The details

Ashlie and Jeremy work out of their house, so we shouldn’t share their contact info here for privacy reasons. Now, don’t go assuming that they are a budget vendor because they don’t have a studio. Quite the opposite. They put their hearts into their work and they deserve the commission they charge. Visit their website: www.wearetheparsons.com, for more details.

Until recently, Marco worked with Jan Simonelli of New Blue Photography, but these days he works with Chuck Arlund. They are definitely worth checking out!

Contact Information

Photomementos
506 E. 44th Street
Kansas City, MO 64110
(816)554-7582
www.photomementos.com

The venue features loft architecture and plenty of space to hold both your ceremony and reception.  The space can transition into whatever you are looking for and hold anywhere from 50 – 500 guests.  You are allowed to bring in your own vendors, including caterer, but the space can provide you with a list of preferred vendors.

Amenities Include:

• Tables and chairs (Sizes and Colors Vary Per Floor)
• Professional Sound System and Specialty Lighting
• Lobby Host, Elevator Assistant & House Manager
• Covered Parking Spaces
• Security Guard (off duty police officer)
• Curb Side Drop Off at Front Door for Guests
• Handicap Accessible

Contact Information
Club 1000
1000 Broadway Street
Kansas City, MO 64105
(913) 649-0223
www.club1000kc.com

The rooftop ballroom offers breathtaking views of the Plaza and striking architectural details. It can accommodate several hundred guests easily, but if you are planning an especially large event, you might consider the ballrooms downstairs. Though they don’t have quite the view, they are equally beautiful and can hold up to 700 guests!

Amenities Include:

• Rooftop ballroom overlooking Country Club Plaza
• Pre-function areas for guests to enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
• Four-star banquet staff
• Overnight accommodations for Bride and Groom on wedding night
• Wedding Suite champagne service
• Special room rates for out-of-town guests

Contact Information
Intercontinental Hotel
401 Ward Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64112
www.kansascityic.com

The mansion is four floors with 15,000 sq. ft. of space.  Onsite parking is offered, as is a 2,200 sq. ft. Carriage House that can be used for getting ready or for over night accommodations.  The space offers in-house catering and includes rentals like linens, microphones, and even a frozen drink machine!

Contact Information

Loose Mansion
101 East Armour Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 960-6501
www.loosemansion.com

The Terrace on Grand offers 5,000 feet of urban, loft-style, indoor event space.  Just blocks from the Sprint Center, KC Power and Light, the Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts and the Kansas City Star building, the rooftop terrace has fantastic views of downtown Kansas City.

The space can hold up to 250 seated guests, and up to 300 not seated.  They have their own onsite cater but they also allow you to bring in outside caterers.

Contact Information
Terrace on Grand                                                                                   1520 Grand Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 527-0026
www.terraceongrand.com

Perhaps, your father just lost his job or you or your fiance didn’t get that pay raise you were planning on. The old wedding budget seems to be getting tighter, and you don’t really want to cut anything. Your wedding is one of the biggest events of your life. Your wedding is not particularly a “Que Sera Sera” situation! What do you do?

You know that you must have a place to get married and have a reception in. You’ve got to have a wedding dress. Your friends won’t know about your wedding without “Save the Date” and Invitation cards. You’ve got to pay for your officiant and a wedding certificate, not to mention your wedding rings. What can you cut?

Disaster Weddings
Then you start thinking about your wedding vendors. Could you get a DJ, Photographer, Caterer, or Florist on a budget. You know you probably could, but you begin to think of the weddings you’ve been to that have fallen apart, and you realize that it’s altogether too dangerous to get these vendors for pennies.

You remember your friend Martha’s wedding, where all her guests got sick from the food, or Sarah’s wedding, where the DJ kept on playing obnoxious music, making shrewd remarks before his speaker system broke down and the music just faded away.

Then you think of Abby in tears when all her wedding photos came through blury or poorly lit, because she chose to go with George’s Budget wedding Photography. What about Anna’s wedding florals, where half were dead and the rest were overly romantic when Anna’s tastes were minimalist and urban.

You think of the old saying, “You get what you pay for,” and then it hits you. Gosh, I’m really up against a challenge. How do I find great vendors without going over my budget? Sadly, I can’t tell you much about caterer’s or dj’s, but I can tell you what I know about working with florists, while still being on a budget.

Exquisite Florals on a Budget
Well, I have good news. It is possible to have great florals that fit your style and goals while on a budget. I’ve come up with 6 tips that’ll be helpful to you on your wedding vendor journey.

• Understanding

The number one thing you need in a florist is absolutely free.

Your florist must understand your goals and style, and they must be able to offer a product that will match all of those. The great thing about this understanding or perspective on the part of your florist is that it’s free. You don’t have to pay extra for it.

Don’t go with a florist that doesn’t understand your style. You’ll regret the decision for many years and certainly every time you look at your wedding photos or videos. Don’t let the florist just tell you that they know exactly what you want. Give them a test. Ask them what they’ve done for other brides that have been similar to you in style. If you like the things they’re talking about, then you may have found a good match!

• Keep Floral Seasonality in Mind
  

Flowers increase or decrease greatly in price, depending on the season. If you stick to colors and flowers that are in season, you’ll see greatly reduced material costs for your wedding.

So, with that in mind, it’s best to be flexible when it comes to the exact flower types and colors that you feel you must have. It’s much better to think about your florals in terms of your overall style and goals rather than to imagine specific flowers and colors that you must have for each item.

Be up front here when you talk to potential florists. Tell me that you’d like to go with seasonal flowers and ask them what flowers and colors are in season around the time of your wedding.

• Know your Budget

Even if your florist understands your style and goals, if they don’t have a good idea of your budget, then they won’t be able to come up with a good game plan for you. Do you want to emphasize personal flowers, ceremony flowers, or reception flowers. What is most important to you?

It’s best to have a rang here. So maybe you’re hoping to spend between $2,000 and 2,500 or $3,000 and 3,500.

• Size

When it comes to the Personal Flowers, keep size in mind.

Simple, small to medium sized bouquets and boutonnieres can be very elegant and pleasant. Simple can be exquisite and tastefull. Single flower bouttonieres are often the best ones (see our article on bouts), and smaller bouquets are much easier to deal with throughout the day than dragging around a 20 flower bouquet.

Also, the size of your wedding party really does matter. There is a significant cost difference between buying 6 bridesmaids bouquets versus 2 or 15 boutonnieres versus 5. Keep your wedding party size in mind, if you are operating on a tighter than preferred budget.

• A Strong Theme

Focus on theme rather than quantity. Ask your florist to focus on carrying a strong theme throughout your wedding rather than using sheer quantity of florals to overwhelm your guests.

Try to stay away from large buffett, altar, and table arrangements. The more flowers, the higher the cost. Though abundant, fresh cut flowers at the ceremony and reception will have a great impact on your event, a strong theme will often do the same. If your florist create designs and arrangements that follow a specific style and theme, often a big impact can be made.

• Candles, Candles, Candles

Candles offer a big bang for their buck. They give the right ambiance to almost any setting and event. Typically, a florist has much less production and set up time with candles than with fresh cut flowers. Ask your florist if they have any creative ideas for candle centerpieces at your reception or ceremony sites.

Conclusion
So, breathe easy. You can have a great wedding with beautiful florals and décor, all the while, keeping budget in mind throughout.

Think about your style. Think about your goals. Look into the seasonality and colors of specific flowers. Consider the size of your bouquets, arrangements, and wedding party. Tell all of these things to your florist and let them do the grunt work and come up with a game plan—after all, it’s what they do for a living.

Overview:
Pech Limousine offers unique chauffeured classic Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Lincolns, Mercedes, and Jaguar sedans and stretch limousines for weddings, special events and airport transportation in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Pech Limo is a family-owned business dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism and service.

Slawik Pech:
When you meet Slawik, you know you’ve met someone special. He moves a mile a minute and can give you the exact address for just about any business in town. Spend five minutes with him, and you won’t wonder anymore how a fellow of his youth owns and operates one of the largest limo companies in the Greater Kansas City area.

Swjatoslaw “Slawik” Pech started Pech Limousine 11 years ago. Prior to that and in the early stages of Pech Limo, he ran his own roofing company. In his early years in KC, Slawik distributed papers for the Pitch, Explorer KC, and Discover Mid-America. Paper distribution, roofing, and limo service may not seem like they have that much in common, but they all take impeccable timing, top tier customer service, and a lot of detail management.

The People:
Apart from the main man, Mr. Pech himself, Slawik’s future bride-to-be, Erin, helps him run the company. Also in the mix is Steve Sterner, acting as Pech’s Business Manager. Steve works hard to make sure Pech’s customers get the best of service and that the drivers are taken care of. With nearly 20 drivers, several mechanics, auto specialists, and additional office assistance, Pech Limo ferries around thousands of folks per week.

The Service:
Building a quality limo service is about building trust. In simple terms, you’ve got to be able to convince a prospect in 10 minutes over the phone that he or she can rely on you to get them from point A to point B. It is not easy to build systems and processes that create that kind of trust from your prospects or customers, but Pech Limo has done it. Pech has that trust.

Most of Pech’s customers are repeat customers. In other words, once a customer uses the services of Pech Limo, he or she keeps on using them over and over again. I asked Slawik why this was, and here is what he told me. “It’s a mixture of things. For our level of service, our prices are very competitive. We haven’t raised our rates in 10 years. We have many great reviews. Our customers know they can trust in our service and our performance.”

In Conclusion:
For 11 years, Slawik Pech and company have been offering great limo and transportation services for Kansas Citians going to proms, parties, weddings, business meetings, and even the airport.
With many limousines, Bentleys, towncars, stretch SUVs, the only Jaguar stretch limo in Kansas City, and even a couple Rolls Royces, Pech Limo has variety and luxury to offer. If you need a beautiful ride for one to thirty folks, Pech has got your covered.
Give them a call at 816.756.3100. Erin, Steve, or Slawik would love to chat with you about your transportation needs and desires.

For more information, visit their website at www.PechLimo.com. Or you can visit their blog at PechLimo.wordpress.com.

That’s right! Neil was just listed as one of Kansas City’s top 20 business people still in their 20’s. They gave him a nice little write up too, with only one little mistake… They listed us as Blue Boutique instead of Blue Bouquet.

The other business…

In case there is any confusion, Blue Bouquet (that’s us) is a floral design shop that specializes in events. Blue Boutique is a lingerie and novelty shop in Salt Lake City. One of our clients suggested that in the spirit of entrepreneurship we should ride the wave of the press, start a second shop out of the basement and call it Immoral Floral. Who knows, it might be a good idea…

On a serious note, we are all very proud of Neil for making it into Ingrams. All of us at Blue Bouquet put great effort and care into the work we do, and it’s an honor to get such recognition for it. So, without further ado, here’s what Ingrams had to say.

Neil Carr | Blue Boutique (Blue Bouquet)

The right environment, applied to the right vision at the right stage of life, is a powerful recipe for entrepreneurship. For Neil Carr, that environment was Spur Communication, which he calls “a brilliant little marketing agency here in KC,” From owner David Svet, Carr developed two concrete operational guidelines: “First, that a small team, if clever and flexible, can usually accomplish more than a large one,” he says, and “second, that efficiency, even for a small team, is impossible if the focus is too broad.” Thusly inspired, Carr and his wife, Drue, opened Blue Boutique Blue Bouquet, a floral and design shop that draws on his design degree background and his wife’s 12 years in floral design. After launching in 2007 with modest revenues of $30,000, they dashed past the quarter-million mark last year, and Carr anticipates more than $350,000 in sales this year. That would place his blossoming business just above the midline in terms of industry revenue metrics. The niche they have created for themselves: “No retail, no corporate, only events,” says Carr 28.
Dennis Boone | Ingram’s Magazine.

When we moved into our new shop we knew we wanted to showcase some local art on our otherwise bare walls. Debbie has been a perfect fit for us. Her work is intricate, rich in texture, drenched in color and yet very simple at the same time. As a person, Debbie is warm and approachable. The same can be said for her textiles.

There’s a few pictures here, but they hardly capture the colors. You must come down and see for yourself. The shop will be open this Friday evening, June 5th, for “First Friday”. If you’ve never been down to the Crossroads for a first friday, now’s the time. Our shop is located at 517 East 18th St.

Artist’s Statement:

“The exhibition is a collection of interpretive studies of the color wheel. Using the process of color mixing and percentage gradation dyeing, each woven panel reveals the beautiful communication that passes between one color thread intersecting another. Her panels are comprised of vibrating colors and elegant patterns, narratives in flux according to one’s proximity to each piece.

Harmony is the key element in my artwork and can be defined as the pleasing arrangements of parts that bring an inner sense of order. In my weavings these arrangements are brought out in a gradation of color, pattern, spacing and scale.

The process of weaving fascinates me from beginning to end; and the ability to control that process is an integral part of my work: drawing plans, drafting the pattern and scale, and dyeing the yarn using a gradation percentage process. I am always aware of the space between each thread shot, as well as the lines the thread makes itself.

When installing a piece, I am aware of the space around the woven panel. All these elements within the process are equally essential in creating stimulating, rich, and calming art.”

Since graduating in 2007 from the Kansas City Art Institute with a B.F.A. in Textiles, Debbie Barrett-Jones has exhibited her work throughout the United States. Along with weaving large-scale pieces for homes, businesses and sanctuaries, including one six-panel commission for a church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Kansas City, she also creates small, intimate pieces, such as scarves and shawls. With each weaving, careful consideration goes into color, composition and material. Color is where she finds inspiration, and that is why she hand-dyes her materials.

Contact Info:

Debbie Barrett-Jones
816-718-6732
www.DebbieBarrettJones.com
www.BillySueTextiles.Etsy.com