Preview of Mysha's Wedding

Mysha's wedding is not until May 14, but our planning stages are well under way.

Here are some pictures from the mock-up that I created the other night. Our main themes are peacock colors and crystals.


The table centerpieces, half the tables will have the calla lilies, half the black lanterns:





These arrangements will be used as wall panel arrangements around the room, lit up with spotlights:



The complete table-scape:



I'm already getting excited to see how the whole wedding comes together!

A Quick Look Back

Sweet Debbie posted this pic on her Facebook page, and I hope she won't mind that I borrowed it. I liked the composition, the pretty ceiling, and the lovely faces of the bride and groom. :)

Oh, the Exquisiteness of Chocolate!

Before I opened Elegantly Expressed and fell into the wedding planning and event design, I had dreams of being a caterer and owning a small restaurant. I even went so far as to cater special events for people I knew. My big break was catering the CD release party of this awesome singer I am lucky to know, Deb. (Go to her website and check out her awesome music!)

Anyway, soon after I started Elegantly Expressed, I was given the opportunity to invest in these magnificent chocolate fountains. I have two of them and they stand 23" tall. They are not quite the huge things you see at Hollywood parties, but they are cost affordable (as they use less chocolate) and perfect for the weddings that I do. I was surprised at how my inner caterer was brought out each time I used the fountains.



Many of you may be familiar with our luxurious chocolate fountains and the elegant but fun accents they add to events. While regular chocolate will always maintain its status as most popular, we have found surprising success with our crazy nacho cheese as well (I know, random, right? But people LOVE it!) However, if you know me at all, you know I am never satisfied with the same old stuff, so I have been scouring for new ideas and products to indulge in. Luckily I found some awesome solutions and I can't wait to try them out.



First up, the White Chocolate. I know it's not new, but no one has ever requested it before. However, our first white chocolate fountain is already scheduled to debut on May 14 at Mysha's exquisite wedding (seriously, this will be THE wedding of the year!).




Next, the Caramel. Over the past few years I have been researching how to do a caramel fountain, and I have finally found my answer! Someone please request this, as I am dying to try it!!



Finally, the Peanut Butter. In my dreams I never thought this was possible, but someone has created the perfect product to do it. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to have a chocolate fountain next to a peanut butter fountain?! Bring out the cookies, I am ready!

Wesley and Trevor

Wesley and Trevor were another referral from Melissa at Tickled Pink Floral. We love working together so we really encourage our clients to use each other's services. (Plus, Melissa does such a great job!)

Wesley and Trevor are a really sweet couple who came to me already knowing exactly what they wanted (which doesn't happen too often). They planned a gorgeous reception at the Springville Art Museum with red and black as the wedding colors.

The art museum doesn't need much in the way of decor, but we brought in the Wrought Iron Arch, which looked perfect in the room! We also placed satin red table runners on the lovely tables in the atrium. The centerpieces were comprised of our lovely black lanterns with white lights inside, a picture of the bride and groom, and sprinklings of red and white rose petals.

It was such a simple, but gorgeous reception!

The Arch:




The Tables:

Erika and Ben

Erika and Ben were such a fun couple to work with and I had a blast during our initial consultation. A family member had seen Donna and David's wedding back in November, and recommended me since Erika and Ben were having their reception in the same building. By pure accident, this was the 4th wedding we have done in this particular church building, so I have quite a bit of experience there.

Erika's colors were navy/royal blue and light pink. You will recognize much of the decor as things we have previously done, but it still looks nice. You will see the Jen backdrop, the Swag cake backdrop, and LED's in the centerpieces.

The ceiling was a bit different in that we did a double-dip tent style. There is the central high point, and then closer towards the walls there is another high point. The end result was quite pleasing to the eye as it had a bit more sophistication and shape.

The Room:




The Bride and her Bridesmaids in front of the backdrop:


Erika's Grandmother made this gorgeous cake so we put it in front of the backdrop and spotlit it to make it the centerpiece of the room:


The Tables:


The Centerpieces:

Debbie and Jared

The 19th of December was probably busy for most people as it was the last shopping weekend before Christmas, but it was especially busy for me as I was setting up Debbie and Jared's wedding reception.

I adored this wedding for many reasons, not the least of which was because the colors and winter theme were identical to my own wedding, three years ago. The colors were ice blue and gray, with a lot of white. The bride's dress was ivory, which made for a beautiful contrast with the white linens and curtains on the backdrop. *Side-note: many brides feel that they cannot have ivory and white together, that they must choose one or the other, especially when the bride's dress is ivory. The truth is, the ivory looks more, well, ivory when everything around it is white. It shows that you chose this color of dress on purpose. Also, ivory linens look dirty, end of story.

The wedding reception was being held in a very large cultural hall; one of the biggest I have ever decorated. My three engineers spent a solid hour just figuring out how to best erect the dropped ceiling. Their planning really paid out as this was arguably one of the most gorgeous ceilings we have ever done.



A fun addition I have been dying to do was adding what I call, 'panel accents'. These involved a panel coming down from the ceiling to the floor and putting an arrangement in front of it. By spot-lighting the twiggy arrangement, we actually enlarged it and took it up the panel to make it seem taller. The light also added a great accent to the feel of the room.





The backdrop was created using our Wrought Iron Arch and the Pipe and Drape. I loved the end result.



Finishing off the clean, crisp feeling in the room was the floor length chair covers with blue or gray organza sashes. The tables had alternating blue or gray runners and were finished off by a centerpieces created by Tickled Pink Floral.





Of course, the final touch was the pathway markers, alerting guests to the entrance. We used our black lanterns to create a nice, sophisticated contrast to the white snow.

Elsie and Matt

Elsie and Matt were married the day after Thanksgiving. They had their reception in one of the loveliest greenhouses in the Valley, Highland Gardens. The greenhouse hosts a special reception area filled with tropical plants and stonework. An added bonus is the full-sized caterers kitchen.



Elsie chose willow green and white for her colors, a very fitting combination with the beautiful gardens.

Elegantly Expressed was responsible for decoration and providing the chocolate fountain and the dipping foods. The room needed very little in the way of extra decoration, but we accented with candles everywhere and tall statement vases. This combination softened the room, but added a great deal of elegance. To accentuate the color, we used willow green organza table overlays and chair sashes.









The centerpieces consisted of 3 vases, the tallest with calla lilies, and the shortest with candles. I loved what it added to the room. The head table was stunning with hydrangeas and candle arrangements.





The chocolate fountain was a lot of fun that night. We brought in pineapple, green apples, gummy bears, pretzels, and cream puffs for the perfect dipping foods. I also think the setup was quite lovely, but I might be biased ;).