Tips for Knowing if a Wedding Vendor is Trustworthy

Choosing a vendor for your upcoming big day is a huge decision. You don’t want to leave anything to chance, and you want to be sure that who you choose is reliable and going to follow through. Of course, mishaps and misunderstandings can happen, but there are steps you can take to try to find the best vendors that you can. Here are some of our best tips for finding vendors who will help you pull off your big day seamlessly:

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• Check reviews: Look for positive, thorough reviews for them on Yelp, Google, and Facebook. Ask friends if they’ve heard of the business/brand/service, and what they’ve heard. Do your research into whether their past brides and grooms have been happy and were satisfied with their services. Remember that sometimes, disgruntled customers leave unfair or unhelpful reviews, so look for the business’ response to these sorts of reviews for clarification.

• Meet them in person: If you are able to, meeting a vendor in person is always wise. You want to gauge their personality, their efficiency, and their knowledge before the day rolls around. Many vendors will offer a phone call or in-person consultation for free or a service fee. Think about factors like: did they communicate with you well? Did they show up on time? Did they value your time and budget? These are all important questions.

• Have they been around for awhile? If not, do they are have prior experience? If they are brand new and have no experience, it doesn’t mean they can’t produce amazing work. Everyone has to start somewhere. But, be sure to ask questions like: Have you been trained or licensed? Have you shadowed or been mentored by someone in the field? Have you worked at other weddings in the past?

• Do you mesh well with them? Surprisingly, personalities do matter on the big day. Of course you want the best of the best for your wedding, but you also want to enjoy the people who are around you on the day of. Be sure that when you speak to the vendors or the representatives, that you feel listened to and cared about. It will make a huge difference on the day of your wedding that you have positive and efficient energy around you and your loved ones!

What's it like to Work With Us?

Whether you’re an Allure bride, or you just want to change your interior design aesthetic, you may be wondering what’s in store if you choose us as your designer. The Allure with Decor experience is one that is unlike any other, with quality customer care. In fact, we treat you like our friends and family, rather than a name and a number. We customize each and every consult, appointment, and wedding to suit exactly what you have been dreaming up. Here’s what you can expect:

• Timely communication: We return our messages, phone calls, and text messages in a timely fashion, which means you’ll never be left hanging. When you first book with us, we will provide all the details, pricing, and information you will need, because surprises are never fun when you’re trusting someone with your vision!

• Transparency: We love talking to you, and you can expect honesty. We will listen to your budget and help you choose items that fit the aesthetic and ideas that you have, while staying within your financial lane. If you are concerned about getting roped into something you can’t afford, rest assured that it won’t happen with us.

• Modern, classic, and current trends: If you want classic, we can do classic! But we also stay educated and up to date on the latest design trends, colors, and materials (like paint and hardware) so that we can provide you with ideas and inspiration that are fresh.

• Experience: Above everything else that we want you to know, it’s mostly that our experience speaks for itself. Our clients love working with us, and feel cared about. If you want to hear from clients who have worked with us, click on over to our reviews page. We would love to share what makes us so special!

New Year, New Start!

When you set out to pursue a dream, it can be a very lonely path. There will be those who don’t believe in you, and many people who want to tear you down along the way. But it doesn't have to be that way, and that’s what my hope is for the new year! I hope we can all recognize potential in one another as we set out in a new year, and find it in our hearts to not let our own insecurities prevent us from supporting and caring about others and their dreams (no matter how big!). As an interior designer in a small-ish town, I can see how one could feel threatened or jealous when it seems the community is small, or that the customer base is similar, but I truly believe we can all benefit from joining together instead of vying for top spot. I love collaborating with others, appreciating their individual strengths, and offering the wisdom that I’ve gained along the way! Here are a few more ways we can all be more intentional this year:

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-Be thoughtful: Look out for ways that you can help others who may be in your community or even in the same field as you. Keep your eye out for young people whom you could mentor or help get started, encourage those who are just getting started, and bring them a coffee or a note of inspiration as they begin their journey.

-Be Kind: Speak life-giving words. If someone in your field or a similar business comes up in conversation, make a point of saying something positive about them or their work. Look for easy ways to connect people like florists, photographers, or stylists, with each other, so they can help grow their business. Review and rate other vendors on Facebook, share their posts, and include them in your blogs, so they can get credit for their hard work and beautiful efforts!

-Be intentional: Set aside time in your week or month to give back to the community from your own business, even if you don’t get any monetary or physical gain from it. Consider donating time to a charity event, helping raise money for a worthy cause, or lending your talents to someone in a time of need, such as at a funeral or a family event where finances are tight. Whether it’s every Tuesday, where you donate an hour or two to someone, or even just once a month, you will find that giving back truly is the best reward.

As people set out on their big dreams and new goals for the year, be sure to find kindness and encouragement for them as they get started. After all, you’d want others in your corner cheering you on, as well! If you do this, I think you will find others will want to support you too. That’s true community.

Holiday Baking with Peggy Porschen

You may remember me writing about my favorite bakery, right in the heart of London. I wrote about it in THIS POST about Europe, and her amazing confections always make me festive around the holidays! I dream of being as incredible as her in the decorating/baking department, and each year, I love making these delicious cookies with my children. Baking holds special memories for me, and I hope it also creates new ones for my girls! (All images via Peggy Porschen website, 2017)

Sugar cookie recipe
via Peggy Proschen's cookbook, "Cookies"

Makes about 25 medium-sized or 12 large cookies

• 200g unsalted soft butter 
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten 
• 400g plain flour, plus more for dusting

Optional flavours

• For vanilla cookies, add seeds from 1 vanilla pod 
• For lemon cookies, add finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• For orange cookies, add finely grated zest of 1 orange 
• For chocolate cookies, replace 50g of the plain flour with 50g cocoa powder

1. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and chosen flavouring until well mixed and just becoming creamy in texture. Don’t overwork, or the cookies will spread during baking.
2. Beat in the egg until well combined. Add the flour and mix on low speed until a dough forms. Gather it into a ball, wrap it in cling film and chill it for at least 1 hour.
3. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead it briefly. Using marzipan spacers, roll it out to an even thickness.
4. Use cookie cutters to cut out the desired shapes and, using a palette knife, lay these on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Chill again for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 180C/160Cfan/350F/gas 4.
5. Bake for 6–10 minutes, depending on size, until golden brown at the edges. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Wrapped in foil or cling film, they will keep well in a cool dry place for up to a month.

Tip Always bake equally sized cookies together to make sure they cook in the same time. If you mix different sizes, the smaller ones are already cooked when the larger ones are still raw in the middle.

Royal Icing Recipe via Peggy Porschen's
"Pretty Party Cakes" cookbook

• 25g merriwhite (dried egg white powder)

• 1kg icing sugar, sifted

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Equipment
• Sieve

Kitchen Aid / electric mixer
spoon
sealable plastic container
j-cloth
Method

Mix the merriwhite with 150ml water and pass through a sieve to get rid of any lumps.
Place the icing sugar in the clean bowl of an electric mixer, add about three-quarters of the merriwhite mixture and the lemon juice, and start mixing on low speed.
Once the sugar and the merriwhite are well combined, check the consistency. If the sides of the bowl still look dry and crumbly, add some more merriwhite until the icing looks almost smooth but not wet.
Keep mixing for about 4-5 minutes, until it has reached stiff-peak consistency.
Spoon into a plastic container, cover with a clean damp j-cloth and the lid. Store at room temperature.
Royal Icing Consistencies

Simply thin down your basic royal icing with water, a little bit at a time, mixing with a palette knife, until you have the right consistency. Keep your icing covered with cling film or a damp cloth when not using it, to stop it from drying out.

Stiff-peak consistency: for piping sugar flowers and leaves
Soft-peak consistency: for piping lines, dots and borders
Runny consistency: for filling in the centres of spaces

Dreaming of Europe | Inspiration

The dreamy feel of European style has me conquering the winter doldrums these days! I dream of returning there someday to gather even more inspiration. The cool thing about the style across many European countries is the way it incorporates so many elements; decor, art, gardens, and architecture. I once talked my husband and kids into flying across the country just so I could indulge my senses at the Peggy Porschen Parlour in London! I don’t know if you’ve heard of this delightful little shop, but it’s a boutique bakery (yes, that’s a thing!) rich in lavish tones and feminine pinks. I was actually caught running my hands over the vintage wooden floors (whoops!), and smelling the caramel tea! It truly was a feast for the senses. 

Source

These places also inspire my wedding planning! When I plan feminine weddings with rustic touches, I find myself incorporating touches of my travel into the ideas. Another great place to find european style inspiration is Pinterest, of course! You can find tons of home decor ideas by searching “european style homes” and looking through the unique tile details, paint colors, and lighting fixtures that are the hallmark of the chic style. You don’t have to go all-out with a european style, but you’ll likely find that most modern trends carry just a little bit of european flair already within them. I love the european farmhouse style!

Farmhouse Source

Want to schedule a personal consultation for your wedding or home? I’d love to share my travel inspiration with you and help you design the day/event or room of your dreams! 

Business Spotlight | Minery Rentals

Today, I’m so delighted to share with you a brand new venture, offering Southern Oregon and the surrounding areas exclusive access to incredible furnishings! "Minery Rentals was born out of a strong design to see more luxury, modern and unique world traveled treasures to the Rogue Valley and surrounding areas. We love well-traveled pieces that come with a story, but our priority is rooted in quality as well. We’ve had a huge response from the local community, and are so thrilled to be involved in the wedding industry on an even deeper level, as well as events, home staging and styled photo shoots.”, explains owner Betsy Tomasello, who launched the curated and unique brand in 2015. 

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Photos by Olivia Leigh Photography

The rental inventory is available to anyone, and the target audience includes weddings, special occasions, corporate marketing events and conferences, and staging real estate properties. “We have a wide range of clients, and welcome inquiries for any type of rental need”, continues Betsy, "and we are happy to ship our items to pretty much any area. Just drop us an email with your event details for a custom delivery quote."

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"We strive to make everything as simple and easy as possible. Clients can schedule a private warehouse viewing or stop by during one of our open houses to pick out their items. And, we are constantly updating our website to allow clients the ability to browse all of our inventory online as well! Reservations made in house or via email at mineryrentals@gmail.com just need a 50% deposit and a signed rental contract to reserve the items”, she adds. 

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The rental service fills a void that was needed in Southern Oregon for beautiful, unique and high-quality pieces. Minery Rentals has a huge range of decor items including tabletop pieces, natural wood consoles, the highly coveted vineyard chairs, and a mix of high-end Restoration Hardware pieces, including some of their beautiful chandeliers.  

For more information,  please visit their website here. 

Sparkle and Shine | Featured on Ruffled | Weddings

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A romantic field tucked in the heart of the Applegate Valley, made for the perfect backdrop for this sparkle-filled styled shoot. I styled this gorgeous, gold-hued shoot with Rebecca Masters Photography recently (scroll down for full list of vendors). The bridal model wore a stunning, sequined Badgley Mischka gown, and layered a delicate tulle skirt over it from BHLDN, that gave her the versatility of two gorgeous looks with just two pieces. The vineyard shoot featured touches of the woodland outdoors (like the moss tucked in around the cake), with rustic pieces like the table and chairs. Then, I added subtle hints of gold to accentuate her shimmering gown, and to elevate the wood pieces. The overall look was elegant but grounded.

PHOTOGRAPHY:

REBECCA MASTERS PHOTOGRAPHY

EVENT COORDINATION AND DESIGN:

ALLURE WITH DECOR

FLORAL DESIGN:

BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE

VENUE:

RED LILY VINEYARDS

HAIR AND MAKEUP:

JANICE MOON ARTISTRY

WEDDING CAKE:

TAYLOR MADE CAKES

RING BOX:

THE MRS. BOX

RIBBONS:

FROU FROU CHIC

WEDDING INVITATIONS:

KELSEY MALIE CALLIGRAPHY