Archives for September 2008

Cakes with Fresh Flowers

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Sometimes even the simplest cake can become a stunner with a few fresh flowers. It might even be a money saver. Check with both your baker and your florist and be sure they are working together.

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Let’s Hear It For the Boys! Boutonnières on Flower Friday

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I love boutonnières. Done right, they are a spark of color to brighten a stunning masculine look; a bit of the peacock on a classic structured suit. So for Flower Friday I went looking for wonderful examples to share. What happened is that I kept running across examples that should more rightly be labeled as “what not to wear.” Maybe I am just in a snarky mood today, or maybe I was just looking with a more discerning eye; but here goes. Care to come along for the ride?

Pretty in Pink I do not care if your wedding is a Barbie like explosion of pink, do not force your boys to wear pink velvet on their bouts. Not to mention that if that lily bud blooms out during the course of the day it is going to be so big that it will smack him in the face every time he moves his head.

Pink Bout with velvet ribbon
Pink Bout with velvet ribbon

Tulle? Oh no you did not! Tulle? Really. Bouts are for men, on what planet is tulle even close to masculine?

Boutonniere with Tulips and Heather
Boutonnière with Tulips and Heather

Bout or Corsage? Small is the way to go. This is big enough to pin on you Grandmama. Oh wait, maybe they thought this was Grandmama, look at how low that thing is pinned! The bout should be just at or slightly covering the lapel notch, not over their nipple!

Purple Boutonneiere with Feathers

Purple Boutonnière with Feathers

Ok enough snarking. Here are two that were done really well. They are both classic, elegant and masculine. Neither is so large as to overwhelm, just that little touch to bring your groom’s look to spectacular.


White Orchid Boutonneire

White Orchid Boutonnière

Cymbidium Orchid Boutonneire with Copper Wire Accents

Cymbidium Orchid Boutonnière with Copper Wire Accents

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Wedding Planning Secrets

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If you are planning a wedding chances are that you started the process without having a clue.

Ya, ya there is ton of information on the web and a bazillion books to choose from, but just how good is most of that information? Not very, at least in my opinion. Besides, who has time to sift through all of it? I have been sifting through it for years and most of it makes me laugh and some of it is downright scary. I have finally found someone that tells it like it is in a simple easy to understand way: Susan Southerland.

Don’t even think about planning your wedding without watching her new video, Wedding Planning Secrets. Susan takes a no fluff, no bull, just the straight story look at what you need to know to plan an event this big. She talks honestly about budgets and setting priorities. There are great organizational tips and the tools to make them happen for you.

She explains just what an event designer is and why they may be one of the most valuable members of your team. The section on cakes and catering gives you the low down on what you need to know to contract these services and what to look for as you interview them.

This isn’t one of those books that encourages you to spend, spend spend; nor does it tell you can have a celebrity wedding on $5000 if you “just follow these 5 tips.” This is the closest thing to the real knowledge and tools you need that I have ever seen. Her tips and explanations are valid regardless of the size of your wedding or the size of your budget.

Whether you are a DIY bride having a tiny wedding at home or a diva bride getting married in a Manhattan Hotel with a top notch planner by your side, you need the information that Susan is dispensing to navigate your way through.

Now, my friends, you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t blow smoke and I know that this post is pretty high praise. Yep, I really do think this dvd is that important.

Signature code

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Flower Perfection

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As someone that has made my share of sugar flowers, I have a great respect for the art. That skill has been transformed into a more permanent form: clay. Using ClayCraft Deco Clay, Diane Phillips of DK Designs has brought the beauty of hand sculpted flowers off the cake and into your bouquet, your centerpieces and into your home.


Clay Flower centerpiece of roses and stephanotis
clay roses, stephanoitis and peony buds

Fresh flowers are beautiful, but these stunners will last forever if you take care of them. Even if you don’t want to go the clay route for your actual wedding, why not have a piece made using the clay version of your flowers to treasure forever.

You can see more of Diane’s work at her Etsy store on her blog. To special order you can contact the artist directly through her website.

Hat tip to Wedded Bits for hooking me up with these.

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Reality Check

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One of the problems with the main stream media has long been that they live in their own little reality bubble; one that most of us will never occupy. The unfortunate consequence of this is that it heavily colors what they publish.

Let’s take Modern Bride for example. If you look at their editorial coverage of wedding gowns you get the distinct feeling that the only wedding gowns worth wearing start at $3,000. When the average budget for weddings in America is between $10,000 and $14,000 how many real brides are spending upwards of 1/3 of their budget on their gown? Not too many, I suspect. Yet when you look through the major magazines those are the gowns that are showcased.

Apparently I am not the only one that noticed. I was copied last week on a letter from Steve Lang, CEO of Mon Cheri Bridal to William Wackermann, Alison Matz, and Jennifer Hicks at Conde Nast; the publisher behind Modern Bride and Brides. Here is a quote from Mr. Lang

the editorial coverage still so heavily weighted towards high end lines continues to tell 97% of the consumers who read your publications that the high end dresses they cannot afford deserve more coverage then the dresses their budgets will allow them to buy. Yes, you added two pages of less expensive dresses but the premier editorial pages are still dedicated to 3% of your reading/buying audience.

Your publications do not serve the marketplace I have dedicated my life to.

Nor do they serve the majority of their readers. I have long held that there are beautiful, amazing bridal gowns out there for real American women, but you will never see them in the major bridal magazines. The same is true for most every other aspect of weddings today.

Beautiful weddings, like beautiful gowns can happen on a realistic budget. They happen everyday, but you will never see them in the media. Just look at the weddings they cover as “Real Weddings”. Real for maybe 3% of the weddings taking place.

On page 74 of the same issue of Modern Bride that inspired Mr. Lang was a bit about coasters for your wedding: double sided letterpress coasters, $700 for 100. Yes my friends, Modern Bride thinks you should aspire to spend $7 apiece for disposable paper coasters for your wedding reception.

As the economy continues its correction, magazines that insist on maintaining this editorial trajectory will become more and more irrelevant.

What are your feelings on this? How do you view wedding porn? Would you rather see more reality or do you see them as some sort of fantasy/science fiction publication?

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Mad About Orchids on Flower Friday

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Orchids used to have a really bad image, at least with me.

Beautiful Orchids used various ways

Beautiful Orchids used various ways

If someone would mention orchids, I immediately thought of purple granny corsages. Then came the whole minimalist zen look. Thanks to a friend in the floral industry I have gained a whole new perspective on this versatile flower. They can be bold or airy, used in mass or can make a huge statement with only a single bloom. And the colors!!! Oh my. Last Sunday I ran across a chocolate cymbidium orchid and I am so sorry I did not get a picture of it for you.

Here you see them used in bouquet, boutonnières, centerpieces and even strung to create a curtain. They are airily sprayed from a vase or submerged in one. See what I mean by versatility.

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Beautiful Wedding Cakes

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I have been setting up some projects for a new (ish) client and I just have to share. Kellie Bryson and her team at The Bake Shoppe designed these gorgeous wedding cakes. I know she won’t mind, so enjoy the eye candy. You can view the complete gallery here.

The Bake Shoppe is located in Nashville in one of the coolest rehabed buildings around. Kellie and her husband, Jerry Bryson spent over a year creating this unique space. It now houses not only The Bake Shoppe and A Catered Affair but still had plenty of room to hold events on both the main floor and the dreamy roof top. Called simply Events at 1418, it is a perfect space to showcase their work. As a former cake designer myself, I must say that my favorite part is that the decorating station has it’s own, huge window overlooking the street scene beyond. Cool.

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Richly Colored Table Top Ideas

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Another Sunday, another Bridal Show, so I found more beautiful table tops to share.Blue and purple table top

This beautiful peacock inspired table is from Something Blue Weddings & Events. Rachel Hawkins was telling me that her designer has been bugging her to do something with peacock feathers, so Rachel finally said, “Oh have fun.” Wow did she ever knock it out of the park. The lovely rich colors make me think of a of a deep warm feast on a cold winters night. Just beautiful.

Moroccan themed table top

Morocco anyone? Chef’s Market designed this amazing table for this season of bridal shows and I swear I love it more every time I see it. Now you wouldn’t do it for every table but wouldn’t it create a stunning look if you enlarged it and used it for the head table? What a focal point that would make!

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