The Knot: Cocktails and Connections

    This may be the longest post ever, but worth it if you an out-of-the-boxer, creative thinker, or an elleDesigns fan! Many vendors have been doing amazing posts about the event with amazing words about elleDesigns, and I can't thank them enough...truly heartwarming and one of the reasons I always say "go big or go home, baby".  For my followers, all 3 of you {smile}, you all have asked for pictures, sketches & stories since the day I was asked, so I figured I owe a "Behind the Scenes" look to you! The pictures are from the amazingly talented Dani Leigh Photography, unless otherwise noted. I also added a few personal pictures, some from the iphone, and just a few of my sketches so you can see how it exactly came to life and the methods behind my madness! I am speaking like this was some sort of movie production, but in a way...it was pretty darn close!

      With weddings, events, photo shoots and more going on in the elleDesigns world, this event took every spare second of time. My husband laughed and would say, "Elley who?".  I even muted Jilian Michaels so I could think while squatting. I kept a sketchpad and notebook with me everywhere I went. Transforming 4 floors of a venue in 3 months filled with decor at every angle (that was up to my standards) what a crazy and fun ride! But, how did it get from an event for the knot and the bump...to an Over-the-Top fairyland? Great vendors willing to go over and beyond for me, a few filled sketch pads, and a creative gal who gets her best ideas over a bottle of wine...hi, that's me....nice to meet you!

      When The Knot and the Bump asked elleDesigns to plan and design their Baltimore Cocktails and Connections Party, I was honored, psyched, ecstatic! Talked to my assistants and asked if they were ready...oh, they were! So, first was a venue, this was easy. I chose 1840's Ballroom in downtown Baltimore. Why? Well, have you seen this place?

1840's Ballroom on Front St. Baltimore MD

     It is stunning. It has 4 floors, all very differently decorated (which posed for challenges for my decor ideas, but became amazing).  Dianna Punte from the 1840's Ballroom is as lovely inside and she is outside. She was incredible to work with, very refreshing, enthusiastic and whenever I needed  to do one of the 1,000 design walk-throughs... with one of the 26 vendors involved…she was always more than happy to let us in and answer tons of questions. She set everything up for the elleDesigns' team to take over the venue on March 6! Even let us in a day early to decorate...which proved to be a necessity as the event design grew over the top (of course!). I honestly can't say enough great things about her and this venue.

     So, the Venue...check!  I needed an amazing theme before choosing anything else. It needed to be good... different... something that guests would remember and most importantly, would knock the socks off those Knot Ladies. Downtown Baltimore theme floated around, glam 1940's floated around, even a non-theme event that was just simple and beautiful floated around (nah...) …but what really sent my head spinning with ideas was an Edgy, Glam version of the Classic Fairytale theme (surprisingly enough, that seed was planted by my Mom on a girl's day out to lunch).  In one of the weekly meetings with the awesome knot ladies, I told them the idea and they flipped for it! Awesome, go to launch!

    I asked the Ballroom if it was possible to to transform all 4 of their floors...without a question, they were more than happy to let me take it over! The Knot gave me their schedule to work into the night and I was set to create an Evening of Enchantment. Each floor was going to be a different part of a fairytale, with completely different decor. The evil side, the fairytale side, the mystical side....all with a twist of edge and glam. This was going to be hard work, long nights, countless meetings, a few sketch books,  lots of coffee, and serious time lines for decorating 4 floors in 2 days, but you know me...I was up for the challenge.

In my office, the knot folder started to collapse due to the amount of inspiration boards, sketches and papers in it. Finally it did.

       Over 45 meetings for this event took place in 2 months and probably 500 phone calls, but every meeting with the vendors made me smile ear to ear. A few glitches here and there, some anxiety, but all in all...i could not have asked for a better team of vendors!   I especially remember the day Meredith from Drape Kings pulled out the ring of at least a hundred swatches and said, "pick"...i may have had happy tears in my eyes. Or, showing all my sketches to My Flower Box... and Kim, every time, saying "Oh, we can SOOOO do that, ELLE!!!". Or, when Ashley from Up do's for I do's asked how long I wanted Rapunzel's hair and I reluctantly said "Like 12 ft?" she just smiled and said, "AWESOME!!!" Or, simply when I found out Pairings Bistro was in! I could on forever...and a day.       

(left) I must have hot glued over 500 crystal stands. (right) my living room even after 1 truck was already packed up

After 3 long months of designing, planning, and working with 26 fabulous vendors (yes, 26! told you it was a production!)  to pull this all together, it was the Monday before the event. Gina and I started at 8am along with Drape Kings and My Flower Box events. The drape took about 6 or so hours for 3 floors. My flower Box was working beside us all day bringing to life my many, many sketches. Vendors were coming and going all day long, including Bratt Decor that dropped off 3 STUNNING cribs, one for each floor for theBump.com. 

My flower box working hard beside us all day Monday. To the right, well, the Enchanted Forest showed up with them!

Gina and I were there until it was dark, until about 7pm. The next day we were back again, bright and early. My other assistant, Michelle, joined us, thankfully. Here we were again, in comfy kicks and jeans, continuing the transformation in the wee morning hours! It wasn't all sweat and hard work, we had fun, too...especially on the pink carpet...

My assistant Michelle and I walking like movie stars on the pink carpet.

     2pm:   March 6, day of the event 2pm on the dot, the awesome talents of Aaren King from MADE Makeup and Ashley from Up do's for I do's arrived to set up for hair and makeup. The 8 models arrived at 2:30pm, ready to be glam-a-fied!  Weeks prior, the artists and I went over looks and  inspiration boards... and more looks and more inspiration boards... they were amazing at making my visions come to life. Literally, the models looked like they stepped out of the pictures. Soon after, Mia, owner of the fabulous Garnish Boutique, arrived with the dresses she had flown in from Designers specifically for the event! What an amazing group of women! AMAZING! And, at 5:30..  1 Sleeping Beauty, 1 Cinderella, 1 Belle, 1 Snow white, 1 Evil, Sexy queen, 1 Rapunzel, 2 Punk Rock Fairies...were ready!

6pm crept up faster than we could have imagined and it was time for my assistants and I to change, put on our headsets and get into position.

elleDesigns Team: Dee Buttion, Myself, and my two amazing assistants, Michelle O'neal and Gina Adams.

As guests entered, a theme-fitting, yet adorable, scroll awaited them and they proceeded on a Pink Carpet lined with candles. Greeting them was a beautiful Cinderella with her gold broom next to a pile of leaves, and two handsome Prince Charmings in tuxedos to hand them the Programs for the night.



hands off the PC's ladies...they are married and the one on the left you've heard quite a bit about :-)

 {Programs}

I wanted the programs to fit the theme, whimsical, but adorable. The descriptions of each floor's events rhymed with riddles. Rachel from Kindly RSVP Designs and I spent a good 2 hours picking out patterns, prints and shapes and then probably 100 emails back and forth finalizing proofs. She even made signs for each floor that I turned into scrolls. She rocks!

Through the front door, the guests checked in next to Sleeping Beauty in an amazing puffy princess gown, asleep up on a nook. They were also serenaded by the sounds of an acoustic guitar played by another Prince charming in a tuxedo. They then were sent up the gorgeous staircase that was illuminated with "the knot" courtesy of Metro DC DJs that got a customized gobo made for the event. On to the 2nd floor...

the knot light photo copyright Ashely from Up do's for I do's

This room was my favorite, but took the most to transform. The 2nd floor at the venue is called "City Lights" and it is an amazing, eclectic room featuring Baltimore murals, the front of a downtown house, and even a White Tower Diner. Definitely a "Baltimorian Museum" like atmosphere unbelievably perfect for weddings, events, soirees... However, transforming this into the Queen's Quarters took a lot of energy. When everyone thinks "Castle" or "Queen" they think of purple, but I wanted to go different. I wanted to this feel more like an evil club then a grungy castle.
 Reds...blacks...damask prints...crystals..thats what I wanted in here.

On this floor there were 2 fortune tellers, an illusionist, savory bites, poison apple cocktails, a makeup bar where all the Ladies got red lips and sparkles by MADE Makeup, one killer bar and the awesome 70's rock music from Metro DC DJs!

The round, 53ft long, 3 ft wide, gold structure hanging 10ft in the air in the middle of the room(see 'before' pic below) was screaming to be transformed. Of course, the idea I liked the most was absolutely the most time-consuming. I wanted to make it into a goth-glam chandelier (Woot woot!). Gina and I spent about 5-6 hours covering it in 300ft of black fabric and hanging each of the 400 crystal strands individually, so worth it.

(you scrolled back up to the "before" a few times didn't you?)

{The bar is HUGE...but I needed it to feel smaller with this kind of event. It's a mingling event, not a "sit at the bar" type, so, after a whole lot of sketching...a winner! Big thanks to My Flower Box that brought my sketch to life! Actually, I am pretty sure I said to Kim, "this is what I am going to do" and she said, "We'll do it!!"}

{DECOR, MODELS, SKETCHES BROUGHT TO LIFE}

         {Entertainment: MAKEUP BAR WITH MADE MAKEUP, Fortune Tellers & the Illusions of Benjamin Corey}

On the third floor, the Knot and the Bump held a 20 minute presentation thanking the vendors, discussing what was new at the knot.com and the bump.com, and giving away raffles. There are not any pictures of it, but this room was complete with misty fog as guess entered (thanks Party Plus)! Very Enchanting! 1840's ballroom has over 250 gorgeous, wooden chivari chairs on hand and they fit perfectly into the Forest-theme. There is a huge bar that  I knew had to be covered in moss because it was a focal point when entering the room.

 I wanted big, bling-ed out trees next to the presentation area and of course, 2 punk rockin' fairies. My Flower Box, brought my sketches to life with serious elbow grease on these trees. With the lights dim, fog machine on, this was all the room needed to be turned into an Enchanted Forest! Of course, a customized, sparkly, pink runner from Customized Creations really stood out, too!

*Big thanks to the worker at Party Plus who spent hours making sure every single piece of equipment worked like a charm for this presentation before he left! Made my mind at ease!

When designing events and weddings, I always ask the bride "what room in the house do you want it to feel like?".  I asked myself this with this event. If the 2nd floor was a club, the 3rd floor was a garden, then the 4th floor is a romantic bedroom. I wanted it be monochromatic white with gold accents, whimsical, romantic, and breath taking. Over 100ft of Drape from Drape Kings(thanks Meredith!!!), amazing lounge furniture from Ampa Events, 500 fairy wand drink stirrers I hot glued for "Once Upon-a-tini's", a whole lot of sketching,  pretty flowers from My Flower Box, amazing food from Pairings Catering, delicious desserts from Flavor Cupcakery, an awesome dessert bar (created by yours truly), a gorgeous Cinderella, Sexy Prince Charming, a lovely Belle, and about  100 more things.... whew... made it happily ever after.

{the plan}

 {My Flower Box made did a great job on the food station; even added a little more glam with white fringe}

{Amazing "Magic Carpet" Photo Op my father built for the event! WaterShed Photo Booth's Open Air Photo Booth was perfect for the occasion!}

Bottom Right:Photo by Watershed Photo Booth photos. That is Helene from the Bump, Me, and Shannon from the Knot.

  .

Thanks to

....the Knot and the Bump for the opportunity!

Deborah, Susana, Shannon & Helene, You ladies Rock!!

.... all the AMAZING vendors that participated:

Venue (with special thanks to Dianna Punte): 1840's Ballroom

Plan. Design. Decor.: elleDesigns    

Amazing Photography: Dani Leigh Photography
Delish Caterer & Bar Staff: Pairings Bistro
Florist/ Floral Decor/4th floor glass table: My Flower Box

Paper, Posters, Programs: Kindly RSVP Designs

Models' Bridal Gowns(special thanks to Mia!): Garnish Boutique 

Dessert Bar Cupcakes & 6 Cakes: Flavor Cupcakery

Models Makeup & Beauty Bar: Made Makeup

2nd & 3rd floor lounge Furniture/All up lighting: Ampa Events

DJ & "the knot" light: Metro DC DJs

ALLLL the Pipe and Drape: Drape Kings

Open Air Photo booth: Watershed

Upscale Cribs: Bratt Decor

Tables/White Chivari Chairs/AV for presentation/Fog Machine: Party Plus

Wine and Cocktails: Kobrand

Linens on all 4 floors: Cloth Connection

Models Hair: Up Do’s for I Do’s

Prince Charming Tux’s: Tuxedo House

Misc. Vintage Rentals: Rusty Love Vintage Rentals

20 ft Pink Carpet: American Turf & Carpet

Knot logo aisle runner on floor 2: Customized Wedding Creations

Tarot Card and Illusionist: GigMasters

Illusionist: Benjamin Corey Magic
Guitarist: Ryan Cobb
Gina Adams: Perfectly Placed
Giveaways: Historic Inns of Annapolis, Hillendale Country Club, Pairings Bistro, Aruba Sun & Spa

...the lovely Models:
1st floor Cinderella & 4th floor Belle: Christine Penny (of Angelberry Organics)
1st floor Sleeping Beauty: Abby Cobb
2nd floor Sexy Queen: Jessica Eicher
2nd floor Snow white: Rebecca Streamo
3rd floor Rapunzel: Carrie Shanks
3rd floor Fairies: Krissy Zerhusen & Laura Kaminski
4th floor Cinderella: Gina Novotny
4th Floor Prince Charming: Shawn McDonald
1st floor Prince Charmings: Mick Rayburn & Mike Ellinghaus <3

Now for some VGW: Vendors Gone Wild...

                                                                                                  {wink}

with sprinkles, of course,

-elle