What do you get when you have two beautiful people (both inside and out!), a classic black and white color palette and a perfect skyline view? Jess and Andrew’s fantastically beautiful wedding, that’s what.

Jess and Andrew had a perfect fall day, in fact I think it was the only Saturday last October that it actually didn’t rain (which made for a fun wedding season haha!). It was crisp, clear, sunny and the ideal day for tying the knot in our beautiful city.

How do I begin with Jess and Andrew? Who knew when I met them in East Boulevard Starbucks (my unofficial office) a year ago that we would now be friends and I can also call them for misc. medical advice (bc as if they couldn’t be more awesome, they are both Doctors). They may regret hiring me now hahaha! No, but for reals, they’re the best and I had a blast coordinating their big day. The fact that Jess is supremely organized was a huge help.

NOTE: All of these beautiful photos are by my photography spirit animal, Lori with Capture Me Candid. Full vendor list at the bottom of this post.

The day started off at the Great Aunt Stella Center where the couple tied the knot. This was my first time coordinating a ceremony at this location and they were lovely to work with. The church is large and super impressive and makes a beautiful ceremony location. We’re going to talk about Jess’ dress here in a few, I mean…it’s literally amazing, I know.

Because Jess is super creative, she didn’t do a regular ceremony program, she did a newspaper and it was fantastic.

Pink Petunia created a timeless white bridal bouquet for Jessica.

Before the ceremony, Lori got some gorgeous shots of Jess and her bridesmaids who were wearing classic black. I love everything about these shots including the supermodels in them.

After Jess and Andrew tied the knot, the wedding party headed Uptown for you guessed it – more pictures! I love this one in front of the graffiti wall. It just goes to show that a black and white color palette really does go well with anything!

Jess and Andrew’s portraits were beautiful and I especially loved them because they showed off Jessica’s amazing dress! The Lis Simon Bridal dress from the lovely ladies at Ladies of Lineage was simply stunning. I can say it was one of my favorite wedding dresses to date! Advice: If you want to feel like a princess on your wedding day, get a twirly dress.

Meanwhile, back at Roof with a View, the reception was brimming with clean black and white complimented by beautiful silver mercury glass and white flowers. The Jessica’s mom scoured and scoured to find the perfect mercury glass centerpieces and she did an amazing job. Each table looked a little different but it all came together flawlessly. Pink Petunia created floral toppers for each of the candlesticks to finish off the look.

The table numbers were personalized to Jess and Andrew (i.e. Table 12 – Number of days we will be honeymooning) and guests had a blast reading the meanings behind the numbers. I love when there are unique table numbers!

We had champagne flutes preset with blackberries on the table, in keeping with the color scheme.

The wine stopper favors doubled as place cards. One one side there was a picture of the happy couple, and on the other side was your table assignment. An efficient favor that doubles as a wine stopper? That’s something I can get on board with!

The cake was a simple design by the always delicious Wow Factor Cakes.

Catering the affair was the yummy Something Classic who also passed out these late night snacks – mini pizzas in mini pizza boxes! How cute are these? They were a big hit as you can imagine!

Dana from Z Brothers DJs kept the crowd dancing all night long!

And let me tell you, I was the most favorite person in the room when I passed out late night glow sticks!

Champagne was poured and the boys enjoyed stogies on the roof with Panthers stadium shining the background.

Jess and Andrew, I hope you are always as happy as you were on your wedding night! You were truly one of my faves and I wish you tons of happiness, love and wine. And more double dates with my husband and I!

Thanks to all the great vendors who helped pull this great night off for a wonderful couple. I will be back in a day or two to post a few Super Bowl recipes. If you didn’t hear, the Super Bowl is this Sunday and you KNOW I’m pumped for my Panthers! Cheers and here’s to a great week!

Full Vendor List:

Ceremony Venue: Great Aunt Stella Center | Reception Venue: Roof With a View | Florist: Pink Petunia | Cake/Cupcakes: Wow Factor Cakes |
DJ: Z Brothers | Photographer: Capture Me Candid | Rentals: Party Reflections | Caterer: Something Classic | Wedding Dress: Ladies of Lineage  | Hair/Makeup: Whos the Fairest 

Earlier this month I added a new title to my resume: Teacher.

Well, sort of! Basically I spent 2 hours talking about cocktails, tablescapes and prepping for holiday entertaining. Honestly it just sounds like a regular day in the life of Jackie Fo!

This awesome opportunity came about because of Skillpop, a great new concept in the Charlotte area. Skillpop hosts pop up classes in the Charlotte area with topics ranging from photography, hand lettering and much, much more. Basically, you learn a new skill (without breaking the bank) all while meeting new people in your own city. Score! If you’re local, check out their upcoming class schedule HERE!

My class (aptly timed for the season) was Holiday Hosting and Entertaining. I may be biased but I thought it was a blast! The group of ladies were so much fun, asked tons of questions and provided a really interactive environment which is great, because no one wants to hear me talk for 2 hours. Not even me.

(Note: All pictures are iPhone pics. I was too busy molding young minds to break out my real camera.)

I made a mock table scape for the ladies with a silver metallic theme. The centerpiece was made from glassware and candle votives which is a great way to create an impactful table scape without spending a lot of money. Have to be cognizant of the cost, especially during the holidays!

I also demonstrated a super easy DIY place card made from a faux pointsettia found at Michaels. I bought this bad boy for $8ish dollars. I should own part of Michaels at this point. I could walk through it blindfolded.

The DIY is so simple! Cut the pointsettia apart with floral or wire cutters and attach a tag to each piece with a guest’s name. I used a key tag below. Each place card will be a little different which I love! I made 4 place cards for $8…you can’t beat that! Plus Michaels has faux flowers in every color of the holiday rainbow to match your table scape.

Here I am showing off my placecard idea… do I look profesh? Or like I remotely know what I am talking about? Or just plain awkward? The jury’s still out.

I also shared one of my absolute favorite cocktail tricks of all time – the no-fail rimming the ole’ champagne flute with sugar trick. You may remember this from my tutorial around this time last year.  I’m telling you, it’s an instant party face-lift.

The last activity was a flower arranging activity and each guest got to take home a holiday arrangement they created. I didn’t claim to be a florist (because I am SO not), but I did give them some helpful hints and ways to make flower arranging easier. To keep things totally real as I like to do here on this blog, one of the tips was just to buy flowers prearranged from a florist. Ha! Sometimes you’ve got to leave it to the professionals and that’s totally okay.

Here are the ladies showing those flowers who’s the boss.

I also gave guests a thorough holiday entertaining “prep” timeline with tons of specific tips plus a take home sheet with stress-free entertaining/hosting tips and tricks. Not that I’m an expert. But do I know a thing or two about throwing a fun party!

Basically I had a blast talking about one of my favorite topics with a bunch of women who were interested in hearing what I had to say. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season and to start closing out a successful, busy and satisfying year.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back later this week sharing pictures from our 7th annual cookie party. Things are winding down here at Jackie Fogartie Events and I’m looking forward to sharing a few more posts with you all before we close 2015.   Cheers!