him again. It was pretty good. Despite that I had horrible allergies that turned into bronchitis, it wasn't a bad trip.

On the down we stayed in Vegas in the Stratosphere and while we were eating lunch in the restaurant at the top, the fire alarm went off. I had visions of running down 110 flights of stairs, but luckily it was a false alarm.







On Thursday we went to meet Sebastian at the airport. We thought we were 10 minutes early, but Sebastian's plane had arrived early as well. We got to the gate 30 seconds before he walked out of the gate. Phew!





I helped by keeping Sebastian's sunglasses safe while he got his luggage.



We were lucky to be able to stay at my in-law's cabin in Black Canyon, which is in the middle of the desert.

From the deck:


Trying to be cute:


In the Front Yard:



On the drive home we stopped at Montezuma Castle. This home was built by the Sinagua (which means "Without Water" in Spanish) around AD 1100 and is about 2 hours North of Phoenix. It's always nice to check out the local culture. We stopped here the last time we were in Phoenix two years ago, but we had forgotten the camera, so we had to come again.

Introducing: The Wedding Planner

*I apologize in advance for the long post*

Let me tell you about my job. Not my full-time Corporate Event Coordinator job, but my "part-time" wedding planner job. I have recently been accused of doing a job that "anyone can do" and of being a "cultural hall decorator" (which was said disdainfully and thus I take to mean that they think I have low quality decorations and no taste). In this post I hope to be able to enlighten my friends and family about what I am actually committing to when I take on a client. Hopefully I don't bore you to death with the tedious details. My job is a lot more complicated than simply putting up Christmas lights in a cultural hall.

I love, absolutely love, being a wedding planner/decorator. It has become a major passion in my life. My absolute goal is to always make the wedding better than the bride imagined it would be. Sometimes I am limited by the bride herself, but I strive nonetheless. If some of the weddings I have done are less than perfection it is only because I have been restrained by clients with small budgets and low expectations. I get giddy when a bride leaves a consultation really excited for her wedding. It means that I have done my job right and am earning my paycheck.

I have discovered that in order to be good at my job, I need to be really in-tune with my perceptive skills.

Before each consultation I take a careful study of what outfit I should wear. Because I have already figured out what kind of a person they are, I try to dress in a way that will gain the confidence and respect of my potential client (a consultation is simply a long, fancy advertisement to convince people to "buy my product"). I can tell when some brides want an over-the-top planner, like the ones they see on TV, and so I dress in classy (expensive-looking) black with modern accents. Some brides are shy and afraid of being intimidated. These people I try to connect with on a friend level and will wear trouser jeans with a hip blouse and dangling earrings.

Between the time I first talk to them on the phone and when we meet for a consultation, I need to have already developed a sense of who they are and what they want. In most cases I have only talked to them for about 10 minutes on the phone before they show up at my house. However, 8 out of 10 times I know which backdrop they will love and choose before showing them a single picture. I judge how well I am doing by how many pictures I need to show them during a consultation.

This is all before they even sign a contract! Getting a client to sign and commit is the number one, hardest part of the job but once it's signed, we celebrate. Getting a sale is cause for celebration for anyone in this tough economy.

With a signed contract and deposit in hand, I then proceed to buy the most expensive looking materials for the cheapest price. I am a highly-valued club member of Roberts, Michael's, and JoAnn's. I always shop with a 40-50% off coupon in my hand and at Robert's the cashiers know me as "the wedding decorator". I roam up and down aisles that I have been up and down dozens of times, trying to get my mind to work up a better way to make something new. At Michael's the staff now know that I'm not lost and that I will probably bug them about getting in 15 vases when they only have 2 in stock.

The week before a wedding I go crazy. Literally. I have 3 different lists and my work load ranges between 3-15 hours of last minute projects. If I am lucky the boxes are loaded, in the car with minutes to spare before driving at break-neck speeds to get to the venue on time. Once we are at the venue things are great if it is only me and my crew there. If family or (heaven-forbid) the bride herself is there, the stress level jumps about 10 notches. The average wedding takes about 3 hours to set-up, despite the fact that we run everywhere we go and I have 3 helpers. It just takes a lot of time. Sadly, about 2 hours of that I am standing on a ladder with my arms above my head trying not to poke wire underneath my fingernails.

Once the wedding is set-up I breathe a sigh of relief and pray nobody touches anything until I return that evening. I have been known to seriously lose my cool if I return to clean up and find tablecloths on the floor and LED lights missing. I just remembered that I forgot to include that clause on my contract: "Everything stays where it is until Elegantly Expressed returns to clean up that evening. I don't care if you ended 2 hours earlier than you thought, that is not my problem. You will sit and wait until I arrive before you even THINK of touching a table or a pillar."

Each wedding I do brings an immense satisfaction. I love being a part of the most important day in most couple's lives. It is a blessing to be able to contribute to their happiness.

So thanks for those of you who support me with encouraging words and positive comments. And those of you who think I am an amateur? Please tell me if you find anyone more devoted to their job than I am.

Shar's Wedding

I have known Sharylann for years, we used to work together planning conferences and workshops for a university. Her wedding was so exciting to plan, and it was a blast to be able to take part in all of the preparations.

Shar's colors were red and black with a real modern twist on traditional elegance. I think this wedding actually turned out to be one of my favorite's. We put up our most popular backdrop, draped it in gorgeous red (just like the for the Valentine's Dance) but I added some extra swag to the front to create a more graceful effect. To add a modern twist, I also added red and black spangle branches that I used in the centerpieces. It really tied the room together nicely.

The backdrop behind the cake was draped in black with a shiny red ribbon running through it. I loved it! It turned out perfectly . :)

In a clever attempt to decorate a blank wall, we put up large frames, scrapbook paper, and Shar's bridal pictures to create a collage effect and dress it up a bit. In the end it really added a lot to the room. Kudos go to Alisyn for making it look so awesome. This was her project and she mastered it. What would I do without her?

On top of decorations, we also provided two fountains, one chocolate and one nacho cheese, oh and of course the punch fountain. I have to tell you how much the guests raved about the food! I even found comments on Facebook about how great it was. :)

All in all, it was a really fun event. In the end it's really all about making the day as perfect as possible for the couple getting married, and it's always wonderful to have a hand in that.

Main Backdrop:


Cake Backdrop:



Pictures on the Wall:


The Tables:


The Room:


Finally, the food..somehow the chocolate fountain didn't make it into this picture, oh well:

The Valentine's Dance

Tonight Alexander and I hosted a Valentine's Dance for the Elders Quorum (and their wives). It was a very successful evening and everyone had a lot of fun. I created a great play-list with a variety of songs that made for the perfect dance. We also decorated the joint a little bit. I really enjoy decorating when I can do it the way I want it to be. :)

Here are a few pics of the night:

Some of the Decorations:









My cute parents who volunteered to babysit all the kids:



Everyone got their pictures taken in front of the backdrop, including our guest DJ's, my brother and his adorable girlfriend:



Oh yeah, and I get to do it all again tomorrow night for a Stake dance... ;)

Bridal Fair

I have been so busy lately. Saturday was the Bridal Fair and it was awesome. It was very successful and I have been having a blast working on so many weddings. My booth was pretty cool too.

Fountains of Cheesiness

I did a wedding on Saturday that was a little bit different than I have done before so I thought I would share it with you. As you know, in addition to my regular decorating, I also do Chocolate Fountains. I had a client whose dream was to have a cheese fountain at his wedding. He didn't care about anything except the cheese. His fiance was a little skeptical, but after consulting me, she got really excited. I gave her some ideas of the food that could be served with the cheese and she signed a contract right then and there. I was a little nervous, having never put anything other than chocolate in my fountains, but I read online that it could be done (everything online is true, right?) so I went forward with the idea.

While the cheese obviously didn't run as quickly as chocolate does, it was still pretty cool to see. Men literally started drolling when they saw it. People were taking pictures and wishing they had one for their Super Bowl parties. All in all, it was a good experience. It should be interesting to see if this idea catches on.