{lmg featured!} KATE + DREW

The new Summer/Fall 2012 Salt Lake/Park City Bride & Groom magazine is on newsstands now! I'm so thrilled our darling March 2012 clients, Kate + Drew, are featured inside! 

Don't have your copy yet? Where to get one.

A sneak peek of of the spread, be sure to grab a copy and enjoy Kate + Drew's wedding deets! 

In the meantime, enjoy these shots of their gorgeous reception shot by Chudleigh Photography:

Kate wore a gorgeous Modern Trousseau gown with a custom build-up from Salt Lake City bridal boutique Alta Moda Bridal. 

Our adorable flower girls waving custom-designed wands by Orchid Dynasty.

Beautiful bridesmaids holding Orchid Dynasty bouquets in J Crew dresses. 

La Tavola Linen draped vineyard tables beneath a custom branch armature by Orchid Dynasty.

PLANNING & DESING: Events by LMG

PHOTOS: Chudeligh Weddings

VENUE: The Salt Lake Hardware Building

GOWN: Modern Trousseau from Alta Moda Bridal

HAIR/MAKEUP: Signature Bride

FLORAL: Orchid Dynasty

CATERING: Culinary Crafts

CAKE: Layers-Cake

LIGHTING & WOOD TABLES: Alpine Events

LOUNGE & OTHER RENTALS: RSVP Party Rentals 

LINENS: La Tavola Linens

STATIONERY: Pink Piggy Design

Want even more? Culinary Crafts shared their favorite shots HERE! 

Xo, mmh  

Lynn Lugo Inspiration at Lily & Iris

Our friends at Lily & Iris invited us to design our second 'Inspiration Window' at their lovely (and colorful!) boutique last week. (What's Lily & Iris, you ask? Lily & Iris boutique in downtown Salt Lake City boasts by far the largest collection of bridesmaid dress options for our Utah brides as well as great short reception dresses and great picks for the Mother of the Bride. Amsale, Dessy and Lynn Lugo are among the stylish lines the boutique carries. Lily & Iris also has lots of 'wear again' options for brides hoping to find something their bridesmaids can repurpose after the wedding.)

Back to our inspiration window...

We settled on this fun and flirty Lynn Lugo option called ANGIE.

Photos courtesy www.lynnlugobridal.com

The boutique has three 'Inspiration Windows' between the bays of dresses in which a bridesmaid dress is put on display and local wedding vendors are asked by invitation to create a glimpse of what an event might look like where that dress might be the bridesmaids frock of choice. Rewind back to 2011 and you might remember that we styled a window around a yellow dress HERE.

This year's window live and available to see at Lily & Iris now. 

I wanted to make the dress our pop of color so I paired it with a bold palette of Black/Gold/White. The only other place that our Iris Purple makes an appearance is within our stationery by Pink Piggy Design. You'll notice that although we selected a chevron-print backdrop, we opted to use a bold diagonal stripe on the invitation rather than forcing the chevron print again. I don't like my design to ever feel too intentional or too forced, I like all the elements to come together naturally without feeling "matchy matchy"... or "garanimals," like I tell my clients. (I use garanimals children's clothes as a reference because their whole concept is "easy to match separates"... kids learn to match their clothes using their color system... anyway, I think it's repulsive.) 

To keep in line with our vision, bold and modern black square china from RSVP Party Rentals is paired with really modern (and new to Utah!) gold flatware from Diamond Rental. Simple "pure" glassware and a white satin napkin complete our look by complimenting our bold elements and not distracting from them. If you really wanted to incorporate your purple again, I would swap out the white napkin and use a purple napkin there. Again, I wanted the purple to really be an accent and I think the napkin forces the palette more severely than I wanted. 

Our gold branches, black boxes and moss are all from Orchid Dynasty. I felt like our design didn't call for a rustic element like branches, however, the branches felt like a perfect compliment. I settled on spray-painting them gold. I could see this becoming our escort card tree, decor lining the aisle, or even gold branches and moss being incorporated into our table centerpieces. 

So, loving it?

We'd love to know! 

Xo, mmh 

LMG Gives Back: The Girl Scouts of Utah

Credited by Salt Lake Magazine with kicking the International Women's Day Celebration "up a notch with a more chic and modern event than past years," we're thrilled to share a peek of this party with you.

Every year I make it a point to get involved with a non-profit I care about. This year, for the first time, the LMG team and I got involved with the Girl Scouts of Utah to produce their International Women's Day fundraiser in February for 350 guests at The Complex in Salt Lake City. At this event I actually met and "interviewed" Jane and Jenner who are now both very important parts of our planning and production team. If you have met Jane or Jenner they have probably told you that by "interviewed" I meant threw them to the wolves and put them to work to see if they could handle it - they handled it and handled it well!  Enjoy these highlights from the party: 

Our main dining room was outfitted true to form in Girl Scouts green and black ... Thin Mint, anyone? Thanks to RSVP Party Rentals Utah for helping us execute our vision perfectly. 

Thank you to our many florists, including Studio Stems, for donating beautiful centerpieces for this event.

Le Croissant Catering used the Girl Scouts' signature Thin Mint and Samoa cookies along with their brand new Savannah Smiles to create a signature dessert for guests to enjoy. 

Six darling Girl Scouts, need I say more?

Mary Nickles of KUTV 2 gave a heartfelt and emotional speech after accepting the Girl Scouts Distinguished Alumnae award. Her gorgeous bouquet of daisies was designed and donated by Trifecta Floral in Salt Lake City. 

Mary Nickles of KUTV 2

Programs, invitations and other coordinating printed pieces were all designed and printed by Pink Piggy Design.

Custom-printed logo Gift Bags full of swag for our guests.

We've got a week full of posts, get ready for a full-speed catch up!

Until next time...

Xo, mmh 

{sample sale!} JUNE 22 + JUNE 23 at Gateway Bridal!

Events by LMG: Utah's Best Wedding Planner, KSL's A-List

It's official, KSL's A-List has announced that we've won UTAH'S BEST WEDDING PLANNER! Thank you to all of our past and present clients, friends and fans who voted to help us win this title! We're honored to have your support and are looking forward to another great year. 

Mary Crafts of Culinary Crafts, who won Utah's Best Caterer, with Mara at the A-List party at the KSL 5 studio.

Xo, LMG

{love notes}

Because I'm not shy, and happy to share. Funny that our last glowing 'thank you' was from another Mother of the Bride named Heather. 

Dear Mara

I've sent you a couple of quick texts but I wanted to write a specific thank you note to cover the details that made up last Friday night so special!!!

1.Thank you for the stunningly beautiful reception! Really,...I was blown away when I walked in. I loved the flowers, I loved where you hung the lamps, I loved the scale and detail of the armature and branches on the table, and the many extra candles etc…. I noticed it all and loved it!! ( Because we were rushed I didn't get a chance to tell you in person, just how blown away we all were. It was just completely lovely!!) 

2.Thank you for the "warm, golden" lighting!(Something I believe lent itself to producing such a warm and lovely event!)Light sets a tone for all experiences and the incredible warm lighting made the place just radiate with love and warmth! I know you had to work at this piece and I am grateful,sooo grateful!

3.Thank you for taking care of the little things, ... pillows and a rug at the last minute,... to produce a finished look. Somewhere in the middle of this,... I just got very tired and decided to let it go. Thank you for finishing it!

4.Thanks coordinating with Kate the last few months and helping her feel listened to and cared for.

5. And...Thanks for the sips of diet coke in the line.:)  As you know, this simple act of support, was dear to our tired bodies and hearts, and gave us a lift in the middle of a wonderful, hectic day! BTW I am sorry we came in late. They did an incredible job on Kate's hair, I just loved it, but it took until 6:35 so we threw on her dress, waited almost 15 minutes for  the valet and then booked it over in construction traffic!!! It worked out perfectly, however!...The grand entrance of the bride made her feel very special!!; We all just loved the grand hallway for both the entrance and exit!) What a perfect venue!!!

Finally,…just thanks for making last Friday one of the happiest nights of our whole family's lives. We are all still smiling.

You are appreciated, girl! Hope you get a good long rest! Keep us in the loop as to when we can get the photo's we are soo anxious to see!:)

Warmly,

Heather

{love notes}

I should post them all. Love notes, I mean. They're so yummy, and they make me so happy. Really, there's no greater sense of accomplishment than that which floods over me when I read a glowing review or heartfelt 'thank you' from a client. This particular card came this afternoon, from the mother of our April 10th bride, Courtney. Courtney and JT were married at St. Mary's church in Park City and celebrated at a reception that followed at Deer Valley resort that evening. 

"Dear Mara, 

     I just wanted to write and thank-you for all that you did to make Courtney and J.T.'s wedding so memorable. All of the vendors that you helped us to select performed beyond our expectations. Please thank each and every one of them on my behalf. Your efficiency and planning took much of the stress off of us and allowed us to enjoy the experience. Many of our friends who attended said it was the best wedding that they had ever attended. It was a fairytale-like celebration that Courtney and J.T. will never forget and neither will Bib and I. But, most of all I just loved seeing how happy they are together. I wish you continued success with all of your future brides and grooms. 

Sincerely, 

Heather Allen 

{trunk show alert!} Jorge Manuel at Alta Moda Bridal

Trunk shows are among my top five favorite things in the industry. Much to my delight, Alta Moda has many lined up. Jorge Manuel and his beautiful 2012 collection will be in Salt Lake City at Alta Moda Bridal March 30 & 31, be sure to make an appointment and be prepared to swoon (over yourself) in these gorgeous and feminine figure-flattering gowns. No curve goes unnoticed in these beautiful gowns. As if feeling amazing isn't a sweet enough deal, enjoy ten-percent off both days on any Jorge Manuel gown. 

ABOUT JORGE MANUEL:
Jorge Manuel is a young Cuban-American designer born in the beautiful city of Miami. He grew up a product of the cultural diversity of this dynamic city, while attending private schools mostly influenced by Latin American families. He earned a degree in Advertising and Liberal Studies from Florida International University, where he took a variety of classes in Design, Architecture, Art History, and Graphics.


Now on his sixth collection, the architecture inspired ROCOCO COLLECTION 2012, Jorge Manuel’s inspiration, originality, and emphasis on quality and design are sure to make his collection a success.

See you this weekend!

Xo, mmh