On July, 31 2010, our good friends Rick Smith Jr.,professional card throwing magician and Tiffany Marchak, performer for Jerry Bruno’s The Avenue” were married in a gorgeous ceremony on Cleveland’s west side. Due to their love and interest in all things entertainment, the couple decided that they could not simply have a traditional wedding reception.
Rick and Tiffany “dancing in the clouds”
In partnering with some of the most talented vendors in North-Eastern Ohio, like Jerry Bruno Productions, The Hilton Akron/Fairlawn, The White Flower Cake Shoppe and LCD Photography, an incredible wedding was produced. However, it would not have all come together without the guidance of our creative and talented bride and groom. In this interview, the bride explains the method to their magical wedding ceremony.
RTH – In what ways did you use your experiences working in events to your advantage?
I see weddings every weekend because I sing in a wedding band – The Avenue – so I pretty much knew right away what works and what doesn’t. Advice…..tells whoever is giving the toasts to keep it short and NEVER choreograph your first dance! 99% of the time it is an awkward train wreck! You may not think it, but believe me you guests do
RTH – Tell me a little bit about your grand entrance…
We definitely didn’t want to do something normal. Being that we are entertainers ourselves and so were most of our attendants, we wanted to incorporate that into our entrance. With that in mind, Ryan, from Rock The House came up with a unique entrance and we just went with it!
RTH – In which ways did you use your abilities as entertainers?
Well, I sang of course and Rick and I both walked in for our grand entrance throwing cards. I mean it was only right now that I am “Mrs. Card-thrower”! 
RTH – Was it difficult to transition from being the entertainer to being the Guest of Honor?
At first, but we got over that pretty quickly! We talked about it ahead of time and we both really wanted to take everything in and enjoy it as we should. That was really important to us.
Atmospheric Lighting, Plasmas and decorative Gobo’s transformed the room into an extraordinary and modern reception space.
RTH – Tell me a little bit about the Vendors that you used and how you made those decisions, while also working in the business and working with these people regularly…
Because we see so many vendors at our events, we get to see first hand who may be the most professional, creative, etc. Obviously we know Rock The House knows how to throw a party, so there was no second guessing that one. It was great, because we 100% knew and trusted that RTH wouldn’t do anything less than amazing. Also, I sing in a band called “The Avenue” and I really wanted my band mates to enjoy our party as a guest, so I hired another band though our agency called, The Jerry Bruno Orchestra” , and they split the night with RTH. It worked out great and we had the best of both worlds! We also used LCD photography. Have worked with them on many events and love the way they do things.
The band/DJ hybrid kept the guests dancing until 1:00 AM.
We used White Flower Cake Shoppe for our wedding cake. Not only do their cakes look amazing, but they taste good too. There have been plenty of times where I have tasted the cake at weddings I was working at and was so surprised at how blah the cake tasted. I mean for goodness sakes, you pay enough for it….it better taste like the best thing you ever put in your mouth! Anytime I sang at a wedding that I actually noticed the cake it was always a White Flower cake, so that was easy for us and we were so happy with our decision…mmmmmmm.
Rick and Tiffany’s cake was both breathtaking and delicious.
RTH – What surprised you the most about the whole experience?
There are a several things. First, how much things cost and how fast it all adds up! Well, I really should say that surprised Rick….haha. Second, is how last minute people wait to turn in their response cards! I mean seriously, as if you don’t have enough to worry about in the last few weeks before your wedding you now have to worry about tracking down cousin so and so from God knows where to see if they want beef or chicken.
And finally, on a more serious note, is how much we enjoyed ourselves. I really thought I was going to be a nervous wreck, but we had such a good time and so did our guests. I am the one that was supposed to be sending thank you notes out for all of our gifts and here we were receiving thank you notes from our guests saying they have never had so much fun at a wedding before. That’s awesome.
