danielle pasternak, wedding coordinator, wedding planner, scranton

On this last day of 2012, I have to (as many other bloggers are, too) say a big hearty good bye to 2012 and a great big hello to 2013. It may have flown by but it was still the same 365… ok, leap year, make that 366… days it always is. But it did seem to fly by, no?

Personally, 2012 was a difficult year. My year started out with some crazy health problems that seemed to last forever. But after having my gallbladder removed as well as a stubborn kidney stone, I’m happy to say that I’m feeling much better. We also lost a very special friend and former groom this summer to Leukemia. To see someone so young (28) struggle with such a terrible disease was heartbreaking, but to see his loved ones suffer as well… man oh man.

I did have some highlights, as well. April had us traveling to Baltimore for the Borrowed Bridal Event hosted by one of our favorite filmmakers, Birdhouse Productions. I also got to have a go at being a “model” for Kristy Rice’s Trellis shoot showing off Pantone’s color of 2012, Tangerine Tango shot by our good friend Amanda of Swoon Over It. We worked on events that were featured in Bridal Guide Magazine, Style Me Pretty, and Bridal Musings. We also found out that we’ll be in The Knot magazine for their 2013 Spring/Summer issue – which is mighty exciting.

I continued to meet some amazing creatives in this industry and was especially excited be a part of this shoot created by Julie of Frosted and Kim Winey Photography up at the adorable Fiddle Lake Farms in Thompson, PA.

We also created a very fun shoot, also by Kim Winey Photography, to hopefully win a scholarship to a wedding planning workshop on the west coast. The shoot was called “Return to Innocence” and featured two young souls and their “dream” wedding. The shoot ended up winning me the FULL scholarship to the program… unfortunately, I wasn’t meant to attend as the workshop ended up getting postponed until 2013. Now there is some crazy drama surrounding it and I don’t know if I even want to go now. But we shall see, right?

Some of my favorite weddings of all time also went down this year. There were so many amazing moments that I think back on with big smiles. Particularly, Jess and Brad’s hilarious first dance, Ashley and Brian’s campy ceremony, Megan and Jeff’s amazing DIY decor and four zillion bottles of flowers (I’m guestimating), Brandon and Mark’s packed dance floor, Molly and Matt’s delicious cupcakes, Vicki and Dave’s last dance of the night to “Send Me On My Way” (my new favorite last dance song), Amanda and Tim’s touching vows, Anneliza and Adam’s sunny ceremony in the middle of a rainy day, Anna and Matt’s granny-chic style and so many more.

photo by Lalee Photography at a Pocono venue we’re looking forward to returning to for 2013

I honestly can say that I’m happy to be putting 2012 to bed and really looking forward to 2013. We’ll be going back to some of our favorite venues as well as seeing some new ones. We’ll be traveling everywhere from our Scranton hometown to Gettysburg to Philly to Wilkes Barre to Thompson and more… good thing I drive a Prius, no?

So as we close out this last day of 2012, I wish you all a lovely day and a magical evening (this is one of my favorite nights with Mr. Blue Eyes) and a very happy, healthy and hilarious new year.