Vintage Glam!

From The Dress to the yard games that were played at the reception this wedding was all about Vintage Glamour! Setting the stage, Heidi arrived to the Sunken Gardens at the Historical Oliver Gardens by Horse and Carriage, one of her favorite parts of the whole wedding and something she always dreamed of. Surrounded by friends and family Heidi and Jon said their I Do’s.

Following the ceremony guests continued on to Blue Heron for cocktails on the patio, overlooking Blackthorn Golf Course. We set up croquet courses and a photo booth with various props that fit their color scheme of Tiffany blue, Black, and White.

We enjoyed working with this couple SO much! We think they should re-new their vows soon!

Ceremony: Historical Oliver Gardens

Reception: Blue Heron

Cake: Danielle

Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2010

We are excited to announce that Merry Me Events has been chosen to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2010. This award recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service and professionalism.

The Bride’s Choice Awards™ are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds (brides and grooms) through extensive surveys and reviews, which means your past clients have spoken on our behalf and selected you to receive this honor.

Check it out... www.weddingwire.com

TSE 2010 Wedding Lunch

During our trip to New Orleans for this year’s Special Event 2010 our team had the opportunity to attend the annual Wedding Luncheon with Keynote Speaker Darcy Miller, Senior Vice President and Weddings Editorial Director for Martha Stewart Living. Darcy oversees every aspect of the weddings brand across all Martha Stewart. She recently wrote a book on scrapbooking and will actually be on Martha’s show this week talking about scrapbooking.

The Wedding Lunch theme was the Painted Landscape; the room was divided into three different natural worlds. The first world, Deep in the Woodlands, lined the perimeter of the room, tables fit for a forest, with deep tones of bark brown, eggplant purple, and moss green.

The Second landscape was a mead

ow filled with red blossoming tulips, which lined the center of the tables surrounded by candlelight.

The last landscape, which literally streamed through the middle of the room, consisted of waves of purple and blue floral connecting the tables to one another creating a beautiful

river.

Here are a few photos from the Wedding Lunch, which was held at The Hilton Riverside Hotel New Orleans

New Furniture Available

Wanted to share some of the new furniture Merry Me has for rental. These pieces are great for lounge atmospheres and very versatile as well. All in white vinyl for a very modern look. We've got the accessories to coordinate as well. We can't wait to use these for upcoming events! Did you know we also have a variety of vintage chandeliers? Great for that glamorous Hollywood soiree. Go check out these and other rentals we offer at Brides A la Mode in Granger. A great resource for Brides {and Grooms}!

Merry Me Gives Back

We had a great time yesterday working together as a team in a different sort of way. This year, Merry Me was able to give to the Christmas Offering at Granger Community Church in order to buy 75 tons of food to be distributed throughout Michiana. Despite the cold weather, this event warmed our hearts. Shelley made orange and purple scarves for us all to designate us as the Merry Me team. Lauren came to help; Rich joined his wife, Ami; Donny came with his fiance, Chanell; my husband, kids and parents all came out to unload trucks. We were a team, joined with others to distribute boxes of food and personal care items straight to the doorstep of those in need. What a great day! It feels good to give back. Blessed to be a blessing...

Carlisle| Lee Wedding 01.02.10

Here are some shots from this couple's simple winter wedding. The ceremony was held at the Marriott Ballroom, downtown South Bend. The reception venue: The Century Center Great Hall. We wish them lots of love and happiness as they begin their new life together. This is the couple I blogged about earlier 'opportunity, not obligation'. The event had great focus on the vows and commitment they were making to one another. We enjoyed being part of this with them! Blessings to you both as you begin your mission in Uganda!

Nello Christmas Party

20th floor in the Chase Tower, downtown South Bend has been the location for the past three years. This company is growing rapidly. This may be the last year we can use this space for the celebration. The view overlooking the city is amazing! One can easily see the campus of Notre Dame with the 'Golden Dome' all glowing. It will tough to find an equal replacement location. I'm confident we'll come up with something for 2010.

Guests had a great time listening to 'Kevin Q and the Night Crew band'. They were just perfect for the crowd. If you wanted to get up and dance to some old time blues and jazz, you could, if you wanted to just sit and enjoy, that was fine too. They provided a great mix of background and upbeat songs.

The invitations came from Spark Fine Stationery. A great place to find cards, unique gifts and custom papery.

Colors this year were blackberry and garnet red mixed with their established corporate colors of deep blue and platinum. It was a nice blend and very festive! We used a crushed shimmer linen and a new crinkle tafetta in blackberry and with silver chavairi chairs. Candlelight illuminated the entire room.

LaSalle Grill did a fabulous job with the food. The menu consisted of Mini Delux Burgers with Gruyere, Bleu Cheese and Argula (Yum-o), Cajun Bacon Wrapped Chicken (what a hit!), Assorted Sushi rolls (gone in 15 minutes), Roasted Bruyere stuffed Cremini Mushroom caps, Caesar Salad in Parmesan Cheese bowls served with mini forks (a great display), Housemade Salt and Vinegar Chips, and Fruit and Veggie Crudite. Snickerdoodles, Assorted Mini Cheesecakes and Mexican Wedding cakes for dessert.
We also added hometown favorites from The South Bend Chocolate Factory. 'Christmas Crunch', Dark Chocolate Truffles, Old Fashioned Toffee, and Peanut Butter Meltaways.

We provided bar services with our own licensed bartenders. The 'Nello-tini' signature cocktail was once again a hit! Served chilled just right in a martini glass, the blue concoction is delicious!

This is a party we love to create each year. The client gives us complete freedom on the design, menu and style of the party. Thank-You Nello Corporation!

An Opportunity, Not an Obligation

We get to be part of something really cool. We have a wedding coming up on January 2, 2010. When I met with the bride, she shared with me that she and her fiance are going to Uganda as soon as they marry, to continue the mission they started there. This couple, in their 20's, plans to move to Uganda to run the orphanage they founded. She said to me she wanted to, "keep her wedding 'simple' because every dollar spent, could be used to feed another child in Uganda". WOW. that impacted me and moved me to want to help. So we are! The Merry Me team is going to help by not only making her wedding beautiful on a limited budget, but we are also supporting the work they plan to do in Uganda. We are so thankful for the opportunity. We are blessed to be a blessing, so that's what we're going to do.

New Bar Design

We're excited to share a new bar design with you! Available for 2010 weddings and events, we can customize this look for you. We unveiled the new rental at the SJRMC Grand Opening. Check it out!

December... on your mark... get set... GO!

Wow! Merry Me has had a great 14 days! We started with our annual Nello Corporation Offices holiday decor then dove straight into a solid 8 days of multiple events for the Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center Grand Opening! AND... wait there's more! We designed this year with the Jr. League of South Bend, a winter wonderland atmosphere in "all that sparkles" for their Holiday Ball. AND... created a fabulous corporate holiday party for Nello Corporation! We hope you've been following us on facebook and twitter as we've documented the play by play for these events. If not, become a fan and follow us!
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MerryMeEvents
Facebook: http://facebook.com/MerryMeEvents
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/chergoggins We really wanted to be eco-friendly as we planned for the grand opening events! This new hospital is so beautiful and eco-chic! We also wanted to enhance the space, not over take it with decor. We hope you enjoy our modest approach to the designs we chose to use. Another offering we provided was the Coat Check Service for each nightly event. Our goal is to provide specific services customized to your needs! Leaving no stone uncovered, we aim to handle a wide range of event services!

Enjoy these photos.. more to come in following posts.

Century Bride

Some more of our favorites from Ghoulish and Glam

The Merry Me! Team enjoyed every minute transforming a beautiful home into a haunted house; from creepy crawlies to rhinestone-covered skulls this party was a ghoulish success! Merry Me! left no (grave)stone unturned when planning and designing this glam gala.

Setting the tone for this event, black boxes with fingers inside were sent to the invitees. Driving up to this haunted gala, guests were welcomed by vampire valets, followed by a candlelit walkway leading to the front door, where the vampire butler greeted guests. Inside the guests danced to Shawn DJ-ing and enjoyed the many tricks (special effects) by ProShow, which added to the new ghoulish décor that now adorns the home. Those who dared continued on to eat creative treats by Chic Eats and drank Vampire Kisses.

Check out the photos below of the Ghoulish Gala!

Forest River Inc. Appreciates their Clients

Merry Me! had the grand opportunity to be part of this annual corporate event. In this down economy, how refreshing it is to work with Forest River, Inc. As one of the leaders in the RV/ Manufactured Housing Industry in Elkhart County, they wanted to show appreciation to their clients and dealers for the successes of the past as they look forward to a great future.
This 1500 person event took place at their corporate offices where an 80' x 180' tent was staked. Together with Aay's Rental, McIntosh Greenhouses and ProShow we created an inviting and welcoming atmosphere for those who gathered. Their guests were entertained by two local bands who put on a fabulous show! Catering was provided by Elkhart's own 523 Tap and Grill for fabulous eats.
We look forward to partnering with them in the years to come! Thanks for the opportunity!

Caitlin Nish weds David Pearson 09.12.09

The week's forecast called for a 40% chance of rain and storms. I really didn't want anything more disrupting this couples' wedding plans! We pre-planned it all with back up tents and side
walls, but were hopeful that the weather would change. This area is notorious for a 'change in the weather'. By mid-week it all turned around. The prediction was sunny and 78. Perfect!

You may have heard the reviews and dissatisfaction of some brides recent experiences at Willow Harbor. Admittedly, this was a large concern for us as well. A little over a month ago, we joined Caitlin and Dave for one last site visit before their big day. Disappointment in what they saw was an understatement. We promised that we would do all we could to be sure their wedding was spectacular! We came prepared with over 100 plants and foliage, buckets and pine sol to clean, a shop vac and our toolbox in hand. However, as we arrived mid-afternoon Friday for our preliminary set up, my jaw dropped in pleasant surprise! Willow Harbor looked BEAUTIFUL!!! The grass was lush and green, no longer patchy and brown and freshly mowed and trimmed like a golf course! Staff was busy cleaning the interior of the tent. The dance floor had been replaced with a brand new one... we didn't have to do a single thing to clean anything!

Although the experience was challenging, Willow Harbor is back on our preferred vendor list to being a great choice for your wedding ceremony and reception venue.

Bob from CK catering continues to be one of our top picks for catering. They did a superb job on presentation and taste as they served guests efficiently. As always, their staff is a pleasure to work with.

Charlie from The Liquor Locker equipped the bar with the couple's choice of spirits. Willow Harbor staffed the bars in the Polo Barn and in the main tent with professional bartenders who also did an excellent job.

'Cakewalk' for the beautiful cake... lavender lemon flavored. Yummy! Alexis Davis is consistently making stunning cakes that taste great!

And certainly last, but not least... MAC DADDY rocked the dance floor! Neither Caitlin nor David had seen this band preform prior to their wedding. They completely relied on our recommendation. Shortly after the first set, Dave came to me with sheer excitement and said "this band is great!" A full dance floor all night long proved the fun provided by this top notch band!

Wonderful Whitcomb Tower

I've been meaning to catch up on some of these weddings... well now is the time. We've got another wedding coming up at Whitcomb and I must share how much we enjoyed

our last experience there. David and his crew with CK Catering as the exclusive caterer to this hot spot, make a great team!

Although the night got chilly, Cindy and John didn't let that ruin their night. We actually decided to move the entire party indoors. With the help of her bridal party and the Merry Me staff, we swapped the outdoors for the indoors.

This is a great venue to consider when selecting a Harbor Country wedding.

Beautiful Bride (and groom...) cont.

here are some more images:

One Beautiful Bride = One Fabulous Wedding

Ok, so I'm a little bias on this one. OUR Ashley (can i say that?!) recently wed the lucky Brian Joines. The ceremony and reception will be one to remember.
The Challenge:
Trying to come up with a new concept that Ashley hasn't seen. She's worked with me for several years now and has helped create some pretty amazing events for Merry Me. How could we out-do and produce something beyond the 'been there, seen that' experience for this very special young lady?
The Plan:
We were determined as a team to do as much as we could without her knowing and to design some one-of-a-kind custom decor with never been used color combos, lots of textures and styles to make it uniquely her own. We put on our creative thinking caps and got to work.
The Result:
Fabulous!
I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of joy when Ashley and Brian entered the tent. Ashley began to giggle and smile and giggle some more as she was surprised and excited all in one. We were once again able to accomplish the wow factor kind of event we had aimed for.

Take a look at some of my favorite shots. Amanda Fales and her husband Andy outdid themselves with the photography they captured that day. Alexis Davis of CakeWalk designed irresistible and delicious cakes. Matterhorn catering prepared a flawless and fantastic meal. The Historical Oliver Gardens hosted the event with outstanding hospitality! A team of professionals who together, despite the rain surprise in the middle of the day, pulled off one fantastic soiree.

Check out one of our newest custom designs... we call these the "Ashley Chandeliers". Innovative decor made in-house with our team of designers thinking outside the box! We'd love to help create your fairytale...

Rain Rain Go Away!

This year has been quite the year for rain... but why is it that rain falls only on those days that we have amazing events planned?! Ughhhh. Thank goodness for back up plans.

Yesterday, despite the weather, our couple had a great day celebrating their wedding. They traveled from afar- from New York to Florida and all the way from California. Their destination wedding took place at The Basilica of the Sacred Heart at The University of Notre Dame. We love planning and designing weddings held at the Basilica!

The sounds of Ireland were heard as our bagpiper piped away while guests began to arrive. Although we've done many weddings at Notre Dame over the past 13 years, the sounds of a piper continue to be a memorable favorite to these Irish weddings! Another favorite of ours is the sound of a trumpeter in the choir loft. The old wooden doors open to the sound of Trumpet Voluntary as we present the beautiful bride. This introduction still sends chills through me.

Brian and Kate invited all their guests for a celebration in one of South Bend's finest and oldest venues. The Studebaker Mansion, Tippecanoe Place hosted the evenings' festivities. Cocktails and hor' douevres were served on the third floor bar while Kennedy's Kitchen played Irish tunes in the background.

The main level was set for a fabulous dinner. Guests had their choice of Prime Rib, Herb-Crusted Chicken, Filet Mignon or Baked Tilapia. The intimate crowd was thrilled with the top-notch service and delicious meal.

Despite the change and re-organzing of plans to accomodate the rainly weather, we had to use our rain back-up plan. Dinner on the main then dancing in the lower level. The teamwork necessary to produce a successful event was crucial. Everyone pitched in to help and we appreciated such willingness to do so.

We added our part by designing and planning the affair perfect to the couples' style. A very clean organic and botanical look added to the beauty of Tippecanoe Place. Fresh bamboo, moss, grasses, snake grass and polished black river rock gave the couple a relaxed sense of what they had wished for. The unique bouquets are certainly one of our favorite looks this year! Fantastic texture and dimension gave the unique and personalized touch for our nuptials.

Following dinner, friends and family gathered to the lower level to be entertained by The Matt Young Band. This was our first encounter with this group. We really enjoyed their team approach as well. Matt and his group did a great job while guests enjoyed dancing all night. S & S Photobooth was also there allowing guests to have fun while posing with unique costumes at hand.

Thanks to all who worked hard to produce this event! But most of all, congratulations to Brian and Kate!

Benchmarks 2009

Once again, Merry Me had the opportunity for involvement with a great organization called Benchmarks. This organization supports the Women's Care Center of Elkhart County. We love being part of an event that allows creativity through the arts. Despite the state of the economy in this area, the event was packed with great people, willing and ready to give!

The Merry Me team designed and created "Tea for Two". We thought it was most appropriate since we love planning and designing parties. We are proud to report that our little tea party raised upwards of $375! We can't wait to be part of this again next year and appreciate this awesome opportunity!

Make-Up Party at Camellia's

I love this... and the ladies did too! We wanted to do something a little different for our bride this past weekend. So when she asked us for suggestions on 'something the ladies could do while the guys had their golf outing', this was it! We were thrilled to offer a make up party at Camellia's The Makeup Store in Heritage Square, Granger. Gabrielle, an amazing make up artist and one of our preferred vendors, shared with me this new concept they were about to unveil. Here's the idea: You reserve their party space and get the opportunity to learn some basic "how-to's" in make up application; Discover new tips, tricks and trends; Try out the newest colors and much more. What a very fun 'girly-thing' to do. You even have the option of sipping champagne and enjoying hors' douevres. Like the idea? We did. My bride did. We love coming up with new ideas and we enjoy sharing them with you.

Michigan Vineyard Wedding

We loved working with this couple! Merry Me joined in on the planning just 4 weeks prior to their big day and filled the role of "Finishing Touches and Day of Planner". They were struggling with some last minute logistics as well as trying to pull "the look" together. We enjoyed the challenge and came up with a fabulous look that exceeded their expectations, but NOT their budget.

Setting: Willow Harbor Vineyard, Three Oaks Michigan

Color Palette: Deep and pale purples with shades in between, slate gray then adding lime green to add the pop.

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan!

Getting the Groom to do some of the To-Do’s before the I Do’s….

From the moment we are asked those four little words we start thinking of everything that needs to be done for one of the biggest days of your life. Before you know it, you have a to-do list a mile high of things that you need to take care of before you become the Mrs., While Most brides count on the their mothers or their bridesmaids to help with all of the tasks at hand…. don’t forget the person who most likely asked you to be in this situation in the first place, Your Fiancé!

The Groom may feel one of two ways… he may want to be apart of all aspects of the wedding from budget to flowers OR he may feel he asked the question and now it is your “job” to plan your wedding day—it is the day that every girl dreams about her whole life, right?

So how do you get our groom to take part in the wedding planning without him even knowing it? Here are some ways to get him involved while allowing you to cross off some of your To-Do’s

Simple To Do lists. Don’t fill his inbox with millions of e-mails, texts, or phone messages of individual tasks that he needs to do RIGHT NOW. If you do this he may feel overwhelmed and that is the last thing you want. Instead look at your to-dos and make a separate list, for your eyes only, of some of to-do’s before the wedding that you think he might enjoy doing. If he is excited about certain parts of the wedding, this is a perfect time to get him involved. Maybe the band is very important to him… ask him to do a little research online and show you a few he likes? One thing to keep in mind is what you may want finalized in a month may take a guy a little longer… so if you want him to get back to you sooner than later you might want to give him a heads up before hand. Just make sure you have the time to make these decisions.. some do need to be made right away depending on the length of the engagement.


The Honeymoon. What guy would say no to a little research online to plan one of the best vacations of his life? Remember how much time college guys put into planning the best spring break ever? If that does not seal the deal that he will plan the most amazing trip for the two of you… I don’t know what will!


His Buddies. Like bridesmaids, groomsmen also play a crucial part in your big day… while the groomsmen may not exactly enjoy stuffing your invitations or help pick the table arrangements, groomsmen do a lot. For example did you know that the best man should deliver all of the checks for any remaining balances to the vendors the day of the wedding? Here is another way the groom can get involved, getting the best man and the groomsmen organized… because we all know getting a man to be at not only the right place but at the right time is a job!

Of course there are areas you know he has to be apart, just keep in mind that he may not, like being involved in finding items for the wedding registry, getting a marriage license, and making a speech (make sure to give him a heads up on this one— once again, don’t wait until the last second)

And as a reminder to both of you, don’t forget to smile, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride…. of your life (together!)

Posted by Chanell Cochran
Merry Me Details and Decor Specialist

Many thanks to Groom Groove for some pointers for the Groom… take a minute and check out www.groomgroove.com and DO send this to your future hubby’s inbox—he might enjoy it!!

7 Reasons Why to Hire A Wedding Planner

Vendors Beware

A note to fellow Event Industry Vendors:

In the past 2 weeks, Merry Me has been targeted by two different email scam attempts and we would like to share some of the details to help avoid any of our fellow vendors falling victim to such attempts.

The two emails we received were from Jessica Farrell and Gregory Davis, both requesting our services to plan their upcoming weddings….both of which are only just a few short weeks away and are being planned from overseas.

Jessica Farrell’s first email reads:

From: Jessica Farrell

Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2009 05:16:29 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: We need you for our day !

Hello, How are you doing? Thriving!!!

My name is Jessica Farrell , from Enfield in middlesex UK (England ).. We will be coming to IL after my shopping trip with my Husband David Rodin who's French by nature to start his new work with the Coca-cola Co. in Chicago . And just before then we will be getting married on the 27th of June , 2009. We need a good wedding planner to take care of our wedding both reception and ceremony. We require the best for the best memories for we & our children in future and as a matter of fact we have budgeted 25000$ for this special event.

Also, the ceremony and reception event will be taking place in a location and we are expecting at most 50 guests on the day of our occassion because most of our families in Europe and in the United Kingdom will be present for the occassion.

Also, we would like you to know the reception and ceremony will be taking place @ 1 location which the ceremony event would be in a garden location or outdoor while the reception takes place indoors, we are still about to make reservation though but we are making progress with that.

Please let us know if you're able to help.

Sincerely, Jess & David

We responded with several questions to this first email, and started dialog with Jessica. She responded to most of our questions, and in detail…..this was starting to look like a very promising opportunity for another event on our calendar for the year. After being prompted to learn more about her and her future husband, she had offered a fabulous story of how they had met when she was tending to her sick grandmother and other very creative details. However, we were very skeptical through out the entire email correspondence. It wasn’t until Cher decided to Google Jessica Farrell’s name was it realized that she has hit several vendors through out the entire United States, and not just in the wedding industry. Abruptly, we put a stop to the correspondence and thankfully did not ever take this as far as receiving any funds or deposits.

The second email we received was from Gregory Davis, his first email read:

From: Gregory Davis gregdaveis7@gmail.com

Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:50:23 +0800

Subject: WEDDING

Hello,My Name is Mr Gregory Davis i need an experienced wedding planner whowill handle my wedding and arrange the reception dinner for a group ofpeople who will be attending the wedding ceremony.The wedding is expected to hold on the 11th of July 2009 and 50 to 70guests are expected to attend. As i do not know what the guests mightchoose for their meals and drinks, i will make a prepayment as initialdeposit for this booking via credit card once availability isconfirmed by you.All checks and balances will be made with you on 15thof June which is the final day of the booking, You are to arrange fora a venue for the wedding a place for the reception ,Videography,Music Entertainment,Photography,cake and flowers.If there is any these items that is beyond your capability, you let usknow so that another company can handle it. Get back to me with yourresponse as we don't have much time with us so that we can process ouraccommodation within the region more convenient for you and us.


At this point, we were a bit more sensitive to this type of email, and assumed immediately that it was yet another scam. Googling once again the senders name, the results came back with “scam” written all over it. Again we abruptly responded to the sender with threats of turning them into the authorities.

How do these scams work?

As with most email scams, the potential client/contact is located outside of the states and is requesting services (planning, photography, ect..). With very little dialog, the potential client offers to send a very sizeable deposit to retain the services you provide. When you receive the deposit it is usually even larger then agreed upon. From this point, the hope is you deposit their check. Once the check is deposited the next request is for you to send the additional funds they had sent you to another vendor, usually in another country and most likely Canada. During this time, the funds are deposited and available in your account….but the funds they had sent you were fraudulent, either a stolen or counterfeit check, money order or even treasury check. It will take up to 21 days or more for the bank to realize that the funds are unavailable or even fraudulent….and when they do, they will withdraw it back out of your account. In the meantime, you have already sent a sizeable amount of funds to another vendor requested by the scammer (and in the end, IS the scammer). You are out money, they are rolling in the money…and essentially, you unknowingly laundered a fraudulent check.

How to protect yourself?

1. Be aware of any out of town requests for your services.
2. Ask for a phone conversation prior to signing contracts.
3. Ask for SS# or NI# (National Insurance number, Europe’s version of SS#) and tell your potential client that you do a credit check on any clients outside of your immediate area.
Offer to have the potential client send the funds and a signed contract to your attorney’s office, where all of your contracts normally are sent to. (even though it may not, if you are suspicious, this is a quick way to see if they respond, most scammers really don’t want to deal with a lawyers office)
4. Google is your friend! There are many sites out there that offer information from other victims, or almost victims, from these scammer’s names and all of their aliases.
5. Check out: http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/



Thankfully, we were not a victim to this scam; however, too much of our valuable time was spent working with this potential client. Hopefully, our time and energy will save you a bit of time in return, and ultimately, keep you from being scammed.

Cheers!

Merry Me Staff