Vendor Spotlight: Valerie's Creations

Valerie Frazier has been helping brides realize their vision in invitations, save the dates, paper accessories and favors for over ten years in the Greater Puget Sound area.  A crafty lady with a keen eye for design, she started Valerie’s Invites to fill a gap she saw between extremely pricey custom invitations and cookie cutter products.  “I just knew that a bride could have gorgeous personal invitations without busting a budget.”


She has worked as a design consultant and product provider for some of Seattle’s top paper and invitation stores while continuing her own work saving dreams one wedding at a time.

As her business has evolved, she is now helping those “do it yourself” brides by providing design, printing and assembly assistance.  Her knowledge of wording and etiquette, papers and printing processes can save you from an invitation disaster!  If you want to make your own invitations, you need to consider the time and expenses involved in materials as well as the priniting costs.  It is always a good idea to have a designer help you with the design and provide you with the materials and guidance so that you get an invitation that you are proud of to send to your guests!

Before meeting with perspective invitation designers, consider your budget and how many invitations you will need.  Since invitation costs can vary greatly,  it is good to have in mind a number that you are comfortable with.

We consider it such an honor to be able to work with couples on their weddings!  We want to make it special and unique, just for them.  We try never to do the same invitation twice -  there is always something different for each couple.  We have couples who are coming back to us for baby announcements and other events in their lives!

Please see Valerie's Invites at www.valeriesinvites.com or call Valerie for a free consultation at 425.241.5692.

Lego Birthday Party

For my oldest son’s 7^th birthday, all he wanted was something Lego themed. He has been obsessed with Legos so this was the perfect theme for his birthday party. For the concept of the dessert table, I actually found the fabric at Joann Fabrics right after Halloween. It was fabric used with make a Minnie Mouse costume, but it gave me the inspiration for the table. To match the backdrop fabric, I found the red wrapping paper with white sparkly polka dots at Target around Christmas time. It was a perfect fit. For the other décor, I found the Lego Mini-figure head a few months back thinking it was a great Christmas present so it was hard to hide this large toy in my garage from two very snoopy boys. The finishing touches were the Capri Sun boxes that I wrapped in solid color wrapping paper.

For the food, I wanted to spotlight the Lego Mini-figure by creating Marshmallow pops which I also hand drew faces of some of the mini-figures that my sons have. To complete the look, I made Lego brick candy. I also made vanilla, chocolate and strawberry cupcakes, topped with butter cream frosting along with a Lego brick candy. My new tasty treat that I created was Lego brick and Lego mini-figure gummy candies. They were so easy to make (I used blue raspberry, raspberry, lime, lemon, orange and grape) and by far the most popular of all the kids and adults in attendance. Finally, I made Lego brick sugar cookies that I topped with mini M&Ms.

As a thank you to all of the guests, I created Lego brick replica gift bags complete with handmade Lego brick crayons, candy, and other Lego related goodies.

Also, a big thank you to Valerie from Valerie's Invites for creating amazing invitations complete with a little bag of Legos that were part of the invitation.

Seattle Wedding Show Recap

This was our 2nd year as a vendor in the Seattle Wedding Show, the largest wedding show on the West Coast. We had the opportunity to change our location to be more visible as potential brides and grooms made their entrance into the show.

Because our booth at the West Coast Bridal Showcase the weekend before was such a huge hit, we decided to keep the same design, but just downsize since our booth was only a 5x10 instead of the 10x20 at the West Coast Bridal Showcase.

Again, our booth was very popular and many couples asked about our decor and took many photos saying they liked what we had presented and wanted to incorporate that into their upcoming weddings.

We met so many fabulous new and potential clients and vendors. We can't wait to meet with more clients.

Thanks to Tania from Azzura Photography and Wallflower Photography for the images of Elegant Affairs of our booth.

Vendor Spotlight: Port Gamble Weddings

Tell us about Port Gamble Weddings?

Port Gamble is Kitsap’s premier Wedding Venue.

Our Web site is filled with testimonies such as the following:

“We were so pleased with everything! Our wedding day was absolutely perfect!! Nothing went wrong, and we attribute that to the professional, friendly staff. We had such a great time and so did our guests. We would do it all over again in a heartbeat, and wouldn’t change a thing. And we loved the church bell ringing as we exited the church! A wonderful memory we will have from our day.” Kaity

“Our overall experience of St. Paul’s church and the town of Port Gamble was amazing and it is certainly an experience we will never forget! Thank you for making our special day the best we could ever imagine!” Jordan

“We absolutely loved our wedding at Port Gamble and would recommend it to anyone getting married. The town is amazing and St. Paul’s church is truly beautiful and unique. I love the historic feel of Port Gamble, and every guest raved. The atmosphere made our special day so memorable and one of a kind. The church and town made our wedding stand out in comparison to other weddings, and gave it the unique character everyone wants for their wedding. It was almost like a fairytale.”

“Love the town, love the location, love the church. Before I even met my husband – the first time I drove through Port Gamble I said “this is where I want to get married one day” – and I did.” Allison

What makes your venue(s) stand out?

Located in the quaint, historically-preserved town of Port Gamble, St. Paul’s Church and the Hood Canal Vista Pavilion offer classic elegance perfectly suited for timeless weddings and receptions. Our venues are located in a privately owned, 120-acre National Historic Landmark with turn-of-the-century buildings, New England style homes on maple tree-lined streets and a stunning waterfront backdrop. Port Gamble’s tiered rose gardens and picturesque water views are completed by bald eagle sightings above the Hood Canal. Our location is definitely a Northwest gem.

What is your favorite part working with brides and grooms?

We are a close-knit team here in the Weddings office and love what we do. Every time a soon-to-be bride or groom catches his or her breath over the pristine scenery, we can’t help but smile. We love it here too! Happiness is contagious.

What is your advice to couples in selecting a wedding venue?

Our best advice is to choose a venue that depicts the theme the bride and groom want to portray about their day and their love. This theme is best when it reflects the personalities of the bride and groom. Keep in mind the venue will be in all the photographs and memories as keepsakes shared with their closest loved ones. Port Gamble offers a new look and photo backdrop around each street to help create a wonderful collection of timeless memories.

What trends are you seeing?

We see two distinct trends: Shabby Chic is definitely in with twine, succulents, mason jars, wildflowers and accents of rose or yellow. The second, is more a vintage and classic look with deep colors used as focal points while traditional shades of whites or nudes are used as the all-over color.

Contact information

Office 360.297.8074 and www.portgambleweddings.com

West Coast Bridal Showcase Recap

This past weekend, Elegant Affairs participated in the first-ever West Coast Bridal Showcase at the Puyallup Fair Showplex. We were so excited to be featured on the Red Carpet. We met so many brides, grooms, family and friends during the two-day show. In addition to meeting new clients, we met with some amazing new vendors we can't wait to work with and introduce them to our clients.

For our 10x20 booth, I really wanted to showcase our work (portfolios and slide show) in addition to adding a piece of creative know-how in our table set-up. For the color scheme I wanted to be something that could be good for any season so I decided on jewel tones. Those colors were reflected in the backdrop, linens and flowers.

Thanks to A Tailored Affair for the linen, chairs and plate rentals and Always Affordable Flowers for my flowers, my booth really came together and that was a true testament from all the of glowing compliments from vendors and clients.

When it came to the centerpiece, I wanted it to be something budget friendly, elegant and simple. I found amazing deals at Ikea where I found the white candlesticks, purple candles and table number holder. I found the square silver chargers and silver candles at Fred Meyer. Flowers in small white vases (Michaels) and white bud vases added just the right amount of color to the table. To embellish the table settings of the square plates I added a purple satin napkin in between the dinner and salad plates topped off with a place card attached to a deep pink Christmas ornament.

As a small thank you to brides who stopped by our booth, we handed out favor bags (cotton muslin drawstring bags) that included a handmade hair rosette crafted by Elegant Affairs Assistant Rachel!

One of the best highlights from the show was having the opportunity for my two boys to model in the fashion show on Sunday. They were too cute on stage walking on stage with another model. They were a big hit at the show!

I want to say a huge thank you to my husband for helping with all of the manual labor in my set-up and clean-up and the undying support for me and my company. Finally, I want to thank my fabulous assistant Rachel for working the booth all weekend. You are truly an amazing person and I don't know what I would do without you!