One For The Road: Kansas City
Hammerpress, KC
Okay, Middle-Georgia bride. I did some scouting for you.
I'll be honest, I couldn't have labeled Kansas City on a map before this week. Now I'm not sure what I did without this thriving little metropolis of 6 million.
I've come a long way in 4 days from googling Missouri history & culture from my row 26 window seat.
It's true, I've fallen hard for KC.
Hammerpress, KC
And sometimes, when we live in little southern towns we gotta get serious about shopping local...not-so-local.
I have made it my mission to locate some Missouri vendors that my Georgia brides can fall in love with, without ever getting on a plane.
This is not an exhaustive list, it's just my 4-days-worth of walking and business-card-swapping.
1.Hammerpress
{ http://hammerpress.net/ }
Why you need it: Printed Products
How genuine are these people? They're a letterpress shop and everything is custom. From handshake, to customization, to product, they're the real deal. And guess what. The swell gentleman at the desk said they are happy to design custom wedding invites!
Hammerpress, KC
Their aesthetic is super trendy and they said they've worked with lots of brides. It seems like they make the process pretty easy start-to-finish, and you have a hand-made paper product to be proud of sending out. They are on the higher end of invite pricing, but count on it being a work of art.
2. Christopher Elbow Chocolates
{ http://www.elbowchocolates.com/ }
Why you need it: Favors or Parents' Gift
This right here is the precious little box of two that the sweet girls behind the counter showed me. They do this one a lot for wedding favors. This is certainly a fancy wedding favor because I'm thinking this vendor would be dynamite to order that box of 21 for a mother-of-the-groom gift!
3. Birdies
{ http://birdiespanties.com/ }
Why you need it: Shower Gifts/Personal Pampering
Now, y'all know I'm not one for fancy pants. I would describe myself as a sale-rack-bra kind of a girl. But THIS place is probably the only place on earth that could charm me into trying on lacy fancies. Danielle provided me with the very best customer service. She guessed my 34C size right, first try, and wouldn't let me out the door without trying on at least 9 or 10 unmentionables.
I'll be honest, she could probably hear me blushing from outside the dressing room, but suddenly I want a drawer full of these flattering beauties.
While the experience at Birdies was charming, I would definitely call these girls for a lingerie shower gift long-distance. You won't be finding things this comfortable/flattering/fancy at your local panties chain store. Specialty, ladies.
^ Finally figured out how to use my iPhone panorama so that's a plus.....
Next, a life lesson: leave your hotel room.
Don't sit in there.
At the computers in the hotel lobby, I met a lovely gentleman by the name of Wayne Heflin. He happens to be a fellow southerner, and the owner of Cross Canvas { www.crosscanvas.com }, a custom bag company. He chatted with me about our respective businesses, and he will be sending me a complimentary custom bag, along with the promise to be a wonderful Asheville connection, should I ever visit the Carolinas! GET. OUT.
Ladies, he says he's done several wedding-favor-style totes before. I'm thinking- bridesmaid gift?! Love!
Westside Local, where I had lunch with the loveliest in the business.
4. { hitched planning + floral }
How much do I love the owner, Jessica Corbett, for taking time out of her week to meet with me, a stranger from Georgia. This gal has FIVE WEDDINGS to put on this weekend. While you may think she sounds like a maniac, I think she sounds like a super-woman. And she is. We had lunch and I got to hear about her beautiful business and successes. She provided me with wisdom you can't buy. So excited to have made this connection.
I told Jessica, "It's my life goal to discover the next burlap of weddng trends"
and Jessica said,
"Oh, I can tell you, it's.....{Come back next week to find out. I'm gonna do a whole blog post about it} :)
Until next time, Kansas City.
You were good to me.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
El Anatsui's metal textiles