Aletha from Pearls Events has become one of my favorite wedding planners and bloggers.  I am so excited that she is stopping by In This Instance to guest blog today. She has a portfolio filled with such pretty and lovely weddings and she has to be one the most positive, energetic ladies I have met through blogging. {We have only met online but hopefully that changes one day!} Favors and escort cards can be such a surprisingly challenging decision during wedding planning.  But wait until you see this simple, gorgeous idea that Aletha is sharing with us today...

If you're doing assigned seating and struggling with your escort cards choices, might I suggest this lovely idea. Our March 7, 2009 clients, Amy & Carlo, took gorgeous, thick paper to wrap king sized candy bars, and personalized each one with the guest's name and table number. The escort cards doubled as favors, which worked out well. They used different complimentary patterns & colors to wrap their candy and guests picked up their escort card upon entering the venue. Some of them (especially the children!) nibbled on them during cocktail hour, however I saw many guests simply put the candy bars away for later.

This is an inexpensive DIY project that anyone with a little time and effort could pull off. The bride found the paper at Hobby Lobby in one of the thick, big books of scrapbooking paper. The couple used the same paper to make table numbers and pages for their scrapbook-style guest book. I loved the cohesive feel of the day. 

 

Be sure to head over to Pearls Events to see more on Amy and Carlo's gorgeous wedding! And thank you so much Aletha for stopping by today to share this completely lovely idea!

 

{Photos via Pearls Events taken by Amy Carroll}

I am so excited for today's post. When I was planning my wedding, I was constantly trying to figure out how to achieve the most impact while staying within my budget. Florals are often one of the elements of planning that can be a challenge in terms of figuring out what flowers to use, which vases go best, and keep it all within my frugal budget please! During my search for floral inspiration I came across Nancy Liu Chin Designs and I have been smitten with her work ever since. A quick tour of her website shows why it is no surprise that she is one of the most sought-after floral designers in the Bay Area.

Nancy is known for her ability help clients translate their vision into reality. Thus why I am so excited for today's post... Nancy has stopped by to guest blog and give us tips on working with your floral designer to get the most out of your budget for floral design.

1) Agree to a Seasonal Buy
When in doubt, request a seasonal buy. What does this mean? The florist will go to market and select what they love for your vision/style and what looks the best. It like saying to a cook, here's $200 to cook a meal for 4 people. Find the best ingredients and do it. It really allows a floral designer to be more creative. If you specify that you only like this flower, that flower than a floral designer has no choices. I always recommend seasonal buy for those on a budget. Allowing your floral designer to be creative will take your budget further.

2) Avoid High Maintenance Flowers
Believe it or not there are flowers that are high maintenance. Try to avoid them. Flowers like gardenias bruise so easy. When a bride orders gardenias for a corsage, boutonniere, hair piece or for their bouquet, I always have to cushion the proposal because I might have to buy more and make a few more boutonnieres. Ask your floral designer to recommend flowers they think would work for your type of wedding. They will be able to make suggestions to fit your style.

3) Summer Brides - Avoid Heat Sensitive Flowers
Some flowers are so heat sensitive. If you are getting married in the summer be aware that flowers might "POOP" out. Even the most seasoned floral designers have had issues. Hydrangea is a good example of a flower that's heat sensitive. Half an hour in the sun during 100 degree temperature will "kill" these flowers. I don't know of a single floral designer who hasn't faced this dilemna yet again year after year when a bride wants delicate flowers during the summer heat. Be realistic. Once again, if you know it will be warm, ask your floral designer for suggestions. Don't force them to buy the flowers you like only to have them "die"!

4) You don't need to know the names of all Flowers
My brides are so savvy and smart. I love how knowledgeable they are but frankly, I don't think that a bride needs to know every name of a flower in order to get wonderful floral designs. I would never expect this from a bride. Yet in recent years more and more brides feel that they need to know this in order to have great flowers. I stress to my clients that it is more important that the floral designer or florist has a portfolio that shows their range. They should be able to do all different styles. They should have some weddings that are on the more expensive side and others that they do that are more moderate. The best floral designers have great tips on which flowers are best for a bride's proposal. That's what a good floral designer does. And even the most experienced floral designers may not know every single botantical name but the good ones have years of experience and know what works.

Rely on their knowledge, don't try to outsmart them or feel that they expect you to know everything about floral design.

5) Be prepared.
There's nothing more frustrating for a floral designer or florist then a bride who has nothing prepared for a floral consultation. I can't think of one advise more important than this. Do research. You don't need to know all the names of every flower. But go through magazines to determine a style that you like. Do you like romantic floral arrangements? Do you like avant garde? Go to some ready made flower sites to see what the costs are. When you look at a photo on a flower website like ftd.com, teleflora.com, etc, count how many stems of flowers there are. You would never believe how many couples who come see me and say a flower should be so and so price. Often times they are quoting me a price for a flower on a website that's in a bulk box. It's like asking Paula Dean to charge you the cost of the flour and butter to make her famous pancakes. Commodity price is not the same as a finished, hand craft arrangement.

Bottom line: be prepared. Bring magazine tear sheets. Bring swatches. Bring photos of things you like. Bring a floor plan of your ceremony site, reception site. Think about style aspects. Instead of focusing on the name of flowers, think about what you want your day to be about.

6) Avoid generic questions
The first question every bride or groom asks when they contact a vendor is "how much do you charge?". This question is probably one that you will get answered when you meet a florist/floral designer. However, if you email this question, it really is like asking, "how much should I spend for a car?". It's so generic that no decent floral designer can answer that. It's too broad. Avoid questions like this because you may not get the right information or answer. You might end up with answers like ," our minimum is___________." Would that really help you as a bride or groom? Keep in mind without knowing you, a floral designer has not idea what you like, what colors are want, what flowers you will like, how many centerpieces, and on and on and on.

If you are going to begin communicating with a florist/floral designer, ask them if a budget of _$____ would be doable for a wedding of _____(# of guests) for a __________(your event date, i.e. Sunday afternoon). Give them some descriptions and show a bit of your own personality. Here's a good example of how to communicate:

"I like arrangements that are filled with flowers especially romantic garden varieties. Pieces that are great for an afternoon lunch wedding at an outdoor winery on the 2nd Sunday in August for 100 guests. My wedding colors will reflect my like for summer citrus fruits. I love the use of foliage when it is appropriate. I may not have a huge budget but I'm looking for someone who is creative, experienced, and reliable. If you've worked at my venue I would be even more thrilled though I'm open. Most importantly, I want to have fun. I don't want my wedding to be overly stuffy and I looked at your work and there are many different images that could work so I would put my trust in your abilities"

Now that's a wonderful email that gives your floral designer several great bits of information and this will help the florist/floral designer understand your unique needs and bit about your personality.

The real wedding montage below is of a wedding that was during the summer in 2008. The bride did everything right to get the most impact for her budget. She deferred to me on floral issues. She didn't go for the most expensive flowers, she went for the ones that would reflect her "preppy chic" wedding. She didn't ask me for the cost of her flowers. She told me that she had # of guests and needed me to come up with creative ways to get her the most for her budget. She avoided high maintenance flowers and opted for sweet gerbers, spider mums, imported roses, mums, orchids and anything else that I thought would work. The results were florals that complimented her vision.

Images courtesy of Ken Buck Photography

Thank you so much for sharing these valuable tips, Nancy!  If you haven't seen the absolutely stunning work that is done by Nancy Liu Chin Designs then you must check our her site!

finally, the day we were planning for ... a chilly, snow/slush/rain-free March day full of warmth, laughter and love!! i say it all the time, but a new leaf is the kind of venue where a couple has the opportunity to paint the space with themselves, making it their own for the day. i cannot wait to see what tara and her hubs did with it! thanks for letting me guest blog, and thanks to all those who read or commented!

we made a day of it! rise and shine and meet at 9:30am!
the girls and i started by meeting at gro salon in bucktown, where we nibbled on yogurt and granola and muffins from milk+honey. from there, we picked up my gown from home and headed to hotel 71 arriving around noon for more primping. after doing make-up and picking out which jewelry to wear, we nibbled again on tofu or chicken wraps (i didn't want my girls to go hungry; the boys were eating buffalo chicken or skirt steak wraps themselves) and we all slipped into our dresses a little after 2pm.

photo shoot 2:30-5:30pm
admittedly, we ladies were behind schedule, what with visitors stopping into the suite and girly get-up fun ensuing.

hotel 71 penthouse:
finally, i was ready to head up to the penthouse ball room to await my first glimpse of my husband-to-be. if you saw dark knight, this is the ball room where the mayor was having his fundraiser and the joker takes maggie gyllenhahl all hostage like. i stood in the center of the room with my back to the entrance awaiting his arrival. my heart was pounding! as soon as i saw him, he melted all (almost all) my jitters away! i was so happy, that i completely over-smiled in nearly all our photos (i don't usually see my gums, i must have been one ecstatic lady!).

chicago "tour:"
we cruised to michigan avenue, nbc plaza, wrigley building, then up to wrigley field/addison el station, then stopped for st. patrick's day pub shenanigans (woah, how did that happen?). the crowds were fantastic with us.

let's get married!
we used this venue likely in a way that most do not. such is the beauty of a new leaf! it is each couple's own sanctuary for a day, to use in whatever way they wish, making each event there a unique reflection of the couple within it. i loved it! i still love it. and i am a little obsessed with the place! since our march wedding, i attended a wedding reception there as a guest of a friend, and also was the day-of-coordinator there for patrick's co-worker's july garden wedding! it was so fun taking on a different role in the same place i myself got married ... but back to our day:

as soon as we were announced as mr. and mrs. .... guests on the mezzanine level opened up envelopes filled with feathers for a feather drop. it was really pretty, though wasn't really captured in the photos.

we recessed to the apartment level and did our family portraits. we had our wedding party join the cocktail hour after one more quick photo with us so they could join the fun below. we snapped away with the fams, then did a grand entrance with just us, joining all our friends and family as husband and wife for the first time.

our guests died at the fact we had miniature hot dogs with mini buns and mini condiments as part of our passed hors d'oeuvres, the speeches were amazing, our guests loved the small plates themed buffet tables, patrick and i were able to steal a moment to ourselves to take it all in, then we celebrated and danced the night away! we were absolutely beaming ~ such a special day in our hearts!

tomorrow i will get to how we used the venue space for our event ... in the mean time i will post a few more details. if anyone out there has any questions such as 'what did you do for x?' or 'did you do x?' just leave a comment and i will post on it tomorrow ...

jars and cocktails
we drank out of jars. please imagine the moment 150 jars arrived at my downtown office in three HUGE boxes. of course, we had martini glasses and wine glasses, too. the jars were both a throw back to prohibition times when stemware was a dead giveaway ... but more importantly, patrick's family raised the kids drinking out of recycled jars. so we incorporated this for both reasons. we also had cocktail suggestions in frames similar to the frame we used at our welcome water bar.

classic cocktail suggestions

we selected ‘mason’ jars as our cocktail glasses for the evening both as tribute to patrick’s family’s handy use of leftover pasta sauce containers, as well as to evoke the underground escapades of the speakeasy.

sidecar brandy, orange liqueur, lemon

manhattan bourbon, sweet vermouth

rusty nail whiskey with drambuie float

moonshine if we don’t have the real thing, it is not because we did not try

{similar to what we did, MINUS THE UMBRELLA!!}

i won't bore you with the wine selections, but we purchased our wine from LUSH in Roscoe Village and it is one of my favorite shops to stop in for sips of vino.

place cards

dessert

we decided that after all of our midwestern hors d'oeuvres, plus two small plates themes, we might want to keep dessert light. so we decided on sorbet.

and cake!
oh dear, and to think we almost did not do a cake! we were just going to do the sorbet; we didn't think we wanted a wedding cake at all ... we aren't even into the whole cake-cutting photos, so why do a cake? we thought it was a good place to save, oh, hundreds of dollars. then two weeks before the wedding, we thought, well maybe his mom and my grandmother (my own mother passed away) would think it was too non-traditional to not even do a cake. so, off we went to bittersweet bakery. since we were having fruit flavors with the sorbet, we chose to balance that by doing an all chocolate cake! a fondant coated chocolate morsel cake filled with both chocolate and mocha mousses. since we had a rather impromptu appointment at the baker, all we got to taste was fillings, no actual cake. and on our wedding day, it turned out to be the best cake i've ever had in my life and took me completely by surprise!! i really love bittersweet bakery. and we get an 8in. cake from them for our anniversary: i'm so excited.

midnight snack

the ring pillow:

the program:

prelude &
processional

“canon in d” . . . pachebel

“only time” . . . enya

readings
ryan xxxx
amanda xxxx

definition of love

marriage vows

exchange of rings

pronouncement

announcement

recessional

“signed, sealed, delivered”
. . . stevie wonder

wedding party

maid of honor
leslie xxxx … friend of the bride

bridesmaids

holly xxxx … friend of the bride
christine xxxx … friend of the bride

best man
thomas xxxx … brother of the groom

o u r m e n u:

dinner
please mingle and visit both of our prohibition era chicago small-plate buffet tables
for this evening’s dinner selections

gatsby small plates table

warm chicken medallions
wrapped around grilled fig & pear served with lavender-peach sauce
-inspired by the 1933 ambassador hotel

whipped sweet potato
served with fried chives and terra chip garnish
-inspired by the 1920 california club

walnut salad in radicchio cups
mesclun and sprouts with freshly sliced bananas and walnuts
with mascarpone & fig champagne vinaigrette
-inspired by the 1930 knickerbocker hotel

prohibition chinese café small plates table
during the 20s and 30s, younger socialites ditched the stuffy elite
parties of their parents’ circles, relegating social norms and frequenting illicit chinese eateries

soba and cellophane noodles
with carrots, water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, red peppers and sesame seeds
tossed with mirin & rice wine vinegar

chicken and shrimp satay skewers
with sczechuan & plum dipping sauces

vegetable spring rolls
a fresh blend of thinly sliced vegetable including carrots, daikon,
cucumber, water chestnuts and chinese cabbage
tossed in a savory sesame dressing with sczechuan peanut sauce dollop

for our local guests who were not staying at the hotel, our wonderful day-of-coordinator made phone calls on friday to announce the venue and give the address. she even called everyone staying at the hotel to make sure they got their welcome bag and venue map. she was wonderful. don't forget, this had meant i needed to create a phone number list, which i had not done when i made our guest spreadsheet with addresses. at the time, gathering phone numbers was yet another chore on the to-do list!

the rsvps were post-card style, and mimicked the stamping efforts of the original envelope. because there was a place to write, we got some great responses with our rsvps! should have had parentheses around the (s) on accepts, but was having serious issues with the printing margins on these small cards, and the parens for this font were really wide.

shout out to my hubs for doing the stamps on all the invites and rsvp cards!!