Stella Event Design :: Michigan Wedding & Event Planner »

There are a lot of ways to infuse your personal style into your wedding and you don’t want to  forget about the small details like your shoes! Whether they’re colored, crystal encrusted or traditional, your shoes can be a fun way to add a little flavor to your wedding attire. Warning: Don’t forget comfort—test drive your shoes and if they’re only worthy of wearing for an hour, be sure to pack a pair of comfy shoes for your reception—you don’t want to be in pain or covered in blisters while you dance the night away!

MWEP is a state group called Michigan Wedding & Event Professionals. Last night they had the first Kalamazoo event and I’m so glad I decided to go. Like most wedding networking events, the group was comprised of a TON of photographers and a handful of event planners, which I don’t mind at all, because photographers are great to get to know and always so nice (plus as a planner we have a lot of interaction with them at the wedding so it’s nice to know the  photographers!) and the other planners that attended were all wonderful and fun to chat with.

So I thought I’d share a few of the great people I met last night:

Cindy Corstange (The Open Shuter)::I actually have a client who booked Cindy for an incredible wedding on the lake in June, and it was so nice to fill her in on all of the planning & the fabulous details—she has such a bubbly and energetic personality, I’m excited to work with her!

Carrie Miles (Carrie Miles Photography)::Carrie and I quickly got to chatting over our lemonade and shirley temples! She’s very relaxed and easy to talk to and would be wonderful to have on hand at your wedding day, or for an engagement shoot!  Check out some of her beautiful photos.

Melissa Gergersen (Melissa Gregersen Photography)::Melissa and I internet-met a few weeks ago when I came across some pictures of her adorable new studio space! It’s got all of my favorite things—pink-ness, IKEA goods galore, and beautiful photos. Check out more of her work by visiting her website!

These are just a few and it was so nice meeting everyone and getting to catch up with a few people I knew there! So many wonderful people working in the wedding industry, and so nice to get to chat with everyone!

I’m not big into inspiration boards, and you won’t see them here on the blog very often, because I don’t use them for actual clients much. However, sometimes it’s fun to play around with them and after a conversation with a dear friend last week, I decided to put together some peacock inspiration for her, and thought I’d share it here as well. This is a very literal translation of a peacock-esque wedding. I’d actually love to see a more abstract interpretation using some peacock inspired tones and textures, so perhaps there will be one more inspiration board in the future for the Stella Blog.

In case you’ve got some extra time this weekend with that pesky extra day off, check out Emplume. These fun and funky bouquets and bouts are hand-made of unique materials including feathers, ribbons, swarovski crystals and jeweled buttons. They’re a super modern and offbeat way to spice up your florals!

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!

On your wedding day, you want to look and feel beautiful, but you also want to be relaxed! Bringing in professionals to help you with your make up is a great way to feel pampered and stress-free. However, if you’re on a budget I know this can just seem like one more thing to pay for.

Solution: Turn to an experienced Mary Kay representative to assist you with your wedding day makeup. Your local Mary Kay gal can give you a full facial to freshen you up and apply all of your color cosmetics to give you that perfect wedding day look. And the cost? Zero. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big makeup person. So I’m always skeptical about how heavy and cake-like my face is going to feel after having a makeup application. For our team photo shoot, local Mary Kay gal Katie Oney provided facials and makeup application for our entire team and I can’t tell you how happy we all were with the results. The mineral foundation was so light and soft that even I was a huge fan! Plus Katie’s been doing this for 6+ years so she’s a pro (and a lot of fun).

If you’re in Southwest Michigan, contact Katie Oney at 269.921.1128, katieoney@marykay.com or visit her website here. You can even upload a picture of yourself and do a virtual makeover to find your perfect wedding day look before your wedding! I won’t lie, I tried out the virtual makeover and was hooked for over an hour trying out makeup looks!

This picture cracks me up. It was SO windy during our photo shoot a few weeks ago, especially at this location (the train station) which was right down by the lake. We all laughed a lot as our hair swirled around us and it was hard not to have a good time. Here’s us with our favorite Mary Kay gal (Back: Jessica, Mary, Katie, Front, Megan, Brittany) Thanks again Katie, for making us look beautiful for our picture day!

I’ll be honest, I cringe at the thought of buying flowers on the internet to make your own bouquets as a way to save money. It makes me sweat just thinking about it: flowers arriving the day before the wedding, still needing to be cleaned and prepped, with the potential of being dead, half-dead, the wrong color, the wrong flower all together or just plain not showing up. Like I said, it makes me nervous.

So, as a happy compromise here are a few tips to save money on florals without going the DIY route :

• Use bigger blooms. Flowers like hydrangeas, shown above have large blooms, so you can use less of them and still have a dramatic and full effect. Other big-bloom choices: peonies, gerber daisies and lilies!
• Re-use florals: At last weekends wedding we re-used the aisle decorations (bundles of wild flowers) by adding them into the centerpieces at the reception, using them as decoration on the cocktail tables by tying them in with the sashes, and using the altar pieces to decorate the escort card table and bar.  We had the appearance of twice the flowers for 1/2 the cost by utilizing the ceremony flowers at the reception.
• Ditch the bridesmaids bouquets and have them carry a cute clutch. It can also double as a great bridesmaids gift! Swap out a $120 bouquet for a $50 clutch and you can save a chunk of cash. Yes, I know…grandma may not approve (where are their flowers?!) but it’s your wedding, so break the rules if you want to!

(Sakura Photography*)

While planning Megan+Gregs wedding (see the results below!) one thing Megan and I discussed was the gap of time between her ceremony and reception. Because of restrictions on the time she could get married at the church, she was left with a 2 hour gap between the end of the ceremony and the beginning of cocktail hour at Mill Creek Barns. Going along with all of the other fun touches she brought to her wedding, Megan wanted to offer something special to her guests to pass the time and encourage them to explore downtown St. Joseph. I spoke with the Chocolate Cafe, a local confection shop, to arrange for vouchers for each guest to get an ice cream cone, courtesy of the bride and groom. The certificates were handed to guests by the bridal party as they left the ceremony and each one read (written by Megan):

“You sat through the ceremony, that’s quite a feat
You’re probably hungry for something to eat
So head downtown for a delicious confection
While we take some pictures before the reception!”

So cute. We weren’t sure what the response would be, but I stopped by the Chocolate Cafe today and found out that 110 of the 145 guests stopped in to enjoy their ice cream cones, including the entire bridal party. Such a huge hit and it worked exactly like we hoped, drawing people into downtown to kill some time. If you have out of town guests, take into consideration any substantial gaps in your wedding day schedule. Provide them with information on local attractions, restaurants, or children’s museums for the younger guests! They’ll appreciate the thoughtfulness and it will be one more way they can enjoy your wedding weekend!

A big thanks to The Chocolate Cafe in downtown St. Joe for being so accommodating in making Megan+Gregs ice cream hopes a reality! Check them out for awesome favor ideas including candy apples, caramel corn mixes, chocolates and even chocolate covered wine bottles (more on that later!)

*Picture shown is not Megan+Greg, but we’ll get their happy, ice cream-covered faces on the blog asap!

If you’ve been reading this blog lately or follow us on twitter or facebook, you know we’ve been excited about our first wedding of the season at the brand new Mill Creek Barns! Saturday was the big day, and even though the morning started out rainy, Megan+Greg ended up with a beautiful day for a Southwest Michigan wedding! Megan+Greg had a very fun and unique wedding that was filled with their own personalities and personal touches, and it turned out absolutely beautiful and perfect for them! All photographs are courtesy of the talented duo Tressie+Chad at Two Pair Photography!

Despite morning rain, the sun came out and we had a wonderful cocktail hour outside with passed appetizers, a lemonade and iced tea bar (complete with mason jars to sip from) and an outdoor bar with Michigan beers & wines handpicked by the couple.

Inside the dining hall we decorated tables with burlap overlays, tree ring chargers, and mason jars we filled with hydrangeas and wildflowers or candles.  In honor of the couples love for adventurous trips, each table was named for a trip or “adventure” the couple has been on, complete with a picture of the couple at that location. The escort cards sprang from tins of grass with a sign stating, “Find Your Own Adventure.” The nights menu hung on a hand-painted canvas and a delicious dinner was served family-style by CK Catering! After dinner, guests moved into the Dance Hall where Montage kicked off the night, and guests never sat down again!

Here are a few of their beautiful ceremony at St. Bernards! Megan was just one of the happiest brides I have ever seen and her smile was contagious! Thanks to all of the vendors that made this first event of the year so successful and a big Thanks to Megan+Greg for letting us be a part of your special day!

MORE SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN WEDDINGS BY STELLA EVENT DESIGN:

Ken+Katy at Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame and The Heritage Center in St. Joseph, Michigan

Lisa+Bart at the Blue Dress Barn in 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

The morning of your wedding is probably the only day of your life you’ll be photographed doing your daily routine of breakfast, makeup and dressing, so make it count! Get something special to wear on the morning of your wedding. You can get something custom made with your name like a hoodie that says, “The future Mrs…” or “Mrs. XYZ est. 2009,” or something stock from a store that says “Bride.” Either way, you’ll feel special (like you should) on the morning of your wedding, and you’ll have something cute for pictures!

(photo by JK Photography)

Our first wedding of the season is only a few days away! On Monday we posted some beautiful pics by Two Pair Photography, who we’ll be working with this Saturday on Megan & Greg’s wedding at Mill Creek. This morning, I received some of Megan & Greg’s engagement pics taken a few weeks ago and I just had to share! They are such a super fun and sassy couple, and I can’t wait for their wedding on Saturday! Check out the rest of Megan+Greg’s pics here