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

Hyacinth Events

Good ideas come at 3 am....

It is no doubt my age, but I often find that I am wide awake at 3 am. My mother-in-law is exemplary: she prays and writes letters during her wakeful hours. Usually I read, but my light burned out so starting a book of Pablo Neruda poetry would have to wait.

So I jump on the Internet and start hunting for things...

I found out that "tying the knot" comes from the medieval Irish custom of "handfasting" where the newlyweds join all 4 hands and someone ties a cord around them. It was a substitute sort of marriage vow when a clergyman was not available to perform the ceremony.

I found out that "honeymoon" comes from the Irish custom of drinking honeyed mead from the same cup for the first month of married life. (And if the couple was not expecting already by the end of that time, there was definitely something amiss-)

And I got a custom stamp made for my next event: The Liz Logelin Foundation Gala on Sept. 20th.

So, I start today with a sleep defecit...still, I have a something to show for it.

One more thing...

I thought folks might like to see the program and reception card from the polka dot wedding...they turned out SO cute! I don't have a photo of it, but the invitation also was polka-dotted, with an engagement photo of the couple.

How we did it: Anchor Paper will custom-cut paper from a "parent sheet" for $10, so both the cover stock and the text paper were cut 11 x 5 1/2. Office Max (cheaper than Kinkos) printed the programs and punched the tie holes for us after Emily did the layout in MS Publisher. We had a coffee party one morning and assembled and tied the programs and reception cards. A circle punch was used for the "peek-a-boo" on the cover of the programs.

The reception cards were punched with the same circle at the top. They were tucked into a pocket-folded napkin and a Dove chocolate was placed in the hole. So--we were able to carry out the theme down to the last detail! Very fun.

Monday--3 weeks until my next wedding...

I am so happy and relieved to have some time to catch my breath while working with Katie and Adam toward the final details of their September 25th wedding at Mill City Museum, which promises to be spectacular. We have been working together for nearly a year. Both the bride and groom are from other parts of the country and are here for Adam to attend grad school at the U of M. I have helped them plan a destination wedding--here in the Twin Cities! Almost all their guests will be coming from out of state and we want to introduce them to the history and culture of Minneapolis (with a little party thrown in for good measure!)

Emily and Stephen's wedding went beautifully yesterday--even the perfect weather for which we all prayed. God's goodness and grace overflowed and the theme of JOY was expressed in every aspect of the day. My favorite thing: the bride selected the greatest hymns for the music: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Praise to the Lord the Almighty, Be Thou My Vision, In Christ Alone, Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee--Oh! what a feast for the soul weary of thin Christian music.

How could you not love a bride with a smile like this:

Sunflowers

This Sunday afternoon promises to be cool enough that the not-air-conditioned chapel at Northwestern College should be blessedly comfortable for the wedding. The wrought iron candle screens we used first for Rachel and Adam's wedding there nearly 4 years ago will be reprised, but this time the theme is sunflowers. They symbolize adoration and worship and also joy, so a very fitting flower for this young couple about to begin a life of ministry together. I have 100 of them chillin' in my workshop this afternoon!

Polka Dots

This morning I spent with family and friends of Emily and Stephen, who are being married on Sunday. We had a blast, tying polka dot ribbons on the programs and reception cards, preparing and assembling gift bags for all the out-of-town guests. Helping out was Emily's aunt Carolyn whose wedding flowers I had the honor of creating back in 1990!

What is it about polka dots? Everyone loves them--and for this wedding it's polka dots and sunflowers because both of them are so happy and the theme of Emily and Stephen's wedding is JOY in Christ.