Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Enchanted Weddings book

You may have read that I've been working on a wedding book for about 2 years now.  (of course, I have a second book and a third book in the works too!)

I started writing after several of our clients repeatedly said "You are so knowledgeable and you have to write a book for anyone planning a wedding!"  So, I started jotting notes down.  My mind is overflowing daily with pure experience from helping couples create beautiful weddings and events.  Our company has become so much more than a floral design company!  Each year, I have fully coordinated deserving couple weddings from scratch to fruition.  Every little detail, far beyond flowers was coordinated and brought to life, by yours truly.  My knowledge of which are the best wedding vendors, which rental companies we love to use, what is the best wedding venue (from barns to grand hotels) is vast.

(this hand-tied bouquet features "Juliet" and "Phoebe" garden roses and bubble gum color peonies, wrapped with ivory satin ribbon and accented with a Vintage French dragonfly pin)

There are some amazing wedding books, written by some of the most amazing floral designers, including Preston Bailey, David Tutera and Collin Cowie.  But, most of their books are simply an array of fabulous images of weddings and not much written information.  Plus, for the majority of the population planning a wedding, they are simply not weddings anyone could afford to create.  So, I set out to create a book which couples could gather and absorb information from along with a ton of inspiration to create a wedding uniquely styled just for them.

I have notepads in the kitchen, by the bed and in the living room on our coffee table.  So at any given moment, when a thought HITS me... I can take notes.  I write down everything!  It's kind of funny too, where my ideas come.  Usually right as I close my eyes and the day has ended, all of my thoughts start rolling around in my head.  (sometimes Scott will catch me up at 2 or 3 am typing away on my laptop because I just cannot control the urge to type)

You'll notice most of the big named designers have "co-authors" for their books.  So, like anything else I'm unsure of I googled "co-author" in Connecticut and came up with a lady in West Hartford, named Susan Omilian.  I wrote her an email and asked her if she could co-author my book and she said "No.  You write it and I'll edit your work."  So the writing and editing began.  She's coached me through every little aspect of writing, how to put together a book proposal and how to get a literary agent, etc.  I feel blessed to have found her and that she has worked so very hard with me.  Of course, it takes a very motivated person to write such a book in this economy.  I push forward and know that this is something I can accomplish.  I have complete faith in my writing and in my ability to sell this book to a major publisher.

Susan is now helping edit my second book.  Which is a complete secret... since the subject is so incredible and I think this might be even better than the first!

Writing a book and running a wedding company is definitely a task.  One that I simply love!  It's about managing my time.  Thank God for an amazing husband that gives the kids baths and plays with them while I type my little heart away at night.  Mostly during the winter months, where I can have my feet on the coffee table and my toes warming up from the glowing fireplace.  (I knew there was a reason I insisted upon buying a house that had a fireplace, seriously... it was number one on my list!)

I'm working on big things.  We have the most amazing (and unique) book tour planned, filled with some of the best wedding professionals all over the country!  I'm also working on a few photo shoots for Style Me Pretty blog and our blog.  So, you can see the prettiest of things and know exactly what every bloom is along with some of the most unusual stationery, cakes, etc.

2 comments:

  1. You're SO inspiring Jessica!! I know that you're going to do such great things :)

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  2. You are amazing Jessica! It is nice to see someone who can handle both family and a wedding business. (Oh I totally agree on the fireplace issue...a must have!!!! )

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