Learning From the Best

In Spring 2008, just before With a Flourish launched, I had the pleasure of meeting Jenn from Wink Weddings over Starbucks frappuccinos.  She gave me valuable insight about wedding planning and running a business.  Then she asked if I, along with one of her friends, would want to be day-of coordinators at her own wedding.

Jenn's wedding was a year ago yesterday, and I'm so very grateful to have been part of her day.  I know that my business has been better because she helped me out both by sharing information and giving me experience.  Of course, being a wedding coordinator herself, Jenn's wedding went perfectly to her timeline, and there were no emergencies.  A year later, I'm still surprised and thankful for the open and helpful people in the wedding industry here in Winnipeg.  Happy Anniversary Jenn and Justin (and happy birthday today Justin)!

Vintage Inspired Wedding Decor

During my search for items to use in the photo shoot, I knew that I really wanted a white table to go with the red and teal colour combo.  I asked family and friends, searched thrift stores, and came up with nothing.  Then, on the morning of the shoot I went to pick up flowers at Villa Flora, and asked to look through the basement.  I was looking for anything white, when Daria pulled out the vintage flower cart you see in the photos.  I really really want one of these for my house - they are so very cute.

This is my very last table from our photo shoot in October, and I'm really excited to post these photos (taken by blf Studios) - they're my favourite :)

Red and Teal Wedding Tablescape

Today's photos are from the photoshoot that we did back in October.  The fabulous images are courtesy of blf Studios, linens from Planned Perfectly and flowers from Villa Flora.

I've been obsessed with the red/teal colour combo since finding inspiration on Etsy.  It's so vibrant and fun, and the colours can be incorporated into a vintage theme, or a really modern theme.

Here's the photos from the red & teal tablescape.  The apples in the centrepiece have since been made into applesauce.

There is one more little table to show on Wednesday (and it's my favourite).

With a Flourish - Happy Friday!

This has been a strange and exciting week for me, and on this Friday evening I'm glad it's over.  Some loose ends have been tied up, and some new projects have begun including a couple good chats with prospective brides.  Today I'm thankful for the amazing couples I am working with right now, vendors and business owners who are bending over backwards to help me with an idea, spontaneous coffee with a sister-in-law/friend, a mom who is a google queen, and my husband who has done everything from cooking me supper to making sure I got out of the house today.

Coming up on Monday:

Happy Weekend!  It's going to be beautiful (for November) here in Winnipeg and I plan to take full advantage of the good weather :)

Featured Wedding Vendor: blf Studios

If you've read the last two posts, you've been looking at the fantastic photography of blf Studios.  When I met Bond a year ago at his home/studio, he opened the door wearing a hoodie and a hat, and immediately commented on the cold weather.  Now, it was chilly being November but...not that chilly (this is coming from a life-long Manitoban).  However, being new to Canada from South Africa, Bond is not used to the cold weather.  In fact, on October 19th, here's what he wrote on his blog:

"I say it’s always a good Monday when I wake up and there is no snow and it doesn’t feel like I might die if I go outside!  LOL!"

As you can tell, Bond is a great photographer with an equally great sense of humour.  And he incredibly kindly came and took photos of my tablescapes on a very chilly October day.  And he will make you look like a magazine-worthy model in your wedding photos.  Seriously.  Click over to his website to view more of his photos and book him for your wedding!

There's 2 more tables to blog about, and I'll probably get around to it sometime next week:)

Fall Wedding Photo Shoot - Part 2

First of all, huge thanks to Weddingbells blogger Roseanne Dela Rosa for blogging about the Fall Photo Shoot tablescape this morning.  Much appreciated!

Today's photos are of a rustic escort card table, which we designed with organic apples, dried flowers, jars with chalkboard paint and a watering can.  The escort cards (tied to the apples) are from Pulp & Circumstance, and the burlap coffee bag is from Green Bean Coffee Imports although they don't know I have it...I found it one day in the basement at Pulp & Circumstance and use it fairly often as a tablecloth (thanks, Green Bean!).  Charming does not have to be expensive, just creative.  Again, the photos are from BLF Studios, and aren't they fantastic?
















Happy Wednesday!

Fall Wedding Photo Shoot - Part 1

About a month ago, I set up a few tables in St. Vital Park for a photo shoot.  One of the easiest ways to go green for your wedding is to use local resources.  Decorate in-season and it will be less expensive, better quality, and eco-friendly.  For these tables, we used gourds and squash from the Farmer's Market, dried flowers from the Farmer's Market, decorative grass (grown at home), canning jars painted with chalkboard paint, beeswax candles and pinecones.  The menus were created by Yoko at Pulp & Circumstance, candles are from Wild Dog Farms, leaf cookies from Sweet Impressions, and linens are from Planned Perfectly.  Today, I'm excited to start sharing the photos from the shoot.  All photos were kindly taken by Bond from BLF Studios:
















And my very favourite:





Any readers that have had a Fall wedding? How did you decorate? Thanks for reading and stop by on Wednesday for photos of an escort card table.

Coming up Monday

BLF Studios

Happy Anniversary: Blue Earth Organics

Today I stopped by Blue Earth Organics for some orange juice.  I ended up leaving without orange juice (oops) and after a really good chat with Breanne, who owns the store.  Breanne isn't a "look at me" kind of person, so I'm taking it upon myself to say "look at her!"

Blue Earth Organics celebrates their second anniversary today.  They've spent the last two years providing Manitobans with local and organic food, and recently introduced an orange juicer (very fun for the kids to watch, by the way), and a yummy fair-trade gourmet coffee menu.

Since this is my blog and I can endorse whoever I want to, I will say that Blue Earth is my very favourite grocery store in Winnipeg.  I like the friendly atmosphere, and honestly, since it's not a huge store and I am still new at this organic food thing, I find it less intimidating than some of the bigger stores that have walls of overwhelming choices.

If you are looking for healthy groceries, a coffee to go, a salad and muffin for lunch, or a caterer, stop by Blue Earth at 1855 Portage Ave.

Green Wedding by Mireya Navarro

It's safe to say that I've read just about every green wedding book that is published.  I like having books in my library that I can lend to clients, or keep for myself when I need some inspiration.  On a date with my husband last weekend, we were wandering through McNally Robinson and I saw the book Green Wedding by Mireya Navarro.  I'd seen the book online but not in person, so I flipped through it in the store.  Mireya Navarro is the environmental writer for the New York Times, and her writing about all environmental issues (not just weddings), is really interesting.  Green Wedding is well written, but the biggest difference between her book and previous eco-wedding books for me is the photography.  Beautiful pictures of eco-friendly weddings show up throughout the book, and I left McNally Robinson with some fun new ideas.  Her book proves that eco-friendly weddings do not have to be boring, or lacking in style...they can be gorgeous and full of fun and unique details.  This is most definitely the next wedding book I will be buying.  Check out the great reviews on Amazon here.