Water Bottles For Your Guests

The Knot

Making your guests comfortable at your wedding, should be your number one priority, or if not number one certainly in the top 3. One of the easiest and least expensive way to do this is to offer your guests water.

If you are having an outdoor wedding, this is a must. Containers of iced down bottles of water should be set up at the entrance to your ceremony. Make sure that your groomsmen know to offer the water to your guests as they are seated. The last thing you want is overheated, dehydrated guests waiting on your grand entrance.

As guests are leaving your reception, this is another perfect time to offer your guests water bottles. After all that dancing, eating and talking your guests are going to be thirsty on the ride home. Having bottled water offered as they are leaving will have them feeling pampered and loved, exactly the feeling you want your guests to take away with them.

Happy Valentines Day To Everyone

I love Valentines Day, hey it’s my birthday too, so to me it’s extra special. So many people will get engaged tonight. Balloons, candy, roses and diamond rings just seem to go together. But let me tell you what doesn’t go with Valentines Day….your wedding day. While it may seem like the perfect romantic day to get married, it’s not.

Why you ask? Well first there is finding a venue that is available. Most venues are booked a year in advance for valentine parties, every singles group in America is having a party tonight. Along with that goes all the DJ’s and bands, they are all booked for all those singles parties. On top of that is the fact that vendors, being the human beings that they are, have spouses and families that would like to see them on holidays, especially Valentines Day, so if a vendor is available you can bet the farm you are paying a premium for his services.

And now the biggie, flowers for your valentine wedding are going to be outrageous. This is the most expensive time of the year for flowers. The cost of roses skyrocket, along with most every other flower available and florists are worked to death. I don’t think you want a tired, cranky florist with overpriced or unavailable flowers doing your arrangements.

Same is true for bakers and caterers. All those valentine goodies, at all those valentine parties, have to come from somewhere. Don’t pick this time to compete.

Let me clue you, guests are not going to be happy having to give up their valentine plans to work around your wedding. Plan to have a lot of no’s on your RSVP’s (of course this could be a good thing, since your budget is going to be so tight from everything else).

So moral of the story, get that diamond on Valentines Day, but choose another date for your wedding day.

Wedding Trailer

Remember the beautiful wedding of Jack and Jessica a few weeks ago? Well Cinematic Impressions has posted the trailer for their wedding video. You can see it on Cinematic's blog by clicking here. Alyssa and Chris, the owners of Cinematic, are so talented and just the best to work along side. Take a minute and enjoy their great work.

Help with a Survey

I'm part of a nation wide survey for brides and grooms. So if you could take a minute and help out that would be great.

We want your input. If you wouldn't mind, please click on the link below and answer 9 quick, easy questions about different design aspects of wedding vendor's websites. I promise, this will only take a few minutes of your time! http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1152739

We won't record anything about you other than what state or country you are from - we don't even ask for your email address so no spam or anything like that.You will likely see this link on lots of other blogs and sites - this survey is being shared all over the blog-o-sphere so please take the survey only once.

If you have additional comments on the subject, please feel free to email me with those and I will share them with the other wedding vendors who are participating! We can't wait to hear what you have to say!

(If you are a wedding vendor and would like to participate, just copy this post to your blog and email emilie {@} emilieduncan {.} com - She will send you the results once we have closed the survey in March)Thank you in advance!

More Feathers For Your Wedding

Renee Burroughs - Florist/Designer

Holly Cakes

Ginny Burt - Photographer

Yesterday, we talked about how feathers are all over the magazines for weddings this season. I know looking at these you probably thought, well that all looks great, but how can I translate that to my wedding. So I contacted some Greenville area vendors and asked how they were using this trend in their work. As you can see, there is no shortage of ideas.

Dave McMillan - Florist/Designer
PPR- Rentals

Richard Sanford - Photographer

So if you love feathers, no matter what your budget, this is a theme that can work for you.

Birds of a Feather

Colin Cowie Wedding Chic

Several weeks ago, we discussed the new trend of using feathers for weddings and receptions in What's Hot In Tabletop Decor. Well this is a trend that is picking up in popularity. You can hardly open a wedding magazine without seeing feathers everywhere. I think it will get a lot more popular before it fades away.

We’re seeing feathers in everything from the over the top, “you must be related to royalty to afford this” weddings, to the simplest of garden weddings. I think it can be very, very pretty when handled correctly or it can slide over into a little yucky/tacky if you’re not careful.

Here’s how the experts are doing it.

Ok, this dress is not actually feathers, but it has the look.

This one is actually feathers. I'm not sure who would wear this other than Mrs. Big Bird, but to each his own.

Jenny Packham, Bride & Bloom

Feather wraps are everywhere and in every color. Nothing says Hollywood glamour like feather boleros.

Alyce Design, Brides

Charleston Weddings

Grace Ormonde Wedding Style

Personally I love this boutonnière, but then I'm a bling and feathers kind of girl.

Colin Cowie Wedding Chic

Ok, it's over the top and says "my daddy is a sultan", but I like it.

Flora's Divine Cakes, Brides

This peacock cake is beautiful and the perfect way to put feathers on a cake.

Next we will look at some ways area artists are using feathers for weddings in this area.

Wedding Cake Stands

Just some of the cake setups done for Willrich Brides

Ok let’s talk about cakes. Well not really cakes, but rather what your beautiful wedding confection is going to sit upon. It amazes me the hours brides and grooms will put into choosing the perfect cake for their wedding and then just plop it down on anything. So many times when I ask in a meeting “what kind of stand is the cake to sit on” I am met with blank stares. Or I’m told “the baker is putting it on a board”. Deciding what your cake will sit on is almost as important as what the cake looks like. The right set up can take a cake from looking small and forlorn to looking majestic and beautiful.

Your first decision is the size of the cake table. Most cake artists suggest a 48 inch table. Much bigger than that and the cake tends to look lost. If your only choice is a 60 inch table, then you want to be sure you are using a large cake stand and adding flowers (bridesmaids bouquets and votives are a good choice) to take up space on the table. Check out the pictures above, these are just a few of the cakes Willrich brides have had in the past years. The cakes are beautiful but what I want you to notice is the stands the cakes are sitting on.

Cake stands came in every size and shape imaginable. You can buy them or rent them. Rental companies have them and most bakers have them too. They come round or square, gold or silver, glass, mirror, wood, Lucite or even made of ice. You can get them that light up or even have fish swimming in them, something to go with every cake design. If budget is your main issue, we have used plastic crates covered with fluffed linens to raise a small cake. The effect was lovely.

Notice the different stands used in a display by Holly's Cakes. Each cake stand enhances the cake.

So don’t just settle for the foil covered cardboard board the cake comes on. Get your cake noticed, sit it on something wonderful.

Check out this before and after picture. The picture on the left shows the cake table after the cake ha been raised up using a plastic crate under fluffed linens. Picture on the right is the before. Notice how cake looks small and lost on the table.