Micky + Keith :: Real Wedding

On a peaceful, sightly rainy day in May, Micky and Keith tied the knot in front of a beautiful rock waterfall at 2491 Restaurant. The day started a little crazy, but everything came together and the ceremony and reception were perfect. Leis were combined into the ceremony and both Micky and Keith gave there parents leis to celebrate Micky's Hawaiian heritage. Micky made some amazing flower cones filled with fresh rose petals for guests to throw as the bride and groom walked down the aisle as husband and wife for the first time. The cocktail hour was moved inside due to the rain and combined with the reception, yet guests still enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and drinks into the night. Instead of a traditional cake, cupcakes were on a tiered display with a bride and groom cake topper. The day was amazing and beautiful despite the rain. Congratulations to Micky and Keith! 

Venue:  2941 Restaurant (2941.com)
Photographer: Photo Bisou (photobisou.com)
Cupcakes: For All Cupcakes (freeforallcupcakes.com)
All paper products (menus, signs, programs, invitations, photo cards, flower cones): DIY by the bride

Testimonial From the Bride:
"We planned a small scale wedding at a high-end restaurant in Falls Church, VA called 2941.  With all of our DIY elements, we knew we would need help setting up on the day.  Kristina was such a delight to work with, very professional, and well organized as our wedding "day of coordinator".  From the minute we first met with her, Kristina was helpful in the months leading up to our wedding and I was very confident that she understood my "vision" for the day.  She had done her own research of our venue so that she would be comfortable with the layout and know the flow for our event.  Despite a few weather glitches, Kristina coordinated with the venue staff and set up every detail for our ceremony outside on the terrace.  She also managed all our ceremony music using iTunes on our laptop.  Furthermore, Kristina helped set up our centerpieces and cupcakes for the reception and transitioned elements from the ceremony outside to the reception space inside.  Overall, Kristina's wedding day services are a great value for the price and matched perfectly with our intimate modern wedding.  We would recommend Kristina to anyone who needs wedding day or other private events services."

Donut is the New Cupcake

Recently I saw a post about having donuts at your wedding for dessert. I absolutely love this idea since it is cheaper and more fun than the trend of cupcakes. Don’t get me wrong I love cupcakes and could eat them everyday if given the chance, but donuts are way more fun! You can either talk to your caterer about having the company make he donuts or just pay a ton the morning of your event from Krispy Kreme or another donut store. You can have different toppings for your donuts laid out, such as different sauces and some candies and nuts. Guests can have a customizable desert and have fun eating it as well. You can make donuts as classy or as down to earth as you want… making them a great versatile food item! If at all possible to get warm donuts that would be best! You can also get a variety of donuts with toppings on it already for guests to just choose from! If you caterer can make donuts have small appetizer size donuts with a variety of toppings and flavors for guests to choose from! I also started thinking about having donuts as the dessert at your rehearsal dinner if you want to have a traditional cake on the day of your wedding. You will save money and all your guests will enjoy the treat.

This idea is great if you are having an office meeting or a corporate event. How great to have warm donuts and different toppings before a long office meeting, not just a plain box of donuts. Or if you are having a small reception during the day, have donuts. Everyone loves something sweet during the day, and your guests will be surprised by something new and different.

Donuts don’t have to just be sitting in a box! You can get great plates or serving trays to have your donuts on! Or take the donut box to new heights by using a box in your event or wedding colors to display the donuts. Be creative with it and have fun as well. There are also some great companies in areas that make outlandish donuts with crazy toppings! These might be a little expensive to order, but look at their sites to get topping ideas!

Photos From:

http://my-wedding-concierge.com/bridal-fascinations/files/2010/09/The-Board-575x575.jpg

http://www.primadonnabride.co.za/

http://daily.wedshare.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/goumet_designer_wedding_donuts.jpg

http://www.dognbird.com/

http://bios.weddingbee.com/pics/27589/donuts.jpg

Help I'm Lost! {Creative Escort Cards}

looking at http://frostyweddings.blogspot.com/2010/08/katie-luke-married.html i came across an amazing idea for showing off guests name cards. There is always the great folded card on a table, but why not make it something cute and fun for the guests. If you have a theme running in your wedding use it or take it to the extreme to show off the name cards. What an amazing idea to use old shutters! I saw on the Rachel Ray show once someone use the old shutters to make a mail holder by placing a piece of wood behind the slates so that you could stick mail in and it wont fall out! Maybe a great way to re-use the shutters after the wedding.

Here are some other great ideas I have found across the web... Enjoy!

• Use pine cones are the name holder for a fall themed wedding. Enhance the name card table by adding some great fall foliage and fall flowers to the table. DIY instructions: http://www.songbird-creative.com/blog/diy-pine-cone-place-cards.html
• If you  have a good tree/twig theme running throughout your florals, try using a small tree/twigs to place all the name cards on. This may take a little more work to find the appropriate tree, but super cute once it is all done.
• Use smooth rocks, can be purchased at the craft store, and write with paint pen the guests name. This is an easy DIY project and super cute with an outdoor relaxed country wedding.
• Combine the wedding favor with the place card by putting the place card in a cute, engraved picture frame.
• For a beach wedding take sand dollars, starfish and bigger seashells and tie a ribbon in our wedding color around the item and have the name on a tag on the ribbon. (Hope this makes sense)
• Love cupcakes, use them as the name cards with peoples names on the cupcake or on paper sticking out of the cupcake. Guests will love eating these masterpieces.
• Find a cute board or mirror to place the cards on. I love the idea of a cork board with the cards study on with cute tacks.
• Having a cozy at home or country wedding? use cute ribbon tied from tree to tree to hand the place cards. find cute clothes pins to stick them on.
• Having an eco friendly wedding... get small pots with a plant or seeds in it and place the guests name in the soil. So cute and can double up as the favor since they can take the plant home and enjoy.
• Having your wedding at a winery? Use corks cut in the middle halfway down. place the guests name card into the cork. Need to find corks? Go to a wine festival or winery and ask for their corks... they normally just through them away.
• Use pears, apples, small pumpkins, or anything other sturdy fruit or veggie that is semi themed to your wedding. Lightly paint them gold, silver, bronze and tie a ribbon around the stem with the guests name attached.
• Use small boquets of flowers like lavender or daisys, or other smaller flowers that fit your wedding. use twine or ribbon to tie the flowers together and have the guests name attached to the twine/ribbon. Super cute for an outdoor wedding.

******* DON"T FORGET TO ADD THE TABLE NUMBER TO THE PLACE CARD******

Pictures from:

http://www.khollystudios.com/blog/

http://www.tucsonweddingsite.com/

http://www.newjerseybride.com/

http://www.gigaweb.com/

http://idobelizeweddings.com/blog/

www.rexandregine.com/blog

Forget Me Not

I was feeling inspired by my college sorority and started thinking about flowers. My sorority's flowers are the Lily of the Valley and the Forget Me Not. Both are delicate and simple, while being fragrant and sustainable. Inspired by the last color of the week, a golden orange, I chose the Forget Me Not as the flower of the week. It fits perfectly with the new blue/yellow color combination that is popular thi season, and probably will be for seasons to come. The flower is a delicate blue/purple with a yellow center. The petals can also come in a white or pink version with the same yellow center (which allows for a lot of versatility). They are an excellent companion flower to any bunch or can stand alone. I love these flowers, delicate and beautiful with such vibrant colors. They compliment many wedding/event color combinations such as anything pink, white, purple. Looking more up about the flower, there are 50 different species in the genre, which allows for many different choices when it comes to the flower.

Forget-Me-Not Seed Boxes

The flower's meaning is "remember me". I love this for a wedding because you should want all your guests to remember the evening and you as a couple. This is also a great flower to use in vase if someone close has died and you are remembering them at your wedding.

I also love as a wedding favor to give people a seed packet of Forget Me Not's. It is a cheap and eco-friendly gift that will have people remembering you forever. Use them in your wedding or just get some seeds to plant by your house and enjoy these beautiful flowers.

Just as a side note... how cute are these forget me not cupcakes! I love cupcakes in any form, but with a beatiful flower on top, who would not be able to eat that!

Summer BBQ Wedding

I recently assisted at a wedding in rural VA where the theme was simple outdoor bbq. It was casual, easy-going and tons of fun. Although not everyone is in for their wedding be casual, there were still some great ideas that anyone could use.

Ceremony: The couple had the ceremony in the backyard and used blankets and pillows for people to sit on instead of chairs. This is a great idea if you are having your wedding outside somewhere where you would have to rent chairs to be brought it. It escalates the bbq feel and can still incorpoarte all your wedding colors.

Centerpieces: the centerpieces were old glass bottles of all shapes and sizes arranged with white votives. Once it got a little darker outside, the flame and glass gave off amazing light and texture.

Decorations: I am persoanlly in love with this cheap, amazing way to let people know what is going on. Again, this may not work if you are not having an outdoor wedding/reception. Save money on printing menus and programs and use chalk boards to list what is going on/what is being served. You can find chalkboards in all shapes and sizes and can paint the rim to match your wedding colors. Then find someone with nice handwriting to write your message. Chalkbaords can easily be hung from trees with cord/ribbon, leaned up againist anything and still look professional.

Food: Although they did hamburgers and hotdogs, which we cooked, you can still incorporate your favorite bbg food into a catered meal. Put a spin on potato salad or roasted corn. Add more sophoisticated ingredients to make a simple dish more elegant.

Dessert: Everyone's new obsession is cupcakes, which the couple pulled off. Since the wedding was so easy-going there was no cake-cutting ceremony, guests could grab cupcakes as they pleased. I think cupcakes are a great addition to a wedding. If you are trying to save some money, purchase a smaller wedding cake and then bake your own cupakes for the guests to eat, or purchase them if you are not kitchen savvy.

Games: This may not work unless you are outside, but the couple added fun bbg games for people to play. They had corn-hole, horseshoes, dice and card games, and quaters for people to play while drinking and enjoying the night.

A summers evening wedding can be perfect for a smaller wedding or for anyone who cares less about being flashy, but cares more about having a fun, simple night. All these ideas can be incporporated to fit different themes and still have a huge impact.