This morning we are heading over to Michigan for a fun wedding on a vineyard. Before we leave, though, I had to post these Smilebooth photos from Matt and Amy’s wedding. We were ROTFL while we were processing these. The Smilebooth never ceases to bring the party and this bunch of party animals was not afraid to hang. We loved every minute of it.

The Smilebooth never gets old. It just keeps the party going. These images are from the Aérée Loft Launch Party at Room 1520. You can see the entire set of images from this crazy night here. If you missed out on all this fun, be sure to catch the Smilebooth again at the Aérée Loft tomorrow night for the annual Great Taste! Check out the invite here and be sure to RSVP to haley@room1520.com. We’d love to see you there!

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!

Last week our Smilebooth debuted at a charity event in downtown Chicago. Above are a few of our favorite images from the set. To see the whole gallery you can go here. The event was held at Orange Skin which is a great little contemporary Italian furniture show room. If you haven’t been there, you must go check it out. They feature some of the best international furniture designers that are out there and many of the pieces are impossible to find anywhere else in the U.S. The purpose of the charity event was to raise money and awareness for two non-profit organizations. Seeds of Africa, an organization that provides stimulation, inspiration and hope for the hungry minds of children in Africa, and Minds Matter, an organization committed to making college education a reality for motivated inner-city high school students in Chicago and across the country. Elissa Raymond and her crew did an incredible job of planning and organizing the whole party and it turned out to be a big success. Our friend, Joe, did an awesome job of running the Smilebooth for us since we were busy shooting a wedding that evening, but we were able to stop by later in the night to grab a few cupcakes and say hi to everyone. A big thanks to Graunk from Orange Skin and Elissa for being so great to work with.

The yellow background is handmade by the one and only Ashley Meaders of Smilebooth and is one of many of the custom backgrounds that you can rent when you use the Smilebooth. If you or anyone you know is interested in having the Smilebooth at their party, go to www.smilebooth.com and check it out!

Matt and I are staying in Chicago this week for Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to a little down time and some good food and fun with some of our close friends here in the city. We miss all of our friends and family back home quite a bit but we know it won’t be long before we will get to see them. We leave for India in 10 days with the Matthew 10 team and are busy getting prepared for all of the amazing things that will happen on that trip. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

The Smilebooth is a modern update on a classic memory-maker; an exciting addition for any party. There are no limits to the amount of time you take the photo so you can out-do yourself every time. The backgrounds can be as simple or as complex as you like. The silly and spontaneous shots are the best part of the Smilebooth. Be warned… it might take over the event with outrageous laughter coming from the corner… but that’s not a bad thing, right? Though we’ve always offered our own version of a photo booth, the Smilebooth is unique because it can run on its own. Guests take their photo with a remote, while the image is displayed on a screen in front of them.

If you are planning a wedding, birthday bash, bar/bat mitzvah, holiday party in Chicago or the Midwest, go to the Smilebooth website to see how you can have your very own Smilebooth at your party! While we are offering this to all of our brides and grooms, you do not have to be an averyhouse client to have the Smilebooth. So coordinators, designers, florists, djs, caterers and cinematographers make sure your people know about the most hip photo booth in town! The Smilebooth!

We debuted our Smilebooth at a charity event last week so stay tuned for a post tomorrow.

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!