Found! The Perfect Cake Stand.

Back in 2004, I was searching everywhere for a beautiful yet simple cake stand that would showcase my wedding cake. All I could find were these huge silver boxes:First of all, my cake was round - I didn't want it on a square silver box - I wanted wine country elegance! Then I looked at Williams-Sonoma and found this cake stand which I loved:

But my cake baker at Sweetie Pies looked at me as if I was crazy - how was she going to fit a three tiered 18" cake on that tiny cake stand?

So in the end, I ditched the stand idea all together and ended up with this:

Pink and Red ribbons with fresh flowers. When all was said and done, I loved the cake and thought it looked fine with no stand.

Fast forward to today...and my love of Etsy...and I find these:

Where were these back in 2004?! Sarah's Stands come in a gajillion (okay 73) colors and are so darn perfect! I wish that these were available. Hers come in all different sizes too so your cake baker can't complain!

Has anyone else out there found fantastic cake stands?

Photo sources: Foodservicewarehouse.com, Williams-Sonoma, Laura Hunt Photography. Sarah's Stands photos via etsy: www.TheLoveProjectWeddings.com and the cakes: GreatCakes.net

Who Doesn't Love Shoes?

So late Sunday night I was scouring Zappos.com in search for the perfect pair of shoes and I ran across all of these amazing shoes from Badgley Mischka and thought - these would make fabulous wedding shoes! I grabbed images of them and this morning I started writing up this post.

And sometimes, when it comes to my blog writing, I tend to get a little sidetracked. I took a mini break and instead of finishing this post, I got lost in catching up on some of my favorite blogs. I headed on over to Junebug Weddings and WHOA! there in front of me are the exact shoes I was about to post about! Here is the link to the fabulous shoes that Christy of What Junebug Loves found and then I posted some more below. See, great minds really do think alike! ;)

I tend to like sassy shoes under a stunning dress, so that is why the adorable pink shoes are posted here. I am also a big fan of the something blue being your shoes, but no matter what color you choose, any of these Badgley Mischka ones would be perfect.

Photo source: www.zappos.com

A Wedding Under the Oaks

There is a trail near my home that Em and I love to venture out on. Throughout the trail are hundreds of oak trees. I think oaks are strong, beautiful, timeless and elegant - perfect to use as a iconic detail for an outdoor wedding or as a landscape backdrop for some stunning shots in your engagement or wedding day photos.

Photo/Item Sources: First four photos from top to bottom: Millie Holloman via Snippet & Ink, Jose Villa, Liz Banfield for Tara Guérard, Martha Stewart Weddings; Letterpress Program: The Lettered Olive; Next five photos: Martha Stewart Weddings; Felt Acorns: Etsy - Fairyfolk; Acorn Muffin Tin: Williams-Sonoma via Elizabeth Ann Designs

DIY: Floral Workshop

Last Saturday for four fun filled hours I was an official floral designer. I met up with a group of brides and planners to learn how to make boutonnieres, corsages and bouquets and had a blast! Karen of Huckleberry Karen Designs holds workshops about every 2 or 3 months on how to DIY: Wedding Flowers.

It was a fantastic learning experience - how to process the flowers (roses are a real pain with all of the thorns) how to hydrate them, and when to buy which flowers so they are at the perfect opening state on your wedding day.

I decided knowing how to create these floral pieces would come in handy as a planner. I have had nightmares about the florist forgetting a bridesmaid's bouquet and suddenly I would have to fashion one out of the centerpieces. So I am now ready to roll with my floral tape and ribbon thanks to Karen.

Karen did mention that as a bride, attempting to do flowers yourself for the wedding is definitely do-able but she warned to get more help than you think you'll need! If your wedding is the ultimate DIY wedding or if you are just attempting to make all the personal flowers, you will need lots of hands - especially on the wedding day. This is where us planners come in handy. Not that we will be your stand-in florist, but we can really help with all of the details you envision.

Here are some before and after photos that lead to my creations:

These are the flowers as is from the SF flower mart.

Here we are processing the flowers.

Above the flowers are ready to go. We have 3 types of roses, spider mums, wax flower and something green, round and cool that I can't remember the name of - I show a close up of it a few photos below.

Here is the start of my boutonniere - the sepals are gone and I am using floral wire to support the stem. There is a method to poking the hole - you can't just poke anywhere.

I use floral tape to combine the waxflower and the rose.

Then comes the ribbon - it's starting to look a little snazzier! To be honest, the ribbon was the most difficult part. Wrapping the end of it took many, many tries.

Ta da! And here it is!

Here is a second one I did using an orchid and the cool little green accent flower (if you know what it is called please help me remember!)

Next we made our bouquets - this was 4 million times more difficult than I thought it would be. I thought mine (above) came out pretty darn ok. My new friend Greg is holding it for me so I can snap an aerial shot of it.

Trying to place each flower so that when all together they looked pleasing to the eye and have a round bouquet shape was quite the challenge.

I used roses, freesia, wax flower and calla lilies. I kept the stems long so I could keep it in water when I got home - but if this was a for a real wedding I would have trimmed them a bit more.

And there they are! Such a fun class. If you get the chance you should check out Karen's blog - one of the coolest things she posts on are the different flowers she uses in each bouquet so you know exactly what flower you are seeing.

Photo source: From Trisha Dean's personal collection

Oh Beautiful Paper! New Piece for Tara Guerard

For me, anything letterpress = swoon! As my love affair with all things Tara Guerard continues, I wanted to share Soiree's newest brochure. How amazing is the work done by Stitch Design Co out of Charleston? Yummy.



Here is what the creative minds behind the piece say:

"The brochure is intended to be a teaser to lure the potential client to her website, which Stitch recently helped launch. The brochure nests in a die cut pocket, complete with orange gussets, a ribbon pull, and a customizable letterpress tag."

I think it's a perfect piece!

Photo source: Stitch Design Co.

Fabulous Vintage Furniture - for RENT!

I have seen some fantastic photos lately that have taken vintage furniture pieces and turned them into backdrops for amazing wedding day details. Here are a few images that I collected across the internet as inspiration for one of my brides:

What's even more exciting - as I was catching up on my blog reading - I find this fabulous post on The Wedding Chicks blog on how to RENT vintage furniture for your wedding!

Found is an event decor and prop resource with unique vintage items in their inventory. So, just in case your local Goodwill or consignment store does not have the piece that you envisioned to house your escort cards or display your cake there is always plan b. Check out some of their items:

Photo sources: Stephanie Fey Photography, Images from the company "Found" via The Wedding Chicks blog

Spring is here! Part II - Poppy Inspired Wedding Details

In honor of my Momma's birthday which was a few days ago, I wanted to post some more fun images of wedding details around her favorite flower - the Poppy. As a little girl, the two of us would walk around and she would constantly point out every flower and teach me its name. To this day, I can remember some of the most obscure flowers (which tends to be a great party trick) because of her fun flower games. Whenever we got to the Poppies - Iceland Poppies to be exact - she would say "Those are one of Mommy's favorites!" Here are some great red and pink images to inspire a bright and happy Poppy filled wedding.

Photo Sources: First photo:Yumsugar.com, Fourth photo: Paperantix.com, All other photos: Martha Stewart Weddings