I love the phrase “April Showers Bring May Flowers” because it’s so true.  I spent the morning looking out my window of my office at the gloomy rainy day and now I’m enjoying the sun as it starts to peak out from behind the clouds.  I’m marveled on the beauty of the rain drops that sit up the silky petals of the tulips in my front yard.

Spring flowers are some of my favorite blooms to use in weddings.  The colors and textures are amazing!  When you think of the fragrant smell of the hyacinths and lilacs; to the delicate petals of the daffodils and Primrose; and the texture of the cherry blossoms and pussy willows, it makes spring designing amazing!

A sampling of a few of my favorite bouquets that I found today on Brides.com, enjoy!

This blog has always been about all things wedding, but today I want to talk about something that has affected more than 200,000 women a year, Breast Cancer.  This past weekend I had the honor of being part of a special fundraising event for a dear friend of mine.  Angie is a twelve year survivor of Breast Cancer!

In the past when I’ve been involved in raising money for Breast cancer it’s been in honor of those who have passed on such as my Grandmother.  It was amazing to finally celebrate someone that has conquered the battle and is living life to its fullest!  And Angie is an icon of those who have survived and has educated others on Breast Cancer.  In addition she started her own charity called Angie’s Angels whose main goal is to help raise money to help support finding a cure to Breast Cancer.  And this year, with the help of her dear friends Tammy and Kimberly, they decided to hold a benefit celebrating life! With over a year of planning the most amazing event happened with over 250 attendants! This event would not have happened without the help of family & friends and Mr. Xmas helping with the décor!

For a mere $15.00 guest enjoyed an evening of amazing food prepared by Chef Rick and danced the night away with a local DJ company that donated their time to the cause.  When guest weren’t eating or dancing they were checking out the amazing “baskets” that were being raffled off during the night.  All the “baskets” were donated to the event and they were over the top!! A very special thanks needs to go out to the aunts that took it to the next level!!!    At the end of the evening Angie’s Angels raised $4000 for the cause!!!

Angie, thank you so much for allowing Mark and I to be part of this amazing event! It was so awesome to see so many people come together and celebrate life and help fund a cure.  Next year is going to be even better than this year and I’m so excited to help you in whatever needs you might have! Love you!!!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of receiving pictures of personal and reception flowers from a wedding that we did last summer for Stephanie and Matt.  I still remember sitting with Stephanie and her mom one cold November evening back in 2008! We started out with a color palette of pinks and whites.  But as you can see as the date got closer we added LOTS of color!

Matt and Stephanie were married on August 15^th, 2009 on one of the hottest days of summer.  They had a beautiful ceremony at St. John Vianney followed by a wonderful reception at the Crowne Plaza.  Again Stephanie and Matt, thank you for allowing us to be part of your magically day!

All photos courtesy of Kelly Wiseman

Ceremony::: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Reception and Caterer::: Frederik Meijer Gardens

Day of Coordination::: Elements of Elegance Event Planning and Floral

Florist::: Elements of Elegance Event Planning and Floral

Photography::: Katie Morrow Photography

Wedding Cupcakes::: Alicia Giles Cakes

Linens::: Special Occasions

Limo Service::: Dadds Limo

Make Up::: Lindsey Smith Make Up

Overnight Accommodations for couple::: JW Marriot

We had the honor of being part of Sean and Dana’s wedding and what a wedding it was!  It was filled with so much love and special touches that it really was a great event to start off our season with.  When I met with Dana for the first time last year I fell in love with her style!  And I have to say she was my bride that had some of the sweetest DIY projects.

On a sunny Saturday morning we started our day off at Dana’s mom’s house helping the guys finish getting ready and all pinned up with their personal flowers, all being captured by the wonderful Katie and her second shooter Theresa.  Then we were off to the JW to check on the girls and deliver their personal flowers.  Walking into the girls’ suite, you could just feel the excitement and love radiating from the room.  And our bride was amazingly calm as she was having her makeup finished.  Then it was time to slip Dana into her beautiful dress and let her see her groom for the first time on the stunning staircase.

Then our wonderful couple and their bridal party were off to pictures in downtown Grand Rapids.  My assistant Patti tagged along to help with any needs the bridal party  might have had.  As for me, I was off to the Palm Room at Frederik Meijer Gardens to set up for reception with the help of my dear friend Allison Bower!  I arrived to a room filled with activity!  Penny from Special Occasions was busy putting on the chair covers and table linens.  Alicia was busy setting up the yummy cupcakes and placing the most interesting cake topper I have ever seen!  The couple has a love for video games and had a custom made topper of their favorite character from Esty.  Alli and I were busy placing the reception flowers and the bride’s beautifully made Menu Cards, Favor Boxes, and Escort Cards who by the way were all created by her.  Once the room was close to being finished, I was off again to meet up with Patti and the bridal party at their home church in Greenville for the ceremony.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was so quaint and the ceremony was quite moving with a Shakespeare reading and the Bride’s aunt signing the most beautiful song.  After the ceremony, the bride and groom chose to release their guest themselves so they could take a moment thank each one of them for coming.

After the wedding the bridal couple and their party were off in the Limo for some fun photos around the area and our team was off to do finishing touches Palms Room for the couple’s dinner reception.  The brides choose an ivory, dusty pink, chocolate brown, with a touch of green apple for their color palette.  Once all the table settings were placed, the room truly looked amazing!

Once the finishing touches were done, the doors were opened for cocktail hour where guests were served a chill glass of Champagne and along with Butler service of hors d’oeuvres as they walked in.  As the guest mingled, the couple and their bridal party arrived and were ready to be announced.  Our  fun filled evening began with “Grampy” giving a heartfelt prayer blessing both the meal and the couple followed by some fun and lighthearted toasts to the couple.  Then one of the best meals I have had at a wedding was served to everyone!  Frederik Meijer’s caterer group did an amazing job!  After the dinner was served the guest enjoyed an evening of great music and dancing!

Congrats again Dana and Sean!

Being that it’s Earth Week, this morning on the Today Show there was a clip about “Going Green” in your everyday life.  But it really doesn’t stop there; many of today’s brides are “Going Green” for their wedding.  But what does that really mean?  Well here are three examples of what some of our clients are doing to make their wedding more environmentally friendly.

One of the most popular eco-friendly ideas is choosing flowers that we can purchase locally.  The lovely bouquet above was designed by us last year for one of our June brides, Jan.  It was a beautiful lush bouquet of peonies surrounded with variegated hosta leaves.  And all these flowers were grown locally at Ponderosa Nursery located in Hamilton Michigan.   In the summer months, we utilize as many local growers as possible because we then are able to help support our local economy and help give our brides more blooms for their budget.

Another idea that my brides are doing is using is local stationary designer that use eco friendly paper lines such as Marsupial Paper Company.  Again they are supporting a local business and but more importantly they are using paper that is safe for our landfills.  My two favorite local designers are Sondra from Sondra Ink and Abbey from Syd Design. Both do an excellent job and understand today’s bride’s needs.

And finally some of my brides are forgoing buying a new wedding gown but instead buying used or even renting a gown.  Companies such as Light in the Box provide brides choices of multiple styles and colors of both bridal and bridesmaids gowns.  Another suggestion for a bride that is looking to purchase a previously worn gown is talking to other brides on forums that can be found on wedding planning sites such as The Knot and Wedding Wire.

The above are the most popular with our clients, but there are so many different ideas out there.  Please share your ideas with us; we would love to hear them!

This past weekend was the official kick off of “Wedding Season” for us here at Elements of Elegance.  And we were very happy to have started our season with the amazing couple of Dana and Sean!  Their wedding was filled with so many personal touches and an excellent line up of vendors!  I will be sure to share all details and some beautiful shots of this wedding from Katie Morrow Photography in the coming days!  Happy Wedding Season!

After spending the most of the afternoon weeding in my gardens, I could not help but think about outdoor weddings and my love for them.  As some may know when I married my husband we had an outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour.  We decided to forgo the traditional church wedding because we wanted to get married where we loved, which was our home and the lake we live on.  But when you decide to have your wedding and/or ceremony at outdoor, there are lots of things you need to consider that you normally would not have to. Below are some items to consider when making those decisions.

When picking your wedding date you must consider what the weather might be during that season and have a backup plan in place.  If you are planning on a ceremony outside, then consider having a tent on reserve in case of rain or severe heat.  Also just in case there is a major rainstorm that comes through, have even a third back up plan such as a local church.  There is nothing worse than having you and your guest walking through puddles and mud.

Also think about your guests comfort during the ceremony.  I always suggest that if you are having an outdoor wedding during the warmer months to have bottled water available for your guest.  Also think about having parasols available to shield them from the sun.  And finally think about those pesky little flying bugs.  I suggest having a bug service come out and spray a few days before the ceremony.  This will not eliminate the bugs completely, but will help with the problem.

If you are considering having your reception also outdoors there are many things to think about.  The main one is being rental items.  At a traditional reception venue, they provide you with tables, chairs, and usually basic linens.  In having a reception outdoors you will need to bring in all these items along with a tent and dance floor unless you have a structure you are able to use.  In addition you will need to consider weather again and decide if you need to have sides for the tent on reserve along with heaters or air condition system to help with the climate control.

And finally think about transportation and parking for your wedding.  Do you have an area large enough close to both the ceremony and reception that your guest can easily walk to? What I suggest that if you have to have your guest park away from the ceremony and reception is to provide them transportation.  It can be by travel bus, a trolley, or as we did, rented 12 passenger golf carts.  Make sure you communicate this to your guest prior to the wedding and you have responsible drivers set up prior to the wedding.

Now there is so much more to think about if you are having your wedding at home such as we did.  In the coming weeks I will blog the “to do” list I made up for this and things to consider when deciding to have it at home. Happy Planning!

Photo courtesy Angela Brooks Photography

Who doesn’t love a signature drink at a wedding? I know I do especially when the couple takes the time to work with their bar tending service to design a drink especially for their day.  I was very fortunate that during my 2009 wedding season two of my Full Production clients did decide to do signature drinks that were AMAZING!

Some couples decide to only have a signature drink available to their guest during the cocktail hour. This is what our couple Rachel and Drew decided to do based on the size of their guest list.  They worked with their bartender to design a pomegranate martini that was dyed an egg plant color to blend in with their wedding color palette of egg plant, hot pink, and  lime green.  The drinks were then placed on the hors d’oeuvre tables so their guests were able to pick them up at their leisure.  The guest loved this concept and there was not a signal drink left at the end of cocktail hour!

Now our second couple Dana and Travis, they decided that they wanted not only one but two signature drinks that were available to their guest throughout the entire evening.  What I loved most about this wedding was that we were part of the team to help design these drinks along with a excellent private bartender that we secured for the couple.  So one warm evening the couple along with our EOE team sat around the bar in located in my home and designed two amazing drinks.  The first was a chocolate/coffee martini that was adorn with a Hersey Kiss in the middle that we named “Kiss the Bride”. The second creation was amazing sangria that our bartender just whipped up and then garnished with fresh fruit!  We then placed this in a beautiful glass hurricane that fit into the décor of the wedding.  Guests loved both of these creations so much that we had to replenish our ingredients on four different occasions during the evening.

When looking at adding a signature drink into your wedding, there are a few items that you should consider.  Please work with a bartending service because they can help design a drink with your taste in mind.  They also can let you know what you need for ingredients and how much you will need to purchase.  Also pick something that represents you as a couple.  The two above couples loved martinis so it was an easy fit into their wedding design.  And finally, choose a drink that your guest will enjoy because there is a significant investment for the ingredients and any special glassware you might need.

Happy Planning!

As I look onto my Facebook home page and my Twitter account, I’m amazed on how many of us wedding professionals season starts this coming weekend.  With that being said  I’m also excited to see that many of us are still getting inquiries for late summer and fall weddings, especially for floral for us here at Elements of Elegance.  I think personally brides are waiting longer this year to book their florist.  But when meeting with a potential florist, what questions should you ask and what should you expect from them?

When I first sit down with a client and tell them about EOE, I get so excited because I love what I do!  But a lot of times after I give “my story” and ask them if they have any questions, I get a lot of nos.  I would love to think it was because I did such a great job at answering all their questions before they asked them, but I know it’s because they more than likely don’t know what questions to ask.  So below are a few that you can rattle off to them and then my answer to that question.

Question:

How many weddings do you do in a single weekend?

Answer:

We have the ability to do multiple weddings a weekend, but we limit ourselves to just two weddings if the second wedding is small. But if we have a client that has booked us both for a planning and floral package, then we only book that one wedding for floral.

Question:

Are your wholesalers local or do you ship the flowers in?

Answer:

My wholesaler is based in Battle Creek and I have been very lucky that no matter what we request, he has been able to find them for us.  We have in the past used wholesalers outside of Michigan, but we prefer to stay local in case we need replacement flowers

Question:

When do you bring in the flowers for the wedding?

Answer:

With a proper cooling system you can bring them in three to four days before.  Even though we do have a proper cooling system, I like to bring them in no more than two days before the wedding.

Question:

Do you charge a delivery and set up fee?

Answer:

If the wedding is over $500 then no we don’t charge a delivery or set up fee?  If the wedding is under $500, there is a $50 delivery and set up fee.

Question:

Once we pick out all our flowers, are we able to make changes?

Answer:

Yes!  You can completely change your design if you like.  My only request is that there be no additional changes three weeks before the wedding due to lead time for flowers.

Question:

How do you help us choose our flowers?

Answer:

In the past I would have my clients skim through lots of floral design books that I had in the office and pictures of past weddings I have done.  I still do this a bit but now I have gotten into more of designing up design palettes for them to look at. We place everything on a corkboard and we look at groupings of designs and then make up a master palette.  I find that my client loves this because they can see more of the finished look.

Question:

Do you do mock ups and do you charge?

Answer:

Yes we do mock ups of the all table centerpieces and some bouquets free of charge.  If your bouquet is something that contains high end flowers, we do charge for the actual flower cost.

On a recent visit to Events by ICandy in Grand Rapids with one of my June brides, I was surprised on all the new items they were carrying! The one particular item that really caught my eye was all these amazing cake stands they had in house.  The days of the wedding cake on the simple white platters are almost gone.  Today’s brides are now choosing more edgy or even romantic stands to show case their wedding cake or cupcakes.  Below is just a sampling of the ones that you a can purchase, but I highly recommend that you take a quick trip into Events by ICandy and check out their fantastic rental selection.

1. 1. JAF Gifts, 2. Amazon, 3. Amazon, 4. Save of Crafts, 5. Once Wed, 6. Etsy