My Mom

I’m headed to the airport to drop my mom off--she’s heading back to the east coast. I’ve had two great weeks of spending time with her which is always a gift to me because it’s one-on-one time that I truly cherish. Dinners, seeing friends, taking walks on the beach, hanging out with my new little dog Lucy, watching TV at home, having long talks and just really getting a chance to enjoy the simple things. I always hate saying goodbye to my mom but I also know that goodbye is not really goodbye because I’ll see her in a couple weeks back in Los Angeles. I love my private time and my one-on-one time with her; I’m very spoiled by it and sometimes I don’t want to share it, so they’re great moments for me and I cannot wait until her next trip. I beg people to spend time with their families, especially their moms because when you need nurturing, support and love, it’s there for you--embrace it.

My Bridal Collection is Launching in Michaels!

I am incredibly excited that my David Tutera Bridal Collection is launching in all Michaels stores next month (March) because it includes incredible products that adds sparkle, personality and everything a bride is hoping for on her wedding day. Brides can now really can walk down the aisle with confidence, knowing that they were able to find something within their budget that makes their day that much more special. I’m very proud of the details in the line because “Do It Yourself” can sometimes become overwhelming to a bride, but these items are all wonderful add-ons that easily give your wedding personality--whether it be to your candles, printed materials, picture frames for your tables, LED branches for your flower centerpieces or even the bling that can pop into the center of a rose that can add that fairy-tale, princess, glamorous effect that you might be going for. 

Overall, it’s been a really great ride for me over the past 25 years to go from creating high-end celebrations for my brides to now be able to provide the knowledge of high-end celebrations to brides on a budget. Ultimately, the David Tutera Bridal Collection provides solutions, glamour, inspiration and affordability to every bride who truly wants to walk down the aisle in style.

My Heartburn and Prevacid 24HR

If you are a frequent heartburn sufferer like me, go to Prevacid24HR.com for ways to manage frequent heartburn and you can even get perks at restaurants, spas and more.

Guest Blog Post: Kathy Kepler

Two years ago, I discovered my passion for wedding planning when I helped plan my daughter’s wedding. The wedding was magical and everything my daughter dreamed it would be. I loved the planning process so much that I set out to become a wedding planner at the ripe age of 52.

Last year, I submitted an essay about my journey to the “Kick Start Your Life TODAY with Marlo Thomas” series, and not long after, I found myself on the TODAY show set with David and Marlo. Since then, David has been a great mentor to me. One thing he told me that has really stuck with me is that “being a successful wedding planner comes from having a heart and investing yourself emotionally into other people’s weddings, just the way you did for your daughter.”    

Since launching my business (www.weddingsbykathleen.com), I have planned two weddings. The most recent wedding I planned—a beach wedding—was a challenge because Hurricane Sandy brought tropical storm weather conditions. We had to implement plan B at the last minute, and everything turned out beautifully. It was another great learning experience and has helped build my confidence.

I have learned that it may take a while to build up my business, but I feel very lucky to have finally found a passion, even though I am now 54 years old. I’m grateful of David’s encouragement along the way, and I am not going to give up. My goal is to plan three to five weddings a year, and I will put my heart and soul into every wedding that I plan, just as if I was planning a wedding for my own daughter.

Fan Call

I recently received an email from the husband of one of my fans whose wife recently gave birth to their second child. While this is always something to celebrate, a toll had been taken on this mother’s heart as her baby was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit after birth and had yet to breathe on his own. Her husband told me that his wife was a big fan of mine and he thought a phone call from me may be just the thing to brighten her spirits. I was so touched by this man’s love and concern for his wife as well as his story that I did just what he asked me to. I wasn’t sure if his wife would answer an unknown number when I called but was grateful when she did. I introduced myself and told her about her husband’s email; she was shocked, to say the least. I offered her words of encouragement, told her to hang in there and relayed a story about another couple I worked with once on My Fair Wedding whose twins spent the first several months of their lives in the hospital but are healthy as can be today. She told me she got to hold her son for the first time yesterday since his birth but that they could definitely use all the prayers they could get, which is exactly what I will give to her. The phone call only took a few minutes of my time but I’m hoping it was enough to make her smile and lift her up until she gets to bring her baby home.

My Mom

Life provides many things that you are never prepared for. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Right now, for me, I am a very lucky guy because I’ve got the gift of having my mom with me for an unlimited amount of time here in Los Angeles. She and I flew to LA and I treated her like the queen that she is--first class. We got here and we’ve already begun to have a wonderful time filled with relaxation. We went to church, to brunch, saw an amazing movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and ate popcorn--we had the best time! Now we’re going hiking on Day 2. We’ve got lots of plans-all simple, but all memorable and since she’s got a one way ticket, I don’t know when she’s going back to New York. The best thing is that I get to have one-on-one time with my mom for a long period of time. THAT, is a gift in life.

Photoshoot

So while I have no problem being in front of a video camera,  I’m never comfortable in front of a still camera. That line from Sunset Boulevard, “I’m ready for my close-up” doesn’t work for me. I did a photoshoot in New York last week and we started at 9:00am and ended at 5:00pm, so that’s a lot of close-ups and I wasn’t ready for any of them. BUT, it was a fun day. Jennifer and Charles Maring who are photographers and friends of mine, did an incredible job shooting me with all of my product lines and it was a wonderful day with a lot of hard work from everyone on my team to be able to provide new images for myself for publicity and all of my different product lines for 2013. SO, check out my new do, check out my new clothes and check out my new product lines in the coming months.