Mishka Designs

He's definitely still around . Just give him a call and send him an email - the messages up above have that information .

Thank you . It was a fun wedding - I love love!! :)

I met Elizabeth's Mom and Dad before I met Elizabeth and Matt and from that moment forward I knew this wedding was going to have that additional touch that I cannot bring to it - it's something that comes with the bride and groom and their wedding party - that special touch of love and warmth and joy which is the cherry on top of a beautiful design and thoughtful coordination. And I was right - this party was one for the record books and the love was over flowing and the joy was contagious ... and Elizabeth brought me the cutest apron I have EVER seen and had written me the nicest thank you card - and she gave it to me BEFORE the wedding - I was touched beyond measure and so thankful to have this wonderful couple ... they are missed! Place: Casa Quetzal Caterer: Andres from B y B Bride Photographer: Jillian Mitchell Videographer: Ray from Promovision Staff Photographer: Soko the Great Minister: Tamara Bradley from Chic Concepts Cake: Memo of Charme Misting Fans: Mist & More INSPIRATION BOARD Elizabeth has a sense of style and she knew what she wanted from the get go ... to quote "We would like the wedding to have an eclectic, vintage, whimsical, fiesta feel to it." I thought, yes, a bit challenging but I was definitely up for the challenge!! Once we had Casa Quetzal as the backdrop, everything else started to fall into place. Elizabeth was torn between wanting a white ceremony but she wanted color as well ... I recommended we start with a soft color palette of whites, creams, natural woods and then, as the night progressed, we started adding in touches of color so that the reception had spots of beautiful color and you really noticed it ... this was the board I came up with . THE CEREMONY I heart smatter and adore this ceremony set-up. As I toured the villa I realized that the living room would make a fantastic backdrop for Elizabeth and Matt's ceremony with the beautiful architecture and tile on the living room floor - the room really needed just small touches to make it the perfect spiritual place for our whimsical hacienda feel ... We strung white dendrobidiums up above the ceremony backdrop ... I had Omar paint a light white design on top of cream fans so that the design would show up with the reflections of the light. We had the guests wave papel picado fans with Elizabeth & Matt's names and the wedding date at the kiss. The bridesmaids carried white and cream lisianthius while we created a beautiful romantic bouquet for the bride with coral amarlyis and white and coral peonies. The result was gorgeous! IN REMEMBRANCE.... Elizabeth and Matt had sent wedding photos of their grandparents and parents and we displayed them in silver vintage frames on a side table in the ceremony area with lace covered mason jars. I heart smoosh this picture Soko took of Elizabeth looking over the photos before the ceremony. THE COCKTAIL After the ceremony, guests went out poolside to enjoy the amazing views of Vallarta and listen to the Mariachi. Cocktail tables were covered with white chiffon fabric with teal vintage bottles and colorful coral flowers. The tequila tasting was set out on a vintage looking table with a talavera spice rack holding the escort cards. The tequila shot glasses also doubled as favors and were painted specifically for the bride and groom . THE RECEPTION We had the reception inside the amazing courtyard. Tables were covered with cream chiffon with a burlap runner and lace overlay. Vintage teal bottles had been hand-painted to just the right shade and filled with coral, cream and magenta florals. Napkins were cream colored manta with lace edges and held in place with hand painted talavera napkin rings with the guests name hand painted on each one . Candles also dotted the tables to give it a romantic glow as the sun set. Chandeliers were hung up above the tables and we had white floral lights strung in the iron work going up the stairs. Elizabeth loves butterflies so, as a touch of whimsy, we created special printed paper and made two toned paper butterflies which were placed in and amongst the reception table florals. THE CAKE, THE PHOTOBOOTH, THE MARACAS, THE DANCE FLOOR The cake was based off of a papel picado, vintage feel and Memo, as always, created a masterpiece! Elizabeth and Matt had met at Match.Com so we thought it would be fantastic to recreate the Match.com logo with face cut-outs for guests to take pictures holding a heart sign with Matt + Elizabeth! Antonio did a beautiful job . Hand painted maracas in shades of teal, magenta, yellow, orange were painted with an incredible papel picado design - Omar hit this one out of the park! Twinkly lights hung over the dance floor. We had originally wanted to hang mason jars covered with beautiful lace over the dance floor but rain was threatening (and, in the end, it DID rain) so we moved the vases inside and filled them with candles instead . I have nothing but great memories about this wedding and the guests who were there. It was fun, memorable, loving, kind, amazing and I heart smatter the design from beginning to end! This was an amazing wedding and a great post to end Mishka Designs' blogspot run - all further posts will be made from our new website and blog which I will announce soon - I promise! I'm so excited about it and I've worked hard to make it facebook friendly, pinterest friendly, blog friendly, etc etc! Unveiling soon!

When Priscilla of Prisar (one of my favorite Vallarta coordinators first approached me with doing a French Vintage Garden themed wedding - here in Vallarta - I thought to myself "Oui Oui!!" We didn't have a lot of time and there were still things not quite finished (the bride's dress was being made, the invites not quite done) but when a bride is responsive you can get a lot done in a very little amount of time and Rene was great about answering emails! Coordinator: Priscilla of Prisar Weddings Villa: Not mentioned because it's no longer for rent - no need to torture you . Cake: Memo of Charme (of course!) Staff Photographer: Angel (thank you Angel!) Big Thanks to: Tamara from Chic Concepts for helping me decorate day of wedding! You're a love! THE COCKTAIL The ceremony was held off-site and Francisco (who is awesome did the ceremony florals which I would show if I had pictures but I do not . All we had to take care of was the cocktail and reception - fun! The villa was pretty, but very sparse and minimalist - so no real "garden" to speak of and definitely no florals and when I think "French Garden" well, I think flowers!! So, the first challenge was to bring florals into the sparse area ... we twined curly willow around the big statue in the courtyard and interspersed purple dendrobidium orchids (there were also curly willow up top overlooking the courtyard but we didn't get any pictures of that . We floated pretty pink, white and lavender roses in the fountain pool. The cocktail tables were draped with a pretty purple/pink chiffon and tied with a light pink ribbon. I found some vintage looking photo frames and pictures of the couple (who love to travel!) in various locations around the world served as the cocktail centerpieces . THE RECEPTION While the term "French Garden" brings to mind lush, beautiful vintage flowers, when you add in the term "French Vintage" what one gets is opulence! We had the doors from the courtyard to the reception area closed because I wanted it to be breathtaking when the guests entered . When the doors were opened, the walkway was lined with fleur-de-lis accented silver lantern stands filled with flowers and interwined with more flowers. This led guests directly to the reception table which was decorated to the hilt with large mercury glass containers filled with roses, hydrangae, trachellium, limonium, lavandula, hyacinthus, orchids, eustoma, astilbe, aganpanthus and allium - try saying all of that fast 5 times! We overlaid the table with a light blue chiffon, had chiffon chair covers with curly chiffon ties, beautiful rose pink napkins accented with pink/gold ribbon (and a beautiful crystal brooch for the bride and groom) and monsieur and mademoiselle vintage signs. Candles, more flowers in mercury vases, ties on the corners - and let's not forget the 3 silver chandeliers also wrapped with florals hanging over the top . THE CIGAR LOUNGE We had a small cigar lounge on the grass with a few pieces of lounge furniture, some colorful pillows, a vintage looking French inspired hand-made lamp and big beautiful floral pieces. THE EXTRAS .... Tequila Station, Dessert Station, Floating Lanterns, Maracas... Tequila station complete with sign, vintage table and vintage frames describing each of the tequilas was located down below the pool ... We had a pastry section filled with Memo goodies - like the cake, cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries and petit fours. And, of course, what wedding isn't complete without some floating lanterns dotting the pool with the bride and groom initials and accents from their compass/travel inspired invites?! Maracas were handed-out during dance, as were flip-flops which were provided by the bride (but sign by us, of course . All in all, French, Garden, Vintage, Lavish was all achieved and I will readily admit that I loved the final look of this event from A-Zède! Next up, June maraca orders, Elizabeth & Matt's blog, Pelin & Kevin's blog and July maraca orders - I am a BIT behind but am getting there, I promise!!

As this 2011/2012 season comes to a close, I cannot believe how seriously LUCKY and fortunate I am to have THE most amazing, caring, sweetest clients EVER. Being part of a multi-cultural relationship myself, I have a soft spot for other multi-cultural relationships and with Lili from Querertaro and Kieran from England (but lives in Spain - I know - go figure!), well, let's just say we all understood each other from the start . As usual, I don't do these events on my own, but had help from these amazing vendors: Villa: Casa Chocolate, Chacala Villa Agent: Casa Helga Caterer: NAEF by Pierre Cake: Memo of Charme Staff Photographer: Eder Acevedo Cuban Band, Violinist, Saxophone: Azucar Latina Legal Documents: Patty of Chic Concepts Minister: Lisandro P. Ghione of Ceremonies to Remember INSPIRATION BOARD As many of you know, I do a lot of things I've never done before ... which, this time around, included creating the inspiration board on a client visit and presenting the design in person . I have to give Lili & Kieran A LOT of credit because I know my chicken scratchings aren't always the easiest to understand but they both fell in love with the vision and gave me a "go go go" from the start . They had a few things they knew for certain - they wanted the wedding to be in red, white, silver and black and they wanted it to be romantic. That I can do! THE CEREMONY Lili wanted to infuse some Catholic traditions into the ceremony, as that's very important to her and her family. But we were having the ceremony on the beach, as that was important to them both as a couple. So I thought creating an "out door" chapel would be perfect - with hand-created, hand-painted stained glass windows (drawn by Omar and painted by Israel - great job chicos!) and an archway to add to the illusion of a beach chapel - I absolutely HEART SMASH this ceremony set-up. Lili wanted a red bouquet - just something pretty and flowing. We did a mixture of red peonies and black magic roses for her bouquet and black magic roses for the bridesmaids which looked amazing against their silver dresses. Add a touch of drama with a red rose petal aisle right before they were to walk down . We had maracas and fans in red and silver with alternating words of "love" in both Spanish and English laid out on the chairs (and, of course, shake me tags along with wedding bubbles to be blown at the kiss. THE COCKTAIL Following the ceremony, guests walked or drove back to the house for the cocktail, which was held out by the pool. Cocktail tables draped in red and silver chiffon were placed by the pool with a floating rose and a white starfish in a fish bowl . Guests were directed to their seat with table assignments in black/white frames and the table markers were hanging hand-painted glass candle vases with "love" printed in different languages and floating hand-painted lanterns in the pool. THE RECEPTION I really wanted red to be a "pop" of color - so we chose to do a gray silk tablecloth and clear glass vases with floating red dendrobidiums and white starfish and seashells in the bottom. The napkins were white tafeta with embroidered red orchids. We strung hundreds of red orchids and hung from the ceiling and added additional glass vases with floating tea lights. The bride and groom had their own table, so we switched it up a bit and had a silver runner with their initials embroidered in red . THE DANCE FLOOR/CAKE/GUEST WISHES We made a little canopy out of white floral lights and intertwined it with curly willow to give it a more "natural feel." I think it turned out very soft and romantic. For the cake, Lili and Kieran both had fallen in love with a cake we had done "way back when" for Jennifer & Matthew, so we copied it almost exactly . For the guest wishes, we took a big glass jar, painted red blossoms and made little cards that said "advice" or "consejo" for guests to print out and place in the jar. Lili & Kieran both loved music so we had one of the most musical weddings I've ever had ... a violinist for the ceremony, Mariachis for the cocktail, saxophone for dinner, live Cuban band for dancing and a DJ for the after party! Whew!! And off they ride into the sunset - off to Spain and adventure, love and laughter... I can't wait to hear about it all!! What I absolutely, truly love about our clients is how everyone has their own unique vision for their wedding and each wedding is completely about them from head to tippy toe ... coming up Rene & Steve's vintage French garden inspired wedding in Punta de Mita and shout-outs to some of our maraca brides!

Also, I have a new addition to the "favs": Archie's Wok ... it's now my "go to" place when I want a special occasion dinner. It's a small Asian/Fusion restaurant located in Ollas Altas - they have a facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/archieswok. Just yum yum yum! I'm going to do a little food blog this summer (since I'll have a bit of time on my hands and will do pictures and directions, etc. to my favorite places to chow down .

Thanks guys . @FabiLara - blue and red ROCKS - it's one of my favorite combinations! But will admit to having a soft spot for the colors in this one - just very tropical and "beachy" yet modern .

I'm so sorry! I'm so use to nobody posting on my threads that I hardly check these . I'm not super familiar with Nuevo Vallarta - we only go to the Plaza there to hang-out in the children's play area from time to time. I know a couple of restaurants have opened-up out there that look nice but I honestly don't know what they are called! Anyway, I know I'm not much help but didn't want you to think I was ignoring you :).

I always post when we have first rain so that those of you who have weddings in June or who are looking for wedding dates for next year, have something to compare it to as to when the rain will start. The good news - it will cool things down. The potential bad news - if it stays true to norm we will have rain from here until mid-October every day. We'll just have to see!

Huge congratulations go to Lorena & Brad who tied the knot this past May 6, 2012 in Soliman Bay at Las Ranitas Hotel! I had so much fun working with Lorena on her design - we did a full design first and then made recommendations as to what she could do on her own and what we could send to her to complete her look - I cannot wait to see the final pictures! I can't believe we were just down the road at Taryn & Matt's wedding in the very same bay! DESIGN BOARD Old Mexico meets Spanish Morrocco - what could be more vibrant and romantic than that combination?! INVITATIONS I would be super remiss if I didn't point out that LizzyBLoves did Lorena's invites and she did a FANTASTIC job. Definitely worth going over there and taking a look. In case you are lazy, I've included the picture of her invites down below . I absolutely adore Lizzy and highly recommend her work . DESIGN-IN-A-BOX So, here's what Lorena selected: maracas, novia/novio signs, papel picado "place cards" to be put on the back of the chairs, paper flowers (they were for the backs of the chairs - I hope they came out okay!); punched hole tin baskets (for the cocktail); escort card tiles with guest name and table number written on back; and talavera table numbers to be propped up against Morrocan lanterns that Lorena was bringing from the States. You may notice that the table numbers match Lorena's invites - I found someone to paint them to match and was so excited! MARACAS Novia/Novio Signs Talavera Escort "Cards" Talavera Table Numbers Paper Flowers and Punched Tin Basket Papel Picado Placecard Banners The Whole Enchilada! Definitely a fun project, a beautiful bride and I couldn't be happier with the end result. Up next, Taryn & Matt's wedding blog - strangely enough on the same day, also in Soliman Bay - I can't make these things up!

Coordinator: Maria Tripaldi Staff Photographer: Sokos Villa: Villa Yardena, Soliman Bay, Riviera Maya Villa We Stayed At: Sol de La Playa Villa Agents: Vacation Playa Airline: Interjet You know how you have this defining moments in your life when something happens and you're like "wa-la"?! Well, thanks to Taryn & Matt, their wedding design and creation was PRECISELY that to me and my crew as we trekked out to Cancun to make Taryn & Matt's dream wedding a reality! I learned SOOO much on this trip (Soliman Bay is WINDIER than Chicago, oh yes it is!) and had a fantastic time designing something thousands of miles away only to see it become a reality months later. I will never, ever, forget this experience and it's all thanks to these two beautiful people! Before I get yakkety yakking I wanted to thank Maria Tripaldi for all her hard work and help on our trip - she made things a lot easier for us and allowed us to simply walk in and get started right away, as though we had been there forever and have been doing this for a gazillion years, instead of our first time . Also Villa Yardena was amazing to work with - their staff was super helpful and caring and the villa itself was beautiful! I highly recommend! Taryn actually first came to me to have me design some maracas for her - a couple of emails in, when she casually mentioned that she had considered changing locations just so we could design her wedding I said, "Well, we could go to YOU, if you would like" and there you have it! On our way! Taryn's description of what she wanted was "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Sparkling lights and fairytale like." She also wanted bright, vibrant colors ... so her design board was born.... THE CEREMONY Taryn had seen a very simple set-up we had done back a while ago for Britt & Aaron and she wanted something similar. After seeing photos of the beach at Villa Yardena and how the water and the beach just stretched out, well, FOREVER I agreed with Taryn that the best back drop for the ceremony was the most simple one. (signs painted by Israel - awesome!) I fall in love with every wedding we do, but will readily admit to having a huge crush on this bouquet! Orange and yellow ranunculus paired with orange and yellow oncidium orchids and a touch of yellow and orange calla lillies just shouts "romantic beach". Each of the bridesmaids carried one color and one kind of bouquet - yellow or orange calla lillies and orange or yellow ranunculus. We matched the maracas to the invites (great job Omar!) and then Taryn surprised me with some ceremony programs which combined exactly with everything! We worked a bit on parasols for everyone, getting the color tones just right - in the end nobody used them except for pictures but they looked amazing both laid out and I can't wait to see the photographer's pictures with the bridal party. We were going to have a rose petal aisle with circus roses but the wind was sooo strong in Soliman Bay that, had we laid down the petal aisle, it would have blown away long before Taryn ever got to see it - so Maria went in front of the bride and laid out the petals as she walked down the aisle . THE COCKTAIL I knew I wanted bright, vibrant colors on the upper deck and white bowls but the idea of putting rich, yummy chocolate into them came to me later. We put the escort cards on ribbon with bead collar necklaces for each guest to take as a memento. Bright colorful pillows were laid out on the built-in sofas - I didn't get to try any of the food because I was busy busy but it looked good . THE RECEPTION When I first saw all the palm trees at the villa I knew we just had to have the tables interspersed in-between. I wanted to have turquoise blue chiffon fabric with white vases on top and colorful orange, yellow calla lillies, freesia and ranunculus inside. I'm very happy that Maria warned us about the wind, so we found some frosted glass candles and filled them with battery tea lights and they looked marvelous! Mirrors were painted with white numbers and a bit of floral decor served as table markers. I found this picture of napkins and wanted some just like it but thought my chances were slim - until I found some fabric and Gaby made some napkin magic! Woohoo! We matched the place cards to the napkins and the table was complete! I had wanted a different kind of chair but Maria searched high and low and couldn't find it but these white washed tiffany chairs were perfect and I was sooo happy with them! LITTLE DETAILS White floating lanterns with floral cut-outs and turquoise blue, orange and yellow chiffon inside floated in the pool (combination effort!). We built a little cupcake tower (rock on yazmine!) and used one of the lines from Taryn & Matt's first dance, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, reflected in the middle level (all that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes). I stumbled upon a fantastic artist who created talavera shot glasses just for Taryn & Matt- unique, one of a kind, never to be found again - which also matched the napkins - heart smoosh and swooshing going on! We had colored light bulbs in turquoise blue, orange and yellow hanging above the dinner tables and Chinese lanterns in various shades of turquoise blue, orange and yellow over the dance floor - which turned on just as they started their first dance (see "fairytale like" up above . I absolutely HEART HEART the photobooth with the colorful orange fabric, the vintage looking frames and the glasses, eyes and mustache props ALONG with chalkboard frames for writing - which honestly didn't get used much (you can never tell with a crowd what will get them going but I am sure a future bride will want it too - just too fun! I loved working on this wedding and with Taryn and would do it again in a heart beat! Of course, all work and no play wouldn't do ANYONE a bit of good so the day after the wedding, my family (aka "the rest of the work force" and I went to Cozumel, rented a bug and spent some time in the beautiful water! Can't say enough good things about Cozumel and look forward to going back . Side Note: We stayed at Sol de la Playa in Playa del Car and I cannot rave ENOUGH about our stay there - fantastic! If you need a villa to stay in, in that area, we hands down recommend this villa. And the awesome, wonderful people who helped us with our stay was all the folks at Vacation Playa - they helped us to get a great deal, as well as with various questions and issues we had before arriving - since we had never been there before, I had a lot of questions . The ONLY thing I would have changed about this portion of our trip, is I would have ordered groceries and had them delivered - by the time we got off the plane, rented the rental cars and got to Playa del Car it was close to midnight and too late to go grocery shopping or cook anything nutritional. I also give Interjet 5 HEARTS for super comfortable airline seats and amazing service - beats any other airline I've been on in the last EIGHT years HANDS DOWN without blinking! Next up ... Lili & Kieran's romantic Chacala wedding and oodles of maraca shout-outs and congratulations!

Crystal, Hello . I'm afraid I don't know any caterers who would be willing to do a dinner for $42.00 usd a head (actually buffet is more expensive than sit-down as more food is involved . You might try a place called "Karen's Place" in Bucerias - it's a little restaurant on the beach - I don't know what her pricing is, but a restaurant might be more willing to work with you on a limited budget. If you can raise your budget somewhat, you might also try DeSantos - again you would need to have the wedding at the restaurant in order to keep the costs low, but it's a beautiful space. I doubt you could get something for $42.00 usd a person but they might go for something a big higher - it would just be a matter of writing to them and see . I didn't know there was a Ztai in Bucerias - the only one I know of is in downtown Vallarta. If they have a place in Bucerias then I say go for it - their food (in the downtown location) is pretty good .

Wow. Where do I begin? When you work with a bride and groom for over a year planning their wedding, it's always hard to say "farewell" and to close a chapter of your life that was so important! We were truly honored to be a part of their big day and I will miss Tracy's great ideas and input and CJ's quiet and positive "you go girls" from the sidelines. This event would not have been possible without the help of these amazing vendors... Place: Don Pedro's Palapa Caterer: Don Pedro's Restaurant, Sayulita Co-Coordination & Transportation Experts Extraordinaire: Kerry & Enrique from Sayulita Wave Bride Photographer: The amazing Cody Raisig DJ: Reuben, from Sayulita Flamenco Guitarist: Latcho & Andrea Cigar Roller: Lourdes Ponce Band: The Traveling Band (truly awesome, btw!) Staff Photographer: Soko the Great Cake: Memo of Charme INSPIRATION BOARD Tracy sent me a design inspiration document and she had key words listed. Some of those were: Backyard BBQ, Clean and Simple, Vintage, Chic, Mexican stitched, Nature and Eco-Friendly. I was like, "Okay, I can do that" . THE CEREMONY The only real direction Tracy gave me for the ceremony was that she wanted the round chuppah we had used once before for Rose's wedding and some bamboo chairs. I knew we wanted to really keep this simple and focus more on the natural beauty of the surroundings and I found this awesome "artichoke" ceremony aisle when I was out and scouting for ideas and fell in love with it . Tracy & CJ's family came out a bit before the ceremony and made a huge heart in the sand and filled it with bougainvillea and I loved that they got involved:). One of my favorite touches was the antique looking lemonade stand ... and the red maracas with Tracy & CJ's logo (Omar created!) ... and I loved the red bridesmaid dresses which I had nothing to do with but didn't they look awesome? And, oh yes, I also loved the groom's outfit and the groomsmen ... the bottom line is - CJ and Tracy have excellent taste on their own which only complimented everything we did . THE COCKTAIL After the ceremony on the beach, everyone got into golf carts and taxis and headed up to Don Pedro's Palapa which overlooks Sayulita and the little bay. We had lounge furniture and cocktail tables decorated with reds and oranges and blues and some spots of black and white and yellow. We set-up one of my favorite pieces we've ever done, the gazebo swing for people to take pictures on and swing on together over-looking the amazing view and sunset. Cucumber mojitos and fresh squeezed lemonade was waiting the guests upon their arrival. THE RECEPTION As everyone entered the palapa, we hung glass paned panels along the sides with people's names and table markers - it's one of my favorite "escort card" ideas ever and Yazmine has an amazing hand to paint them out by name! Tracy had requested vintage, clear bottles with just single stems of daisies - we did a combination of daisies and matsumotos with sand and candles. Since CJ loves sailing, we decided to put a "nod" in there with the sailing boat table markers (Omar made these and I LOVE them!). Gaby sewed-up some beautiful vintage looking, eclectic napkins and I found these amazing little cork bottles which I filled with flavored tequila and we used those as place cards. The kids got "virgin lemonade" . THE DANCE FLOOR & Pinata Tracy loved the Chinese star lanterns so we used those but added-in a bit more red and orange to the mix. She also requested the biggest pinata EVER and that's exactly what we did - unfortunately I don't have a great picture of it but it was MASSIVE ... and I've never seen a group have so much fun breaking it as this group did at the end of the evening. CHURROS & Dessert Bar After cocktails, we took down the swing and put up a sign and, wa-la, the gazebo swing became our late night Churros and Dessert Bar. Yummy cake pops and chocolate covered strawberries were served, and we also served Cafe de Olla with this late night treat. CIGAR ROLLER Lonce graced us with her presence and rolled some mean Cuban/Mexican cigars! Cigar roller sign and mason jars filled with lights decorated this little scene . THE PHOTOBOOTH aka "Photo Boto" When I first saw this photo when looking for a unique photobooth I was super excited and I wrote Kerry and said, "Hey, do you think anyone has an old wooden boat they don't use that we can have?" Kerry laughed - seriously? Okay, that's alright, we'll BUILD ONE. My crew is quite use to my unusual requests and no longer bats an eyelid - although I do think I saw a bit of "you want me to build WHAT?" at the design meeting. But, hey, guys it doesn't have to FLOAT. haha! I think Antonio did an amazing job and I absolutely LOVED watching the guests pop in and out of the boat all night long with the various hats and props we had provided for the fun. THE TRAVELING BAND We're a pretty small town and all of us use pretty much the same vendors so I was surprised when Tracy said she had heard about this band and could I please track them down? I was a bit nervous, to be honest, that they would perform and do a great job when I had never heard of them before - but they were honestly AMAZING and blew me and everyone away. We recommend them hands down for a wedding with a beach/rock vibe to it. At the end of the evening, CJ & Tracy's friends performed a group fire performance - I'd never seen anything like it - it was amazing and scary (please don't set the groom on fire! but absolutely entertaining and something nobody at the wedding will ever forget! A job really well done! So sad to have to close this wedding out and wish our newlyweds "farewell" and "may your life be full of beauty and love" but, alas, that's how these things work! Next up, some more maraca shout-outs and coming-up our trip to Cancun to decorate Taryn & Matt's wedding - we are so excited about it and things are coming together so well -I can't believe it's nearly here!