Last evening I hosted our annual Wonderful Weddings Holiday party. Each year I select a "festive" shirt and send them to the girls as part of their "invitation" (you might recognize this shirt from the previous blog!). We have grown to seven now including our two apprentices. We had a fabulous evening and the weather was perfect as we dined outside on our new front terrace (not finished yet but we're getting there!). Much of the decor was provided by Brian and Richard from Flourish Productions. And they even sent over David, one of their staff, to act as server. He made us feel special as if we were dining in a five-star restaurant!

I hope that everyone has a fabulous holiday and all the best in 2009!

A Family Thanksgiving Tradition ... and A Great Place for a Destination Wedding!

My husband Brooks is an architect and for many years I had heard him speak about the town of Seaside located in the Panhandle of Florida. He showed me some photos and it looked so lovely. So in 1997 when all other family members had other plans for Thanksgiving, we rented a small cottage and spent most of the week of Thanksgiving there. Brooks tooks many, many photographs of the houses and the pavillions and of course the beautiful white sand beach, blue water and magnificent sunsets. The following year we asked our grown daughters if they would like to join us and thus, it has become a Weiss family tradition to spend the week of Thanksgiving in Seaside! Over the years, the family of course has gotten larger so we've had to rent a bigger house! And our friends and family who receive our Christmas cards with the photos from Seaside on it always comment on how big everyone has gotten! At one point, there was only one grandchild in the photos--now there are three! Here are some photos of our time at Seaside.

Seaside has a great wedding department which I met with back in 2004. If you go to the Seaside web site and click on weddings, you can reach them. They are very accommodating and have a comprehensive list of locations and vendors.

Best Holiday Wishes to everyone and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!