Handmaker of Things

Real Weddings: Alison and Ryan, Midland Theatre, Kansas City

Alison and Ryan were an out of town couple getting married in Kansas City.  We consulted long distance, mostly via e-mail, and they booked me!  Yay!  I was so happy when I first met them to find that they are such a sweet, fun loving couple.  It didn't hurt that they laugh at all my silly jokes, and also an extremely laid back pair.  Alison's wanted a classic white bouquet for herself, including three white gardenia's, which her grandmother grew, and represented her and her two siblings.  Such a sweet and thoughtful addition to her personal flowers.

The bridesmaids wore bright red gowns, and we wanted to create bouquets that weren't boring, but also wouldn't compete with all that color.  Soft pinks, peaches, and ivory seemed like the perfect way to go. 

 

Corsages and bouts included pink and peach spray roses, and lovely white orchids, all wrapped in champagne/gold ribbons.

The flower girls got miniature nosegay versions of the bridesamids bouquets with big satin ribbon bows, and fresh floral crowns in pinks and ivories.

The ceremony was decorated with simple white hydrangeas and greens on every other pew, and long peach bows tied in satin.  

Alison didn't want the flowers to compete with the ornate reception space at the beautiful, historic Midland Theatre, so we went with classic white arrangements in varying shapes and sizes.

A huge Tuscan style table for the wedding party sat at the front of the theatre.  We created tall statement pieces, as well as a simple runner of greens, votives, rose petals, and gardenias down the center.

A huge thank you to Alison and Ryan for letting us be part of your guys day, and also to John of DePrisco Photo for the lovely images (unless marked emmy-ray).  

xo - Emily

The Money Pit: Summer Porch Makeover

It seems like forever and a day since I wrote any posts about this old house, and that's a shame because we've been doing TONS of projects to it over the last few years to spruce it up and make it our own.  Back when we were still house hunting, one of my main requirements was that we have a large porch.  When we decided to buy Matt's parents old house, I was thrilled that it met that criteria with flying colors.  We have a beautiful screened in sleeping porch that actually runs the whole length of our house.  It's one of the best features in the spring, summer, and fall months.  Whenever we are entertaining that's where people tend to congregate.  That's why it's surprising that I've never taken the time to really thoughtfully decorate and create the space.  It's always been an odd, mis-matched grouping of furniture/storage area.  This year I decided to do a whole makeover on our awesome outdoor space, to make it as beautiful as it is functional.  Here's my inspiration.

From top left corner:

1. For seating we've always had random folding chairs that we can pull out, but I spotted these great wooden club chairs at World Market.  The best part is you can change the canvas anytime you want.  I chose red and yellow to match the color scheme, a stylized version of primary colors, and I'll be adding pops of gold here and there.  Image from World Market.
2. A bright turquoise patterned rug will add a pop of color to our concrete floor. Image from rugsUSA.
3. Succulents and greens in fun, eclectic white containers. Image from Accent Decor.
4. Brightly colored tables will bring a pop of yellow.  Spray paint has been my best friend lately, I've been re-vamping tons of furniture pieces with it.  Image from Etsy.
5. I love the palms, black and white stripes, and pops of yellow in this outdoor space. Image from Cottage and Vine.

Ahhhh, so excited.  Can't wait to share our newly decorated space! 

xo - Emily

Inspiration and Editorial Shoots: EA Bridal Winter Wedding

This was the first inspiration shoot I'd done with EA Bridal Magazine.  It was for their Winter 2012/2013 issue, and they hold the images for 3 months, so I'm just now able to share with you guys.  So what if it's winter themed right?  We had a wonderful team, and I'm so excited to post these pics.  We shot at River Market Event Place, one of my favorite spots because of the amazing natural light in the space.  Kristen of rak design helped style, and the whole thing was captured by Jana Marler of Jana Marie Photography.  

Beautiful dresses were provided by Emily Hart Bridal, and the cupcakes were made by one of my favorite shops, Cupcake a la Mode.  The bouquet was one of my first attempts at a slightly cascading style.  I used lots of whites, greys, blues, and textural dried elements like lotus pods.  

Each place setting was decorated with my own wedding china from Martha Stewart.  I loved how the delicate silver floral pattern picked up the mercury glass containers we used throughout the table. The invites were printed by Hammerpress.  

We used our teal blue glassware to add some fun pops of color, and little succulents were a soft minty green touch.  These marshmallows were my first attempt and made from scratch.  The green are mint flavored, yum!  Renee from Baked Expressions made the lovely stucco textured cake and we added lots of flowers and greens.

The curly willow add a nice rustic touch, and Kristen helped me style the bar/dessert buffet.  Our weathered wooden boxes looked great filled with eucalyptus, greens and white flowers.

Cute teal cards from Paper Source made the perfect guest book.  Write a note for the couple and clip it to the twine backdrop.  We filled the drawer of this vintage table with beautiful blooms.  The shot below is one of my favorite set-ups from the day.

A huge thank you to Jana for having me be part of the team.  This shoot was a lot of hard work, but it all paid off, and I'm so proud of the images we all created together.

Vendor list: 

Location: River Market Event Place
Gown, jewelry, accessories: Emily Hart Bridal
Stylist: rak designs
Flowers: Emmy-Ray Floral and Event Design
Hair: Hair by Sara Rinehart Hair and Makeup
Makeup Artist and Product Line: Ashley Nelson Studios
Cake: Baked Expressions
Cupcakes: Cupcake A La Mode
Cake Pops: Cindy Marler
Invitations: Hammerpress
Models: Dane Ryan Casey, Ashley Nelson, Addison Sauvan, Rebekah Sauvan
Photographer: Jana Marler

xo - Emily

Real Weddings: Kelli and Nathan, Stoney Point Hall

Kelli is pretty adorable.  Everytime we met, she was nothing but smiles and a total joy to work with.  I'd never worked at the Stony Point Hall before, it was quite a ways away, but such a fun and unique venue.  She and Nathan were lucky enough to have a gorgeous September day for their outdoor ceremony.  With ivories, greens, and bright pops of cobalt blue her flowers were colorful, and and classic all at the same time.  Lovely pictures by epaga foto, and emmy-ray.

To make Kelli's bouquet special it was the only one we added bright blue delphinium to.  The green and ivory of the bridesmaids bouquets was set of beautifully by their cobalt blue dresses.

Kelli gave us sweet charms with photos of her grandparents to add to her bouquet.

The mens bouts were made up of a white ranunculus (our favorite bout flower) babies breath, greens, and a little blue delphinium just for Nathan, the groom, to match Kelli's bouquet.

We decorated the existing ceremony arch with sprays of green, ivory, and bright blue flowers that coordinated with the bouquets and arrangements.  It was quite an idealic backdrop for the couples vows.  

We placed a damask patterned lime green linen on the head table along with blue vintage mason jars collected by the bride for all the bridesmaids bouquets.

There were two types of arrangements for the reception.  One was a simple tall arrangement full of babies breath.  The other a mix of milk glass and cobalt blue vases, all collected by the bride.  Our lime green mulit-patterned linens add an extra layer of color to each table.  Blue uplighting at Stony Point Hall complimented the decor.

A big thank you to Kelli and Nathan for letting us be a part of your day, we had so much fun working with you!

xo - Emily

Real Weddings Carissa and Todd, The Elms, Excelsior Springs

Carissa and Todd's wedding was a true collaboration.  When I showed up to our first consult Carissa's mom, Dana, had already collected all the vases for the tables.  Talk about prepared!  Their event was taking place at the newly remodeled Elms Hotel, in Excelsior Springs.  A beautiful historic spot, with an outdoor space for the ceremony.  Unfortunately it was rainy and humid on the first day of September, but we made due in the ballroom with a beautiful ceremony (all the decor for the ceremony was created by Dana).  We were really happy with how everything turned out, and Carissa and Todd loved it, which was the most important part (and Dana as well).  

A big thank you to Dana and Carissa for collaborating with us on this lovely event, and to Morgan at Cornerstone Photography for the images.

Carissa carried a classic, romantic bouquet full of ivory dahlias, ranunculus, and garden roses.

Instead of traditional pin corsages we made brooches out of fresh flowers and incorporated vintage rhinestone jewelry for a bit of sparkle.  Bouts were textural with ranunculus, scabiosa pods, and berries.

The bridesmaids wore beautiful poppy orange dresses and had bouquets with garden roses, dahlias, and ranunculus.  

The ceremony took place in the grand ballroom, and all the decor was provided to us by Dana, the mother of the bride, we just set it up.  Loved those beautiful fabric flower pomanders!

Half of the tables had vases provided by Dana were filled with twig balls for a touch of brown, along with fluffy white hydrangeas, beautiful orange roses, and touches of pink, and accents of sparkling crystal.

The other half of the tables had pomanders in orange, peach, and ivory.  We wanted a sort of ombre effect.

If you notice the place settings Dana also made napkin wraps and menue cards for every guest, and butterfly escort cards as well.  

The sweetheart table was covered in a gorgeous ivory rose linen, super fluffy, and romantic.  We just added the flowers for a little touch of color.

Vintage glassware and tons of candles filled the mantel.  We supplied the blooms.

And although I had absolutely nothing to do with the cake, I just had to include it because, yes, Dana, the mother of the bride made it as well (she bakes cakes).

Such a lovely day, we were happy to be a part of it!

xo ~ Emily