Paper goods, DIY projects and general styling: Kelly from Paper Stories + Indie Wed

General styling and model styling: Lauren from Ryan Alexander Events

Floral design and styling: Lynn from Pollen

Vintage Plates: Plate

Venue: Room 1520

Female Model: Haley from Room 1520

Photography: Stevi from averyhouse

Not only do we love Evanston, but we also love having the community and support that comes along with sharing a space together. The I Do Films team is creative and so much fun to be around. Our new studio is a perfect little two story house right in the heart of Evanston’s arts district. We feel so thankful for the opportunity to collaborate daily with other like-minded business owners. The second film below was created by I Do Films around the time that we made the decision to share studio space and we got recruited into this one as well. So even though these are a bit dated and shot several months back when my hair was much longer, we hope you still enjoy them!

This Thursday, January 20th, Room 1520 will be holding their official launch party for their brand new event space, Aérée Loft. We are excited to be helping host the event as we are big fans of this beautiful venue and we can’t wait for all the awesome things that are planned for the party. I mentioned Room 1520 on our blog just a few weeks ago when I posted pictures of the Hamilton Family. If you are in the event or wedding industry or if you are looking for a place to host your next big hoorah, wedding, bar/bat mitzvah, etc., then come join us for all the fun! And if you haven’t yet seen what all the Smilebooth craze is about, then you’ll finally have a chance to try it out for yourself. Beware, it’s addictive and sure to make you smile. Everyone is welcome so we hope to see lots of you there! Just be sure to RSVP by either emailing us at contact@averyhouse.net or by calling 312-952-1520 and mention you saw the invite on our blog.

If you can’t make it out to see us at Room 1520, we’ll also be helping host a fun little event on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 22nd, from 1-3pm at A Perfect Event. You can read about all of the details here!

Tis the season for wedding planning and wedding shows. Many of you who are engaged and planning your wedding or who have “been there, done that” know that wedding shows usually aren’t the most exciting part of the process. Though they offer lots of helpful information, it’s not fun to have to fight your way through the crowd of people with only a hope of finding at least one good vendor who is offering what you are looking for. Thankfully, Kelly Maron of Paper Stories, recognized this need for a wedding show that features a hand-picked group of vendors that cater to couples looking for unique wedding products and services. Something a little less generic and different from what the more traditional wedding shows have to offer. This is how Indie Wed was born. January 2010 marked the very first Indie Wed which was an incredible success. We are honored to have been selected as part of this year’s show which will be held on January 29th, 2011 at the Ravenswood Event Center. We’ll be there with bells on next to I Do Films so be sure to stop by and say hi! Also joining us will be the Smilebooth! Woohoo! For more information on the event visit the webiste. If you are planning a wedding you won’t want to miss it!

To take advantage of a 40% discount on your ticket, click here and use promo code NEWYEAR (one word) until midnight on Friday the 7th. We also have a few more tickets left to give away so leave a comment with your email address and the number of tickets you need and I’ll send you the info. First come, first serve! Happy Planning!

••UPDATE!!••

We don’t have any more tickets to give away personally but there are still plenty available here! Go get ya some!

Today Matt and I are headed to India where we are joining the Matthew 10 International Ministries group on their journey to serve the people in the city of Kadapa and most importantly share with them the love of Christ. This will be my third time traveling with this ministry and Matt’s second. Every time I come home feeling renewed and humbled by my experiences. There is something really beautiful about a country full of people who find happiness in the simplest of things. We will be traveling in some areas that are extremely poor and impoverished and it seems that there is something about those communities that allows them to have even more faith like a child. It seems there is nothing getting in the way of them fiercely believing God for miracles and healing. There is no greater feeling in the world than getting to tell these people that God created them and loves them even in the midst of their struggles.

When we step out of our normal daily routine and step into a week full of these kinds of experiences, there is, without a doubt, a major shift in the way we choose to live our own lives. International travel is one of the best ways to really get out of your comfort zone and see how other people around the world are pressing on even though their lives are much harder than ours. It’s a chance to rethink our normal responses to the things that happen in our lives and make an effort to change in areas of weakness. The trip always falls right around the holiday season which seems even more appropriate as we gather with family and friends to remember and celebrate Christ’s birth.

We feel so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with these people and photograph them. It is our goal, with our documentary work, to show the strength, beauty and wisdom that they possess rather than focus on the things that they don’t have. Working alongside the Matthew 10 team is always an honor and we can’t thank them enough for the asking us to join them again. We encourage everyone to follow their blog and visit their website which you can access here –> http://matthew10.com

Our group of 20, most of which are based out of Knoxville, TN, met in Chicago last night where we all boarded the same flight to London and then on to Hyderabad. We will then take an overnight train to Kadapa where we will spend the remainder of our week. We will be back in the U.S. on December 15th and back in the office on the 16th so all of our phone calls and emails will be returned around that time. Above are a few images from our trip to Suryapet, India in November 2009.

Last night Matt and I had tons of fun with Debbie, Tom and all of their wedding guests at The Tower Club here in Chicago. For all of you that were there and dying to see all of the photo booth images I wanted to post this link so that you can pre-register to see the whole gallery. Once you sign in, you will receive an email as soon as the images are posted online which will be later this week. Be sure to check back as we’ll post all of the wedding photos to the same gallery as soon as they are ready. Debbie found all of the cute photo booth props on Etsy and everyone had so much fun with them! A big congrats to these two above!

Speaking of photo booths, we just debuted our brand new Smilebooth (a hugely upgraded version of our regular photo booth) last night at a charity event for Seeds of Africa hosted by Orange Skin. Matt and I weren’t able to be there but our awesome friend, Joe, helped us out and said that everyone had a blast! The difference between the Smilebooth and our regular photo booth is that the Smilebooth runs on its own. Using the remote clicker, every time a picture is taken, the image pops up on a screen for 3 seconds so you and all of your friends can squeeze into the frame without having me, Matt or anyone else direct you. You can instantly see just how ridiculous you look in every picture allowing you to get crazier with each click. We highly recommend the Smilebooth for any party that deserves to be remembered so head on over to the Smilebooth site for more info! We’ll post pictures from this event soon so be sure to check back!

There’s no doubt about the fact that a photo booth always gets the party started. Somehow an unmanned camera always brings out the silliest and craziest sides of people. We’ve been doing photo booths at weddings for a couple of years now and they never fail to keep us laughing and rolling on the floor all night long. The images above are from Kate and Jason’s wedding a few weeks ago and if you’d like to see the complete set you can visit their Pictage gallery.

•• Matt and I are so excited to announce that we are joining the Smilebooth family this month. We will make an official announcement soon explaining exactly what that means for you, but for now, if you aren’t familiar with Smilebooth then you should go check them out. It will be a major upgrade to our current photo booth setup and we are so so happy! The Midwest hasn’t yet had the chance to enjoy all that is Smilebooth like the rest of the country has. But fear no more, our little Smilebooth is getting a few final touches as we speak and we will have her here in just a few short weeks! We can’t wait. She will be making her debut at a downtown charity event on November 13th and we will be sure to post the pictures and all of the details for you! If you have an event or wedding that you think would be a good fit for the Smilebooth, head on over to the website, click on your state and submit an inquiry. You won’t be sorry you did!

Some of the conversations we shared with other attendees left us dreaming bigger than we ever have before.  Without big goals and dreams, we will never be able to fully grow into the person that we are called to be.  We also feel that while working with your spouse is great, it is an even bigger challenge to constantly make sure we are growing together and always open to respecting each other’s perspectives.

Taking time to travel and attend a conference like Engage is a great way for us to feel challenged and refreshed.   Thank you to everyone who made our experience unforgettable.  We’ll let the photos below tell the rest of the story!

A little video recap from our friends at I Do Films

engage!10 Cayman Islands from I Do Films on Vimeo.

This film was produced by I Do Films, LLC.

Visit these blogs for more Engage!10 recaps:

(if you want to add your recap to this list email me, contact@averyhouse.net)

• Lara Casey
• 14 Stories
• Momental Designs
• Bridal Bar
• Celebrations
• Jasmine Star
• Elegance & Simplicity
• I Do Films
• Splendid Communications
• Elizabeth Anne Designs