…walking that extra mile! There have been so many incredible weddings this year, I am excited to start blogging regularly.
Where I’ve Been The Last Month…
Tag: my life as a wedding planner
musings #10
It’s been an adventurous two weeks! I have three new clients and have been searching for the perfect venue for one of them. The entire team here has been working nonstop on the Bridal Beauty Event. It’s going to be such a great time!
I love a winter wedding! I saw these photos on JPP’s website from our wedding together last month. Is there anything more romantic than an evening snowfall?
Who doesn’t want a better Instagram? I found these tips on A Life Well Lived to be super helpful.
It’s been an exciting month for the GLBT community in Illinois. The Chicago Tribune covers the first wave of weddings in Chicago. I’ve yet to have to plan a gay wedding but my fingers are crossed for 2014.
If I didn’t have a wedding the weekend of April 5th, I would be at Greer learning calligraphy.
I am a huge fan of L’wren Scott and always dreamed of owning one of her fabulous gowns. I was truely sad to hear of her passing. Below is one of my favorite designs of her on Amy Adams for the 2011 Academy Awards.
Honey Bee Weddings is Featured in Chicago Hustles Magazine
So while I was at ALT (the follow-up post is coming tomorrow), I went to the tattoo parlor party hosted by Mail Chimp and got a (temporary) tattoo. Let me tell you, a neck tat is so not who I am, but it was fun for a few days. (Take a peak at my Instagram!) It turned out to be very fitting because Chicago Hustles Magazine just featured me as my life as a wedding planner.
“Hustle means working hard and not giving up. I worked as a consultant for two years full-time while working full-time as a business owner. Two years of many 80 hour weeks was formidable. I am so glad that I took the plunge to be a business owner full-time.”
I am so thankful for the feature. Thank you Chicago Hustles Magazine.
musings #9
I read somewhere online that if you are still following your New Year’s Resolutions by February 8th, you will more than likely make it to the end of the year. I am not sure if that is true but I really believe in New Year Resolutions.
While I have been making New Year Resolutions since I was a teen, I started to make monthly goals this year. Bing sent me these amazing cards so that you can create ten monthly goals each month.
Thanks Bing!
I saw this photo of Kerry Washington and loved her magenta Kotur clutch…partly because it looks so much like my Milly Kendra clutch. The styles are super similar but my Milly clutch is half the price!
Attending ALT Summit was amazing. I am going to do a full blog post next week on the conference. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be in the same room with 700+ other creative types. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the Thursday key note speaker, Garance Doré .
I love paper and one of my favorite brands is Sugar Paper. Sugar Paper did a collaboration last year with Target. It was hard to find as it was limited to only a few stores. I really wanted the fuschia casebound planner because the designers used the most amazing fonts. There were two at my local Target but both damaged.
So you can imagine my delight when I saw the announcement of Sugar Paper’s collaboration with J. Crew. The collection includes cards, coasters, place cards among other goodies. I am so thrilled for 2014 to the year of gold!
The House of Gray Malin Photography is one of my favorite photographers. Once I finish decorating my family room, I am going to buy one of his photos for above our sectional. Until then, I downloaded this free wallpaper. The images are for iPhones only but I was able to adjust and use for my Droid.
Current Obsession: Violet Grey
Inspiration can come from many different sources. I’m currently working on two weddings with wildly different aesthetics (Great Gatsby glamour with Prohibition excess for this one and Barn Chic for the other). I don’t just select images related to those projects. Before I start curating, I focus on getting inspired. I look everywhere and can find inspiration in the most unusual places.
One source that is now on heavy rotation for me is Violet Grey. I read about the website in Vogue magazine this past fall and then it came up again at LuckyFABB. My favorite part of the website are the incredibly curated posts of photo shoots along with the tremendous amount of work that goes behind the scenes. I also love that the posts are filed under the name of the make-up artist, not just the star.
One source that is now on heavy rotation for me is Violet Grey. I read about the website in Vogue magazine this past fall and then it came up again at LuckyFABB. My favorite part of the website are the incredibly curated posts of photo shoots along with the tremendous amount of work that goes behind the scenes. I also love that the posts are filed under the name of the make-up artist, not just the star.
On top of these fabulous photo shoot posts, there is also a series of tutorials. I don’t necessarily read the tutorials for the actual how-to, but to find out what products are being used. The products tend to be high end rather than the High/Low mix you might find in most magazines. Violet Grey girls, it seems, follow a money-is-no-object philosophy.
The plan, according to the article in Vogue, is to add an e-commerce site with hard to find beauty products. I am thrilled for this addition because of my serious obsession with beauty products. While I get my fix regularly at Sephora and Ulta I have gotten chills from finding a really good product at a pharmacy in France and Boots in the UK.
If you fall down the rabbit hole of Violet Grey, please let me know what you think. I literally can spend hours there looking at all of the images!
Life’s a Party
The last few weeks have been one big party! And really, parties are part of the reason that I love my job. I never get tired of socializing and meeting new people.
After competing (and sadly, losing) in the Luxury Garage Sale contest, I headed over to Vera Wang for their Fall 2014 trunk show. There were so many stunning gowns but Lisette won my heart.
After competing (and sadly, losing) in the Luxury Garage Sale contest, I headed over to Vera Wang for their Fall 2014 trunk show. There were so many stunning gowns but Lisette won my heart.
I don’t normally get invited to Mom events and had no idea what I was missing until attending Well Played. Hosted by the Ritz Carlton Chicago and 2 Moms Media, I learned all sort of ways to bring play into your life. The premise of the event was brilliant: “What we often forget…or don’t have time to remember, is that play is an essential part of a happy, healthy, and more FUN life. Without it, a vital piece of our well-being sits in the corner waiting to be set free. Besides connecting with some amazing vendors, I walked away in much better spirits.
Benefiting Gigi’s Playhouse, the Bollywood Blowout was quite the event! Hosted at Stan Mansion, their was everything a cocktail reception highlighting many local Indian vendors as well as a fabulous fashion show. The saris stole the show!
Is there anything more inspiring than creating art under the beautiful views of the Water Tower? The Park Hyatt Chicago hosted Art in the Park event in which guests had the opportunity to create a scene of Water Tower on canvas. I found that even with the inspirational views cannot turn me into a fabulous painter. I am much better and wine and socializing, which, thankfully, was also an option.
Last but not least, I was a judge for the inaugural Culinary Fight Club that was held at Blokes and Birds. The premise is genius: 3 chefs have 30 seconds to select ingredients from the pantry and then have 60 minutes to put together a dish that the 4 judges get to taste. The recipes from the winners will be collected into a cookbook that will be sold to raise funds for a to-be-determined charity.
Scavenger Hunt for Chanel in the City
As a wedding planner, there is a certain amount of flexibility to your schedule when it’s the off season. So when I saw that Luxury Garage Sale was having an amazing scavenger hunt in the city, in which the winner would receive a Chanel handbag, I jumped at the chance and took most of the day off work. (It’s really hard to disconnect from work for a full 24 hours so I normally will work a few hours in the AM and then a few hours in the PM).
I also decided to make it a team effort and brought along my three year old daughter, Francesca, a fashionista in training. After following Luxury Garage sale on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, we headed to stop A, Le Colonial. Twenty minutes into the game the first clue was released so we headed to Equinox. I then realized that the stops were not going to be in order (because that would be too easy) and we began the hunt! There were many girls participating that weren’t tweeting publicly so I assume that there boss wasn’t as understanding as mine.
Roaring like a lion at Allium
Getting the royal treatment at Atelier Azza
Working up a sweat for Chanel at Equinox
Is Chanel on the menu at Le Colonial?
We heart vintage, Chanel of course, from Sofia Live Lovely
Sweet dreams of Red Velvet and Chanel at Sprinkles
I had grand dreams that Francesca and I would one day reminisce about the day that we won a Chanel bag together. Unfortunately, we didn’t win although we came very close! We saw the very excited winner shrieking with excitement in a fab suite at the W Lakeshore.
There’s always next year!
Chocomize Wedding Favors!
Is there anything better than taking a chocolate break in the office? The answer to that question is always NO if you’re eating Chocomize chocolate! The Honey Bee Weddings Team had the opportunity to take a break from our hectic wedding season schedule to try Chocomize’s chocolate. Chocomize chocolate would be a perfect favor for that creative bride looking to impress their guests with a delicious, creative favor!
With Chocomize you can choose your type of chocolate (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white belgian) as well as add up to five ingredients from a selection of 100+. Then, you get to customize the package with any image or text. The chocolate bars are really amazing and will make the perfect favor.
musings #4
I think I need to add this to my stationary wardrobe. Oscar de la Renta has collaborated with Paperless Post (my favorite way to send online invitations). The entire collection is fantastic, especially when you look at the inspiration directly from the runways. LOVE!
I know that this is old news but I loved the Met Gala this year. My favorite look was the always flawless Sarah Jessica Parker. I created a board on Pinterest with some of our favorite looks (and a few misses) from the night!
Virtue is hosting a trunk show tonight to unveil their Anne Sportun line at their trunk show! The event is a wonderful opportunity to view the abundance of jewelry from the line. Virtue will be providing sips and specially requested sweets will be on hand! Excited yet? They’ll also be offering 10% off during the event.
Friday, May 17th
4 – 8PM
Virtue
2034 N Damen Avenue
RSVP is kindly requested at info@virtuchicago.com or 773.235.3790.
I have been constantly looking at Saturday, Kate Spade’s new line. These sneaks caught my eye with the fab abstract design.
Happy 5th Anniversary to my wonderful husband.
musings #3
I am still distraught over the end of the season of Dowtown Abbey. I have been curious about the history of behind the show and find this article fascinating.
I’m not sure which collection I’m more excited for: Kate Young for Target or Derek Lam DesignNation for Kohl’s.
Besides a new line for JCP, Marchesa is having an amazing contest with the Knot for a destination wedding in Hawaii that also includes china for 8.
Speaking of contests, have you entered ours for a veil or bridal jewelry?
I’m dismayed at the number of people that are blasting Victoria’s Secret for this supposed collection aimed at middle school children. Can you Google before you judge?
Honey Bee Weddings 
