Professional Services in Kansas City

Free State Cleaners keeps clothing looking dapper with dry-cleaning services that tend to the most delicate, high-maintenance clothing. In addition to removing stains, odors, and last night’s burritos from suits, pants, dresses, and coats, the business also cleans and presses wedding gowns with the option to preserve the material. Alteration services ensure better-fitting clothes, and shoe and leather repair ensures cold breezes and wet sidewalks are kept at bay.

Fosters Cleaners pairs its more than 50 years of experience with modern technology such as eco-friendly solvents and a network of filtration systems. At five locations, the cleaners reinvigorate dungy garments, bedclothes, and sport coats for houses, readying the sundry textiles the same day if brought in before 9 a.m. on a weekday.

As a child, Suzanne Ashley knew that one day clothing would stop growing from trees and someone would have to do some heavy stitching. So for more than 35 years, she has donned thimbles and basked in the humming heartbeat of sewing machines, crafting her own designs and improving fit and fashion for others. After a brief stint in New Jersey selling handmade accessories and imported clothing from Mexico, Suzanne returned to Lawrence to pamper wardrobes locally. Within her own Ashley Alterations, Suzanne can expertly hem a dress, take in a jacket, or use the humongous needle on the shop’s sign to ward off equipment-embezzling haystacks.

The nuptial experts at Mr. & Mrs. take a serious approach toward matching couples with their ideal wedding planner, using a brief quiz to gauge clients’ preferences and personalities before they even walk through the door. Once seated in one of Mr. & Mrs. consultation suites, couples glean wedding-day wisdom from the team’s experts, including Ashley Hotka, a detail-minded floral designer, and Jen Fyffe, a wedding coordinator who hails from California. Combining a professional touch with a stress-free attitude, each consultant walks pairs through the vendor selection process and helps them to set up meetings and make decisions about everything from the catering menu to the music. Mr. & Mrs. also opens up its brightly colored studio space for DIY workshops, where couples gather to learn wedding day dances or timing tricks to ensure the reception flows smoothly between the best man’s speech and pickle-throwing contests.

The Lawrence Fruit Tree Project works to address the growing need for access to nutritious food by partnering with the public to grow, maintain, and utilize perennial food plants. Through community orchard projects, the organization helps local residents plant and care for fruit trees, develops proposals for appropriate public spaces to plant trees, and hosts educational workshops about fruit- and nut-tree cultivation.

Portrait photographer Christina Lundeen strives to capture each subject's unique essence through quirky and creative portrait images done in color as well as traditional black and white. The decade Christina spent as a Big Apple resident sparked her passion for photography, inspiring and shaping her artistic vision and honing her talent for infusing photos with a particular energy, mood, or Statue of Liberty photo bomb. Christina continued to sharpen her technical skills during a year-long trip around the world in 2007, and now snaps subjects of all ages on-location or from the comfort of her Kansas City studio.