Happy 40th, Aaron!

March 17th, 2010

So we actually met Aaron last year when we coordinated Aaron & Lisa’s wedding with a Mardi Gras theme. This time, Aaron requested a silent art auction party to celebrate the big 4-0, and we were so excited to help pull it off!

They were able to have it at a friend’s gallery/home, which turned out to be the perfect space! So the plan was to have everyone bring a piece of art of any kind (but preferably made themselves) to auction off amongst themselves. While this type event might not work for every group,, Aaron & Lisa are no doubt blessed with some amazingly creative & inspired friends & family! There was such an incredible variety of items! A few examples included paintings, sketches, photography, a bird house, wind chimes, a scarf, jewelry, a rock sculpture, wreaths, vases, & even a cd with a custom mix of music. The proceeds were going toward the cost of the party, and anything beyond that would be donated to the St. Louis Public Library.

Here’s what Lisa had to say about our services:

N-joY! is one of the best services money can buy. N-joY! helped throughout the evening at my husband’s 40th birthday party, and the help was invaluable. It is such a great feeling to be able to enjoy the event and know that someone (N-joY!) is there to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Birthday Cakes

Well-Lit Wine Table

Donated Art

More Inspired Art

Many Types of Art

Yet More Art

Scouting Favorites

Claiming Art

Great Gallery Space

Gallery Mingling

No Event Too Small!

February 1st, 2010

Recently, N-joy! has had several small events. We want everyone to know that no job is to small (or insignificant) for us. We know that EVERY celebration in your life is important and we would love the opportunity to be a part of any event that is special to you. N-joy! has been a part of theme development for various events, day of coordination for weddings, even just simply making invitations. If you just have any “odds and ends” you need assistance with, call N-joy! for your free custom quote.

One event that stands out was a baptism. The grandmother was planning a small get together after the baptism of the new little addition to her family. She had everything under control…the food, cake, and invitations. All she wanted was one small table decorated for the cake. We wanted to personalize it, so we framed a couple of pictures of the baby. We decorated with candles, a blue tablecloth, and made a blue and white flower arrangement. It may seem like no big deal to some people, but for us, it was exciting to be a part of this special moment.

Here is what the client had to say about N-joY!

I just wanted to thank you again…Paige was so pleased with the table, all thanks to you. You did a GREAT job and thanks for helping to make this such a special day for Paige and Baby Luc!

~Patricia

Baptism Table Decor

N-joY! More Than Just Weddings…

November 5th, 2009

N-joy! is more than just weddings. We are ready and willing to take on any type of event! For example, recently we were called on to put together a haunted house for kids. Quite possibly the furthest thing from a wedding, but a great example to showcase our wide range of abilities, and it was so much fun for us! The haunted house was for children 8 years and younger, so it couldn’t be “too” scary. We decided to simply play on the curiosity of kids around this age.

The ambiance was set before the kids even walked into the haunted house. After passing a mini cemetary, the kids were greeted by Hannibal Lecter standing next to bails of hay with black crows. This little girl was brave enough to touch him and yes, he DID move and talk. If they were a little hesitant to visit with Hannibal, there was a skeleton on the next bails of hay with creepy Halloween music playing.

Frakenstein welcomed the kids at the beginning of the haunted house. As they walked through, ghosts and skeletons floated above their heads. We had “touch and feel” items including eyeballs, snot, and brains to bring the “eww” factor. These were probably the most talked about, with comments such as, “EEW!! Is that REAL?!?” There was a scary crystal ball to give the kid’s a haunted future telling, a skeleton trapped in a mirror asking for their help, and a huge spider crawling down the wall. There were also lots of skeletons, pumpkins, and other ghoulish figures creeping out of the spider webs. The kids were offered candy from a friendly vampire on their way out. There was also a facepainting station set up for the kids when they finished walking through the haunted house.

Here are some comments from the kids:
“That was SOOO cool! My favorite was the snot, I know it wasn’t real..well…it wasn’t, was it? Anyway, it felt gross.”

“I like the eyeballs. And the fortune teller. And the ghost that floated on the ceiling. I’m bringing my mom to see the eyeballs. Can I take one to show my friend?”

Hannibal Lector

Ghosts & Skeletons

Eyeballs

Scary Crystal Ball

Skeleton Mirror

Spider Web Skull

Friendly Vampire

Mardi Gras Inspired Wedding

September 25th, 2009

Congrats Lisa & Aaron!

Lisa & Aaron celebrated 10 years together by tying the knot, and we were honored to play a part. Because of how significant Mardi Gras festivities had been throughout their relationship, they continued that theme throughout the event with having bold red and purple colors along with beads incorporated not only around the flower arrangements but also into a fun bead toss rather than the more traditional garter and bouquet tosses.

They were interested in doing much themselves, so we filled in with ideas and guidance along the way and managed everything the weekend-of; after all, Lisa’s main priority was to not feel stressed on her wedding day. We actually ended up taking on more roles than usual to help them keep costs down, so we were largely acting as the florist, caterer, and facilities manager, in addition to the more typical role of managing of the event design and flow. Admittedly, this expanded role was challenging since the venue allowed us an extremely limited amount of time for setup, but everything came together perfectly just in time!

A carriage dropped off Lisa and her father at the beautiful historic mansion where the guests were being soothed with classical guitar. Lisa and Aaron were married on the lawn under a flowering arch we decorated, and they were even able to include their dog, Bird, as the ring bearer. After officially becoming Mr. and Mrs. Young, they had a private ride around the block in the carriage and proceeded to go up on a balcony for the bead toss. The reception was waiting for everyone on the other side of the mansion, held both in the gorgeous carriage house and in a tent outside for dancing and mingling.

The night was filled with great food, fun, drinks, and dancing, and most importantly, no stress for the much-deserving bride.

Here’s what Lisa had to say about our services:

N-joY! is one of the best services money can buy. N-joY! worked behind the scenes at our wedding reception, taking on any and every task we needed help with, and the help was invaluable. It is such a great feeling to be able to enjoy the event and know that someone (N-joY!) is there to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Please check out our photo album to see more pictures from their wedding!!!

Father Drops off the Bride

Vows Under a Flowering Arch

Bead Toss Close-Up

Table Centerpiece

Little League World Series: Proof that the Client Always Wins!

August 23rd, 2009

We were so excited to be contacted to coordinate a brunch for a local baseball complex. The complex was hosting a USSSA World Series for 9, 11 and 14 year olds and the brunch was for the team moms. The purpose of the brunch was to give the moms all the information they would need for the whole tournament. When we met with the General Manager of the complex, we found they needed help with decorations, set up, and putting the team moms’ packets together. Also, they wanted us to design earrings for each of the team moms’ bags!

Team Mom Earrings

We also found out we did not have very much time to get everything together. They just realized they needed help, and the brunch was only 4 days away! Not only that, but this was the very first year they planned a brunch for the team moms!

Small Vases

After the initial consultation, it was time to get to work. Their colors were red, white, and blue. Even though we were tempted to “go all out” on the decor, we knew they wanted everything to be really simple because it all had to be broken down within 30 minutes for a meeting they had scheduled in the same room after the brunch. We put small vases of red and white flowers on the tables and tied a blue ribbon around the vases.

The food table is where the main centerpiece was set up. It was made using their baseballs and small bats that they give out to the kids for trophies…

Baseball Centerpiece

Food Table

Mimosas

The food was simple, typical brunch-type food. Muffins, bagels, fruit, yougurt, pancakes, and an assortment of juices and other drinks. We even set up mimosas to start the morning off right!

Info Table

Map and Shirt Display

We set up the information table with everything they needed to know about ordering team pictures. We also displayed a map of the complex, which was used for the General Manager’s speech about each of the fields and also future plans to expand the park. We put a display of the official tournament t-shirt next to that.

At first, we had grand ideas of what we “could” do, but we really had to scale back from what we might plan for ourselves in order to keep from overdoing it given their time and budget constraints…After all, the client is always right! Here’s what they had to say about the experience:

I thoroughly enjoyed working with N-joy! They listened to what we wanted and everything was absolutely perfect. The brunch was exactly what we wanted and we will definitely be calling them for future events!
-Katie

Congratulations Natalie!

August 1st, 2009

I had the wonderful opportunity of throwing a baby shower for one of my friends. I used to work with Natalie and when she told me she was pregnant, I told her I HAD to do her baby shower! This was done on a very tight budget, but it turned out to be so cute! Natalie said she wanted bright colors.. That was a hurdle I had to overcome because (as it turns out) ALL baby shower decorations are pastel colors. But, I was really excited and started to think about making some things on my own. The first were these photo holders. Super easy, and super cute.

All it is…oversized clothespins and wooden cut-outs. The cutouts are already painted and ready to go at your local craft store. Just pick out a matching color and paint the clothespins. I think these photo holders are what got the most compliments. Although the centerpieces didn’t scream “baby” they were very girly and cute. Again, super easy. Crystals, tiny styrofoam balls, and silk flowers, all bought from an arts and crafts store. Bright colored ribbon, flowers, and crystals were put out everywhere to give pops of bright color.

The frame was from the same craft store and served as a welcome sign and to direct guests to the guest book.

I also made a diaper cake to dress up the gift table, which was surprisingly easy to do and will be the topic of my next blog! Decorating with the bright colored ribbon and some equally as bright baby items, allowed me to tie the cake in to the overall theme. I also got a lot of compliments on this. Big bonus…it’s a great present for mommy-to-be!

This whole shower was put together for a little under $400 (minus the cost of the facility). Making the centerpieces and some of the decorations helped to save a lot of money.

Also, invitations were do-it-yourself. While it does take a little time to print them out yourself (especially for detail oriented people like me) it cuts out a lot of cost. But, if you find good, quality cardstock, most people won’t even notice. In fact, everyone thought I had these printed at a stationery store! As long as you’re willing to put a little work into it, you can throw a nice party with a tight budget.

Here’s what Natalie had to say about her shower:

The shower was beyond anything I ever imagined. Everything was so beautiful. Everywhere I turned there was something fun to look at, they put so much thought into even the smallest details. It was personalized just for me and I will never forget it!   ~Natalie

Reviews, Ratings, & Testimonials

July 14th, 2009

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July 1st, 2009

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July 1st, 2009

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Who says “THE” Dress Has to Make you Broke?

June 15th, 2009

You can find “THE dress” for thousands less than you think with some simple searching online. No, I’m not talking about buying a used dress off of Craigslist – I mean a brand-new, drop-dead gorgeous dress. Many brides spend days worth of shopping and arguing with moms & bridesmaids in the stores, and that’s simply not even necessary anymore. In fact, I ordered 2 sizes of the same dress from Isaac Mizrahi’s bridal line from Target at the time and decided I’d just chalk the return shipping charge up to convenience factor. I bought my beautifully simple and elegant strapless dress for $99, And I didn’t even have to knock out another bride at one of the occasional $99 dress sales at David’s Bridal. I saw a similar dress that I loved online at Ann Taylor for $600 as a backup in case it wasn’t “the one”, but luckily for me it was so I saved even more….Anyway, there’s more and more affordable options these days, from reputable stores you might not have thought of in your voyage to find the perfect dress – For instance, stores like JCrew & Nordstrom have some fabulous options. I’ve pulled some of the best valued ones from those 2 sites, but they have a wide variety so check them out yourself, and search for some others too!

The above dresses were pulled from Nordstrom online at $180, $228, & $308 respectively. You can likely offset some return shipping charges not only be saving on the dress cost but also potentially a lot in alterations compared to the way they many have to be custom tailored.

The above dresses cost $295, $795, & $995, respectively from JCrew.