Saturday, October 30, 2010

Antiquing

Today was cool and beautiful, so I decided to go antiquing in downtown Kingsport.  I found some of the antique linens, which I collect.  I have a lot of appreciation for needlework.  I know that it took days or even months to complete some of the things.  However, when people inherit those things, if they don't like them, what are they supposed to do with them.  Along comes me -- I want them.

I also found some wedding items that someone might be interested in.  At River Mountain Antiques, I found a vintage wedding dress and veil.  The dress was a bit too reserved for my taste, but the veil was really beautiful.  It was attached to a beaded headband about two inches wide and had lovely trim along the edge.  It was probably about three feet long.  For $39 both could be yours.  I have seen similar veils for at least $300.



 
At P & J Antiques, there was a net and lace mid-calf wedding dress.  This would be great for a casual wedding.  If you're on a budget, it was only $8.

So, if you are on a tight budget, and enjoy a vintage look, you might want to shop around.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Happy Fall

Today has been the strangest weather.  It was 84 degrees this afternoon.  I did this flower arrangement this afternoon for no reason at all.  Isn't that the best way to enjoy flowers? Unexpectedly...

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Happy Anniversary Emily and Aaron

Hope Emily and Aaron are having a great time in New Orleans this weekend. 

Oh, I am really feeling nostalgic today.  My daughter, Emily's, wedding was 10.24.09.  She was a truly beautiful bride and I enjoyed every minute we spent planning, doing projects, and just being a mom. I am so happy to have Aaron in my family, and his entire family, who came from Colorado and Montana to celebrate with us.


We did all the paper goods - save-the-dates, invitations, table cards, guest cards, programs, even a couple of signs pointing the way to the reception, the flowers, and even the alterations on the dress.  It was a great day for a wedding, overcast, so it was perfect for taking pictures outdoors.


Emily, who, after all, is an English major, created this wonderful blog, which she updated during the process.  http://webtwopointohh.blogspot.com/2009/05/crunch-time.html

When Emily became engaged in May, I saw the work of Overbay Photography, and looked no further.  The style of photography is exactly what I wanted, and when Emily saw it, she agreed.  They were wonderful to work with.  They gave us so much more than we could have hoped for.  I can't begin to thank them enough.  I get so much joy from looking at the pictures all the time. All of the pictures you see here were taken by them.  You may see Emily’s slideshows at http://www.overbayphotography.net/Slideshows/EmilySpearsBridalPortraits and http://www.overbayphotography.net/Slideshows/SpearsHammerWedding.  Don’t just look at her wedding, look at a variety of weddings on their website.  They do such high quality, creative work.

Sophisticated Strings played for the ceremony.  They are a very professional trio.  They do not usually attend the rehearsal, but you don’t have to worry at all.  They will show up early, they will look professional, and their music will be exquisite.  They have a repertoire of wedding music, but can play anything, with the sheet music and time to practice.  I have known them for almost twenty years, and I would highly recommend them.


We used BANQ for the reception.  The place is very old-worldly beautiful.  There is room enough for a wedding more than twice the size that we had, but it didn’t feel too big for our wedding of 104. They had someone there all day to let people in to decorate and to deliver things.  There were absolutely no problems, we were so happy with the location, just two blocks from Church Circle.





Cake by Main Street Catering

I, along with my friends Carolyn Baker and Rita Osborne, did all the flowers for the ceremony, bouquets, boutonnieres, and reception.  We kept pretty much to the marine blue and lime green theme.  It wasn’t a fall theme, but a wedding can be anything you dream it can be.




I am available to help you make your dream come true.




Monday, October 18, 2010

Pottery Gifts




Whether you need gifts for Christmas, bridesmaids, or you might even want to register for gifts for yourself, my good friend, Rita Osborne makes some beautiful things.  She has a good selection of pottery now, or she can make something for you in a specific color, but you will need to place your orders soon.  E-mail her directly at ritaosbo@gmail.com.

Take a look at more Play in the Clay fall firings on Picasa.




Oh, Santa, you know I love red ;-).



Sunday, October 17, 2010

Unique Invitations

It has been rather cool this weekend, so I have been having fun creating some wedding invitations.  If you would like something unique - you have some special hobby, flower, animal, or sports symbol you would like to incorporate, I would love to do your invitations.


This one has a very earthy feeling.  You can see that the pocketfold closes with a leather string.  When the pocketfold opens, the reply card and envelope are enclosed in the pocket, and the invitation is attached with glue dots, which are easily removed.  The envelope is lined with a fern print.





This one I like to think of as Tiffany blue, with a white satin ribbon.  Since it is square and a gatefold, the reply card and envelope are behind the invitation.  The envelope cold be lined with the Tiffany blue also, but I like this tan and cream print.

This one is more floral.  It is closed with a polka dot ribbon and a sprig of Russian sage, dried to a pale lavender.  The envelope liner is a geometric, to offset the floral a bit.  Too much of a good thing ...

The fonts you can use on your invitations are limitless, also.  Also, if it's going to be a less formal wedding, you could have the reply card be a postcard.  It would save a little cash on the postage.


I'm thinking this could be an invitation to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding having the Tiffany blue.  You see the Tiffany blue in the flower and also in the envelope liner.  See how the right side of the paper looks aged.  This one can be so much fun.  Of course you could have this for your invitation, if you are bold enough.  It could easily go into a pocketfold, also.

These are from the real wedding of Emily Spears and Aaron Hammer.  We had so much fun doing these.



Crest of the spear and hammer designed by Emily Hoops Sanders
Overbay Photography


Overbay Photography

You could include as many small cards as you want in the pocket.  We thought about having a DIRECTIONS card, but we just included that information on the website.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Osage Oranges

Overbay Photography
Today I went out to harvest osage oranges, which grow here in Tennessee and are ripe this time of year. It made me so happy, because I had such fond memories of them.  Last year, I was so obsessed about getting them to use in the decorations for my daughter's wedding, and they hadn't matured.  The minute Emily said she wanted to use lime green and marine blue, I knew the osage oranges had to be part of the festivities.

I ordered some from the midwest, then after the frost ours came down.  On their website, they claim that having them in your home rids your home of insects.  Well, you can't eat them, so I guess they have to promote them some way.  But, even Crate and Barrel had some fake ones, so I guess they are more popular than I had thought.

Which brings to mind that decorating for a wedding could involve any number of things.  This time of year, branches with fall leaves would be really pretty.  I have made arrangements with leaves, which look very classy.  The miniature pumpkins look really good, as well as the ornamental gourds.

Happy Fall!



Sunday, October 10, 2010

Harmonious Relationships with Vendors

As a wedding planner, one of the most critical parts of the wedding is having a good relationship with the other vendors.  I am happy to help other vendors with parts of the wedding they should have been responsible for, if it will help my client.  My goal for the day is to see that the couple is not stressed and that everything goes smoothly and that their dream wedding becomes a reality.
I would say that the following vendors should be carefully selected to ensure a harmonious and perfect wedding:
Planner
Officiant
Musicians
Florist
Photographer
Venue
Caterer
Cake Baker
DJ

Of course, if you hire someone who is less experienced, you will probably save money, but the risk is that they will be less competent.  If you have me to help you with the vendors, I can ask them all the right questions so that we are sure that all areas will be covered, who will be responsible for each item, and what time each item will be performed.  Even an inexperienced vendor will perform well if all the areas are addressed.

Even with really good vendors, there can be misunderstandings.  I can help you to be sure that everything is very clear.

Of course you can have a wedding without a planner, but having one really is worth it.  Happy Weddings everyone!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

October - a Great Time for a Wedding

October is a great time of year in Tennessee.  The weather can be volatile, however.  It can be the last remnants of summer, or the beginning of winter.  I have been involved with many October weddings, and I would like to share several of those with you this month.
Real Wedding – Carrie Bridwell and Chad Jacobs
The first is a wedding of Carrie Bridwell and Chad Jacobs on October 29, 2005.  The weather was very warm, and was just a beautiful day.  Carrie chose fall colors for her flowers, the cake, and for the bridesmaids’ dresses. I enjoyed directing this wedding at Covenant Presbyterian Church and the reception at Johnson City Country Club.



Photography by Higgins Photography

Carrie and Chad now live in Knoxville and have a beautiful daughter, Annie.

Living

I want to share with you something I learned from a friend's mother early in life

1.  Don't spend so much on a house that you don't have money for fun.

Also, something I wish I had known early in my married life.

2.  It's better to know what kind of style you have for decorating before you begin buying things. 

It will also help you to avoid costly mistakes.  I have been really enjoying watching Nate Berkus on Oprah for a long time, but it has usually been only a 15-30 minute segment (and Oprah has so many viewers that the advertising probably took up ten minutes of that).  Now ABC brings you The Nate Berkus show!  See more about it at http://www.thenateshow.com/

He has celebrities on to show their design style.  He has viewers on with their design problems.  He gives really great advice on how to do things for less cash.  He even has viewers on to show off their successes.  One day he had a quiz so that you could discover your personal style.  What I love that he said is that you continually add things to your home to make it your own.  You might collect those things on your travels or your style might be to have a very modernistic approach and to have a very clean environment with very few accessories (making what you do have very important).  Monday's show is Design in a Day.

I love watching him bring things together, even when it's not my style.  What style are you?