Once Upon a Time...

Once Upon a Time... Isn't that how all good stories begin? Oh where to start...from the beginning I suppose. (well I will leave out some stuff)


Once Upon a Time there was a little girl named Tabbatha. She was a talkative young girl who never seem to fit in. She asked way to many questions, love to decorate and organize and didn't care what people thought of her, well at least in front of their face. She was an overly sensitive child that would wear her heart on her sleeve and was eager to help out anyone who needed it. She started working at a local restaurant by the name of Crawdaddy's after school and on weekends at the age of fourteen, with a work permit of course. She was finally doing things on her own.

School days were pretty normal...their were the friends, the boyfriends, the teasers and the bullies so when High School came around she opted to go to a school where she could start fresh. Andrew Jackson High School sounded glamorous and there option of graduating a whole year early sounded even better. It was here at Andrew Jackson that Tabbatha would major in Medical Magnet and went on to become a Certified Nursing Assistant getting her credit hours at St. Catherine's Nursing Home in the Alzheimer's Unit and Wolfson's Childrens Hospital on the Cancer Floor. The life that she thought that she wanted suddenly became to "real" at a very young age. The death around her made her very nervous and shifted her life into...well the unknown. What she thought she would go to college for was now just someone else's dream. 

This young girl was turning into a woman and growing up wanting to escape the DRAMA of High School. For three years she busted her butt and even took Summer classes to get all of her "School Credits" done. She did graduate from Andrew Jackson (a whole year early I might add) with her C.N.A License and a 3.2 average in 1998.




In June of 1998 she got a job at a local ★☆★☆★ star restaurant by the name of River City Brewing Company. She didn't realize it then but this would start to turn her life but it would take about 11 years to do so. 

In October of 2001 she met Andy Ronnekamp, the love of her life and they eventually married on the "Fantasy Cruise" to the Bahamas on February 5, 2004. They now have two children together, Zoey & Kaia. 


(I guess I will skip through part of the story of all the chores, diapers, cooking and cleaning and start where life as she knew it changed.) It was at RCBC that she learned all of her background in organization of weddings and events from setup to breakdown but one wedding in particular hit a nerve. On March 13, 2009 there was a wedding that took place at RCBC and Tabbatha immersed herself in helping this couple's Dream Wedding and it was B-E-A-UTIFUL. The following day the LIGHTBULB literally went on over her head. She thought..."Why don't I do this....I can do this and I will do this". That is the point that "The Wedding Assistant" was born, well at least the idea of it anyway.


And this is where I say the "real Tabbatha" took over.... the confident, independent woman that started turning a thought and a small dream into her new reality. 


My name is Tabbatha, owner of The Wedding Assistant. I have worked so hard at researching and questioning my potential career, from business cards to websites...I did it all. I jumped in with both feet and didn't look back. Believe it or not my first clients came from Craigs List. This probably was not the most glamorous way to start but hey, it was a start! Amber's wedding took place in August of 2009 and Jennifer's soon followed. I was now convinced of my Passion for Planning. I got my LLC in October of 2009 as well as my Jacksonville Business License. I purchased my Business Liability Insurance in January of 2010. As the weddings started coming in my confidence level shot through the roof. I was now proving myself to...well myself!! 

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In 2010 things started moving very quickly and I LOVED it! Client after client and meeting after meeting with the "BIG Vendors" of the industry, my world was now all about weddings. My goal was to be a Certified Wedding Planner by 2011. I wanted to go to UNF and take the Certified Wedding Planner Course that was 300 credit hours but then I stopped... I thought I really like my "niche" that I created with The Wedding Assistant known as the BIG Day Coordinator. Do I really want to be a full planner after all?? I still waiver back and worth on this subject, depending on the day. (FYI - you DON'T need a certificate to practice wedding planning and their is no degree in it either) I do pride myself on doing things the right way, which is why I made my business legal and purchased insurance and I am sure at some point I will probably end up being a Certified Wedding Planner but for now I am taking things one step at a time but ALWAYS moving forward.


So now here we are in 2011...and OH what a year, well half a year so far, it has been. I am now associated with the Best of The Best and organizing things that I never imagined. I have BIG things happening ( I won't name any names because I don't want to jinx anything :o) I have signed up for a total of three Bridal Shows this year. I am re-launching with a new website, logo, information, prices and new packages on August 1, 2011. I am again finding myself in awww. It's amazing to me, by helping out all these Bride's and Vendors, I finally am understanding the true meaning of self worth and pride. (I am sure my fellow vendors know the exact feelings I am talking about). So now here I type my first rambling blog.... as a woman,  a once upon a bride, a wife, a mother, an entrepreneur and now a new chapter of my life, PROUD OWNER of The Wedding Assistant. Thank you so much...EVERYONE!!

~ ❤ ~ 
Tabbatha

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