Bridal Brunch

One of the most trendy options for a bridal party is hosting brunch for all the girls. The great thing is that it’s classy, timeless, and completely up to you to style it how you wish. Whether you like a …

Summer Hacks

We’re all about making life easier because let’s face it, it’s hard to get things done when you’re busy! Here are 5 DIY hacks you can use this summer to make your life simpler so you can focus more on …

Frugal Flowers

We all know flowers are expensive. Those big and beautiful event centerpieces come with a large price tag and trying to create your fairy tale wedding  with tons of blooms can zap your budget in a heartbeat. We encourage you to use professional florists for the majority of your event because there is truly no substitute for an expert, but you can always use these tips and tricks for your home, in the workplace, or on easily manageable details at your event. Here are 3 helpful hints to make the most out of your event funds without compromising beauty for budget.

Tip 1 – Hidden Secret

Do you have any bubble wrap or styrofoam laying around? Get it out, because you’ll need them for this. Give life to your floral arrangements by giving them volume or helping them float on water. By cutting a little hole in a piece of bubble wrap (and avoiding the bubbles), you can give your flowers a skirt that will allow them to float. Also, if you use a solid vase that isn’t see-through, you can use pieces of foam to not only keep your flowers in place, but fill up some extra space without buying more flowers.

Photo: Courtesy of Christine de Beer

 

Tip 2 – Recycled Vases

You can easily save hundreds on flowers and the vases they’ll be in by reusing old bottles, containers, and jars. Not only do the fun vases add some character to your wedding, but they also can have sentimental value as well. Keep up with pretty bottles, jars, and anything else that speaks to you and then you can use them for your event, keep them, and reuse them in your home or at your desk. It will save you money while giving you unique and long-lasting centerpieces.

Photo: Courtesy of weheartit.com

 

Tip 3 – Tape It Up!

Arranging your own flowers can be hard if you don’t have much experience. Have no fear, though, because we have discovered the trick that our lousy flower arrangement skills have been missing for YEARS. Dig your scotch tape out of the drawer and make a tape grid on top of the vase, creating little squares for your stems to fit into. This little tip will help you arrange flowers in the best and most beautiful way, giving them the perfect look for your guests.

Photo: Courtesy of marthastewart.com

Picture Perfect

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life and you’ll cherish the memories of it forever. All the planning, scheduling, and list making has been completed in preparation for your “I Do’s”, but you might consider making one more list before the day arrives. Creating a shot list of poses and pictures for your photographer is a great way to ensure you get all the pictures you want, and it provides a checklist for the photographer so that they are able to go above and beyond to take the pictures you want and more. Plus, sitting down and thinking about what you’re looking for in pictures will help you and your photographer better capture your big day. We love to help our clients out, so here’s some great picture ideas that you can add to your shot list!

Before the Ceremony

• The dress
• The bride getting ready
• Mother of the bride helping her get ready
• The bridesmaids getting ready
• The bouquet
• The rings
• The accessories (shoes, jewelry, veil, garter, etc.)
• The groom getting ready
• The groomsmen getting ready

Photo: Courtesy of MODwedding.com

 

During the Ceremony

• The venue before guests arrive
• The details (flowers, programs, decorations, guestbook)
• Guests and family
• Mother or bride and mother of groom during their walks down the aisle
• Bride walking down the aisle
• Bride’s first look
• Groom’s first look
• Bride’s father giving her away, kiss on cheek
• The vows
• The rings
• Important ceremony traditions/unique ceremony pieces
• The kiss
• Bride & groom during their walk down the aisle

Photo: Courtesy of Kathlyn Dragna Photography

 

After the Ceremony

• Bride with her family
• Groom with his family
• Bride and groom with each family
• Bride and groom with combined families
• Bride and bridesmaids
• Groom and groomsmen
• Bride and groom with wedding party
• Flower girl and ring bearer
• Bride and groom

Photo: Courtesy of Kimbry Studios

 

At the Reception

• The venue
• Tables, gifts, and decorations
• The cake
• The food
• The arrival of the wedding party
• The newlyweds greeting guests
• Toasts (best man, maid of honor, bride and groom to each other)
• Father/daughter dance
• Mother/son dance
• The first dance
• Entertainment
• Reception events (cutting the cake, feeding cake, bouquet toss, garter toss, games)
• Guests
• Guests with bride and groom
• The send off
• The bride & groom in the send off car/carriage

Photo: Courtesy of weddingwire.com

 

Just for Fun

• The bride and groom’s shoes
• Wedding party reaction to bride and groom kiss
• Props for bridal/bride & groom portraits (firefighter suit, baseball bat, basketball and whistle, Bible, superhero shirts under suit, lightsabers etc.)
• Bride & groom praying together

 

 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

All the rain has been giving us serious bouquet dreams because you know what they say: April showers bring May flowers! We’ve been drooling over these gorgeous bouquets and thought we would share them with you too. Save this post for a rainy day or enjoy it when the sun is out and shining – we don’t mind either way. The bouquets are grouped by season, but, as always, what you do with your special day is up to you and many of these bouquets would be a perfect fit no matter when your wedding day was. Enjoy!

Winter Wedding Bouquets

Photo: Courtesy of colincowieweddings.com

Photo: Courtesy of artfullywed.com

Photo: Courtesy of blog.beau-coup.com

Photo: Courtesy of mywedding.com

Photo: Courtesy of theknot.com

Photo: Courtesy of borrowedandblue.com

 

Spring Wedding Bouquets

Photo: Courtesy of colincowieweddings.com

Photo: Courtesy of theexcitedbride.com

Photo: Courtesy of weddingchicks.com

Photo: Courtesy of Ken Kienow

Photo: Courtesy of Erich McVey Photography

Photo: Courtesy of Paige Winn

 

 

Summer Wedding Bouquets

Photo: Courtesy of heyweddinglady.com

Photo: Courtesy of photokisses.com

Photo: Courtesy of ahandcraftedwedding.com

Photo: Courtesy of modwedding.com

Photo: Courtesy of stylemepretty.com

Fall Wedding Bouquets

Photo: Courtesy of brides.com

Photo: Courtesy of rusticweddingchic.com

Photo: Courtesy of budgetbride.com

Photo: Courtesy of theexcitedbride.com

Photo: Courtesy of intimateweddings.com

Photo: Courtesy of stylemepretty.com

 

Now get to it and use your newly acquired flower power to customize your own beautiful bouquet!

Bachelorette Bash Ideas

Your big day is coming up, but first there’s a little treat we like to call your bachelorette party. Don’t know what to do? We’ve got a list of the most unique bachelorette party ideas that you might not have …

How to Host an Exceptional Event

A perfect party. Is there any such thing? Maybe not, but we believe that you can get pretty close to throwing the most spectacular shindig with these handy tips and tricks! Consider this post your key to going down in …

Raising the Bar

Every good party is memorable. Whether it’s the people or the food or the decorations, there’s just something about a good event that sticks with you. Lucky for you, we have the secret to an awesome bash. What is it? A …

Alternate Guest Book Ideas

Gone are the days of signing your name into a guest book at a wedding! This is 2016, after all. Now, instead of that boring guest book, guests can sign their names to a million more creative and useful things …

Groomsmen Gift Ideas

In the world of groomsmen gift giving, there aren’t a lot of places a guy can go to feel good about easily finding somewhere that can really offer everything you need.  Often enough, the groomsmen gift phase comes at a pretty frenetic point …