Real Weddings Carissa and Todd, The Elms, Excelsior Springs

Carissa and Todd's wedding was a true collaboration.  When I showed up to our first consult Carissa's mom, Dana, had already collected all the vases for the tables.  Talk about prepared!  Their event was taking place at the newly remodeled Elms Hotel, in Excelsior Springs.  A beautiful historic spot, with an outdoor space for the ceremony.  Unfortunately it was rainy and humid on the first day of September, but we made due in the ballroom with a beautiful ceremony (all the decor for the ceremony was created by Dana).  We were really happy with how everything turned out, and Carissa and Todd loved it, which was the most important part (and Dana as well).  

A big thank you to Dana and Carissa for collaborating with us on this lovely event, and to Morgan at Cornerstone Photography for the images.

Carissa carried a classic, romantic bouquet full of ivory dahlias, ranunculus, and garden roses.

Instead of traditional pin corsages we made brooches out of fresh flowers and incorporated vintage rhinestone jewelry for a bit of sparkle.  Bouts were textural with ranunculus, scabiosa pods, and berries.

The bridesmaids wore beautiful poppy orange dresses and had bouquets with garden roses, dahlias, and ranunculus.  

The ceremony took place in the grand ballroom, and all the decor was provided to us by Dana, the mother of the bride, we just set it up.  Loved those beautiful fabric flower pomanders!

Half of the tables had vases provided by Dana were filled with twig balls for a touch of brown, along with fluffy white hydrangeas, beautiful orange roses, and touches of pink, and accents of sparkling crystal.

The other half of the tables had pomanders in orange, peach, and ivory.  We wanted a sort of ombre effect.

If you notice the place settings Dana also made napkin wraps and menue cards for every guest, and butterfly escort cards as well.  

The sweetheart table was covered in a gorgeous ivory rose linen, super fluffy, and romantic.  We just added the flowers for a little touch of color.

Vintage glassware and tons of candles filled the mantel.  We supplied the blooms.

And although I had absolutely nothing to do with the cake, I just had to include it because, yes, Dana, the mother of the bride made it as well (she bakes cakes).

Such a lovely day, we were happy to be a part of it!

xo ~ Emily

Decorate: DIY Home Decor Projects

It's another round-up of fun posts that I created over on Paper Muse Press.  Not to brag, but it's a pretty great blog, and if you like anything related to cooking, home decor, DIY, weddings, basically all facets of lifestyle, it's one you must check out.  But now moving on from that shameless plus, I'd like to share a few of my favorite projects from the past year.  There's nothing like a home decor project, whether very small or large to spruce up your space!

Probably one of my favorite pieces of artwork in our home (and one of our most pinned projects) this antique window came out of our basement during the remodel.  I decided to spruce it up and add it to our newly refreshed bedroom.  On a side not, I can't stop painting things gold, it's a problem.  See the Antique Monogrammed Window Artwork post for the step by step.

Nothing adds a bit of personality to a table quicker than chargers, and these were made out of the simplest material out there, plywood.  Paint them any color you want with various patterns, and whoola, a customized tablescape.  The best part is you can paint the opposite side a different color, or the whole thing for a whole new look!  Pop on over and check out the Plywood Charger DIY post. 

I love a good ombre dye project.  I mean who doesn't really?  I decided to try out this craze with some very simple, no sew curtains in bright beautiful turquoise blue.  See my Ombre No Sew Curtain DIY here.  

I'm a huge vintage lover, and piece that's handed down from family members is even more special.  This old stool used to belong to my grandmother, and I decided to give it a refresh by covering the seat with some new oil cloth.  See the Vintage Stool Makeover here.  

And last, but certainly not least, the Washi Tape herb garden.  Washi tape is so fun, and it comes in a huge variety of colors and patterns, so it can be used for almost any project.  It's been stubbornly chilly here in the midwest, so I haven't even begun to think about planting my garden yet.  However a simple solution?  An indoor herb garden to tide you over til it warms up outside, made even more adorable with washi tape decor.  See the Indoor Washi Tape Herb Garden DIY here.

Thanks for checking out all my favorite home decor projects.  I hope you'll follow me over on Paper Muse Press for all my DIY projects, recipes, and more!

xo - Emily 

 

My So Called Life: The Simple Plan

Last week I made trip to Chicago to visit my friends Claudia and James, but also to attend The Simple Plan Workshop, which is put on by Michelle and Kelly of Sage Wedding Pros.  What the heck is Sage Wedding Pros?  Only one of the most amazing blogs ever, geared toward wedding professionals.  They have advice on everything related to the wedding business, it's one of my favorite must reads.  

Image and logo via Sage Wedding Pros

Kelly and Michelle know their stuff, and they're super sweet to boot.  I'd heard about The Simple Plan workshop and the words "life changing" were used to describe it.  As soon as I heard they were coming to Chicago I bought my tickets.  It's a two day in depth look at your wedding business, and covers areas like branding, marketing, human resources, and of course finances.  Although I've been doing weddings for 5 years I never took the time to write a business plan, think about my mission statement, etc.  There are were even attendees who had already been to the workshop before, but they use it as time to reflect on and refine their business to improve it year after year.  Each facet is explained in depth and in terms that even a creative mind like mine can understand (which is quite a feat when it comes to finances).  Plus they talk a lot about setting goals and developing an action plan in order to use what you learn at the workshop.  Genius! 

Besides the wealth of knowledge that was bestowed upon us, we got to network with other wedding professionals, and talk about our experiences working in the industry.  This was one of my favorite parts of the workshop.  Getting to know so many awesome small business owners that I could so easily relate to.  It really helped me realize that I'm not alone in any struggles I may have, and that I'm doing some things right.  

Photo via Sage Wedding Pros Facebook

Overall I have to say attending The Simple Plan workshop has changed my life, at least my business life, which has a huge effect on how I live day to day.  It's motivated me to want to do better, and make my business all that it can be!  A huge thank you to Kelly and Michelle.  Thanks for being so awesome, and willing to share your knowledge with other wedding pros, like me!

xo - Emily

Real Weddings: Laura and Ryan, Town Pavillion, Kansas City

I've known Laura since she was a kid, and when I say that I mean a very little kid.  I went to gradeschool with her older brother Brian, and we were in Kindergarten together, so picture that.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was when she and her awesome mom (who my mom also grew up with) contacted me to create beautiful flowers for her day.  I hadn't seen her in years, and it was bit shocking to me that she was getting married, but how exciting!  At our initial consult Laura made it clear that she loved hydrangeas, and so it was a must have in her flowers.  With hues of royal blue, green, and yellow, we created a sunny, colorful event and it made it even more special with our history.  Thank you so much to Laura and Ryan for letting us be a part of your day!

(photos by Abundant Life Photography and emmy-ray) 

For her bridesmaids bouquets we added bright blue delphinium to compliment their dresses, and went with softer tones for Laura.

We create custom charms for Laura using photos of her grandparents, which were attached to a special rosary.  

Bouts were a bright textural mix, including all the colors of the wedding.

The Town Pavillion where they held their reception, has a dramatic staircase as the focal point of the room.  We created large arrangements for each side that were uplit with blue.  

A classic unfussy mix of tall and short arrangements were placed on the tables, with a mix of colorful blooms and curly willow.  

Thanks so much for checking out Laura and Ryan's wedding! 

xo - Emily

Flora Encyclopedia: R is for Ranunculus

R is for ranunculus, one of my favorite flowers.  They're a spring bloom if you want to grow them here in the midwest, but are pretty much available year round.  They come in a beautiful range of colors including white, yellow, orange, salmon, coral, pink, red, and dark purple.  The beautiful variegated ones are some of my favorites, and they're a flower that I can't just resist buying to put on my table when they're in season.  I didn't realize that they are a member of a genus that contains over 600 species, and are even related to the buttercup.

I was passing through the kitchen last week, and the morning light coming through the window was illuminating them so perfectly, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a few pictures.  One of my favorite things about ranunculus is how varied they are from bloom to bloom.  Some open up like the one above, and show their fascinating centers...

...and some keep themselves tightly closed, but either way their layers of petals and bold colors never disappoint.  

My official flower inspector, Hazel, definitely approves.

xo - Emily

Events: March KC Blogger Meetup

I'm kind of a blog-o-holic (in case you didn't know, find out more here).  I love reading them, and I love writing them.  As much as magazines, books, and everyday life, blogs are so inspiring to me.  That's why I decided, along with my friend Jeanee, to start the KC Blogger Meetup.  It's a community for bloggers, where we can all hang out in real life, learn, and grow our blogs.  We meet every month, and our group is one year old.  Hooray!  

Last week we had our March 2013 meetup, hosted by Tulip boutique on the Country Club Plaza.  The event was coordinated by Kara and Melina of Edit.  They had a Derby Day theme, with some amazing hats for sale, and all proceeds went to benefit The Mission Project, a great organization that helps adults with down-syndrome and autism, lead full lives on their own.  We had a great turn-out, and I had lots of fun hanging out with some of my favorite blogging ladies.

Photos courtesy of Alicia Abla Studio.

A big thank you to all the ladies that attended including Julie, Erin, Jamie, Ngan, Charity, Lisa, Sarah, Kathryn, Melanie, Lindsay, and of course to Kara, Melina, and Tulips for organzing the event!  

xo - Emily