MR&MRS PHOTO OP CLEVELAND MAG.

2 Weeks until we say I do, maybe a day less.. We go get the marriage license this week! I am so excited...Here we are attending the Christ Child Starlight Ball on Dec. 6th- It was a fabulous black tie event.

MY FLOWERS

We are going with carousel roses with the largest and roundest part of the rose exhibiting a pale

pink color in comparison with the edges that are much darker in color, I opted for a simple medium sized bouquet with my daughter's bouquet mimmicking mine. The children will have miniature rose boutonnieres so they are not overpowered by the larger carousel rose that Mr. Parks will sport. The mothers of the bride and groom will wear miniature rose corsages as well.

My total cost for all flowers was $150.

THE VENUE

Mr. Parks and I opted for an excellent Italian family style restaurant called Maggiano's, We were able to rent out the private wine room, the food is delectable and is served family style with a tremendous array of choices, shrimp linguine, chicken saltimbocca AND they even make a child friendly less expensive menu for any children involved- We are "stealing" this venue for $550

HIS RING

For Mr. Parks we're going to go with a traditional Tiffany & Co sterling silver ring, It's very bold yet understated and is exactly what he's wanting, you can't go wrong for a decent priced Tiffany ring priced @ $250.

MY FAVORS PART II

I figured that a little chocolate may be needed to pair with the champagne, I was lucky enough to find the miniature chocolate bars with wrappers that could be personalized, I went with the very simple monogram letter, my colors are ivory and chocolate brown so I alternated between an ivory label with a chocolate brown monogrammed letter and a chocolate brown label with an ivory monogrammed letter, I am still looking for a cute/classy little bag that I can place the chocolates & champagne in for simplicity, I also opted for sparkling grape juice for the kiddlings in lieu of the champagne!

MY FAVORS PT I

I once again wanted to go with something personal and classy and wanted to do something that was more my taste, I called my local wine/liquor store and found it a great deal to purchase cases of miniature champagne at $24.00 per case! Seriously, how can you beat that? A lot of other places I checked online were trying to sell the cases for at least $139, Ummm.. what??? Also a friendly gentleman at the store informed me that I could get as many extras or individual bottles that I wanted for just $1.49 a bottle, he even was wise enough to ask me if I was looking for a sweeter champagne or a dry champagne and let me know what was the most popular for weddings. I am going with the sweeter version, I also went in for a tasting and was pleasantly surprised, I thought of going as far as having the labels personalized, BUT the bottles are really nice enough to stand on their own.. This champagne is called Verdi and is a sweet refreshing spumante, you really can't go wrong and look at the bottle, it's perfect!

MY CAKES!

I was able to come up with a fabulous idea for my cakes! I visited one of my local upscale cake shops The White Flower Cake Shop and they are going to make miniature individualized wedding cakes for everyone's place setting, the cakes will be in my wedding theme colors of ivory and chocolate brown -will all be decorated in a different one of a kind design, and will come delivered free of charge.[The venue for the reception is right across the street from the cake shop] They will all be different flavors chosen by me and will state which flavors and filling they are with a small label discreetly placed on the bottom of the box, The boxes will sport their own ribbons in my theme colors with a tag saying thank you for joining us on our special day.
This was a great idea as we will not have to cut and box cake, and after the tremendous meal we will have, everyone can take their cake home with them in their own personalized box as they may be too full to even attempt dessert. The miniature individualized cakes cost me a total of $132.00.

MY DRESS!

I managed to find a dress last fall from the Ann Taylor line.. It is called their Regal Jacquard shift dress and was originally $178 and as the store was closing I was able to snag it for a cool $80... It has amazing distinct detail and the A-line design of the dress is flattering and timeless..

TYRA

Well Time is flying now, but I really don't mind a bit, it is Friday, I am happy and healthy and my life is GOOD, can't ask for much more then that.. Here we are on Tyra in September- We've been out and about a lot lately, We were even photgraphed for Cleveland Magazine and should appear in the entertainment section next month, I also started my E-book project today, stay tuned.. I will definitely never forget the day of my proposal on the show!

MR.PARKS

Sometimes I get weepy eyed thinking about how much I truly love this man, I just can't wait to seal our deal..

OPRAH

Here's a little Old School Oprah episode for your viewing pleasure, Steph would kill me for putting this up, she looks a lot different in her teenage years! Would you like to become a guest on a National t.v. show? Ebook coming soon!