It is considered the most important day of your life—and you don’t want to spend it worrying about tables, décor and dealing with vendors. Brides who want to plan their own festivities often feel overwhelmed by the way things will—or will not—come together on the big day, and St. Louis event organizer Kate & Company offers a unique semi-planning services to help these brides stay blushing, not flustered.

Writing your thank-you notes should start right after any engagement party you may have. If people are kind enough to give you a gift, a lovely handwritten note (on a fold-over note card, written in black ink) is a priority—a priority you should carry all through the bridal shower, cocktail parties, rehearsal dinner and wedding events.

This summer, think of your backyard as the next decorating frontier. Use designer-quality furniture, rugs, lighting and charming decorative accents for stunning results.

Creating good by giving back is a gift to yourself, local financial advisers say. But before making a major donation to support your favorite cause, heed the following pieces of advice to avoid scams, maximize that gift and leave a lasting legacy of philanthropy. 

Stories: Winning Juliet focuses on the new girl at a high school who runs into unexpected animosity and resentment by some established ‘popular’ students when she decides to audition for the female title role in the school’s production of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo & Juliet.

Spring means spring cleaning, and we know you’ve worked so hard to tidy up this season. Now imagine, after wiping away the dust, making repairs and clearing out the junk, you find you’re left with a boring—or worse, outdated—home. With its assortment of products and customizable design service, hidden gem B. Davis Design is here to help.

Food in America is more than a necessary aspect of survival: It’s a part of our language, culture and social experience. We gather around meals. Our idioms and phrases make food references. We represent and define areas and events by the meals or snacks that coincide. While this may be many people’s America, dinner isn’t on the table for every family. Despite misconceptions about hunger, a lack of food is a sincere problem for Americans every day, including the approximately 57,100 individuals who depend weekly on the St. Louis Area Foodbank.

The common wisdom is that people who love their work are those who find the most success. Here, we feature three women who prove that common wisdom right: By following their dreams, each built a business that has seen more success than most of us would dare to dream for. As John Updike once said, “The refusal to rest content—the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions—is what distinguishes artists from entertainers and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.”

Story: May ekes out an existence as a cook at a nameless place in a tiny town on the Mojave Desert. Her home is a drab motel room with a bed, a table, a couple of chairs and drinking glasses stored in the bathroom. Her life is dreary but made drastic as well by the unwelcome arrival of her former lover, Eddie.

TAYLOR ROBINSON, a senior at Ladue Horton-Watkins High School, is one of 814 high school athletes nationwide who have been nominated to play in the 2013 McDonald’s All American Games. The 2013 nominees include high school basketball players from across the country who have been selected by coaches, athletic directors, principals and members of the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee. Pictured: Taylor Robinson with Colleen Schoendienst, local McDonald's owner/operator

Known by some as the St. Louis spring event, Friends of St. Louis Children’s Hospital recently held its 10th annual Table Tops event at The Ritz-Carlton. 

Admiring abstract art. Analyzing articles in The Wall Street Journal. Researching the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not the usual activities for an older adult, but for Henrietta Freedman and other local retired professionals, it’s all in a day’s coursework. As co-founder of the Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University, Freedman has given area seniors the gift of being in college again. And it’s a pleasure, not a chore, this time around.

I have been a pet owner for many years—sometimes successfully; other times, not so much. I have had a towheaded 3-year-old come to me with a goldfish in his hand, and ask with utter sincerity why Gil doesn’t seem to like playing in the yard. I have had a guinea pig give birth not once, not twice, but three times on my watch. We had an albino gecko. Why, you ask? I wonder the same thing every day. I think it may have taken its own life, but the official cause of death is ‘accidental.’ Apparently, it accidentally stopped eating and drinking. I have had a puppy sit on my lap while I scratched her head and rubbed her back as she—unbeknownst to me—devoured a bird. But now, I fear my patience may have run its course. It appears our puppy—our adorable, precious, impossible-not-to-love puppy—has discovered a nest. Or a herd. Or a pack—of voles.

Spring is here, and your best friend is sitting by the door, ready to play. We scoured the shops for the best toys to get you—and your pet—outdoors.

Story: The Lazara String Quartet has a history as a brilliant classical music ensemble. The four members of the group have achieved world fame and won numerous awards. Now they are on the verge of their biggest triumph: A command performance at The White House that will be nationally televised and seen by 15 million people.

Thank you for the great spread in LN for our Change Begins with Me exhibition opening. You have been wonderfully supportive and we couldn’t be more pleased with the impact. You are the best. (2/8/13 issue, p. 7)

He began his career on the local high school stage and is now an award-winning Broadway star. Since his early days growing up in South St. Louis, Norbert Leo Butz has found great success on Broadway, as well as in film and television. Even with a busy schedule that includes the lead role in next month’s world premiere of Big Fish in Chicago, Butz remains close to his roots. In May, he will return to St. Louis to headline a benefit concert for The Angel Band Project, a nonprofit that uses music to encourage healing and empathy for survivors of sexual violence. The Angel Band Project was created following the murder of Butz’s sister, Teresa Butz, in 2009. With the first show on May 8 at The Sheldon sold out, a second show has been added for May 9 at the 560 Music Center. Recently, Butz took a few minutes to speak with Ladue News about his career and the concert.

Kim Eberlein (Volunteer Leadership)

Salish Lodge and Spa is one of those places that the travel gods sometimes reward you with. Booked at the tail end of a driving tour of the Northwest, I wasn’t expecting much. Boy, was I surprised!

Seeing stars…St. Louis will welcome a couple of big names beginning next month. On Tuesday, April 23, BOB DYLAN and his band will perform on the Peabody Opera House stage. Tickets went on sale March 15, and may still be available at the box office, by calling 800-745-3000 or through ticketmaster.com. Dylan, who will turn 73 in May, became the first rock musician to be voted into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters earlier this month.

CITY ACADEMY received a $1 million gift from the Crawford Taylor Foundation for endowment. The gift supports the school’s efforts to offer an expanded Early Childhood Program. With the help of this grant, plans to expand to a total of 175 students by 2014 are in place. Pictured: D’Niya Ammons, Chantell Johnson and Chontell Johnson of City Academy's new Early Childhood Program.

You voted, we listened! Ladue News readers know what they like; and with this year's Platinum List, you've made your voices heard. This list compiles the best of St. Louis. 

Marvelous Malachite

Back for its third year, Junior League of St. Louis’ annual Kitchen Tour is going to be bigger and better than ever, if event co-chair Ann Beck has anything to say about it. Along with Julie Kearbey and their committee, she is working to build on the successes of years past. “It’s one of the League’s largest fundraisers, and it has a lot of public support,” she says.