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(All Photos by Stella Event Design)

The Heritage Center (not so long ago, known as the Priscilla U. Byrns Heritage Center) is on Main Street in downtown St. Joseph. If you’re looking for an elegant venue, its greek revival architecture offers beautiful floor-to-ceiling columns (both inside and out) as well as a 2nd story balcony, chandeliers, beautiful murals, and huge windows. I may be a bit biased since I had my own wedding here, but this is a gorgeous location for a mid-size wedding!

Shepherd Hall, the main ball room, can comfortably sit 220 guests banquet style. I’ve seen it set up for many weddings, from 50 guests up, and this is the maximum I would suggest to leave ample room for a dance floor! (optimal space would be at 160-200 guests!)

The Heritage allows outside catering, as well as bringing in your own bartenders and beverages. It’s within walking distance of the downtown shops, restaurants, and the lovely Boulevard Inn overlooking Lake Michigan.

Joyce, the events director is extremely helpful, and is available most weekdays from 9-4 to answer your questions! The building is also open Saturdays 9-12 and Sundays 12-4 throughout the summer and fall to stop in and check it out! If you’re stopping by on Saturday I’d suggest stopping in before 11:00–the rooms will be set up, but you can avoid any run-ins with the wedding itself!

(photo courtesy of Kelly Powers–of course!)

I love to win things, and if you do too, then you have until 5:00 (EST) TOMORROW to leave a comment on Kelly Powers’ blog, for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for her services! I love to give fun gifts, so after Kelly took some shots of me when we met up, I bought a gift certificate from her for a friends’ baby shower—-and she LOVED it!  She recently had her son, and is so excited to use it—and I can’t wait to see the beautiful pictures! So hop over to her blog and leave a comment (quick!) for your chance to win!

If you’re planning a wedding in Southwest Michigan, a must-see venue is  The Blue Dress Barn, located in Millburg, Michigan, just a short drive from St. Joseph. The beautiful historic “House of David Dairy Barn” was lovingly restored by husband and wife artists Amelia & Kirby Briske and they have done an amazing job of combining the original historic beauty of the barn, with some wonderful modern amenities!

The barn boasts over 4,000 square feet of space, including a beautiful dining area, dance floor and stage, all beneath a beautiful beamed ceiling, accented with wrought iron chandeliers. The paper lanterns strung around the room offer a wonderful ambience, and the lighting is absolutely beautiful for photographs! The barn can accomodate up to 280 guests, and along with the main barn area, has several balconies as well as beautiful grounds outside, including gardens, a fire pit, and a beautiful ceremony location…lots of opportunities for gorgeous pictures! Below, some pictures from the 2009 wedding of Lisa+Bart, by Stella Event Design. Photography by Kelly Powers.

The barn offers the use of outside catering as well as bartending/beverage service, which is a huge plus in my book, as you can choose a caterer that fits both your taste, style and budget! They also offer a separate bridal area for you and your bridesmaids to prepare! If you’re seeking a truly unique (and beautiful) location–The Blue Dress Barn should definitely be on your list!

Blue Dress Barn featured in Martha Stewart Weddings Fall 2008 Edition!

MORE SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN WEDDINGS BY STELLA EVENT DESIGN:

Megan+Greg at Mill Creek Barns in Watervliet, Southwest Michigan

Yana+Brannon at Shadowland Pavilion and The Heritage Center in St. Joseph, Michigan

Kate+Mitch at Shadowland Pavilion and The Heritage Center in St. Joseph, Michigan

Stefanie+Jim at Santaniello’s and Weko Beach in Bridgman, Michigan

Lisa+Bart at the Blue Dress Barn in Millburg, Southwest Michigan

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My husband has officially confiscated my cell phone, and I’m using my last few (precious) moments with my laptop to let you know I will be out of the office through Tuesday. We’re headed up North for a much-needed mini vacation to spend a little time together during this busy wedding season! We’re going up north to a lake house (no internet access) and my husband will probably find me creeping out of the house late at night to find Wi-Fi! So perhaps there will be some vacation posting? I hope so, but don’t count on it–we’ll be back to regular posting on Wednesday–hopefully with a tan!

The wedding blog world is buzzing….so if you haven’t heard about the Library at Elizabeth Anne Designs, well, quite frankly, I’m shocked! This great new resource put together by the lovely ladies at EAD offers listings (by category) of fabulous wedding vendors! An amazing resource for brides, and we’re so happy to be included! Thanks to EAD, and congrats on an amazing project completed!

(Chameleon Photography via The Knot)

It’s mid July which means wedding season is in full swing, and it’s the summer brides’ time to shine! So, for all of you fall brides, here is a little fall inspiration while you wait for your big day– we haven’t forgotten about you!

LOVE these ribbons! What a beautiful accent for your bouquet! You could certainly use this fun idea in any season, but these colors just scream autumn!  I found this picture forever ago and don’t know the source–If you do, let me know and I’d love to post it!

(photos-Etsy-tucci paper co.)

In the midst of wedding season, it’s easy to forget all the other great parties to plan! The weather is beautiful, grills are fired up, drinks are flowing…it’s the perfect time to throw a party (with or without a reason)! So, in honor of party season (for those of us in the midwest who don’t have this beautiful weather year-long), we’ll have a short mini-series dedicated to throwing a fabulous summer soiree!

First, you need the guests! Don’t just send out a cookie-cutter invite…we’ve all gotten the “You’re Invited” invite before…it serves it’s purpose, but it certainly doesn’t get me excited to “get the party started.” To start it off right and set the fun tone for your shin-dig, check out these cute invites from etsy seller tucci paper co.  I love the phrases on them like “see food party,” “let’s get jiggy,” and “party like a rockstar” (my personal favorite)! Check out the site for many more, plus some ultra-cute wedding and shower invites, too!

Next time:Part 2:Fabulous food!

As promised, some of the lovely pictures of Fridays wedding of Tracy+David have arrived from Jen of JK Photography! She told me I would love these, and she is so right! Foundry Hall in South Haven is such an amazing space, with so much charachter (check out the b&w floors and that killer chandelier in the entry way!) and I loved working here!

For some more amazing pictures from their gorgeous beach ceremony, check out Jen’s blog—this was one beautiful wedding (and the incredibly beautiful bride+groom didn’t hurt, either!) She has one of my favorite dresses to date! Have a wonderful time on your honeymoon, and thanks so much for letting us be a part of your special day!

Our wedding this weekend was on Friday, so our work took place Thursday night to start the decor setup for Tracy+David’s wedding reception at Foundry Hall in South Haven. Because the hall was (of many things) a restored foundry (surprise, surprise!) the interior is very industrial, and Tracy was very concerned about making it a colorful and elegant wedding venue. I met up with Tracy a few weeks ago, we brainstormed, and we came up with a great design scheme to pull together hot pink+orange fete!

Thursday night we spent about 6 hours hanging giant paper lanterns in the buildings high ceilings, setting up some beautiful place settings, and making the tables look fabulous with accents of pink+orange and even some crystal trees! It was quite a night, but I have to say, we all left there knowing it was going to be one amazing wedding! Plus, Tracy+David (and the entire family and bridal party) came by to check out the final result, and all were ecstatic! I am always so happy when a bride sees the decor design come to life and is thrilled (especially on one like this where I threw out some ideas and she let me run with it!) Above is the (best I could do) before pics—I absolutely can’t wait to see the fabulous detail pics from JK Photography,  to show you what we did with this space! I’ll post them as soon as I get them!

I’m a mail fanatic (as in, I practically run to the mailbox, and I skip back to the house when I get something “good”). By good, I mean anything not a bill, not junk, and DEFINITELY wedding related! Yesterday was like Christmas for me! I got 3 fabulous packages, c/o 3 fabulous ladies!

The first, was a cd of pictures from the wedding of Claire+Chris, courtesy of the always fabulous Leda of LVL Photography. I can’t say enough good things about working with her in May, and she has been such a sweet heart in passing along pictures for this blog! Thanks Leda!

The second package was a cd of pictures from Kelly of Kelly Powers Photography. A month or so ago, she was nice enough to meet me in St. Joe to get to know each other, talk weddings, and we squeezed in a little photo shoot! I am usually not a fan of getting my picture taken, but Kelly made me feel completely comfortable, and I felt like a celebrity getting my picture taken all over downtown St. Joe.

This is one of my favorites—taken outside the Chocolate Cafe, which I refer to as my “corporate headquarters,” since this is my favorite place to meet new and old clients! Many a wedding has been planned over a bowl of soup and a good hot chocolate at the Chocolate Cafe! (and of course, that’s where Kelly and I met up, too!) Thanks Kelly, it was such a pleasure meeting you, and I’m looking forward to our wedding together in September!

Lastly, I received my first of 3 books I recently ordered, thanks to the wonderful suggestion of Liene of The Smart Planner and Blue Orchid Designs. If you’re involved with weddings, you simply have to stop over at The Smart Planner for all of Liene’s wonderful advice, articles, and book recommendations for small business owners! So thanks to Liene for the suggestion, and thanks to Amazon for the speedy delivery!