Walking in a *MODERN* Winter Wonderland…

For her December 20th wedding, OB/GYN doctor & bride, Pamela Cates wanted to welcome her Indiana family and friends to a modern winter wonderland wedding reception set in Florida. But how do you host a winter themed wedding for snow birds from the North, without freezing temperatures, ice, and actual snow? Hire the ladies at YFA of course!

For their ceremony, Pamela & her fiancé, Dominic, wanted to engulf their guests with romance. The lights of the Omni ChampionsGate International Ballroom were turned down, dozens of pillar candles lined Pamela’s aisle, and Raining Roses built a candle topped altar that didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.
Lead coordinator, Sharia Riley, tossed the standard winter idea of all silvers and frost and challenged Pamela to go “modern bold” with sapphires, peacocks, and lots of white fur! We brought the snow to Florida; and guests entered a snow falling modern winter wonderland with live harp music.
Sharia brought up the final challenge to her team: Why do one tablescape when you can have five? The YFA ladies put our heads together to create 5 distinctly different tables that left every guest feeling like a VIP. No table was alike, not even the stemware, chargers, or flatware!
Long banquet tables with silver burst chargers and iridescent paillette chair covers and a runner.
Round tables with iridescent peacock linen and arrangements bursting with white orchids (a la Raining Roses). White velvet napkins and silver sparkle chargers.
Sapphire square tables with dark helix chargers, snow fur chair caps and napkin bands accented with sapphire brooches for the guests to take home.
Custom canopies were created for the Bride & Groom’s family. Inside the VIP tents hung a crystal chandelier, white cloth-back chairs, and each guest’s place setting held a bowl stuffed with white fur and a full bloom red rose (the Groom’s favorite color).
Close friends of the Bride & Groom sat at Vegas style booths near the dance floor. Instead of an expected arrangement of fresh flowers, Raining Roses and Wizard Connection froze a bouquet in a solid block of ice. Half of the guests sat at custom Room Service banquet booths, half sat in the trend setting ghost chair. Pamela & Dominic sat at their own custom built sweetheart table, covered in white satin and adorned with hanging crystals.
DJ Carl mixed R&B music from behind the couple's custom ice bar; and celebrity photographer, Damon Tucci, was on hand to take record of the whole evening.

Portraits from Damon Tucci Studios...

Our love goes out to Damon Tucci and his team for shooting our new "About Us" headshots. We left it up to Damon to capture our personalities and personal style, and we're thrilled with the results.
Your Fantasy Affair's Owner & Lead Event Designer, Sharia Riley

Your Fantasy Affair's Event & Marketing Coordinator, Sarah Pickar Sleeth

Damon Tucci Studios has built up their business to be one of the best, especially with their hot studio office. We're excited to see what they'll do next!

What's HOT for Ceremonies

Take it from the planners at Your Fantasy Affair, what's hot at outdoor Floridian ceremonies are colored parasols and asian fans. But to add extra spice to your parasol favors and pictures, consider decorating with paint pens. Your monogram, wedding date, initials, or a cool pattern design will do the trick!

Tips for a Successful Wedding at Home

If this isn’t your first wedding, or your budget is on the outs, you may be thinking that having your wedding at home is your only option. If you’ve explored other possibilities, and a home wedding is what you want, we have some tips to follow to ensure HOME WEDDING SUCCESS!

Take it from Melannie & Ricardo who recently married on August 8th (8-8-08)… home weddings can be fun, as long as certain guidelines are met:

Tip #1- Unless your home looks like it was taken out of “Beverly Hills 90210”, keep your guest list small and simple. Close family members and those that would have been bridesmaids/groomsmen only. Trying to squeeze hundreds of people into a typical size home isn’t realistic and you’ll end up blowing your budget by having to move things out or renting a tent. For Melannie & Ricardo, they stuck to the essentials and invited the 42 people that meant most to them. Parents, siblings, close relatives, and a handful of friends.


Tip #2 – Don’t scrimp on the linens, table rentals, and florals. Just because your wedding is at home, doesn’t mean it has to include plastic silverware, plates, Costco flowers, and people sitting on furniture all around the house. Use an area of your home to be a blank canvas and build the couture wedding of your dreams!

For Melannie, we used her parents’ pool patio as her wedding ballroom with one long banquet table and several hi-top tables for cocktail mingling. We accented the color of her non-white fuchsia dress (Who says the bride has to wear white anyway?!) with fuchsia napkins, chair ties, and place cards and tied this together with Apple Green bengaline table linens and chair pads.

We brought in more of her favorite bright summer colors with mango oranges in her centerpieces, along with more fuchsia, apple green, and white flowers.

Also remember, just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you have to resort to your PC’s printer. For Melannie & Ricardo, we enlisted the work of Sarah Hanna, artist and calligrapher to the stars to finish off her intimate look with silver inked fuchsia place cards.

Tip #3- If you’re trying to save on budget, try to have your wedding on an off-day and not a Saturday evening. You vendors are more likely to cut you great deals to book business on an “off-day” because that’s just extra money in the bank for them. Most vendors would rather be working than sitting at home, so be bold like Melannie and Ricardo and say “I do” on a Friday. Don’t worry your guests will still be there! Remember, a small guest list means that these people are the most important to you, and they won’t miss you becoming a Mrs.! …P.S.- We hear that 9-9-09 is on a Wednesday next year.

Tip #4 – Don’t try to cook a meal or bartend yourself. There are plenty of great companies out there that can come in and provide a lovely meal and can keep the party going at the bar. By hiring a professional catering company, you will keep down your own stress, and your wedding will have a much more professional, and seamless timeline.

Caterers Tony & Onofere and their masterpiece Paella!

Tip #5- If you ask Melannie and her family they’ll reply, “Hire a wedding planner!” With all the money you save on location rental fees, consider putting this towards a wedding planner to help with all the details. Having a wedding at home can be tricky; especially when you’re the only person that understands the location. Enlisting help of a professional coordinator will eliminate wedding day phone calls asking where you want tables set up, and annoying questions about deliveries and time schedules. Plus, like Melannie, you may find a way to squeeze space out of places that you never thought possible.

The Brits are Coming, The Brits are Coming!

Look out Orlando! Erika and Liam are getting married and it’s going to be a doozy!

British born Liam Rosenior, professional footballer for the UK’s Premier League, has chosen Your Fantasy Affair and the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes for his summer wedding to longtime girlfriend, Erika Quinones. The couple has also hired Raining Roses to help create custom plexiglass risers with crystals for their Wedding Gazebo ceremony. Instead of sitting in the regular garden chairs the hotel provides, Erika is going for custom benches for her guests. Flowers will be everywhere! They’re also creating custom tables in the shape of octagons, and topping that off with an octagon vinyl dance floor.

Erika is all about entertainment so we’re in talks of bringing in Cirque Du Soleil and a top band like Boys 2 Men. To satisfy the groom, the couple is also hosting an elaborate after party with an eclectic Asian theme. This is going to be quite the wedding folks! We will be sure to keep you updated with fab pictures from their coveted photographer, Damon Tucci! Stay tuned…

Tanya & Darrell: A Wedding To Remember

This past Saturday, Your Fantasy Affair (YFA) had the privilege of throwing one of Orlando’s hottest weddings in history. Tanya and Darrell were married at First Baptist of Orlando in a gorgeous white flower draped ceremony, and the reception followed at the stylish Omni Orlando Champions Gate Resort.



The wedding was everything that would remind you of Tanya and Darrell! It was elegantly set in black and ivory, with tall glass candle vases, tons of hydrangea, and a black vinyl dance floor for Darrell to boogie with his Kappa buddies. Flourish went above and beyond in creating a scene to wow the senses!

Special to their day, the YFA girls threw together the most amazing popcorn bar (Tanya’s favorite snack) with 10 types of popcorn(!); and guests were seated by votive candle escorts that twinkled almost as if on cue.




The couple also insisted on a chocolate fountain which was devoured by the 25+ children that had an absolute blast at their children’s table. To top it off, the couple’s 3 year old daughter stole everyone’s hearts in her adorable flower girl dress, dancing to the beats of DJ Carl and DJ Infa-red.

But no one could steal the spotlight from the beautiful Tanya who was the spitting image of Eva Longoria in her wedding gown from Something Blue. She was the very definition of elegance, poise, and couture.

Damon Tucci and his assistant extraordinaire, Sarah, were there to take in all the visual delicacies and to capture the love of this extraordinary couple.

America's Next Top Model

I have to say that this little has to be the cutest kid! So.....I may be a little biased since this is the love of my life, my son Jordan, but I know it's true. Just a couple of days ago, I stopped by the NEW studio of Damon Tucci and had the master do an impromptu photo shoot. Everyone who is remotely familiar with wedding photography in Florida (and beyond) is very knowledgeable of Damon's work. However, I was very impressed at how his many talents extend far beyond the wedding market. My husband and I are already thinking of when we are going for our first family portrait session! Now, who do I call to get this handsome face in the next big ad?