Courtney Leahigh Reception

This past Saturday we had the utmost pleasure to be a part of Courtney Leahigh's beautiful wedding and reception!! Courtney is a girl after my own heart for so many reasons... but the first being that she found most of her decor from a website that I am more than obsessed with... Etsy!!! Etsy is a do-it-yourself-er's best friend -- it has hand-crafted EVERYTHING... seriously... anything that you can imagine.  It is GREAT for one-of-a-kind pieces and trinkets for your wedding day: from the garter to the glasses to the ribbons.  Seriously.  I'm even going to link it again here because I love it that much.


Courtney went all out on Etsy!  When she came in for her tasting, she showed us her vision with a lot of her items, but it wasn't until she came in on Friday that I really understood how much she had!! Her colors weren't your average blue or purple or black with red accents... she went for the more vintagey look: creams and muted yellows, pinks, and blues.  She had everything planned out... and I had the joy of helping put it together!! Courtney came in with beautiful doilies, helium tanks, ribbons, tins, and so much more.  Using our ivory colored linens as a base, she had Ballou's Rentals deliver blue-grey and champagne-khaki colored linen toppers for the tables -- adorable.  We put her card table together, as well as the front table in the lobby, and then went home in order to get some rest for the everything the next day!


Saturday morning arrived, and you'd thought I was a chicken with my head cut off!! I wanted everything to be perfect, from the lace doilies on the tables to the extra fabric on the stations, to the too cute balloons on the bar.  If you've ever blown up balloons with a helium tank before, you know how easy or hard it can be -- I knew nothing because I had never done it!  These balloons were not just ordinary balloons, mind you, they were huge, thick awesome balloons that did NOT want to tie.  Derek and I tried for several minutes just to get them to tie and I'm sure everyone around us thought we were crazy.  But, no worries, I AM the Balloon Tying Master so just add that to our list of "can-dos" for you :)  One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you have to make sure the balloons are full of helium -- completely -- and that the ribbon you are tying to it isn't too heavy because it will weigh the balloon down.  Thankfully, Courtney thought of this and had several back-ups ready for me :) She's so good!

She picked the cutest vases for her centerpieces -- vintage vases and little teacups with crocheted doilies and beautiful pink roses with Baby's Breath.

Everything was coming together as Courtney went upstairs to the rooftop of The Ice House to be married. Downstairs, we prepared everything for her cocktail hour.  During the cocktail hour, Courtney had two passed hors d'ouevres:  our famous Grilled Cheese sandwiches with smoked gouda and red pepper jam, and our take on Bristol's Green Chili Wonton! Guests were able to sit on the Terrace with our new patio furniture or relax inside until Courtney and Sean joined their guests.  Their band hailed from Nashville, TN -- The Downtown Band.  They were beyond great!! Truly one of the best bands I've seen... from oldies to Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, these guys did it all!! And the main singer sounds almost identical to John Mayer -- seriously. I might be a little bias because half of them live in my hometown, but I would honestly recommend them to anyone!! Check 'em out!!!


For their menu, Courtney and Sean chose four stations: The Veggie & Hummus Bar, The Slider Bar, The Dipping Station, and the Dim Sum Station.  Courtney even brought it special stir sticks to put into the sliders (seen below).  The stations looked great, and tasted even better! :)

The guests, bride and groom danced the night away... and enjoyed some delicious cake, as well as getting silly in the Fun Time Photobooth from Kenny Sauters.  Don't believe me?  Check out the shirtless groomsmen...

Courtney and Sean's wedding truly was a blast!! Even with minor bumps in the road... the sidewalk being torn up by the city, and the band having a two hour delay... everything turned out perfectly!! Congratulations you two!!

CRUSHED ICE EVENTS HAS GONE GREEN!!! 
On Monday, we filled the planters on the top of The Ice House with wonderful little goodies!! From bell peppers to beautiful herbs, we are trying out our green thumbs! Check back to see these little guys' progress!!

"eat, drink, and be merry"

Megan O'Conner Reception

Phew -- we made it!! Memorial Day Weekend (aka Wedding Weekend) was full of amazing couples, and our brides were all so beautiful... Sarah, Ali, and Megan, you were so different from one another, but all as equally gorgeous!


Our featured wedding this time is the lovely Megan's.  After Saturday, Lindsay, Erica and I were beat.  We weren't sure if we were going to have enough energy to make it through the day -- but then we realized all the fun things we were going to get to create for Megan and we instantly perked up! Sometimes, it's better than coffee!!


Megan let us put everything together for her -- from her ceremony decorations to her centerpieces to her cupcake table... we had our hands in it!  How did we remember it all, you ask??? Why, Megan thought of everything... gave us detailed instructions... and included it in this bible, I mean binder...

When I got there, my attention was immediately grabbed by one of my favorite wedding items right now: BURLAP! It was everywhere!! The table runners and even the triangle banners (so rustic and cute) were even burlap -- yeah, I was in complete bliss.  The flowers Megan picked out went perfectly too -- white hydrangeas and little green, circular wild flowers.  You're never going to guess what the vases were either, because then you'll really understand why I was freaking out about the decor... MASON JARS.  Yes.  Beautiful, simplistic, wonderful Mason jars.  Isn't it amazing how something that's been used for years has now surfaced as a popular decorative item?  Ok, so maybe my love for Mason jars might not be the healthiest, but... moving on.  She also incorporated chalkboards with pretty much everything -- the gift table, her table numbers, and her seating arrangements (with which we are now the owners.. super pumped!!).

Megan also found these old-timey-esque boxes that were just perfect for her gift table and cupcake table.  

Before the dinner, Megan chose to have a cocktail hour on the Mezzanine of The Ice House.  Around 8:15pm, the party moved down to enjoy this delicious menu:

Station 1
Citrus Butter Thyme Cod and a Strawberry, Walnut, and Goat Cheese Baby Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing

Station 2

Pasta!! Penne with Alfredo and Macaroni with Smoked Gouda topped with your choice of Sun-dried Tomatoes, Sauteed Mushrooms, Sauteed Onions, Smoked Gouda, Parmesan, Cheddar, and Chives

After dinner, flutes of champagne were passed out to all of the guests for a toast to the bride and groom.  Cupcakes were passed, and the dancing began!! It was truly one of the best receptions I have had the chance to be a part of.  Everyone was happy and enjoying themselves, and at the end of the night, I didn't even hear complaints about people's feet hurting!! But maybe it was because Megan included these in the bathroom:

It was a crazy weekend... full of mayhem that no one could have foreseen: broken elevators, ridiculous heat, a down fryer -- but we all made it through! Thanks once again to our awesome staff, even though none of them were too keen on this photo being taken after a 10 hour work day.  They smiled anyway, though, and that's just another reason why they're awesome.

"eat, drink, and be merry"

Derby Week Part 2: Oaks and Smokes

Oaks and Smokes was by far one of the coolest events I have ever been a part of... and it is an event near and dear to our hearts because it benefits our friends over at Kentucky Harvest.  Even though Oaks and Smokes was our third event of Derby week, we still wanted to make it the best event its ever been.


The day began at 8 am: Lindsay met the tour bus for the evening's band Here Come the Mummies and helped coordinate all of the set up.  I headed to the store to pick up the rest of the rocks glasses (P.S. if you drive a 2-door vehicle, do not fool yourself into thinking that you can fit 400 rocks glasses into your car. It will not work, and you will have to come back the next day to pick up the other half of the order. You have been warned.), and to find trees that would fit this picture we found:

All week, I kept my eyes peeled for any sort of fake-palm-tree-plant-thing that would work.. seriously though, anything was going to be better than what I had (which was nothing).. I was getting a wee bit desperate. After stomping around Lowe's and glaring at the three foot tall palm trees (what a tease), I headed to Home Depot, even though I'd already been there once earlier in the week.  At the light of Benson and Hurstbourne, I noticed a little plant/flower stand beside BD's Mongolian Grill, and drove right in just hoping that they might have something.  AND THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

Stuffing the car with as much as I could, I raced back to the Ice House to unload all of my findings so that I could race over to buy more flowers for the evening.  But, let me tell you, racing around isn't all it is cracked up to be.  After everything was unloaded, I proceeded to jump into the company's Ford Explorer, put it in reverse, and BAM! My whole world flashed before my eyes,  because in that moment, I thought I had backed into the band's tour bus.  I slowly, but with attitude and anger at myself, got out of the car to look and see just how bad the damage was... Now, I'm lucky.. really lucky... because I did not hit the tour bus.  I hit the unloading truck's tailgate extended bed (which is complete metal so there was NO damage in the slightest to their truck).  So I jumped back into the truck and took off -- texting Lindsay once I was at Doran Engal's just to let her know that the Explorer had been damaged.  In the flower shop, I focused on the task at hand: getting the best flowers I could for the event.  I didn't think about it again until the lady helping me couldn't get the back of the Explorer open... I won't tell you the curse words that flew through my head, but I think you can imagine.  Luckily, I work for great, understanding people and, rather than fire me, they hugged me... saying something about women drivers (blah blah..)... Here's a photo of my mishap:

Once that was over, I started my little projects.  First things first, get the tulips into hot water so they would open up!! Secondly, start spray painting the palm trees since it was rumored to rain that afternoon.  

I did run out of paint at one point, and hurried to Home Depot before the storm hit in order to finish the trees.  The tent was up over the Terrace, the band was practicing, our staff was filing in... it was all coming together!  Morgan and I sort of went a little crazy on the gold paint... but everything tied in so nicely!!

The beautiful Morgan helping me spray paint everything in sight

Our recreated picture

We might have gone a little overboard... but it was worth it!

Lindsay and I -- those are some genuine smiles right there

If you haven't heard the band Here Come the Mummies, go and watch them here. Seriously, so good! The crowd was loving them, and so were we!! Look who else even showed up... yeah, the comedian Ron White!!

The one thing you have to remember when running or planning an event is that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong and you have to stay prepared.  So, an hour before the event ended it began to storm.  I'm not saying a little rain here, a few lightning bolts there... I mean complete downpour with wind and lightning.  Everyone pitched in to get all of the station items inside the venue and up the stairs to the kitchen.  But, on that note, when you are going down wet steps in high heels, be extra careful.  If not, you will fall down the concrete stairs and end up with these bruises:

It's ok! I'm fine!

Through everything though, all of Derby week was a great time.  We truly are so appreciative of every event we are able to be a part of and couldn't ask for better clients.

Our staff is a huge part of why we are so different and successful -- they worked their tails off all week and were willing to do any crazy task we asked of them with a smile, and there's nothing in the world better than that!! So thank you staff!! You are absolutely fantastic and we love having each and every one of you as part of our team!! 

Until next time friends...

"eat, drink, & be merry"

Derby Week Part 1: Churchill Downs' Media Party

First and foremost, if you are like me, and a newbie to Louisville and the whole Derby thing... let me tell you, IT IS A WHIRLWIND of events that you will never truly understand until you experience them yourself!


So, to kick off Derby week at Crushed Ice Events and the Ice House, we had the amazing opportunity to host this year's Churchill Downs' media party!! We were all beside ourselves with excitement and wanted to make sure everything was ABSOLUTELY perfect, so Lindsay and I had an extremely long list of errands and ideas to make come alive... with about a day and a half to do it.


We found this photo and were dying to recreate it, but also add a little bit of our own personality to it:

Inspirational Photo

Our first trips were Tuesday -- Old Time Pottery (I found these great rectangular bamboo trays), Doran Engal (for some awesome flowers), and a night trip to the wonderful Hobby Lobby to find, in particular, red vases and scrapbook paper. Unfortunately our trip to Hobby Lobby was unsuccessful in the red vase category... even though we found a ton of other items for the rest of the week.

Our Hobby Lobby loot

So we decided to use the bottles that we inherited from our Apple Patch event (they painted them black... pretty neat!) instead of red vases... BUT... if you know where we can find those vases, PLEASE let me know. Please. We are dying to have these! We can use them for so much! Ok, petty plea over.


Wednesday was the event... but we began our designing early!  At 10 am, in my paint clothes, I was trying to paint the bamboo trays, realizing quickly that 1. primer does not spread well and 2. it would literally take all day.  Lindsay and I both looked at our list of things we still needed to do/purchase and headed out... adding spray paint on top of it all.


First, we stopped at The Rental Depot, and then went dumpster diving for granite.  Think I'm lying?  Check this out:

Lindsay finding the best pieces

After we found enough pieces, we raced over to Target, where Lindsay and I completed our outfits for the evening as well as purchasing other items for the event (hey, a girl's gotta do...), then over to Walmart, then to pick up more black ties... and then hurried over to Sam's Club in Indiana.  As soon as we pulled in, however, I remembered that Sam's Club doesn't take AMEX as payment. That's right, our frantic racing around and almost pulling our hair out was for nothing.  Lindsay and I paused to throw a hissy fit for a second, and then moved on.  Remembering that there was a Horner Novelty in Jeffersonville (right across the river), we hopped over there to buy plates for the evening.  As soon as we got into the checkout, I realized that they didn't take AMEX or check...... I thought a mental breakdown was going to happen.  I could see all of the plates being thrown to the ground and someone getting injured... but we kept our composure, laughed profusely, paid with Lindsay's card, and left.  SO, moral of the story is to NOT take an AMEX to Sam's Club or Horner Novelty.  Just don't do it.


But, once back at The Ice House, we began to put everything together -- I spray painted the trays (so much easier than painting.. Seriously.. and faster!), Lindsay decorated one of the stations in moss and flowers, got other stations ready, and then I finished the trays by putting the scrapbook paper inside.  All of this running around and craziness was then capped by us realizing we had NOTHING to put into the bottom of the tall vases to stand the flowers up on.  As I pass by the bar, it hits me.  ORANGES AND LEMONS.  So that is what we did.  We improvised, and by George, it looked fantastic!


Chef put together an anti-pasta station, an incredible shrimp station (I might be a tad biased though -- I'm a total shrimp fan), a slider bar, and a dessert station (the white trays!):

Our interpretation of the picture! Maybe not the same, but that's why we're awesome :)

The media party was seriously so much fun! Our staff had a great time, everyone loved the food, and watching the trophy presentation with the singing of "My Old Kentucky Home," Lindsay got all emotional (ok, not really, but it's possible!).


Stay tuned for the rest of our Derby week adventures!!!




"eat, drink, & be merry"