Saturday, May 23, 2009

Montana Summer Weddings Welcome....

I know that the snow is almost gone, and that with the arrival of the mountain bluebirds, so is the official arrival of wedding season. I am so happy to be working with the most amazing clients this year!

Here are a few images of the amazing design we do here at Leslie Lukas Weddings & Events, always offering fresh flowers, our expert planning, and tons of wedding and event resources such as linens, invitations, and details, details, details...the best of, so to speak!

Here are some examples of our floral and wedding design... of a wedding at Moonlight Basin this Winter...before we get too caught up in the luciousness of Montana Summer!!! Weddings in all seasons are wonderful...and I happen to love this one!!!!
























































Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Madison River Wedding, Montana









I just want to congratulate my colleague, Kene Sperry of
www.eyeintheskyphotography.com , for his work featured in a recent issue of The Knot bridal magazine. I had the privilege to plan and execute the design and logistics for this amazing wedding located in the Madison River Valley just last summer. The bride had an amazing book of ideas and new exactly what her vision was and the style that she wished to create.


I assisted the couple with their destination wedding for 30 of their closest friends and family. The primitive, riverside venue, located in the Madison Valley, just minutes from Ennis, MT, was the perfect location for the outdoor enthusiast couple. The bride, an avid angler, was also thrilled with the prospect of tossing a line! To view a slide show of their wedding, follow this link:


I ENCOURAGE YOU TO VIEW THIS ENTIRE WEDDING AT--

http://www.eyeintheskyphotography.com/data/slideshow/13/AlexandraPhil/index.html

Phil and Alexandra, were amazing in spirit, and had beautiful families and friends that I grew very fond of. We planned a very intimate ceremony, with the couples closest family and friends in attendance. From the gorgeous bride, carrying a fresh bouquet of peonies and sweet peas to the handsome groom, witty and charming as ever, this wedding was a gorgeous pallet of flawless details.

Kene has an amazing eye for detail and captured this event with true passion. He has an exquisite, creative outlook on every event that he shoots. This wedding was truly one of my most memorable and favorites of the past decade. Thanks must go to the couple and Kene, for a glorious day!

Congratulations to Phil and Alexandra, not only on their nuptials, but they are expecting their first child!!! Look for a new entry with photos coming soon!!!

Ingredients for Phil and Alexandra's perfect wedding:
www.leslielukas.com
www.montanapartyrentals.com
www.eyeintheskyphotography.com
www.sweetpeabakery.com
www.andrewgromiller.com

Brides Magazine, Published Wedding

I am lucky enough to work closely with Nashan Photographers who has wonderful relationships with many national bridal magazines such as Brides, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, the KNOT and Martha Stewart Weddings Magazines. Melanie submits many weddings that she shoots, and since we work together so much, it allows my work and the work of my company to be published as well. Since 2002, Paradise Custom Weddings has been published over 14 times because of Melanie...and I want to thank her! It adds such creditbility to the level of design and planning that we do for our brides each year. Enjoy this wedding that was published in Brides Magazine just this spring. To see the spread that was recently published follow this link to Brides.com: Devan and Jeff
and to see other weddings that were published a few years ago, follow these links: Mark and Mandy and Jessica and Sean




The detail on the cake mimicks that on Devan's dress....



The bride spared nothing when it came to the details of this carefully planned and executed wedding...



I LOVE the bridesmaids dresses and how they related to the style of the wedding...



and the guests enjoyed every minute...







Ingredients for this perfect wedding:

Leslie Lukas Weddings & Events (formerly Paradise Custom Weddings): wedding design, planning and flowers
Montana Party Rentals: Rentals
Nashan Photographers: Photograhy by Melanie Nashan with second shooter Keegan Nashan
Second Street Catering: Catering
Cakes from Cabin Ridge: Rebecca Nicklin, award winning cake designer
Vision: Devan Pederson, Bride

Lauren Brown and Leslie Lukas-collaboration

Details, Details, Details!!! Oh, it's so fun to plot and create new ideas and combinations to use as design inspiration for weddings and events! I had the privilege of working with one of Montana's top photographers, Lauren Brown, on a recent shoot that we put together to freshen our portfolios and have a lot of fun in the process! Thanks to Elsa Campbell of the Woodlands for the use of one of the most gorgeous venues for our location and to Montana Party Rentals for allowing us to use a few rentals....A special thanks to Lauren for making it look so effortless and for putting together these inspiration boards!

Holiday....i love the hand stamped table cards that were created to greet our guests and the punch of color from the jewel pink rose. This typically would have been on the boring side without them! Rules need not apply for Holiday!!!



Winter Scene...winter wheat from my families farm and white winter berries help achieve a diverse use of natural materials with interesting textures that don't compete with the wild table cloth...for a simpler look, one could have just used all white flowers in a clear vase for immediate distinction and definition between cloth and decor. This looked completely amazing in the stunning setting of the woodlands...and it left your eyes pleasantly seeking out each pleasant detail.



Fall Flair...I love the fall colors in this story. The red increases the vibrancy of the other materials, making each element POP!

Montana Wedding Details



"I want to share an incredible letter of praise that I just received from Laura and Mike, a wedding that I coordinated and designed flowers for in late August of this year...the photo story is incredible, as is the photographer that took them, Lauren Brown...! Enjoy!" LL


Dear Leslie,
Let me just say that having you help us with our wedding was
incredible. You are kind, creative, fun, and you pay extra special
attention to the details. You are also professional, prompt, and easy to work
with. We think you are simply adorable and we loved having you with us. In
fact, we both felt incredibly lucky to have you there to help direct our guests and bridal party,
given that our wedding was pretty large.

Leslie, you think of things that we never would have thought about! Here
are a few tiny examples that I would have forgotten.

  • You made made these beautifully decorated little kits for the wash rooms during the wedding reception filled with combs, hairspray, mouthwash, and mints. People really seemed to appreciated that.
  • Also, you organized a small ladies party while I got ready for the actual wedding, we had
    plenty of drinks, sandwiches, cookies, and fun before the ceremony. It felt so special to have all of my favorite people come and be with me during this time.
  • You even made beautiful ribbon wands for our flower girls to have on their place settings at dinner! They loved that!

My husband was a little shy at first about having a planner help, and
for us, you were the perfect fit. My mother, who happens to be quite
high strung, was concerned about many of the details with planning and
the flowers in particular. Leslie, you brought a level of comfort and
relaxation to her and we felt that it was imperative. You did a
fabulous job and my mother was elated.

The highlight for me was that we had also hired you to do our
flowers. I had no idea what was in store for us but when I saw what
you had done, my eyes almost popped out of my head! Your flowers were
the most amazing arrangements I have ever seen in my life and I
would not say that if I did not mean it. They were UNBELIEVABLE. Leslie, you
made our wedding look and feel so warm and amazing. Mike and I are
still talking about it and so are our guests. It was the most
beautiful time of our lives. Given the size of our event, you made
it all go more smoothly than any other wedding I have been to. There
was virtually no stress whatsoever!

Leslie, you are awesome and our wedding was personal, perfect, and
unforgettable. I really want other brides to know how extraordinary you are.
Cloud 9 is the best place to be on your wedding day.

Big Hugs,

Laura B. Sawaya
2410 Westridge Drive
Bozeman, MT 59715
www.laurabluepalmerart.com

"Laura is a local artist, and the flower selections that I made were a reflection of some of the dominating color pallets found in her work as I new she would love it! Mike is a bear biologist and I brought in rustic elements that he felt comfortable with, like moss and rocks!"




The guests were greeted with beautiful arrangements in rich, bold, colors. We placed a water table near the entrance with a great looking enamelware water dispenser and glassware, that looked elegant with a small arrangement and river rocks to weight the table cloth...




We almost made the call to move the ceremony, as it started spitting rain, but as the ceremony time grew near, the storm bypassed us, opening up the sky to a gorgeous gray-blue....




Laura and Mike had a non-traditional ceremony which encompassed several religions and spiritual elements...to bring together the difference of religions between thier families and friends....



Guests tossed petals at the newlyweds to help them celebrate....




The couples favorite drink...the mojito...was in plenitude during the cocktail hour, while the bride and groom snuck away for some portraits! Good thinking!!!



More photos by Lauren Brown Photography to be featured in an upcoming blog on this wedding...

Montana Spring Weddings by Leslie Lukas Weddings & Events


Just a quick note if you are looking ahead and planning a spring time wedding in the Rockies...you must be able to embrace the weather! Anything can happen in Montana spring, from snow, rain, wind and glorious sunshine or all four in the same day! Please take a look at this beautiful and intimate spring wedding. Photography by none other than Lauren Brown Photography of Southwest Montana...

Ruth and Robert's wedding happened to be on the only day in April where it didn't snow! What are the chances! The couple chose Leslie Lukas Weddings and Events while on a mission to find great vendors for their wedding at the Museum of the Rockies Wine Classic, in Bozeman, summer of 2007. At the Classic they saw the gorgeous flowers and design that we did, and they also found their caterer, Ryan Lafoley....you never know where your plans will formulate!