A couple of weekends ago I was the wedding coordinator for a sweet couple here in D.C. They got married at the Newton White Mansion, a gorgeous venue in Maryland– not too far out of the city. It was a good time– all the more so because the photographer was a friend of mine. Laura Elizabeth Pohl did an amazing job, along with her assistant Amanda Lucidon. They really know how to tell a story, don’t they?
It was a wonderful wedding. Congrats to Helen + Joel!
Check out these adorable holiday DIY lovelies– from gift ideas to crafting, you will be set this Valentine’s Day!
I want to get these beautiful balloons– and tassels- on Tuesday.
I need to give this card to a friend.
Spruce up your kids’ or hubby’s lunch.
These cookies are amazing. Oh my.
This card is fun– and it’s a printable!
This packaging is lovely– and also a printable.
Are you feeling it? I am! xoxo
I think I am getting a bit sentimental with all of the weddings– between my bride getting married a few weeks ago (more to come, I promise!), this wedding that reminds me of my own, and the two weddings I have on my mind, I’ve been thinking about my own wedding, 2.5 years ago. I shared bits and pieces when I first started this blog, but not in it’s entirety. In fact, I haven’t even looked at them recently, so I’m a bit curious to how well the style aged–if it did. Will you join me in a little reminiscing?
Somehow we didn’t get any shots of our invitations. My husband is a computer guy, and eco-conscious, so we did an email save-the-date and self printed our invites with soy and vegetable based inks. The RSVP card was a pull off post-card or they could go online. Not shown here are the yellow mum liners.
Now that I have started my blog, and discovered I love paper, would I have made the same choice? Hmm, I don’t know. It did make my husband happy though, so maybe. It is funny to see our old names now.
We were married March 15th, 2009 (the ides of March!) at the Davis Island Garden Club. I wanted to be near the water, but not a beach wedding (I didn’t want to be barefoot), so the Garden Club was the perfect location, on an island in downtown Tampa. It was also in a central location between my family, part of my husband’s family and many of our friends. Not to mention the grounds are beautiful and required little decoration.
We held our ceremony in the round, and Jen was our awesome day of coordinator (I got to return the favor for her wedding!). One of the best parts of the day was my step-dad officiated the ceremony. He’s an awesome orator, and it made it that much more special.
Here’s our first look –I now love that it is so candid. That table in the corner? That was our refreshment table. It was 80 degrees in FL (perfect for me, not for everyone), so we offered guests drinks and fans prior to the ceremony. The programs were also on this table. While I really liked our photographer, there are a few details that I wish we had documented. This table {and programs and invitations} are some of them. Examples of things that important to the bride (as I spent hours on these details) that I should have communicated to the photographer. oops. Something I do for my brides now.
{Side note: While watching reruns of Mad About You Jamie was also disappointed not to have every picture. Maybe every bride feels this way?}
Isn’t our bridal party fun? Just married:
Come back tomorrow for dinner, dancing and our surprise fireworks! xoxo
{Photos by Ben Sasso}
One of the things I’ve been slow to talk about is something I’m most excited about– I’m planning a 5 year old’s birthday party! Her mom contacted me through this blog and I am so glad she did! I’m really enjoying working with her!
The party isn’t until March, so I have lots of time to create fun details and update you all! The mom knew the theme before she contacted— a unicorn rainbow princess party. She saw this awesome party at Hostess with the Mostess, and we will certainly be using this as inspiration!
Such as the cake, the adorable unicorn party hats, maybe the balloons, and the sugar cones dressed as unicorn horns.
But that’s not the only inspiration we will be using– don’t you worry!
How about some balloons and streamers– rainbow, of course.
Lots of sprinkles!
And a ruffled tablecloth– a girl’s party for sure!
Looks fun, right? I’m having the best time working on this!
One thing (of many) that I need your help on is the perfect location. We have a great park picked out— but it’s a little far. Any thoughts for great party locations in the DC Metro/VA area?!
Have a great weekend– and don’t forget to enter my flower give away by noon today! xoxo
I can’t wait to have a house with a backyard so I can throw amazing parties like this! Beautiful and Fun! {via Bash Please}
My favorite Eat Drink Chic designed the most adorable picnic invite tags, with pockets! Why do I love the pockets so much? More printables for your arsenal.
Remember my super cute bride? It’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned here, but she and I are still planning away!
She sent out these adorable Save the Date magnets in fun envelopes back in May.
Aren’t they adorable? She even sent me one!
Sadly, right after these were sent she had venue issues. Turns out her venue– the one she knew she wanted from the start– is going to have scaffolding up for the next 6-8 months for maintenance and repair (during high wedding season, including her wedding) and didn’t give anyone signing contracts the heads up. Ugh.
So my bride, the groom and her mother scoured the city looking for new sites. And they found a great one. The Desmond Tutu Center.
Isn’t it beautiful?
It’s Gothic architecture is gorgeous and imposing, so she and I are working to make sure her wedding is still fun and funky, and not too formal. The only thing? Her date changed from the Save the Dates. It’s now a week later, as that was what was available at the Tutu Center.
Really– not a big deal in the scheme of things. But annoying.
Her invites are ordered and she hopes to get them out a little early, to make up for the change.
As for the old venue— it remains to be seen how they will deal with many wedding parties changing locations. But here’s to hoping that they get their act together.
After a great 4th, I’m feeling a little partied out.
But, as we just moved to Washington, D.C. and are trying to get settled in our new apartment, I have creative ideas and inspirations of another sort racing through my mind. I hope you don’t mind!
My office is at one end of the living room, so I am planning on differentiate the space with these gold circles on the wall above my desk. Similar to Joy, as she did in her studio space.
This Martha Stewart image — for a winter wedding– was her inspiration. If I can get it by my husband, I’d love to add dots to the floor too!
I hope mine comes out as good looking as Joy’s! I’ll let you know how it goes!
After buying yellow chevron pillows a few weeks back, I’ve been all about the chevron. I’ve always liked chevron (as you can see here, here, here and here) and I’ve always liked the color yellow. Together– they make my heart sing. So much I am even considering putting in on my walls!
Here’s some more yellow chevron– hopefully it makes you as happy as me!
A whole tablecloth, with a cake to match:
Or just a bit, with a tasteful runner:
Used on adorable favors, this way:
Or this way:
Or on a program:
I want them all! xoxo
I realize that I have not offered many tips as of late here on Event Lucky. I enjoy looking at inspiration pictures, so that is where I have been focusing. But nothing beats a well planned party. The devil is in the details, as they say!
My husband is celebrating a milestone birthday at the end of the year, and I am planning a party for him– long distance. So rather than just share the outcome, I thought I could update you along the way, work through my process with you. Every Thursday, check in here to see the progress. I’ll still have inspiration and other cool ideas the rest of the week, but Thursday will be dedicated to the planning process of my husband’s birthday. I hope that it will be fun– and that you all will share and give feedback along the way!
DATE
My husband spent the majority of his adult life in Los Angeles. Most of his friends and family live there, so when we started talking about celebrating his big day, traveling there kept coming up as an option. His birthday is early December, so it usually falls around Thanksgiving, which would give us some built in days off if we chose to travel. Of course, hosting a party over a holiday weekend has its pluses and minuses– some people are out of town, but others come into town to visit family. Not to mention, having a party is a great way to see a lot of people at once. After checking in with a few close friends, we settled on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, Nov. 27th.
LOCATION
This took some time, as we had to figure out the scope of the party. Did we want to have cocktails at a bar? Or a sit down dinner at a restaurant? Or a house party? You may have seen this post where I was lusting after a food truck. This took a couple of weeks of discussion. We sat down to make a guest list (as well as a “likely to come list”– again, parties around the holidays have their drawbacks!). We decided that 20-25 people were likely— which ruled out the food trucks (most require 50 people minimum). We checked into some restaurants, but nothing was really clicking. We felt limited by not being able to check them out ourselves.
When we mentioned to some friends that we were going to L.A. over Thanksgiving, they seemed interested in coming along, we started looking into houses to rent. We use airbnb.com to rent out our apartment when we travel, so we looked there first. I quickly found a place that would be perfect– both to house us for our stay, as well as for the party.
I love the indoor/outdoor space, with great flow for a party.
Or, you can close it up, if it is too cold.
And a great backyard, with an outdoor kitchen, firepit, hammock and air-stream. Cool!
Of course, the bedrooms and bathrooms are nice too– 2 of each, making it comfortable for our entire visit. It almost seemed like it was meant to be!
So we booked it! We got our flights and booked the house– and planning a party! Los Angeles, here we come!
Next Step: settling on a theme…
