TIPS | HAPPY BRIDES HIRE WEDDING PLANNERS

Photo: Valeriia Bugaiova

Regardless of the size of your dream wedding, if you, dear Bride, want to enjoy your engagement and your wedding, hiring a wedding planner is the best thing you can do! Even for those of us who are incredibly organized and love planning events aided by numerous color-coded spreadsheets, planning a wedding can be a daunting task. Here we share why hiring a great wedding planner will make you the happiest bride.

Photo: Frans Hulet

A wedding planner will get to know you, your vision, and budget. This will allow the planner to give you the best vendor recommendations for your event, and to save you from the rabbit hole of endless internet searches that can lead you quick frustration. Finding a quality vendor, who is available on your desired wedding date and who is also within your budget, is not an easy feat. Let your planner deal with that while you go grab a latte and find your perfect wedding shoes. 

Photo: Rawpixel

You will get to enjoy the fun part of wedding planning! Go shopping for your dream dress, go cake tasting with your future spouse, and pick your honeymoon destination! Kiss the stress of calling vendors, responding to dozens (or, yes, hundreds) of emails, keeping up with contracts, logistics, and spreadsheets goodbye! 

Photo: Andoso

You can enjoy your wedding because you have hired a professional to take care of you, your loved ones, and every detail of your once-in-a-lifetime day. A good wedding planner will craft your event with the utmost care, and if something were to go wrong you're likely to never find out. Talk about pure wedded bliss! Wedding planners are wizards; let them work their magic. 

Photo: Rawpixel

You can focus on preparing for marriage which will last much longer than your wedding. Oftentimes, couples get wrapped up in wedding planning and forget to prepare for married life. Talks about guest lists, seating charts, and money can leave a couple, not only exhausted, but disconnected from to the true reason behind the big party. Hiring a wedding planner will allow you and your partner to enjoy your engagement and spend quality time planning your future together. 

MEET THE TEAM | #CCGIRLGANG

OF COURSE, WE ADORE THE PRETTY LITTLE DETAILS AND A GOOD DANCE PARTY, BUT OUR OBSESSIONS GOES A LITTLE BEYOND THAT.

We love the logistics that make an event run smoothly. We love the high of seeing a party that has been months (maybe years) in the making finally come together. And most importantly, we love the idea of two people deciding on forever. Yeah, we're totally down with that.

We are also of the belief that you only need three things to have a wedding: a loving partner, an officiant, and some special people to witness. That. is. it. Once you've got those, everything else is just icing on the cake. (If you even want a cake! Personally, we'd never turn down a wedding pie or donut!)

We're not out to sell you a bunch of junk you don't need or push our style down your throat. We will be your biggest advocates, your sounding board, and your first line of defense against any stress and craziness. Because you deserve to be fully present on your wedding day.

Basically, our aim is to help you throw a kick-ass party that feels like you and have fun in the process.

MEGAN

Megan is a girl with a pretty serious party (and flower!) obsession. She studied Hospitality Management at the University of North Texas and spent her college years exploring various facets of the event industry including event coordination and dessert catering.

Celebrate Dallas is her love letter to every couple out there craving a simple wedding planning process with plenty of laughs along the way.

When she's not playing with flowers or updating her youtube channel, you can probably find her on the couch with her math-teacher husband and pups watching Parks & Rec or The Office.

CAITLIN

Born in California but calling Dallas her “forever home", Caitlin has a unique imagination and creative style that she utilizes to help her couples create their own beautiful weddings together. As a successful event planner, she has designed + coordinated numerous events and weddings with a variety of vibrant designs.

She currently has 3 cats but desperately wants a puppy (or maybe another kitten) and almost exclusively drinks Dr. Pepper. If she’s not making lists or responding to emails, you can find her in Deep Ellum with friends sipping on a Modelo or catching the newest movie at the Drafthouse.

DIANA

Diana is an obsessive creator who has an endless desire to make all things lovely. She is a self-diagnosed Instagram addict and an avid high heel collector. As a crazy dog lady, she believes that every business in the world should be dog-friendly.

RACHELLE

Rachelle is researcher and fundraiser who enjoys seeing a project from start to finish. This researcher also has a creative side and gravitates towards a clean, modern aesthetic. Rachelle will jump at any opportunity to unplug and spend time outside!

KIARA

Kiara is an ambitious+ creative Texan by birth and Hoosier by heart. She's got an intense attention to detail and love for all things pretty, gold, and well-manicured. Professionally, she spends her days laughing and learning as a teacher to 86 young but, mighty fourth graders deep in the heart of Dallas. Personally, she spends her time thinking out loud, starting conversations about NCAA basketball, and enjoying good food and better books.

DAFNI

Dafni is a lover of all things design and beauty, both of which reflect perfectly in flowers. Before her 3 amazing kids came along, she studied business in college and is excited to have ended up in an industry so full of love and pretty things! When she's not wrangling kids or elbow-deep in flowers, Dafni enjoys unwinding with a good workout, movie and glass of wine.

EMILY

Emily is a recent graduate from Texas Tech University, where she studied Petroleum Engineering. She found her passion for weddings when she planned her own in November and now there’s no looking back! She loves exploring new coffee shops and binge watching The Office.

KELLY

Kelly is a recent college grad passionate about all things pretty: pretty pictures, pretty places, pretty words, and especially pretty weddings! She’s a recent college grad from the University of North Texas where she studied Education. Kelly spends most of her time writing about or doing makeup for weddings but in her free time she enjoys true crime podcasts, Veronica Mars, and a good photo op!

MARIA

Maria is an editor who spends her days perfecting and refining educational texts before they reach children across America. She has a creative eye for design and fell in love with the beauty and complexity of weddings after planning her own earlier in 2018. Maria loves spending her free time outdoors with her husband Aaron and their rescue pup, Bodhi.

Send us an email! We want to meet you too!!

TOP 5 | NON-SPARKLER EXITS

You’ve planned your wedding down to the very last detail. You know precisely where every flower should be placed, what every musical cue means, and who should and shouldn’t be sitting together, but you haven’t quite figured out your exit strategy. Grand Exits (or exit tosses) are an opportunity for your friends and family to celebrate you one last time before you ride off into the sunset and for your photographer to get some crazy beautiful shots.

You’ve seen 100 different sparkler exits (which were all beautiful), but you want something different! Well, we’ve rounded up our TOP 5 favorite non-sparkler wedding exits for you and your boo on the big day!

Paper Airplanes

Photo Credit | Color & Cake

Keep it cute and whimsical with a paper airplane toss at the end of the night. You can even re-purpose programs or other wedding stationary for it!

Wild Flowers

Photo Credit | Nina Claire Photography

Wildflowers are a great toss idea for the environmentally friendly/hippie-dippie couples worried about what’s left behind.

Smoke Bombs

Photo Credit | Briana Purser

This exit idea might be more challenging to pull off at night, but if you used them sporadically and at just the right time, you’ll be OBSESSED with shots your photographer captures.

Fall Leaves

Photo Credit | Lara Hotz

Take your love of Fall to the next level and incorporate pretty fall leaves in your wedding exit. Plus, the leaves will blend in with all the other leaves on the ground, which means little to no clean up required!

Beach Balls

Photo Credit | Mike Fiechtner Photography

A beach ball exit is an excellent way to keep the party going, especially if you’re getting married at a beach or lake! And if you want to go the extra mile, customize your beach balls and they can double as wedding favors!

HOW TO | REPURPOSING WEDDING DECOR

We all know that planning your wedding takes time and money and we’re here to help you make the most of it. Once the glitz and glam is over it’s hard to part with your delicately planned details and decorations so we’ve rallied up a few ideas to help you reuse your thoroughly thought out wedding decor in your home.

GREETING SIGN

The great thing about letter boards is how versatile they are! Not to mention they’re super cute. Whether you’re using it as a welcome sign or for your photo booth it can forever be updated and hung in your home to give you ultimate personalization.

photo by Natalie Broach Photography

Photo | Ro Birkley

VASES

The best way to dress up any space is…. yup, you guessed it! FLORALS. And we can’t have florals without a great vase to work with. A clear vase makes it easy to use anywhere, anytime no matter what your style may be. Bring those vases home and use them to dress up your favorite space.

Photo | Victoria Gold Photography

Photo | Knot & Living

GIFT BOX

Having a gift box is a must for your reception and afterwards it can easily be used in your home to either store your finest jewelry or your favorite tubes of lipstick.

Photo | Melanie Julian Photography

SMITH + AARON | FARMHOUSE 1899

Time for another round of #marriedfacemonday and y’all, this one is extra special! We waited exactly one year to post these photos in order to celebrate this lovely couples’ one year anniversary today! We’re so excited to finally(!!) be sharing a few images from Smith + Aaron’s wedding last October featuring one of our favorite fall shades, burgundy! Hello Fall, you can stay!

Set under the big Texas sky, Smith + Aaron were married by a dear friend, under a handmade chuppah, surrounded by their closest friends and family. There’s something about Jewish ceremonies that give them an extra level of special. Perhaps it’s the Hebrew passages or the circling ceremony. It could also be the Sheva B'rachot, Seven Blessings, or the glass-breaking celebration at the end! Every moment and detail of Smith + Aaron’s ceremony were breathtaking and personal. Something I’m certain every bride + groom cherish on their wedding day.

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From our bridal babe, Smith

THE SET UP
"Aaron and I met at a magical place called Camp Sweeney which is a summer camp for kids with type 1 diabetes! We met around the age of 14 and we’re friends first. During Aaron’s last summer at camp we really hit it off after spending the last year outside of camp getting to know each other better, and me even taking him as a date to a school dance. As it was his last year and he was headed for college we were hesitant to start anything but after a big push from a friend we took the plunge into being more than friends!”

THE PROPOSAL
Aaron and I were living in San Diego and we had planned a trip back home to Dallas right after the new year to see our families! 
He was originally only planning on picking up the ring while we were in town but after some persistence from our jeweler and friends he was convinced to do it THE NEXT DAY! So safe to say he was acting weird the whole day and totally freaked me out! The next day he sent me to lunch with my best friend in downtown Plano where we ate, I complained about how weird he was being and then she asked to walk to the park so I could take a good photo of her on her phone school. Being completely oblivious I agreed and as we turned the corner Aaron was standing in the middle of a gazebo that he had lined with mason jars full of daises and pictures of our many years of dating! Our song at the time was playing in the background, he got down on one knee and I said yes! Enter FULL TEARS as all of our family and friends popped out including our best friend from San Diego who booked a flight the day before and got there just in time! 

THE BEST PART
“Obviously getting to FINALLY marry your best friend.... but it was truly our ceremony! We had quite a few people but really strived to make it intimate with our best friend officiating and the ceremony really highlighting our 6 years as a couple. We went through a lot of ups and downs to get to that spot right there in front of all of our friends and family so it was really special! It’s definitely the one part everyone else remembers too!”

YOU OUGHTA KNOW
As a wedding vendor myself and working in a retail front for 6 years where I worked with brides on a daily basis I knew a lot! So I would say I knew a lot and prepared a lot to make it easy on my vendors! One thing I will say is to really know your budget and be smart about choosing places to save money! We were able to leave our wedding day with no debt, which is something I can’t say for quite a few of my brides and friends!

VENDOR TEAM

COORDINATION + FLORALS | CELEBRATE DALLAS
VENUE | FARMHOUSE 1899
PHOTOGRAPHER | TYLER TYNDELL
CATERERING | TATERING
DJ | CHRIS BROWN
CALLIGRAPHY | EVERYTHING SMITTEN
DRESS | DAVIDS BRIDAL
SUIT | CALVIN KLEIN
CAKE | BLISS
HAIR + MAKEUP | KEIRA DOWD

Smith happens to be a talented wedding professional specializing in calligraphy and wedding photography here in Dallas as well. We’ll be featuring her work on the blog soon so stayed tuned!