What Do You Do?

What do you do when your bride calls at 9:00pm, the night before the wedding, and requests a cake topper that resembles her and the groom?

Need I mention that the couple is interracial and the bride is African-American with blonde hair.
Where in the world are you going to find a cake-topper that resembles that?!

Well, you don't panic.  You ask if she is sure and then go to work.  When I was faced with this challenge, I rushed to Michael's crafting store and made it through the doors just before they closed. I grabbed a bride/groom topper, paint and brushes and the I went to work.

The next day the couple was so excited; they were in awe of the fact that I had actually pulled it off.  First of all, God heard prayers LOL After I kicked into my "breathing life into their dreams" attitude and focused on the little details, it turned out to be a success.  I am definitely not an artist but it turned out perfectly for this couple.

Back in the Day

I'm having a Flashback Friday, so I thought I would share this old photo of me and my hubby Tony.  This photo was taken around the time when we first got married.

Setting the Table

Setting the table is one of my favorite parts of event planning.  When I get a new idea I like to practice it before I use it for an event.  How do you like this one?

Custom Aisle

I would like to share with you a custom aisle that I created for one of my brides.

For Your Sweetheart

Wedding Day Kit

When it comes to your wedding day, you'll want things to be perfect.  Your expectations will be through the rough and so will the amount of work to be done.  In order to alleviate a small amount of the stress I keep some a few things handy for emergency purposes.  I call this my "Wedding Day Kit".

• Black Socks
• Bottled Water
• Comb/Brush
• Dental Floss
• Earring Backs
• Hair pins/ ponytail holders
• Hand Lotion
• Light Snacks
• Make Up
• Medication (pain reliever
• Blotting Papers
• Breath Mints
• Cotton Swabs
• Deodorant
• Eye drops
• Hair Spray
• Krazy Glue
• Manicure Set 
• Mirror

Inspirational

I gave this a thought today; I asked myself, what gives me inspiration?  What are some things that I love and that I draw inspiration from? Below is a list that I came up with.

• God's love for me
• Family & Friends
• Laughter
• Life
• Peacocks & Color
• My internal Drive
• I love bling bling and accents
• I love bows and ribbon
• I love roses
• I love strapped shoes 
• I love purses with chain handles
• I love big handbags
• I love jewlery

Okay, enough about me. What inspires you?

My Story

Wedding and Event planning was not my first passion; in school I was really good at math and analyzing so I knew that I belonged in corporate.  However, about 20 years ago I had a vision for a friend's wedding; I approached it strategically and used some of my corporate-background skills to
properly manage the entire process.  Ultimately, the wedding turned out to be a huge success and I knew that God was up to something.

During my younger years, I focused on academics and had a small niche for arts and crafts.  I liked to pay attention to detail and give big meaning to the smaller sides of ideas.  Little did I know that God was preparing me for Erika's Elegance.  God has blessed me with the ability to utilize my corporate experience and combine it with creativity so that I can create the celebration of your dreams.

Welcome Back!

Hello! Welcome Back. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, enjoying family and friends.  I am very excited about the upcoming year and the relaunch of my blog.  This holiday season, I enjoyed visiting family and friends in my hometown and even managed to get a little work in :) . On January 1st I planned a wedding.  What a wonderful way to spend New Year's Day.  I must say that the past two weeks have been awesome.  God has given me so many wonderful ideas and has filled me with so much vision for Erika's Elegance and I am ready to share them.

You are so important to me and I thank you for growing with me during this time.  As you can see, we've put a lot of work into the page...all for YOU! We want to ensure that we deliever nothing but the best so that we can breathe life into your dreams...

2013 Here We Come!!!