An often irreverent look at weddings from an industry insider
I love pomander bouquets, but face it, some of them can be pretty boring. Well I found a bunch that have a twist.
Enjoy!
Great as a centerpiece for a fall wedding
Perfect for a casual wedding in the woods
Modern bouquet with a touch of Whimsy
Beaded accents add a light, airy feel
So much prettier than the standard carnation balls
Tassels make all the difference here
This one would be an easy DIY
I love the hanging orchids on the ribbons
How's this for fun?
You want beautiful centerpieces for your tables. You want a yummy cake for dessert. You need to save as much as possible to make this whole wedding thingy happen. What is a girl to do?
How about centerpiece cakes?
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Back in my previous life as a cake designer I would do some very elaborate centerpiece cakes that cost mucho dinero but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you do a standard size cake from a good bakery and either add simple decorating or fresh flowers or fruit you can save a bundle.
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Think about it, a nice little 8′ or 9″ cake will generously(compared to standard wedding size servings) serve the 6 t0 10 guests at each table. Depending on what you choose and where you buy them, you will pay from $10 to $30 each, add $5 to $10 worth of flowers or fruit. So, on the high side you are looking at $40 per table.
Let’s look at an average wedding of 120 people. Six people at a table=20 tables.
Floral centerpieces with traditional wedding cake:
20 centerpieces @ $65 each=$1300
Wedding cake for 120 @$4.50 per person=$540
Total spend=$1840
Centerpiece cakes with DIY decorating:
20 tables @$40 each=$800
Let’s see, that looks like a savings of $1040.
Maybe you use a hundred of that for a bigger cake for the head table and you are still saving a bundle.
You can do this.
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Tips:
Look around for your cakes at traditional bakeries and upscale grocery stores or even Costco.
Use flowers or fruits that are in season. If you use fresh flowers put a doily on top of your cake to protect it from contaminants in the flowers.
Put it on a cake stand. Treat it with honor and make it LOOK like a centerpiece.
There aren’t many good things you can say about our current economic times but we all know that every cloud has a silver lining. Well I found this one:VENUES.
If you are still looking for you venue your should look outside of the traditional box of hotels and country club. Every week I hear about some new venue opening up, mostly as a result of a recession based FAIL.
This example just made it’s debut last week as an event venue.Spaces in Belle Meade. In it’s original state it was a high end mini mall sort of affair; a few walls were taken down and the space opened up a bit and now it absolutely rocks as an event space.
Keep you eyes open for unique new spaces in you area.
Here is the 411 on the event and venue above.
Many thanks to Anne Clayton at Music City Tents & Events for a fab party. (AS ALWAYS)
I have been kind of tracking this for a while. I started mostly because a dear friend of the Dish, Vicki Sanders at Branching Out Event Design has a knock your socks off collection of containers that fit but also because I love the softness of the look.
I had thought I was seeing it pop up more often in recent months but today I had confirmation that it is or will soon be the hottest of hot.
Confirmation you ask? What confirmation? Well the images below were all taken from two of the hottest wedding blogs, Style Me Pretty and photographer Jasmine Star’s Blog. The first two collages were taken at a photography workshop hosted by the fabulous photographer, Jessica Claire. Need I say more? Enjoy!
Source: Style Me Pretty
Images from: Allisa Ferullo
Taken at : Jessica Claire Photography Workshop
Source: Style Me Pretty
Images from: Kari Sikorski
Taken at : Jessica Claire Photography Workshop
Images by : Jasmine Star
Images by: Jasmine Star
If you are planning a winter wedding, now is the time to be stocking up.
If you are going to DIY your décor for your winter wedding stop thinking wedding and start thinking Christmas! Head to Home Depot or the local WalMart.
Beyond the obvious twinkle lights, look at all that yummy garland and those cheap wreaths. Green, you say? Not for long I say! A few aisles over is white spray paint, grab that. On your way home hit the craft store for white or iridescent glitter. Paint lightly, sprinkle with glitter while wet and !Voila! snow covered evergreens. Now I bet you wished you had stocked up on the paint and glitter to work your magic on the naked branches you can just cut from your yard. Plop those in a heavy vase, add a few crystal and you have a centerpiece.
While you are at the big box store, look for mulit-packs of ornaments in white and silver to tuck into the greens. Last year HD had sets of 50 assorted ornaments in white & silver for under $30. Two of those will go a long way.
Don’t forget the fake snow. Buy bunches!
Check the dollar store for plastic snowflakes; again buy bunches. They are something like 4 for $1 for the small ones. This one is from Home Depot and is 12″ across so it is a bit pricier, but hey, you could still get a couple to hang from the ceiling.
Don’t forget the candles. You are in luck, white is usually available in bulk.
While we are on the topic of saving serious money on your winter wedding décor, here is one you may never have thought of: baby’s breath.
Baby’s breath is unbelieveable cheap. That is why so many low price florists use it as filler. But here is the deal: used in over the top abundance, by itself it can be pretty cool. Think of it as clouds of snow! Check out these two pictures.
All you really need to round out your look are the odd pieces of clear glass and silver. Beg, borrow,rent or thrift shop those and you are on your way.
Winter weddings really are the easiest to DIY. I did the cake for one on new Year’s Day a few years back. The family worked with their church to get permission too use the Christmas decorations in the parish hall. The day before, they pulled every bit of red out of the room decor, took all the fresh evergreens outside and flocked them white, replaced all the red with ice blue and it was DROP DEAD gorgeous! It looked like a winter fairy land.
You can do this. Just think outside the wedding box.
Click thru images to view source.
Lookie what I found! Are these not the coolest?
Branches with battery operated lights with silk blossoms to add lights to your flower arrangements.
I was at a networking meeting last night and ran across these. I have never seen them before and the ideas just started popping. The lights are attached to a battery pack and have a burn life of 36 hours. As you can see from this image they come in an amazing variety of colors.
Now usually I am not a fan of silk flowers, but these, wow! I can see how the addition of a one or two in a large arrangement would make quite a statement. What with the growing popularity of branches in wedding arrangements I think these would be a great choice. I also understand that you can break down the branches to make them small for low or smaller arrangements. What can I say, I am smitten. I wish I could show them too you in person.
Bella Aeris is a local Nashville company that is having them manufactured so I doubt you are going to find these everywhere. You can order from their website and they are available retail or wholesale to the trades. You can find them here. Be sure to check out their Flickr galleries. If you are in the Nashville area, they have a shop in the Mall at Greenhills. I’m thinking field trip!
Maybe it is the nip of fall in the air or maybe it is just that I’m tired of seeing ballrooms set with a sea of round tables; but I’m currently loving feasting tables.
There is something lovely about the look of a long table that runs down the center of the room, seemingly going on for miles. It feels so much more like family to be seated that way. It kind of reminds me of all those family dinners as a child. Isn’t that really the kind of feelings that you want for a day this special?
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Nowhere is it written that your centerpieces for your wedding reception have to be a floral arrangement. Your centerpieces should be unique to your personality and the unique style of both your wedding and your venue.
I love brides that aren’t afraid to think outside of the box. All of the centerpieces I have chosen for today could easily be a DIY project. Some may be a little easier than others and some are a little sensitive as to what season everything will be available.
1. Potted herbs in matching silver painted pots. The key here is the abundance and the matching pots. {source}
2. Zen inspired candle arrangement an bamboo tray, very minimalist {source}
3. Zen inspired arrangement on rented pewter tray with black river stones and a single gerber daisy. {authors image}
4. Simple glass vases with smooth river stones anchoring orchids, topped with floating candles.{source}
5. Candle scape with vegetables and flower accents. I love the hollowed out artichokes and the asparagus wrap on the candle. {source}
6.Daisies suspended in lemon jello. Yes, you read that right, jello. How cool is that? {source}
