Candie & Brendon – July 26, 2008

I was so lucky to help with the wedding of Candie and Brendon on July 26 at Tibbetts Creek Manor in Issaquah. The bride was a true princess and her prince was so handsome in a custom made kilt that was beautifully sewn by the bride’s Maid of Honor.

The palette for the wedding was shades of blue with touches of red and silver. The colors were chosen based on the tartan colors of the groom’s kilt.

The tent was decorated with paper lanterns in different sizes and shades of blue.

Candles in crystal holders were hung around the perimeter of the tent with white and blue ribbon. We used red floral gel in the holders to bring in a punch of color.

The centerpiece was a single bloom of blue hydrangea placed in a delicate glass bowl. We wrapped the base of the bowl in navy blue tulle. The table numbers used a peacock graphic which was used on the invitations, too.

The bride chose a beautiful cake from Mike's Amazing Cakes. The floral arrangement included blue hydrangea, black baccara roses and thistles (a traditional Scottish flower). These flowers were used in the bouquets and the men's boutonnieres were thistles.

You can see more photos of this beautiful wedding on the the photographer’s blog:
Heather Lynn Photographie

Kristi & Adam – July 19, 2008

Congratulations to Kristi and Adam who were married on July 19, 2008 in a beautiful ceremony at A Country Location. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The location could not have been more perfect!

Kristi was a beautiful bride and so organized. She designed the centerpieces and assembled them with the help of a friend on the day of the wedding. They turned out beautifully.

Kristi chose a beautiful color palette of sage green, purple and ivory.

Kristi and a friend made the centerpieces that day. They included cream roses, purple hydrangea and green amaranthus

The tent was decorated with paper lanterns in the wedding colors.

Kristi and Adam are the 'perfect pair' and their cake was beautifully decorated with ivory fondant, white flowers and sage green pears

Photography was done by the talented Clinton James. Check out his photos of this fabulous wedding here.

First Shout-Out!

I am super excited to have received my first shout-out on a blog! A couple weeks ago, I coordinated a 1st birthday party for a dear friend of mine. We planned a Cirque du Soleil theme for the party with bright colors, polka dots, stars & moons as our design elements. The party turned out fabulous. We draped fabric across the ceiling to make it look like the inside of a tent. And, we had the most ‘amazing’ cake from Mike’s Amazing Cakes. The cake was modeled after the Cirque character that served as our inspiration for the event.

Today, the photographers (the amazing and wonderful Red Fish Blue Fish Photography) for the party posted some teaser photos. They look great and I’m excited to see the rest of the pictures. Take a look at the pictures and you can see some of the decor as well as a great shot of the invitation that I printed on my Gocco. And, yes, that’s me with my arms full of drinks. A coordinator’s work is never done! But, at least I am stylish in that feather boa.

More photos to come once we get the finished product.

Why hire a wedding planner?

I believe that most brides start their wedding planning with the intention to do all of the planning and coordinating themselves and without the help of a wedding planner. For many brides, the idea of a wedding planner might seem synonymous with luxury or an over-the-top wedding with an unlimited budget.

But, somewhere along the way, most brides find themselves asking the question: “Should I hire a planner?”. I might be a little bit biased, but I believe that the answer to this question should be a resounding “YES!” and here’s why.

1. Time

I have heard that it takes over 250 hours to plan the average wedding and that’s not counting the inevitable do-it-yourself projects that many brides will undertake. That practically amounts to a full-time job for a bride who is most likely already working or going to school on a full-time basis. An event planner can help you manage your time in many ways. Here are just a couple:

• Knowledge & Experience with Vendors – a wedding planner has already assembled knowledge and experience with a variety of vendors. A good wedding planner should be able to suggest vendors who are reputable and will likely be a good fit for your needs. That saves you a significant amount of research time.
• Handling the Details – a wedding planner can provide significant help on some of the more mundane details of your wedding. Wouldn’t you rather shop for dresses while your wedding planner coordinates blocks of hotel rooms and arranges transportation for your out-of-town guests?

2. Budget
Many couples may not believe that they can afford to hire a wedding planner. However, a wedding planner will most likely save you money in the long-run. Many couples will end up exceeding their budget during the planning process. By recommending reputable vendors, helping you with contracts and sharing the tips and tricks that can only be learned by experience, a wedding planner will help you set a reasonable budget and stick to it!

3. Inspiration
Some brides already have a clear vision of their dream wedding. But, for many brides, wedding planning is a jumble of themes, color schemes, bridesmaid dresses, cake flavors and more. A wedding planner should be able to listen to your ideas, understand your style and provide you with the ideas and inspiration to create a sublime event.

4. Letting you sit back and enjoy your day
This was my primary reason for hiring a day-of-wedding coordinator for my October 2007 wedding. I knew that I did not want to be tracking down a thousand little details on the day of my wedding. It was also very important to me that my family and friends be able to simply enjoy the celebration without worrying about executing my wedding plans. It gave me such peace-of-mind to know that I had a professional and capable person responsible for getting things setup, managing my vendors and ensuring that the day stayed on schedule. And, I can say from experience, that having that peace-of-mind is priceless.

So, those are my reasons on why hiring a wedding planner is a good idea. What about you? What is your motivation for using a wedding planner for your big day?

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for Belle Nuit Events! I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and Belle Nuit.

First off, I’m Christine. I started Belle Nuit Events in 2007 soon after my own wedding. From making the invitations to designing the decor to working with my vendors, I loved every moment of wedding planning and being a part of the bridal community. After my wedding was over and I returned home from my honeymoon, I found myself feeling a void where my wedding used to live. I realized that I have always felt inspired and fulfilled anytime I have had the opportunity to act as the party planner for my own celebrations or for those of family and friends. And that’s when the idea for Belle Nuit Events was born. 

I realize that planning my own wedding and a few parties does not necessarily make me the most experienced event planner out there. But, everyone has to start somewhere, right? Ten years as a technical project manager has sharpened my attention to detail and developed my ability to take even the most complex task and break it down into simple, easy to manage pieces. And, I have a natural creativity that allows me to design an event that speaks to the individual and doesn’t just follow what’s trendy at the time. I know that the combination of these skills plus a pure love of helping people celebrate the joys in their life will make me a darn good event planner. 

So what can Belle Nuit do for you? Anything, really. From full event design to custom invitations to day-of-event coordination, I can work within your needs and budget to help ensure that your celebration is truly a belle nuit (beautiful night).

This year, I plan to focus on building my event portfolio and so I’m offering discounted rates on event design, invitations and day-of-event coordination. I hope you’ll keep visiting this blog as a source of ideas and inspiration for weddings and other celebrations.

Thanks for reading!