a perfect little barn venue

{picture from Massey Barn Events}

We've always, our whole lifelong, been searching for the perfect little barn event venue, and in the GTA it was nowhere to be found! Until my good friend Brooke (who has fantastic taste and a keen eye by the way), sent me a link to a cute little barn in Cobourg that she had heard about once before. Called Massey Barn, it has a lot of a history behind it, built by the Massey family in 1837. And it is REALLY super cute - the renovations are a perfect blend between rustic but still a little upscale. It's like a pretty canvas just waiting to be made even more spectacular! Our clients (and friends...clients sound so harsh, doesn't it?) Ryan and Tahlia asked inBloom to help decorate the venue for their wedding...and inBloom says a resounding OK! We'd be THRILLED to help...we've been waiting a LONG time for this!

I'm a little fascinated by this chandelier. Such a perfect contrast between rustic and upscale decor.

The barn in all it's beautiful glory - just waiting for inBloom's personal touch!

this is the view behind the barn. apparently there's a clearing in the forest for a ceremony. tahlia loves the idea of using this trail as the aisle.

Ryan and Tahlia - they look happy ... obviously!

mustache mania

More and more I am seeing this strange {yet oddly appealing} trend of fake mustaches at weddings. For me it all started with a post by Oh Joy! Then I noticed Offbeat Bride and her photoset of fun mustached photos to giggle over such as the photo above. Then Martha posted one. So I began researching more and I have to say its very enthralling this fake mustache phenomena! I'm starting to think about jumping on the band-wagon and add fake mustaches and beards on sticks for my Practice Wedding. Since it is an old-fashioned throw-back to the vintage circus what better way to celebrate than with bearded {& mustachioed} ladies?


This photo comes from a quirky wedding posted on Oh Joy!

This couple provided fake mustaches to their guests as part of a cute favor package. For more on their wedding visit Martha Martha Martha.

Then I found where to actually buy these wonderful mustaches on sticks and a fun blog I hadn't known existed called Something's Hiding In Here. So if anyone has a case of mustache envy...you know where to find them! The mustaches are for sale at their Etsy store. And then as I was scrolling down their page I found this fake beard! And then I found these fun photos of people wearing the fake mustaches on sticks and it made me smile. The little girls are so cute! AND THEN I realized these are the very same people who started the whole trend in the first place because the mustaches in the Oh Joy! post are the one and only, very same mustaches from Something's Hiding in Here! Mystery solved...just call me Sherlock!

mac attack

These pretty French macarons have been popular at weddings as of late, as favours, snacks, or even in lieu of wedding cake! And how could they not be...they are so beautiful and delicate, and my guess - delicious! Which is why I was thrilled to hear of Bobbette & Belle - a bakery that recently opened in Toronto that will be offering these heavenly cookies exclusively. I think this calls for a taste test...

real wedding - emily + sharon

This summer, inBloom assisted the lovely couple Emily + Sharon in designing their overseas wedding in Israel! Working closely with Emily to hone in on her favorite ideas and how to put them together inBloom-style, this is how it all turned out! Emily wanted a clean, simple white design with soft green accents, carried out with the simple elegance of a garden party. From adorable clothesline seating cards to her linen napkins on the table settings, mission was accomplished! Great job to Emily for carrying out all the details to perfection.

sweet inspiration

A good friend of mine bought me a subscription to Real Simple magazine for my birthday (thank you Rebecca!), and this month's issue has been sitting pretty on my coffee table, staring at me, every hour of every day, with the prettiest picture on the front. I can't stop looking at it. I love the mixture of the colours - soft green, bright yellow, white, and an accent of blue and red. So fresh and new! Just think of all the pretty things you could do with these colours at a wedding. In fact, I am trying to convince Shayna (fellow Bloomer) to use these colours for her "practice wedding" next July. And because it's a rainy day in the city, I thought I'd go buy some flowers at Ave & Dav, and see if I could play around with a centerpiece that mimics the freshness of the pic above. What do you think? If only I had a blue pot!

living artfully & artful events

So, remember just this past summer when all of The Bay's commericals would come on the telly, with their new main slogan "Live Artfully"? This certainly caught my attention, all those glorious drips of paint, and I've been thinking about it ever since. First of all, I think this is a darn good slogan, if you ask me, and I sure do wish I had thought of it first! In particular, one quote on their site struck my fancy: "To live artfully is to recognize that art doesn't have to be found in galleries and museums." I wondered to myself, as you are probably wondering, what does "artful" really mean? It seems rather vague, no? The dictionary says that artful means something that is "done with or characterized by art or skill." And I realize, this is exactly what inBloom does. We fill our events with as much art and detail as possible. In every corner, on every table. Your weddings, bat mitzvahs and other events - they will all be part of your own personal art galleries, and for this reason, the utmost attention should be paid to making it full, plentiful, detailed, and beautiful. No so-so jobs! It is always going to stay in your memories or documented in photos for your children, their children, and their children's children. And so now it makes complete sense! This is exactly why you should hire the professionals like inBloom - to help make your wedding and events "artful." Live artfully & have artful events - executed with skill and style, to forever be documented in your own personal galleries. Thanks to The Bay for pointing out how important it is!

marigold + pewter: an autumn wedding

As Melanie mentioned last week, on Saturday inBloom Events + Design, planned, designed, coordinated, and set up a wedding at the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg. The colours for the wedding were 'marigold and pewter' {courtesy of Martha Stewart} and after months of planning, choosing a venue, printing invitations, menus, signs, tags, seating cards, wine labels, choosing florals and linens, and populating the candy bar, pie station, and pop shop, it was amazing to see all of the colours come alive together. Not to toot our own horn or anything, but the wedding was truly spectacular!

The weather was phenomenal too, and it was sunny and uncharacteristically warm for October. The equally gorgeous bride {Julia} and groom {Iain, in his kilt} got married atop 'Wedding Hill' overlooking a forest of colourful autumn leaves. The venue, which is both rustic and elegant, was decorated with marigolds and oranges and pewter grays - everywhere was a little personal detail, and everything was perfect. Here are some photos taken as we were setting up...we will have some professional photos of the entire affair to share very soon, but in the meantime you can salivate over these!

wedding face

Has anyone else noticed that wedding make-up and hair is often really old-fashioned and boring? Just because you're getting married doesn't mean that you shouldn't look like the rock star you are and throw all style consciousness out the window. It always looks so matronly and unnatural - like an older aunt who isn't up on the latest fashion trends. And the hair...its almost unspeakable sometimes. You spend a year painstakingly growing out your gorgeous hair only to have it curled, sprayed and pinned in ringlety curls Gone with the Wind style! So I'm on a quest to find natural and young looking pictures with wedding faces that glow! After all, getting married doesn't mean your whole style has to be gone with the wind. Here is what I've found so far.

I'm liking Hillary Duff's style. I'm feeling pretty partial to one or the other of these pics right now. Her make-up in the first one is young and fresh looking and not too much for a wedding face. I really like her hair in both pictures. Maybe the top one can be for my practice wedding and the long, beachy waves can be for my beach wedding! Now to decide on the colour...hmmm...

This pic of Mischa Barton is stunning. I love the glowiness of her face here. She looks so ethereal. And her up-do is pretty great too. Because there are no ringlety curls!

Natalie Portman is a great one to channel if you are still angling after that classic look. She does it really well. Somehow she manages to keep herself looking young and fashionable while every inch a hollywood leading lady. Of course it helps to have her cheekbones..eyes...mouth...teensy tinsy nose...

I found this hair and make-up combo in the InStyle Wedding Fall 2008 issue. I'm intrigued by the possiblity of having a beachy, casual up-do for the ceremony and letting your hairs loose for the party! Its like a bridal mullet....business up front and party in the back....the best of both worlds! Now that I've compared it to a mullet I have a feeling no one is going to want to choose it. I'm terribly sorry... I just couldn't resist. But her make-up is very nice as well. And has anyone else noticed the braided hair trend happening on The HIlls this season?!

wedding eye candy

I love decorating. If I could sit all day and just come up with inspiration boards for wedding after wedding I'd be in design heaven. There are just so many delicious things to look at in this world. So many odd little ways to put it all together. Here are a few things that I've collected over the last little while that have been inspiring me for my own wedding[s]. I'm so happy I get to decorate two of them. My big "real" wedding seems to be shaping up to be a elegant, beachy affair with breezy layered fabric, bushy sprays of orange flowers, flower pots and jars of candles. My "practice" wedding more of a whimsical combination of found objects, vintage inspiration, lace and old-fashioned tent circuses.

These next pics are inspiring my practice wedding. I'm thinking of hanging objects from the trees on my family property. I've picked a section of the property that is mixture of old evergreen trees with spindly arms and big maple trees that create a beautiful natural canopy. It gives a feeling of an enchanted forest that fits perfectly with my whole circus tent vision!

Top picture of mason jar candles courtesy of East Side Bride. I think I'm tempted to double this idea for both my practice and my real weddings. Mason jar candles are equally appealing in both venues! Pictures two, and three from adorable vintage wedding found on Snippet & Ink. And the last two pics are from Martha Martha Martha!

And not to forget the beachy wedding inspirations of my real wedding. These are a few of the things I've added to my list of desires:

The flower pot is from IKEA. The invitations are courtesy of Kenzie Kate's Something Old, Something New blogspot. Message in a bottle guest favors originally from Martha Stewart (of course!) but found on Bridalwave site. And the succulent guest favor was featured in the InStyle Weddings Fall 2008 issue.

fabric...glorious fabric!

I have to say this "Practice Wedding" idea is a dream come true. I highly recommend it to anyone - even if they aren't having their real wedding in Israel! That is two opportunities to decorate to your hearts content!

So, lately I've been consumed by fabric. There are just so many yummy designs I can hardly contain myself. I kind of want to cover everything I own right now. I have a sneaky suspicion this could get out of hand in a very scary way!

Luckily Toronto-based on-line fabric store Tonic Living is there to feed my addiction. And at such amazingly affordable prices too! I could sit here all day and just look...as a matter of fact...I think I just did!

role reversal - planning my own wedding!

So, I’m getting married in Israel next year. What a strange place the Holy Land is for planning a wedding. The guests apparently wear jeans, they laugh at the idea of seating plans, they don’t give guest favors, they roll their eyes at spending too much money on flowers and décor but they very willingly pay over $10,000 just to rent the venue alone! And I'm not even going to mention the guest list....OY! Not exactly an easy task for a wedding planner who doesn't speak hebrew and has spent the last few years collecting wild, whimsical and wacky ideas for her own future wedding! But prevail I shall...I'll keep you posted on my continuing saga!

Luckily we (ok…so maybe me!) have decided to hold a “Wee Practice Wedding” a month before our real one for all our friends & fam who aren’t keen on the whole Holy Land thing. My mission is to have the event of my wildest, warped and wacky dreams on the most ridiculously teensy tiny budget imaginable. I don’t think future Mr. Husband quite knows what he is in for (hee hee!) but here is a sneak peak of just a few of the things that have been inspiring me.


Oh how I love the big hair and veil!


Yummy old-fashioned (teal!) armchair found online at www.dkimages.com/.../Furniture-623.html


Oh so cute table for two!

Who doesn't want a vintage popcorn maker?! You can rent a similar one from Hart Entertainment or Woodbridge Party Centre . But I think I might just buy my own!