The Vegans… part II

So awhile back I blogged about my brother-in-law and his soon to be wife – and yes – very soon to be! I can hardly believe the wedding is less than 2 months away. It seems like just yesterday that they announced their engagement.

I posted a bit about their beliefs and ‘rules’ and what our plans were going to be to make a fabulous eco-chic, vegan, rule-following wedding and reception.

Instead of a normal bridal shower  – we opted to have a wedding ‘craft’ party. All of the ladies in the family came over to the Emplume studio and worked on various crafts that would be used in the decor for the wedding. This was a great idea since we all needed to get to know one another but also because Kim has rules on what and where she buys things.. and most of us would have no idea where to get any of that stuff as gifts for her shower!

So far – the only money that has been spent specifically for the decor of the wedding is $25.00 for the awesome Martha Stewart paper punches and pearl corsage pins we bought from Michael’s. I was inspired to create her bouquet from ALL recycled paper after seeing this page in Martha Stewart Weddings.

Thanks for the awesome idea Martha!

Who would have thought recycled paper could be so glam?!!

I just have to list how we pulled this off, because everyone in both families has joined in the eco efforts! Kim’s grandmother had all of the assorted mason jars used to hold candles. The jars were decorated by the ladies at the craft party with my many spools of assorted ribbon left over from previous projects.  The paper flowers were punched out of multiple colors of shipping paper (sent around bolts of fabric) and 1 fabulous piece of green wrapping paper given to me by a friend.  It took many hours of toil by my mother-in-law, Aunt Linda, Grandma V, and my husband to punch and cut out all of the necessary flowers. The tree stumps were spotted by my mother-in-law at the side of the road, picked up by my father-in-law, and cut into rounds by Uncle Wally! The cans/table numbers (not shown here, but the idea was on the previous vegan post) were the contribution of Bebe, my french bulldog. We recycled them from her food – and Kim’s grandfather is nice enough to take on the task of punching in all of those many,many holes. The tree branches were a lucky find in the vacant lot next to my house. Someone had cut down a flowering tree and left it…when I spotted it walking Bebe…my husband was immediately sent out to cut of the branches, which will be put into the large glass vases we have used for my sister Emilie’s wedding (also a previous post, in case you are wondering)

OK. so enough about us and how great we all are at gathering recycled stuff. On to the photos…

picture this with natural soy candles.. not the leopard substitutes!

I must also mention that Tom and Kim printed their own wedding invitations and did a great job matching it with our theme. They of course used recycled paper… I promise to post the links to all of our vendors and suppliers when I post the photos AFTER the wedding!

I can hardly wait to see all of the elements together at the actual wedding! Thanks to everyone who has helped with all of these details! We could not have done it without the family effort!

xo ~ Shannon

Emplume + the ‘Aviator’?

I love the amazing things that happen when creative talent comes together! A team has been working on a great project called  ‘Inspiration to Reality’ for Style Me Pretty.com This fantastic blog and bridal website has everything a bride-to-be could ask for. Brides are encouraged to submit inspiration boards of a wedding they are planning or even ones that purely indulge wedding fantasies.  As of now I think there are close to 3000 of these boards to gaze at. They are all amazing so be prepared to get lost in them for a while! Our Inspiration to Reality project started with this amazing  board submitted by Chiara. Love it!

So, our concepts cues where ” A love trip to the Vegas desert.” Howard Hughes and the ‘Aviator’ movie, feathers, leather and fur….. Once we were approached by Tifany from Gourmet Invitations we were hooked on the concept and dreamt of the possibilities. Leathery leaves, vintage crystals, taupey feather flowers and bold peacock blue. This is what we came up with for the bride’s bouquet….

I can’t wait to see the actual photo shoot which took place yesterday! Obviously, there will be much more to see of how this inspiration became Reality ciao!

Happy Weddings, girls!!!

We want to wish all of you fabulous, swanky,and gorgeous brides a happy   wedding weekend! Have the time of your lives!

We thought we would send you off for the weekend with some photos of a few of our beautiful, swanky and glamorous brides and bouquets from 2009.

xo ~ emplume

The 'Lili' bouquet - could that be more swanky?

So beautiful!

perfect for any destination!

Barbie!!!!

When I saw this post on my friend Renee’s blog… it totally brought me back!

I cannot tell you how much I LOVED Barbie when I was young! Countless hours were spent dreaming of the life she had. I was lucky enough to have received as gifts the pink convertible corvette and the afghan dog and was the envy of all of my friends. We would have Barbie weekends and would pack up all of the clothes, shoes, accessories, and of course the dog, in our closet/carrying case… and dash off for days of fun!  The only thing I never got was the clothes.  My mom was never one to spend on something as frivolous as Barbie clothes, so I was forced to learn to make them! We would spend days gathering snips of fabric, doilies, scraps of lace… and then have ‘fittings’ in order to create the perfect ensemble. So I guess luckily for me (although I didn’t think it at the time…) this is where the creative seed was planted that took me to where I am today! Below is the vintage Barbie that my mom first gave me… in the swimsuit. I would have DIED for that gown!!!

If I had seen this bed ensemble from Pottery Barn Kids when I was younger – I would have been on a full out crusade to get it. I practically want it now! Especially the tulle dust ruffle and canopy!

What does Barbie have to do with weddings and more specifically Emplume, you ask? Well… we have Emplume for the love of weddings, fashion and all things beautiful… and who is more beautiful and glamorous than Barbie!

Thanks Renee for the fabulous inspiration and the great trip down memory lane! If only I was riding in a pink corvette convertible!  xo ~ emplume

barbie collage:Renee Rodrigues Designs
vintage Barbie collection: Angelic Dreamz
barbie bedding: Pottery Barn Kids

Inspiration….

Isn’t it so interesting to find out what people are inspired by? When we start out with a new bride, we ask for colors, themes, photos of the dress, decor, invitation, etc so that WE can be inspired to create the perfect feathered beauty for them and their wedding. It isn’t often that a bride comes to us with HER inspiration  before we even ask… but such was the case with Melanie. Her very first email to us included photos of her dress, shoes, linens,  and venue but MOST exciting – her INSPIRATION photo.

Melanie's Inspiration

Many of you will recognize this as a scene from the Twilight movie. We had to laugh because her explanation was “It sounds a little ridiculous, but I got inspired by Twilight (yes, the movie- and I’m not 15 years old!)”.  This is proof that you never know where the inspiration will come from!

So from this photo – the following was selected and designed…..

Donovan Pavilion, the venue

This is a fabulous venue in Vail, Colorado – The Donovan Pavilion. Perfect for the moody, snowy wedding event of the season!

Charcoal shimmer linens...perfect!

Teal shimmer napkins

centerpiece...!

Can you picture how fabulous this will all be in that venue?

So – now on to the attire (and of course, shoes!)

Bride's gown #1

Bride's gown #2 - but shorter, mini length...

But the true scene stealer… be still my heart! ——

The MOST FABULOUS ankle booties ever!

Could you just die for those Dior sparkle booties!? And – she is going to wear them with sparkle tights!  Carrie and I are determined to fly to Vail just to have a peek at how fabulous this will all be!

Now for the bouquets… from every gorgeous inspiration photo comes an equally gorgeous Emplume creation! (If we do say so ourselves…!)

Bridal bouquet

Groom's bout

Melanie's maids

Maid details

Melanie Bouts

So there it is… The “Twilight Collection”. Thanks so much for sharing your inspiration with us, Melanie! We are SO looking forward to seeing pictures of the actual event. Best Wishes to you! xo ~emplume

Aaaahgh. I don’t want to stop yet!

Ok- so I’m totally going to be late for work this morning. I can’t tear myself away from Jennifer Hughes’s website and blog. Gosh her photography is just mezmerizing me. You must see, but get a fresh cup of coffee first! And let me know what I’m missing ’cause I really gotta get ready now:)

A Look Ahead

WOW ! 2010 is already off to an amazing start. Brides are falling in love with Emplume™ from all over the world and we hope to reach even more of them in the year ahead. With the help of our fabulous  brides and fans as well as the amazing visionary Renee Mueller, we have all confidence that we will have no problem spreading the word about Emplume™ Moderne Couture Bouquets!

We are so excited to have already taken the first step in achieving another big goal for 2010. Emplume™ has signed on to take part in the uber-fabulous Wedding Salon show in Chicago this September (details to follow). We are talking the super high-end bridal show brides and vendors dream about! We could not be more excited about joining others like Sylvia Weinstock, Colin Cowie, David Tutera and Martha Stewart among other talent.

It’s one of those things that doesn’t seems quite real yet. But- we will definitely have lots of updates on that event as plans come together:)

Love and Health for 2010- Carrie

Thanks Amy!

We always ask our brides to promise to send us photos of them, their wedding, their bouquet, or anything fabulous after the big event.  They always say yes… but we don’t always hear from them! We do get very attached to all of our brides through the design process, and we may get even more attached to the bouquets we create for them! As we always say – we have a love affair with every bouquet we make and are always a bit sad to see them leave. (sniff…)

But, sometimes we receive a fabulous little tid bit to brighten our loss! This week was one of those – we received photos from one of our brides from last summer. Amy! She is from Saskatoon,  yes… you are right – Saskatoon, Canada. Obviously we worked with Amy via email and digital pics… and had great success. So with out further ado…..

Hi Shannon,
I was an Emplume bride in August and your creations made my day soo special. Everyone commented on how beautiful they were! Here are a few pics… Amy, Saskatoon

Thanks for the pictures Amy! They are fabulous and we really appreciate it!

xo ~ Emplume

Do what gives you Joy!

Our most fabulous friend Renee was asked to write a guest blog spot at Craft for Health. We thought it was such a great read that it deserved to be posted anywhere and everywhere! Our favorite part was the paragraph…

“Each one of us has a unique creative point of view, a gift that should never be ignored.  If you haven’t found your voice quite yet, my advice is set out on your creative expedition and keep searching until you find something you love to do, make, mold, design, cook, plant, paint, sew, knit or build – you never know when something beautiful will unfold.”

We felt that this statement was close to our hearts because this was the mantra that prodded us to start Emplume! We were sure that we loved it and if you can turn something that gives you so much joy and satisfaction into your job as well, how lucky are you? We ask ourselves every day that same question!  That said – thanks to all of our brides, fans and friends who love and appreciate Emplume as much as we do!

Best! xo ~ Shannon

FABULOUS SHOE CLIPS!!!

Last Sunday, we at Emplume were happy to attend the ‘Wedding Express’ show in Birmingham. This show is like speed dating for wedding planners and vendors – and we think it’s a genious idea! We had a great time meeting many wonderful wedding planners and networking with many wonderful wedding vendors! It was our pleasure to meet everyone and we look forward to working with all of you!

For this show we decided to have an ‘EMPLUME Holiday Give-away’, which was this pair of completely fabulous and totally gorgeous feathered and jeweled shoe clips! It is the perfect way to accessorize a plain pair of shoes for the holiday season, and anytime really! We are happy to announce that the winner of the drawing was Heather Fiedor of HF Photography… Congrats Heather! Your feathered beauties are on the way to you as we speak!

This gave us an idea… we would like to have another Holiday shoe clip give-away for all of our brides, friends and fans of our blog and facebook. So here’s the deal – anyone who posts a comment on the blog or facebook (or both… don’t be shy!) within the next week, will be entered into a drawing to win these clips! We will hold the drawing on Friday, December 18th and will announce the winner on the blog and Facebook! Check back to see who won!

Good Luck lovies! xo ~ Emplume