Mr. & Mrs. Dilly Introduce Fall

Welcome back! I am thrilled to have more photos to post...

Jon and Jill were one of the first couples I met when we moved to Kansas City, so it was a blast being able to help plan their wedding. I was so excited when Jill asked me (just hours after being engaged) to be her wedding planner. One of my favorite things about planning is being able to see a full event from beginning to end. And that was this wedding - from the very beginning, to the very end and everything in between!

Already knowing the couple pretty well, I wasn't surprised in the least when Jill wanted a simple but tasteful wedding!



Jill's colors, introducing fall to all of her guests, were red and chocolate brown. Jill's bouquet of black magic roses, orange parrot tulips and orange mokara orchids were a perfect fit for what she had in mind. Jill's bridesmaids also carried orange parrot tulips along with naranga and marie claire roses, which gave a little something extra to her simple red and chocolate choice. Florals were arranged by Flowers by Emily.


Ah, the first-see...always a favorite ;)


Jon, Jill and the wedding party took a trolley ride from the ceremony to the reception site. I'm sure they were having too much fun to notice, but I loved the idea of a trolley in the fall. An old school trolley with a great view of leaves changing colors in Kansas City, perfect!


The reception was held at Lake Quivira Country Club. Picturesque. The bride and groom were able to snap a couple fun photos on an available dock just outside the ballroom before coming in to greet all their guests. Photos were all taken by Elements Studio Photography by Kelly Powell.






Although you can't fully view this large arrangement is was gorgeous! Curly willow, orange mokara orchids and red kangaroo paw. And let me tell you, if you've never used kangaroo paw before, experiment with it. It is so fun and so unique!

Jill also had small arrangements of black magic roses, as well as, medium sized centerpieces that were made of 16" hurricane vases filled with coffee beans and pillar candles, finished with red-wired ribbons (say that three times fast!). If you had time, I could tell you all kinds of fun stories about trying to find that many coffee beans for the most cost effective price!


This 4 tiered cake was made by Michelle of Iced Art, and all the chair ties and table runners were provided by Classy Covers.


Ah, and this was my baby of the wedding. As I'm sure many of you have seen the candy buffets by now, I thought that a popcorn buffet would not only be a great alternative but would also give a great fall kick to the reception! This popcorn buffet served as a focal point and favors to the guests, not to mention it went perfectly with Jill's colors. It was a huge hit! You would have thought some people had never had popcorn in their lives. I had one gentlemen tell me he loved it so much he was going to take an extra bag for his plane ride home the next day! And the guests reactions were completely worth it! It was quite the task drizzling chocolate covered popcorn for 300. But you know what, I'd do it again!


Jon and Jill, thank you. Thank you for your great friendship and for allowing me to help you with your wedding. I truly enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the memories from here!

What's Inspired You Lately?

Well for me, it's been vintage - vintage chic! I ran across this cute little favor from a Chicago wedding. The bride and groom gave little bags that were made of vintage-patterned fabric and held wildflower seeds - what a fun statement and practical too!

Shortly after this fab find, I ran across a website - Papier Valise - on a blog, Green Wedding Shoes. Papier Valise sells unique art provisions to stir up the creator in you! They have interesting fabric, textiles, glass, paper - you name it! But what I loved where these vintage labels.



Just think about personalizing these by adding them to your decor, favors or place cards! The possibilities are endless!

And as you know, when searching on the Internet - one thing leads to another! I ran across a really fun website - Farmhouse Wares - it has vintage chic with a little bit of comfortable rustic written all over it! Here are just a few items that I would love to incorporate into a wedding!

And there you go! Can't you see these brass place card holders with the labels from above and a little bit of you? Fun fun.

All Things Orchid

My fav find this week is fabulous. It is by far my favorite bouquet! Can I just say I love all things orchid? So, combine orchids with this rich color and style, and well, you have just discovered my favorite arrangement.



This bouquet, made of purple vanda orchids, orange mokara orchids and green dendrobium orchids, was created by Irvine Village Flowers and photographed by Travis Hoehne out of California. If you like this preview, see more of the wedding at love & splendor.

And since I'm sharing only my personal opinion in bouquets, I though I would share a little tid bit about mine! My wedding was classy and traditional with, oh, just a pop of my personality! And my bouquet followed suite.



It was pure white with simple style, while my bridesmaids bouquets stole all the rich color! However, my bouquet had a lot of meaning. My mom and grandmother shared something special in their bouquets - stephanotis - the tiny star like flowers with pearled centers. So I thought I would carry on the tradition by also having stephanotis in my bouquet - the perfect accent! Among the white roses and tulips I, of course, had to add the cymbidium orchids! I was thrilled, shocked, amazed (you pick) when the Thursday before my wedding I found an old newspaper clip from Mother Dear's, my dad's mom, wedding announcement. Her bouquet was made of all cascading orchids. Perfect! A little bit of everyone to walk down the aisle with me!

My bouquet was created by Luis Andrade of Dallas, TX and was photographed by Photogenic Images.

Pop, Roll & Sprinkle it!

Here's my fav find of the week! Would these not be the cutest, most delicious favors?! I would love to show these off at an event. And you know the guests would be so impressed.

Introducing, Cake Pops by Bakerella!

You could easily incorporate your wedding colors!




As you can see the possibilities are endless! I hope these fun little cake pops made you smile and gave you some good ideas! And don't worry they really aren't that difficult to make, so I hear! My mom just made over 100 and drove them 6 hours for a sorority rush party!

For more, visit the pro at Bakerella and just search "cake pops."

Tracy and Adam Shippee :: March 21, 2009

I met Tracy and Adam through a mutual friend - at a birthday dinner to be exact! Tracy and I happened to be sitting next to each other. She had just gotten engaged, and I jumped at the opportunity to offer my help. Three months later I got an email saying she would love to take me up on my offer - I was thrilled!

Right off the bat Tracy was great to work with. She had a pretty good idea of what she wanted her vision to be. We expanded on those ideas - and her vision quickly became my vision! Fairly modern and fresh, but elegant!


This was one of my favorite moments of the day! Of course Adam and his groomsmen gave me a run for my money as I tried to get him out the door on time, and Tracy, well I could clearly see all the emotions in her eyes! She couldn't wait to see Adam for the first time. I have to admit I shed a little tear as I raced out of the background of this picture!

The Hawthorne House - Parkville, MO.


Jason Domingues with Jason Domingues Photography did a great job capturing all the events throughout the day. He was extremely easy to work with! Thanks for sharing your photos with me!



Next on my top favs for the day was Tracy and Adam's bubble exit. There was very limited space in front of the modest chapel, but give me the challenge of corralling nearly 300 people and I'm game!

Joe Prenger with Classy Covers provided the table runners. After searching and searching for the perfect pink, Joe came to our rescue with not only the matching color but a great price.

Michelle with Iced Art replicated exactly what Tracy had in mind.

When I say I have a sweet tooth I'm not kidding - and neither is Tracy! Tracy ordered 103lbs of delicious candy. My mouth is watering just thinking about about those sour green straws. Over the last several years candy buffets have become very popular. They serve not only as a tasty favor for guests, but are an easy way to provide a pop of color to a reception. As a planner you tend to see some trends several times, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear the number of guests saying they had never seen anything like a candy buffet before. Needless to say, it was a huge hit!


I know it sounds like a lot, but a good rule of thumb is to purchase 5-10 different types of candy, buying at least 10-15lbs of each. The amount of candy needs to fill the space visually and really isn't dependent on the amount of guests. The candy can serve as a great focal point in one area of the reception and needs to look substantial.

Monica with 18Flowers was awesome to work with. She is very precise and dedicated to her work!

Tracy stressed that she wanted the reception to be simple and fresh. Milkmen used to deliver fresh milk in these thick-glass bottles, so why not use them now to serve ice cold water with lemon. Combining the sweet bottles with a full bouquet of hydrangea gave Tracy the look she wanted!


To Tracy and Adam, thank you for allowing me to share so many memories with you on your special day. It was a joy to meet your friends and family! I wish you a very blessed marriage!