DesignDawgs: Through a Mother's Eyes

DESIGN DAWG'S GUEST BLOGGERS

Bonny Katzman, April 24, 2012
Susie Perelman, March 18, 2012
Arcadian Lighting, March 5, 2012
Liese Gardner, Feb. 14, 2012
Leslee Bell, Jan. 19, 2012
Marley Majcher, Jan. 10, 2012
Ann Turner, Dec. 7, 2011
Sharon Dexmier, Oct. 10, 2011
Eddie Zaratsian, Sept. 7, 2011
Therese Hubbs, Aug. 15, 2011
Phil Cooper, July 12, 2011
Samantha Vuijst, June 21, 2011
Ruth Moyte, May 17, 2011
Debra Roth, April 13, 2011
Patty Randall, Feb. 22, 2011
Ray Thompson, Jan. 19, 2011
Hillary Harris, December 20, 2010
Kathy Miller, November 30, 2010
Brooke Bonder, October 12, 2010
Nick Gentile, October 6, 2010
Wendy Anderson, August 12, 2010
Audrey Gordon, July 22, 2010
Brett Culp, July 6, 2010
Ryan Hanson, June 8, 2010
Bart Kresa, May 11, 2010
Evan Carbotti, April 6, 2010
Lara McCulloch-Carter, March 15, 2010
Rick Turner, February 10, 2010
Michael Cerbelli, Dec. 14, 2009
Pauline Parry, October 28, 2009
Andrea Michaels, Aug. 10, 2009
Zaid Arriola, August 3, 2009
Youngsong Martin, Sept. 24, 2009
Joella Hopkins, July 13, 2009
King Dahl, May 22, 2009
Debbie Hawkins, May 4, 2009
Teri Rudin, April 13, 2009
Debbie Meyers, January 21, 2009
Steve Kemble, November 2008
Rand Larson, Sept. 18, 2008
Mark Sheldon, August 25, 2008
Janet Elkins, August 14, 2008
Tom Budas, June 3, 2008

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Through a Mother's Eyes

Planning weddings is always a very delicate matter. So many tastes, traditions and dreams converging in one-night. It can be a lot of pressure. In her 30 years of experience planning many types of events, Audrey Gordon has learned a few tricks which she put to use for the wedding of her son, Sam Gordon, to Ali Morris.

First was creating the look the bride wanted. "I had an initial one-on-one conversation with Ali, the bride, because it truly is all about her vision," Audrey says. "I asked her to close her eyes and walk me through the experience -- what she wanted to feel and see. I also asked her what she disliked. I took detailed notes and asked her to establish a comfort zone regarding budget, so there were no assumptions."

Second was the venue. "I narrowed it down to two venues and asked each to come up with the same customized package that the bride was looking for. My main philosophy was to keep the process as simple as possible to avoid being totally overwhelmed." The chosen venue was The Westin River North.

Blog photos by David Merrell

The chuppah was done in the round so the bride and groom would be surrounded, literally, by love.

Tradition! As a nice touch, the inside piece of fabric used in the chuppah was the same piece of fabric used at Ali's father's wedding.

But while some elements were traditional, others, such as the ceremony table, were given some design leeway. For instance, in lieu of traditional white linen for this table, John Rent from Into the Woods took three large glass cylinders, filled them with twigs and topped them with a custom glass top for this unique and beautiful look.

The sweetheart table. Although I don't think I ever saw the couple sit here for long it had all the same element at the guest tables -- a clear charger and an all-white floral design accented with glass bubbles filled with dendrobiums.

The after-party was kept very simple -- just white furniture and whimsical LED "lanterns" created by Into the Woods that you can see in the photo below.

Completing the circle. John took the very beginning concept of the black river rocks used as the placecard and wove them here into this fun lantern, tying in the wedding reception to the after-party area.

In closing, I asked Audrey for some words of advise when planning a wedding for a loved one. "Reach out," she said. "Ask for help, but ask for specific help. At the event, always have a wad of 10-, 20- and 100-dollar bills and an SUV with a full tank of gas parked in front for last-minute emergencies. Let go and allow the experts to their thing. Then, all you have to do is be grateful and amazed!"