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WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce that Forever in Love has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding Officiant and Planning Services!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

Forever in Love stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Forever in Love for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that Forever in Love is among the very best wedding officiants and wedding planners within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/forever-in-love-miami/c973e76c26ad0da7.html

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire.com, the nation’s leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Forever in Love has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Officiants and Planning!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Forever in Love is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Forever in Love is among the very best within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/forever-in-love-miami/c973e76c26ad0da7.html

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

WSVN Channel 7 – Miami- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Reported by: Lynn
Martinez – Producer: Laura Garrigan
Air Date: Thursday, November 20, 2003

We all know weddings can be extremely expensive. But you don’t have to blow out your bank account for a beautiful ceremony. In tonight’s More Bang For Your Buck, how to save on your special day.

(WSVN) — Forget going to chapel, for Pilar and Steve Martell this is a wedding South Florida style. They recently said I-do on Miami Beach.

The total cost for the ceremony – 4 hundred dollars.

"It was a great experience, you know, it was really nice and it didn’t cost a lot of money."
The couple proved marriage and money don’t have to go hand in hand by working through a company called Forever In Love.

"What people like about my services is that I offer a simple, inexpensive solution for brides and grooms."

But whether you’re looking for something exotic or traditional, there are ways to cut corners when it comes to cutting the cake.

And it all begins with timing.

Andrea Ganes of Life of the Party Productions says, " If you plan for certain days of the week, a Friday or a Sunday, most vendors can negotiate a better rate."

Time of year – think September.

"Most people are back in school. The hotel businesses are slow, wedding business are slow, musician businesses are slow."

Time of day – the earlier, the better.

This way, people will eat less and drink less.

As for location, try to have the ceremony and reception at one venue.

Not only is it less hectic, most places provide a package deal.

"And with those packages, it should include all of your rentals – tables, chairs, lennons."
For decorations, South Floridians are lucky.

Just ask Steve and Pilar, this is one area where tying the knot definitely doesn’t have to tie up your budget.

"It was beautiful."

On the other hand, if you want flowers, make sure they’re in season.

If you want to do something different, maybe candles can spark a new vibe.

"I say more candles the better. More candles, less flowers."

Less was definitely more for Scott and Pilar.

They found a simple ceremony can be very meaningful.

"It’s hard top put a price on it. This is something ill never forget."

As for entertainment, it’s also easy to save by hiring a solo performer.

Our wedding experts suggest you utilize the musician for the processional as well as the recessional.

The Miami Herald- Miami, FL

By TANYA WRAGG
September 14, 2003

When Francois and Ava Johnson decided to marry earlier this year, the couple faced a dilemma.

They hoped to share their special day with family in Jamaica, but they were not financially prepared to hold an elaborate wedding and purchase a new home.

The couple, who live in New Jersey, turned to the Internet for help. After typing in the “wedding” and “Miami,” they found a solution in Bal Harbour.

“It stuck out because it was just so simple and so straightforward,” Ava Johnson said of Forever In Love, a Web-based business run by Bal Harbour resident Linda Guaida that offers small wedding ceremonies on the beach.

“It’s great if you don’t want any frills,” she said. “I don’t have a big family and since people don’t want to fly nowadays, it was a good way to get everybody off the hook.”

Guaida, a notary public, married the Johnsons on Miami Beach on June 8 in a small ceremony composed of the couple and Ava’s mother.

Guaida’s husband, Francisco, served as the photographer.

“It was nice,” Johnson recalled. “It had rained and it was little overcast, but still it was a beautiful day. It wasn’t even five minutes away from our hotel.”

After an exchange of vows, a photo session and a popping of the champagne, the couple was on its way.

“It’s shocking that it was just so simple,” she said. “It’s just the way I wanted it to be. I have no regrets.”

That’s the type of response Guaida was aiming for when she started Forever In Love in January. Her plan was to provide a low-cost yet memorable alternative to large, expensive weddings.

Packages for weddings and vow-renewal ceremonies run from $225 (for the “I Do Package” that includes vows and a marriage certificate) to $1,399 – for the “True Love Package,” which includes champagne, prerecorded music and pictures.

The scenery compensates for the lack of frills.

“I always thought it would be really beautiful to get married on the beach,” said Guaida. “[Couples] can get married and have their honeymoon at the same time.”

The idea for Forever In Love came to Guaida while reminiscing about her wedding, which took place six years ago.

The couple spent months – and thousands of dollars – planning a ceremony that lasted only a few hours. Even worse: Now they don’t remember half of what happened.

“It went by so fast,” she said.

Forever In Love’s ceremonies are memorable, Guaida said, because couples have the freedom to be creative.

Several couples have been married in bathing suits, and most choose to write their own vows.

In one of Guaida’s favorite ceremonies, a couple decided to deliver “spontaneous vows,” she recalled.

“They cried like there was no tomorrow,” Guaida said. “They said, `We’re going to speak from the heart.’

“He started crying, and then she started crying, and then I started crying.”

Since launching the company, which gets most of its business through word-of-mouth and the Internet, Guaida has married about 30 couples.

Like the Johnsons, Pittsburgh residents Shawn and Melanie Smith came across Forever In Love’s website while searching for “alternative weddings” on the Internet. The couple married on Fort Lauderdale beach in July.

“I would recommend it to anybody, especially if you want something small,” said Shawn Smith, 29. “We wanted something small. Plus, [the wedding location] was close to a restaurant, and that’s always a plus.”

After the Smiths married, onlookers cheered and whistled.

The couple then traded their wedding gown and tuxedo for a pair of beach trousers and a bikini and went for a swim.

“We definitely had a good time,” he said.

There are perks for Guaida as well: “It’s such a nice industry to be in. [The couples] are so happy and excited about starting! their new life together.”

Caption:
PLEDGING TO STAY FOREVER IN LOVE RONNA GRADUS/FOR THE HERALD Caroline Davis beams as she marries Joel Nichols in a beachside ceremony in August performed by Bal Harbour notary public Linda Guaida. Guaida started Forever In Love for couples who wanted no-frills oceanside weddings. Celebrating with the couple are, from left, Diane Davis, the bride’s mother; Heather Haslam; Moriah Nichols (holding daughter McKayla), Joel’s sister-in-law; Christine Mattingly; Rosanne Maudi; and Heather Reier. Story, 3.

PHOTOS BY RONNA GRADUS/FOR THE HERALD THEY DO: Shawn Smith places a ring on Melanie’s finger during their wedding ceremony on Fort Lauderdale beach in July. Bal Harbour notary Linda Guaida, who owns Forever In Love, performs the ceremony.

RONNA GRADUS/FOR THE HERALD FAMILY AFFAIR: Joel and Caroline Nichols, right, celebrate with their wedding with Joel’s twin, Kris, and Kris’ wife Moriah and daughter McKayla.photo: Shawn Smith and Linda Guaida and Melanie Guaida (A), Linda Guaida (A), Joel Nichols and Caroline Nichols and Kris and Moriah and McKayla (A)

Copyright (c) 2003 The Miami Herald

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