What a Wedding!

Congratulations to Meredith and Tom on their June 18th wedding! I had worked with Meredith and Tom for almost a year. It was a year of anticipation to see this wedding finally arrive. I knew that it was going to be fabulous...and it was. Rain and all.

First off, this couple had the unfortunate experience of booking a "venue". Now, the reason for the rabbit ears around the "venue" is that this place wasn't really a venue even though they sold themselves as a venue. Tom and Meredith booked the venue first then found me. I hadn't worked there before, but had heard about it and was excited to work there. I would say that 90% of the places we work on weekends are new places that we work. There are hundreds of venues in the cities let alone weddings at private residences. We can't possibly have worked everywhere. We have a process that we go through to familiarize ourselves with each venue after we sign a contract with a new client. So, I went to the venue to do a walk through. From the outside, this place was fabulous and I could see the appeal. From an experience stand point, I had a bad feeling about the place. I KNEW how much work it was going to be to pull this wedding off. And, I had a feeling that this place wasn't zoned to be a venue. That is not something that brides and grooms know to ask venues. But, venues should not be selling themselves as venues if they are not venues. Did that part make sense?

To make a long short short (to read the rest of the story, see a previous blog that I wrote), the wedding was moved to Gibbs Family Farm in Roseville. What a great location! I had worked there many, many years ago in my old life as an event planner for a not-for-profit. So, I knew the potential. This couple has an adorable dog that they wanted to attend the reception. They were told they could bring Scout as long as he didn't chase the chickens.

Meredith and Tom have very good taste and I knew that it would come out with their decisions. As they signed contracts and would forward them to me to have, I could envision what the day was going to look like months in advance. They went with Apres Party and Tent Rental for the tent, white padded chairs, granite bar, and floor length white linens. Yes, we were in dirt. But, the floor length linens really classed up the red barn. Their classic touches they brought in, like the granite bar, were just what was needed to make the event feel elegant and not like a hoe down.

Jennifer with Luna Vinca is one of my favorite florists to work with. She always does a fantastic job working with the couples and really cares about their vision. You can see from the pictures the beautiful centerpieces she helped Meredith and Tom design. Meredith is a thrift store addict. She scoured the stores looking for white milk glass and antique champagne glasses that Jennifer could use for centerpiece containers. You can see how it all turned out.

Two weeks before the wedding I was sitting with Tom and Meredith in our final meeting and Meredith made a comment about how disappointed she was to not have antique china for the plates. We had talked early on about her collecting dinner plates from the thrift stores but how much work it would be. Ironically, I had just been to a wedding professionals meeting and one of the presenters was a lady that started a vintage china rental company! What are the odds? So, I found Vicki's information and passed it to Meredith. One week before the wedding she had switched the plates out from Apres to use Vicki's. Her company is called Revived Tableware. The dishes were perfect for this wedding.

Meredith did collect vintage tea cup saucers from the thrift stores and they were used for the cake buffet. They had a cupcake buffet from Sweets Bakeshop. As a vendor, I don't typically eat the food. I am working, I am not a guest. But, my rule is that when I am putting out the cupcakes for the cupcake buffet and one "accidentally" gets smushed, I can eat it. Salted Caramel is my new favorite. I wished I hadn't been working because beer would have been FABULOUS with that cupcake.

The music was fantastic also. They hired an accordian player, Dan, from Daddy Squeeze Music and also Adagio Djay for their DJ service. Dan and Ryan worked really well together. When Dan needed a break, Ryan would fill in with music during the breaks. Then, when dinner started, Ryan took over for the night. Both gentlemen were great to work with. I can always count on Jay from Adagio Djay to send out the very best DJ's to work with.

So,I have talked about the flowers and talked about the linens. What is left? Food! I can never forget about my good friend Nate Lane from Thyme to Entertain. I love that guy! Did I mention this entire meal was vegan? Yes, it was! And, it was fabulous (yes, I did eat late into the night). So, Nate's staff arrives and they always hit the ground running unloading the trucks. Nate is the owner and always works the events. He is just not some guy sitting in an office collecting the checks. Nate carries, runs, and lifts just as much as his staff. And, he was also the last to go home that night too. So, Nate is this crazy chef that I love to work with that has this 1970ish fire engine. The back end of it has been fabricated into a wood-fire pizza oven. Meredith and Tom didn't have his pizzas that night. I have had his pizzas before and they are pretty frickin' good. The fire truck that night did act as his "hot source" and kept the grains and vegetables hot. I was setting up the tent but I knew that he had put wood in the oven because the smell was incredible. I love working with Thyme to entertain because they have "table centerpieces" which are a small marble slab with a starter on them like olives, hummus, handmade crackers, homemade pickles, etc. Then, they served the tables family style. Remember when you were a kid and used to eat as a family? It is kind of like that. The platters are passed around the table and everyone puts on their plate what they want. Nate has large, white, oval platters that look great on the table. It is fun to watch people pass them around.

You can see from the pictures how beautiful this wedding was. Lace/Hanky was the photographer that night and I can't wait to see her pictures when they are done! They only bad part.....it rained....a lot. But, the music went on and everyone had a good time. Then I ate another salted caramel cupcake...

If I used my cake cutter to cut pvc pipe will it still cut cake?

One of the things that I have always sworn that I would teach my children is how to be themselves. I always felt akward growing up because my ideas were always a little bit different from everyone around me. I was never told that they were dumb or stupid. I just knew that they were different. I was maybe about nine years old and we were packing to go to Billings for a family wedding. I wanted to wear a white shirt, jean skirt, and this white and blue vintage straw grandma hat. I thought my mom's eyeballs were going to pop out of her head when she saw me packing that outfit. Now as an adult and a parent I see why my mom was hesitant.

These days, if you want to see my husband's eye balls pop out of his head say the words, "I have an idea". He is really a patient, kind person. But he knows that with these words it is going to cost him money and there is a project on the horizon. He doesn't have a handy bone in his body so this is why these are painful words. The humorous part is that our three boys have learned this expression. When they say it I can feel my husband's groan even if I don't hear it. He is a good sport with the "creativity" at our house.

As an adult, I am learning that it is ok to be myself and have learned to let my freak flag fly. I don't think my clients would like it if I showed up to their wedding with hot pink hair, but I can at least harness my energy for the greater good. Last Sunday I had a booth in the Book of Love Bridal Show put on by MN Bride Magazine. It has been a very busy (in a good way) January. February hasn't been looking any easier. I am not a procrastinator. My husband's procrastination on things makes my eyes pop out of my head. But, I ended up working on my booth the night before the show. I wanted to create a new table top frame for my display. So, I was running to Menard's at 7 pm the night before the fair. When I got back to my office I started assembling my frame out of pvc pipe. I could have sworn that I left my hack saw at the office from a project in November. But, I couldn't find it. Thank goodness for my McGyver skills. My cake knife did the trick with cutting the pvc pipe into the sizes that I needed. Now, I just need to take it home, wash it, and test it out on some cake to see how well it still cuts!

The best part of being an adult and recognizing that a strength of mine is to think out of the box is that it benefits my clients. The con is that I can't sleep at night because I can't shut my brain off. Fortunately, I made an unexpected score at Menard's that night for a client. This Menard's is closing so everything was on sale for 40% off. I have a client getting married in February 2012. A couple of weeks ago we were admiring Kate Aspen favors at a wedding fair. Picture below. Total for what she would need would be about $350. On a shelf at Menard's I saw two boxes of completely clear Christmas tree bulbs. I thought to myself, "OMG, too bad there are not more. I could totally see us turning these into favors". The best thing about these clients are that the bride and MOB are really crafty and DIYers themselves. It has been a lot of fun to come up with a centerpiece that we could do ourselves. Not all of my clients are DIYers and that is ok. I think we are having a really good balance of making it ourselves and making sure it doesn't look like crap when you make it yourself. Then, I turned the corner and I saw the biggest pile of clear Christmas tree bulbs that thee eye would ever see. I think I heard an angel playing in the background even. I ran to get a cart and loaded it up with 50 boxes of ornaments - 6 in a box for a total of 300. The cost? $45. At the check out they said I could bring them back if she didn't like the idea. I snapped a picture and sent it to the client. She is so excited and we have already generated a ton of ideas on how to personalize the bulbs.

So, when Mikolas wants to wear his Spiderman costume to the grocery store in June, I am ok with it. When Sebastian wants to wear his Thomas the Train rubber boots with shorts in summer to Target, that is ok too. My point is that they also have freak flags and I am going to let them fly them. It will pay off eventually when they can harness that creativity for client projects. I think it is a win/win for everyone. Clients with freak flags are welcome.

This is how the booth turned out!