Phyllis and Daniel were married at Cranbrook House last Saturday, during the rain storm. Unfortunately, the outdoor ceremony couldn’t happen - so Plan B was put into place. Everyone had been told the evening before that should there be rain, we would be doing the ceremony in the Library of Cranbrook House. It is a beautiful room - albeit a bit small for the 150 expected guests! Some people did have to stand, but it worked out wonderfully and the most important part, of course, was that they got married!
One of the tasks I left my assistant Jennifer with at the Birmingham Athletic Club as I went over to the ceremony that morning, was to cut and tie all the string that was to be wrapped around the napkin and place cards. We also set the table numbers, menus, photo sharing cards, and favors which were gender dependent and so cute! The vases Phyllis brought in the night before, and they were filled with flowers from Michelle Nonis.
The cakes (7 varieties) were brought in from Cake Nouveau, one of my favorite stops in Ann Arbor for cupcakes and great conversation! Not only has pastry chef Courtney Clark won tons of awards for her amazing cakes - she is also a wonderful person. The cakes were a huge hit - guests were taking several pieces each! All of the chalkboard signs were done by Phyllis.
The photographer, Sara Chen, was flown in from Southern California - I am so excited to see their shots! She was great to work with, and even made arrangements to do a shoot with the couple the next day at Cranbrook to make up for the lack of outdoor photos due to the rain! The wedding went very well overall, and I had so many helpful family and friends stick around for tear-down that we were out of there within an hour!
Congratulations on a beautiful wedding Phyllis and Daniel, I hope you are having an amazing honeymoon!
Sarah and Eric are getting married in October of this year, and while searching various blogs this morning, I came across their invitations from Plush Paper! Of course, I had to share!
From the Plush Paper website: “The invitation features Sarah and Eric’s monogram in a rounded frame that repeats throughout the invitation suite, layered with scrolling lines that coordinate with the script font used throughout.
They even came with custom stamps! I love custom stamps, they tie everything together so wonderfully!
Tamara and Ian were married in May, and I am so excited to share their professional photos from Wendy Martin that were blogged yesterday!
They had some awesome details in the wedding, including warecats “hidden” on the top of the cake!
I love the grounds at Wellers in Saline, they are gorgeous!
Outdoor weddings are my favorites - scary in Michigan, but definitely a lot of fun!
Congratulations again you too - I love the pictures!
Last year, the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market was selected as the venue for a fundraiser for Ozone House. Jenny and Arthur saw the event, and fell in love with the space! When they contacted me in February of this year, I was ecstatic to help them become the first bride and groom to celebrate their wedding in the Farmer’s Market space!
Jenny and Art did a lot of the work, including all of the invitations, place card tags, fabric panels to block the public street and the orange barriers, table numbers, wine bottle candle holders, moss table runners, card box, and surely several other things that I just can’t think of right now!
They also had some amazing vendors on board. For the first time in my experience, we ran out of plates - that many people went back for seconds (and thirds)! A Knife’s Work did an amazing job with the food. The florist was Lisa Waud from Pot & Box; they were perfect! Their photographer, Kara Purtell was wonderful to work with - I cannot wait to see some of the professional photos! Colonial Events was my personal hero of the day - after delivering the rental items they stayed to help me hang the dance floor lights!
Jenny looked gorgeous in her Monique Lhuiller gown, and Arthur’s suit was perfect for the occasion. After dinner, the hora got everyone out on the dance floor! Shortly after that was the cake cutting - all desserts were provided by Cakes by Rubina, and the guests went through them very quickly!
Congratulations on a beautiful wedding and reception Jenny and Arthur - it was a joy working with you both!
Adam Sparkes from Breakfast with Adam just sent me over a link to his blog, in which he has posted photos of Melina and Vic’s engagement session!
I love how they turned out! Melina and Vic will be married at the Downriver Italian American Club in Wyandotte this August - and it is setting itself up to be a wonderful wedding day!
I am very excited to work with Adam again. A few other vendors that Melina and Vic will be working with are John from Trifoot Productions and Amor Wedding Officiants.
Congratulations you two - you look great in pictures together!
Since I love working at the Inn at St. John’s, and I know many of the vendors that are preferred there, I decided to check out the Whimsical Occasions show that was held there last weekend. There were some great decor ideas in all three rooms - they do a great job of tying in the vendors that have booths with display tables throughout so that the brides can walk away with a little more inspiration in their pockets!
Some of my favorite tables were done by MPE Events, like the one pictured above. How much fun would that be! If you can’t afford to go that over the top at the wedding, it can always come to play at a smaller shower or even an intimate bridesmaids luncheon the day before the wedding.
Shutterbooth made an appearance as well - I always enjoy catching up with Nolan and Kim! They do a fantastic job and take so much pride in what they do - it is very refreshing.
Emerald City Designs also had some great tablescapes to go along with their booth. Other vendors there that I always enjoy working with include The Lighting Guy, Mike Staff, Jefferson Market and Cakery and Gwen’s Cakes.
Cake Nouveau is an Ann Arbor based bakery that specializes in “elegant and often whimsical styles that break tradition to bring bright colors and unique shapes to these delicious works of art”. The owner, Courtney Clark has been featured in and won numerous Food Network challenges. The most current will air this Sunday the 15th of February as she bakes a “Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 Cake”!
Courtney bakes cakes for birthdays, showers, rehearsal dinners (groom’s cake?), weddings and many other special events. One of the best tasting fondants I have ever tried is a staple on each cake, allowing the fantastic color palettes and shapes that you can see on her site. Wedding cakes start at $7 a slice, and any other cake starts at $5 (yes, wedding cakes are a lot more intricate!).
The number of orders per weekend at Cake Nouveau is limited - you can probably tell that the cakes take a lot of time to complete! Brides have even planned their wedding date around Courtney’s availability! Some dates book up to a year or more in advance, others can be quite last minute - just make sure to call and check for your date at 734.994.4033.
The way our economy is going, a lot of people are cutting back to be safe. Instead of huge ballroom weddings, magazines are full of backyard fetes, barnyard celebrations, and intimate gatherings of close family and friends. In Ann Arbor, Cobblestone Farm is a wonderful place to pull off a wedding on any budget - renting out for slightly over $1000 on a Saturday!
Cobblestone Farm allows you to bring in any licensed caterer for your event, which means you can do a wide range of food from a Famous Dave’s barbecue to a Big Rock Chop House dining experience and anything in between. Alcohol can be brought in as well, as long as it’s beer and wine only. Hiring a bartender from Mr. Bartender for the evening is a lot less costly that footing a hotel’s consumption-based bill! A commonly used Ann Arbor based alcohol supplier is A&L Winecastle - they can also help you determine how much you will need!
Ceremonies can also take place on the grounds outside the barn, with the upstairs portion of the barn used as a backup (and yes, I have set up 150 chairs there “just in case”!). This is a great way to bring in traditions from multi-faith couples, to have a friend perform the ceremony, or to just experience that outdoor wedding you always dreamed of! Of course, there are a lot of issues with a venue like Cobblestone Farm - which is why hiring at least a day-of coordinator is always a good idea!
Digital may have taken over the world years ago, but there are still those out there that love film photography and everything it represents. One of those artists is Linda Wan; an Ann Arbor based photographer that still relishes in developing her own film (especially black and white). She is not exclusively a wedding photographer by any means, but loves the moments she is able to capture on a couples’ wedding day that they can treasure for a lifetime.
She truly wants to get to know the couple before their wedding, as well as the location that the wedding will be taking place. Her package includes two meetings in which photographs are taken, to ensure that her clients are comfortable on the day of the wedding. Linda will be photographing one of my client’s weddings on June 20th of this year, and I am very excited to work with her for the first time!
Place cards are messy, they fall over, and if your wedding is outside - they can even blow away. Something to attach your place cards to not only serves double duty as a favor (thus creating less table clutter), but also prevents situations like those from occurring. For anyone getting married in the Atrium at St. John’s or using a lantern or lamp post in their decor, the above favors/place card holders are perfect! Going for more of a wine theme? Look below! For many many more ideas, visit my Kate Aspen shop!
