Planterra Wedding with Carly & David

Magic...

Excuse me while I go a little out of order here, but I just received Carly and David's Planterra wedding film from last fall, and I just can't post it without writing about it and sharing pics.

What do you say about a bride who treats you like a friend, and a mother of the bride who treats you like a daughter? The three of us spent 10 months together crafting this wedding from start to finish - the amount of detail that went into this day for 140 very lucky guests is just hard to put into words. But when you have a client who trusts you so completely, who listens to you propose ideas (or vendors) that may be a little out of the box, and then so easily tells you to run with it - that, my friends, is the key to doing great work as an event designer. We were given the opportunity to be creative, and we are so grateful. Combined with the ethereal and lush environment that is Planterra, and a really cool theme (because how often do you have a groom who's a beekeeper?!), we knew this one was going to make us proud.

But let's start from the beginning. First, the print material. I could honestly devote an entire entry to the print material alone, but if we want to get this out before October, it's probably best to sum it up. ;) We collaborated with graphic designer extraordinaire Alisa Bobzien on this project, and absolutely nothing fell by the wayside. Save the dates, gold foil invitations, rsvp card, a map of the Detroit/Bloomfield area for guests (many came in from New York), napkins, menus, itinerary signs, and the list it goes on. No pre-designed templates here, folks - every font, color and decorative element was custom to them and their event. The pattern was a big part of the overall design - we even had her take the pattern of the plate we were using and incorporate that into the envelope liner.

And now the event itself, with photos courtesy of Jess + Nate Studios. I'll keep it short and let the images tell the story.

We worked with David DiVincenzo of Planterra to create these beautiful arrangements. We even brought in vases from 3 different states. (Ahem, tough but totally worth it.)

Custom runners were made out of cheesecloth, and we also brought in beeswax taper candles and spray painted every candle holder gold because we could only get them in silver (economically). Actually, I can't take credit for that last bit - Nancy did that. She complained at first, but then grew to love it. Anyone need a candle holder spray painter? She's your girl. ;)

And then the sun went down, and that's when the magic happened...

Bottled favors of David's honey, a dessert table from Sweet Heather Anne, and entertainment by the absolutely wonderful Brian Alexander Experience...

Carly, David, Nancy...thank you so much for choosing our little old company to be a part of this extremely special day. We truly couldn't be more grateful and proud. That moment when darkness fell over the venue and the whole place lit up - it's the stuff that dreams are made of and I'll never forget it. More from this wedding in the next issue of The Knot.

Event Design, Planning & Coordination: Alison and Bryan // Photography: Jess + Nate // Florals: Planterra // Print Material: Alisa Bobzien // Cake: Sweet Heather Anne // Entertainment: The Brian Alexander Experience // Rentals: Special Events (Mary) and Alison and Bryan

And finally, a video from Lee Thomas, who is cool as a cucumber, and captured the love in these families the way my words never could. Lee, you're awesome.

Congratulations again to David & Carly!