2011 Archives | Page 2 of 3 | anticipation events

vintage wedding at architectural artifacts

Working with Eli + David was great. Both were so involved in making their wedding day special and uniquely them. From the mason jar wine glasses for each person, the vegan meal served for dinner and the homemade jam jars for favors (Eli is a natural foods chef!) to the carbon offsets, ‘no cut flowers’ mantra and a first dance set to salsa music, the day was completely theirs.

After looking at many venues to find one that suited them, we landed at Architectural Artifacts a fantastically eclectic venue. One of the best things about Architectural Artifacts is that they let you use all of their inventory at your wedding. I designed Eli and David’s centerpieces using globes, springs, milk jugs, books and boxes. We brought in orchids and other flowering plants and I covered them in burlap so that we still had gorgeous pops of color but no flowers were harmed and everything could be replanted. Guests loved taking them home at the end of the night. Eli’s brother grew microgreens for some of the tables and we even found a couple of bicycles we used in the centerpieces (David’s other true love!) from fair trade company Ten Thousand Villages. Eli and David sourced soy candles, their friend made pickles and Eli even whipped up truffles the week of the wedding to complete the tablescape.

We used an old metal locker to hang table cards using twine and clothespins that were made from leftover paper they used to create their invitations. Chalkboards were consistent throughout on the mason jars, table numbers, glass pick-up station and other various signage throughout the day. Every detail was well thought out and Eli and David’s wedding came together in an amazing way. A million moving parts converged into a day full of love and laughter that left no trace– other than thousands of memories, some pretty fabulous pictures and a beautiful beginning for Eli and David. Prepare yourselves for the fantastic-ness that follows!

Eli & David’s Vendors

Venue: Architectural Artifacts
Photography: Lark Photography
Planning and Styling: Anticipation Events
Videography: I Do Films
Band: Stu Hirsch Orchestra
Catering: Karyn’s
Ice Cream: George’s Ice Cream and Sweets
Service Staff: Service Is Us

wine and coffee themed shower + bachelorette party

So you’ve already seen the invites and read about the inspiration for the coffee and wine themed shower and bachelorette party. Here’s how it all came together.

I decorated using the brown and pink scheme from the invites and made deceptively simple but pretty stinking awesome coffee filter poofs. Whitney’s sweet mom kept calling them peony’s which just made my crafty heart sing. (When in doubt always bring a mom to the party—they are the best at gushing over the details!) I hung clusters of them over the kitchen table and island where most of the food action was happening.

We served lots of delicious brunch fare: french toast casserole, egg bakes, croissants with apple butter, honey and jam, coffee cake muffins and fresh fruit skewers!

Lots of mimosas to wash it all down and an artsy shot of the glasses by one of the bridesmaids, Megan.

We (of course) put together a hard-core coffee bar that included hot and iced coffee, vanilla and caramel syrup, soy milk, skim milk, half and half and some homemade vanilla whipped cream.

Each guest picked up their own personal coffee cup for the morning which doubled as their favor. Each coffee mug had a picture of the guest with Whitney and Whitney got a special little one with a picture of her and John! I used a special paper to transfer the images to the cups and baked them on so they’d be permanent. (I also made her three extra so she would have a set of four: one of the two of them, one of Whitney, one of John and one of their dog Duke. Awesome.)

We set them up on the kitchen table with bowls of chocolate-covered espresso beans to munch on and extra coasters for people to use during the party.

Whitney hates to be the center of attention so we just played a few games that wouldn’t embarrass her. The ever-popular guessing game, this time using coffee beans and a coffee filter for holding guesses.

And then while she opened her presents guests participated in a homemade BING-O game dubbed “WHIT-O” that really took a lot of the attention off of staring at Whitney opening gifts. Plus, Whitney’s future sister-in-law won and could not have been more ecstatic. Both of the game winners won coffee mugs filled with flavored coffee samples and iced coffee blends.

I’m just getting over my caffeine buzz now. Less than a month to go until their big day. We can’t wait to celebrate your love again in June!

city wedding at old st. pat’s church

Traci and Luke’s city wedding at Old St. Pat’s Church and The Tasting Room was definitely a party! Check out some eye candy from the day and of the handsome newlyweds!

day of coordinator cost

DIY idea for boy baby shower

Meet Mr. Mustachio:

Remember Amy of previous blogger fame? Well, she had another baby and this time it was a boy! Anthony Thomas came to greet this great big world in March and I got to help plan a surprise baby shower for the little man. The “sprinkle” (as I found out mini-showers are called in the mommy world) was mustache-themed and once we found out he was a little boy we sent out invites to get everyone excited: I used wrap-around teal blue labels for the addresses and cut mustaches out of felt to adorn the top. The sprinkle was held at a local Mexican restaurant so I chose a font to complement the venue.

I used a vellum envelope so when guests received them they looked fairly inconspicuous from the outside but once you opened them—-mustaches abound on the envelope liner! I believe in setting the mood.

Wax mustaches anchored white balloons that I adhered felt mustaches to. Why not?

“It’s a boy!” balloons coupled with our Mr. Mustachio balloons were a perfect centerpiece for a restaurant “sprinkle”–quick, easy and good bang for your buck.

More ‘staches topped delicious cupcakes for dessert..

classic indian-inspired wedding invitations

Clever title, eh? Well, hopefully you believe us now that we have, in fact, been busy. Want to see the latest edition to the Anticipation Events paper tome? Jerry & Nivi’s wedding invitations were monsters. Perhaps it has something to do with the 600+ people they are inviting to the big day. Perhaps because they are having a Hindu ceremony and a Catholic ceremony followed by an enormous Polasian (that’s Polish/South Asian for those of you not familiar with my knack for smushing words together to make better ones) extravaganza. Perhaps it is because they are awesome.

Each sweet little monster started out innocently enough. An unassuming little silver envelope:

Inside each envelope, an invitation to the Hindu ceremony in the morning, the Catholic ceremony in the afternoon and their evening reception:Also inside the envelope, another envelope. This envelope to be exact:

Details. You know, all of them. I hand punched tags out of silver card stock and tied them around the envelope with navy and white bakers twine. Untie the bow and you’ll find…

Transportation and directions cards printed on vellum paper and attached in the corner with a brad. An RSVP envelope and two RSVP cards: one for the Hindu ceremony and lunch reception and one for the Catholic ceremony and the evening reception!A monster I tell you. A beautiful little monster.

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