Kevin & Amanda Carmon's Reception
Pictures coming soon!
Vendor Team:
Day Of Wedding Coordinator - 618 EVENTS, Maggie
Reception Venue- Carmon’s
Hair and Makeup- Revive
Caterer- Pan and Cake Catering
Photographer- Good Photography Co
Florist- April’s Florist
DJ- Nate Jones
Macarons- Milk and Honey Macarons
Lounge and Linen Rentals- Create A Scene
String Lights- Prospect Sound and Lighting
Calligraphy and Signage- Apricity Ink
Place Cards- Themes Come True
Amanda contacted me about mid-way through her planning. She was completely overwhelmed with the idea of having to design and decorate her reception but she knew she wanted it pretty. She didn’t have time to figure out where to purchase and/or rent the items she wanted so she hired me to help coordinate all those details.
Kevin and Amanda had planned their ceremony and reception in Hawaii for October 2020. Well…we all know what happened there. They postponed for one year and had the ceremony and reception in Hawaii in October 2021. Since not all their friends and family could attend in Hawaii they decided to have a reception here in Champaign.
Kevin and Amanda are both from here originally but they currently live in Florida. They are OBSESSED with Disney (fun fact- Amanda just got a job as a tour guide at Disney too!!) so they decided to theme their reception in a similar way to their Hawaii festivities. Did I mention their wedding was at the Disney resort in Hawaii? Yeah, they really do love it.
The florals were all tropical and tropical colors like pinks, oranges, corals, and pops of turquoise. Each guest’s place card was an element of the Disney parks- a ride, a restaurant, etc. The place cards were set in a glass slipper holder- how creative!
Pan and Cake created themed food stations that went along with Disney. So for example they had Aladdin themed street food or Little Mermaid “under the sea” food. It was awesome and of course totally delicious!
Amanda wanted a lounge area for guests to relax if they didn’t want to dance. She had sent me inspiration photos of teak furniture with white cushions (similar to a nice patio set) with pillows in different pinks. Again, going along with a tropical theme. I emailed Create A Scene and they had literally just gotten a set EXACTLY like that in! How perfect! It doubled as a photo booth with a white and string lights backdrop. Kevin and Amanda have a polaroid camera which they used in Hawaii for their guestbook so they brought it along and added to it. The guest book was a very cool leather book with paper that had raw edges.
Amanda wanted to have a kids’ area as there were many kids attending. She wanted them to have fun at the reception so she purchased leis for them to wear (again, carrying out a theme here) plus coloring books, bubbles, games, and more! We rented little tables and poofs for the kids to sit at.
Kevin and Amanda wanted a sweetheart table instead of a head table so they used one of Carmon’s live edge tables. Amanda knew she wanted sequin turquoise tablecloths and runners on certain tables to highlight them. I loved this unique pop of color and texture! The other guest tables had light pink chiffon runners which totally complimented the florals. Carmon’s tables are super nice and don’t need a full linen. They are handmade wood tables that you definitely don’t want to cover up!
A friend of theirs made the cake for guests which was actually individually boxed and set at each guests’ place setting. The cake was a unique Hawaiian MOG cake with mango, orange, and guava flavors (hence MOG). It was really beautiful too as each flavor was layered on top of the other!
The day before their reception they took photos so that the reception day wasn’t so rushed. What a great idea! Plus this means Amanda got to wear her wedding dress THREE times! In Hawaii, the day before, and the day of their reception.
The morning of their reception was super relaxed for Kevin and Amanda. Amanda got her hair and makeup done upstairs at the Carmon’s apartment that is available for Carmon’s clients to use for getting ready. Amanda’s mom also got her hair and makeup done, but there were no other girls so it wasn’t a packed morning.
I helped to set up everything and facilitate the vendors coming in for set up to ensure they knew where to set up. A unique and nice feature of Carmon’s is that you can BYOB to help save costs. Pan and Cake will also bartend the alcohol you provide so you can have quality service but save on the alcohol itself. Kevin really enjoys Coke from the glass bottle so Pan and Cake purchased this specifically for Kevin.
Another unique situation was that I was actually a guest at the wedding since Kevin and Amanda are my husband’s cousins. So I helped to set up that morning but Amanda didn’t hire me to coordinate on the day of so I could actually sit and be a guest. I always love when I can eat the food hot or enjoy a glass of wine. However I wasn’t able to enjoy a glass of wine because I was 9 months pregnant at the reception AND in fact my son was born 3 days after this. So that was good timing! I was very thankful he came after and not before so that I could still help Amanda with everything.
When you book at Carmon’s you will automatically have me or Amanda’s help (amount of day-of help depends on the package you choose) but you will definitely have Jamie with Carmon’s there the entire time. Jamie is awesome! He is super helpful. He has many years of experience in the event industry so he is very resourceful as well. There is a difference between our and Jamie’s role though. Jamie doesn’t set up items for you and he doesn’t keep the day moving along. He ensure everything on the venue side is correct (tables and chairs, lights, etc). So if you are having your wedding at Carmon’s and want extra help definitely book a higher package! You won’t regret it!