One Carnation, under God

Carnations have SUCH a bad rep. They're thought of as cheap, cheesy, and many think the only place they belong is in a funeral arrangement (yeah, when paired with babys breath)

Personally, I happen to LOVE carnations. When they are done the right way, they are BEYOND fabulous. They are also insanely cheap. So brides on a budget...make your entire wedding all about carnations. I promise you will love it!

I just love how fluffy carnations can look....like a baby peony! Well not quite....but you can achieve the look of expensive, perfect peonies for a fraction of the cost when bunching carnations together. It gets that soft, fluffy, airy look that is just SO romantic...and you can also achieve a tight, modern look which I love equally as much!

Carnations are perfect for bridal showers, baby showers, and other occasions you want to make beautiful without spending a boatload.

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pommander balls made with carnations placed on top of tall vases...such a statement!

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a beautiful, perfect bouquet of carnations in shades of pink

This centerpiece was from my besties bridal shower

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I just DIE for these carnation covered cakes!

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LOVE this design for escort cards...so soft and pretty, absolutely genius!

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LOVE the color gradient.

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These absolutely take my breath away. STUNNING!

old candles=new vases

I am a creative genius. As an event planner, I have a collection of vases that basically looks like a Michael's store threw up in my garage. As the most phenomenal hostess on the planet, I obviously always have candles burning so that my home smells divine. Ever heard that to easily get candle wax off of something, you can freeze the item and it pops right off? Me neither, until my friend Roberto at one of my fave rental companies, Rentals To Remember, told me this easy little trick.

This is where my creative genius side comes out. I burn candles all the time, and I was just throwing away the simple glass containers they came in. NOT ANYMORE! I stick those bad boys in the freezer for a few hours, then stab the hardened wax a few times with a knife to loosen it, and VOILA, you have a new vase! Then I just soak off the labels and run it in the dishwasher. SO FAB SO CHEAP SO ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY.

I use these everywhere....for cotton balls in my bathroom, for flowers, for pens/pencils...You can use them to display cake pops in at a party, or put straws/utensils in...the options are endless!

Here's some pics...excuse the quality I just used my phone....I wasn't about to stage a photoshoot I HAVE WEDDINGS TO PLAN!

before and after

DIY Branch Centerpieces

It doesn’t take long to realize just how expensive weddings can be. $1200 for INVITATIONS? They’re paper! $200 a centerpiece? Who wants to spend that for something you use for a few hours? After the initial panic sets in, you may find yourself trying to figure out how to have the wedding of your dreams without going bankrupt. How can you have a fabulous centerpiece without breaking the bank? DIY, of course!

When I decided to start my own event planning company, I knew the best way to get the word out was to host a launch party with a friend who had recently opened a bakery (shameless plug...you MUST check out Select Confections...to die for! www.selectconfections.com). We were both new business owners, and on a VERY tight budget. We tried to save money wherever we could. I had to get creative to come up with a centerpiece that was glamorous and CHEAP. I had seen beautiful centerpieces using manzanita branches dripping with crystals, but those were way out of my budget.

I did a little nature hike (ok I walked to my backyard) and started collecting branches. I spray-painted them black, let them dry, then hit them with a healthy dose of spray adhesive, and coated them with Martha Stewarts black onyx glitter. Once these humdrum sticks were dry and transformed into glamorous pieces of magic, I stuck them into a piece of floral foam that I had cut to fit into the bottom of a 20” cylinder vase. Obviously floral foam is hideous, so I had to cover it up. I used black sand from Michaels to fill the bottom of the vase, and topped it off with black glitter for added sparkle. I’m a firm believer that you can never have too much shimmer, sparkle, or shine, so I tossed some clear gems in the vase.

Now that I had the branches firmly anchored in the vase, it was time for more sparkle. I couldn’t afford beautiful strands of crystals to hang from the branches, so I had to improvise. I found clear acrylic gems at Michaels for $3.99 a bag, and they had holes in them that I could string black wire from. I wrapped these around the branches in random places, and the impact was fantastic. The picture doesn’t do it justice...when the candlelight hit the centerpieces, they sparkled and shimmered and looked absolutely gorgeous, if I do say so myself!

I had a lot of the supplies on hand (the vases, which I had used for another event, were the most expensive part!), but if I had to guess I would say it cost about $30 a centerpiece, including the vases. You can get spray paint for $0.99 a can, and you could always try skipping the spray adhesive and just glittering the freshly spray painted branch. Also, Martha Stewart glitter is the couture of glitter, so you could always do silver or white glitter from the dollar store (which would look best if you used silver or white spray paint).

the finished project