Making Memories Foundation – So Simply Special

Brides Against Breast Cancer Tampa VIP Night

March 6, 2009 2 Comments

Last Night was the Vip Night for Brides Against Breast Cancer. This was the first time doing that along with the regular sale. As the attendees ( brides plus guests)arrived to the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel they walked the pink carpet( supplied by Grand Events) to registration table to check-in. There they had the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for $1.00. We were drawing during the event for a Free Wedding Dress ( valued up to $ 350.00 or they could use the discount off of a higher priced dress) and also a 4 day 3 night trip to Coconut Bay Resort ( all inclusive) in St. Lucia.

They were also treated to a free bridal publication from The Perfect Wedding Guide. As the guests left the Vip night , they were also given a goody bag supplied by Get Married with some goodies inside from various vendors.

After checking in, they were treated to glasses of wine & pink champagne along with a Mashed Potato Bar, fruit and cheese display,bacon wrapped scallops & and a Cappuccino and Expresso Bar….( Cafe A La Carte ) During the “cocktail hour ” they were also able to bid on Silent Auction items like hotel stays, wedding cakes & Flowers , plus a signed Martha Stewart Book.

One of the new additions to our gown sale this year was the Groom’s Lounge. The entire lounge set-up was supplied by Grand Events. Big thank to Grand Events, there lounge was a great success in the groom’s eyes and also for the kids in attendance.

After the cocktail hour the brides were let into the Ballroom to the main area and were greeted by ABC Members that were there to volunteer. The Brides were then treated to a suprise. Holly from Studio 10 was there to greet the guests and we had a very Special Guest with her… Cassiday…

Cassiday is sufferering with Breast Cancer and had asked the Making Memories Foundation for a wedding dress for her and a dress for her daughter. The Man that stood by her during this breast cancer treatment process has asked Cassiday to marry him. Cassiday arrived by Rolls Royce ( supplied by Ambassador Limousine) with her daughter and Fiance to the sale thinking she was picking out a dress. We suprised her with the help of fellow ABC ( Association of Bridal Consultants)Members a complete wedding including location for her. When Holly started reading off the different vendors and they came up and presented her with certificates for the wedding on March 30th, 2009 . Tears we filled in her eyes and her groom to be was speechless.

After the “Wish ” for Cassiday… Holly drew the tickets for the free dress and also for the trip and the Brides eagerly were anticpating being allowed to shop for the dress of their dreams nefore the public the next day. Once, Holly asked the volunteers to let go of the chain , the brides hurriedly grabbed dresses and were off to the fitting room …

It was an amazing night and we raised $ 14,000 on the VIP night … We are so excited for next years sale and can hardly wait! Will keep you updated on the date for next year and also the location!

Below is a list of the Kind and Generous ABC members that donated to Cassiday for her Dream wedding!

Sacino's donating the Groom's Formalwear for wedding

Mike & Dave donating their video services to Cassiday

Location: Safety Harbor Resort and Spa

Tina and Katie from Safety Harbor presenting to Cassiday

Photographer: Brian C Idocks Photographics

Videographer : Artistic Media

Music : Creative Productions

Minister: Virginia Bishop – Loving Unity

Flowers: Apple Blossoms Floral Design

Tux:Sacino’s

Rev.Virginia Bishop donating her officiating services

Scott Darhower donating flowers for Cassiday's wedding

Brian Idocks hugging Cassiday after giving her photography for wedding

Below are the pictures provided by Marley from Beautiful Wedding Photography for you to enjoy. Marley was present for the entire sale and was shooting complimentary photos of each of the Bride’s as they found their dream dress.. Thanks Marley for your time each year and the amazing photos you so graciously donate…

: brides shopping for dresses

: Brides shopping for dresses

: Tina and Katie from Safety Harbor presenting to Cassiday

: Brian Idocks hugging Cassiday after giving her photography for wedding

: Mike & Dave donating their video services to Cassiday

: Scott Darhower donating flowers for Cassiday’s wedding

: Rev.Virginia Bishop donating her officiating services

: Sacino’s donating the Groom’s Formalwear for wedding

: Neil from Creative Production donating his musical services

Filed Under: Fundraisers/Charities, Uncategorized Tagged With: ABC, Association of Bridal Consultants, Breast Cancer, Brian Idocks, Brides, Brides Against Breast Cancer, budget, decor, Events, Frequently asked questions, Get Married, Grand Events, Making Memories Foundation, Photography, Professional Photos of Events, receptions, Safety Harbor Spa, Special Moments, Table top design, Tampa VIP night, VIP night, Volunteers, Weddings

Brides Against Breast Cancer – Tampa Set-up

March 5, 2009 Leave a Comment

On Thursday, March 5th, 2009 we arrived at the Howard Johnson’s Plaza Hotel to begin set-up for the Brides Against Breast Cancer Gown Sale. The pictures below are from Britt McAllister , who was helping with set-up also and was so kind as to catch a few photos of all of us getting ready for the Vip night tonight. Marley Lindley from Beautiful Wedding Photography will be sending us photos from the Vip night tonight along with pictures of Cassiday. Cassiday is being granted her wish tonight… Story to Follow tomorrow about that! Enjoy photos below of: Brian, Derrica, Angela, Krissy, Tammy, Ken, Kenia, Amany, Britt, Judy, Veronica,Jeff, and the Fox 13 news reporter. Special Shout out to the Santee Crew also – Barb, Peter, Hildegard, Don, Betty and the 2 dogs Sparky and Madison..

Filed Under: Fundraisers/Charities, Uncategorized Tagged With: ABC, Association of Bridal Consultants, Brides, Brides Against Breast Cancer, Making Memories Foundation, Special Moments, Volunteers

Brides against Breast Cancer

February 23, 2009 Leave a Comment

We at Special Moments, work with the Making Memories Foundation each year to help with the Brides Against Breast Cancer Gown sale that is brought to the Tampa Bay Area.. What is Brides against Breast Cancer you say? Or What can you do to Help? We have included several videos below of Brides against Breast Cancer sales in Atlanta, Chicago and also the video from Last years sale that was made in Tampa.

The gown sale this year is March 6th and 7th, 2009 and a VIP night on Thursday evening. If you want to volunteer, attend or donate…

GO TO WWW.BRIDESAGAINSTBREASTCANCER.ORG

HERE ARE THE VIDEOS BELOW:

Filed Under: About the Association, Fundraisers/Charities, Uncategorized Tagged With: ABC, Association of Bridal Consultants, Breast Cancer, Brides Against Breast Cancer, Making Memories Foundation, Videos, Volunteers

PLEASE Don’t Buy Your Wedding Dress (until you read this post)

January 29, 2009 Leave a Comment

Just got engaged over the holidays? Congratulations!

Ready to rush out and find THE DRESS?

Could you slow down just a moment? If you’re not getting married before March, consider buying your gown from the Brides Against Breast Cancer Charity Wedding Gown Sale.

When: Friday March 6th, 2009 (10 to 8pm) and Saturday March 7th, 2009, (10 am – 6 pm)

Where: Howard Johnson Travel Plaza- 111 West Fortune Street- Downtown Tampa.( Right across from the Performing Arts Center)

Cost: Nothing – FREE to attend and browse. bring mom, sis, or a friend.

Why: There will be between 750 and 1000 wedding gowns, some new, some worn for a day, all incredibly priced. Your gown purchase directly benefits granting final wishes to terminal breast cancer patients. Visit www.makingmemories.org to learn more.

Our blog will be updated as details for the Thursday evening VIP Sneak Peek event is finalized. ( March 5th, 2009 from 6:00pm-9:00pm.) Tickets are $ 50.00 for the Bride and 1 guest. You will be treated to appetizers, drinks, music, and many more details to come. Want to be the first to buy a gown before the event starts on Friday, then you need to go online to www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org and register for the Tampa VIP event. Space is limited…..

Here are pictures below from Last years sale. The photos below were compliments of Marley Lindley of Beautiful Wedding Photography. We have also included a few of the gowns and Brides that purchased them for you to see the quality and styles available at this Annual Event.

Filed Under: Fundraisers/Charities, Uncategorized Tagged With: ABC, Breast Cancer, Brides Against Breast Cancer, budget, Events, Making Memories Foundation, Special Moments

A-La Carte Event Pavilion -Bridal Show

January 19, 2009 Leave a Comment

Special Moments was involved in a Bridal Show Booth with the Association of Bridal Consultant Members this weekend. The Bridal Show was located at the A-La-Carte Event Pavilion and was put on by Keith LaMotte from Your Wedding TV. Thanks to all of the Participating ABC Members who all contributed money towards the booth and their time. With the money from ABC Members, we were able to have a Making Memories Booth also. Making Memories is the sponsor of Brides Against Breast Cancer Gown Sale. We were able to get the word out to all of the many Brides in attendance about the Gown sale and that purchasing a gown from the Sale helps the Making Memories Foundation grant wishes to people with terminal breast cancer. A great gown at a unbelievable price, that also gives a last wish to a terminal breast cancer patient’s family. For further information about the Brides against Breast cancer Gown Sale go to:

www.BridesAgainstBreastCancer.org

A Big Thanks to all Participating ABC ( Association of Bridal Consultants) Members:

B&O Photography

Ola & Bartek

727-488-1650

www.bophotography.com

Champagne Wishes

Debbie Riviera

813-690-4448

www.achampagnewish.com

Grand Events

Lovelynn Jensen

813-248-0200

www.grandevent.com

Jemstar Entertainment

Jeff Mufson

813-962-4653

www.jemstarentertainment.com

Loving Unity

Rev. Virginia Bishop

727-532-6186

www.lovingunity.com

Simply Divine Events LLC

Lori Randall

813-843-8358

Jessica Meiczinger

813-244-7110

www.simplydivineevents.com

Special Moments

Tammy Waterman

Erin Duffy

727-343-0800

www.eventsbyspecialmoments.com

TampaBayDJ.com

Chuck Weirich

813-425-2782

www.TampaBayDJ.com

The Michele Renee Makeup Group

Michele Renee

727-642-8017

www.michelereneehairandmakeup.com

Wedding Wows

Dawn Gurley

727-430-2030

www.weddingwows.net

Below are pictures taken by B & O Photography of the show. Thank you Ola and Bartek for the fabulous pictures and your time spent helping.

Filed Under: Local Monthly Meetings, Uncategorized Tagged With: A La Carte Event Pavilion, ABC, Association of Bridal Consultants, Brides, Brides Against Breast Cancer, Making Memories Foundation, Professional Photos of Events, Special Moments, Volunteers, Your wedding Tv

GOWN SALE!!!!

September 15, 2008 Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Fundraisers/Charities, Uncategorized Tagged With: Brides Against Breast Cancer, charity, Formal Gowns, gowns, Homecoming dresses, Making Memories Foundation, St Pete, Volunteers

Favors for Guests

September 5, 2008 Leave a Comment

Favors for the guests at weddings or social events is usually a topic that comes up during the planning process when we are working with our clients. They are usually showing us what they have come up with or are looking for advice on what to do in this area. Favors can be an expensive part of the budget. With the many options and cute items created to give to your guests, it is really hard to not resist that urge to go crazy. To those people that want to shower their guests with nice mementos of your event Special Moments offers a favor page on our website.

Here is a few pictures of the new “seasonal favors ” for winter that have been added on the favor website below:

We also want to comment that it is not necessary to give favors to your guests for attending your event. Most guests appreciate a simple thank you in person by you at the wedding reception. Many a time at the end of the night we are cleaning up left over favors that the guests left behind. A word of advice, if it is not edible, they will leave it about 60 % of the time.

Here are a few things are previous clients have done instead of favors:

Donation to St Judes Children’s Hospital to help children in need.
Donation to the Making Memories Foundation who grant wishes for Terminal Breast Cancer Patients
Donation to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to help “Winter ” get his Prosthetic Tail.
Did a Money Dance at Wedding and Donated Money to Relay for Life along with Favor budget Money
Donated money to the “Fisher House” on behalf of the guests
Formed a “team” for the Susan G. Coleman 3 day walk using the favor money as their donation to the cause and recruiting guests at their wedding to walk also.
Giving the guests plantable bookmarks and encouraging them to plant them upon arriving home.

If you are interested in the plantable options , Special Moments also offers those on our website on the shop for favors page along with other unique favor options.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 3 day walk, advice, bookmarks, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, donations, Favors, guests, Making Memories Foundation, photos, receptions, seasonal, snowflakes, Special Moments, St Judes Hospital, Weddings, winter

Luck of the Draw – 08/08/08 Wedding

August 10, 2008 1 Comment

Jen and Lou wanted a lucky day for their gambling themed wedding and reception. Fortunately for Jen and Lou, they asked the right planning company to be part of their day. Jen wanted to suprise her fiance with taking his love for gambling and making it a totally “Out of the Box ” Event. Special Moments got involved from the beginning of the planning process on this one. We were totally out to the test with a total budget for this event of $ 5,000. Yes, you read that right $ 5,000 !!!!

We started with finding a location that had gambling available on sight. Yes, the Hard Rock was out. Lou had been there with a previous girl before. Jen said No!!! We finally after numerous phone calls, many site inspections, meeting with several different people at the location, ( Every Department has a “in charge ” person.) chose Derby Lane on Gandy Blvd in St. Petersburg. Do you know how much persuasion,smiling, and selling it as a “great ” opportunity to get them to say Yes and then also have it closed to the public for the wedding Ceremony it took? After all, they had never had a wedding ceremony there before.

Jen and Lou’s Wedding Ceremony was to take place in a 30 minute window before they locked down the track and got ready to open to the public for the “Special Events ” they had planned for that night also. The wedding was to take place in the center of the track on a small island with just Jen , Lou and the minister. The guests would gather around the lake and watch the ceremony. Tammy came up with the idea after for the ceremony after listening to David Tutera at the Annual Conference in Orlando for the Association of Bridal Consultants. One of the key things that caught her attention was the wedding he did by the lake. All of the guests gathered around the lake while the Bride and Groom and Officiant were on a dock in the middle of the lake saying their vows while the guests held candles around the lake and witnessed the event. David Tutera mentioned that all of his events could be scaled down to meet any Bride’s Budget or style. It just took creativity or a few key elements from his events and focus on those few elements.

Jen and Lou thank you for inspiring Tammy!

Jen purchased her dress from the Brides Against Breast Cancer Sale in Orlando in March 2008. She had looked at wedding dresses on line before the sale and fell in love with a dress that had red trim on it and a hefty price tag of $ 1,000 for her budget. With that vision, Tammy and her set out to the sale. Jen walked in the door of the gown sale and hanging on the end rack was her dress! It was even in her size. Jen walked out with a gown, veil to match and crinolin for $ 300.00.

All said and done it turned out to be an amazing wedding and one of the “Out of the Box events” we look fondly back on and just say wow!

A big Kudos to all of the amazing vendors that took part in the dream and made it happen for Jen and Lou!

Wedding Cake: Chantilly Cakes – www.chantillycakes.com

Photographer: Britt McAllister- www.brittusa.com

Minister: Michael DePrisco – www.afloridaweddingceremony.com

Dress: Brides against Breast Cancer- www.makingmemories.org

Music: Chuck Weirich- www.tampadj.com

Flowers: Jenny McCloud- www.flowersbyjenny.com

Linens: Toni Tassoni- www.connieduglinlinen.com

Food: Alex Aubrey- Derby Lane www.derbylane.com

Transportation- Andy Oberield- www.metrocars.com

Hair and Make-up – Michelle Renee- 727-642-8017

Will be posting the professional pictures as soon as we have them. So check back to see the photos from this unique wedding.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Assocation of Bridal Consultants, Brides Against Brest Cancer, David Tutera, Derby Lane, dog track, dogs, gambling, Lucky, Making Memories Foundation, Out of the Box Events, Poker, Professional Photos of Events

Brides Against Breast Cancer

June 20, 2008 1 Comment

Every year we are involved in a fundraising event called Brides Against Breast Cancer. It is put on by the Making Memories Foundation and 100% of the proceeds go to granting wishes for people with terminal breast cancer. For everyone involved it is truly a life changing weekend. Take a look at this year’s video and you’ll see what I mean. It was shot by an amazing videographer – Jayson with En Fuego Video.

Give it a moment, the video is loading

For further information on how you can get involved in Brides Against Breast Cancer or if you are a Bride wanting to purchase a dress at the sale…

www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org

Or you can call us at Special Moments 727-343-0800.

Tammy Waterman is the Tampa Tour Coordinator for the event in Tampa.

Krissy Messer & Erin Duffy are the Volunteer Coordinators if you want to volunteer to help!

Special Moments and the Association of Bridal Consultants Florida Branch has adopted this charity as our own and look forward to this annual event.

Below are pictures from Last Year’s Event.