Prestigious Occasions WINNER THE KNOT BEST OF WEDDINGS 2016

Prestigious Occasions NAMED WINNER IN THE KNOT BEST OF WEDDINGS 2016

Tenth Annual Best of Weddings Awards Honor the Top Wedding Vendors Across America

Towson, Maryland/January 12, 2016—Kay Fraser, owner and creative director of Prestigious Occasions Event Planning & Design is pleased to announce that Prestigious Occasions have been selected as a 2016 winner in The Knot Best of Weddings, an award representing the highest-rated wedding professionals as reviewed by real couples, their families and wedding guests on The Knot, the #1 wedding resource.

In 2016, only 2% of the 250,000 local wedding professionals listed on TheKnot.com have received this distinguished accolade. In its tenth annual year, The Knot continues its longstanding tradition of supporting local wedding vendors with The Knot Best of Weddings 2016, an annual by-couples, for-couples guide to the top wedding professionals across the country. To determine the winners, The Knot assessed almost one million reviews from real couples across the various vendor categories—venues, musicians, florists, photographers, caterers and more. These winners represent the best of the best for wedding planning professionals that a bride or groom would want to consider order to inspire, plan and pull off their own unique wedding.

“At Prestigious Occasions we love assisting our clients with creating memories that will last a lifetime,” Kay Fraser, owner and creative director.

The Knot has helped inspire and plan more than 25 million weddings. With a rich history of providing quality content and inspiration to couples, The Knot is making it easier for couples to connect with just the right wedding professional to create a wedding that is unique to them.

About

Prestigious Occasions is an event planning and design company. We provide professional wedding planning and styling services with a fresh and inspiring approach.
We are a Baltimore, Maryland based company servicing the Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia and beyond. With our proactive planning approach we work with you to design your wedding within your budget and with open and endless communication as we bring your vision to life. We like to meet with clients as early as possible in the planning stage to help guide you on the right path and identify the services that works best for your wedding planning needs.
Whether you are looking for creative designs for your wedding and would love a professional touch or simply prefer to have a professional planner on your team to execute your vision. We are here to begin working with you and take the stress away!

Prestigious Occasions

Event Planning & Design

722 Dulaney Valley Road Suite 384

Towson, MD 21204

410.783.8211

www.PrestigiousOccasions.com

About The Knot

The Knot is the nation’s leading wedding resource with a marketplace that seamlessly engages, matches and connects couples with the right local vendors, products and services they need to plan and pull off their wedding.

Missed Opportunities | A Bride’s “Should Have….”

We have had the pleasure of working with plenty of couples over the past decade and we always like to hear what the couples would change if anything. I thought I would share two things with you today on what most would say they would have done differently.

The top decision is usually is “I would have hired a videographer” there are so many wonderful points of the entire day that you may wish that you had the opportunity to play back and enjoy. We had a bride in the Fall of 2012 that wanted to see the Flower Girl and Ring Bearer’s adorable dance for the introductions and was a little sad that no one captured this.

While the wedding was gorgeous and just simply wonderful, she splurged more on décor & food while cutting back in other areas. The reality is that guests are not going to remember the type of flowers that you selected; they just know that it looked nice. If you can shave off a few savings in the correct areas to fit everything that you truly want in the budget then do so!

The second we would like to share with you is “I would have started planning earlier”

This second feedback is very interesting, based on time and our customer service commitment we limit the number of full planning weddings that we offer each year. Therefore we have many clients that book with us for partial planning and month of coordination. We find that many couples begin the planning process and get overwhelmed with securing the right vendors that fit within their budget. It is easy to put things off until ‘next week’ and by the time you realize you may be just a few months away from the wedding!

Although you may feel that you have lots of planning time, there are so many other weddings, milestone parties & events, and special occasions taking place in the lives of other that may be planning at the same time. For example, during the late spring is a peak season with weddings, proms, graduations, and other events. Event professionals usually book pretty fast. Start planning as early as possible so you have time to think about all the details and logistics your wedding involves.

Have fun planning, plan ahead and weigh the pros and cons about hiring a videographer for your special day!

Wedding Party Roles - Bridesmaid & Hostesses

 
Your wedding is such an important day and selecting the right people to participate is key. It can be challenging with the amount of friends and family that you have to select your Bridesmaids and Hostesses. 

 The role of a Bridesmaid is being readily available throughout the wedding planning process, helping with DIY projects, dress shopping with the Bride and the rest of the girls. Typically the ladies will pay for their own dresses. It is optional for the Bride to pay for their hair and/or makeup, if so this can be considered a gift to the Bridesmaids. 

While you would love to have your ladies be around and helping with everything. Keep in mind that you should be respectful of their time also. Plan ahead as much as possible and have a few conference calls or get together (if you are all in the same state) throughout the planning process. 




After selecting your Bridesmaids it is now time to narrow down the Hostess and Usher roles. Being a hostesses is an important role and this should be someone fun and bubbly. They will greet your guests, accept cards at the card box, hand out programs, ensure that your key family members have arrived and are seated as you prefer. 

Tip: Your Hostesses and Usher should arrive at least 1 hour before the ceremony to begin their tasks and seating guests. Work with your Wedding Coordinator on the perfect schedule and all the logistical details to share with your Hostesses so they are well prepared for the wedding day!

Happy Planning!

Newton White Mansion - Weddings

Are you looking for a unique venue in the Maryland area without the hassle of parking in Downtown Baltimore?

Newton White Mansion is a hidden gem in Prince George's County and a great venue for a wedding and/or private affair.We have had the pleasure of working at Newton White Mansion on several occasions and decided to share a few pictures with you.

The logistics for this venue is very key! The venue is firm with time and overall timing, when working with any of their venues we highly recommend a planner on site for at least the wedding day.

Prestigious Occasions worked with both couples pictures below on planning a designing  their wedding.


 

Sweetheart Table

White Rosette Linen

Bridal Shower Ideas and Tips

She is getting married! You are excited for her and can’t wait to mark this special occasion. If you’re the maid of honor, sister of the bride, a bridesmaid, or mother of the bride or groom, it’s likely your responsibility to organize a bridal shower to celebrate the lucky bride-to-be.

Of course you want to host the best bridal shower ever, and you envision something unique and tasteful, but where will you find the inspiration? For many, the thought of bridal showers brings visions of ribbons and bows, wedding dresses made out of toilet paper, white gloves and aspic.

Bridal showers are taking place in many forms of celebrations. Whether you are planning to have a garden tea party, brunch at a loved French Bistro,  or even plan to travel for a ‘girls weekend getaway’…the important thing is that you make it memorable and something that she will love….what does she like to do?

Here are some ideas for a Bridal Shower:

Shower at a Winery

Spa/Pamper Her Shower

Beauty Shower – learn tips to enhance your beauty

Beach Getaway Shower

Cooking Class

Host a Couple’s Shower

Center around: favorite colors, flowers, dessert, vacation destination, wine, movie…there are endless options.

No matter what type of shower you’re hosting, it’s important to remember some basic rules for organizing the perfect bridal shower.

Bridal showers: The guest list
The guest list generally includes people who have a close personal relationship with the bride. If the shower is women-only, it’s customary to invite the bride and groom’s mother, grandmothers, aunts, the bride’s closest friends, and, if the shower is a larger event, you may extend the invitation to a few work friends or girlfriends of the men involved in the wedding party.

Bridal shower invitations
Set the theme and tone for the bridal shower with the invitations. Whether you would like to mail a formal invitation or use an Evite. The very important thing to remember is to have a contact person listed for guests to RSVP. There are plenty locations to shop in person or online for invitation. Try visiting www.etsy.com they have so much to offer with tons of talented crafty sellers.

Remember to send out the invitations about a month before the bridal shower so people can mark the date in their calendars.

  

The bridal shower menu
Some classic food items that will not disappoint are hors d’ oeuvres’ select several options to please the guests, just remember to have meatless options.  Dessert bars are also a great hit with guests when they have options of desserts the variety of flavors are enticing.  

Bridal shower games
Believe it or not you can forget about the games if you want to. The games at bridal showers are optional; some people enjoy regular games and not the traditional games of creating a dress out of toilet paper.

While many of the games are fun it is best to know what your bride/couple likes and if they are more centered on enjoying the time with their friends, create an agenda that reflects that.

Quick things to remember

Don’t go overboard. If you decide to have a theme, keep it simple and enjoyable for the Bride/Couple

Do have a plan. A good host keeps the event moving along comfortably.

Don’t invite people to the bridal shower who won’t be invited to the wedding. If the bride and groom are having a destination and that guests will not be traveling…that’s acceptable.  

Do make her feel special. Remember, the bridal shower is for close friends to come together and celebrate the bride/couple.