A country carnival wedding...

The most amazing thing happened this past year.  I was able to work with a most fabulous lady, Cassie LaGreca and her fiance Chris Bailey, originally from Billings, now residing in Chicago.  This couple was anything but ordinary and they wanted to make guest enjoyment a high priority on their wedding day--from a special MP3 event, to relay games, and a beer garden.  Now, I have seen blogs and magazine spreads on country carnival themed weddings, but this was the first of its kind for so many reasons. 

Cassie works as a graphic designer for an event planning company called Kehoe Designs in Chicago....and the photo story by Nashan.com below will tell you a lot, but let me explain a bit of the rest at the end of this photo display....

The day was filled with so many details that flowed flawlessly together by the wonderful vendor team that was in place.  Cassie and Chris are a true DIY couple and exhaustively created so many of the parts and pieces to this unique wedding that there are too many to count!  It had an MP3 event during the ceremony where guests were asked to go on a journey with the cupids of love, all the while a duck race down the creek unfolded the "winner" and what last name Cassie was to take or Chris was to take (Lagreca, the brides maiden name, won and the groom is now Chris LaGreca!)  The bride, also a burlesque dancer, was serenaded by her "girls" late night, and oh....if you could have only been a guest!

Whatever your dream plans are, be sure to enlist the services of an experienced wedding planner to help all your carefully made props, decor, and details come together on the wedding day.  Cassie and I had a ball working on this wedding together....hope it inspires the DYI'er in you!

Ingredients for this perfect day:

Leslie Lukas Weddings & Events--event planning, day of management and decor assistance

Nashan Photographers--Melanie Nashan

Montana Epicurean--unique country carnival fare! and provided the bar, too!

The Bad Larry's--the band

Moonstone Pictures--videography

Montana Party Rentals--event tents

Kehoe Designs--unique event props, signage and video story booth

Ice Cream Truck---awww, you'll have to call for the source!

Elles Belles--unique pies, cupcakes and other desserts

Roys Barn--venue

Tonic Salon--Hair and Make-up

Dresses--Vintage Couture

A special new spot...Big Sky Resort

So, in all my years of wedding planning, I have never come across this view of Lone Peak...

mainly because I am not a down-hill skier and to typically get this view, you need to be one!  This image was captured by none other than Melanie Nashan, owner and much published and accredited photographer of Nashan.com. I am very happy that I got the opportunity to ride the lift and organize this very beautiful and intimate wedding.

Thanks so much to Natalie Miller, who hired me to plan and facilitate her intimate Big Sky Wedding. I was in for the treat of a lifetime.  While I love large affairs and celebrations, there is something very humble, intimate, and lovely about small weddings.

Natalie and Shawn chose a beautiful day in late July (7.23) and wanted a vast mountain view to take them into wedded bliss.  They are both avid skiers and love coming to Big Sky.  When they started looking for places, and telling people what they wanted to do, they happened to come across a gentlemen that worked the lifts at Big Sky Resort and told them of this serene place with a larger than life view of Lone Mountain.  It required them to purchase a lift ticket for each guest, and the friendly staff at Big Sky Resort gave them discount passes for the group.  The staff also drove the ceremony chairs up the mountain for us...and the florals.  If you are looking for a resort atmosphere, with an incredible view, look no further than the top of the world (at least that's my name for it) at Big Sky Resort. 

The other really wonderful thing about their wedding is they chose to be married on a Friday, so that they could enjoy the weekend with all of the guests, with several planned activities and a trip to Yellowstone National Park.  So, the wedding day schedule went like this:  Ceremony took place in the early afternoon at Big Sky Resort and then their dinner reception took place in a rented Penthouse at Moonlight Basin Resort. I turned them on to Private Chef, Sarah Knecht, to prepare their meal, and voila!  A perfect and intimate Montana Wedding!

Here's me, spreading petals moments before guests arrive...tee hee, you never get to see pictures of me actually working...so here you go!

 To view more photos of this wedding go to http://nashanclients.com/RedCart/ and select the Brown.Miller wedding by Melanie!  Cheers!

The importance of an engagement session...

Here are some beautiful images captured by Morgan Lamare of Nicole and Alex.  They will be wed in exactly two weeks at Chico Hot Springs, in Paradise Valley.  I can't wait to do the flowers for Nicole and Alex as she is so stylish with her color selection of deep purples, teal, chartreuse greens and peacock feathers.  The flowers are going to be a comination of orchids, calla lilies and other interesting textures. Oh, and she is going to wear a birdcage veil...

Anyway, the reason for this post is the importance of going through an engagement session with your photographer.  It will allow the photographer to get to know you and you to get a feel for how they will communicate with you on the wedding day...and then, you will get images like these: