As much as we love weddings, it’s always fun to do something a little different- something conceptual. When WIPA (or the Wedding Industry Professional Association) asked us to plan the annual members only get together, we knew we wanted to play with a concept outside the realm of traditional wedding design. As we thought about the month of August, knowing it would be the end of a brutally hot summer, we decided we wanted to throw an elevated ice cream social! We definitely wanted the evening to remind you of the good old days of childhood, spent licking ice cream cones, playing in the pool, and loving those precious months out of school, but we also didn’t want the event to feel kitschy. It was important that we find a balance between ice cream party and social event.
We called in favors from some of our best industry friends and the evening came together perfectly. There is absolutely no way we could ever pick our favorite detail because each vendor really knocked it out of the park. It all came together to create a delicious feast for the eyes (and the belly)!
First off, none of these images would even exist if not for the incredibly talented Ryan of Ryan Nicole Photography! If you follow us on instagram or this blog, her name should sound familiar because we absolutely love her work and adore working with her on weddings, photoshoots and any project we can fit into her schedule! She is an absolute gift and always captures our work perfectly! Speaking of capturing the event Serendipity Cinematography created this awesome highlight video of the event as well!
Not only did The Clayton on The Park provide the beautiful venue for the evening, but they also hosted a bar that featured Frosecco (a delightful concoction of prosecco and raspberry sherbet), and a throw back menu that included some of the best grilled cheese bites we’ve ever had, mac and cheese balls, chicken fingers, and fresh summer salads!
Southwick Linen provided both the sherbet toned linens around the venue and the fabulous blush sequin linen seen below. We love working with Southwick because not only do they have a fabulous selection of colors and specialty linens, but their team takes great care in making sure everything is set perfectly.
We asked Snapbooth Entertainment to provide one of their open air photobooths for the event. We loved how compact the set up was. The brought some fun props as well and everyone jumped in front of our custom backdrop for a quick pic!
When we sat down with the gals of Juliet Le Fleur and told them we wanted to make ice cream out of flowers, we could almost see their imaginative wheels start turning. What they came up with, not only completely met our vision, but even took it one step further. They painted waffle cones gold and filled them with floral for our custom photobooth backdrop and continues that vision in sundae glasses, large centerpieces and acrylic cone holders. They used sprinkles to fill vessels for candles and floral and even painted cherries gold!
Karma Event Lighting featured their incredible cake mapping (can you believe the cakes below are all the same cake and the effect is done with carefully calibrated projection?! There is even video footage being show on one of the layers! Mind. Blown.), along with crisp logo and graphic projections, uplighting and lighting accents.
Lee Perreira is such an incredible performer. He always surprises us with his incredible covers and fantastic compositions. Not only is Lee a great artist, but he also manages bookings for other local musicians.
We love working with the gals from Couple of Bartenders Liquid Catering, but since the venue was providing the booze, Liquid Catering provided a way to keep the party going at home with Dirty Shirley alcohol infusion kits. These kits are a really popular with our brides as favors. With multiple flavor choices there is an infusion favor to match every theme.
The Baked Bear is new to Arizona but it’s a staple in Southern California. Ice cream sandwiches are made fresh in house and made to order. Choose from traditional cookies, brownies and even donuts! It’s the perfect treat on a hot summer day!
As our vision was coming together, we knew we had to get Heidi from idieh design on board to create the paper goods and some decorative goodies for the event. Cheeky cone wraps, custom stir sticks and signage made the evening even more fun!
Secret Door Shoppe is a new find for us and we absolutely love everything Josh does! Laser cutting and hand lettering combine to create beautiful impact points for an event. Secret Door Shoppe created the words on our custom photobooth backdrop as well as #bosslady and #bossman signs for guests to hold. He also created the adorable sip sip hooray sign for the bar!
When it comes to desserts that are almost too cute to eat, we turned to Ruze Cake House, and boy did they deliver! Their “You make me melt” cake, cheery ice cream cake bites, ice cream cone macaroons, and beautiful ice cream sugar cookies.
Armitage Ice is Arizona’s go to source for incredible ice sculptures. We loved how they incorporated both the theme and the logo of the event. It feels almost tragic to have to abandon it at the end of the evening.
With the modern vibe of the event venue, we wanted to bring in Kool Party Rentals beautiful acrylic tables and high back chairs and draping. Kool even added ice cream decals to the chair backs. They can add decals to any of their acrylic pieces, which is a great way to personalize your event.
Thank you to the entire creative team for helping our ice cream social dreams come to life. And remember, life is short, Eat dessert first!
Thank you to our featured video and photography partners: Ryann Lindsey Photography, Melissa Ivy Photography, The Shepards, Rachael Koscica Photography, Aaron Kes, Kayla Fisher Photography, Olivia Markle, Rachel Soloman Photography, Marie Claire Photography, Emily Vandehey, Morgan Mccanne, Andrew Glatt, Chiara Shine Photography, Mike Oblinski, and Good Vibe Media.