Autumn in Awe

A favorite client of mine, Alison, came to me (along with with my favorite planner friend Lisa Gia Bascomb of Parties Etc.) to help her design their November wedding last year. She wanted their day to have a classic, warm feeling – but did not want it to look expected nor stereotypical. Their beautiful wedding is now featured in the current national issue of The Knot.

Both the ceremony and the reception were held at one of our favorite venues (perfectly suited for a fall wedding), Cafe Brauer. The ceremony took place under a worn, wrought-iron chuppah, a canopy created from billowing rich chocolate taffeta chosen to compliment the table linens. The front of the chuppah was designed with a rustic collection of natural grapevines, white fluffy hydrangea, open garden roses and seasonal foliages.

Her color palette of chocolate brown and rich burnt orange was the perfect compliment to the raw brick setting.

With a guest count that allowed us to play with the size and shapes of the tables, we decided to seat guests at a collection of square tables and long rectangular tables.

The square tables hosted vintage rusted urns designed with textural collections of green Dutch hydrangea, orange ranunculus, tulips, roses, looped magnolia foliage (to showcase the velvety brown backing) and rope-like hanging amaranthus tumbling from the arrangement.

The rectangular tables hosted mono-floral collections of the saturated orange blooms to create a cleaner, more streamlined look running down the length of the table.

The Cub’s Dixieland Band surprised guests with serenade during the cocktail hour.

Here are a few more beautiful photos, shot by the amazing Pen Carlson duo.

Cafe Brauer has a wonderful skylight detailed with raw, exposed beams that are perfect for hanging things from. Here, to add to the warm, rustic feel, I suspended dozens of mason jar votive candles – twinkling above guests as they danced.

Alison’s bouquet was designed with out-of-season blooms including lilac, parrot tulips, lisianthus and ranunculus to name a few. I wrapped her bouquet with textural swiss silk ribbons, secured by her grandmothers vintage brooch.

Below is one of my favorite shots…so artful.

Her chilly November wedding left guests in awe of her Martha-worthy personlized details and perfectly special day.

Rustic Charm in the Heart of Lincoln Park

My good friend (and industry ally – she’s one of the top sales consultants at Levy Catering!) Briana Merrill got married last fall. What does someone who works on client weddings every weekend decide for her wedding look? I was lucky enough to have been chosen to design their simple, elegant wedding that is now featured in the current issue of The Knot Chicago…

Briana and Nate got married in the gardens outside the Lincoln Park Zoo, on one of the most beautiful days of the early fall. Her charming wedding reception took place at the legendary Cafe Brauer, one of our favorite venues. The site has a warm, rustic, prairie-style feel to the space. Briana wanted to play up it’s key attributes, and therefore selected a color palette of creams, sages and chocolates.

I used a selection of varied containers – from richly stained wooden pieces (that complimented the rented chairs) to vintage rusted urns. We found lanterns that reflected the arts-and-crafts architecture of the venue and worked them into some of the designs.

During the ceremony, we had rustic shepards hooks hosting gorgeous, lush pomanders noting her aisle. The intention was to relocate all of the pomanders to the chairs of the bridal party table – but because she was blessed with such a gorgeous, sunny day – the pomanders were looking quite tired by the end of the ceremony. We created a pair of show-worthy ones to highlight the bride and grooms chairs from extra event flowers. Nothing like improvising!
Briana’s bridal bouquet was gorgeous and the perfect accessory to her chic, sophisticated dress. It was designed in classic whites, creams and champagne hues – but executed with flowers like lisianthus, veronica, dahlias, cymbidium orchid blossoms, ranunculus and hypericum berries to give the bouquet an elegant rounded silhouette, rich in texture.

Working with the oh-so-savvy wedding consultant, Katie Kozlowski of Dettagli, was a blast and we were able to execute a wedding for our friend Briana that lived up to her very high standards!

Additional notes: Thanks to the wonderful Kurt Gerber of Gerber and Scarpelli (who shot my wedding!) for the lovely images!

With Style and Grace…

One of my absolute favorite wedding publications, Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, approached me to do another photo shoot for their gorgeous, glossy pages. Alongside my partner in crime, Jesse, we created a dreamy setting in the wine cellar of the Park Hyatt’s NOMI.

We wanted to create a scene that was lavish and opulent, yet rustic and warm. We wanted it to feel like a fancypants dinner party, set atop a clients’ kitchen island…an intimate group of best friends sipping their favorite vintage and indulging in fare fit for royalty.
Jesse and I created a chandelier from naturally shed antlers that dangled overhead. We used rawhides as the velvety accent linens, enhancing the naturally gorgeous marble tabletop. We selected an eclectic collection of vessels to host bundles of golden yellow and amber toned flowers and elements such as mokara and cymbidium orchids, yellow miniature calla lilies, sandy-backed magnolia foliage and pincushion proteas. Glistening gold-rimmed stemware and worn wooden charger plates created an interesting juxtaposition of textures and styles – all further enhanced by varied forms of flickering candlelight.

Thanks for the opportunity, Grace, as the only Chicago-featured design firm – I’m honoured to be a part of such style!

Stand By Me…

What’s a bride to do when her favorite ladies live out of town when she’s all ready to ask them to be a part of her wedding party? I love the idea of taking the girls to a champagne brunch, or treating them to a spa day that provides the serene scene in which you ask them to stand up for you – but that isn’t always possible.
Four of my six bridesmaids lived out of town – from San Fransisco to Sydney. I knew I had to ask them individually – but didn’t want to do it via email or over the phone.
I wanted something creative and meaningful and found myself remembering the few times I assisted with the photo-styling of Oprah’s Favorite Things shows…Taking cue from the Queen of Talk, I decided to put together a collection of Kara’s Favorite Things and sent them to my girls. Here were the simple steps I took to create these bountiful bridesmaids boxes…
1. In an over sized glossy white box (with a separate lid that simply ‘pops’ off), I lined the inside with beautiful paper and bold tissue paper to provide a safe and snug fit for the treats.
2. I decided upon the elements that would constitute my favorite things…I wanted to keep things low in costs and hinted with humor. With little tags, I labeled each of my Favorite Things:
–A CD with my favorite songs (do people still have CD players?) with tunes by Frank Sinatra, Austrud Gilberto, Rolling Stones and yes…Dave Matthews
–A pashmina (I’m always chilly!)
–Sunless tanning spray (who doesn’t look better bronzed?!)
–A tub of frosting (now THAT’S not on the wedding diet…)
–A gaudy cocktail ring (I adore a classic ensemble with glitzy accessories!)
–Faux pearl earrings ‘for the gym’ (I’ll go down with the burning house before I leave with no earrings on!)
–The movie To Catch a Thief with Grace Kelly (my style crush!)
–A tiny bloom to represent my passion for the beauties
3. I finished it off with a wrapped box housing a letter written to each of my dearest – explaining how a silly collection of my favorite things wouldn’t be complete without each them etc. etc.
Who knew it could be so easy…

Moroccan Inspired Magic

This bride wanted her late summer wedding to feel like a festive, Moroccan-inspired feté…however, as the couple has never traveled to the African country (therefore not having a specific ‘meaning’ to them) they were cautious to make the event too themey.

After speaking with the bride and groom, initially, I put together this inspiration board.

I envision the urban loft venue, River East Art Center, (loved for it’s soaring ceilings, warm timber beams, and dramatic floor to ceiling columns) with copious amounts of deep, saturated hues of oranges, raspberries, cranberries and rich blues/plums.

I see worn, eclectic golden and brass accent pieces and billowing raw silk curtains and drapes.

I picture a lounge section defined by light, gauzy fabrics featuring varied patterned pillows and pads upon which guests will relax and recharge in between dances. Twinkling overhead may be a few vintage-looking crystal and brass chandeliers and lanterns.

An abundance of candlelight will be imperative and the guest tables will be dressed in richly colored, layered table linens Centerpieces may be composed of overflowing elements and a collection of varied, random vessels.

Guests may sip pomegranate champagne cocktails and place settings may be detailed with it’s own petite peacock feather tucked into the pocket fold of the heavy fabric napkin.

And this is only the beginning of the endless options and details that may create this wonderfully, inspired event…

Client Inspirations – Color Palette II

A client of mine had little direction, other than her strong desire for a wedding executed in aqua and coral hues. I loved the idea of the bold, summery color combination for her wedding at the Peninsula Hotel. I worked hand in hand with the wonderful ladies of Tying the Knot to pull the details together…

As there are no aqua colored blooms, we used axillary items in the cool tone to create the fantastic color pairing. One of the easiest and most effective ways to showcase a tricky color is to use a specialty linen. We searched and searched for the right aqua colored linen – however – none seemed to exist! Finally resigning to the fact that the linens would need to be custom made, the client was ecstatic with the final product: textural aqua dupioni silk linens for the guest dinner tables and matching bands to accent the rich wooden chairs and dark espresso linens used during the cocktail hour. This silk linen ended up being the perfect backdrop for the bold, monochromatic coral flowers that included peonies, roses, sweetpea and godetia to name a few.

We had fun with other unexpected elements in the right aqua shade: the shapely vessels that housed gorgeous coral peonies during the cocktail hour on the terrace, cool aqua colored icing on the stunning cake, a table covered in aqua sea glass that acted as the ‘stands’ in which place cards were displayed…

The weather was that of a dream, the bride was classically gorgeous and the unique color palette created a lasting impression on all family and friends in attendance.

Client Inspirations – Movie & Era

This fabulous client is the owner of one of Chicago’s chicest boutiques. Because she had very little free time, (planning a wedding and opening up another store!) it was imperative that we were on the same page, visually, from day one.

She was inspired by the glamorous movie De-Lovely and opulent, vintage-inspired details reminiscent of the Golden Twenties…

Here was an inspiration board I put together before writing her proposal…lending the essence of what I envisioned for her wedding (pictured above).

Here are a few images of her 2008 summer wedding courtesy of the wonderful Bob Davis of LaSoria Foto (below).

This tablescape showcased the “beautiful mess” the bride longed for. Custom mirrored tabletops reflected all of the dazzling details from the beautiful charger plates and table appointments to the varied forms of candlelight, strewn Swarovski crystals and pendants, and an unruly arrangement of open white roses, cascading phalaenopsis orchids and graceful ostrich plumes.

Here, the bride nervously anticipates the ceremony – donning white gloves and a classic headpiece.

Client Inspirations – Color Palette

Sometimes, a client will come to me with a simple color combination as their inspiration.

For this favorite client, she wanted her early summer wedding to feature crisp apple green hues and bright white accents. The designs were sleek and simple, but made a statement in the urban setting at Prairie Productions.
The use of long, banquet-style tables created an interesting architecture in the room and allowed the minimal floral details to create a visually impressive statement, lined down the center of the table.
(Image taken by the amazing Kingensmith duo!)

Client Inspirations – Frenchy Garden Feast

A stylish client of mine came to me via the lovely wedding planner Susan of Big City Brides with the hopes of having her wedding feel like a garden-inspired, Frenchy Feast.

Before writing her proposal, I put together a quick inspiration board (pictured below) for her based on her desired look. This helped to ensure we were both on the same page, visually, before proceeding to the sample mock-up of her centerpieces.

Here are a few images showcasing the translation of a few adjectives and images to her Inspired Wedding Design (Pictured Below)…

Varied vintage silver vessels overflow with gardney flowers like open roses, peonies, ranunculus, anemones and lisianthus to name a few. Unruly jasmine vine, grapes and plums tumbled from the arrangements to the tabletop.

A charming spray rose was tucked into each knotted guest napkin.
I framed each beautiful window with rich eggplant curtains, lending an intimate feeling to the affair.

It’s the little touches I adore! We had unexpected, petite designs tucked in various nooks around the setting to create a more homey feeling. Here a silver footed bowl hosts a heaping mound of fresh fruits, gently punctuated with raspberry colored spray roses.

{special thanks to Susan and her dreamy team of big city bride planners, to the chicago history museum for providing the wonderful backdrop for the event}

Client Inspirations – The Drake III – Color & Tropical Chic

This Drake Hotel wedding had a bold, graphic color palette of Green/White/Black.

Some of the tables featured elevated centerpieces, designed in black lacquered vases hosting a canopy of rich palm fronds – lending her desired ‘Tropical Elegance’ vibe. Additionally, Frank and I sourced the same palm patterns as those in the classic movie Casablanca and had them projected onto the dance floor for added texture and drama in the old, glamorous space.

The wedding was stunning, the bride and groom were thrilled and we pulled off the perfect design for her Kelly Wearstler/Tropical Elegance/40’s Glamour inspiration!

Thanks to my friend and wedding planner Frank Andonoplas for his partnership on this wonderful wedding.