Merry Christmas from Kendall Plantation! 

Yes...don't remind me it has been over 5 months since my last blog!!! We have been busy at KP making it beautiful and connecting with beautiful brides! Since we last spoke in July, we hosted MISSION Wedding; a huge hosted wedding valued at over $60,000. Vendors in and around San Antonio so kindly donated their services for a military couple to have the wedding of their dreams. Kendall Plantation and Haute Weddings took applications earlier in the year for a chance to win this once in a lifetime dream wedding. After much thought and interviewing, we chose a couple that could not have been more perfect and deserving for this occasion. Their story is unique and special and we congratulated them and thanked them for their service to our country by hosting a dream wedding for them and 150 of their friends and family. The wedding was stunning and we pulled out all the stops at this wedding! From invitations, to fireworks everything was donated for this beautiful couple to enjoy. We had so much support from this that we decided to do it again this year. With the website up and vendors all lined up, we accepted the first application today via MISSION Wedding's website. www.missionwedding.org. Check it out! 

 After Mission Wedding, we dried all our tears from happiness of that special day and transformed the mood into a party place for The Knot to have their annual Knot Party....it was so COOL!!!! It was great to have all vendors in one place to socialize and network with each other in a non-wedding environment! One thing is for sure, San Antonio has some great vendors who really love their brides. We are so happy to be a part of it.  We summed up August weddings that included a helicopter landing as a get-a-way, several fireworks displays, and we even made it snow inside! I love my job! 

Then came September...and a baby! Kendall Plantation welcomed our newest addition Ms. Charlee Janelle Voss. Weighing in at 6 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches long, we are so blessed with this little GIRL and could not be more happy! 

October and November flew by and we had lovely fall indoor and outdoor weddings at KP. We decided to get in the cheery mood and add Christmas lights to all the columns outside and the trees by the Gazebo. I think we may do this every year as it looks great in pictures! The charming white light adds romance and a warm feeling that you just can't get any where else. I think November/December might be my new favorite time of the year at Kendall Plantation. 

So, I wanted to drop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. The Kendall Plantation family can not explain how much we love what we do, and we love working hard for our brides. Christmas is the best time of the year and we want to share our Christmas wishes with you. We will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will return Wednesday. 

Merry Christmas, 

Kendall Plantation 

Sweet Sweet Summer Time!

I know everyone is tired of the heat already and begging for some relief! It's Texas ya'll! Lets embrace the heat! What better way then having a wedding outside!!!! But seriously, If you are planning a summer wedding (starting in April-October in Texas) then consider special timing of your event. Our grass is shaded at the most careful time of day (yes this was thought out during the building and planning process). We suggest a 6:00-6:30 ceremony time starting in May, once we get to June-September we suggest 6:30. Lets face it, we know in July the sun is out until 9:00pm and chances are it will still be well into the upper 90's (if you're lucky), so there is plenty of daylight and the best (coolest) daylight at 7:00; prime time photo time! If you must have a 4:30 ceremony time in July, consider doing an indoor ceremony, tenting the grass, or renting several port-o-cools for the ceremony area.
Other ideas include having a pre-cocktail hour for your guests to grab a cool beverage before the ceremony starts on the lawn.  It was 102 on Saturday for our bride and luckily she had the most brilliant idea of adult snow cones down on the lawn for her guests to enjoy before and during the ceremony. It was perfect! Our wrap around porches really allow your guests to 'chill' out after the ceremony and they seem to enjoy it underneath the ceiling fans and shade. Having a bar outside is ideal at KP, we find people make their way out at some point and take in all the photo-ops and views while enjoying an ice cold beverage.

Okay, enough about the heat. I have posted some pictures of past weddings (one this weekend) that were stunning. This was the first time we had Don Strange Catering out at KP. I pray it is not the last....their food and service was outstanding. I am totally blown away by their hospitality and professionalism. Each staff member walked around with a smile on their face, shoulders back, confident and quick to get you what ever you needed. I definitely would recommend them to anyone looking for a caterer. This weekends wedding was hosted by Tina Humphrey of Diamonds and Dreams....this lady is awesome!!! If you are looking for a wedding planner (and you should be) give her a call. Wedding planners seriously make the difference. I know everyone thinks they can do it on their own...( I am one of them) but they make or break it for weddings. I have seen and worked the weddings with out planners and its a huge difference. Each wedding is successful at KP because we would do anything to make it perfect. But a wedding planner really has an eye and feel for weddings. Leave it to the professionals...(not grandma, mom and sister). Let the family enjoy the day too and give them off. Don't worry them with lighting candles, packing bags, making timelines, straightening chairs, confirming vendors, fixing broken buttons and starting the music on time....GET A WEDDING PLANNER!!!! Compare services with each planner and see what they do and don't do. Get to know each other and interview different ones until you find the one you click with. There are a bunch a good ones out there :) We have worked with the best so far and are happy to recommend them!

As we close out the month, July was good to us, and we can't wait for August. MISSION-Wedding is in a few short weeks, and we seriously can not wait to celebrate. Kendall Plantation will also be hosting an industry party for The Knot Magazine. We are truly blessed and excited to have been chosen to host this event. We have added new life to the landscaping, rose bushes in the front are still blooming and look awesome, and the new trees we planted last month are fitting in just perfect. Finally, I will be adding a 2nd baby to our family in September (if I make it!) so, keep in mind, your wedding is very important to me and I want it to be nothing less than perfect. I will make a Facebook announcement when he/she arrives (we didn't find out), but will be just a phone call or email/text message away. I did it before with baby #1 and I will do it again with baby #2 !!! Thank you for following us on our blog and Facebook page. Thanks for being a part of our Kendall Plantation family, cheers,
Kristin Voss

Images By Rebekah

 limelight

 caitlins creations

Happenings at KP!

Hello Brides!

It has been too long since our last blog but thank you for keeping up with us!
--A quick thank you-- I would say we are full swing into our summer weddings. Spring has come and gone and left us with many wonderful memories and stories to share!  We started the 2012 spring weddings with brides who booked with us way back during the blue print days! Many of our brides contacted me through our website looking for the perfect venue for their big day. At the consultations and "tours" I would bring my blue prints of the building and lay them down on the back of my truck for the bride and family to go over with me. All they had to go off was an idea and rough sketch of the building. As I reflect back to those days, I can't imagine what was going through the head of some of the dads writing checks to me just hoping this building would be what their little girls dreamed of. I answered as many questions as I could for them about what the building would look like, what paint colors, what kind of landscaping, down to how many bathroom stalls we would have. Knowing these brides were taking a huge gamble on us, I tried to paint the picture as best I could by printing out pictures and magazine clippings of chandeliers, door styles, floor options etc. I was as new to this as they were...and they trusted me. I hold each one of my brides so close to my heart and walked away with friendship with many of them because we got to know each other so well in the process of building and planning a wedding. I admit, I was scared, and anxious as the building kept getting further and further along hoping that the brides who only saw a blue print would be happy and match what they had pictured in their head. But at the end of the day, each bride was overwhelmed with happiness. I can not explain the feeling of a father giving me a hug saying 'thank you' or tearing up as he says "it's better than I could ever dream". I really have the best job in the world! I want to solute all the spring brides who came on board with me when all we had was a blue print, and thank you for trusting in Kendall Plantation for the most special day in your life.


Okay! (drying of tears) Back to what is going on these days!
Happenings!

*We will be adding 2 additional trees on the front side of the building near the corner of the porch. This side of the building sees a lot of sunshine in the afternoon and we want your guests to be more comfortable during cocktail hour with extra shade!

*Natural grass coming back! With the recent rains (huge blessing) natural grass is on the rise around the area filling in some of those 'blank' spots creating a real Texas hill country feeling.

*A new layer of rocks will be added on the back side of the building along the stairs, this will add new definition and texture for some draw dropping photo back drops. (really excited about this!)

*Web camera huge hit and guests are loving it!

*Fall 2013 dates filling quickly

*'Winter Special' for month of January

*MISSION Wedding to take place this August; we had an overwhelming response of letters come in spilling their life stories to us and telling us about their trials serving for our country. Vendors have been bending over backwards to make this wedding a real dream come true for our winners Shawn and Carmen. (can't wait for this!!)

*Realizing importance of wedding planners! Wedding planners can save the day and your sanity when it comes to wedding day! We strongly suggest hiring a PROFESSIONAL WEDDING PLANNER! KP has had the honor to work with several great planners and is happy to suggest some to you :)

*Worried about the heat? Our over sized wrap around porches have ceiling fans every 10 feet; this his extremely helpful, but when it's hot...it's hot... consider purchasing bottled water for your guests to grab during the ceremony or just after so they can cool down! KP is always willing to pre-ice down your drinks for you!

*Linens and things-KP is now offering a full line of colored linens, napkins, chargers, sashes, and overlays! Come see our linen books to get the perfect color for your theme!

I think I covered the basics, I will keep up more often with the blog (promise); please keep checking our website for specials and our Facebook page for updated photos! Thank you again new and old brides for choosing Kendall Plantation for your wedding day. We are honored to host your wedding and we look forward to it!

-Kristin, Kendall Plantation

 New Stairs!

 New life for Oak Tree