Getting Married at Laurel Creek Manor in Sumner, WA

Located in Sumner, WA among fields of daffodils is the beautiful wedding venue called Laurel Creek Manor. Established in 2004 by Laurel Cabodi when it came time to find a wedding venue for her son and they found this gorgeous home and after a lot of hard work and an eye for romance - Laurel and her husband Al remodeled the 1917 estate.

When it came time for my now husband and I to begin our search for a wedding venue I did a map search and saw it was close to where I was living (in Puyallup at the time) so I figured we would kick off our search local. I honestly was expecting to visit a few different places but as soon as I stepped out of our car and onto the property I knew that we had found our venue.

It's truly the perfect setting for a summer wedding. It's the best of both worlds because the property is large and there is a ton of room for parking and different photo opportunities. Yet once you step into the garden it feels like quaint, lush and romantic. The Manor on the property is so charming, from the vintage wall paper to the beautiful front porch and large window in the bridal suite. Every detail is well thought out and allows for a perfect space to get ready upstairs and welcome guests downstairs.

Throughout the planning process the owner Kirsten was so amazing at helping us answer all our questions and gave us plenty of solutions for how we could best plan the day. You could tell how proud of the property her and her family were and they worked so hard to make sure our day was perfect. When I asked Kirsten what her favorite thing was about owning a wedding venue she said the following. "It is so wonderful to do something that makes me happy and feels meaningful. Maintaining a 100 year old historic home, getting the opportunity to be creative with the estate grounds (I love gardening), always striving to offer our clients a beautiful escape for their wedding, and service that feels like you are part of “the family.”

The ceremony area is lovely as well and comes with a large white arbor and lots of space on the grass for guests. The simple white of the arbor allows for such a variety of decor depending on your wedding style. The layout is great because as a bride you stay hidden inside while guests are arriving and when it is time to walk down the aisle there is a lovely path way leading you to the aisle from the beautiful french doors of the Manor.

The reception is honestly the ultimate layout as well. They have a huge stunning white draped tent perfect for your entire wedding to enjoy dinner. Not only is it large and beautifully draped but they also have two stunning chandeliers that just adds the perfect ambiance. When it comes time to dance in the moonlight they have a perfect dance floor with lights overhead that creates a beautiful ambiance.

From their perfectly manicured grounds to the winding paths and fountains, the decorations really didn't have to be over the top which made things even easier for us. The day felt so perfectly us. We had the best time partying it up on the dance floor and when they tell you the day goes by fast... THE DAY GOES BY FAST my friends. Looking back on this day brings a huge smile to my face because it truly was perfection. I highly recommend you check it out if you are looking for a venue in the Sumner, WA area. Kirsten and her team will surely take the best care of you and your day will be absolutely stunning, I promise.

When I asked Kirsten what their favorite moment on wedding days were she replied, "I have two answers for this. My favorite moment of my OWN wedding day was a quiet moment on the front porch of The Manor right after the ceremony. My husband and I got to toast and reflect on how amazing it all felt. For the weddings we host- my favorite moment comes when the sun is setting and dinner is over, dancing has begun and I look around seeing the gorgeous setting I have worked so hard to build being enjoyed to the fullest. The joy of the guests and the couple hits me at that time and always reminds me of my mother and why she created Laurel Creek Manor."

• All photos were taken by the amazing and talented Lloyd Photographers. I highly recommend them if you are looking to hire someone for your wedding day.

Twin Baby Shower Planning and Design

I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my long time best friends Daniel and Rebekkah and it was beyond special. When I found out they were expecting again I was elated! They had wanted another baby for years since their first daughter was born a few years earlier and when they finally found out they were expecting again they got a huge surprise!... Can you guess what it was?? Yup, twins were on the way! Both a baby boy and girl were on their way!

When I offered to host their baby shower they asked for the shower to be coed because they really just wanted it to be a special time with their best friends. A cook out vibe with games was the all they were looking for. Being that they were expecting a boy and a girl they wanted to theme to tie in both classic boy and girl colors. They told me they were going to be decorating their nursery with hot air balloons and sort of an Up, Up, and Away theme. So I decided to play on that for the shower as well. I immediately began brainstorming on ways to tie everything they were looking for together. Party City and Amazon had some great finds for Up, Up, and Away plates and cups. Walking up to our house which we used for the venue, I lined the walkway with pink and blue balloons.

In the entryway of our house I decorated our entry table with a blue banner from the Target dollar spot. This adorable sign was custom made for me on Etsy by Themilkandcreamco, I loved the chalkboard background style and pink and blue hot air balloons. The DIY hot air balloon was super easy to put together and I made a few and scattered them throughout the house to tie in the theme. I found these cute scalloped white and gold buckets from Target, paper lanterns from Party City, and found some cute colorful paper from Target and made a little banner to tie around the lantern using ribbon. The hooray banner is from Party City.

Here is another look at the DIY hot air balloon.

I saw this idea on pinterest and thought Daniel and Rebekkah would get a kick out of it. I bought a pack of diapers and laid them out for people to write a funny phrase on the diaper that the couple could laugh about when they were changing their babies diapers at 3 am in the morning some day.

To incorporate more hot air balloons I came up with an idea to arrange the cupcakes I got for the event in a hot air balloon! It was super easy and fun! I just used colorful paper straws to act as the structure of the hot air balloon.

The event date was going to be rainy so we put out a pop up tent off our back door onto the deck so that people could step out to get some fresh air when needed as our house was on the smaller side. I found these hot air balloon and cloud garlands on Amazon and hung them off the structure of the tent.

In my opinion any good party needs a photobooth so I hung up a sequin tablecloth I had and framed the backdrop with some streamers that matched the decor for the event. Here is a photo of me and the mom to be, my bestie, Rebekkah.

We had several games we played as a group which were so much fun! Our favorite was a game where we had the guys first un tie their shoes, then they had to sit on a bench and put a blown up balloon under their T-shirts and try to tie their shoes. That was quite entertaining!

We opened gifts outside as there was more room to congregate together and the day started to clear up weather wise. It was so fun to see all the cute baby items they received! I am a sucker for cute baby clothes!

We took a quick group shot as the day was wrapping up and we ended the event by playing some games in the garage (hence the not so cute backdrop). The day was so fun and special and I loved getting to shower my best friends with love. Their babies are now perfectly healthy and getting bigger every day! So fun to get to see them grow up and see again what amazing parents my friends are to their kiddos.

If you're planning a baby shower for your best friend, have fun with it, cater it to their personalities and you can't go wrong. If you are in Washington state and wanting some help decorating your next special event, I would love to help! Contact me using the contact tab at the top of my website and I can help take your vision for your event and bring all the decor elements together.