Where have I been?

Sorry I have not updated my blog in a few days. Well right now we are between weddings. I find August and September to be pretty slow months for weddings because well honestly its just so darn hot. Oh and the fact that school starts back and everyone is getting back into the swing of things. I know that is how it is at my house. The usual juggling of getting kids to school, gymnastics, feeding then (that's harder then you would think on a busy week), and homework. I do find these moths to be very productive planning months. I have the time to make all those calls and contacts for the upcoming weddings and plan out the details of those as well. I also get to meet new vendors during this time of year. I am excited to be able to find new people to put into the mix. For example I have meet Virgina a wonderful florist in San Marcos. She does not like to deliver to Austin just because it leaves her shop unattended for a couple of hours. That is her only draw back. I have rarely met a florist with the passion she has for her work. And she is so great with people. She understands what weddings cost and really tries to work with you on your options in your budget. And when she does not know the answer she does not mind telling you that and getting back to you. For example when asked about a rumor of a flower running out she said its not something she had heard, but she would call her supplier and a few others in the area to check on things. I appreciate this honesty. At the same time she told us if the rumors are true then we could use the following options to get a very similar effect. I like her and hope we get to work together more in the future.

(Flower photo is from internet search not Virgina's work. She is sending me photo's and I will update it then)

Keep your eyes open

I have been talking to a new web company and I have decided its time to give my website a new look and a little more professional feel. I think I do well with what I have but there is so much more I want to do with it and the place hosting it now does not allow me that. I found an old friend that has his company off the ground now and he can take over hosting and design my new site. I can't wait to see what they come up with. So keep your eyes open in the next week or so I think I will it up and going.

Intoducing...

My kids. Christina is 4 and a princess and a Diva and all that it entails. She knows what she wants and she does what she can to get it. She does not realize she is only 4. I love her for it, even if I think I have a few grey hairs now with her name on them.

Isaiah is 6 and when he finds something he loves he is into it completely. We are now deep into dinosaurs and snakes right now. Last year it was whales and fishes and sharks. How are they a part of my business, well besides that my daughter thinks it is awesome that her mommy helps brides they are just cute and keep me going and any proud parent has to share some photo's of their kids.

The Man Behind the Scenes

Let me introduce you to the man that is behind the scenes. While you might see him at one of my weddings, most likely he is more often working for me sight unseen. This is my husband Allen. Oh and I know this is not his best picture but until he lets me take a better one this is what he gets. He not only encouraged me to actually put a name to my business and get it off the ground he has always supported me with it. He watches the kids for me, runs errands, and picks things up for me as needed. He is also on call as the manual labor for larger weddings where we need a lot of set up. He has run to pick up coffee and deliver it so that it arrived at the right time and hot. That is just the kind of guy he is. This company would not run as smoothly without him. Now for who he is. When not being the wonderful and supporting husband and excellent dad that he is he teaches Spanish to pre-schoolers and is the teaching assistant in a kindergarten classroom at a school in south Austin. He was born and grew up in Austin, until I drug him to San Marcos 7 years ago. So he is also my personal map quest when needing to find something in Austin. He is also a music fanatic. I tease that my husband has a mistress, and her name is music. He plays guitar and sings. He is also the man to have on your trivia team. He is full of useless knowledge (okay some of it is use full). He DJ's some with my brother and is great at it. It all goes back to his knowledge of music. So if you see him around thank him for his behind the scenes help. It takes those behind the scenes to make the rest happen.

Engaement Ring Scare

No it was not mine. I decided to clean out my car today after dropping off my daughter at school. It was a busy week last week, and we ate out more than in sadly. The results were drink cups, straw wrappers, and various toys all over the back seat. Not to mention dirt, and crumbs from who knows what. I swore that when I had kids I would not have a trashed out car, but who am I kidding its going to happen. That aside. I just got the last of the trash out when a young lady in a black SUV pulled up was frantically talking on her phone. She opened the side of the vacuum container at the car wash and started digging. She found it. She hung up was almost in tears and had that frantic breathing going. I asked her if she was okay. She said she was she had forgot she took her engagement ring off and put in the console of the car and vacuumed it up. Fortunately the place did not lock the vacuum and she got it back. I told her to breathe and calm down before she got back on the road and was glad she found her ring. Then I got into my car and left. A block away I kicked myself I never gave her my card, or even asked if she was planning a wedding. I was just so relieved for her that she found her beautiful ring. I guess its the case of the bride that got away. I should have offered her my services. Oh well at least she has her ring and lesson learned don't put your good jewelery in the console before vacuuming it out. So if anyone out there knows the bride that lost her ring at the Guadalupe Street car wash tell her to email me I owe her.

Introducing Becky Sosa

Okay this is hard for me. I am not so good at bragging about myself, but let me at least tell you a little about myself. I am 34 years old and have been married to my wonderful husband for over 6 years now. We have two beautiful children that we adopted in 2005. Isaiah is 6 and in the first grade and Christina is 4 and in Pre-K. I live in San Marcos Texas. I have been here since I was ten years old and in that time I have met so many wonderful people. While our little town is growing all the time it still has the friendlier feel of a small town. I graduated from San Marcos High School. I attended Louisiana State University as a vocal performance major. I came home only after a semester and attended Southwest Texas State University (now TSU). At SWT I majored in Theatrical Design with an emphasis on Costumes. So what do you do with that degree in the real world? I went into various customer service positions, including mutual fund specialist, and then into accounting for an insurance company. My creative side always screaming to get out. I was on the directing staff for three community theatre productions. And would help anyone with their wedding as it came up. Turns out I loved weddings and saw them as theatrical productions. So in time my husband and family decided that I needed to look at wedding planning as a possible career. So in March of 2007 that is just what we did and started stress free events. I didn't want to limit myself to just weddings. I have to admit in all honesty weddings are my favorite events to plan, but don't worry I can pull off a birthday party, or special dinner party without hesitation. Hope this helps you know more about me. Ask me questions, I am willing to share.

Who is Teresa?

Here is the first introduction to the staff of Stress Free Events. Teresa Lauderdale is not only my assistant, she is my little sister. She currently is 18 years old and a recent graduate of San Marcos High School. In high school she was a dancer on the award winning Diamond Line Dance Team. She also was an officer on that team for the last two years. She often helped with costumes, choreography, and music preparation for the dances. She is very creative (I wish I had a picture of the shoes she decorated for last years contest they were outstanding). During that time she also auditioned for the HTE Kick and Dance Academy. Making those teams allowed her the opportunity to travel with them to Paris France. At this time HTE dance has given Teresa a place on the staff of HTE that Teresa is proud to be a member of. She is currently attending Austin Community College to further her education. During her time at SMHS she also had several opportunities to work with a fabulous Austin area florist during some of their more hectic seasons. Teresa has an eye for details and takes every effort needed to make something look perfect. She is a natural leader and can step in and take charge of any situation she is faced with. I am a proud big sister that she is so willing to work with Stress Free Events. She is an asset to our team, and is willing to do what it takes to make every wedding special.

Who is "Stress Free Events"

Stress Free events is an event planning company that is the dream of Becky Sosa. Okay yes that is me, so I won't be talking in the third person from here on out. I love planning events, birthday parties, showers, holiday parties, anything. I have to admit though that weddings were and are still my passion. I love weddings. It's the ultimate party. I started this company in the hopes of earning a little extra money while doing something that I really enjoyed doing, and something I could be proud of doing. While every wedding is different and unique they are all very special to me, and they all have the same ending. A happily married couple. In the next few weeks I want to highlight the people that make up this company. I don't do this on my own. I have a great group that work with me. I want to give each one of them a highlight and hope to let you know a little more about the people coming to help make your day a little more stress free.

(photo by Jennifer Nichols)

Amy and Cory July 12th 2008

This was another fun wedding. I have to appologize for how long its taking me to Blog this wedding. I should have done is sooner and while it was all fresh. I can say for sure that we had a blast at this black and white affair at Mercury Hall.

The reception was held at Mercury Hall following the church ceremony in South Austin.

They had a friend of theirs that was a karaoke DJ that keep the music spinning throughout the whole evening. He did an outstanding job.

Matt Montovlo was our photographer and he was great. He really captured the fun and outgoing couple.

Carino's catered and I have to say I was very happy with them. The food was great and they really worked with the couple making sure they had plenty of food for all the guest.

I can't say enough good things about the people at mercury Hall they were great and it was a joy working with them. I can't waif for my next wedding there.

Amy and Cory thanks for letting us be a part of your wedding.

Alexis and Tim May 24th 2008

This was such a wonderful wedding. Alexis and Tim were great to work with and Star Hill Ranch was the perfect setting for their Texas wedding. Alexis paid great attention to details and that really made for a great experience for their guest and made setting up and coordinating this wedding a real pleasure. It had a great Texas feel for all their out of state guest but there was nothing in the wedding that said country western. It was a very classy and fun wedding.

Here is a list of vendors that helped make the day so special.

Location: Star Hill Ranch - this was such a great venue. I have several more weddings that will be here in the next year and I look forward to each one. It beautiful well cared for and Adam was so easy to work with

Catering: Dagar's Catering - I have to say these guys do it all. We had stations set up for this wedding and they were great. Food and Staff both. I can't complain about a thing.

Cake: Michelle's Patisserie - The cake was simple and elegant. Getting to try wedding cakes is one of the better parts of my job. Michelle's was there on time, set up and it tasted so good.

Alcohol: Wildwood Spirits - We worked with Josh he was easy to reach most the time and I would definatly use them again.

Photography: Jennifer Nichols I don't think I can say enough about Jennifer and her husband CJ. The photos are wonderful and they were the easiest photographers to work with. Not only did they get great photo's they did it in such away that the guest never were bothered by them. I even caught them dancing in a line of wedding guest for some awesome photo opportunities. I may be wrong but I think they were having fun.

Music: A-Town DJ; Los Brilliantes Both were great captured the feel of the wedding and A-Town kept the party going.

Shuttle: Star Shuttle - Not the easiest to get a hold of, but once I had the right contact information they did a great job. I recommend them especially with a wedding so far out from downtown allowing guest to enjoy themselves but get home safely.

Flowers: Visual Lyrics They were beautiful arrangements. Alexis said they were not always the easiest to get a hold of, but I had no problems the week of the wedding.

Officiant: Sam Riccobene - Very straight forward and easy to listen to. He had some other commitments but never made us feel rushed the night of the rehearsal knowing he had somewhere else to go.

Hair: Anne Shackelford, Hairy Situations - All I can say is the hair looked great

Make-Up: Makeup by Adrienne (Adrienne Pitkin)- they make up did as well.

Bad Blogger- Austin Rare Feature

I have been a very bad blogger and for that I apologize. I have had several great weddings since my last post and I want to add at least some brief details about both of them. I will do that in the next couple of post.

In this post I just wanted to mention that Alexis and Tim's wedding at Star Hill ranch was featured in Septembers Issue of Austin Rare. Here is a link to the mag. http://issuu.com/raremagazine/docs/september2008 (page 115).

Thanks to Jennifer Nichols who's wonderful photo's captured the event so well and got it included in the magazine. And thanks to Alexis all your hard work and planning made my part of coordinating the wedding such a joy.