Windy Weather Bindery is one of the featured presenters at the winter social of the West Michigan Wedding & Event Professionals (MWEP).  I’ll be setting up some of my albums, guest books, jewelry boxes, photo boxes, favors, and more, as well as briefly talking about the work I do.

MWEP events are a great opportunity to connect with colleagues and professionals related to the wedding and event industry in West Michigan.  The events are always wonderfully organized by event planner extraordinaire, Aletha VanderMaas, of Pearls Events.  This month’s social is at Reds on the River in Rockford on Monday, February 22nd, at 7pm.  I hope to see you there!

A couple of weekends ago I was in Chicago for Indie Wed, a unique wedding show for those who don’t quite fit into the traditional mold. I LOVED this show! I arrived at the venue to set up my table, and I knew right away that this show fit me perfectly.

The venue, at the Ravenswood Event Center, was a fabulous space and set the perfect tone for the show.  The entire perimeter of the room was filled with rare, vintage cars in mint condition.  Above the cars were mid-century neon signs that added a wonderful glow and mood to the room.

Here are two of my favorite signs:

This was the first show in which I have not shared a table with my husband, of Matthew Reidsma Draws, although he came along and was a HUGE help.  I really had fun making a new sign for the table and figuring out how to organize my wares.  In the end, I thought everything came off quite nicely.

My ring boxes and favors took front and center stage.  Around them I placed a variety of photo albums and guest books as samples of the kind of custom work I can provide, including ideas for custom foil embossed stamping on the covers.

It was fun to talk with the guests about their weddings and their ideas for personalizing my albums.  So many of the people I talked to had creative ideas that had never occurred to me.  The excitement of wedding planning added a noticeable buzz in the room.  It inspired me and made me want to get back into the studio and make more stuff!

Next week I will feature a few of the amazing vendors that I met.  Stay tuned!

This weekend I was in Chicago for the first ever Indie Wed show.  I am excited to tell (and show) you more about the show in my next post. In the meantime, here is a little bit about one of the items that I took to the show.

My jewelry or ring boxes are the perfect container for a special little something.  In place of the traditional pillow, they make the perfect ring bearer boxes in a wedding ceremony and can add a burst color in wedding pictures.  Other people have bought them to help pop the big question.  They also make a lovely little gift box for any special present.

The box measures 2″ square and is 1.5″ tall. The lid snaps snugly closed to keep the contents safely inside.  They are available in a number of colors and patterns in my Etsy store, but I can also accommodate custom requests.  Email me for more information and pricing.