HONORING LOVED ONES WHO HAVE PASSED

Weddings are one of the most joyful celebrations that bring families together. For some families, it's also a bittersweet reminder that some of their dearest ones will not be present. 

We are always overjoyed for our clients when parents, grandparents, and all of their closest families and friends are healthy and well enough to celebrate with them. For those that have loved ones who have passed already, there are still many ways to honor these special people at your wedding. Here are a few ideas:

1. Save them a seat at the ceremony. You can place a small card on the chair to remember them, with some fresh flowers from your florist.

2. Pick a special reading or song that is significant to your relationship with them, and ask a close friend or family member to read or sing it during the ceremony.

3. Include a photo of them at the wedding. Our couples love incorporating old photos at their weddings, to bring in some history. Whether through a slideshow, album, or framed photos on a table, you can include images of those that have passed who holds a special place in your hearts.

For one of our weddings last year, our bride Wendy had an incredibly close relationship with both of her grandfathers, who have passed. It was important to her that she could feel their presence at the wedding, and to include them in some way. We saved 2 seats at the dinner tables, and placed special items that were significant to them. For one of the seats, we had yams, because her grandfather loved yams. For the other, we had a beautiful orchid strung onto the chair, as her other grandfather loved orchids.

One of the sweetest part of that wedding was watching Wendy's grandmother hold onto her husband's photos throughout the day, even as she was dancing, to be sure that he was included in the festivities. It's so heartwarming to see love in such depth, and is exactly why we love what we do!

Photos above by Augie Chang Photography

TIPS FOR SERVING A FAMILY STYLE DINNER

There are many ways to serve food to your guests at a wedding. The individually plated dinner is a more traditional and formal style that most couples still gravitate towards. However, family style dinners are increasingly popular and here's why...

A reception luncheon or dinner served family style creates a sense of community at a wedding. It reminds people of family celebrations such as Thanksgiving and holiday dinners, where there is a certain level of warmth and intimacy from sharing dishes with loved ones.

We're big fans of the family style dinner for weddings that are in between formal and casual because it encourages more interaction between guests at the table. Rather than focusing on the own plates in front of them, guests pass around the shared plates and engage in more conversations, especially around the menu. Family-style service also allows guests to taste more items, as it is common to have a couple of options for starters, entrees, sides, and desserts.

Photo by Gertrude & Mabel Photography

If you're interested in a family-style menu, we have a few tips for you:

1. Long tables lends itself better for family-style service, but make sure your table decor leaves plenty of space for the shared plates. If you don't have a planner, then you should work directly with your floral designer and caterer on this. Ask your caterer for the approximate size of the serving plates on the tables, and then have your floral designer come up with the right sizes and quantities of arrangements and decor for the table.

2.  Work with your caterer to devise a menu that's best suited for family-style service. Dishes with a lot of sauce, or are generally a bit messy to eat, are harder to be passed around. However, one option to get around that is to have certain dishes be served table side, where servers will go around offering the dish to each guest.

3. Be very strategic with your seating assignments, as it may feel awkward to some guests if they are sharing plates with people whom they do not know very well.

4. With shared plates, there will be a lot of movement during dinner. Therefore, it's best to keep all toasts and entertainments to the beginning, or the end, of dinner. If you try to interrupt dinner with toasts or announcements, it would be very difficult to get everyone's attention.

Have a great time creating your wedding menu, and if you need ideas, visit our Pinterest board here!

Photo by Gertrude & Mabel Photography

AN UNUSUAL "SEND OFF" AT A WEDDING

There are lots of great ways to end an awesome party, and we've certainly helped plan our fair share of those. At one of our weddings last year though, the guests had their own plans to end the wedding for the couple in a memorable way...

That's right, they tossed the groom, bow tie and all, into the moonlit pool! Fortunately, Orson was a great sport about it, and had some good laughs.

It's fun to watch how the mood of a wedding progresses throughout the day. Guests often arrive to the ceremony well-mannered and proper, self-consciously making sure they're not saying or doing the "wrong thing." Once the ceremony concludes and the cocktail hour begins, most people loosen up a notch with upbeat music and a few drinks. By the end of the evening, jackets and shoes are often tossed aside as everyone rocks the dance floor. Every wedding is still so different to us because the people are different, and that's why we love what we do.

Photos above by Lisa Lefkowitz

GIFTS FOR EACH OTHER

The morning of a wedding can be filled with mixed emotions. As you prepare yourself for one of the biggest moments of your life, you're probably feeling nervous, excited, and giddy. The anticipation of seeing your spouse-to-be will likely create little butterflies in your stomach. One tradition that is worth considering is to prepare a gift for one another, to be exchanged that morning. You can ask your wedding planner, a friend, or family member, to help you bring the gifts to each other. A handwritten note card to accompany the gift makes it even more special and sentimental. One of our sweet couples, Alice and Randall, did just that on the morning of the wedding. Amongst all the memorable moments of a wedding day, this has got to be one of the best.

Photos above by Samuel Lippke 

DRESSING UP YOUR PET FOR YOUR WEDDING

It's a lot of fun when pets are a part of the wedding party. Couples tend to get fixated on dressing their pets up for the occasion, which makes absolute sense, but sometimes, it's best to keep things simple for the four legged guests. Like the children in your wedding party, they'll be cute no matter what. So, skip the doggy tuxedo if it doesn't fit your style, and just do a simple bow tie like Muffin below, who not only was the honorary wedding party member, but had his own custom pillow to rest upon during the ceremony. We'll be blogging about this amazing, over the top "urban ethereal" wedding very soon....

Photo by Augie Chang Photography

Welcome Gifts for Out of Town Guests

Little touches at a wedding go a long way in creating a wonderful experience with your guests. One idea that never gets old is to leave a welcome gift for your guests who have made the effort to travel to your wedding. It can come in the form of a box, a tote bag, or even a canvas buckets. We'd like to say there are no limitations to what you can do, but we do recommend that you be mindful about your guests' luggage space. If you gift them a gigantic basket full of goodies, it might be difficult for them to take some of the keepsake items home with them.

We've gathered some of our favorite welcome gift presentations online to share with you, and hope that it will inspire you to show some love to your guests inside their hotel rooms!

Left photo obtained from Martha Stewart Weddings | Right photo obtained from Pinterest

Photos obtained from Pinterest

Photos obtained from Martha Stewart Weddings

Photos obtained from Martha Stewart Weddings

What should you include in these welcome gift "bags"? Here are some of our suggestions, along with links to sites where you can purchase the items:

Basic Items:

-Personalized water bottles
-Mints
-Handwritten note card 
-Schedule of events for the weekend
-Map of the area (you can ask the hotel concierge for this, or hire a graphic artist to draw one up)
-Snacks that are packaged nicely (local treats like these for S.F. would be ideal to give guests a flavor of the city)
-Small first aid kit

Additional fun-to-have items:

-Bottle of your favorite wine
-Mini champagne bottle (with a note that reads Pop this open for an early celebration of an amazing weekend ahead! )
-Eye pillows
-Custom "hangover" kit (lots of mini items for the kit can be found here)
-Nice candle with personalized matches

We also love these pretty canvas buckets and totes from Maika (previously known as Chewing the Cud)!

Follow our Welcome Gifts Pinterest board for more updated inspirations!

We're Featured: { Weddings in Houston }

A couple of months ago,  I was contacted by one of the writers from the magazine, Weddings in Houston, who was working on an article and needed ideas for engaged couples on incorporating personal touches into their wedding. This is certainly right up our alley, as one of our core beliefs is that every wedding should be unique to the couple, and we love helping our clients to incorporate special touches throughout the wedding to reflect their history together.

The magazine is now out and on newsstands, and though we're not a Houston-based company, we're still happy to be quoted in this article. We hope couples out there will be inspired to add more personal touches to their wedding!

Custom Bars and Lounge Furniture for Weddings and Events

The trend of creating cozy, intimate lounge areas at weddings and events will not be going away anytime soon. In fact, the choices for stylish, yet comfortable, furniture pieces have been expanding year after year. Blueprint Studios is one company that we absolutely love working with, as not only do they have an incredible inventory of furniture pieces, but they also have a fantastic carpentry department that can help us to create custom pieces. They've helped us to reupholster furniture, build props, and much more. We love that they're always up for a challenge, and hardly ever say no to our crazy cool ideas. :)

Bars, including dessert bars, sushi bars, etc., are fun to make as statement pieces at an event. We recommend doing a few statement pieces in key areas of your event to really make an impact. For example, in lieu of a traditional guest book, we've created wishing trees (see photos below) for guests to write their well wishes on, which became a lovely focal point at the wedding.

Here are some of our favorite custom pieces that Blueprint Studios have built for our past events:

Custom dessert bar built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom sushi station built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom bar built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom banyan tree built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom velvet tufted panels and lounge furniture by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom wall flat from Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom wall flat and furniture items from Blueprint Studios | Photo by Gary Ashley

Custom wishing tree from Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Lounge furniture makes for an inviting space for guests to congregate both before and after dinner. Guests tend to appreciate them especially during the dancing, as it gives them a comfortable option to rest their feet, eat their desserts, and mingle with other guests rather than to go back to their dinner tables. How you group your furniture pieces, and the style of furniture you should chose, would be dependent on your event space. Work with your planner and designer to lay everything out on a floor plan beforehand to be sure everything fits nicely. 

Check out our Lounge Furniture Pinterest Board and Unique Bars Pinterest Board for more ideas! 

Selecting Your Bridesmaids' Dresses

We love seeing that many couples are steering away from traditional bridesmaids dresses and instead, choosing styles that best fit the type of wedding that they're having. From polka dots to stripes, bridesmaids' dresses can help set the tone for the festivities to come and be as fashionable as ever. For one of our weddings this year, our super stylish bride had her bridesmaids' dresses custom-made....in a black satin lace fabric! The dresses were simply to die for...

Photo by Augie Chang Photography

We have also rounded up some of our favorite bridesmaids' dresses to share with you right here!

Left photo from here | Right photo from here

Photo from Grey Likes Weddings

Left photo from here | Right photo from here

Left photo from here | Right photo from here

Photo by Gertrude and Mabel Photography

Post-Wedding Brunch

Many couples host a farewell brunch for their guests, as an informal way to say good-bye to them. It's another opportunity for the couple to see friends and families who may have traveled a long way to attend the wedding, and to extend the wedding festivities just a bit further.

Post-wedding brunches tend to be more casual, and are often hosted at or near the hotel that the couple is staying at. It's usually between a window of time for 2-3 hours, allowing guests to come and go at their leisure. Therefore, food stations work best for this format and with some creativity, you can certainly add some pizazz to them!

LEFT PHOTO FROM STYLE ME PRETTY | RIGHT PHOTO FROM PINTEREST

PHOTOS FROM HERE

PHOTO FROM PINTEREST

PHOTO FROM HERE

PHOTOS FROM HERE

If budget, or circumstances, don't allow the opportunity for a post-wedding budget, it'd be cute to have these scones and jam delivered to guests who are staying at your hotel room blocks! Perhaps with glasses of mimosa? 

LEFT PHOTO FROM HERE | RIGHT PHOTO FROM HERE