Perfect Day, Perfect Wedding

Enjoy these home-made images of Lydia (Livingston) and Sean Mailen's beautiful wedding at Gale Woods Farm in Minnestrista on Sunday afternoon, September 25th. When Lydia and I first visited the farm a year ago, it was a cold, miserable day and it took lots of imagination to see what it could be. God gave us a perfect day! Warm and breezy--one of those perfect fall days we Minnesotans wait for all year. Their theme verse from the Bible uses the symbol of a tree planted firmly so that storms and draught have no affect on it and it continually bears fruit. We illustrated this biblical idea with trees and apples, lots of color and texture--and the day God provided was the most beautiful of all decorations!

I created trees from birch and added hundreds of ribbons in the wedding colors (a bow to a favorite music video of Lydia's) to frame rather than hide the lovely view at the hilltop wedding site. The breeze did the rest!

I have had the honor of planning all four of the Livingston girls' weddings. Lydia is the last of that legacy, which is bittersweet for me. She is a lovely woman, inside and out and precious to many, many people. It was hard to limit the guest list to 300 friends.

The colors were purple and red with fall color accents. Lydia wanted full, wild flower textured bouquets. I created bouquets of dahlias, ranunculus, seed pods, freesia, mums, zinnias--pretty much a garden mix of "you name it, it was in there!" This is a look I love more than any other...although I have lots of favorites!


After the touching ceremony and their "I do's" guests wandered the grounds, greeted friends and made their way to the barn for a pig roast. We dressed the tables with an eclectic mix of vintage and thrift store plates (all with a touch of red in them), red pocket-fold napkins held a menu card and program for the evening. I made centerpieces in fall colors with generous wire bowls filled with Lydia's favorite apple: Honeycrisp! Apples also served as place cards and favors.

The second centerpiece was up high in my copper cones. Thanks to a whole team of helpers, we were able to put up lights and fun "bag lights" I create by putting plain paper bags over old-fashioned Christmas lights (the big C9 kind) and tying them with ribbons.


Thanks to the Livingston family for the honor of serving them in this way!

Lydia wrote before the day: "Over and over again you bless me, Sean and our family. Thank you for sharing the gifts the Lord has given you so generously. You have put so many hours in to make Sean and my wedding beautiful and special as it can be. It is a calming relief to know that you will be present and taking on the tasks that will make the day go smoothly for us."

My dentist, who happened to be at this wedding, said "I am a guy and I NEVER notice flowers at weddings, but really, your flowers were amazing! I have never seen anything like it before--really beautiful!"

Love,
L + K

Good Advice: Welcoming your guests for your ceremony

Over 30-some years of working with brides to plan their weddings, I have noticed that greeting and seating guests for the wedding ceremony is something few think about. With so many details to attend to, who can blame them?

But I'd like to suggest that your guests' first experience of your wedding day is worth a few moments of thought and planning.

First, plan to have at least one couple act as hosts. Their job is to greet guests as they arrive, direct them to the coat room, restrooms, water fountain and guestbook. Select someone who is outgoing and/or well-known to the majority of your guests. Selecting hosts also relieves your parents of the responsibility of greeting people and allows them to relax (if they choose) before the ceremony begins.

Hosts can also help "herd" guests into the church to be seated so your ceremony can begin on time. I find that many guests stand around and talk until the last moment and then the ushers find it challenging to get everyone seated because they come in a bunch just before the procession is supposed to start.

Ushering is another neglected part of most wedding plans. Most people asked to be ushers have no idea what to do! Ushering is a "lost art." Let me give you a few practical tips: First, usher your guests down the 2 side aisles of your church, rather than the center aisle. Why? Guests will always move to the center because they want to see you, the beautiful blushing bride and the procession. Ushering down the side allows them to fill in each pew. If you usher down the center, guests will plop down in the first few feet of the pew, causing everyone else to have to climb over them to get to the open seats. Second, select 2 ushers for each aisle. That way, one usher can be taking people to their seat while another is lining up with the next group of guests ready to go.

Ushers offer an arm to the female guest and walk her to the first open pew or row; her spouse (or male companion) and children follow. The usher stops just before the pew and guides her into the row; her companion/family follow her into the row. If there is a program, the usher hands the program to the spouse. Single women are ushered individually. Single men walk next to the usher to their row.

Why bother? A church wedding is probably the most formal occasion most people ever attend. Ushering enhances that experience for guests and helps create the quiet, elegant, orderly atmosphere you want to surround you at this moment-of-a-lifetime. You have chosen a church wedding because you want God to be present and to bless your marriage...and that is a deeply significant hour, worthy of the effort.

Have a wonderful wedding!
That's my two pennies.

A Light Shining in Darkness

When Hannah and Mickey met in a Bible study at Stanford University, they knew they had some fundamental priorities in common. Their relationship grew as they returned to Minneapolis, and at last lead them to set a wedding date in early February, 2010.

Neither of them had any experience planning or even participating in a wedding, so the initial questions was a panicked "what do we do?" Their premarital counselor sent them to me to help them plan a low-cost simple, yet meaningful, wedding ceremony and reception.


Hannah's family is from Great Britain, Mickey, from across the world in China. How do we bring together two vastly different families and cultures? Only God could do that, so we prayed for wisdom and sensitivity toward both families.

For a cold Minnesota winter wedding, we decided on the theme of "Light" for the ceremony and tried to incorporate the theme into all our planning. Hannah was able to reserve Bethany International Church in Bloomington. The large, sunny church foyer fit perfectly with our theme and would serve as the reception space as well.

Hannah was able to borrow her gown from a friend but it looked like it was made for her! Her bridesmaids got to wear a black dress they already owned and the men all selected black suits. Bright spring flowers brought together red from Mickey's heritage and fragrant English garden roses and tulips from Hannah's. I selected "ming fern" as the foliage.

Their ceremony took place in candlelight: in keeping with our theme, I brought my candle screens holding 160 tea lights and we used the church's spiral candelabra and aisle candles. Bible passages and songs referring to Light enriched the ceremony.




The new Mr. and Mrs. greeted their guests as they left the sanctuary and entered the reception space. Nice not to have to go outside on a cold winter day! Yummy desserts were served buffet style and guests mingled or sat at little bistro tables.

Mickey's mom prepared some special Chinese peanut desserts for everyone to sample.

The guest tables carried out the theme with a black candle ring with bright spring floral in the center.


I was able to help Hannah and Mickey achieve the wedding they desired on a budget and with little stress. The key was that were very willing to adjust their vision to fit the budget and were realistic about it. A church reception is not for everyone, but it fit this couple and was a major cost-savings. Being surrounded by loved ones from around the world and honoring their faith and heritage was the central focus. It was beautiful.

That's my two pennies.

Let Your Roots Go Down Deep

Katie and Michael are a couple who love life. each other and their vast network of equally creative family and friends. Unconventional and tenderly in love, they were able to find ways to make their wedding reflect who they are and all they believe. It was my honor to help them fulfill their dream for a meaningful, yet outside-the -box wedding day.

Katie's colors were purple and black. Her dress (Nordstrom) was perfect: white and ivory organza wrapped across the bodice, falling into a shredded organza skirt, divided by a black satin ribbon tied at the waist. For her outdoor wedding photos she wore a fitted black velvet jacket with ruffles at the neck, lovingly made by her mom.

Her flowers were Picasso calla lilies, woven together with black twigs and feathers and tied with black satin. She wore a huge ivory organdy bloom in her hair, black lace-up boots on her feet and black lace tights.

Her bridesmaids were given the opportunity to select any black dress they liked and Katie personalized their looks with different lace stocking designs and hand-made purple jewelry and hair flowers. Each maid chose her own favorite purple shoes. I created variagated purple and white carnation pommander bouquets for them--very simple designs because there was so much detail in their outfits!

Mike wore a suit from H&M and his guys selected their own charcoal vest and pants with black shirts and plaid ties. The guys liked this less formal and less expensive option rather than renting tuxes or buying suits.

Ephesians 3 is a perfect biblical passage on love and not as commonly heard as 1 Corinthinans 13: "I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love...may grasp how wide and long, high and deep is the love of Christ...and to know this love that surpasses knowledge." Mike and Katie chose this Bible passage as the theme for their wedding. Katie created a pen-and-ink logo of a bare tree, its roots intertwined with a heart. This design was printed behind the vellum on the invitations and on the cover of the wedding program....then Katie took it a step further and painted it on canvas.


Guests were encouraged to sign the painting rather than having a conventional guestbook to sign.

These wonderful images were captured by Spencer Combs, a friend of the bride and groom, but no less than "Top of the Tiara" photographer in Minnesota Bride magazine last year. More of his images to come as I show you how we brought together the theme of the wedding in the altar decorations and after-party.

Who says winter weddings aren't hot! This one broke the ice!

Love, Liane

Fire and Ice Winter Wedding

It is about time to update my blog, since I have not done an entry since last summer! Life is wonderful but busy. Susanna (my new baby granddaughter) occupies my Tuesdays and while she is napping, I plan to post to my blog. We will see if that lasts more than a month or two!

January 21st was the coldest day so far this winter. "Chilly" even for Minnesotans at 20 below windchill. My bride was one of the most organized planners I've encountered and she couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate a winter wedding! Jill and Scott were married at St. Elizabeth Seaton in Hastings and celebrated at Hasting Country Club.

Our theme was "fire and ice" and the colors Jill chose were elegant and classic: pewter grey and white with light blue and sparkling silvery accents.

Her gown was a fitted A-line white silk with a long train and rhinestone embroidered embellishments at the waist. I fashioned her bouquet to compliment the sparkle of her dress and bring in the color of her bridesmaids' gowns and the ties of the groomsmen:

Jill's flowers were light blue hydrangeas (for color), white double freesia (for fragrance), white roses and tulips, white miniature calla lilies--all accented with a liberal "dusting" of dusty miller, a velvety grey foliage. You can see a bit of sparkle from the rhinestone sprays and silvery skeleton leaves I added. Her bouquet was finished with braided double faced satin and a vintage bow-shaped rhinestone pin.

The bridesmaids loved their bouquets, which were much like Jill's, but with more blue and a wonderful springtime flower that reminds me of snow on a branch: genestra.


The groom's boutonierre traditionally is a flower from the bridal bouquet, and I like that tradition. Scott wore a miniature calla lily to match Jill and a miniature dendrobium orchid to match his guys. I curled wire to mimic fiddleheads so that he would have a masculine version of the "bling" in Jill's bouquet.

One of my favorite things about this wedding (besides the sweet couple I was working with) was the wonderful contemporary setting of St. Elizabeth Church. It inspired something new I had not done before--aisle markers made from bare white branches underlit with pin-lights. They were dramatic!

Bonus: they could be safely moved to the reception (no flowers to freeze!) and used again as centerpieces. Other centerpieces were equally fun: big bowls of ice with floating candles and flowers, "ice cube" vases and votives with white flowers and silver leaves, silver orbs and rented "ice trees" from Linen Effects (lineneffects.com) with hanging candles. With the black linens on the tables, the lighting effect of the decor was simply magical!

I will have to wait until I get pictures from my favorite photographer, Noelle at Fishtale Photography because she has the expertise (unlike me) to show off a the effect in a dark room.

Last, I engaged Trevor at Metro Ice Sculptures to create a grand entrance for the guests arriving at the club. He created 8 10x10 pillars of ice, underlit with blue and arranged on either side of the entryway. I sprinkled some fresh snow around the base of these simple shapes and voila! guests were so impressed, they came out into the sub-zero cold to take pictures.

Love, love, love my job!!

Liane

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