Partying Like It's 1985!

We all love beautiful weddings, but sometimes we just want to party! We had a blast this past week decorating for a 30th birthday party, 80s style! Paint splatter, neon colors and wild hairstyles were all on display. We had a lot of fun with lighting and accented the house with color changing LED spotlights. Other accents included colorful slinkys hung from the ceiling and neon balloons to kick around.

Check out all the fun!

Accessories Table: slit gunglasses, 80s pins, rubix cubes, jelly bracelets, slap bracelets, glow sticks, slinkys...

The food table, complete with 80's slang backdrop. It was accented with a checkered runner and cassette tapes.

 The cake was sitting on a cake stand made of VHS tapes.

The Rubix cube lamp

Candy buffet!

Photo Props

We had some accent decor set up, including some of our favorite 80's entertainment and a few 80's trivia pursuit cards for the guests to quiz each other.

The guests rocked it all night long!

For entertainment, we projected original NES games onto the walls that allowed the guests to try out their favorite old school games. We also had karaoke for the guests to bust out their favorite 80's rock ballads.

Danelle and Brent

I was delighted to be able to help with some of the decor for Danelle and Brent's wedding. The bride and groom are a lovely couple and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to share in their special day. They contacted me just a couple of weeks ago and we were lucky to be able to pull it all together. We were called in to do some accent decorating of the ceiling and the back wall. The bride coordinated and put the rest of the decor together including table centerpieces and accent decor. I have included pictures of the decor Danelle did to help give a complete picture of her lovely wedding.

The colors were a lovely coral and charcoal gray, perfect for a June wedding. For the ceremony, we spruced up the area where the couple exchanged their vows by creating a faux arbor that also served to hide the stage lighting that cluttered the ceiling.

The bridal party entered down two aisles and met in the center of the room.

The aisles were lined with vases of submerged orchids and tea lights and accented with coral and white rose petals.  (The aisles were decorated by the bride and her lovely bridesmaids.)

At the end of the aisles we placed some flower stands to add a bit of height (provided by Elegantly Expressed).

For the reception, we put up our signature dropped ceiling complete with twinkling lights. We also added a backdrop to the back wall. 

The tables were decorated in two styles. The table below featured a vase that the bride wrapped in rubber-bands and then spray painted silver with a tea light inside.

The other centerpiece featured submerged orchids for a touch of elegance. 

Finally, I thought this was the cutest way to greet the guests. The bride and groom asked their guests to dip their thumbs in gray or coral paint and then place them on the tree. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a photo after the thumbprints were on it, it was so cute and will look darling in the couple's home.

Kara and Alex

We just recently opened our doors here in Kansas City and I was delighted to be able to debut our work in the mid-west by designing the lovely wedding of Kara and Alex.

Early in the wedding planning process, Kara mentioned that Alex's family really enjoyed playing Scrabble together. With that in mind, we decided on a vintage Scrabble theme featuring navy blue, burlap and Kara's favorite flower, daisies. 

As a designer, I really enjoyed building a new backdrop and crafting little details like letter blocks and monograms. Overall, we focused on simplicity with a bit of vintage charm. This wedding really put my talents to the test as I also had the privilege of making Kara's bouquet and Alex's boutonniere. 

The vintage church doors and antiqued birdcage made a lovely backdrop for the ceremony. I really lucked out as I found the doors at the Habitat for Humanity Restore where I found them as a pair. They were dark brown when I started, but after a couple coats of paint, some strategic sanding and the perfect hardware, I think they ended up looking pretty good. :) 

 The lovely cake and hanging daisy backdrop:

Card Basket on the gift table:

The Centerpieces:

Little details around the room :

This is the bouquet and bout I created for the bride and groom:

 We also provided the food which included BBQ chicken and pork, baked beans, coleslaw, fruit and veggies:

Natalie & Carter

I was so excited to design Natalie and Carter's country-chic wedding! They are a terrific couple with lots of enthusiasm and energy.

Natalie has been my assistant for years and every wedding we did she would say, "Ooh! I want this for my wedding!" Her favorites changed every time (as did mine!). In actuality, we designed Natalie's wedding to be different than any we had previously done. We built her a new backdrop and cake backdrop, and the unique decor all fit a country/cowgirl theme. In the end, I think the results were lovely and this has turned out to be one of my favorite weddings.

Due to technical difficulties (I lost my camera battery) I was unable to get pics of all the details but they included adorable wooden benches with hand-sewn pillows, an antique washboard and basin, gorgeous quilts, etc. Hopefully when Natalie gets her pictures back from the photographer she will let me have a few to put up here.

Her cake backdrop was created mostly on a last-minute whim. I had just finished gathering the elements the day before and just started putting them together to see what looked good. I ended up being super in-love with it! Her cake was just a one-layer which we then decorated with a wreath of baby's breath. The rest of the "cake" was made of vanilla cupcakes which we also served to the guests.

The tables were really simple with green overlays, a piece of burlap and big bouquets of baby's breath. The finishing touch was the twine we wrapped around each mason jar.

I also did the food for the reception. She chose a popcorn buffet, which is just fun. We served up five different flavors: Rosemary Parmesan, Butter & Salt, Cinnamon Sugar, White Chocolate and Candied Lime.

Thanks so much for letting me design your wedding Natalie and Carter! Congrats!

Karianne & Tanner

I'm so excited to share the pictures of the wedding I decorated and catered this past weekend! It was for my little brother Tanner and his gorgeous bride Karianne. They are such an adorable couple and it was such a pleasure to create a beautiful atmosphere for their reception.  I am not exaggerating when I say this may have been my most favorite decor job yet. ;)

Karianne chose a vintage chic theme with aqua/teal blue and coral as her colors. We used accents of burlap, lace and baby's breath to pull together a cohesive theme.

First, the food table: My dad built a fence out of barn-wood on which we hung a collection of gold-framed mirrors. I used two tall Eiffel tower vases filled with baby's breath to frame each end of the table. For refreshments we featured a chocolate fountain with strawberries, rice krispie treats, cream puffs, pineapple and gummy bears as well as sour dough bread and spinach dip made by the mother of the bride (which was excellent, I might add).

The cake backdrop was perfectly dreamy in its simplicity. We hung mason jars filled with baby's breath to create a curtain of flowers. The cake was simple but the coral roses really popped against all the green and white baby's breath.

The backdrop behind the line was made using old curtains the bride found at the thrift store. The ruffles and lace fit our vision perfectly.

When decorating the tables, I added texture by layering a burlap runner, a rectangle of ivory lace and a homemade doily. We topped it off with blue vases painted by the bride, mason jars of roses and a little teacup I found in a Kansas City thrift store.

The groom, Tanner, and his new father-in-law spent hours creating the framework for the ceiling of lights. On every other strand of lights we put little "lamp shades" on the lights to create a more prominent glowing effect as the sun went down.

Additionally, my family also helped me cater the luncheon. We served BBQ pulled pork, baked potatoes, spinach salad, rolls, green beans and carrot cake. I decorated the tables using upside down goblets encasing a flower and topped with an ivory candle. People really seemed to love the simplicity and elegance of the set-up. :)

Thanks to Karianne and Tanner for allowing me to help with their amazing wedding day. It makes me really miss doing these weddings on a regular basis. :)

Sebastian & Bethany

Sebastian and Bethy are a vibrant couple. They are full of laughter and are lots of fun to be around and we were privileged to be able to travel down to Arizona this past week to assist with the decoration of their reception.

Bethy's colors were a very classy black, white and light pink. We played with a damask undertone as is evident on the tables. We put up our classic tent-styled dropped ceiling, but softened the look by lowering the center pitch (the high middle point). There was no official backdrop, but a faux wall of black and white stripes was put up to break up the monotony.



We also put up 4 horizontal wall panels around the room with a black vertical stripe that was gathered in at the middle. I hung pictures of the bride and groom with light pink ribbon at alternating heights and then spot-lit the pictures to add emphasis and ambiance.



The centerpieces were damask-style candelabras with battery lights along with 2 bud vases holding 3 pink roses each. The tables had white tablecloths, black satin overlays, and a white damask runner to complete the look.



The bride decorated her own cake, isn't it gorgeous?!



All in all, it was a lovely evening: