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2/9/09
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m a e r D Weddings The bride and groom share a moment together at Dunaway Gardens before joining their guests for dinner and dancing.
The Williams-Collins wedding was an evening ceremony at First United Methodist Church of Newnan.
Best friends become husband and wife BY NICHOLE GOLDEN nichole@newnan.com
Groom Randolph Collins gives a joyful hug to his nephew Bobby Collins, who served as ring bearer at the April 2008 wedding.
Bride Amanda Williams gathered with her bridesmaids, dressed in ocean blue gowns from Bridemaid’s Bow-tique. Williams’ attendants were, from left to right, Sarah Jones, Kristy Williams, Anna Lauzon, Robyn Bryde, Jennifer Beegle, Emily Lauzon, and Morgan Cawthorne. The bride carried ivory vendela roses, and the bridesmaids carried a mix of white hydrangea and pink roses.
Amanda Williams and Randolph Collins tied the knot on an April evening, followed by a reception at historic Dunaway Gardens in Newnan. Both the bride and groom grew up in Newnan, but didn’t meet until later in life. “Having lived in Newnan throughout our lives, it was interesting that we hadn’t met before. Several friends suggested us to one another, but I didn’t follow through,” said Amanda. “Time passed and we were introduced through a mutual friend. We went on our first date and have been together ever since.” Randolph proposed to Amanda at the family lake house on Lake Martin, and it remains the couple’s favorite place to spend the summers. Amanda and Randolph selected April 12, 2008 as their wedding date, and were married at First United Methodist Church in Newnan with some 400 guests in attendance. Both Amanda’s gown and veil were purchased at Bridals by Lori in Atlanta. The dream wedding dress for Amanda was a strapless gown of silk organza with a sweetheart neckline and mermaid silhouette. The bridal bouquet consisted of ivory vendela roses. The bridesmaids wore ocean blue dresses and carried a mix of white hydrangea and pink roses. “The wedding flowers were done by Murphey’s Florist and they did an exceptional job,” said Amanda. The groom was involved in the planning process. “Randolph had special interests in the wedding plans and helped with some decisions. He wanted to make sure he seated our mothers (Mrs. Katie Williams and Mrs. Carlene Collins) during the ceremony. That was of special interest to him,” said Amanda. For the bride, the most fun part of planning the wedding was “being creative and making the selections.” While there always stressful parts of planning, such as narrowing guests lists, Amanda offers one important piece of advice to brides-to-be. “Don’t get overwhelmed by the wedding plans and enjoy your engagement,” she said. Following their ceremony, the Collins enjoyed a reception at Dunaway Gardens on Roscoe Road. The wedding party, friends and family dined and danced under a tent. The bride’s cake a was a lovely five-tiered creation topped with pink roses, and the groom’s cake was a yummy caramel. Both were by Sweet Sensations. A band organized by Doug Kees of Musicology played for the wedding guests. “My favorite memory of the day was the excitement of having our family and friends celebrate in our marriage, and of course marrying my best friend,” says Amanda. “ It was wonderful to see the months of planning come together.”
Photos of the Williams-Collins wedding were provided courtesy Bob Shapiro Photography, Newnan.
The dream wedding dress for Amanda was a strapless gown of silk organza with a sweetheart neckline and mermaid silhouette, and ribbon accent at the waist.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
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2/9/09
11:29 AM
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2B — The Times-Herald — Sunday, February 8, 2009
Dream Weddings
A manor wedding for the McClungs By NICHOLE GOLDEN nichole@newnan.com Newnan native Valerie Dombrowski met her future husband Keith McClung at work at AFLAC in Columbus. They first met in 2000 while working in the same department, and had several mutual friends. In 2002, they began dating and were became engaged in 2007. The couple chose to have out-of-town wedding at the “beautiful” Gabrella Manor in Birmingham, Ala. (www.gabrellamanor.com ). They had an outdoor ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. on March 15, 2008. For Valerie, the most enjoyable aspect, and also the most stressful part of her planning centered around the wedding dress. “The most fun part of planning our wedding was going dress shopping in Atlanta with my two sisters. They were both so supportive and excited for me and it really made the experience wonderful,” said Valerie. “The most stressful part of planning our wedding was having the wrong dress ordered and being told that the correct one would not be in until two weeks prior to my wedding. Luckily, the situation was resolved and everything worked out well.” Valerie selected a café and ivory satin gown from a Columbus store. It was an Allure design with a v-neck halter, silver beading and a chapel length train. Her veil was finger tip length and trimmed in ivory satin. “I ordered my veil from www.wedding-veil.com and had a wonderful experience,” said Valerie. Valerie says that Keith did a good job being involved in the wedding planning process. “Of course, there were things that he didn’t have an opinion on, but the things he did, we worked well together on,” added Valerie The wedding reception was also held at the manor. For their first dance as husband and wife, the McClungs danced to “Only You” by The Platters. “My dad and I danced to ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ by Stevie Wonder, but then cut to ‘Heart of Rock ‘n Roll’ by Huey Lewis
Valerie McClung dances with her father, Mike Dombrowski, at her March 15 wedding reception.
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Valerie Dombrowski, formerly of Newnan, and Keith McClung were married in March 2008 at a Birmingham, Ala. manor. She carried a bouquet of bright green hydrangea, pink and yellow tulips, purple calla lilies and pink ranunculus.
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Sunday, February 8, 2009 — The Times-Herald — 3B
Dream Weddings
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NOW OPEN SUNDAYS FOR CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH 12:00-2:30 Keith McClung and Valerie Dombrowski, a Newnan native, were married in an outdoor ceremony.
A manor wedding for the McClungs MCCLUNGS Continued from page 1 and the News. My two sisters and my mom joined us during the second part of my dance with my dad and it was wonderful,” said Valerie.
Valerie is the daughter of Mike and Lynn Dombrowski of Newnan. The wedding cake was a strawberry cake with white icing and pink and green ribbons. The groom’s cake was a yellow cake with chocolate icing in the shape of a shamrock. The wedding was held
two days before St. Patrick’s Day. Another special touch for the wedding day was a surprise from the bride’s older sister, Andrea. “She had taken one of our black and white pictures and put it in a beautiful frame with a silver mirrored engraveable mat. This was our ‘guest
The groom’s cake for the DombrowskiMcClung wedding in March was a unique shamrockshaped cake.
Shades of brown for bridesmaids’ dresses color choice for ‘08 By STAFF REPORTS closeup@newnan.com From “truffle” to “chocolate,” brown was the top color choice for bridesmaids for weddings featured in the Times-Herald in 2008. Regardless of season, brown shades seemed to appeal to local brides when selecting gowns for their friends, or as an accent color for their weddings. Some brides chose sashes of different colors such as watermelon or blue for the brown dresses, or even chocolate sashes for champagne gowns. Other popular colors were sage green or clover green, fuchsia and azalea pinks, and ocean blue. Cream and ivory roses were the most popular choices for bridal bouquets, followed by calla lilies and roses with colored tips. For bridesmaid bouquets, mini calla lilies, and mango calla lilies, as well as cream or white roses were used most often. Most brides selected strapless wedding dresses, or halter style gowns.
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Bring us your social news The Times-Herald publishes free announcements of engagements and weddings in the Sunday Close-Up section. Please submit announcements as soon as possible after the wedding and no later than 60 days after the wedding. Wedding photographers can easily submit a digital photograph to the Times-Herald within this time frame. After this time there will be a $35 fee, and photos will be published in black and white with additional fees for color. Engagement announcements may be submitted any time prior to the wedding and generally appear in the newspaper within two to three weeks. Please submit your engagement announcement at least three weeks prior to the wedding to ensure publication before the wedding. Wedding and engagement announcement forms may be obtained from the front desk at the TimesHerald, 16 Jefferson St. in Newnan. Questions about the policy may be addressed to Close-up Editor Nichole Golden at 770-253-1576 or to closeup@newnan.com
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book’ and is now displayed in our home,” said Valerie. Selecting just one favorite memory would be difficult for Valerie. “Luckily, I was able to stay calm and enjoy every minute of our wedding weekend and have many fantastic memories. I will never forget how touched I was by the number of people that made the trip to Birmingham to be with us or how I felt when I saw Keith for the first time that day.” In addition to the dance with her father, Valerie has another special memory. “I will also always cherish the memory of my dad ‘giving me away’ and making me laugh because he sounded like the dad in the movie ‘Steel Magnolias’.” Valerie encourages other brides to not get wrapped up in the material things when planning their big day. “Stay focused on what is truly important: you and your soon-to-be husband,” she said. “Once the
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2/9/09
11:38 AM
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4B — The Times-Herald — Sunday, February 8, 2009
Dream Weddings
‘Party planner to the stars’ gives advice to brides By ANGELA MCRAE For the Times Herald When reality TV star DeAnna Pappas of Newnan recently started a new job as a host on the Lifetime TV show “Get Married,” she found herself working alongside one of the most famous names in the wedding industry, event planner Colin Cowie. Known as the “party planner to the stars,” Cowie has designed events for some of the biggest names in show biz, including Oprah Winfrey, Elton John, Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aston. On Jan. 9, Cowie spoke at AmericasMart Atlanta’s January market and promoted his new TV show. Cowie is legendary for the lavish weddings he has planned, some costing as much as $25 million, where cakes of $75,000 are not unheard of. The event planner spoke about some of his recent weddings, including one last year in Columbia, Mo. He showed slides of elaborate structures built on the family’s property to be used just for the wedding day. One of these was a stone façade chapel with a fountainflanked aisle. Dinner guests were treated to a meal of Grilled New York
get your check and contract attended the Cowie presentaback in the mail,” said Newnan tion. To me, he shows it's not resident Susan West, who all about the money.”
Steak by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar and Grill, a Manhattan restaurant Cowie likes. He noted the wedding had 600 guests and 300 waiters. “The most important thing is service,” he said. The massive wedding cake, a silver leaf design, sat on a base that was the reverse of the cake, giving the illusion of a cake rising from a four-inch pedestal on the floor. Cowie joked that the cake pedestal was, in fact, bolted to the floor because “there’s a limit to my magic.” Guests at the wedding danced from midnight to 6 a.m. on a dance floor with a special lighting installation. Cowie said “rock star bartenders” here on hand to make “well-crafted cocktails,” and a fireworks show was part of the extravaganza. “It wouldn’t be a wedding without fireworks, would it?” he said. Fireworks were also part of the fun for a couple who married in Marblehead, Mass., and the bride and groom used an antique canon lit by the bride to kick off the fireworks. At one of the wedding dinners, guests were ferried across a harbor in vintage boats to enjoy an old-fashioned clambake under a tent it took weeks
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to install. The bride and groom’s initials were on bibs used by guests at the clambake. At the wedding reception, Cowie used four different designs for the tables. Three used tablecloths — a nautical stripe, an Aztec-Indian print, a blue toile — and the fourth featured a plain wooden table with beautiful napkins. Cowie says he likes to mix the designs and even use different floral arrangements. He noted that “it doesn’t cost any more to have four different looks.” The cake at this wedding was a masterpiece, with decorations on each tier made from wax molds. The seven-foot-twoinch cake, which required some five to six months of work, looked like antique jasperware. During a Q&A session with the audience, Cowie noted that his success comes from working with teams of great people, and "my direction always comes from the client." How far in advance is he booked? Thankfully, he said, he's still booked quite far ahead considering the economy. He likes to work nine months in advance and generally plans about four weddings a year, 810 parties, and a couple of weddings where he designs but the staff implements his plan and
he doesn't personally attend. For new brides wanting to assemble a “tabletop wardrobe” of their own, Cowie says to start with a great piece of white china, a couple of different placemats, good silverware, good quality glassware, and then add in other things like colorful tumblers, more placemats and runners. And don’t be afraid to mix fine old pieces with items from Crate and Barrel. One woman wanted to know how he gets around working with churches that may have strict rules about décor. His advice: "Don't take on the Roman Catholic Church,” he said with a grin. “It's not going to work." Instead, Cowie suggests brides spend their money and resources where guests will spend the most time. There’s really not anyone he can’t work with, Cowie said, but he has one rule he follows without exception: "If you make anyone on my staff cry, you get your check and your contract back." Cowie is also the author of a new wedding planning book, “Colin Cowie Wedding Chic.” “I was so impressed with the respect he shows toward his employees and how if you make one of them cry, you will
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10B — The Times-Herald — Sunday, February 8, 2009