We're Connected!

ARGH! We have been without phone and internet service since Thursday morning and I'm thrilled to announce that once again, we have re-entered the land of the digital age! Can I tell you how much I missed internet access? I really didn't mind having the phones down but not having the internet was crippling {my husband's adjective}. Really, it was!

So, what have we been up to over here? Well, working on the stationery binders and the booth construction for Gwyenth Paige's debut at NSS in 6 short weeks! We're all getting mighty excited over here. It's gonna be a great show, I can feel it!

I'm also preparing to go on vacation this week. We're taking the kids to Florida for Spring Break and going with our dear friends. We have condos next to each other right on the ocean. You can only imagine how excited the kids are. We're leaving Friday and returning home the following Sunday. Should be a great trip. And we're all looking forward to it!

Have you marked your calendars for ArtPrize, yet? If not, you need to. I've got some amazing things in the works for the closing ceremony this year. Seriously, you'll be blown away! And the best part is that the closing ceremony is free and open to the public. So, there's no excuse not to attend! ArtPrize opens on Wednesday, September 22, and the closing ceremony takes place on Thursday, October 7. Make your plans to attend now!

~Jodi

Many thanks for the Gwyneth Paige support!

Just wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful emails and words of praise/encouragement on the launch of the Gwyneth Paige website. What a day yesterday was! I felt a combination of relief and excitement all day long; relief that we finally launched and excitement for what lies ahead for this new venture.

This week I'll be playing 'catch up.' Nathan and I had a fantastic time in Mexico last week. The weather was wonderful and it was so much fun to reconnect and spend uninterupted time with my husband. We decided we need to make the time for a trip like that every year!

Now it's time to tackle the piles on my desk. Slowly but surely, I'll dig out!

~Jodi

We're Live! We're Really Live!

You read that right. The Gwyneth Paige website is live!! It's been a massive undertaking and a true labor of love. And I owe a very, very special 'thank you' to our Creative Director, Andrea, for all of her amazing work on the site. She had amazing vision for the site and I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome.

Another 'thank you' goes out to Jen of Jen Kroll Photography for the AH-mazing photos of our suites. She patiently shot and re-shot until we achieved the perfect images. What can I say, Jen is the best!

So, now you need to hop right on over to the Gwyneth Paige website and tell me what you think! I'm anxious to hear your feedback.

Best,
Jodi

Notes From the Future "Mrs." - Introducing my vendors and venues

As I have been tying up all the loose ends for my wedding planning, it occurred to me that I have yet to introduce all my wedding vendors. Grand Rapids has some of the most talented people, and when I started to work in the wedding industry, I was blown away to learn all the wedding wonderfulness that is available.

Since I have many friends planning their own weddings right now, I get asked a lot about which vendors I am using. Therefore, I thought I would just share with everyone. So here we go...


RECEPTION VENUE: Cascade Hills Country Club

CEREMONY LOCATION: Westminster Presbyterian Church

WEDDING PLANNER AND EVENT DESIGN: In Any Event {Like you didn't guess this already, right? Wink, wink.}

FLORIST: Modern Day Floral

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jen Kroll Photography

VIDEOGRAPHER: Coastline Studios

CAKE: MiraBella Confections

INVITATIONS: Gwyneth Paige {Couture Letterpress}

BRIDAL GOWN: Rivini, purchased at Ultimate Bride in Chicago

BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Vera Wang, purchased at Vera Wang in Chicago

GROOM/GROOMSMEN ATTIRE: Calvin Klein suits

TRANSPORTATION: Grand Rapids Trolley Company


This is quite a winning combination of talents if I do say so myself. And honestly there are a handful of other fantastic wedding professionals that we have here in Michigan that I wish I could add onto the list. But you obviously have to have limits in wedding planning, and overall I am very, very happy.

June 26th cannot come soon enough!

~ Jillian

Clutch beauties for bridesmaids

I don't even have to say it, because you can see if for yourself. But we all know that I am going to say it anyway. These clutches are lovely, lovely, lovely. And perfect for a bridal party to carry.





Aren't we always thinking of ways to tie everything together anyway? I think this could do the trick. You can coordinate the fabric color to your wedding colors, and then surprise your bridesmaid with a beautiful clutch of their own. And then they will all look in sync with one another to boot. Check out this Emma Gordon shop for more info on this fantastic little purse option. A perfect wedding day detail, indeed.

~ Jillian


{Photo Credit: EmmaGordonLondon}

Notes From the Future "Mrs." - Back in action and makin' progress!!!

Right off the bat I am going to admit that I kind of went on a wedding planning hiatus recently. Why, you ask? Well, because sometimes it is important to just spend time with friends and catch up with family without making everything wedding-related. And since I have all the big details taken care of already, I took a 'planning break'. Which is fine. There are definitely lull moments in the wedding planning process for everyone, and it's normal. But after putting things on the back burner, I wanted to kick my planning back into gear.

So these past two weeks I have finally jumped on a few things, and thought I would share my progress:

1.) The groom and I officially decided on the suits for him and the groomsmen. They will be sporting beautiful black suits by Calvin Klein. The ties and other pieces are still up in the air though.
2.) We had our food tasting at the reception venue. The filet there is so good you can cut it with a butter knife, no joke. Currently we are debating between a lovely chicken with artichoke sauce or the jumbo grilled shrimp to pair with the filet. Yum!
3.) As we mention on our main website, In Any Event offers beautiful rendering boards to their clients. So I have started my sketches of the event design for my wedding. I can't wait to you all these renderings as soon as I am finished!
4.) We {Jodi and I} have been collecting wonderful items at local antique stores. But obviously the details of exactly what we have been buying shall remain mum because I don't want to give away too much ;)
5.) And last but not least, I have been working on more of the specifics for the rehearsal dinner. Because we can't forget to make the rehearsal dinner fabulous!

Next week, I will spill the full list of vendors that we have selected to use at the wedding now that final decisions have been made. So anyone planning a wedding here in the Midwest {or anywhere, really} can see some wonderful talent that we have in this neck of the woods!

~ Jillian

The GR Wedding Experience, a success!

Let me just say, participating in the GR Wedding Experience was a great way to spend this past Sunday. Being able to debut Gwyneth Paige was something we have been eager to do since... well, honestly since the idea popped into Jodi's head a long while back. And now we finally got to opportunity to show people what the line is all about.


We would like to send out a huge 'thank you' for all the support from the brides and fellow vendors who attended the show. We could not be more grateful for all the wonderful compliments said about our new letterpress invitation company. I am happy people are loving the collections as much as we do!


For a recap on the show, and to see more of the lovely photos taken by Jen Kroll, please hop over to our Gwyneth Paige blog to read more. Next stop for us, the National Stationery Show in New York City!

~ Jillian

Recipe box goodness, don't you love it?

This recipe box is too adorable for words {and, conveniently, comes in two of the colors that I want for my future kitchen}. My lovely maid of honor, or matron of honor rather, found this Martha Stewart recipe box at Macy's and we fell in love with it. It is cute, cute, cute.

But what's more fantastic than the actual box, is the way my MH is going to use it at my bridal shower. Every shower invitation that was sent out included a vintage-inspired recipe card and a request for each girl to write down her favorite recipe to help start my first recipe box. I can tell my MH really has it in her mind to personalize my shower, because this is so me {I secretly aspire to be a fantastic cook...Giada De Laurentiis is kind of a hero of mine, not even going to lie}.

Don't you want one of these too? Mine is the blue one shown above, and it's real pretty. And the fantastic idea of incorporating this into a bridal shower is definitely one to steal. So steal on friends!

~ Jillian

{Photo Credit: Macys}

The Wedding Experience at the Amway

As Jodi mentioned in her post yesterday, there will be a fantastic bridal show this weekend being held at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. It is called The GR Wedding Experience, and we are looking forward to seeing all the vendors and lovely brides that will be attending.

We are especially excited to finally show everyone the Gwyneth Paige {Couture Letterpress} up close and personal. I know you have heard us rave about it a lot lately, and we hope you forgive us for that. We can't help it. The collections truly are stunning, and we are so happy to be able to offer luxurious letterpress stationery to brides. Come down and sneak a peek if you are in the area!

Here is the show information if you are interested in attending the show...

The GR Wedding Experience
Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
227 Pearl Street, NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
12pm - 5pm
(Tickets are $10 per person)

Hope to see you there!

~ Jillian

The Black Screen of Death

Yes, that's what I've dubbed yesterday. The day of, 'The Black Screen of Death.' For some reason my laptop decided it was the perfect morning to bite the dust. And of course, it happened at the most inopportune time. Doesn't it always go that way!

So, yesterday was spent buying a new computer, retrieving files from my on-line back-up service and shipping the new computer out for all the necessary installation work. ARGH! What a pain this has been. All I can say is that I'm thankful this didn't happen in the middle of a huge event. But, I'm gonna be without a computer for a couple of days and that doesn't make me too happy.

So, did anyone watch the Bachelor on Monday night? Yes, I'll admit that I've watched all 14 seasons of that stupid show. It's my guilty pleasure. And I'll also admit that I didn't like Jake's pick. At all. I was a huge Tenley fan. She was so darn adorable and I appreciated everything she stood for. {I can't believe I'm even admitting this to you all! Please don't think less of me!}

While we're relatively slow over here, Nathan and I decided it would be a great time to steal away for a couple of days and head to the sunny beaches of Mexico! We're leaving in 11 days and I'm so excited. This is our first vacation together without any kids in 6 years. And it's long over-due. I see a lot of books, walks on the beach, snorkeling and trips to the spa in the near future!

If you live in the Grand Rapids area, be sure to visit the Gwyneth Paige booth {our sister company} at The Wedding Experience this Sunday at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. We thought we'd get our feet wet prior to the NSS show. We'll be located in the Imperial Ballroom; my favorite room in the hotel.

Hope you're all well. And that you each have a great day today!
~Jodi