The Elysia Skye Breast Cancer Organization was started in July 2008 by breast cancer survivor, Elysia Skye. We are creating a global community, working towards a decrease in the risk of cancer through PREVENTION. This means education, empowerment and an understanding of the physical effect of a positive perspective. Our mission is to educate young women and men on cancer prevention, to raise awareness about cancer in women under 40 and to share a message of love, laughter and gratitude during trauma and illness. We also raise funds and act as a donation platform for those affected by cancer at any age.
For more info, check out the About page
A wedding stolen by cancer, crowdsourced, and given back (Rebel Belle) – a note from Elysia
What would we have done this week without Laura Guerrie from Rebel Belle Weddings?! http://rebelbelleweddings.com/2013/04/a-wedding-stolen-by-cancer-crowdsourced-and-given-back/
We have been working together since the second week of April on creating the Wedding of a Lifetime for cancer patient, Jennifer Batugo and her fiance Brian Gargano. This journey of creation has been a learning experience like no other, and proof that human kindness and generosity has not gone out of style. In fact, it seems to be trending more than ever!
This all began when I received a phone call from Brian on April 8, 2013. He called my wedding officiant company, LA Wedding Woman, which he found on Yelp. He was going down the list of vendors on Yelp hoping he would find someone to officiate a wedding last minute because he and Jenn were told they’d better “do this quickly” because she may not make it to August for the wedding they had been planning since November.
Well he sure came to the right place! I briefly told him of my journey and that I would be honored to officiate, and as my gift to them, and I would also help them plan their wedding (which at the time was just a small elopement). We met for brunch two days later and they described to me their dream wedding taking place in a Japanese garden. I immediately called John from Yamashiro Hollywood and he and his team were 100% on board. With the venue in place, now it was time to raise some money to make this happen for them, and also give them hope that treatments not covered by insurance could be taken care of by crowd-sourcing the funds to our community.
At first, Jenn and Brian were unsure if this would all be possible. But within 5 hours of launching the campaign, we had already raised over $1000! I posted this to our facebook page (and this is where the next big miracle happened). Laura from Rebel Belle Weddings reached out to me to offer her help with wedding coordination and planning. Thank God for her! Not only did she show up to help, she dropped everything else in her life to do this with me for 10 days straight. We did this together, and it would not have happened the way it has without her. I can’t thank her enough. She recently tweeted her blog post that was re-tweeted by Dick Van Dyke – which then got the attention of a major media company! We will be on the front page of their website on Monday (details coming soon!) which should help us secure the remaining funds needed for her treatments!
So this is just the beginning of the story! With the help of this community and the power of social media, we have brought together a family of wedding vendors who have all donated 100% of their services for this event; a wedding of a lifetime! The best and most important part is that Jenn has said that this experience has inspired her to fight even harder! She will not give up because she has now made it her mission to inspire others and help save their lives, just as she feels we have done for her. This is why I do what I do! She has reinforced my purpose, and reminded me to not take anything for granted, to secure my mask before helping others so that they could receive even more from me, and that life is precious and fragile and simply to remain in gratitude.
If you are reading this before April 27th, you can still donate on our indiegogo page for Jenn and Brian at http://igg.me/at/weddingofalifetime, and you can always donate to our charity and leave a note that the donation is for Jenn and Brian. I will personally make sure it gets to them.
In gratitude, here is a list of the vendors who have come together to make this happen (please book or refer them for your events), starting with the wizard behind the curtain…
Wedding Planning and Coordination – Rebel Belle Weddings
Ceremony Venue – Yamashiro
Reception Venue, Food & Drink – M Bar
Photography – The Coco Gallery
Videography – NST Pictures
Wedding Cake – The Butter End Cakery
Makeup – Alli B Makeup
Wig – Nigel’s Beauty Emporium
Transportation – Classy Chassis Rentals
Wedding Gown Alterations – In Stitches
Accessories – Petal Blush Love
Balloons – Balloon Celebrations
Hotel Accommodations (courtesy of Antoine Berberi, GM) – Hollywood Roosevelt
Wedding Officiant – LA Wedding Woman
If you or someone you know is getting married and also fighting cancer, please contact Wish Upon A Wedding to make your dreams come true! I am part of their team 
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
With Love and Light,
Elysia Skye