Wedding Weekend - Preparations

Note: I promise that I did actually write this post on Sunday. But Blogger was having some issues during the last 20 hours.

After gathering inspiration from all kinds of sources (yes, I practically lived on TheKnot.com) I started to make decisions on how to make my (budget) Modern Glam vision come to life. But the first step was one that I could not DIY - I had to find the dress. I wanted it to complement the Orpheum and be something that people hadn't seen before. I tried on a LOT of dresses:

 

before I found The One:

Maggie Sottero Evita (love, love, still love it)

Then it was time to get down to the DIY; well, almost. I wanted to use a chandelier motif to go with all of the gorgeous chandeliers at the Orpheum. However, my design attempt didn't get very far:

Fortunately for those who want to use this lovely theme now, it's widely being used in invitation designs. It was just getting popular when I was looking for it so I couldn't find quite what I needed. Instead I went to Etsy (also fairly new two years ago) and bought these lovelies:

Invitation by fubabee. Photo by Mark Kegans.

So I missed my chandy on the invites but did find a few other places to use it:

 

Stamped on coasters for cocktail hour;

 

Stamped and embossed on place cards; (photo by Mark Kegans.)

and on the labels for the CD we gave as favors. (Photo by Mark Kegans.)

We were holding dinner on the stage which, while lovely, may as well have been outdoors! The ceiling was so tall that I knew it would be hard to make the space feel like it was filled. I decided to do both low and high centerpieces to create some more atmosphere. Half of the tables would have Eiffel vases with some gold sprays I found that couldn't have been more perfect.

 Everyone in my family went on the hunt for these!

The other tables would use pillar candles, a gold charger and pearls. But during my test runs I couldn't get it quite right...

Don't worry, no fake flowers were planned for the actual centerpieces.

Eventually, the 6 inch candle was replaced by pink candles that my mom, my sisters and I spent one night customizing.

The place settings from this post, and the centerpieces too, would have been a perfect finish to the table. But...I would probably still be paying those off today. So the final touch on the tables were framed numbers:

Little sister lovingly cut and assembled everything.

A few more DIY projects were also completed for the ceremony. Quite a few nights were spent pinning flowers to styrofoam balls that would line the aisle:

 Photo by Mark Kegans.

I used our engagement photos on my DIY programs which I probably had way to much fun designing and writing!

Photo by Mark Kegans.

Actually, I had far too much fun with all of it. Which is one of the reasons why I love to see the weddings and parties that others have planned. It's great to know that other people enjoy putting together all of the details that make a celebration special. But no matter how much I liked putting everything together, nothing compared to seeing it all come together to celebrate our wedding day!

Wedding Weekend!

Two years ago, I had the most wonderful weekend with my friends, family and the love of my life. On June 7th 2008 (6/7/08!), I got married! I loved every minute of our wedding and every minute of planning it.

 

Engagement photo by Mark Kegans

We decided to get married in Sioux City, where most of both our families live. Admittedly, I was a little nervous about finding the perfect spot for our reception with the limited in the options in the area. But then, we found the Orpheum Theatre,. and I knew it would be the perfect place to celebrate with our loved ones. 

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The auditorium in the Orpheum (left). After viewing our photo montage video on the big screen, we had dinner on the stage. The grand foyer (right) where we held cocktail hour and then dancing.

The venue became my inspiration for planning a modern glamour themed wedding using pink, gold and ivory for the color palette. I created this inspiration board to guide me.

The only problem was that I did not have a modern glam budget! That meant a LOT of bargain shopping and DIY projects. I would love to do it all over again but for now, let's just re-live it! ;-)

Party Envy: Kentucky Derby

I know, it's one month later but since I finally posted my Derby party pics, I might as well share this divine Derby Dessert Table from Save the Date for Cupcakes. So, so cute and and creative! Check out the full post here.

This table is SPECTACULAR. A little astroturf and...brown sugar?! That's right, she used brown sugar for the sand - brilliant! I love the custom cupcake toppers as well. Perfect color coordination.

One look at this Mint Julep display with the adorable mason jars and beautiful baby's breath and you can feel yourself sitting on a porch swing on a southern plantation.

Again, perfectly coordinated sugar cookies (they match the horseshoe cupcake topper!)

And a brownie for the road. What more could you ask for?

The best part? At the end of the post Miss Save the Date for Cupcakes writes "This was totally out of my comfort zone in designing, but I think I pulled it off?!" No question mark needed - you did! I'm definitely putting these ideas into action for next year's Derby party!

Talk Derby to Me!

I am so sorry! I have been a bad bad blogger. It's been a busy month (or so) personally and professionally. I've been bursting with ideas to share the whole time but have also been too exhausted to sit down at night and write. That's no excuse though - I promise will try to get my head back in the game!

So let's kick things back off with a bang! May 1st was one of my favorite days of the year; the Kentucky Derby! Last year I held my first Derby party and decided to make it an annual event. 

For the 2010 race, my inspiration was a mix of Millionaire's row and garden party with a few Derby touches. The paper I found for the invites sealed the deal: 

Disclaimer: excuse the poor photography. I'm using a simple Canon SD1100 - so you won't see anything fancy from me. I also need to make better choices on WHAT I photograph. 

A little bit of folding, Cricut-ing and double-sided-taping later; the invites were ready to send:

When guests entered (or left), they could take their official Kentucky Derby 136 plastic cup. Everyone was encouraged to pull out their best Derby hats and gear so throughout the party, they had an opportunity to vote for the best hat and the best overall outfit. If you squint, (just one photo oversight!) you can see the Derby-branded julep glasses at the back of the table that the winners got to take home as a prize.

The appetizer buffet included Derby favorites like Kentucky Hot Browns (mini-size) and Benedictine Dip along with grilled asparagus, cheesy garlic biscuits, fruit salad and cocktail weenies (my husband's request).

My new Cricut was a huge time-saver! Last year, my sister and I traced and cut out horseshoes by hand to make a garland. Pushing a few buttons makes paper-crafting so much easier! I used the horse, from the My World cartridge, and flower, from Home Decor Solutions, shapes for garlands and tags.

We moved our dining room table out from the center of the room to open things up. The chandelier that usually hangs over the table at right about forehead level (ouch!) so I wanted to be sure people didn't miss it!

At the Mint Julep station, pre-mixed Mint Juleps were in a pitcher and extra Early Times whiskey and mint syrup on hand for guests to make adjustments.

One more thing that I didn't photograph very well was the betting window. Some friendly, $2 wagers were allowed before the race. A photo booth was also set up for some post-race fun. However, by the time those pictures started, a few too many mint juleps had been consumed - so I won't subject you to our "silliness."

Everyone had a blast and I had far too much fun planning it.

If you're thinking about holding a bash for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, check out  http://www.kentuckyderby.com/party for guidance and Caufields Novelty for supplies and super-fast shipping.