I have this certain friend that just cringes when I say that I love burlap. Mind you she is extremely trendy and loves weddings that have that modern twist.  I would have to say that modern and burlap do not mix, and that’s okay.  When I think of burlap, I envision a very vintage romantic look with a bit of rustic mixed in.   The above table and bouquet were designed by us here at Elements of Elegance.  We were trying to capture that vintage look using mix matched china, gold silverware, antique wine glasses, and a mason jar filled with old buttons with a pomander of baby’s breathe.  And last item that pulled the entire look together was the burlap overlay we made.  I can honestly say we had more compliments on this table, than any other.

Now burlap is not for everyone, but it does have its place in the world of weddings.  Plus burlap is taking off in the world of high fashion.  Below are some examples I found showing off the beauty of burlap! Now I do admit that this is not my style but I know it would look amazing on the right person. Enjoy!!!

Image 1: http://images.nymag.com/images/2/daily/2009/04/20090416_wideitems_560x375.jpg

Image 2: www.flickr.com/photos/sproutandbryan/3364151006/

Image 3:http://images.etsy.com/all_images/0/071/da6/il_430xN.18011362.jpg

I have a love and a personal connection tor “at home weddings”!  Now I admit the only “at home” wedding I have planned was my own, but it’s something that I wish more couples would choose to do.  I find it very personal to be married somewhere that has such meaning to the couple.  But with that being said there is a lot that goes into a at home wedding.  I will be the first to say there so much more planning goes into such an event.

When a couple entertains the idea to have their wedding and reception at home there are many things they need to taken into account to make sure that the site will work perfectly for the event.  First thing you need to look at is the number of people you want to invite and make sure you have the space to accommodate those numbers.  Will you have enough space for your ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception?  When my now husband and I compiled our invite list, I will admit it was quite long between all our family and friends.  Most would say we needed to cut because we could not accommodate the numbers that we had for a formal sit down meal that we wanted.  But we never do things the easy way!!  We designed a plan that we could still have our very intimate wedding and formal reception with just very close family and friends (64 guests) followed by a larger informal reception with our addition guest list the following evening (180 guests).   With some creativity and detail planning we were able to achieve the best of both worlds.

The next thing to take a look at is where on the property would the ceremony and reception be hosted?  Are you going to host the wedding, cocktail hour, and reception all in the same location?  Or are you going to have it split up onto different areas of the property?  We choose to have each part of our wedding in different locations.  Since we live on Miner Lake, it was very important to us to have our ceremony lakeside.  This was then followed by cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on our patio.  And lastly, dinner was served family style in our finished walkout basement.  We choose to have all the guests sitting at one large table so we could capture that true feeling of one huge family eating together.  For the next evening we were able to utilize our large yard, patio, and basement for the larger party. Guest tables were set up on the lawn; cocktail tables and a bar for beer and wine were set up on the patio near the DJ booth; and finally addition guest tables, another bar with wine and liquor, and a buffet of comfort food (and a special table filled with kid friendly food!) was set up in the walkout basement.   And we decided to add another element to the reception to help parents relax a bit during the evening.  We turned our front yard and formal living room into a children’s paradise with games, arts &crafts, and outdoor activities that were manned by teenagers in the neighborhood.

Also an addition item to look at is what you will need to bring in for rental items for the occasion…  This means tables (of all kinds), chairs, linens, dishes, bar set ups, sound system, ECT.  These are all items that you get traditionally with a rented venue.  I will warn you depending on the items you pick, they costs of rentals might be higher than if you had choose to have the wedding and reception at customary venues.  I know our rental items alone made up 40% of our wedding budget between for the two day event.

Another item to consider is back up plans!!  Yes we all need them because we do live in West Michigan and the weather changes at a whim…  If you’re having the ceremony and or reception outside what are the plans for rain?  Our plan was simple.  If it had rained, we would have moved the actually ceremony to our church in Allegan.  And then our cocktail hour would have been in our formal living room with dinner still being served in our walkout.  But the next day was tricky to say the least.  Our backup plan for our second reception consisted of TWO tents.  We had decided that if rain was to impose on our celebration, then we would rent one large tent for our adult guests and a smaller one for the children.  I’m very happy to say we didn’t have to go to Plan B, but it’s better to be ready then not to be.

And finally the last advice I can give you is make sure you communicate to your guest about the formality of your wedding.  Like I said in the beginning of this posting our actual wedding and first reception was very formal, where our second reception was not.  What we choose to do is send out two different invites. Those that were invited to both wedding and the formal reception (along with the informal invite for the following evening) received an invite stating a “Formal Sit Down Reception to Follow”. Whereas the following evenings invited stated “Informal Backyard Reception”. This helped our guest understand how each evening was intended so they could plan on what to pack for their attire the weekend.

Now I could go on forever on all the items that you need to think about, but these were the top ones for us.  If you have any questions about how you go about planning an at home outdoor wedding, please contact me and I will share with you my experience!  Happy Planning!!

Below are some of my favorite shots from the weekend!  Thanks goes out to H&K Photography for capturing some wonderful moments for us!

I love when great minds come together to form something even greater! Recently a new event company was formed by two women that I highly respect!  Tami of September’s Bride and Michelle of Memorable Events has joined forces to create Events by September’s Brides.  Now some might ask why I would promote another event planning company.  The reason is because these two women are amazing and I’m so happy to see them working together!  As many know, September’s Bride is the only bridal shop that I send my clients too because of the quality of their service and merchandise.  Plus I love Tami’s spunk for life and her business values.  And Michelle, what can I say?  She is one of the sweetest people that I know!  She takes the same approach to her clients as I do and treats them like they are the only client that she has.  This says a lot about her business and this is the reason that I refer future couples to her if EOE cannot fill their needs.

Events by September’s Brides is located downtown Holland and offer a full service event planning.  With Tami and Michelle at the helm of this new company, they are one to follow!  Congrats ladies and we here at EOE are so excited for you!

This past year I have had more and more of my clients forgoing the traditional head table for the bridal party and round guest tables to a more contemporary look of rectangle tables.  The traditional head table that was used solely for the bridal party is now hosting them along with their significant others and close family of the bridal couple. Then it’s complimented by having matching rectangle tables for their guest that they are able to seat 12 around comfortably.  But my favorite trend has been having the entire guest list sitting together at one rectangle table. The guests really love the feeling of being a larger part of the wedding by sitting with the bride and groom.  Mind you will need a very large space to accomplish this and your guest list should not be over 100 people for this to work best.

Oh how I love Fiddle Ferns!  They make such a statement with their fun look!  Fiddle Ferns come in a variety of colors from warm purplish brown to a fun green and finally a bold orange brown.  Not only are they used in floral, they are also used in fine cooking.  I can honestly say I have had a client’s mom tell me that they taste like rhubarb when raw.  Note, though that cute curl only last for a couple weeks before it turns into flowing graceful greenery.  But what I love most about this plant is my grooms and groomsmen think that it looks manly so they’re okay with wearing that personal flower on their lapel of their suit or tux on that special day.

Above is one of my favorites that we here at EOE have designed for our favorite fireman / groom Travis!

As many know I don’t usually take orders for everyday flowers but that’s about to change.  After multiple conversations with many of my clients, friends, and family I have decided to add an additional service to our already wonderful line up.  I’m proud to introduce Forget Me Not Blooms by Elements of Elegance Event Planning and Floral.

What exactly is Forget Me Not Blooms? It’s exactly that, I will help you not forget important dates and make sure that loved one gets something delivered to them on that special day.  All I ask is a list of dates that you know you shouldn’t forget but sometimes do and a list of blooms that your special someone loves.  Then you leave the rest to me!  Now this isn’t some brand new “invention” of service in the world of floral, but I do believe it’s something that is needed.  In the coming days you will see a new link on our website that you can click on to get you started on your way of being the most thoughtful person ever!

Yesterday afternoon I was busy making up corsages for the mom’s in the neighborhood for our annual Mother & Daughter dinner at our church.  While designing my mind began to drift back to all the different things we have done over the years to honor mothers at wedding.

Of course the “norm” is providing moms with a wrist or pin corsage that is a little fancier than everyone elses.  But to be honest, I usually don’t recommend this to my clients much anymore.  The reason being is that when mom has a corsage pinned onto her gown, many times the corsages droops because of the fabric (Helpful hit to try to prevent this is pin it to their bra strap in a couple places.) or the blooms become damage from all the hugging they are doing prior to the ceremony & pictures.  So naturally most opt to have a wrist corsage because they feel it will be more versatile for the actions of the day.  This is true to a point, but I also find that the flowers still droop a bit.  But the number two complaints I receive is that the actual corsage wrist holder doesn’t look pleasant or are too tight.  I have to agree with both statements.  There are corsage holders out there that look cheap and no matter how you dress it up, you can still see it.  We opt to use a beaded bracelet look for that reason, but again there are problems.  The beaded bracelets are beautiful and available in so many designs. The Only downfall is they only really work if you have a small wrist otherwise it’s very tight.

With that all being said, I have started offering up different ideas for my couples to honor their moms. The most obvious was designing moms a nosegay to carry and providing a vase at their table setting at the reception.  Another option was moms were giving roses or something similar during the actual ceremony to honor the love and support they have given the couple.  But my most popular idea last year was actually giving them a potted rose plant that they were able to plant in their personal gardens at home so they were able to enjoy them from years to come.

No matter how you choose to honor your mothers, it’s the thought that counts and they will for sure love it.  Please share your ideas with us!

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