2010 | C&B Daily

Real Illinois Wedding: Elizabeth & Tim (Part 2)

Real Midwest Weddings -- January 14th, 2010 -- 9:00 pm

More from Elizabeth & Tim’s gorgeous Illinois wedding with photographs from Erica Loeks Photography…! (In case you missed it, find Part 1 here!)

“After the ceremony, the whole wedding party packed into our heated trolley and headed downtown for ‘around the city’ photos. We hit traffic on our way into Chicago and it was an unexpected blast. People honking their horns, cheering—it was great! We made a few stops to take photos. Running around downtown Chicago on the busiest shopping day of the year, we could definitely feel the energy of the city all around us! Then we were on to the reception at the Newberry Library. The Newberry provides a lounge upstairs for the wedding party and we took full advantage—a little wine and a friend of my sister’s started playing out of the blue, and we started singing and dancing together!”

“We entered the reception by way of a grand staircase that funneled perfectly into the lobby where cocktails were ongoing, and it was a great moment. Both of us, looking down on our guests, it gave us the perfect opportunity to feel special. We had cocktails and then into the hall, where our florist did the most amazing job on flowers.”

“The Newberry Library was a wonderful site for our wedding reception. Great location in the city. Good parking. And the building is amazing. Perfect example of Chicago architecture and we wanted to make people come into the city. We live in the city and that’s where we wanted to celebrate. There is an energy about Chicago and we really made an effort to have our pictures and the reception downtown to capture it.”

“The two women at the Library, both named Karen, they had a great approach to their rules and policies. Many reception venues in the city have an approved vendor list that you must use but the Newberry allows you to choose. That freedom to go with who we wanted for the reception was key, and we saved money by having our wedding there on a Friday. Also, Occasions Chicago Catering provided our catering and they did an amazing job. From the tasting, to walking through our day with the head of the staff, to the food, to bar service, Occasions did a great job. We received a lot of compliments on the food.”

“Our first dance together—the room was full but it was like we were totally alone just floating together. The room was magical and the speeches, cake, the rest of the dances just flew by and before we knew it, our day was over. We gambled on the wedding date being so late in the year but we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and the day went off without a hitch!”

“I was not your typical bride in that I tried not to care about all the little details. I knew I wanted a memorable reception location, good food and lots of dancing to take place. Once I figured those big details out, I let the rest fall into place. I would advise all brides to truly remember what this day is about and the memories they will remember 20 years from now…that helped me to focus on the things most important to me and not stress about the smaller decisions. Most importantly, you will enjoy your wedding day regardless of whether or not everything falls into place as you had hoped.”

Congratulations again, Elizabeth & Tim! We wish you all the best—enjoy every minute! We’re over here cheering you on, too!

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Real Illinois Wedding: Elizabeth & Tim (Part 1)

Real Midwest Weddings -- January 14th, 2010 -- 4:45 pm

A wedding that is just the definition of Chicago elegance, that’s what we have for you today! Best of Midwest Weddings Guide member Erica Loeks Photography captured Elizabeth & Timothy’s absolutely charming day, catching all the details from start to finish. Orchids. Lace. Chicago on a winter’s night. Classic beauty, grace and joy fill the whole day—wait until you see how sweet these two are! Just wait!

“We were married on November 28, 2008, which was the day after Thanksgiving. Since it was so late in the year, we only had a limited amount of daylight to get everything in so we had a very organized/regimented schedule. All the girls got ready at my parents’ house where I had my hair and make-up done along with the rest of my bridal party, which allowed us to be comfortable and truly enjoy one another’s company throughout the morning. The guy’s did their thing at Tim’s brother’s house, and, Erica, our photographer was able to take shots at both houses so we got some really good, behind the scenes photos.”

“My dress was from Caroline DeVillo based out of Chicago. I loved my dress and the attention I received from Caroline throughout my wedding dress process. Caroline, along with her assistant Kaitlynd, made me feel like I was trying on dresses at my girlfriend’s house. Caroline helped me to design the perfect dress for me.” Aren’t the silhouette, the lace, the train incredible? Caroline’s couture gowns are out of this world.

“My good friend, Larissa Schroeder (773-732-1193), designed all our flower bouquets and reception arrangements. Larissa is an amazing and talented florist, and from the moment I got engaged I knew I wanted her in charge of my flowers. Larissa worked with my husband and I to find the perfect balance of what we each wanted for our centerpieces. Thanks to Larissa, I still have people talking about how beautiful the flowers and centerpieces were at our reception.” The orchids with coordinating lace detail, gorgeous!

“Because our wedding was in late fall, the colors began to initially shape our day. I went with chocolate brown bridesmaid’s dresses and from there accent yellows, off-whites and tasteful oranges followed. Obviously our colors were inspired by fall but a great contrast nonetheless. Along with the colors came our goal of simplicity and after that everything just fell into place.”

“Erica Loeks and I were roommates when I lived in Minnesota and she started her photography business not long after I moved back to Chicago. I had full confidence in her ability to capture all the important moments of my wedding day, and ensure that my pictures did not look like your typical wedding album pictures. I was blown away by her professionalism and ability to work with all members of my wedding party. I am thrilled with how my pictures turned out and with the wedding album she put together for me. I would highly recommend Erica to any bride-to-be!”

More from Elizabeth & Timothy’s beautiful day coming up soon…!

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A Vision for the Event: It’s More Decor Than Venue

A Vision for the Event -- January 13th, 2010 -- 7:30 pm

Happy Thursday! Aletha is with us today with another fresh perspective on the event design process and, as always, lots of inspiration! Bring together some of Michigan’s finest for a photo shoot and the results are rich with color, bold textures and wedding savvy. Pearls Events, Telltale Photography, Stems Event Design, Events by I. Candy, MiraBella Confections, The B.O.B.—check out these results!

While choosing your ceremony and reception venues in a large part in planning your wedding, designing the event to reflect you as a couple is even more time consuming. As a wedding planner, I often hear “The church carpet is blue!” or “The ballroom is very casual, but we are not.” Using décor items such as linens, contemporary backdrops, aisle runners, and flowers, I believe your guests will hardly notice the venue and instead focus on the details that you’ve worked hard on.

I recently gathered a team of professionals from West Michigan for a photo shoot—photographer, floral designer, cake designer, and myself, an event designer—to test this theory out. We drew together a bold color palette, modern china and flatware, exquisite florals and fun paper products and brought the design to two distinctly different locations, a loft and a barn. We utilized a standard eight-foot table and the modern banquet chairs from the loft at the barn to keep the look consistent.

We draped the table in lavender satin and kept the flowers low to accommodate the modern lamps. The china and flatware are clean and contemporary. Our designers crafted custom table numbers, place cards, menus, and lamps to go with the color palette. We photographed the same table at the two very different locations—the first is a loft space in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the second is a traditional barn in Holland, Michigan. The design is crisp, bold and fun and works in both locations, although it is quite unexpected and even more fresh in the barn. Ultimately, we all agreed that, no matter the location, any design can look phenomenal.

I encourage you to design your event so that it reflects you as a couple, and not the venue of choice. Often, brides believe that if they are having their ceremony at a traditional church, they should forgo their contemporary style. Or if they are celebrating their marriage in a tent in their parent’s backyard, they need to keep it casual. On the contrary, I believe the unexpected details your guests will discover throughout the day will be more memorable than anything else.

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Stems for the Season: Meet Janet

C&B Guest Writers -- January 12th, 2010 -- 3:51 pm

Have you ever seen a bouquet of flowers that just made your heart sing—I mean, sing? When we found out about Janet’s work at Floral Verde in Michigan this was just the feeling! Incredible composition—classic like Flemish paintings and modern like Frank Gehry’s buildings. Brilliant flower choices—local wildflowers alongside tropical blooms. Innovative vessels—seashells, for one! Well, we were in love! Janet creates some of the most original and beautiful floral designs we’ve ever seen and it’s our great pleasure to welcome her as the newest guest writer on C&B. A warm welcome to Janet!

Hi Clover & Bee readers! My name is Janet. I’m an architecture-major turned florist, and the proud owner of Floral Verde. I have lived in the Midwest for most of my life. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently live in Flint, Michigan. I was introduced to the world of flowers when I took my first job with a florist at the age of 16. I spent hours after school scrubbing buckets and making boutonnieres, and I realized that I loved flowers!

In college I took a little detour, and I picked up a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. I worked a couple of internships in the field and decided that while hand drafting is fun, and model building is a blast, the bulk of the work just did not satisfy my desire to create something with my own hands. Even though I don’t intend to practice architecture, I believe my architecture training is what really gives me an edge as a floral designer. I’m super critical of proportions, balance and details in my own work, and I apply these lessons every day to create art with flowers and foliage.

I started my floral studio three and a half years ago, after spending a few years learning the ropes, working at retail and wholesale florists. I’ve chosen to focus on weddings and events because I love the challenge of guiding my clients from idea, to design, all the way through creation and delivery. It’s an incredibly rewarding process.

The major trend I am anticipating in 2010 is a switch from tight, clean, modern bouquets to loose, unstructured, romantic bouquets. I’m really excited about making more hand-tied cascades next year. Wisps of feathers, soft fabric, ruffles and movement are going to be really important texturally. Not only will bouquets be loosening up, but this trend will carry into the shape and texture of centerpieces too. I love the look of balanced asymmetry in bouquets and centerpiece designs.

As far as color palettes go, I see them becoming more nature inspired. Vintage and slightly dirty colors like mustard, sepia, nude, taupe, eucalyptus, slate, dusty mauve, and eggplant will be used alongside brighter colors to create more complex and interesting color palettes.

As I move away from a more structured look, I hope to replace a lot of the roses, mini callas, and cymbidiums in my floral palette with foliage, wildflowers, pods, berries, and branches. Right now I am excited about scented geranium, dusty miller, leucadendron, bunny grass, seeded eucalyptus, baby blue eucalyptus, eucalyptus bells, cotinus, agonis, nerine lilies, tweedia, scabiosa, astilbe, sweet peas, ranunculus, eucharis lilies and lady slipper orchids. Novelty items like fern curls, sponge mushrooms, succulents, scabiosa pods, berzelia and privet are great for adding that unexpected touch.

It’s an absolute dream come true being able work in a field that I love. I can’t wait to spread the joy by sharing some projects and ideas with you!

Look for Janet’s column in the coming months—flowers, flowers everywhere! Utterly charming!

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Handmade Love: Wintry Woods for January

C&B Guest Writers -- January 11th, 2010 -- 4:30 pm

This month, the lovely ladies of McMaster & Storm have put together a sweet new favor idea, petite faux bois paper boxes inspired by European baking molds. We just love the wood detail for winter—it fits brilliantly with so many themes and places of the Midwest. All the ideas and instructions are here for making your own—all that crafty goodness!

This month we are loving shades of rich greens, browns, a dash of grey & fun textures. Jaunts to the snowy woods add to our intrigue. We made our containers from card stock and layered wood-grain {or faux bois} contact paper on top. We used light wood tone & a cherry tone.

Materials:
1. Template to cut out shape for the faux bois container (drop us a line and we would be happy to send the jpg along!)
2. Card stock
3. Wood grain contact paper {available at your local hardware and Target or online}
4. 7” hole punch
5. Green polka dot ribbon {McMaster & Storm}
6. Jewelry wire, extra fine silver
7. Amy Butler’s fabric covered brads from K&K Company {available at Michael’s, Hobby Lobby & JoAnn’s}
8. French green velvet ribbon {McMaster & Storm}
9. Silver “snap” tags {available from McMaster & Storm}

Let’s create:

* Copy template onto desired color of card stock in the quantity needed—this will be on the inside of the faux bois container.
* Cut sections of contact paper and stick onto template’s unprinted side.
* Cut out the faux bois container along the solid lines and fold where the dashed lines indicate.
* At the end where you will secure, make sure the rounded “tab” is over the more square tab.
* Glue or use our petite brass colored staples to secure the ends.

Inspired ideas for embellishing:

* We used Amy Butler’s covered brads for fun texture and interest on the middle of the container, placed on the front, on just one of the longest sides. We tied green velvet ribbon around the container, end to end {tab sides} & tied in a knot in the center opening of the container.
* We used two silver tags folded and secured by punching a 1/4” hole in the middle of the longest sides and through the folds secure very thin silver jewelry wire. Wire is then tied into a knot.
* We also used our popular green velvet polka dot ribbon to add some flair, the velvet adds some swoon-y texture.
* For that final perfect touch, fill with natural, fine shredded grass—voilà!

What about the treats to tuck inside?

We love these peppermint ‘ice creams’ from Marich Company. A favorite, these rich white chocolate-coated buttermilk mints with their fresh blue centers (m’mm!) are perfect for snowy, winter wonderland weddings. Promise, it’s a rich, grown-up mint and your guests will be toasting to these! Hint: you can buy bulk or a case from a retailer that carries Marich and McMaster & Storm can order them as well. Or, lining up a trio of macarons from our favorite dessert boutique, Pistacia Vera in Columbus, Ohio would also be heavenly.

One extra hint! The faux bois containers look lovely on woodland cake pedestals. Vary different heights and set them atop a moss covered tablecloth—so easy to assemble.

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