Stella Event Design :: Michigan Wedding & Event Planner »

Here is a sneak peek from Shadowland Ballroom, one of the 4 stops on the Lake Shore Wedding Walk! At Shadowland we hosted the runway-style fashion show including gowns by Wedding Belles in Stevensville, and ‘maids dresses from Alexa Claire Boutique & the Tux Shop in St. Joseph! Brides could also check out some of the lovely place settings, centerpieces by Beikmann Associates Floral, taste delicious treats from The Bistro, talk with the guys from Music Unlimited and hop into the MOD photo booth!

A huge thank you to Shadowland Ballroom for being a stop on the Wedding Walk, and for helping us to make this event such a great experience for all of the brides & grooms that joined us!

All photos by Jennifer Mayo Studios

Sweet bride? Check. Beautiful day? Check. A wonderful groom, fantastic location & tons of fun family and friends? Check. Check and Check! On August 7th we coordinated the wedding of Dave+Shannon, who tied the knot in a lovely & personal ceremony on the beach, followed by a reception at the Veranda at the Whitcomb in downtown St. Joseph.

Three things I loved about this wedding:

1) They opted for freshly made pies (complete with a heart cut on top) that sat at each guest table. Shannon collected a variety of cake plates, and Crystal Springs provided beautiful wreaths of flowers and greenery to wrap around them. They made for beautiful centerpieces!

2) Their signature drinks was the Matrimotini—-too cute!

3) The escort cards were adorable—tiny paper umbrellas that were tucked into wicker trays filled with sand. They were colorful, cute and a perfect tie-in to their beach wedding!

Shannon and Dave, thank you for letting us be a part of such a beautiful day, and for being so much fun to plan with! All photos are courtesy of Kelly Powers Photography—we’ll post more soon!

Confession: I have always wanted to plan a bridal show. Though for me (and many others) the words “bridal show” evoke images of a gigantic expo hall filled with drab pipe and drape, vendors trapped behind tables and mobs of brides milling through an endless stream of tiny booths. The bridal show I’ve always envisioned was more than a place to grab coupons, stuff brochures in a bag and wait for a $25 door prize. Instead, I wanted to create an event that was interactive, fun, inspiring and a unique opportunity to meet professionals on a more personal level, while walking away feeling like they actually gained some insight into planning their wedding! Back in April, I pitched my “dream event” to David Krock at the Veranda at the Whitcomb (to see if perhaps I was absolutely crazy) and it turned out he had his own event he’d always wanted to host—a dream wedding giveaway.  So we decided to combine the two into one eventful day! The result: 2 Fantastic events on one day—The Lake Shore Wedding Walk & Dream Wedding Giveaway— a fun day of wedding planning that took brides through 4 beautiful venues as they walked the streets of St. Joseph overlooking the lake, and ending with a chance to win a $30,ooo dream wedding!

(our space—aqua and red wedding inspiration with a little bit of whimsy!)

Over 300 people joined us, and  brides & grooms had the chance to hop on the trolley or walk from venue to venue, visiting the vendor spaces, trying food samples (they were all delicious!), participating in ballroom dance classes, tasting local wines from Tabor Hill and Lemon Creek Wineries, watching the fashion shows at Shadowland Ballroom, and enjoying a gorgeous day in St. Joseph! At the end of the day we all joined at the Veranda at the Whitcomb where we gave away the dream wedding to Sarah+Bill who were beyond excited (I wish I had the video to share—it was a priceless moment!) and we are so excited to be planning their September 17, 2011 wedding alongside CK Catering, Jennifer Mayo Studios, All Star Productions, Cloud Nine Invitation Design, GelatoSmith, and Music Unlimited!

Look for a few more posts sharing photos from each location—there was so much to see and do!

On August 20th we coordinated the wedding of Holly+Tavis in St. Joseph. After a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Shadowland Ballroom, Holly+Tavis had a fun-filled reception at the Veranda at the Whitcomb in downtown St. Joseph.

I have to say the highlight of the evening was when Holly+Tavis started their first dance to Kenny Chesney’s “You and Me” and then broke into a beautiful (and lively) dance to “Some kind of Wonderful.” It was literally one of the best choreographed ballroom-style dances I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to see how All Star Productions captured it on film! But just one sneak peek today, and that’s the lovely photos from Melissa at Jennifer Mayo Studios!

When bride Abby contacted me and said she wanted us to help her design  her tented wedding in Holland, I was thrilled, because meeting with her and looking at her inspiration photos, I knew this would be fun!  She had a fantastic color palette of marigold and gray in mind and had already picked out her bridesmaids dresses from anthropologie, so we had some great inspiration! And no wedding is complete without the perfect floral designer, and for this wedding I knew that had to be Modern Day Floral in Grand Rapids. When it comes to unique designs, Jenn at Modern Day Floral can always deliver! With the bride planning from another state, Jenn and I sat down and plotted out our plan of attack…unique and vibrant yellow flowers, sleek white containers, lots of adorable craspedia (those fuzzy little yellow balls of goodness shown below that I’m in love with!) and gorgeous gray tuscano linens from La Tavola. Simply lovely.  And of course, a huge thanks to Kara Purtell who captured it all so beautifully—you can see more photos on her blog!

When we were asked to do a tablescape photo shoot for the 2010/2011 issue of Inframe Bride magazine, it didn’t take me long to know that we wanted to design something that was not only unique, but also something that was feasible for brides to recreate at their own weddings. Our inspiration was the Blue Dress Barn, and the result was a garden-esque tablescape with a vintage flair. We mixed and matched white china, used a mixture of vintage tea tins and a variety of lush, textured blooms, and accented the table with old books and colorful vintage glass candles.
We shot the tablescape on the patio of the Blue Dress Barn, and used their cute wrought iron patio set for unique seating! On a cute vintage metal tea cart, we set up a unique “guest book” area where guests could fill out vintage postcards (tucked away in an adorable vintage jewelry box) and post their “love notes” on an antique frame. We used different patterned fabrics throughout our design, in the napkins, “love notes” board, and as tops to our homemade orange marmalade favors in tiny canning jars. We collected vintage broaches at our local antique market in St. Joseph, and tied them with thin ribbons around the napkins. We have to give a huge thanks to Crystal Springs, who provided our centerpieces, the Blue Dress Barn for letting us spend hours upon hours shooting on their beautiful patio, and Taylor Rental for use of their linens and flatware, and of course Ben Pancoast Photography for helping us bring the whole thing to life! Below are a few more of our personal favorites from the shoot!

The Lake Show Wedding Walk and Dream Wedding Giveaway is fast approaching! We have 30 local vendors lined up—-from photographers to wedding planners to gelato carts and harpists, and they’re all ready to show you what they can do to make your wedding in southwest Michigan amazing! And while you’re meeting with vendors and visiting 4 fabulous venues, you can also enjoy interactive events like local wine tastings, ballroom dance classes, and runway-style fashion shows!

Brides & grooms who attend will also have the chance to win an all-expenses-paid dream wedding on September 17, 2011 at the Veranda at the Whitcomb, featuring food by CK Catering, photography by Jennifer Mayo Studios, wedding planning by Stella Event Design, custom stationery from Cloud Nine Design, videography by All Star Productions, a delicious artisan gelato cart by GelatoSmith and more! You don’t want to miss the chance to win this amazing wedding!

You can find more info on the website — use promo code ” bluestar “  and you can get your bride & groom tickets free!

REGISTER TO ATTEND!