Countdown to Christmas: Garland Wreath Tutorial

I've been making these little wreaths for a couple years now and it just dawned on me to publish this tutorial.  They're super cute, super festive, and super easy!




You'll need:

Wreath form (I used an embroidery hoop, but have had the same success with wire and styrofoam as well)
2 lengths of garland (this took 2-9 foot lengths, so use your best judgement)
assorted wreath sprays, jazzicles and other sparkly things
wire
wire cutters
scissors



1.  Wrap it up. Wind the end of your garland through your form and wire to fasten (if you're using a styrofoam form, wrap the end around once and secure with a pin).  I stayed away from using traditional adhesives because I like to swap out garlands and cut down on waste.  Then, wind the garland around the form, bunching from time to time to achieve the desired look (I like a fluffy wreath, so I bunch quite a bit). Wind the other end through the form to finish (fasten with pins for styrofoam).  You'll be finished when the form is completely hidden from view.



2.  Go Full Glitz.  Lay out your embellishments.  Don't be afraid to try a few things out before you commit.  Design your little heart out.  Once you've come up with something you love, lay it out in the desired position on your wreath.


3.  Pin it down.  Secure to wreath with wire.  Floral wires and other small guage wires are ideal because they are both easy to work with and easy to hide.  I came up with two options I loved so I made sure to make them interchangeable.


4. Enjoy!

See...easy and fabulous! 

Luxe Life: Country Wedding in the City

Hello there!
I am finally back and posting away!  I figured that once I posted a list of upcoming posts, I'd be motivated to step it up and get back on track...I was not.  Boo hiss on me.

But!  As promised, I give you the highlights from Country Wedding!

I wanted to start with the card box.  We made it out of an antique cosmetics case, previously owned by the bride's grandma.  I loved it.  We had to weight it a bit and rig it to stay open, but it worked perfectly.  It was one of my favorite touches!

 

Next up, we have a couple shots of the centerpieces.  As I said before, we collected LOTS of Mason Jars.  My goal was to have so many jars that we could use them as vases and candle holders. I couldn't find table card holders that were visually pleasing as well as right for the type of centerpiece, so I made them.  I chose a mid gauge wire and The Hubbs helped me coil one end...well, maybe I should make a tutorial for you...they were super easy and looked amazing! I also wanted to point out our little animal friends. I wanted to create the feeling of being in someone's home, sort of "housewife chic", if you will.  I know that we were flirting with kitsch here, but for this event it totally worked, our couple loved it! 

Moss letters.  So cute, I can't stand it. These were sooo fun to make.  I wouldn't recommend starting them at 2am, but what else is there to do when one can't sleep?  We tied them with yarn in the wedding colors and affixed them to the front doors of the venue.  Next time, I think I'd make them slightly larger.  They'd pop a little more, I think.

 

The autograph tree.  This just melts my heart each time I look at it.  Allison did such a great job!  Behind it are framed picture of the parents.  This was something the couple wanted to include, what a sweet touch!  I love the idea of honoring those that went before.  I wish you could see the pictures up close.  So.  stinking.  cute.  And my 'punny' little chalkboard.  I LOVED making these chalkboards!  I had so much fun challenging myself to make each one unique.  This one is maybe my favorite.  More chalkboard pictures to come.

Ah, the pie table!  This turned out really well.  I'm still in lurve with our supah cute banner! We've discussed it before, but I really wanted you to see it in action.  You can also get a good look at the stands I made.  I am so proud of them!

The venue had this adorable little patio area and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to turn it into a lounge area.  We had so many ideas, tiki torches, bistro lights, candles...it was a really hard space to edit.  But in the end, we opted for a sweet little lounge feel with flower arrangements, oodles of warm candle light and custom pillows.  I'll admit, the pillows were a bit of a eleventh hour kind of thing, but they were really fun to make.  They just look so cute!

There you have it, folks!  Country Wedding in a nutshell!  This was such a touching event and we are so grateful to be part of it.  If you want more, you should pop over to our Facebook page and check out our Country Wedding Album.

Sneaky Peeky: Country Wedding in the City

Hey, cupcakes!  We are down to the final days before Country Wedding.  I am so excited to bring another event, a year in the planning, to life.  I always get such a sweet sense of accomplishment when I see my couple's happy faces.  I thought I'd let you catch a glimpse of things as they are being finished.  Here we go!

These adorable cake stands were dangerously easy to create.  These will go on the sweets table we've designed.  Again, we've gone for a country chic look, full of rustic elements given a Technicolor twist.  I'm thinking that, if they are as big a hit with y'all as they were with us, I might do a quick little tutorial.  I haven't done one here for awhile and I'm kind of missing them.  This might be the perfect item to DIY. 

This, I totally love.  We love banners, here at Goldiluxe and this one is no exception.  As I mentioned before, I asked Allison to customize some of her ah-mah-zing fabrics to fit Country Wedding.  For my part, I hand-cut all the letters and a cute embellishment.  I would love to show it all to you, but it would ruin the surprise for the guests, so you'll have to wait.

Stay tuned this week for more Country Wedding teasers! 

Under the Glitz: Country Wedding

I've been searching for a way to give you a piece of our process without sharing drawings or any specific details that might spoil it for the guests.  I also think it's important for prospective clients and readers to catch a glimpse behind the gilded curtain, so to speak.  To really get a sense of what it takes to pull a Goldiluxe event together.  So, I thought a new segment was is order.  I give you: Under the Glitz.  The title's in flux, so sue me.  Here we go!

Country Wedding is proving to be one of the most exciting events I've worked on.  I mean, not only is it for a dear friend of mine, I'm also a bridesmaid!  We are having so much fun designing this wedding, I thought you might like to know how it's going:

It's coming together, y'all!  Lets take a look at what we've got, shall we?

First up is a sneak peek of some of Allison's fabric customized for Country Wedding.  I had the idea that we should use some of her amazing fabrics and of course Allison was able to pull it off.  It's perfect.  I can't wait to show you what we're doing with it...

Underneath that, we've got some picture frames getting Goldified!  Between my stash and the generosity of GoldiFriend, Kate Funk, we were able to snag lots of fab frames for zero coin.  We love to scavenge and bargain.  It's a great chance for us to stretch our imaginations and use a little ingenuity.  It may take longer than sourcing ready-made, but we think the extra effort to stick within budget means more to our couples. We're really turning up the rusticity of this event and I really wanted to bring in some elements of home decor, but re-imagined to fit our 'rustic-chic' mood.  The frames have been painted and are now awaiting their finishing touches.  It's gonna be KYOOT!

Next, I've got a stockpile of amazing vintage mason jars.  I have been scouting antique stores for months to find the perfect ones!  Because the Mason Jar is an outrageously popular collector's item, they are quite pricey and can be really cost-prohibitive.  So, to compensate, we've filled in with newer and reclaimed jars.  We've saved our couple a lot of money, but they didn't have to compromise on style.  The stately little jars will be popping up all over the event, so stay tuned! 

I wish I could tell you more about the photo in the middle.  I really do.  But, if I talk it may give away too much...so all I'll say is that we will not be without the perfect July accessory.

The final picture in our little group is part of my latest haul from my favorite antique hunting ground, Antiques on Second.  They literally have everything.  I had a lot of luck there last time, so much luck in fact I can't show you the best parts.  Just know Country Wedding is chock full of charming vintage touches that enhance the rustic gorgeousness of the venue.  Classy, not kitschy, y'all!

There you have it!  A peek at what it takes to create the quintessential Goldiluxe event. 
Any questions about the process?  We'd love to chat with you!  Leave your questions in the comments or e-mail me at: goldiluxeevents@gmail.com.

Luxe Life: Fractured Fairytale

Hey, gang!
On May 19th, we honored a very dear friend of mine with a bridal shower.  Allison actually suggested the 'ironic princess' theme to me and Fractured Fairytale was born.  We pinned our stylish little hearts out and filled our pinboard with the best, non-vom inducing princess inspiration the Internet had to offer.  If you ask me, it turned out pretty great!

What do you think?

Gah!  So cute!  I love those golden deer.  When Allison showed them to me I knew they'd be perfect.  Also, if you'll notice, you can see the little vase in the background is a tree trunk.

To add a little extra pizazz, we framed one of the invites we had and set it up at the end of the food station.  That big, diamond is a paperweight I have.  At home, it sits on my desk, glittering happily at all who walk by.  And besides, you can't have a princess party without a giant diamond, can you?

Speaking of which, instead of doing traditional favors, we thought it would be cute to hand out enchanted cocktail rings.  It was a huge success!  We made adorable favor tags, handed a few out as prizes for Charise-themed games, and made sure everyone got one before the party ended.  Ooh, also, you can see the prize ribbon we made for Charise to wear.  We have been bored with generic party accessories for awhile now, espesh where tiaras and sashes are concerned.  So, we took matters into our own hands and have been crafting cute things like this!  Goldiluxe honorees should feel special and  celebrated!

 

We cut up strips of fancy paper, rounded up our prettiest pens and encouraged the guests to write a short note of encouragement, a sweet wish or a piece of valuable advice.  Then we added all the wishes to a little pouch for the lovebirds to read before the wedding.  Just a little extra love for the big day!

Here's a close up on some of our signage.  You can also see another one of our little tableau.  Those vases are killing me! So dang cute!

Our darling bride wanted a fun, low key bridal shower with plenty of pizzazz.  I think we accomplished that!  We showered her with handmade, vintage or gently-used gifts (a story for another post, I think), dined on yummy, home-cooked food and sipped on cocktails from the mimosa bar. 

For more Fractured Fairytale cuteness, visit our Facebook photo album!  

Luxe Life: Citrus Celebration

Finally!  I have pictures, y'all!  Citrus Celebration was a complete success and the happy couple and their families were thrilled with our work!  We had so much fun Goldifying Siena and David's special day and we were so honored to be a part of it.  Here are my favorite images from the set up.  Enjoy!

I am so proud of this, I want to cry!  I think that after a lot of work, communication and editing, we were able to come up with something really special.  I don't mind telling you that Allison was a centerpiece makin' machine!  I was unavailable in the morning and she really did an amazing job!  Fun Fact:  We created the rigging for the lanterns from scratch.  We wanted something that would be an 'easy up, easy down' situation.

A supah-cute shot of the gift table.  The little card box I made turned out so well, I was sad to give it up.  But, look how sweet it is on the table!  

This is seriously one of my favorite shots of the day.  I love the way the favor table turned out.  From the sweet little sign to the totally gorge arrangement, it's so, perfectly dainty, I can't stand it.  How cute are those freaking matchbooks, y'all?! 

Ah, the 'guest book' table.  Have I ever told you how much I love clever guest book alternatives?  Well, I do.  And I'm still living for those paper flowers.  Trust me, they are even more delicious up close!

These are two of my favorite shots of the sweets table.  Just so beautiful...and delicious, too.

A week or so after the event, we sat down and had a post mortem meeting.  It was a great way to talk through all aspects of the event.  It was so important for us to keep the communication going and I was so proud of us and the way we handled it!  We learned so much from this event and we are so excited for the next one!

To see more (and, believe me, there's so much more) go to our Facebook page.  You'll love it.

Vendors: 

Linens/catering: Irene's Catering

Sweets: Jaceleen Latin-Kasper (She's pretty amazeballs, yo.  She did all the sweets and her own set-up.  Color me impressed.)

Paper Flowers: Posh Studios

Matchbooks: Decadent Designs

Guestbook Tree: Modern Keepsakes

Venue: Kate Funk (a HUGE thanks to Kate, it was so awesome having my own photog there so I could direct the shoot!  She's a huge part of Goldiluxe and I'm so lucky to have her as a friend....and she's an ah. mah.  zing. photographer, too!)

First Look: Citrus Celebration

As you are probably aware, last week we were hard at work on an adorable citrus-themed wedding.  It turned out beautifully and now I find myself too excited to wait until the pictures come back...So, I've decided to give you a little sneaky peeky of the beauty to come!  Here are three of my private images of the event.

A little teaser of the 'guest book' table.  Our clever little Bride purchased the paper flowers and the guest book tree from etsy sellers. (Vendors will be featured in the post to come, don't worry!)

Here you can see just a peek of the favor table.  Our couple chose matchbook seed packets as favors.  I LOVED them.  As you can see, they are super cute and really well designed.  (Again, we'll feature the etsy seller in the full length post about this event)

This is one of my favorite images of the evening.  I'm just so proud of the way this looks.  The lanterns are exactly what I had imagined for this event and I'm so happy we pulled it off so beautifully.  I don't mind saying that the candle effect on the tables is one of my all time favorite effects.  Dim lighting, festive music and hundreds of candles glittering like stars.  Le sigh...the glow...

Well, dolls, I hope that satiates your appetite for Citrus Celebration.  I cannot WAIT to show you the rest of the images.  I think you're going to love it!

First Look: Heart of Stone

We're designing a 90's party!

Allison and I are designing a 90's themed Valentine's Day dance party for a Bay View bar.  It's going to be pretty amazing!  I can't wait to share some of our ideas with you.  To tide you over, I thought you might like to see this:

Pretty great, right?  Another home run for our resident design genius!  I like the "zine" look it has and it definitely reminds me of some flyers I saw floating around my middle school.  Also, hello!  AC Slater, anyone?!  He was totes one of my favorite 90's crushes.  That, and JTT, of course!

Luxe Life: Full Glitz

As you are aware, Allison and I turned 30 this year. (Yikes.  30.  Still a shock.) What's the perfect way for two hip ladies to celebrate?  With a swanky party, of course! We grabbed some of our closest, most awesome friends and headed out to see our favorite local band, The Five Card Studs.  But first, we had a sweet little get together in the suite we reserved for the night at the historic Knickerbocker Hotel.  It was a huge hit and I thought I'd share some of our favorite images from the night..

Allison and I made cute prize ribbon pins.  We something a little fancy for our big night.  I think we succeeded.  I just wish I had a good picture of hers.  It was so pretty-black/blue/gold, if memory serves...

Custom wine labels!  These have to be my favorite detail of the evening.  Allison did an amazing job on these!  As always, I love the throwback design.

Cuppycakes!  I am really loving these toppers!  I think they are my favorite design so far.  Fun and festive.  The cupcakes were pretty great, too.

The invite that started it all! I am just so proud of this invite.  Allison did such an amazing job!  She is such a talented designer and I am continually amazed by her impeccable taste...I'm so lucky to have her as a design partner (and even luckier to have her as a friend). My favorite part of the invite is our "Bedazzle it! Glamorous!" tagline.

This is my favorite image of the night! My fun lady friend and the incomparable, Caesar Palace!  We had such a blast!  This was such a fun design to work on...so much fun in fact, you may be seeing it again soon!

Luxe Life: Monster Bash

I've got pictures!! 

If you've been reading lately, you'll remember me talking about Monster Bash.  I was worried that I wouldn't get to use our cute, new party design, but as luck would have it, I was contacted by a frantic little Goldilou.  She found herself the host of a last-minute Halloween party and she needed some great ideas.  That's where we came in.  She knew we'd been working on Monster Bash so she wondered if we might just pack it up and send it over.  Well, needless to say, we were more than happy to help.  She was able to snap some quick pics as she was setting up.

So cute, right!!  Here you can see the invite, cupcake toppers and the bear and soda labels.  We chose to do something a little more mod, like the Shag prints on our Pinterest Board.  We get tired of big, cumbersome gothic motifs, so we decided to use pops of color. 

 

 In this photo, you can see two of my favorite details: the super cute candy corn banner and the candlesticks.  I'm really loving the way the banner looks against the white wall.  I think if I had to do it again, I would finish the edges of the candy corn.  How great do those candlesticks look?! So simple and yet they look oh, so good.

 Here's a shot of the set up! I'm told the party was a big success.  I'm so glad Goldiluxe could be part of the fun.

Oh, one more thing...a guest at the party has asked for something similar for an upcoming baby shower....we showed her some of our photos and designs and after much deliberation, it seems as though Cowboy Baby will finally be coming to life. I'm so excited!

Wanna see more photos?  You can check them out on our Facebook page.

On the Cutting Room Floor: Monster Bash

Halloween is inching ever closer and I could not be more excited.  As I had mentioned before, we are giving our Halloween party design an overhaul this year.  We finally settled on something we are super happy with, but sadly, it seems we won't have time this year to put our epic party on it's feet.  But, did we ever have fun reinventing!

Which brings me to my point.  I am often asked how I avoid doing the same party over and over.  I usually have a stock answer that is something like "every event is a chance to push my limits and breathe new life into an event even if two clients have the same idea".  This is totally true, bee-tee-dubs. But.  And that's a big but, my freshness is in large part contributed to the amount of work we do that never sees the light of day!

It's true, y'all.  As part of my design process, I design an event, in its entirety, three times. So you can imagine how many designs end up on the cutting room floor. 

What does this have to do with Monster Bash?  Well, I thought I might share one of the designs that didn't make the cut.

Cute, isn't it?  We thought so.  but, once you see the finished product, you'll understand why it had to go.

Halloween Sneaky Peeky

So, it's looking like I won't get to use my totally fab Halloween design this year, but it's so good I can't help but want to share...here's your first little lookie-see:

How cute is that?!  Stay tuned for more!

Label design by Allison C. Beilke.

Country Wedding in the City: Inspiration

Our 2012 dance card is filling fast!  Which is super exciting for us!  We are a whirlwind of activity here, designing, scheming, planning and dreaming!  As such, I am working on the inspiration board for a July wedding.

The bride is one of my favorite people from my Nebraska Life.  We went to University together and now we both live here in the MKE.  The groom is, in a word amazing.  He's funny, kind and totally adorbs.  Best of all, he's perfect for my sweet friend.  In addition to being extremely blessed to be a bridesmaid, I am fortunate enough to put the Goldiluxe stamp on this super special occasion.

I've been contemplating my approach to this event a lot lately and Pinterest has been helping me distill my vision.  As I put together my inspiration Board, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite images.  Enjoy!

Aren't they lovely?  This photo came to me via Style Me Pretty and was taken by A Simple Photograph.  My couple loves blue and I thought this little photo illustrated a perfect palette.  Coordinating, not matchy-matchy.  Simple picture, huge source of inspiration.  I'm especially in love with that deep, luscious midnight blue.

Wildflower centerpieces are becoming increasingly visible these days, and let me tell you, "mama like".  I love the look of them, the idea of them...you name it.  I think with this (and countless others) in mind, I'll be able to put something really great together for this wedding...I've been scouring floral mags and the wheels are definitely turning.

J'adore this photo!  I am LOVING all the delicious rusticity to be found in the pages of bridal mags and blogs of late.  I love country elements thrown into an elegant affair.  Don't mistake it for shabby chic, mind you.  The jury's still out on shabby chic.  Also, how brill is the homemade favor idea?!  Love, love love!  This adorable little photo comes from Green Wedding Shoes ( a personal fave) and was shot by Steep Street.

So there you have it.  Three of my favorite images from the ever expanding Country Wedding inspiration board.  I can't wait to share more as we work out the details...

Tiki Weekend: You're Invited!

Well, the day is fast approaching and I am sooo excited!  I thought I'd share the invite we chose for Tiki Weekend!  It hit the mail a couple of weeks ago and I've gotten lots of really great feedback about them (thanks to the awesome Allison Beilke for her awesome design)! 

 

Pretty great, right?  I'm so happy with the way this turned out.  I'll have to admit, I was kind of pulling for the one with the warmer color palette, but I really think this version fits the mood of our event.  It feels like cool summer breezes and lounge-y, xylophone-y tropical music.  I cannot wait to show you what we've been working on!I love the pool envelopes, too!  So cute!

Photo Credit: Allison Beilke

Baby {Shower} by Goldiluxe: Inspiration Board

Armed with Allison's brilliant invitation, I put together this inspiration board on Pinterest.  I really wanted to design a chic little party that was also incredibly fun!  I also really wanted to use a more non-traditionally "baby girl" color palette.  We were so lucky that Carrie was so awesomely open to our ideas.  We settled on shades of lavender, green and blue.  Take a look at some of my favorite images from the board, y'all.

Photo Credits:


1.  lavender sweets: Amy Atlas Blog, via google.com
2.  baby shower invite rendering: Allison C. Beilke
3.  baby shower scene:  Martha Stewart
4.  woodland stripe lavender fabric: Allison C. Beilke, via Spoonflower
5.  pennant bunting: Trisha Brink Designs
6.  marshmallow pops:  Amy Atlas Designs via You're Invited Events

Tiki Weekend: An Inspiration Sneaky Peeky

Hey all!  We have been busy busy here at Goldiluxe!  Planning for Tiki Weekend is wrapping up and the builds have begun!  But, before I get into that, I thought I might share a couple of images from our upcoming Inspiration Board post.

As most of you know, I joined Pinterest awhile ago and am LOVING it!  I deviated from my usual process and built my inspiration board there!  The result was wonderful!  You, of course can judge for yourself a little later...

This brilliant little idea comes from Style Me Pretty via the blog Creature Comforts (and was actually from a guest post by Miss Kayte Terry.  She can be found here, here and here.)  Creature Comforts is a brilliant little style/inspiration/DIY blog and honey, it's like she's writing it for me.  We made some significant changes to this idea to fit our theme and our overall aesthetic and I think it worked out really well.  I am, of course working on a how-to post for our version of this, so I'll be able to tell you all about it.  Stay tuned!

These little guys came to me from my favorite baking supplies shop, Chicago's Layer Cake Shop.  While I did end up purchasing about a billion of these little guys, this picture really help us distill our vision.  For me, it reminded me to add texture, color and a little spice to our design.  And most importantly, they're ah-dorable!

So there you have it, your first peek into our 'Tiki Weekend' inspiration board.