New Photobooth Company in Town-iWink

Recently, I attended the Junior League Holiday Mart with a good friend. As we were enjoying the shopping festivities, we found ourselves in a Photobooth ran by Matt at iWink Photobooths. Of course, it was a blast! Always a fun addition to your wedding reception. If you get a chance, check them out.

iWink Photobooths

THE Thank You of the Year!

Maura from Creative Video catches it all, which means she caught Chris Grys (Father of the Bride to Ashley) thanking me during his toast at the wedding reception. Gives me goosebumps! Thanks so much Grys and Whitaker families for making me feel like so much more than just the wedding planner!

Video Clip

New Event Location in KC-The Grand Reserve

I just have to pass along a brand new event site in the Federal Reserve Building called The Grand Reserve. In my years of planning, I've been to several event sites and once a year I get to the point where I decide "I need to find a new site in KC to mix things up". Lucky for me, I ran into Alisa at Bonterra Catering and she told me about this beautiful location because this IS the new site of the year! The venue is run by Bonterra Catering and it truly is the perfect location for classic and elegant event.

Looking forward to Amanda and Chad's wedding and reception at The Grand Reserve in April 2010! Check it out.

KMBC A-LIST: Best Wedding Planner in KC-Year 2!!!

Thanks so much to all who voted. We WON 1st place!!!

A-LIST

And congrats to the other Wedding Planners in the Top 5 and our vendor friends with top honors! It's great to be a part of a wonderful wedding planning community!!!

You can always tell a wedding coordinator....

Funny story from this weekend. It was Molly and J.D.'s wedding on Saturday (blog post about that later). My first stop of the day was the Marriott Downtown to take care of getting the bridal party their flowers, making sure everyone got on the trolley, etc. When I pulled up, I noticed another gal running around acting like I do on the wedding day...very determined and with a purpose! So, the curious planner I am, I had to stop and say hello because I was SURE she was a planner. I was right! It was my pleasure to meet Sharon at Kiss Events. Kansas City is truly a small world when it comes to planning weddings :))

Leslie and her cake shots!

I just had to post this because somehow Jason Domgingues always gets a shot of Leslie involved with cake. Made me laugh when I found it on the disc he gave me today.

Ashley and Jeff, 6/19/09

I just recently acquired images from Josh Solar Photography from Ashley and Jeff's gorgeous wedding held at Prairie Baptist and The Hilton President, so time to blog!

This was a fun wedding to plan, mainly because I was working with one totally AWESOME family. The cool thing about this was that I wasn't only working with Ashley, but not kidding, I talked to her dad Chris every day for 6 months. He was so organized and I swear someday I will hire him as part of my staff!!! Plus, Ashley has such a great relationship with her parents that there was no question this was going to be a special day. Let me not forget to mention that Ashley and Jeff are just too cute together.

Ashley wanted the princess fairytale wedding and that's what she got! Originally, she wanted colors of blue and white, but I convinced her to add some pewter in there just to add a bit of sparkle. The ironic thing was, even though this was a fairytale wedding, we had a mosh pit at the reception. Absolutely hilarious and completely shocking to those of us vendors who've worked weddings for years!

Here's the details.

Prairie Baptist Church-beautiful setting for a wedding.

The Hilton President-The perfect location for Ashley and Jeff's fairytale. It just had the right setting for the style of reception we were trying to plan.

Branches and Twigs Floral-Andrea and I have collaborated for years on weddings. Together we truly try to bring to light the bride's vision for florals, carrying the design aspect through everything else including stationary. One of those items was the rosette design in the architectural details of the Congress Ballroom at the Hilton President, as well as pearls which are a symbol of Ashley's sorority.

Marc O'Leary-Marc is the ultimate entertainer. By all means, one of the best in KC.

Josh Solar Photography--Josh and Jenny are just a fantastic pair, loving parents and really great photographers.

Creative Video-Maura is one of my favorite videographers. So passionate and has a great eye. I'm anxiously awaiting a clip of the Father of the Bride's speech and will post soon! Check out her blog for clips of her work.

Creative Cakes-Sandy has one of the best icing flavors in the city! She is also incredibly creative when we give her a challenge. She made a set of tympani drums as the groom cake, as both Ashley and Jeff are musicians.

Party Favors-I'm a big fan of party favors which are useful (meaning edible!), so we decided to put together a blue and white themed candy station (via www.candywarehouse.com) to open AFTER dinner was served. As always, it was a huge hit!

I truly believe that linens can make or break the design of a wedding reception. Just adding more than the standard white, ivory or black can make a big statement. BBJ Linen-All table linens and chair ties were provided through You're Invited's BBJ connection. Be Seated supplied the chair covers for the reception.

Stationary was provided by Jamie of You're Invited. Jamie created a custom rosette similar to designs in the President ballroom. We used the same concept from the Save the Dates through the invitations, programs, valet cards, reception seating dance cards (one of my personal favorites!), candy buffet labels, etc.

Enjoy!

Congrats Sierra and Andrew!

One of our most recent weddings was Sierra and Andrew's. They selected our Junior Wedding Planning package where I guided them in the vendor selections, how to make decisions, budgeting, organizing, etc while they made the actual plans. It worked out perfectly, as they are both so creative with their ideas.

The great thing about Sierra and Andrew is that they were both so very involved in the details, making the day truly about their unique style. My crew had a few challenges (the heat!), but it turned out to be a gorgeous event!! Their colors were Black, Champagne and White which matched their Mizzou spirit perfectly (and that's coming from a KU fan :)) The theme was "Around the World" as they both love to travel. The placecards were boarding passes with tables named after the locations which the two have traveled together. My favorite idea of Sierra's was the hotel guest gift baskets with each item being a play off of both their names. Too cute! To be honest, Sierra was so detailed in her planning she could take over my job!!

Vendor Acknowledgements:

Kansas City Public Library-unique space with outdoor rooftop patio. We planned an AWESOME lounge area on the patio, where the guests mingled and danced under the stars (when the sun went down).

18 Flowers-Monica is awesome, down to earth and incredibly resourceful. She always "gets it" from the start.

Above and Beyond Catering-Rox, Patrice and the rest of the crew take pride in not only their food but their service (which is excellent!)

Adrienne Maples-Adrienne is so sweet and gets some awesome moments. Check out her blog with Sierra and Andrew's images.

Fine Tooners-Caricature Artists were on site to create custom party favors. A great idea and these ladies keep it moving and fun!


Pech Limo-Excellent service for all your bridal party needs!

Crossroads Trolley Tours-The best trolley company in KC! Cecil is awesome and always takes care of my clients.

Iced Art-Michelle has such fun, unique flavors that you just can't help but to love her cakes. Check our her Guava flavor. One of Leslie's favorites.

And a quick thanks to Les, Carrie and BJ for taking over for me the weekend of. It wouldn't have turned out as it did without you there.

Enjoy our "non-professional" pics ;)

Please vote!

Don't forget to vote for us as Best Wedding Planner in KC for the 2nd year!

Kansas City's A-List

Fall 2009 "Day Of" Coordination Special-The Big Event

We have a BIG special going on right now for Fall 2009 weddings.

Package-The Big Event Package has been discounted to $1000 for Fall 2009 wedding (the normal price is $1250...a $250 discount!). You can check out the full package description on our site, but here's a quick synopsis of what it includes:

-Assistance with final planning stages beginning 2 months prior to wedding day
-Ceremony/reception venue reviews
-Creation of wedding weekend timeline for family and bridal party
-Vendor confirmations and scheduling
-Full wedding weekend coordination including rehearsal/day of/clean up
-Floral/cake designer rental returns.
*subject to planner availability*

Contact us to schedule a consultation with Kim, Leslie or Carrie!

Two More Awards

We won two more awards this year, yeah! Thanks to everyone who voted. The Kansas City A-List voting is about to start again...hint, hint!

We're alive!!!

Wow, this year has been nuts. I cannot even believe it is the middle of July already. It' been a busy one for me personally and professionally. Between moving (TWICE!), building a house and a bunch of weddings, I haven't been able to blog. However, my good friends at Josh Solar Photography gave me a little nudge to get going again.

So, here's a little clip of our PWG event in November. PWG Vendor Appreciation Party.

Whitney and Adam 1/3/09

Whitney and Adam had a gorgeous wedding with a very classic winter feel at the Hawthorne House. Whitney is the daughter of Patty Johnson who owns and runs KC Photobooth. They designed this amazing event together. They had the most adorable snowflake placecards. Patty made the chair caps and fabric chargers which looked absolutely amazing once placed on the tables (I do believe they are now for rent)!

We were called in about 10 days before to assist with "day of" coordination. As I've told many couples in the past, day of coordination is not only a gift to the bride but definitely a gift to the mother of the bride who typically gets stuck with the organization of the entire day and day of! I'm so glad we were there to see both mother and bride enjoy the day in it's entirety!!! Enjoy the photos. Here's a list of vendors.

Flowers-Branches & Twigs (Andrea always does a great job)
Cake-Caren's Cakes (check out this cake, which was a custom design Whitney found)
Ceremony/Reception-Hawthorne House (the staff there is the absolute sweetest!)
Band-Atlantic Express (with Hal Wakes--see the clip courtesy of Peter at Kairos)
Videography-Kairos Moment Wedding Films
Photographer-Mark Leonard Photography
Framed Art-Alexander & Co

CONGRATS TO WHITNEY AND ADAM!

Day of Coordination-Special Discount!

If you are still in need of a day of coordinator for you 2009 wedding, we have a special going on until JANUARY 31ST, 2009.

As our New Year's gift, we would like to provide you with the following discounts if you book your day of coordination services with us by January 31st, 2009
(contract and deposit must be postmarked by this date)

$150 off “The Big Event” day of coordination
$75 off “The Occasion” day of coordination

Contact us for a planning consultation!

New Year's Resolution-BLOG MORE OFTEN!

Well, the holidays truly caught up with me...and the fact that we have a ton of new weddings being planned for 2009. So, my resolution this year is (among other things) blog more! With that said...

In September, I was contacted by Shannon in Colorado for "day of" coordination for her 10/11 wedding. We completely hit it off and she has the best laugh of anyone I know! It was planned to be a small, intimate wedding at Southmoreland Park on the Plaza. There was to be a tent with all the rentals you can imagine involved. Only, Shannon started to panic about the weather (she will admit this!). So, two weeks before the wedding, Shannon flew in town and we decided to keep the ceremony at the park but move the reception to Weddle Event Space (convenient considering her fiance's last name was and still is Weddle...no relation). At this time, Shannon and I decided that it might be best that I fully take over and get this puppy moved. It was a challenge, but it turned out perfectly (including the weather, but oh well). Catering was provided by Oklahoma Joe's, while the mini cupcakes were provided by BabyCakes in the River Market (can I say, amazing?) and reception music was provided by Complete Music. Chris at Glow Imagery was the photographer and shared the link to this slideshow of the wedding.