Sarah’s Candies

Welcome to day 2 of the Indie Wed Inspired Creations Contest! The incredible team involved in today’s shoot created an amazing and beautiful idea, a “Belles and Gents Bar”. Picture this: one day, wives crash an old-school gentlemen’s club bringing in big beautiful blooms and brightly colored details to freshen up the usual decor of cigars, highball glasses, aged scotches, and decanters. SQN Events stocked the bar with his and hers drinks (homebrews and sweet tea) from Femme du Coupe personalized by Courtney Callahan Paper and treats like chocolate-covered cigars and bourbon-infused brownies from truffle truffle. Fleur never disappoints with their stunning florals and these peony, ranunculus, and cotton arrangements are absolutely some of my favorites! Love this brilliant idea and beautiful photos by the wonderful Simply Jessie Photography!

We were so thrilled to have The Sweetest Occasion and Elizabeth Anne Designs team up with Chicago’s most fabulous bridal show, Indie Wed, to hold the first-ever in person Inspired Creations Contest!  Teams of Chicago wedding vendors submitted inspiration boards for the event, and 6 talented teams were chosen to exhibit their Inspired Creations Contest concept at Indie Wed in January.  In addition to the brides’ and grooms’ on site voting, votes from the EAD and TSO blog readers will be counted, so weigh in on your favorites!

Inspired by a peacock feather, these jewel-toned tabletops designed by Beth of SQN Events are the perfect combination of elegant and modern.  Whether you’re planning a wedding or a party, jewel tones set the stage for a fabulous urban holiday soiree, and the gorgeous purple, red, and green palette is brought to life by the modern blooms from Dilly Lily.  Ribbon-wrapped menus and favor boxes with touches of swirling calligraphy add an elegant touch to the wedding tabletop while “naughty” and “nice” gift boxes add cheeky punch to the holiday tablescape.  The scrumptious sweets table and 4-tier truffle cake from Truffle Truffle is a fun and unique alternative to a traditional cake.  I’m in love with all of the colorful images from Maypole Studios!

Working with the fall color palette of amber, gold, saffron and chocolate, Kelly Marie of Fleur and Heather of Greatest Expectations pulled from the in-the-moment trend of beer and hops to style a shoot that is the perfect combination of modern and rustic.  With custom stationery and the cutest vintage beer bottle labels from Lily Red Studio, a mouthwatering menu (a charcuterie and cheese station!) from Pure Kitchen Catering, a beautiful bridal look from The Left Bank, and the fabulous raw space at Architectural Anarchy, every little detail was thoughtfully presented.  And don’t even get me started on the amazing desserts from Truffle Truffle – including an out of this world 4-tier truffle cake!  It was impossible to narrow down the gorgeous images by Amanda Hein, so run over to see ALL of the eye candy in the gallery!

Well here it is, the last official entry of the Glitter and Glam Inspired Creations Contest!  I’m sad to see it go but excited to use your comments, facebooks and tweets to determine the top 10 (look for a full round-up of all of the contest entries tomorrow so you can sound off on your favorites).  This glamorous black and gold sweets table, escort card display, and guest book idea from Visions Wedding & Event Boutique, Julie Hanan Designs, Angela Renee Photography, and Cacao Sweets and Treats features melt-in-your mouth desserts, an abundance of candles, and a fluffy DIY lisianthus centerpiece!

There is just so much pretty in this shoot, I’m over the moon! Kelly Maron Horvath of Paper Stories, Lauren LePine of Ryan Alexander Events, Lynn Fossbender of Pollen, Stevi Savage of AveryHouse, and Shannon Spellman of Plate have dazzled me with their interpretation of glitz and glam for the Inspired Creations Contest, it’s an absolute wonderland of handmade charm.  Mercury glass accents, mother-of-pearl buttons, satin ribbons and gilded china from Plate are just a few of the ways that the team incorporated glitter and glam into their tabletop and dessert display.  And since the Inspired Creations Contest is all about being fabulous on an approachable budget, everything from the sewn paper bunting to the ribbon table runner, escort card holder, cake topper, and even the cake itself was created by Kelly, and all of the decorative accents used in the shoot were brought in from the team’s homes and studios. 

I love edible wedding and party favors, and Kelly Maron – mastermind behind Paper Stories and the hip Chicago bridal show Indie Wed – has stopped by EAD today to share her quick and easy how-to for S’mores on a Stick!  And even better, she has created three adorable printable tags for these goodies in two color palettes.  Print either the “Love on a Stick” or “Yum! Yum! Yum!” tags on sheets of label paper, and wrap around the S’more stick, or print the “Gimme S’more!” tag on cardstock, punch a hole, and attach to your S’more with decorative twine.  Voila – easy peasy S’mores favors!  Thanks Kelly for sharing!

This morning’s Pancakes & Honey Breakfast shoot featured several handmade wedding projects, and the team of Suzy from Lily Red Studio, Kelly Marie from Fleur, and Jaclyn Simpson Photography have been kind enough to share their DIY secrets with us! They created several projects – click on the links below to jump to the instructions for your favorite:

Whew!  This morning’s fabulous Victorian-inspired holiday shoot was just full of holiday craft ideas!  Kristen from Kio Kreations was kind enough to provide tutorials for all of her wonderful creations and you can find them all below.  Since this post contains lots of projects, you can either scroll through all of it, or click the links below to jump down to the section you’re interested in seeing.

Upon entering the atrium after dinner, my husband and I (tried to) cut our cake.  Since we were already serving a vast selection of decadent pastries, our cake was simple and sweet (and delicious, of course).  It was decorated with silver frosting and adorned with a small brass African (Dogon) couple statue that we bought near Timbuktu, Mali.  Not only did we buy the statue just days before my husband proposed to me in Africa, but the Dogon tribe of Mali assume similar responsibilities to both men and women, hence most of their depictions of couples are near symmetrical.  Using it as our cake-topper was therefore very apropos.

How precious are these miniature pies baked right into jars?  They would be a wonderful wedding favor – or the perfect dessert for a picnic reception!

Pie on a stick? Yes please!

One of my favorite elements of our wedding so far is definitely our popcorn bar.  Vince and I are HUGE popcorn eaters, and I love the idea of having different flavors for our guests to chose from.  I found this picture here after doing a google image search:

(This may well be the first recipe ever on EAD Weddings!)  Chocolate truffles, perfect for your favors…  Yum.

Such a simple idea, but the result is absolutely precious!  Package your wedding cake to go using this MS template, as seen on Stephmodo, found via the ever-inspiring Black*Eiffel.

I’m totally infatuated with the adorable custom cookies made by Casue Sweets.  How fun and personal would it be to have your dress turned into a cookie for your favors?  Or, if you know your color scheme, make a bridesmaid’s dress cookie to send with your “Will You Be My Bridesmaid?” cards.

Any way you spin the color green in a wedding palette, it is quite the versatile shade. From soft pastels like mint or sage to deep hues like the beautiful emerald or hunter green, you can easily use this earthy color at any wedding during any time of the year if you fancy it. It’s so timeless and we’re glad that wedding extraordinaires like Olive Fine Weddings & Events and Alexandra Lee ran on the same wavelength as us. This styled shoot has a hefty helping of green all over it, and if you take out the seemingly wintry elements to this inspo, you can readily use it all throughout the year. The luxe blooms by Willrett Flower Co. (check out the installation framing the sweetheart table!) may need some tweaking when it comes to what’s in season and what’s in your area, but no matter if you’re a spring or summer bride-to-be eyeing this shade of green, you’ll certainly get the same gorgeous effect that Alexandra snapped for us.

What do you get when you combine two gorgeous brides, an adorable puppy, spectacular flowers, and the styling of Chicago Vintage Weddings? Perfection! This spring wedding inspiration shoot features the most lovely blooms from Thistle + Plume adorning the ballroom in the Virgin Hotel Chicago, accented by decor (how much do you love those disco balls?) from Atmosphere Events Group. Our brides Jackie and Nina donned chic Varca Bridal attire from Honey Bridal and we are pretty much obsessed with their bridal looks by Debra Petrielli. Every detail from the hand-drawn stationery by Emily Rose Ink to the beautiful images by True Grace Photography is complete perfection!

What do you get when you combine the fantastic set of gifts available at David’s Bridal with a sunny Chicago loft, an adorable pup (ahem, MY adorable pup, Mollie), and 5 lovely ladies? A bridesmaid shower that is absolute perfection! A “bridesmaid shower” is the perfect way to thank your besties for standing by your side on the big day. This fun, festive, and colorful soiree produced by the ladies of Aisle Society showcases the amazing gifting goodies from David’s Bridal! David’s Bridal has everything your gals will love: chic printed robes, cute monogrammed water bottles, keychains, necklaces, adorable hair ties, and more! Their personalization options make it easy to give custom gifts like makeup bags, gift boxes, floral compacts, and even oh-so-chic floppy hats. Find gifts for all of your bridesmaids, and top it off with the prettiest personalized box to package it to perfection! With decor, gifts, and favors perfect for all the events surrounding the wedding, and customizable gifts to add a personal touch, David’s Bridal is a one-stop-shop for your wedding!

If you’ve been dreaming of something sophisticated and elegant for your big day, but want to keep the nuptials intimate, a modern rooftop elopement couldn’t be more ideal. With just you and your fiancé, your closest friends, and the stunning Chicago skyline as the backdrop, this urban elopement is modern sophistication at its finest! Timeless watches by Movado from Kay Jewelers were the perfect gifts to accompany the chic setting, captured beautifully by Belen Aquino of Gerber Scarpelli Weddings.