The Tallahassee Association of Wedding Professionals (TAWP) has teamed with one of the area’s most popular radio stations, Star 98.9 to give away an amazing trip to the Almond Casuarina Beach Resort.  The four day, five night all inclusive stay at the premier resort is only available to Star 98.9 listeners!

All month long, Star 98 will be giving away tickets to Tallahassee’s boutique bridal event, the TAWP Bridal Expo.  Ticket winners must be at the Expo on March 1st at the Leon County Civic Center for their chance to win this dream vacation!

The all-inclusive and recently refurbished Almond Casuarina Beach Resort combines elegant, natural settings with Caribbean sophistication. Set on 10 acres of tropical gardens and soft white sands, it’s simply paradise on the south coast of Barbados. Boasting 267 rooms, the resort provides unlimited food and beverage, with a choice of á la carte or buffet-style dining in a relaxed or upscale atmosphere, and guests can take part in diversions such as kayaking, sailing and windsurfing, a half-day picnic, yoga at sunrise or simply lying in the shade of a palm tree. Providing a service team to help guests plan their perfect vacation, Almond Resorts pioneered the distinctive “For You. About You.” concept, offering diverse sightseeing options, with a wide array of natural attractions, abundant sporting choices and lively nightlife.

So be sure to listen to Star 98 for your chance to win, and check back to www.TAWP.org for all the latest about the area’s most elite wedding event  For more information about the amazing honeymoon, visit www.almondresorts.com or call 1-800 4ALMOND.

To preregister for the expo, click here.

Dear TAWP Experts-

I am trying to plan my reception, but I am stumped on what songs to use for the different events.  What are some popular songs that are used?

Thanks!

Melissa B.

Expert Response from Steve Christian, Steve’s Party Mix

Below is a list of popular songs for each event from many different genres.  Hope this helps!

FIRST DANCE SONGS
Bless This Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo
From This Moment - Shania Twain
Truly, Madly, Deeply - Savage Garden
At Last - Etta James
Always and Forever - Heatwave
All My Life - K-Ci & Jojo
Because you Loved Me - Celine Dion
Everything I Do - Bryan Adams
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
Unforgettable - Nat King Cole
In My Life - Beatles
Could I Have This Dance - Anne Murray
Don’t Want To Miss a Thing - Aerosmith
Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison
Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart

DANCE WITH PARENTS
Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross
I Loved Her First - Heartland
Butterfly Kisses - Bob Carlisle
Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Beautiful in My Eyes - Joshua Kadison
Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart
Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison
Daddy’s Hands - Holly Dunn
Daddy’s Little Girl - Al Martino
Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion

SONGS FOR GARTER/BOUQUET TOSS
Rocky - Soundtrack
Girld Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
I’m Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
Legs - ZZ Top
Ladies Night - Kool & Gang
Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate
Bad Boys - Inner Circle
Bad To The Bone - George Thorogood

CAKE CUTTING
Love and Marriage - Frank Sinatra
Chapel of Love - Dixie Cups
I Got You babe - Sonny & Cher
Love Me Tender - Elvis
Happy Together - Turtles
Hit Me With Your Best Shot

MOST REQUESTED SONGS - ALL TIME
Electric Slide - Marcia Griffiths
Wild Thing - Tone Loc
Marcarena - Los Del Rio
Celebration - Kool & The Gang
Super Freak - Rick James
YMCA - Village People
Play That Funky Music
Respect - Aretha Franklin
Ice Ice baby - Vanilla Ice
Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
Thats The Way I Like It - KC & Sunshine Band
Brickhouse - Commodores
Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Old Time Rock & Roll - Bob Seger

MOST REQUESTED - RECENT
Low - FloRida
Soulja Boy - Soulja Boy
Cha Cha Slide - DJ Casper
Cupid - Cupid Shuffle
Yeah - Usher
Hey Ya - Outcast
Honk Tonk Badonkadonk - Trace Adkins
Mambo #5 - Lou Bega
I’m a Believer - Smashmouth
Here For The Party - Gretchen Wilson
Don’t Ya - Pussycat Dolls

TOP REQUESTS - DECADES
            60′S
Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
Can’t Get No Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
Mony Mony - Tommy James
Mustang Sally - Wilson Pickett
Respect - Aretha Franklin
Hang On Sloopy - McCoys
Crazy - Patsy Cline
Proud Mary – CCR

        70′S
Sugar Sugar - Archies
Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
Rock & Roll Pt.2 - Gary Glitter
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk
You Can’t Hurry Love – Supremes

       DISCO
Stayin Alive - BeeGees
YMCA - Village People
That’s The Way I Like It - KC & Sunshine Band
Brickhouse - Commodores
Celebration - Kool & Gang
Play That Funky Music (White Boy) - Wild Cherry
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
Get Down Tonight - KC & Sunshine Band
You Should be Dancing - BeeGees
Superfreak - Rick James
We Are Family - Sister Sledge

      80’s
Billie Jean - Michael jackson
What I Like About You - Romantics
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Love Shack - B-52’s
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
Our Lips Are Sealed - GoGo’s
You Can’t Touch This - MC Hammer
Come On Eileen - Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Brass Monkee - Beastie Boys
Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
We Got The Beat - GoGo’s

    50’s and other oldies
Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley
The Twist - Chubby Checker
Jailhouse Rock -Elvis
Tequila - Champs
Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin
Rock-N-Robin - Tommy Helms
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck berry

   LAST DANCE SONGS
Last Dance - Donna Summer
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
I’ve Had The Time of My Life - Bell Medley & Jennifer Warnes
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Could I Have This Dance - Anne Murray
Goodnight Sweetheart – Spaniels

Fall has been a recurring theme in Katy and Tyler’s relationship—they met in the fall, got engaged in the fall and got married in the fall.  College sweethearts, they first met at a Halloween party, so when it came time to propose, Tyler felt including a Halloween element was more than fitting.  To surprise Katy, Tyler arranged to have a jack-o-lantern carved with the phrase, Will You Marry Me?” left lit in a pumpkin patch.  That evening he took Katy out to find their annual Halloween pumpkin and after a thorough search, he pointed her towards the special pumpkin.  After getting down on one knee, Katy joyfully said “Yes!”.

Planning a fall wedding, Katy gave herself 13 months to pull off the elegant southern themed event.  The focus of her planning was, “wanting our guests to feel really welcomed.  While we knew that this was an important day for us, we also recognized that this was a day to honor our family and friends who had come from near and far.”  Katy and Tyler faced a major challenge in planning their wedding—they were living in separate cities.  Tyler drove to Tallahassee on weekends and they would schedule vendor meetings and planning activities back to back so he could be involved in the process.

The day of the wedding, Katy and her bridesmaids gathered at the Governor’s Inn for their preparations.  The girls took over the Chiles suite with their makeup artist, dresses and yummy brunch.  Once ready, the girls headed to the streets for a quick portrait session.

Breaking with tradition, the couple chose to see each other before the ceremony and have some quiet time together.  Their photographer, Terri Smith, was assisted by fellow photographer Linda Long, and the two arranged for the couple to have the big reveal at the site of their first date, Andrew’s restaurant  in downtown Tallahassee.

“Our favorite part of the day was meeting each other before the ceremony for pictures. It was so meaningful to get to see each other just by ourselves and with the photographers. We got some nice shots and it helped calm our nerves. It meant more to us than seeing each other for the first time in front of 200+ people.”

After spending some time with the couple in downtown, the entire bridal party hopped on a trolley and headed for FSU’s Westcott fountain for more photos.

Once finished with portraits, it was time to head to the church—St. Paul’s Methodist. The church was decked out in amazing floral designs by their florist, Missy Gunnels.  The sweet, simple ceremony was a true reflection of the couple’s intimate devotion for one another.

After the ceremony, the party moved to the FSU Alumni Center for a candlelit reception.  The couple stopped outside for a few romantic nighttime portraits before heading in for their first dance.

“We served heavy hors’doeuvres and drinks, hoping that this would create more of a party atmosphere, which it did! Guests were out of their seats and on the dance floor.”  DJ, Steve Christian definitely helped with Katy’s wish, supplying a variety of great music that kept the party moving all evening!

Looking back, Katy says she would not change a thing and advises future brides, “Probably the most important thing to remember is to be patient when choosing vendors.  We met with many different people and found the best that we felt would suit our style and make the wedding day all that we had hoped for.”

TAWP Vendors:

Florist: Missy Gunnels Flowers

Photographers: Terri Smith Photo, Terri Smith

Long’s Photography, Linda Long

DJ: Steve Christian, Steve’s Party Mix

Long’s Photography is the husband and wife team of Linda and Olyn Long. Together, they founded Long’s Photography in 2004 with a vision and a drive to create wedding images that were not only creative and unique, but that captured the wedding day and all its emotions. Having been avid amateur photographers and newlyweds, they came to the table with an artistic style and keen attention to detail.

After much experimentation, Linda and Olyn created their own technique of “relaxed portraiture” which combines photojournalism and documentary coverage with more formal portraiture techniques. The result is images designed to make the subjects look their best, while capturing the winks, funny faces, passionate glances, excitement and joy that is a couple on their wedding day. Long’s Photography set itself apart by letting the personalities and love of their couples shine through in their images.

What started as a part-time weekend business quickly grew to be a full-time enterprise. Linda handles the day-to-day operations of the business including image editing, album design and client relations. Olyn is the techno-guru, handling all our technology– from the website to the shopping cart and the camera gear. Both Linda and Olyn photograph weddings and portraits– together and apart.

The portrait side of Long’s Photography took a very personal turn in 2006 when Linda and Olyn welcomed their first son into the world. As new parents, a new window of ideas opened and Long’s Photography launched their first studio space. Photographing children is not only rewarding, but it is also heartwarming. From infants to seniors, Linda and Olyn work to preserve moments in time that both children and parents can treasure.

Linda currently serves on the board of the Tallahassee Association of Wedding Professionals and has been elected Vice President of the organization for 2009. She also serves on the board of the Tallahassee Professional Photographers’ Association. Their work has been featured in Tallahassee Wedding & Reception Magazine and they were honored with the cover shoot for the 2008 issue.

To view samples of their work or for additional information, visit their website at www.LongsPhotography.com or their blog at www.LongsPhotographyblog.com

The Tallahassee Association of Wedding Professionals is proud to announce that on March 1st, 2009, TAWP will introduce Tallahassee to a new kind of bridal experience.  Tallahassee’s leaders in the wedding industry are hosting a boutique style bridal expo at the Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center.  This unique expo gives brides a chance not only to gather information about local vendors, but also gain knowledge and experience about the entire wedding planning process!  Unlike other bridal shows, only TAWP certified vendors will be exhibiting at the Expo, so brides will only be presented with top quality vendors.

Each vendor will have a showroom to show brides examples of their work, to give brides the opportunity to stroll through a mall like atmosphere and chat with vendors they are interested in.  With the large format booths, not only will vendors have more area to show what they do, but brides will have a better opportunity to truly “shop”!

Brides will also have an opportunity to learn from local professionals.  TAWP vendors in each category from planners to photographers and travel agents will be presenting informational programs in the center area– teaching couples what to look for in vendors, what questions to ask and what some common mistakes might be.  So, girls, feel free to bring along the fiance, mom, sister or bridesmaid– they can get a mini-course in wedding planning while you shop the aisles!

Brides will also have an opportunity to win doorprizes– from free gifts to discounts on services, the doorprizes are a huge bonus!  Brides tickets are only $9, with each accompanying ticket at only $5!  Doors open at 1:00pm and the show ends at 4:00pm with a bridal fashion show.  Pre-registered brides will also receive FREE parking, so be sure to register online at TAWPExpoRegistration!

Any questions can be directed to the Expo chairperson, Linda Long at Linda@LongsPhotography.com.  Vendors interested in participating may contact Edna Hall at flowrmaker@aol.com