Meet Brennan & Caitlin. Caitlin contacted me through Thumbtack about a year ago (hello, having a baby and getting behind on blog posts!!) to see if I would be available for Day of Coordination for her Detroit Historical Museum wedding this past May. I jumped at the opportunity to help with such a unique wedding and these two are quite the awesome couple as you'll see as you look through the gorgeous pictures from E. Schmidt Photography below. As the Day of Coordinator, I had the unique challenge of getting everything set up in a very short time period as we only had from the time the museum closed until the ceremony start time to work with--only about an hour and a half! And by everything I mean: Tables, linens including folding the napkins, all china, centerpieces, cake table, seating chart/guest book table, gift table, and make sure that the caterer got everything set up. Oh and we had to get the chairs set upstairs for the ceremony and then move them downstairs before dinner. My husband wears a pedometer and said he got about 24,000 steps or 12 miles in that night! He did a ton of the running and I also hired help (thanks Zack & Arianna!) to get this all accomplished.
Caitlin was incredibly organized and her ideas are just beautiful so this all came together so well. One thing I really admired about this couple is that they truly took each element of their day and did it the way that made them happiest. This is a huge challenge when you are juggling so many other people's expectations, but they put their own spin on it and it was truly lovely. Caitlin used book pages as elements throughout the wedding. Her bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpiece flowers were all made by an Etsy artist and also these adorable little hearts were cut out of book pages and we put them out to add little touches on the cake table and this welcome table. Centerpieces were stacked books, TOLSBY frames from Ikea for the table number with pictures of their sweet puppies on the opposite side, vases filled with book paper flowers, and antique ink wells. These were perfect for the vintage feel of the Streets of Detroit in the basement of the Detroit Historical Museum. The menu for the evening included delicious food from Greek Islands restaurant in Plymouth. Nothing like Detroit favorites to fill your stomach and put you into a wonderful mood! Working with a couple as their day of coordinator is such a special role, I usually only meet the couple twice before the wedding and 99% of the planning is done by the couple themselves. What I love about it is that I can say "enjoy your day, I'll take it from here" and then at the end of the night "everything is taken care of, congratulations!" Brennan & Caitlin, it was a pleasure meeting and working with such a great couple. It is almost time to celebrate your one year anniversary!Photography: E. Schmidt PhotographyRentals: C&N Party RentalsCaterer: Greek Islands Cake: Iversen's Bakery Hair & Makeup: The Makeup Loft
Let me introduce you to Elliott & Rachel May! Rachel and I first met while we both worked for Oakland University Housing and when I told her that I wanted to start my own event planning business she was super supportive and helpful in getting the idea from dreams to action. It certainly didn't hurt that she had recently gotten engaged and was willing to be a guinea pig for me as I got my footing in the business.
One a chilly but luckily mostly rain-free Saturday, Elliott and Rachel put all of their Detroit Wedding plans into action. And wait until you see the rest of these pictures! You guys, Detroit may be considered rough, but when you see these photos, you are going to want to get married in The D! Rachel had excellent vendors for her wedding. All of these pictures are graciously shared by Cassie of O'Photography. Cassie has an incredible eye for composition and her editing made it so hard to choose color or B&W photos for the post. She also caught all of those tiny details and emotional expressions that you hope you get to see in your wedding photos. Keep scrolling, friends, gorgeous! The ceremony took place at Old St. Mary's Church. This was probably the most beautiful and awe-inspiring church I've been too. Absolutely beautiful, and that alter chock full of flowers, they couldn't have been more perfect for accenting the already stunning architecture. These two pictures are a perfect example of how gorgeous Cassie's color and B&W work is. I really couldn't choose a favorite. The gold of the box office is beautiful, the black and white is so romantic. I'll let you decide which you prefer! 707 East was the location of the reception and dance party. It was extra convenient that it was just across a parking lot from the church. Here's a tip that I think is pretty great and cost effective. If your reception venue offers dessert--take it! This cake here was a whopping $38 from whole foods and they still will do the fancy fillings and decorating. I set this cake up myself and while, yes, I was a little nervous, it was pretty easy to do. Everyone got yummy cake, the couple got to save a couple of hundred bucks, that's a win in my book! Last but not least, all flowers were arranged by Linnaea Floral Design. These were stunning and every single tall arrangement was taken home by guests at the end of the evening! Lisa was awesome to work with, she is based around Grand Rapids but travels to the Metro Detroit area for weddings on a regular basis. You should book her now if you want her though, because I'm sure her schedule fills up fast.
How cute is that for the last photos of the night? Love it!
I can't believe that what we had worked on planning for over a year has come and gone! There is truly nothing better than planning out all of the details and only kind of knowing what it will all look like together and then seeing it in person and thinking "wow! we really did it!"
Elliott and Rachel, thank you for letting me be a part of your big day! What a beautiful start to a wonderful marriage!
Vendors:
Ceremony: Old St. Mary's Church, Detroit
Reception: 707 East, Detroit
Photographer: Cassie, O'Photography
Make Up Artist: Jamie, Makeup by Jamie
Florals: Linnaea Floral Design
For this installment of Do It Todero we are talking about sweet treats! During a recent conversation with one of my couples we were talking about including donuts into their dessert selection, because who doesn't love a donut? Anyway, I got thinking about how great donuts are, and how at the end of the night, sometimes something with a some carbohydrates in them is kinda perfect to soak up some of the drinks that you indulged in. So, DONUT FAVORS! There are so many different ways you could make these, I simply bought plastic favor bags from Michaels ($1.99/25) and some cute ribbon ($1/spool) and of course some Dunkin' Donuts clasics ($4.99/half dozen). I used my trusty tag puncher to cut out some printed tags that I quickly designed. Or you could fold down the bag and seal it up with some washi tape (pic #2) or leave the label off and do a cute sign in front of your whole favor display (pic #4). These favors come to less than $1/each and man are they yummy. And because I had a box of Oatmeal Cream Pies staring at me on the table I through one of them into a bag and tied it off with ribbon, because, people love Little Debbie too! So many different options for a cute and delicious (and cost effective favors! Don't get stumped by your typical favor of Jordan Almonds :)
PS Sorry for the quality of images here, my camera battery is donzo. Bummer! Phone pictures will have to suffice today!
One of my favorite resources while planning my wedding, and before I was planning a wedding, and I still read them now that I am not planning my own wedding but hopefully am helping with YOURS, is A Practical Wedding. Meg's book was the first wedding book I bought, and the only one I read cover to cover and referred back to repeatedly. I could sing them praises all day long. They get it. The understand that not everyone can spend on their wedding what they would spend in 30 years paying off a mortgage. They understand that weddings don't fit into a perfect little cookie cutter form. And they are a large part of why I want to be in this industry. I want to work with you, not because I want to throw some lavish party on your dime, but because I want to find an affordable way for you to get hitched and have a wonderful time doing so. I don't believe in the nonsense that you MUST. HAVE. EVERY. LITTLE. DETAIL. PEEERRRFEECT.Yesterday I had a meeting with a couple I am working with and their potential caterer. This was the first time I was meeting the groom so I asked him what was important to him on his wedding day. He said first that his dog was there, and second that he just wants it to be a fun party with good food. He then made a great point that often when you are planning for a party for a long time it becomes this hyped up thing that you think will be amazing, and yes it's fun. However, the best parties always seem to be the ones where a friend calls you at 5 o'clock and says, come over, let's have a party! As your wedding planner, I want to help you to not over-think yourself to death in the wedding planning process. Let's see what we can do to save you some cash and throw an amazing party to celebrate your lifetime commitment to another person. And because, what's a blog post without pictures? Here's some of the pretties I've been drooling over lately (click on the images to go to the sources):
These fun wedding programs would certainly keep kids (and kids at heart) entertained. (From Etsy Shop DesignsbyTenisha)
This lovely glittered cake topper. (From Etsy shop madewithluvbyholly)
Or how about this adorable Dino set? (From Etsy Shop derekwoolever)
For the ultimate girly-girl, this hot pink aisle runner. (From Etsy Shop sashesforlove)
P.S. Happy Halloween, eat your favorite candy guilt free today, your dress will still fit, don't worry about that!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to assist a family with the very important celebration of their son's Bar Mitzvah. The night had a Motown theme so I created these "records" with the young man's favorite Motown Hits. I also put together these simple Towne Club Soda (made in Detroit of course!) favors by creating a custom tag for them and attaching them to his favorite flavor: Root beer! I should be sure to mention that this was very much a Do It Todero project. I had the idea of the CD's but I had never seen these awesome ones that look like mini vinyl records that Vince told me about. I did the design work, but Vince helped a ton with the construction. I also could NOT figure out how to print on the CD's themselves, but luckily Vince was able to figure out that whole process. I also coordinated a Murder Mystery party for the kids in attendance at the Bar Mitzvah. Corralling 30 pre-teens when they are excited and eating lots of sugar was more work than I imagined, but we all had fun and most importantly, the Bar Mitzvah thoroughly enjoyed his evening. Hiring an Event Planner doesn't have to mean that you turn the reigns over for the whole event. Is there a portion of your event that you need help with? Do you want DIY favors but aren't crafty of don't have the time to create them yourself? Let's talk about what we can do together to make your next event a chart topping hit!
Are you following me on Pinterest? If not click on the picture above to head over there and follow me. I love Pinterest, it is a gorgeous representation of what could be for your wedding or party. But Ladies (and Gents), you have to make these things happen. You can click and pin all day long, but your belly won't be full and your table won't have a gorgeous set up unless someone steps in. You, or you and me together can make your own party worthy of a Pin.
I love weddings and want to help as many of you with yours as I possibly can, but you know what, I love parties of all kinds and I want to help with those too. Next month I'm having a Tupperware Party at my place and while that wouldn't usually constitute a theme other than exceptional kitchen goods, I also know that my friends and I don't get together nearly often enough. So I'm going to go overboard. I'm telling you that right now. Vince will roll his eyes I'm sure and think I'm crazy. But I want to spoil us. Because only every so often do we get to be in the same room and we should have delicious food and beautiful napkins. And fresh flowers, yo. I just said yo, and I'm keeping it there, because that's how much I believe in this.
So Pinterest. I've been on it and using it to tuck away some recipes and ideas. October in Michigan is basically synonymous with Apples. Apple Orchard trips, cider, donughts. All kinds of delicous stuff. And I love a good Pumpkin Latte or pumpkin bars. So we're going with a fall theme. Here's what MIGHT be there (click on image to link to their website):
Mini Caramel Apples from Domesticali
Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts from Flourish
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Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Crazy for Crust
Pumpkin Hot Chocolate from Food Doodles
| And those are just some sweets ideas! What are you pinning? Are you having a girls night this month?
No there isn't a typo up there, I intentionally made it DIT because this is about "Do It Todero" which is cheesy, I'll give you that, but so true. My husband and I both love a good project, have you seen his costumes? No? Here's Boba Fett: The man is good, I can't wait to have kids because they will have the best costumes on the block. He can make pretty much anything that I've ever asked him to make. And I've asked a lot. Like for our wedding I wanted to DIY some aspects and the main one was a marquee backdrop for our ceremony and also for behind the head table at our reception. I gave him the idea, had the letters printed out at FedEx in the size and wanted and cut them out and he took the reigns on the rest of it. I loved it as the backdrop for our ceremony at the Farmington Civic Theater (which, by the way, was just awarded Best in Detroit) and also loved that it was movable to our reception and now it lives in our living room on the wall behind our couch. We also made a lot of other elements for the ceremony and reception:
Vince's idea to incorporate concession candy into the theme and put directions to the reception on the backs. (Thanks Michelle!)
Double DIY here: my good friends Kelly & Hilary helped with the flowers for the ladies and my sister sewed my sash onto my gown on the morning of the wedding.
I didn't want plain white tables, but also couldn't afford rental runners, so my friends Kelly & Lia helped me make these grey beauties. Vince spray painted all of the table number frames and my Aunt Theresa set all of this up for us on our day.
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I created all of the guys' boutonnieres, I used silk here so they could be made way in advance.
Our guest book aka Wedding Certificate was part of the ceremony and DIT'd by another branch of the Todero clan, Trevor & Michelle Todero. (And that's my lovely mother signing it!)
I found a rusted old mailbox at Salvation Army and we spruced it up!
| If you didn't notice the common theme through the caption I'll point it out for you: We did all of this, but with lots and lots of help. We are blessed by tons of crafty friends and family who were enthusiastic helpers in our pursuits.
What I want you to know is that DIY is possible, if you plan it out. What you don't see here are DIY flower girl dresses and that's because I was still sewing them two days before our wedding and on an early morning run to Walmart I found a grey and black dress for 19 bucks and bought two of them and my vision of grey tutu skirts over black leotards were thrown into a pile of failed attempts.
You have to know what you are capable of, and tutu skirts weren't going to be my gold star of the wedding. I also want you to know that I am very willing to help you figure out how to make what you see on Pinterest, or to tell you if buying it may actually be the cheaper, easier method. And Vince is available to help me with your projects too if you want something large and awesome like that marquee sign!
What do you want to DIT for your wedding? Any DIY disaster stories to share? Thanks again to all of my friends and family for their patience and help with our wedding projects!!
Today I have two introductions for you! The first is my new series What Your ________ Wants You to Know. This series is meant to introduce you to some of my favorite wedding professionals in the area as well as give you some tips as you prepare to meet with people you want to work with. In the future I'm looking into inviting florists, caterers, party rental companies, etc. to spend a little time getting to know them and you getting to know what they know and want you to as well.
So without further ado, let me introduce my first wonderful pro to you!
This is Julie O'Morrow, she is a freelance Makeup Artist and a super talented one at that! Julie and I met up for coffee last week and talked shop for a bit. Here's what she had to say about working with brides and their gals on their wedding day (plus some images mixed in of her beautiful work!): Julie started getting into makeup in High School when she struggled with acne. She says, "I was always trying to figure out ways to cover it up, then eventually it became natural, so I started to work on girls makeup for prom and homecoming." This has become her creative outlet now that she's married and has the cutest of little ones. She loves that she is able to see a start to finish product everyday in her work and how noticeably a woman's confidence changes when she gets her make up done.
So what do you need to know when you are hiring a Makeup Artist?- Get references. You need to know that they are a great Makeup Artist but you also want to know that they will be on time and have enough help with them to get all of the faces done that need to be done.
- You get what you pay for. Julie put this best saying you spend tons of money on your dress, on your nails, on your hair, but a lot of brides don't budget for quality makeup application and you can tell. It's like something was unfinished.
- Book early, but do your trial close to your date. You're getting married in November so you don't want to do your trial in July when you've been basking in the summer sun for weeks, your skin will be different. Do your trial a couple of months prior maximum. But you do want to make sure you get your preferred Makeup Artist, so get your date in their calendar now.
- Let your Makeup Artist know what you normally wear. Lots of brides come to Julie bare faced but want to look like they normally do just with a little more glamour. This is hard to do if Julie doesn't know what you look like usually so bring a picture with you.
- Allow plenty of time for hair and makeup. Each application can take up to an hour and you don't want to be rushed. Also Julie recommends that the bride not go last, she wants to have all the time in the world to do make you look your absolute best.
- Have all of your girls get their makeup done. Though sometimes bridesmaids are overwhelmed with all of the wedding expenses they have, Julie says she has had too many bridesmaids see the rest of their group get their makeup done and regret that they didn't. You can also tell in pictures. So figure out a way to make it work, for you and your bridesmaids, everyone wants to feel and look their best on your wedding day. Don't forget about your Mom too!
Julie's been in this business for a while so I asked her what advice she had for brides. These are simple but great: Don't over-tan. Sleep and drink water, it's good for your skin and your soul. Stop during your day and take a mental snapshot of everything going on around you--she did and is glad she did because it's hard to remember all of the details of the busy day.I love that last one, I think it should be added to Maid of Honor duties to have the bride stop for a couple of minutes throughout different points in the day. So here's how you get a hold of Julie and check out more of her work: Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/julie.omorrowFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakeupByJulieOMorrowInstagram: julieomorrow14 Are you having your makeup done for your wedding? How great are those before & after shots? What other types wedding professionals do you want to hear from?
The last couple of weeks I have been reaching out to other wedding professionals to connect so I can learn about their services and what they offer to you as brides, I'll be featuring many of them here in my new "What Your _____ Wants You to Know" series. I contacted Robyn of Designs by Robyn Love who I know from when we lived across the hall from each other because I remembered that she did some awesome calligraphy and I wanted to see how everything was going for her. Turns out her business is AMAZING and she offered me the awesome opportunity to go with her toe the Fall Bridal show at the Palace to help her out at her booth but also to see the behind the scenes of a bridal show. You guys, I had so much fun! The other vendors were awesome to meet and chat with, I especially have two favorites (other than Robyn of course :) ) that I will be sharing with you later this week. But today it's about Robyn because you have to check her out, you'll be sorry if you don't.
Designs by Robyn Love
Designs by Robyn Love
Designs by Robyn Love
It's totally what you see on Pinterest, love but don't know how to find someone to do it right? She does calligraphy and watercolor stationary. And the best thing is that since she does everything by hand she can completely customize your invitations to your preferences and it will be perfect for your event. The top photo is a invitation around a train theme and looks just like a train ticket and it is gorgeous.
Designs by Robyn Love
She also has some DIY options on her Etsy shop for those that want to take a hands on approach. She will create a calligraphy design of your choice and have it made into a stamp for you. I love this return address option, can you imagine how much time this will save you when addressing wedding invitations? Now I know you are thinking "where do I find more of Robyn's work?" Well here you go: Designs by Robyn Love Website, Etsy, and Facebook. Go say Hello to Robyn, and then book your designs with her because she fills up fast! Thanks so much Robyn for letting me tag along!
So normally I post on Tuesday and Thursday, but obviously today is Friday so that didn't happen yesterday. That's because I've been busy meeting with vendors, sending off loved ones to Alaska, creating new content for this here blog, and also creating marketing materials for the business. It has been BUSY. But next week, I promise I'll be back to my regular twice a week routine.
But for today I'll leave you with a couple of images from around the web that I've been drooling over! I can't be the only person that thinks this table runner is to DIE for, right? From Style Me Pretty. Love this aisle lined with giant red balloons! From Offbeat Bride. What have you seen online this week that you loved? Have a good weekend!
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