AART Event Planning: wedding planners wedding

Sunday, April 22, 2012

AART Event Planning wishes Rachael Lukas a Happy Anniversary!

So today is a very special day. It is the 6 year Wedding Anniversary of our very own Rachael Lukas!! And as a Happy Anniversary from us, we wanted to share a few details from that special day.

When Rachael got married this time of year, she was lucky since it was right after Easter. Her church was already decorated still and that saved her some money in decor. Plus, since Rachael and my brother in law are really allergic to flowers, Rachael made all of the silk flower arrangements, from the boutineers to the bouquets to the centerpieces, so the Easter arrangements in the church not only saved her money, but also a lot of time trying to create any altar pieces!

If you have been a fan of our Facebook Page and have followed are blog (which you all should be lol!) then you know that Rachael is the designer and creative mind in our company and pretty much everything you see in our design department AART Designs, has been made by her. So it isn't surprising for me to tell you that Rachael had designed a lot of great pieces that can be seen through out her wedding.

Rachael made all of the programs, her unity candle, the bouquets and boutineers even her centerpieces.

But my favorite were the Ribbon wands she made for the ceremony that were placed in a basket with a note that read: "It's time to cheer for the new Mr. & Mrs. Wave this wand and send them your wishes!" as well as her photo card box. It is special details like this that make any event memorable. And you know that we are all about those special details!

Take a look at the beautiful couple on one of the happiest days of their lives.

And now we fast forward 6 years where Rachael and Martin are still as in love as they were on their wedding day and have two amazing little boys! Plus lets not forget she co-founded AART Event Planning with me and together we strive to make it a huge success!

Happy Anniversary to my sister and brother in law! May life fill you with many more blessings.

XOXO,

Aelicia

Friday, October 7, 2011

A Special Happy Anniversary!!

If you know and follow us, then you know our love for weddings and planning them. You would also know my love for fall weddings! So it made sense that when I planned my wedding, it had to be in the fall....October 7th to be exact. Yep, today is my anniversary! Happy 6 year anniversary to my amazing and supportive husband. Want to know what a very own wedding planner's wedding looks like? Here's a look at what I did 6 years ago.

Planning the perfect wedding is always the first and only thing on a bride's mind. You do not have to have a huge budget, just a lot of creativity and an open mind. So you pick a date, colors and a theme and then the real planning begins.

Dave and I each come from a big family and have a lot of close friends. So having them all there was a no brainer. And so was picking the venue. The Graycliff in Moonachie NJ was the perfect choice. The ballroom was just renovated and the food is amazing. We knew how impressive the cocktail hour would be. We couldn't have been more excited!

If you know me, you know red is my favorite color and with having a fall wedding, it fit in perfectly. There were red in the bouquets, invitations and in the programs. And with accents of gold and ivory, everything had tied together beautifully.

I couldn't have been happier with my hair and makeup! Jan from The Plaza Salon in the Garden State Plaza did an amazing job on my hair and Jessica from Trish McEvoy made me look and feel incredibly beautiful!

For the ceremony, it was always a dream to get married outside and since The Botanical Gardens in Ringwood had a very special signifigance to Dave and I, we knew that there was no other place to have our ceremony. You can imagine our sadness when the rain had came through, but that didn't stop us! We just made sure that the ceremony was shortened before the storm really came in. And boy did we finish just in time!!

It was time to continue the celebration at the reception. Our 200 guests were greeted with champagne and then whisked away to the cocktail hour. Afterwards they were brought into the grand ballroom. Before we made our entrance, we surprised our guests with a special video put together that featured pictures from our childhood as well as from the years of when we were dating. It ended with a recap of our ceremony from that day, a special surprise since the ceremony took place on a Friday afternoon and we knew not many of our guests would not have been able to join us at that time. Immediately after, we had our first dance as husband and wife to Bryan Adams "Everything I do, I do it for You" and then it was non stop dancing! Our amazing band Opera 3000 played everything from, 50's to Spanish to Hip Hop! They had the dance floor packed the entire night. Following some wedding traditions as in the garter and bouquet toss, guests enjoyed the wedding cake filled with chocolate and peanut butter (because reese's peanut butter cups are me favorite!) along with an amazing dessert display featuring a chocolate fountain. Yumm!!

It was an amazing night filled with all of our loved ones. We were lucky to have an incredible photographer, Figtree Productions, and videographer, Ambiance Video, that helped capture all of the special moments that we go back and look at year after year. Since then, we have had many more wonderful memories including the birth of two amazing and beautiful children! Here's to many more years of love, health and happiness!