Theme Thursday: Peach and Gray Elegance Summer Wedding Inspiration:

I really am one for color.  When bold colors were everywhere it was so fun and easy for me to envision a wedding design.  As soon as the softer tones started to come back I panicked  little, because, to me things should POP.  As brides started contacting me with soft pinks, grays, beige and white I really thought I wouldn't like designing these as much...Boy was I wrong!  I LOVE the soft peach, pink, white and gray tones for this wedding design. 

And how fun would a cart, full of fresh fruit {mostly peaches of course} and flowers, be for your wedding favors?!

Using soft peach drapery to highlight the reception area, shot glass sundaes, a gorgeous bouquet and a lovely cake!!  What do you think?

Tent Weddings: Tips and Ideas

I absolutely love tented weddings!  To me, they are a blank canvas that you can transform into whatever you can dream up.  These are also the most difficult weddings to plan.  There are so many things you need to know and think about to make everything go smooth.

Here are some tips and ideas for you to help keep the big surprises away.

1. Check with your city's sound ordinances.  Make sure you know when the music needs to be ended and any laws on serving alcohol.  If you are having your wedding at your home, I suggest to, maybe, bake some goodies and deliver them to your neighbors informing them of the upcoming nuptials.  You know, an ounce of kindness goes a long way!

2. Have a contigency plan for inclement weather.  If your ceremony will be held outside the tent, be prepared to move it under the tent if necessary.  You could easily set up a little draping to separate the two areas if you wish.  This could also include umbrellas for your guests, or making sure you can move to an indoor place if needed.  Watch the weather channel!

3. Hire a professional.  Find someone that has done outdoor weddings before.  This is your best bet.

4. Make sure to announce on your invitations that your are having an outdoor wedding.  Your female guests might choose to forgo the heels for something a little flatter.

5. Prepare the site for bugs.  This could include a spray, but a fun little trick I learned is to use "fish" cat food.  Put it around the perimeter of your area and your stinging pests will be more interested in that than what you have going on.  Citronella candles and bug zappers are good options too.

6. Don't forget about restrooms.  Even if you are having the celebration at your home I would guess you really wouldn't want a few hundred people tramping through your house.  There are some pretty nice "Restroom Trailers" available that offer a larger stall for the bride with a large dress. 

7. Make sure you have enough power.  Talk with your band/ dj, caterer, restroom company and lighting to ensure you won't have a black-out.

8. Verify that there is enough parking for your guests and that it is well lit.  You could set up "painters lights", luminaries, or hand out flashlights for favors.

9. Keep your guests comfort in mind.  Set up a beverage station with ice cold water available.  Use your programs as fans and maybe even offer sunscreen or mosquito wipes.

10. Consider using a sunset as the backdrop for your nuptials. Keep the sun at your guests back rather than in their eyes {they'll appreciate it!}.

Are you having an outdoor wedding?  Do you have any tips you'd like to share?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Life Is Sweet ~ Please Take ATreat

Creating a candy buffet, dessert buffet, pie table or adding plates of cupcakes are some fun additions to give your guests something to remember.  I would love to tell you that I have "a favorite", but the truth is, I love all of these ideas!! 



Here are some ideas for your buffet:

1.   Follow through with your color scheme if you choose. 
2.   Go monochromatic for a dramatic effect
3.   Use all chocolate candies or multiple flavors, shapes and sizes
4.   Dress your candy buffet area up.  Add flowers, paper pom-poms, ribbon, signs, or elegant table covers.
5.   Make your buffet whimsical, elegant, simple or elaborate
6.   Use your candy buffet as the "favor" for your guests.  Have some nice bags {or lunch bags dressed up with a personalized label} for everyone to fill up and take home.
7.   Make sure you have scoops for your candies.  You don't want hands all over everything.
8.   Use boxes under the jars to add dimension to your table.
9.   Label your candy jars with some fun names, fun shaped labels and ribbon.
10. If your buffet will be against a wall, put up a backdrop of sorts to make it a focal point.


Here are some of my favorite inspirational pictures of the ever popular Candy Buffet.  mmm...

This is a beautiful scoop from the David Tutera collection at www.koyalwholesale.com

Did you have a candy buffet at your wedding? Let us know what you included.  

Wedding Entertainment: Unique Ideas For Your Celebration

Are you looking to have a wedding reception like no other?  Start out by listing your likes, hobbies, favorite season - things that will define who you are as a couple.  Decide on your likes and dislikes and unveil your personal style.  Once you've done this you're ready to move forward and create your wedding theme.  Here are 10 creative {and very unique} ideas to make your wedding reception POP!

1.  Consider your venue.  Are you into art?  Have your reception at an art gallery.  Do you love gardening?  Go to a Botanical Garden.  Not into dancing?  Set up a lounge area where your guests can kick back and socialize.

2.  Hire professional dancers, hula hoop girls, belly dancers, a steel drum band or a mariachi band.  What is the style of your wedding? 

3.  Bring out a "Breakfast Buffet" later in the evening.  Mimosas and Bloody Mary stations?

4.  Serve food and drinks that are regional.  Do you live on the East Coast?  How about a delicious seafood soup?  Are you a southerner?  Add sour-cream cornbread to your meal.

5.  Add a cigar roller to your event.  Even if you don't smoke cigars, this will be a huge hit!

6.  Bring in an artist.  Find someone that can do caricatures or water color paintings.  This takes care of your guests favors.

7.  The photo booth is always a popular and fun idea.  Have some props available.  You can even make this part of your "guest book".  Have your guests take their pictures then glue them into a provided book and leave you a special message. 

8.  Go with a Carnival Themed wedding.  You really can't go wrong with cotton candy machines, carnival rides and games!

9.  Have yard games available.  Set up a frisbee golf area, play some croquet, or just kick a ball around.

10.  Hire a professional band and make your reception more of a concert.  I worked with a couple that did this for their reception.  They weren't expecting most of their wedding guests to come, but they all did and danced all night...it was great!  They brought pizza in around 10pm to keep the energy alive in the room {the band even MC'd the garter and bouquet toss}.

What are you going to do at your wedding reception?  Leave us a comment and share your details.

Keep the Party Going: Breakfast at Midnight

It's getting late and your guests have had the time of their lives.  You've given them a day full of celebration, a delicious meal and an evening full of dancing and laughter, but now they are starting to feel exhausted, and nobody is really ready to go home.  It's time to bring out more food. By giving your guests a little something to energize their bodies with, the party will be going on long past midnight!

A good time to think about offering a late-night snack is about 9:30pm, if your reception is until midnight.

One suggestion I have for you - a Breakfast Buffet.  YUM!!! Below are some ideas.

Yes, that's bacon!

Is there really anything better than Bloody Mary's to go with a breakfast buffet?

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

Mimosa Bar

Espresso {this will take your guests out of their comas!}

Egg and Bacon Muffins

A Crepe Station

Here's a yummy menu for you to offer up in the late hours.

• Fresh Orange Juice

• Seasonal Fresh Fruit and Berries with Maple Yogurt

• 5 Oz. Center Cut Filet and Scrambled Eggs with Grilled Tomato and Cheddar Cheese Potato Soufflé

• Assorted Breakfast Bakeries

• Sweet Butter and Preserves

• Freshly Brewed Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and a Selection of Herbal Teas

Are you having late night snacks at your reception?  Tell us what's on the menu.

2012 Wedding Color Trends

A new year has arrived and so have some new, fantastic, color trends for this year's weddings!

I love these colors!!  What do you think?

Make sure to watch the rest of this month for some fun Inspiration Boards using the trendy colors for 2012.  Here's one to get you started using Tangerine as accents.

Are you getting married this year?  What are your colors?

Tip Of The Week: Signature Drinks

The vows have been said and you've sealed it all with a kiss so let's get your party started!  What better way to do this than with a Signature Drink!  I love this idea for wedding receptions.  It is fun, it allows you to be creative, and it just adds an extra festive feel to the  celebration.

Now that fall is here let's look at some recipes for some DELICIOUS signature drinks for your cocktail hour.

Serve a seasonal drink made with rye, Champagne, bitters, blood orange, and maple syrup.
**Give this one your own name**
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces applejack
• 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• A few dashes orange bitters
• About 2 ounces Champagne
• Blood-orange rind cut into strips for garnish

Directions:

Combine applejack, whisky, maple syrup and bitters in a cocktail shaker and shake over ice.

Strain into a 6 ounce martini glass and top with champagne.  Garnish with orange rind and serve.

www.marthastewart.com

Pumpkin Pie Martini

Ingredients:

• .5 ounce Sylk Cream Liqueur
• 2 ounces Vanilla Vodka
• .5 ounce Pumpkin liqueur (or pumpkin spice syrup)
• 1 tsp Whipped cream
• Cinnamon Stick

Directions:
Pour the Sylk Liqueur and Vodka in a shaker filled with ice.  Shake well.  Add the Pumpkin Liqueur or syrup and shake again.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Top with a teaspoon of whipped cream and garnish with a cinnamon stick

Hot Apple Pie Cocktail
Ingredients:

• 1 ounce Tuaca (an orange-vanilla flavored liqueur)
• 5 - 6 ounce warm apple cider
• whipped cream
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• cinnamon sticks

Directions:
Heat the apple cider.  Pour into a coffee mug, adding Tuaca.  Garnish with whipped cream, sprinkle on cinnamon and nutmeg and add a stick of cinnamon.

Another fun idea is to add an Apple Cider bar to your cocktail hour.  Make a few gallons of this wonderful Cider Punch, dress up your table and you're done.

Ingredients:

• cold cider
• orange juice
• sparkling wine or champagne 

Are you adding a signature drink to your cocktail hour?  What are you going to name it?  What is the recipe?  Share your details...we love to hear!

Fathers and Daughters

With the latest Father/ Daughter dance that has been all over the news {and re-danced for us on GMA}, I thought I would share some of my favorites over the next week. Enjoy!

These dad's are AWESOME!!  Congratulations!

Theme Thursday: Halloween Theme Inspiration Boards

Halloween.  This is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the chance to turn myself into something I'm really not, maybe to jump out and scare someone and make drinks that have "smoke" pouring out of them.  So, with that being said, I wanted to give you a couple of ideas for your Halloween Themed Wedding {for next year of-course}.

I put together two different ideas - neither of them TOO out of hand, yet, definately Halloween.

First is my more favorite.  A little "blood" dripping here and there, a lot of red and some perfectly placed black.  

Then, there is the more subtle Halloween wedding.  Oranges, Blacks, caramel apples and a beautiful Pronovia dress.  If you wanted to have a more elegant Halloween wedding you could follow the ideas on this board and add a bit more black and maybe a hint of red.

Happy Halloween everyone!