Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Seductive Summer Shower

At Just Say Yes we love bridal showers!!! Bridal showers are the perfect opportunity to implement a fun theme and make it reflect yourself the bride. Our wonderful client Isenia Hererra will be celebrating her shower this August and has sent us one of her gorgeous invitations. We love when brides get creative and Isenia came up with a wonderful design with pink and back the colors of the shower. We love the unique element of a black feather and we have been assisting her with floral and implementing the feather into the centerpieces.
Here are a few snapshots of her wonderful invitation and we hope you too are inspired!!

-Just Say Yes Events!





Gorgeous pink cardstock with satin ribbon, black feather & rhinestone. The envelope for the invitation had a beautiful embossed feather decorative element.

Invitation Design By: My lovely October 9th bride Isenia Herrera
Photo By: Just Say Yes Events!

Monday, July 26, 2010

The perfect venue.

For those of you that frequent our blog you know that I was married this June to my fiancee and love of four years Daniel Mouradian. There was so much planning put into our wedding and so many small details that I will be selecting one detail, vendor or element and blogging about them individually. I love that we are both in the creative industry and we would be able to design EVERYTHING! I am the Senior Creative Director for Just Say Yes Events and Daniel is a Senior Art Director for an Creative Agency here in Chicago. The creativity between us on a daily basis is absolutely insane with constant ideas of creating and design everything from art to furniture.

Once the planning started it was actually very easy for a few reasons; The first reason is very obvious, I'm a wedding/event designer and the second Daniel and I have very similar styles as-well as likes and dislikes. We both agreed very early on that the wedding would be black and white and definitely a black tie affair. Daniel and I love getting dressed up and feel one should do so for a wedding as it is a very special occasion. Once we had a direction and style we were going in we set out on finding the right location. For my 27th birthday Daniel took me to ZED451 with some friends and I told him that I wish we could get married there. ZED451 is American Churrasco so I knew the food would be amazing and its gorgeous inside. The decor inside ZED451 is contemporary yet warm with wood floors combined with leather and a few event spaces all different in design which is nice.
They also have a massive roof top right smack in the middle of downtown that has three cabanas, giant bar, outdoor fireplaces and lounge areas. This was the place and we both knew it so we BOOKED it!

ZED451 was fantastic during our planning process and it helped that a friend from my modeling days Sammy Ojeda is the Event Manager at ZED451. She helped immensely and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect venue planner than Sammy.
We started with figuring out what space we would use for our ceremony which was really important to us as that is the most important part of the day. For the ceremony we selected The Fireside event space which is on the second level of the restaurant and has a wonderful warm feeling with hardwood floors, double sided floor to ceiling fireplace and Juliet Balconies. The ceremony was to be set up directly in front of the fireplace....Can you say ROMANTIC!
After that was settled we moved onto the cocktail hour which was suppose to be downstairs in the massive bar area that has lounge areas, fireplaces & gorgeous decor.......But Dan had his eye on something else!
Dan wanted the rooftop.....CRAZY! I loved the idea but I knew the restaurant would be hesitant as that is their big money maker during the summer. With the motto of whats the worse that can happen? they say no?!?!? We asked ZED451 what they could do for us and they said YES!!! I died with excitement, we would be hosting a full TWO hour cocktail reception on the rooftop at sunset. Okay now i know I said this earlier but "How romantic".....LOVE IT!
So now we had our ceremony in The Fireside and cocktails hours set on the rooftop of ZED451. We now had to figure out where the reception would be and the dancing and misc items that I will share in another post =)
After another walkthrough we decided that The Fireside would be turned over from the ceremony to the reception during the two hour cocktail reception. I am in the industry and plan wedding with 300, 400 & 500 guests every weekend so I knew that I wanted a small more intimate wedding to avoid all the craziness. The Fireside room was perfect as it seated 90 guests and that was it we had our invite LIMIT 90!! We couldn't budge since the venue space was a 90 guests space and we love that we had to stick to that no matter what.
After all that all that was left was our dancing area and other surprises area. I love when weddings have different spaces for guests to visit and wander to and not be confined to their table and thats it! ZED451 has another event space right off the Fireside room called the Mezzanine that is gorgeous and open to the main dinning below. After being in the Mezzanine I knew it was perfect as its openly divided into a few spaces that we could play with.
That was it floor plan DONE & DONE!

Here are a few images with before and afters of the spaces & descriptions.



Before shot of ZED451 double sided fireplace. This is the area that we set up as the ceremony altar.


After of the ceremony area set up. We flanked the fireplace with two pedestals covered with grey pintuck fabric. Each side had a collection of three different floral pieces. The first glass cylinders were placed on the pedestals filled with a giant manzanita branch, crystals, hanging votives, hydrangea, vendela roses, freesia and orchids. I absolutely love how everything turned out and think It made for a unique and magical altar.


Before image of ZED451 Fireside room.


After close up shots of table designs for reception.


Full after shot of Fireside room used as reception area. We used two different centerpieces for interest to the eye and to balance the heaviness of the crystal tree centerpiece. The secondary centerpiece was a collection of tall cylinder vases holding hydrangea, vendela roses, freesia & orchids. I also added crystal hanging from the vases to make them cohesive to the trees.

All before images by: Just Say Yes Events!
All after images by: Studio This Is

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Mr & Mrs Beasley

It was an absolute joy working with Nakeisha & Nathaniel on their July 23rd 2010 wedding. Just Say Yes Events was brought on to create two massive 16 feet candy buffets and the bridal party flowers. The color scheme for the wedding was a kiwi green accented with brown which is very in this season. Nakeisha the bride requested a flower ball also known as pave flower pomander and we had fun with it. We decided to use a few different flowers for some interest to the eye and green satin co-ordinating ribbon.
Here are a few images of their special day!



Creative Direction: Barbara Mouradian, Just Say Yes Events!
Photo By: Just Say Yes Events!


Creative Direction: Barbara Mouradian, Just Say Yes Events!
Photo By: Just Say Yes Events!
This was a pave pomander requested by the bride as her bridal bouquet. This is bar far to date one of our favorite bridal bouquets and truly unique. To stay within the clients budget we opted to use mums and baby green Hydrangea in between roses with an accent of orchids.
Please keep this in mind when selecting your wedding floral to keep costs down. Now a days there are so many fantastic florals that you can achieve any look by just swapping out your floral for something more affordable but similar in look and style.


Creative Direction: Barbara Mouradian, Just Say Yes Events!
Photo By: Just Say Yes Events!
This image so you have an idea of just of massive this pomander was. It was definitely heavy but fabulous and most importantly the bride loved it!


ENJOY!
Just Say Yes Events!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Honeymoon Game

My husband and I live rather busy lives as he is a Senior Art Director, I'm a business owner and we have three children...PHEW!
When it came time to plan our honeymoon we had no idea where to go. Our original idea was to fly into Barcelona and travel all over Spain taking a day trip into Morocco. That like I said was our Original idea...There have been about 100 since that one from Thailand to Australia and everything in between.
One evening we were discussing our honeymoon yet again and where and when we would go. My daughter Kayla who is 9 years old now said "Hey, why don't you write all the places you want to go and I will pick one. No matter what you have to go there"
At first I hesitated but then I thought we we take a month off every year and travel all over the world so why not! It might actually be a fun adventure and were always up for adventures.
We wrote all the places in the world we would want to go! The entire world was literally in that glass globe from Thailand, Sydney, Cape Town, Egypt to Dublin and everything in between!!
All the cards went in along with a few blank cards which meant that we had to get a giant map and throw darts at it.

........DRUM ROLL

Our three children each selected a card and they were:

Jeremy.... Cape Town
Kayla.... Amsterdam
Noah.... Australia, Sydney

We then put those three in the jar and my husband Daniel selected ONE!

........DRUM ROLL AGAIN

We are going to.... AMSTERDAM in the Netherlands.
Okay so our plan is to fly into Amsterdam and basically do a tour like we did last year. This trip we are heading to Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Zurich, Bruges & Brussels. We leave this October after my last fall wedding and will be gone for three weeks. Next year we plan on visiting Greece, Egypt and Hawaii with the children.
When planning your Honeymoon...Think outside the box. You might find a location that isn't necessarily your typical honeymoon destination. Also think of time of year, we are leaving in October when all the crowds are gone but October fest in Germany is in full swing!! It pays off to do a little research on different destinations.



Tuesday, July 13, 2010

There is no other wedding day shoe!

Personally I love Christian Louboutins and must say they are my guilty pleasure. Christian Loubtoutins were only available at reputable retailers like Bloomingdales & Barney's but I am happy to announce they have launched an online store. There is nothing better than purchasing straight from the designer and eliminating any chance of fakes.
They have always had gorgeous shoes and now have a collection geared towards "BRIDES"...How exciting!
The inside of the shoes is lined in blue which makes them even more amazing than before as they can double as your something blue.
In addition to launching the site they have added features that I find FANTASTIC. I am always weary about where I take my shoes to repair as they over very expensive. They have added a section on reputable shoe repair that they recommend. I can't tell you how this makes me feel, seriously. My first pair of CL are looking rather tired and need their front soles and back heels replaced.
I too have worn the famous red soles on my wedding day and there is a wonderful story behind them. My fiancee & I were taking dance lesson every week with Fred Astaire dance studio here in Downtown Chicago. It was our very last dance lesson and I was feeling exhausted from all the wedding hoopla and forgot to bring my dancing heels to our lesson. I was very upset about this since I was wearing flip flops and I was worried our dance instructor Vince would kill me!! My fiancee dropped me off at the studio and told me he was going to park the car and that he would meet me upstairs. Unknowingly I just went upstairs sat down and waited for our session to begin. In walks Daniel with a brown shoes box in his hands.....I KNOW THAT BOX BY THE WAY!! At that very moment I could not believe my eyes. He walked up and said "Now how could let you dance without the perfect shoes".....I DIED! I started screaming and hugged the box for what felt like forever until Vince said "Well put them on" and you better believe I did. We had the most amazing last session and Vince dimmed the lights and put the disco ball on for us. It was definitely a night to remember and something I will keep forever. Daniel being his always so smart self opted for black so that I could wear them again and they just wouldn't be the sacred shoes in the box! They fit in the wedding just perfectly since our color scheme was black tie affair with touches of white.

Here are a few images from the bridal collection, as-well as one of me on my wedding day!

If you would like to purchase any of these directly from Christian Louboutin please click HERE




This is one of my favorite shots from our wedding day! I love how there are layers and layers of tulle & dupioni silk framing the bright red sole! These were one of my wedding day gifts from my now husband Daniel.


Very Prive 120mm Available at http://us.christianlouboutin.com


Fifi 100mm Available at http://us.christianlouboutin.com


Tsarouchi 100mm Available at http://us.christianlouboutin.com

All shoe photos by: http://us.christianlouboutin.com
Photo of me by: Studio This Is Photography

Monday, July 12, 2010

Magnolia Photo Booth!

If you are in the Chicago land area and are looking for a photo-booth for your wedding look no further...
For today only JULY 12TH 2010 Magnolia Photo-booth is offering a Groupon that includes a four hour photo-booth session for just $525.00!!! They normally charge $1,300.00 for this service and you are saving $775.00 which is a steal.
If you are not familiar with "Groupon" you are missing out. Its a website that offers awesome deals everyday for unbeatable prices. Every day a different deal is added and only available that day.
As I mentioned before the deal is only good for today, if you would liek to purchase this Groupon please visit...

www.groupon.com

This is time sensitive and only available for TODAY!!







Photos from Magbooth.com

Bottles.... Bottles & More Bottles.

I love all sorts of vessels for floral arrangements. My wonderful clients Chris & Lindsay inspired me with bottles and the madness began. They have all kinds of vintage bottles and wanted to someway utilize them for their Spring 2010 wedding in Chicago.
As with any wedding I try and come up with unique ways to make each clients wedding different. I began my research trying to find a few images to show Chris & Lindsay using bottles to see which direction they would like best.
Google did not fail me...as it never does!
Here is what I found and honestly I was amazed and inspired and cannot wait to see how their tables-capes turn out.
We can not over look how inexpensive this is by the way. My clients are collecting bottles, their families and myself which is free since its from wine, juice, water that we drink everyday.....well maybe not the wine everyday!!! It is also very inexpensive from a floral standpoint using a few stems is super affordable versus using 150 roses in one centerpiece.


Green wine bottles filled with orange Calla Lilies....This is very eye catching and dramatic for just a few dollars.


Can you say GORGEOUS!! Very cute vintage bottles all in green and blue hues. These are available at antique markets, ebay, flea markets. They are so simple and soft looking almost like watercolors.


Mason Jars.....In teal non the less! Who knew they came in different colors, well they sure do. In this image they are mixed with different bottles and vessels which creates interest. When creating a table-scape you want your guests to continue seeing new thing throughout the night.

All images found via Google Images.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

MORE....

I have been a fan of More cupcakes for some time now. They are definitely the best cupcakes I have had thus far and the line out the door is obviously a clear sign that they are doing something right. More has also successfully created savory flavors that are out of this world like bacon maple, blue cheese walnut praline, BLT and the always popular sweet variations of white velvet, chocolate champagne & lemon meringue. More cupcakes range in price from $3.50- 6.00 and you can get a half dozen for about $21.00 they also offer Morsels which are baby cupcakes at $24.00 for sixteen.
The list of flavors is absolutely insane and defiantly and a perfect addition to any wedding as your wedding cake or even a cupcake bar!! How fabulous would that be instead of your usual sweet table a huge cupcake bar with shot glasses filled with milk of course!
Oh before I almost forget....If you become their fan on Face Book and tag yourself on their cupcakes you can walk in a receive a free sample.


For "More" information visit www.morecupcakes.com
Or visit them @
One East Delaware Street
Chicago Illinois
60611
312.951.0001

Here is a sampling of their Summer flavor list!

Apricot Bacon BBQ
Bacon Bourbon Peach
Bacon Maple
Bacon White Truffle
Bananas Foster
Black & White
BLT
Blueberry
Blue Cheese Walnut Praline
Champagne
Chocolate Caramel
Chocolate Champagne
Chocolate Chocolate
Chocolate Coconut
Chocolate Hazelnut
Chocolate Vanilla Cream
Chocolate Strawberry
Coconut
Cookies n' Cream
Cuba Libre
Gin & Juice
Goat Cheese Basil
Key Lime
Lemon Drop
Lemongrass Ginger
Lemon Meringue
Lemon Raspberry
Mango Cilantro Jalapeno
Margarita
Martini
Mimosa
Mocha
Mojito
More
Passion Fruit Meringue
Pina Colada
Raspberry
Sake Cucumber Lime
S'More
Strawberry
Strawberry Cheesecake
Salted Caramel
Sweet Pea
Thai Chili Mango
Tiramisu
Valrhona
Vanilla Chocolate Cream Cheese
Vanilla Milk Chocolate
White Russian
White Velvet

& Many Many MORE!



Photo By: Just Say Yes Events


Pictured Blueberry.... Blueberry cake, blueberry buttercream topped with fresh blueberries.
Photo By: Just Say Yes Events


Pictured....Blueberry, Key Lime, Lemon meringue, White Velvet & Chocolate Champagne.
Photo By: Just Say Yes Events

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Sweet Bar

Oooooh how I love sweets! My mother in law jokes with me when she visits and says " I know you have candy, where is it hiding?" and you know what?....she is 100% right! Ever since I was a little girl I have had the biggest sweet tooth ever!!
One of our packages is event design which includes the option of a sweet bar and 90% of our clients always are up for it.
We always make each bar different and reflect the wedding and couples personality as they are most likely the wedding favor.
Over the years we have collected tons and tons of jars and even though we have a full stock we are constantly on the look out for new ones that have unique shapes, colors, sizes etc.
If your thinking of utilizing a sweet bar for your big day or even shower please contact us for rates. We can work with any budget and can create a bar from just a few to over 16 foot table of candy =)

Here are a few images of our displays and jars!!

-Just Say Yes Events!


Our most recent shipment of jars!! We <3 them all!


Owner and Creative Director Barbara Mouradian was wed this June and had a 16 foot sweet bar of everything CHOCOLATE!!
The signs were custom by their calligrapher to match the escort cards and invitations so that everything was cohesive.


Spring sweet bar custom designed for FLOUR Cake & Pastry located in Oak Park. Every season FLOUR participates in a pastry market and we are pleased to have the opportunity to design their gorgeous displays! This was their Spring 2010 display.


Here is another gorgeous display designed by Just Say Yes Events for FLOUR Cake & Pastry. This event was for Valentines 2010.