Wedding Designs Brought to Life

September 19, 2017

I am a wedding designer, and proud of it. In fact it is my true passion in this world of wedding planning. I adore the puzzle of linens, centerpieces, furniture, colors, and floor plans that makes a wedding come to life. I am known for having a vision, or a directed path when designing a wedding, but I am always tweaking, researching, experimenting to really make the design as perfect as it can be. The opportunity for me to attend a lecture by my wedding designer/planner icon, Tara Geurard, came about. I don’t think I could have jumped in my car faster on the day of the lecture. Still, it was one of the best days of my career, and for many reasons. The main reason that this day, this lecture was the best is because it ignited inspiration in me.

Before Pinterest there was imagination in creating wedding designs. There was creativity in deciding the centerpieces and place cards. Since Pinterest my wedding world had become a world of “replicate this lanterns, with this greenery, and these favors.” Personalization was falling away and replication was taking its place. After listening to Tara, and hearing about her creative process, I was asking myself “why am I letting Pinterest dictate my talent? Why shouldn’t I let Pinterest turn off my creativity and imagination?” So away I went to sketch, build, and spray paint. In a matter of just 24 hours I had 5 designs in my head. Over the next 5 months I tweaked, twisted, defined, and edited these designs. on August 22, 2017 I saw them finally come to life.

On August 22nd a bandwagon of vendors came together, and made my wedding designs, my ideas come to life. Now it wasn’t easy, and it came with challenges, but in the end I was proud of all the work and effort. I was extremely proud and thankful for my family and friends who sweated and paid a physical price for me and my creativity. I could not have done all this with out you! I couldn’t have asked for better colleagues who joined in, and gladly tried to make the design in my head come to life. Many times I was asked “do you have a photo of this idea, or a point of reference?” I would smile and simply say “nope, its in my head!”

I’m not a simply designer, I’m not a cookie cutter planner. I am a “go big or go home” person. So, I was determined to produce all 5 designs, photograph them, and break it all down in one day. Thanks to the Kincaid House in Clinton, TN and its coordinator Melissa Charles, we were able to do it! The Kincaid House’s property allowed me to set-up all the designs in different areas but still in the same location.

Here is just a taste of the different designs. I will blog about each individual one later. There is too much to say about each design. The designs were created from a love of home improvement; the life of broke newlyweds; the infatuation of the blush color; the hospitality and trends of southern women; the celebration of family; and the styles of bold classic fashion.

Bill Waldorf Photography

Thank you to JoPhoto, Bill Waldorf, And Katherine Birkbeck for their gorgeous photography! Thank you to All Occasion Party Rentals for your generosity in supplying with a huge order! Especially Cindy for organizing my crazy rental list on a weekly/daily basis. Thank you to Bradford Catering for making wonderful food, and going with my crazy ideas! The list goes on and on including: Unique Settings of Knoxville, The Happy Envelope, White Lace and Promises, Regal Tuxedos, Southern Sirens, all the models: Adaira, Hannah, and Katryn,

I want to especially thank Samuel Franklin Florist. Sam and his staff have been an amazing team to work with. Sam is my go to, see it through, no idea is too crazy guy. He has been such a support thru my whole career, and continues to be my main man. Sherri and his crew go above and beyond any of my requests. They were out in the heat helping set-up chairs, moving props, and doing anything I asked of them. I can’t say thank you enough to Sam and his amazing crew!

If you are interested in more about this photo shoot; more wedding design; how your wedding can be personalized, or how we can help you in anyway with your wedding event go over to livelaughloveweddings.com. I would be happy to your wedding memorable to you and to your guests!

Rainy Day Weddings

April 3, 2017

Rain, Rain, go away….

I used to love rainy days. I could put on some sweat pants, curl up with a big mug of coffee and work from my home. I used to love watching the rain make the tree leaves dance, and the sound it just calming. After kids, I found a love-hate relationship with rain. Rain means the front steps to the houseis going to flood, and Im going to have to hop with a toddler on my hip. It means complaints from my son about everything being wet outside, and heave forbid any of his clothes or shoes get wet. Rain means craziness in the house cause there is no dry playground. On the love side rain means great naps, and allergy substances are washed away.

Rain usually isn’t something that a bride wants to wake to either. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bride wake up on their wedding day and exclaim “Yay, its raining, its raining on my wedding day. This is perfect!” A blue sky, sunshine day is what brides want. It makes you cheerful, enlightened almost. Of course mother nature always has to make sure there are some rainy wedding days. Here are a few ways you can turn your rainy wedding day into the best wedding day!

Photographs- Rain can be a wonderful detail in your photographs. Plan ahead to have a great umbrella, just in case. A classic big golf black or charcoal grey umbrella is always classic. Keep any patterns monochromatic and simple. Also find a place where the rain is really pouring. A great photographer can capture the rain falling on you in such a romantic way.
Move the outdoor garden ceremony indoors. Have your florist, and rental company set-up items in your reception room. Make your dance floor the ceremony stage, and have your guests find a seat at a table, and offer some cocktails before ceremony. If your reception is at a separate venue then delay your ceremony time half an hour. Most guests will make it!
Change the venue-If you are planning an outside, in the grass under a tent kind of wedding, you might find your guests walking around in mud. Do the events you have to, offer a take home box of food & cake to everyone,and then ask your guests to join you at your nearest bar or restaurant. Say cheers with a favorite pint. Keeping miserable guests in a miserable situation never ends well.
Function and Practicality before pinterest gorgeous! What makes a wedding great is the joy the guests share with the bride and groom. The more joy and happiness felt at a wedding the better it makes the wedding. Go with the flow and remember if you are married and happy in your marriage, all will be fantastic!

Happy Rainy April!

Imagine Pinterest

February 24, 2017

“Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination. Take a look and you’ll see into your imagination.”

-Willy Wonka

I find myself staring at a wall or table, and wondering “There must be something I could do with that.” I reach for a tech device, click my Pinterest button, and get lost in a world where wooden pallets become chairs, chairs become night stands, and a night stand becomes a kitchen. It is a world that can stretch, deepen, and enhance your imaginative mind; or it can be a world that consumes you and you lose your own imagination.

As a wedding designer it is my job to take a person’s style, interests, ideas and make them into an environment that reflects one of the most important days in their life, a wedding. When I started as a wedding designer there was no Pinterest. You flipped through magazines or watched reality TV to find the latest trends. Big trends beginning in NYC or LA didn’t reach little Knoxville til 2 years later. It always fun to design for bridal shows. You could make your booth/display completely out of your imagination, and get brides to think “huh! Thats different.” It could be purple, yellow, all black or all white. It was always exciting to see what people would dream up. Now we have pinterest to filter to us the latest trends, and we get them as quick as we can. The pantone color of the year” greenery, the latest dress style: grace kelley/lace; the trend of weddings; copper. It is all at your fingertips, no imagination required. Weddings seem to be more about replicating a photo, and less about expressing personality.

Now don’t get me wrong. I who hold a Bachelor’s in Art find myself searching Pinterest many times a day for various projects. I too have lost a since of imagination. My goal now is to awaken my old imagination. I urge you to do the same. Find the latest trends and ideas, and apply them to your wedding. Just remember you are not like everyone else, you want your wedding to be special, set apart. Use Pinterest as a taking off point. So, copper is the latest trend, how you use it is key. Are you a bride who serves a cocktail in a moscow mule mug, or are you a bride with a sweet tooth who will fill it with krispy kreme bread pudding? Are you a spreadsheet type person who will use copper geometric lanterns for centerpeices; or will you be adventurous and copper spray paint your grandmothers teapot as a memory to her.

I urge you to use Pinterest, and discover a world of imagination. I also urge you to deepen your imagination and go one step further than Pinterest. The world of weddings can be endless, it is important not to lose you and your imagination in such a giant world.

Pinterest Wedding Trends

Wedding Imagination

bright pops of yellow wedding

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=wedding%20trends&rs=remove

Colors for 2017

January 24, 2017

Every year there is a bridesmaid dress trend every bride wants. Ten years ago it was tea length dresses ; Five years ago it was the high to low or fit n flare dress; 3 years ago is was the mix-match color palette. Last year the trend was sequins and evening gowns. This year I have heard nothing but the words “Jenny Yoo”. Every bride is after a convertible Jenny Yoo dress. It seems to be the golden ticket for bridesmaids. Any color of this dress is popular, but if you want the most popular go for the shades of blue. They are subtle muted shades of common pastel colors. Sky Blue + Grey= Mayan Blue; Sea Mist+ Grey=Ceil Blue. Of course you can always go for the classic navy. Other shades are blush, rosewater, and sweet pea.

If you are drooling over Jenny Yoo, and looking for a similar style that’s more affordable, don’t worry. Many mainstream designers get their inspiration from popular trends. You should see very similar styles being created from various designers. Davids Bridal is already manufacturing colors like Steel Blue, and Blush. I’m sure we will see more convertible dresses throughout the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

May Jenny Yoo be ever in your favor!

For Local Bridesmaid selections Check out:

White Lace and Promises

Davids Bridal

Gilded Gown

everyone wants Jenny Yoo

Soft and Pretty

August 18, 2012

Make up artist Amanda McKnight with Southern Sirens, has given us another beautiful look for brides:

Soft and Pretty

“Soft and Pretty” is the perfect to show off your natural beauty; this look enhances your best features and gives you an extra “pop” to make you a blushing bride for either a day or evening wedding.

Start this look with an eyeshadow in either a pastel or neutral color, you can pair this with a medium brown or gray eyeliner that helps give your ‘baby blues’ definition without being too harsh; smudging the eyeliner right above the lashes also helps to soften the line. Finish your lashes with a black mascara, or if you’re wanting something different, try a dark brown or a navy blue mascara.

For the lips go with a soft color, like a peach, nude, or light pink. You can finish this look with a neutral cream blush to highlight and define your cheekbones. Cream blushes provide a natural look and a nice healthy glow, perfect for a beautiful bride.

Vintage Glam

July 30, 2012

It is such a thrill to introduce make-up artist Amanda McKnight to all of you; her amazing talents have been featured in many of Live, Laugh, Love’s photo shoots, including the Summer/Fall 2012 cover of Enchanted Brides Magazine. For this post we asked Amanda to show us one of her favorite looks for Brides:

Vintage Glam

I start the vintage glam look with a neutral eye shadow base, and a black liquid eye liner in a strong line along the upper lash line. For the eyelashes, I use a lush mascara that can be accented with individual false lashes for an extra “pop“. I like using a bright crimson red for the lips, and offset the cheeks by a soft and natural blush. This is a timeless look, that has never gone out of style.

Bridal Fashion