Beautiful Kara

Kara is beautiful. A simple, yet powerful statement, I know. Call me bias, but I think she's one of the most spectacular looking brides I have ever seen. Yes, she is my sister. Yes, I'd lay my life down for her. And yes, I could cry just thinking about how much I love her. All that doesn't change the fact that she was a knock-out on her wedding day!

I just got off the phone with Kara in Maui. It's been hard to go this long without speaking to her! You see, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't email her or talk to her on the phone. She's that special to me. So, imagine how thrilled I was when she became engaged and I got the chance to put together a day that reflects her and her personality! A thrilling experience, for sure.

Without further introduction, here is a sneak peek at some of her wedding photos taken by another woman I love, Jen Kroll.

Remember all of those wax seals I told you about making several months back? Well, here is one gracing the front of her program. And it's tied together with a yummy double-satin swiss ribbon. Ooohh, I love me that double-satin ribbon!

I picked out Kara's necklace and earrings from Swarovski. I love this photo because it highlight's Jen's creativity. Can you tell what it's laying on?

A must-have detail for Kara; the hand-painted aisle runner. It turned out just lovely. And Kara was so thrilled with it. Special thanks to my ever-so-talented painter, Liz Jansen, for yet another stunning runner!

And here's a closer view of the scroll work. This scroll was carried through from her invitations all the way to her cake!

How beautiful is Kara's bouquet! A very special 'thank you' to Jenn and all of the girls at Modern Day Floral for the absolutely amazing flowers. What they created for this wedding was simply breathtaking!

The flower girls holding their pomander balls. My Gretchen is the peanut in the middle!

Yep, that's me in the chocolate brown dress, gold pashmina and holding the gorgeous bouquet! Can I tell you how hard it is to be the matron of honor when all you want to do is be in the back of church directing the activities? The biggest challenge of the day for me was to relax and let my very capable staff handle everything. I'm told I did pretty good toward the end of the event! Old habits die hard, I guess :)

The Champagne Brunch was held at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel inside the Imperial Ballroom. It's my favorite room in the whole hotel. It has such character and grandeur and is perfect for an intimate gathering.

Here's a little closer look at the table setting. We used deep brown pintuck linens, taupe lamour chair covers, and ivory bichon napkins and chair ties. It was just gorgeous!

The gold beaded chargers came from Special Events Rental in Detroit. Love that company!



Here's a really great detail. Kara's husband loves to do crossword puzzles. So, I found this company on line where you simply write a question and then the answer and it will automatically generate a crossword puzzle. For free! This was such a hit that when guests were seated there was instantaneous silence as everyone tried to work through the puzzle. Kara and I came up with fun questions about the two of them so that guests could get to know more about them as a couple as well as individually. Also, if you look closely, you'll be able to see what we had engraved onto the gold pencils {which were all lovingly sharpened by my 5 year old and 8 year old!}.




The gorgeous cake by the gorgeous Barb of Sweet Cakes Design. Thanks, Barb, for another stunner. You outdid yourself on this one!






Here's a closer look at the detail on the cake!

There were free-flowing mimosas at the brunch. And they were yummy! I had Bella Figura letter-press coasters with the recipe on them and they were passed out when the mimosa's were first served. Very fun!




And now, my beautiful Kara! She's as kind and gentle as she is gorgeous. LOVE YOU, Kar!

There are a couple companies that I want to recognize and thank, too. First up, MI Photobooth. My new favorite company in the greater Grand Rapids area :). Jessica Daly, owner of the company, is one of the sweetest, most professional people I have ever worked with. Not only did I use her for Kara's wedding, I also used her on that amazing wedding a couple of weeks ago. I can't recommend this company enough. Their prices are great. Their service is impeccable and their photobooth is so classy that it fits in with high-end decor.

The other company that we used at the wedding was Chocolate Impressions out of Detroit. Again, a stellar vendor with a very unique product. Here's how it works. After they take your photo, they send it to a machine that prints the photo onto a chocolate lolliopop. This was a huge hit because no one had ever seen anything like it before. {Bet you can't guess how many of these lollipops currently reside in my freezer with pictures of my kids on them! Suffice it to say, it's over 10!}

Thanks again to everyone who helped make the day so special for Kara. She thanks you all from the beaches of Maui! {Especially you, Jennifer, Shelly and Jill!}

~Jodi