NJ and NY Newlyweds & Recent Wedding Couples…Attention Please!!!

You may or may not have heard about us.

 

If you got married in NJ or NY you probably have, or we might have even provided some services for your event. For over a decade we accommodate our clients daily with all their wedding needs regardless of the size and nature of their affair.

It is very true that every bride is different, every wedding is unique and every party one-of-a-kind. Being a full service event design & production company we respect that. Much like a producer of a Broadway show, we are trying to bring out our clients’ personalities by providing a diverse range of products and services for their events and accommodating their various creative needs.

I’m sure you have researched a lot of information on covering the various topics of event and wedding world. Internet, bridal magazines, platinum weddings on TV will show spectacular events, unbelievable, breathtaking set ups and much more – it’s very inspirational.

 

However, the real challenge starts when we are asked by our clients to take those ideas, twist them around and create “a reality show” out of “a fairy tale”? Due to the uncertain times in our economy we have to be pragmatic, work with our client’s budget, and yet create a one-of-a-kind, lifetime memorable event. Over and over again the couples are asking “how can we save”, “what is a common thing to do” or “what do other people do”. And although we said before that every event is unique, there is some truth hidden in those questions, some similarity in certain elements and basic configuration of each celebration still exists.

 

Attention Newlyweds! You have already done your leg work and probably experienced your share of victories and frustrations with vendors that you selected. Who would be the greatest critic and judge of everything and everybody related to the wedding planning, but the bride who just got married? Why not share this valuable knowledge with another bride to be? I’m sure she would appreciate it. Your advice would be crucial, your pictures inspirational, and the vendor information most valuable.

 

We are currently working on publishing a book, a useful guide that helps the future brides to make accurate decisions, save time and have more fun planning their wedding instead of spending days and months searching on the internet, accumulating and absorbing the overwhelming information in order to choose the right wedding professionals, the best venue, find the right theme décor, or get accustomed to the new trends. Let’s shelter them from any frustration, costly mistakes, and save them some money.

 

We invite you to be a part of our book by evaluating all the wedding professionals and venue that serviced your wedding and judge how well their job was done. Our first book is targeting NJ and NY weddings.

 

You can enlighten us with your story, make any comments, give suggestions and advice; tell us about some scrunches that took place, funny moments that made you laugh or just anything that you would find essential for the new bride to know, look out for, or be aware of. They would love to hear about your feelings, learn from your mistakes, value the victories you accomplished, share the most rewarding and disappointing moments that you experienced. Send us your wedding photos (preferably in a digital format), we will publish them in the book as well as post them on our blog and use them for the future references to show our new brides to be what can be done. 

 

We cannot do it without you!

Story to tell…

 

Born in 1972 in Tallinn, one of the oldest cities in the Baltic States, Kristina started developing her interest to floral design at the age of 16. She helped to decorate various holiday parties and events throughout Estonia. Being a 17 year old exchange student she visited the United States for the first time; saw some incredibly breathtaking events that inspired her to dream about getting into a floral design world of creating spectacular weddings and events.

Driven by the national historical heritage of foreign countries she traveled when possible, learned about different cultures, history and customs. Europe had so much to offer. Rome – a gigantic open air museum with every stone telling its one story, romantic Venice with its canals and the world famous gondolas, Mediterranean coast of Spain, historical Prague and Budapest all of that had a remarkable influence on Kristina’s early development as a floral artist.

Then it was the time for a great shift; she decided to move to USA and open up her own business. It was not an easy step. Leaving behind the loved ones at 19 years of age she came to New York and realized that turning the dream into reality was not that easy. For several years Kristina worked in the fashion industry, and took bookkeeping courses at night. When she was hired to manage the financing of a 2.5 million dollar restaurant and banquet hall construction project, she met her future husband Michael, an entrepreneur and interior designer of many years. It took her 6 hard years to open her first shop in Shrewsbury, NJ.

Working as a floral designer for the next few years, she became a house florist in several high end banquet halls, the first of which was the Shadowbrook. Special thanks, appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Zweben, the owner of the Shadowbrook, one of the oldest and most reputable wedding venues in NJ, who started recommending Kristina to his clients. Encouraged by her customers’ testimonials she decided to move her career towards event design. By that time her husband had joined the business and a full service event design and production firm was formed. In 2004 one of the most unforgettable moments of their life took place – Valerie was born. The times were great but not easy. With a newborn daughter they still managed not only to produce hundreds of exciting weddings and events a year, but also to travel to international trade shows and competitions. Kristina came to a conclusion – it was time to work on her own style and exclusive designs. She decided to get back to her teenage love of theme events.  Her long time friend Martin Vered, a founder of Metz flowers USA, helped her to achieve that goal. Not only did he supply the best product, but also went an extra mile by getting flowers that were unavailable in local flower markets.

In 2007 Flowerful Events(our floral design company) was honored to achieve the nomination by the Knot “The Knot Best of Weddings”. Kristina is known for her uniquely creative talent, outstanding reputation and utmost reliability and professionalism. Every wedding, every event that she works on she treats like it is her own.

Amazing woman, superior mother, exceptional friend – that is how I can describe my wife. We are together 24/7 for more than 15 years and I still feel like it’s our first date.

I love you

Michael

 

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Wedding Industry Spotlight

This month the Wedding Maker blog is thrilled to be able to take some time to speak with an owner of Wedding Maker, Kristina Valdmaa.

 

WM – How did you get started in event planning? How long have you been doing it?

 

KV – We have been producing event décor for more than 12 years, and we’ve produced thousands of events. All of a sudden I realized that my clients needed much more than just a floral décor. They needed guidance in almost every aspect of planning their events. Early on, we did not call ourselves event planners. We just supplied that guidance, and we did it because we wanted to help our customers to realize their vision.

                                                                                   

WM – What do you find most satisfying about your work?

 

KV – A hug from a happy bride, a letter from a satisfied customer, sometimes an invitation to the wedding or event we are planning. When the party is a success, and everybody is smiling and having a good time – I know my job is well done.

 

WM – What are the biggest challenges when planning a large wedding or event?

 

KV – Capturing client’s vision to the last detail. Coming up with all the answers that people are expecting from you. Creating a theme and taking into consideration all the factors – season, place, budget etc.

 

WM – Any memorable experience you would like to share?

 

KV - Every event has its own personality in one way or another, and is therefore memorable to me. Right now we are working on an event that I think deserves to be on the Platinum Wedding Show. It is well thought out, has a lot of personality and a lot of interesting ideas. We are having so much fun creating the design for this wedding and its theme. Our clients are great people to work with. Given all of this, I have no doubt that the event will be absolutely stunning.

 

WM – What kinds of things do you draw your inspiration from?

 

KV – I think that the main inspiration comes from my initial meeting with a client. They tell the story. Everything about them gives us a clue. When we see the bride and groom together at our first meeting we try to read and understand their thoughts. Every little detail of what they like helps us to think about the overall theme and colors. The way they hold their hands shows the level of their romance. Their background and heritage will give us a hint as to what details we might include.

Also, both, me and my husband were born in Europe, and travel a lot. Michael loves diving and used to be a scuba instructor years back. I don’t know if there is an ocean or a sea that he has not been to. We love to go to museums and historical places and visit small villages anywhere in the world. You can learn so much about the native customs, people’s habits, food, national costumes, and traditions and so on. We love to share our experience to help our clients develop their vision, or on the other hand, sometimes their experience helps us draw our vision about what they want their party to be like.

 

WM – What sets you apart from other event planners?

 

KV – As I mentioned before, event production includes planning. When I say production, I mean everything, from room décor to flowers, from lighting to linens, from props to special effects. We do most of this in-house and very seldom subcontract the work to other vendors. This way we can save money for our clients. Also, we can control everything that needs to be done and do it according to our high standards. We are not a huge company with big overhead and a lot of employees; we just have the right ones, people that have been working for us for several years. Finally, I don’t believe in putting a time limit on my consultations. How can you plan an event that you have been dreaming for all these years in two hours? I will take whatever time my client feels is necessary.

 

WM – What are the new hot trends in the industry?

 

KV – Everywhere you go two words come up – Echo and Chic. We were fortunate to do all kinds of parties, including the ones above. Using glass vases or containers vs. traditional candelabras, branches with crystals strands, flower garlands, fabric and ribbons, whatever it takes to achieve the client’s vision. There is an old saying from our childhood that “Everything old is New again.” A lot of new trends have been used before, and as they come back you need to know how to implement them in a new form to make them even more interesting and exciting.

 

WM – Any advice for young engaged couples?

 

KV - Have fun. The party is a success if you will be a guest at you own party. No matter how worried you are or will be it will all come together. Take a deep breath and relax. If you feel that putting all this together is overwhelming, find someone you can trust and delegate some of the chores. And if you don’t find that someone among your friends and relatives, look for professionals like us. For example, if you want us to design and produce your event, most likely we wouldn’t charge anything extra for providing the guidance in selecting all your vendors, finding the right venue that suits your needs, coordinating the big day, etc. Some planners will have their services in a form of a menu so you can choose which ones will help you to best achieve your goals.

 

One thing I will tell you. Before you make any decisions, you can see what and who is out there and check references, or you can simply call us for free, and honest advice.

 

WM – How can people contact you for more information about your services?

 

KV - Our customers have an access to us 24/7. You can reach us by phone, email, fax or just drive to our home and you will find a nice cup of coffee waiting for you. Feel free to contact us anytime. We enjoy our work so we live our work.

 

 

 

More than can you ever dream of – At less than you can imagine.

     Why rent life-like “silk” centerpieces for your wedding or special event?

Although renting of life-like silk centerpieces is not yet as common at weddings as having fresh flowers, it is rapidly becoming more and more popular. 

1. No more worries about your favorite flowers not being in season at the time of your wedding or room temperature being too high for the most fragile flowers that wilt.

 2.      No doubt your first concern would be – whether they look real? Working as fresh floral designers for the past ten years has influenced our ability to work with silk flowers and we can assure you that designing each centerpiece we use only the highest quality silk flowers that look incredibly real. Different materials have been added which make the flowers look natural. Our Brides are astonished when they see the life-like appearance of their centerpieces.

 3.  Although the flowers are an money-saving solution, they are not cheap in anyway. They are extremely expensive to make- and, they are made of the finest silks.

The advantage of renting silk centerpieces and ceremony arrangements is only too obvious. They are affordable for any budget, always look perfect and their variety is endless. There are also no surprises, the entire order may be previewed in advance.

Now you can accomplish “a million dollar look” that you dreamed about on your wedding day without spending thousands of dollars.

Enjoy the Magic of Silk… 

                 

Would you like to save time and money

After helping hundreds of brides for over a decade, we realized that our brides deserve a new and less time-consuming concept of planning and budgeting their wedding. We know how busy you are and how important it is to save your money and time. By using our NEW FREE PHONE SERVICE you can get a detailed cost calculation along with expert advice on how to create a truly unforgettable day.

FREE PHONE consultation and INSTANT estimate of your wedding flowers & event décor will give you advantages to:

 • Budget your wedding in the comfort of your home

 • Tips on flower décor

 • Price comparison

 • Flower availability

 • Color coordination

• Other valuable information

• Free help with vendor selection

Call us toll free at (800) 640-1930 and receive a detailed proposal.

Bridal Seminar and “Hands On” Workshop

Everything you need for your wedding “in one day, under one roof”

You will meet the most talented and knowledgeable wedding professionals with years of experience in the Wedding Industry, who will teach you how to save money and avoid costly mistakes, make the planning process easier, and ensure your wedding day is a success.Wedding Maker, an onsite event planning and design firm will show you how to transform a room according to the wedding theme, introduce you to the world famous designer  Fabio Gritti from Italy, and his latest collections of spectacular bridal gowns.  

 Win a designer bridal gown and other prizes for your wedding.

We invite you to Ocean Place Resort & Spa, Long Branch, NJ, one of the most beautiful, romantic beach destinations and perfect venue to enjoy this elegant and fashionable event on 02.10.08 from 11am to 3pm.

Don’t miss it!

Reservations are a must due to limited seating. Please send us RSVP via email: info@weddingmaker.org or call 866.616.1266 before 02.05.08.