French Kiss Events, Victoria’s luxury boutique wedding planning and design firm, specializing in creating weddings and events that are personalized down to the smallest detail.

Journal

Posts tagged Kim Kalyn Photography
Real Celebration: Gigi's 1st Birthday Party!

So, when some of your absolute favourite people in the world make a baby, life is pretty great, right?!  Now, when those friends ask you to help them celebrate said babies first birthday?  It doesn't get any better than that...  That is just what happened last Spring, when I had the honour of planning a very special 1st birthday party for some of my closest friends adorable daughter, Georgia (aka. Gigi).  Having the opportunity to help my friends celebrate this incredible milestone in their lives was absolutely wonderful, and it was so much fun creating a magical space that could be enjoyed by kids, friends & family alike.  Set in the beautiful gardens of Starling Lane (a favourite of mine!), guests were treated to a lovely afternoon of visiting, baby snuggles, and lots of delicious food.  

When first starting the planning, I had lots and lots of conversations with Tara (Gigi's beautiful mama) all about Gigi's favourite things.  A colour palette was quickly established, based off of her nursery design, and then our conversation turned towards her love of animals and books.  We took inspiration from one of her favourite books, The Crown on Your Head, by Nancy Tillman (if you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend it!).  It is overflowing with beautiful animal illustrations, as well as darling quotes, many of which we styled throughout the gardens.  The crown theme was also carried throughout the party, including a fun crown station for all the guests to partake in!  My absolute favourite crown of the day had to be the feather crown made for Georgia.  My Mom actually made it (she's a pretty rad lady!), and much to everyone's delight, Gigi wore it the entire afternoon! 

This was an incredibly special afternoon, and I absolutely love looking back through the pics and remembering this day.  I am so grateful that we have such wonderful friends in our lives, and love getting to be a part of their families milestones! 

**Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the complete list of all the a-team vendors that helped make this day so incredible!  All photos courtesy of Kim Kalyn Photography.

Planning & Design - French Kiss Events
Photography - Kim Kalyn Photography
Florals - Thorn & Thistle
Catering - Salt & Pepper Fox
Sweets - Ruth & Dean
Cake - Homemade by Tara
Furniture - Bash Specialty
Venue - Starling Lane Winery

Mothers Day Inspiration
Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

With Mothers Day just a few sleeps away, I can't help but share these images from a shoot I had the ultimate pleasure of being a part of last Spring.  It was a day that I will remember for a long time to come, spent with some incredible vendors (I'm talking about you, Kim, Vanessa & Erin), at one of the most wonderful treasures in town, Nourish (the best place to rejuvenate your soul here in Victoria!).  It was featured last summer, on the cutest blog around, On to Baby!!

To me, Mothers Day has always been not only a day to honour our amazing Mothers, but also a day to celebrate the wonderful relationship between a mother and her children! A day to set aside some time to spend together, to enjoy each others company, as well as all the pretty things that surround us on a daily basis.  Our vision was to create exactly this…a space where mothers & daughters could sit back, relax over a cup of tea, and escape together into a magical setting!

A massive thank  you goes out to Verbena Floral Design, Kim Kalyn Photography, Erin Bradley, Freckled Stationery & Nourish, for working with me on this fun project, and for putting your heart into absolutely everything that you do!!  And also, thank you to Amelia Lee and Fawn Children's Clothing, for providing the sweetest clothing I have ever seen!!

Happy Mothers Day to all those amazing women out there who make miracles happen every day for the rest of us!! (and an extra special shout out to my own Mom, who is basically the most amazing woman that I know!!)

xo Barb

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

FKE featured on Style Me Pretty Canada
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Screen shot 2014-02-25 at 8.28.26 AM

Today, I am SOOOOO excited to be featured on Style Me Pretty Canada!!  One of my all time favourite blogs, and it always makes my heart flutter when I get to see my work grace their beautiful pages!  Back in June, I had the amazing opportunity to not only collaborate with these INSANELY talented vendors, but to do so on a BOAT!! How fun is that?!!  Having lived on the west coast my whole life, I have always had a soft spot for the ocean and do my best to never take it for granted.  Looking to do a different sort of styled shoot, Kim Kalyn Photography and Clare Day Flowers came up with the idea of stripping back a wedding to its simplest form: an elopement.  And what better spot to shot an elopement, then out at sea!  I am so honoured that they asked me to help them pull it all together, as I couldn't think of a more fabulous crew of ladies to work alongside! Thank you so much to Melanie Baird Makeup Artist and Conscious Hair by Elena for making the ladies look even more beautiful, Tuktu Paper Co. for the awesome paper goods, as well at The White Peony and Citizen Clothing for the seriously fabulous attire!  And a HUGE thank you, to my friend Richard, for taking us out on his gorgeous sailboat for the afternoon, and for being such a good Captain!  And to make a great day even better, Paper Heart Films tagged along, and put together the sweetest behind the scenes video for us all...it is the cherry on top of an already wonderful shoot! Here are a few of my favourite images from the shoot, but definitely make sure to check out the full feature and video on SMP!

xo Barb

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2013 in Review

Another year has come and gone, and I find myself, once again, looking back at all the great (and not so great! lol!) moments of 2013!  Overall, it was an incredible year, and I am beyond grateful for everyone that helped make 2013 a stellar year for FKE!  This past year brought many new couples to the FKE family, and I am so honoured that we got to be a part of so many weddings and events.  Thank you so much to all the newlyweds (and soon to be newlyweds) out there, for welcoming me into your lives and allowing me to be a part of such a huge time in your life!  It means the world to me!! This past year, also brought some amazing inspiration projects, alongside some incredible vendors!!  Junebug Weddings, Grey Likes Weddings, and On to Baby were gracious enough to feature some of these fun projects. I also had the privilege of joining the extremely coveted, Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book, as well as the always inspiring Once Wed Blog's, vendor list.  Seriously...pinch me now!!!  This past Fall was spent working closely with the extremely talented Laura, of Tuktu Paper Co., on some fabulous branding paper goods for me.  I cannot WAIT to share them with all of you, and so stay tuned for a new branding post, coming soon.  And last, but definitely not least, I am so so soooo grateful for all of my industry friends, new and old, who continuously blow me away with their kindness, graciousness, and talent!!  We had so much fun all partying together at the 1st ever Victoria Wedding Industry Meetup, and I cannot wait to do so again, for many years to come!!

So, without further adieu, here's a roundup of some of my favourite moments over the past year, and here's to another fabulous year!

xo Barb

*ps, a HUGE shout out to all the fabulous photographers, who have captured this year.  Thanks to Kim Kalyn Photography, Ameris, Jennifer Ballard Photography and Jon Mark Photography, for the photo's below.

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Kim Kalyn Photography

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Jennifer Ballard Photography

Jennifer Ballard Photography

Jennifer Ballard Photography

Jennifer Ballard Photography

Jennifer Ballard Photography

Jennifer Ballard Photography

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Jon Mark Photography

Jon Mark Photography

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

Ameris

and then, just because it's fun, here's some of my Instagram fav's from the year!

2013-Roundup

2013-Roundup

FKE featured on Grey Likes Weddings
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Screen shot 2013-12-30 at 10.56.52 AM

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Screen shot 2013-12-31 at 11.20.36 AM

I feel beyond honoured to have this mod-New Years Eve soiree, from last year, featured AGAIN, this year!!  In 2012, it made it's first appearance on SMP, and this year, had the honour of gracing the seriously fabulous pages of Grey Likes Weddings!!  Thank you to Lady Grey, and all the other society ladies out there, for featuring this shoot, and I hope that it helps to inspire some seriously glamorous New Years celebrations this year!!