One of the most amazing events to witness at a wedding reception is the Horah. The bride and groom as well as parents will put their lives in the hands of groomsmen + guests who have been consuming their favorite alcoholic beverages by being hoisted up in banquet chairs while being raised up and down to the beat of the music. Meanwhile, guests form layers of circles that go in clockwise and counter clockwise directions. It is truly magnificent and guests just “know what to do”. As a planner, you need to navigate through the enthusiastic guests to make sure there is a chair with handles, a napkin and all the honored guests in place. It definitely is survival of the fittest:)  My job then entails standing on chairs to make sure no one gets trampled when the music speeds up and to take a cue from the bride when to end it. The longest Horah I have ever done was 24 minutes. IT. WAS. FANTASTIC! Photographers have to get in the thick of it to capture these insanely wonderful memories. What I most appreciate about these photos that Darcie Siiteri at Innovative Photography snapped was Mr. Golden not even holding on to the sides (I am sure if he fell off the chair, he would have body surfed through the crowd), but Mrs. Golden was her normal graceful self immensely enjoying this special moment. Mrs. Webster’s smile just got bigger and bigger as her time on the chair went on. Pure Magic!

It is often requested that a bride wears “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue and a lucky sixpence in your shoe.” One endearing moment was when our groom had his own something old. He wore the tuxedo jacket that his grandfather wore at his wedding in 1963. Grandpa Anderson was there to witness it. Yes, black is definitely timeless. Photographer John Riedy (www.johnriedy.com) captured the perfect moment. Something Old for the Groom

I often will refer to the “money shot” at a wedding. This is when the photographer captures one of the best emotion filled moments at an event. They are definitely not perfectly posed. There is spit flying out of mouths, sweat dripping down faces and so much more. However, in the end, I can look at a money shot photo to take me to the lightening emotion of that evening. I have no idea whose phone Megan had, but Sauce the Band was being amazing at engaging the crowd. Megan + John Ingram did not disappoint in this money shot! Photo taken by Uma Sanghvi.

Like Amy’s hair color, Platinum Weddings + Events has seen a bit of change in their business cards over the years. Every so slightly, then BAM a big change. Here is a walk through business card stationery memory lane. The evolution is as follows : cream, brown, silver, black, white and last but not least, the 2020 pantone color of the year 19-4052 classic blue. There have been engraved cards (brown- because that was the color to mix with tiffany blue at the time), Silk cards (black card and it had rounded edges) and letter press (which tend to be Amy’s favorite because it was an odd shape and felt amazing!). There have been single sided as well as double sided (another of Amy’s favorites). There have been very busy cards to more simplistic ones. When this business initially started, Amy wanted to have Platinum because copper or silver did not appeal to her. She had the packages be gold, silver and platinum. That did not last too terribly long as she soon realized that each bride wanted something different than what the said package offered. They wanted a little from gold, a little from silver and a little from the platinum service. Therefore, there was a significant amount of busy work presenting a package and ultimately creating a custom proposal. Gone with the packages and voila, custom proposals were adopted. Approximately 6 years into business, Amy’s was dropped from the name. This was solely because as lead planners were brought on it was felt that a more general name was the best way to go and it has remained that way until today.

There are times in your life where you are presented with unique circumstances. It is amazing that we are all in different chapters of the same story. Since our last post, life has changed dramatically and treading water became the norm for a couple of weeks. The emotional uncertainty and disappointment has taken its toll on almost everyone I know. The wedding industry is comprised of small businesses who find it paramount to live their passion and share it with others. When I reflect on the past 23 years of doing this in Austin, I am humbled to reconnect with the passion and the “amazingness” I have had the honor to experience.