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Vintage Brooch Bouquets – Amanda Heer Creates Lifetime Memories

Brides need look no further for something old and something new with Amanda Heer’s Vintage Brooch Bouquets. These exquisite creations are a work of art that any bride would want to add in her wedding.

Amanda, owner of Fantasy Floral Designs, could have never imagined that ten years after her first creative spark to turn her vintage brooch collection into a bouquet, would lead her to where she is at now…handcrafting and selling vintage brooch flower bouquets to brides world-wide! According to Amanda, brides from every country are on the search for brooches, often asking family and friends to contribute. Each bouquet consists of approximately 50 to 60 pins, earrings and pendants – creating a family heirloom that can be treasured for ever.

Many thanks to Amanda for sharing these incredible photos with StrictlyWeddings.com.

Wedding Trends for 2010

We asked one of our partners, Tami Winn, of Tami Winn Events and le Fleur Couture, to tell us what she sees in wedding trends for 2010.

Her response was the list below on what she’s busy planning.

Vintage:
Birdcage veils
Pearls
Antique broaches
Mismatched bridesmaids dresses
Gloves
Colors: violet, olive green, champagne, and chocolate

Eco-Friendly:
Organic Food
Plantable seeds for favors
Stationary that is ecofriendly
Garden setting

Colors: sage green, beige, and pearl

Rustic:
Unfinished wood
Chic boots
Lanterns and mason jars
Outdoor setting (ranch, field w/tent, barn)
Colors: sunshine yellow, rust, cinnamon, and emerald green

Vintage weddings. Photo courtesy of Lynn Michelle Photography.

Eco-friendly weddings. Photo courtesy of Table4Photography, Jason Huang (the wedding took place at Barr Mansion in Austin Texas.  They are the only event facility in the United States that is certified 100% organic.

Rustic weddings.  Photo courtesy of Stacey Pinkney.

New Cuisine Trend

Many brides are eliminating the formal sit down dinner and overflowing buffets and opting for an all-passed appetizers wedding with chic smaller buffets.

Find the Perfect Pair – fun food & drink pairings during the entire wedding:

* Black Bean Soup with Mini Chilled Casahas Shots
* Mini Tuna Tacos with Mini Chilled Lime Margaritas
* Fish & Chips served with Mini Pints of Beer
* Mini Gourmet Pizzas served with Mini Pints of Beer
* Caviar & Chilled Vodka
* Instead of huge cheese displays pair cheese, meats and breads with a variety of wine tastings

Choose Mini Buffets – more do-it-yourself stations with toppings:

* Cous Cous Station with Toppings
* Curry Bar
* Deconstructed Mac & Cheese with Truffle Oil, Jalapenos, Chipotle Crème
* Tuna Bar with Tartar & Seared Tuna with Toppings like Wasabi Caviar, Citrus Caviar, Avocado, etc.

Pass the Dessert – serve your guests mini desserts while they are on the dance floor:

* Espresso Brownies with Mini Vanilla Milkshakes
* Fresh Fruit Sorbet on Mini Cones
* Fresh berry tartlets with limoncello sips

Late Night Munchies – serve mini-burgers and mini-grilled cheese for late night dancing treats or surprise guests with an all-passed midnight breakfast:

* Mini Burgers & Fries
* Mini Grilled Cheese
* Mini Blueberry Pancakes
* Mini Scrambled Eggs in Phyllo Nests
* Mini Bagels

Source: GetMarried.com

Photos courtesy of Blue Plate Catering – Chicago and Culinary Art Catering – Dallas

Top 10 Trends for a 2009 Winter Wedding

1. Themes

Winter and the festive period lends itself perfectly as a romantic, family orientated and cosy wedding theme. Consider a less-is-more approach to your colour palette, silver and white with crystal accents can add some serious glamour to your winter wedding. Seasonal invitations could be white with silver snowflakes or a wedding invitation that has an embossed look of snow. The venue could be decorated with snowflakes and icicles and mini wedding bells incorporated into your bridal bouquet. The flower girl could throw a dusting of imitation snow on the ground and snow cones of confetti ‘snow’ handed to your guests. The bridesmaids would look beautiful in silver, champagne or ice blue with little touches of snowy looking white fur. Your wedding gown could be dressed up with a winter white furry coat. Snowflake wedding accessories are a great winter wonderland touch for your reception along with a snowflake winter wonderland wedding cake. It’s even possible to hire a snow machine, ice rink and create a forest of trees if you really want to!

2. Black and White

The elegant black and white winter wedding is very classy and is a popular trend for 2009. Why not ask all of your guests to wear black and white whilst the bride stands out in a bold burgundy or sumptuous fabric. The theme could be continued by use of black and white photography, using projections of old cine film or possibly a casino and black tie dress for all.

3. Calligraphy

Using stylised lettering or creating a monogram of your initials is a real growing trend in the industry. The monogram, acting like a logo, used to brand napkins, invitations, candles and tableware. Using calligraphy on the wedding cake is becoming increasingly popular and a step away from the plain white icing, floral and chocolate indulgences.

4. The Dress

Ball gowns and long gloves are back in style in 2009 and a winter wedding is the most appropriate time of the year to step into this look. The classic winter wedding ideas are usually focused around a winter wonderland theme, so a ball gown fits right into the opulence and glitter that is a winter wedding.

5. Pared Down Wedding Cakes

Wedding cakes have gone through a series of trends in the last few years, in many cases being disassembled entirely. The layered wedding cake is back and the current winter wedding trend is thankfully a little more budget friendly. Compact, but ornate wedding cakes made up of just a couple tiers are one of the biggest trends right now and are a great way to save money. These smaller cakes can be just as impressive and personal just like the cupcake trend or larger cakes that have been used for years. Play up the season with a white, vintage-style cake, dusted with edible silver powder. For accents, have your baker add a white sugar ribbon and crystal drops cascading down one side of the cake.

6. Beverage Additions

A welcome touch on winter bridal menus has seen the addition of hot chocolate with marshmallows, winter Pimms, hot cider and other warm winter favourites gaining in popularity. You could serve up white hot chocolate in small espresso cups and eggnog in small punch glasses for your guests as they arrive.

7. The Flowers
Red roses, calla lilies, and amaryllis are decidedly winter wedding flowers, but if you step outside the flower box you’ll find a variety of options for winter blooms. Consider fuller flowers, such as white hydrangeas and soft ranunculus. White boutonnieres can be handsome when they’re accented with greenery, but they also look great with a simple white ribbon. Add sparkle to your bouquet by wrapping the stems in ribbon embellished with crystals.

8. The Décor
Go beyond glowing candles to add both warmth and romance to your reception venue. If you want to heighten the drama, bring in the icy outdoors with ice-carved vases on your reception tables. Have your florist fill the vases with tall winter-white branches and hanging crystals to reflect the light from the tables. Surround the centre pieces with votive candles, and top your tables with white table linens and frosted glass china.

9. Favours

Food wedding favours are always a hit, but if cookies or truffles seem passé, try new treat ideas to send your guests home satisfied. Give out small packages of chocolate-covered cranberries or roasted chestnuts. An over-the-top idea that will undoubtedly impress: have your caterer set up a hot chocolate and marshmallow station to top off the evening or go for a candy station.

10. Honeymoons

While many couples flee the blustery weather for warmer and sandier locales for their honeymoon, a winter wedding can segue perfectly into a snowy escape. Embrace the season and rent a cozy log cabin for a week in Lake Placid or join the jet-setters at a luxurious hotel in Aspen for some serious skiing, wining, dining and snuggling.

Creative Custom Card Boxes: An Innovative New Wedding Industry Product!

Creative Custom Card Boxes is a rapidly growing web-based company that provides brides across the nation with secure, handmade, eco-friendly custom card boxes designed according to their exact specifications.

When planning her own wedding, Marni Gold was searching for a unique and secure way to store gifts and cards at her reception. Frustrated with the gaudy, tacky or just plain expensive options she was repeatedly coming across, she finally created her own custom card box that was simple, elegant, and understated while still corresponding with her theme. Out of this project, Creative Custom Card boxes was born!

Starting at just $40, Creative Custom Card boxes are as affordable as they are beautiful. Each customer can browse a wide variety of designs online before specifying the exact colors, number of tiers, and types of embellishments that will make her own cardbox one-of-a-kind. A true mother-daughter team, Marni and her mom Linda work closely with their clients to bring their exact visions to life.

While there are few limits to how the card boxes can be decorated, Creative Custom Card Boxes has on hand a consistent stock of crystals, pearls, and variations of I DO and WE DO letters. For more information, visit their web site or blog. You can also follow them on Twitter.

We welcome Creative Custom Card Boxes as one of our blog advertisers!

Wedding Color Combinations

There are a few things to remember about your wedding color combinations.

Keep it simple
Choosing too many colors will make your wedding seem unorganized and leave your guests wondering what look you were striving for; limit your color choices to no more than three colors so your wedding will be streamlined and elegant.

Be decisive
Take as much time as you need to choose your wedding colors, but once you’ve made a decision-stick with it.

Use colors liberally
Whichever colors you choose, be sure to repeat them throughout your wedding-in your invitations, in your wedding party attire, in your floral and centerpiece decorations, your cake, your linens … everywhere!

1. Shades
   Orange is one of my favorite colors, especially for a wedding. It’s bright hue can liven up a room and is reminiscent of youth, sun and energy. But you probably don’t want orange as your only wedding color. What I’d do is start with a shade of orange, such as pumpkin or tangerine, then add peach, peach-orange or peach-yellow. The effect is bright, energetic and classy.
2. Blending Browns
   As with the example above, stand-alone brown might not be the go-to color choice for many brides, but when done properly it can be elegant and chic. Consider choosing dark espresso and pairing it with latte or cream (I am getting thirsty, here). Set off against a backdrop of sparkling lights, candles and a hint of gold this color combination is stylishly romantic and promises to give your guests something to remember.
3. Eclectic Eggplant
   Eggplant burst onto the wedding color combination scene a few years, but trend-setting brides make adjustments with each year. The key is to choose colors that have the same undertones. This helps ensure your colors don’t clash.
4. Orange and well … anything
   It is true. Orange really is *the* IT color for 2009. For spring or summer weddings pair bright orange with aqua or turquoise to create a tropical feel. Autumn brides can use deep orange paired with cream, light gold, plum or brown, while winter brides could choose deep navy, charcoal or purple.

The bottomline is basically this … it’s okay to step away from the pastels and into the brilliant jewel colors. Color is embraced. All we suggest is that you work with your wedding planner or someone with experience to create a color scheme that is elegant and carries through with all your wedding details.

A Few Online Resources:

Color Studio by Brides (image shown here)

Exclusively Weddings – Wedding Color Themes

The Knot – Wedding Color Combos from real weddings (this site can be overwhelming, but they do have some good photo examples of colors in use.)

Or search Google for “Wedding Color Themes” and you’ll get any number of articles. You’ll just have to weed through the less helpful to find the pearl of wisdom you’re looking for.

Summer Wedding Fun – The Parasol

In the world of weddings, like everywhere else, things go in and out of style. Some things, like sticking to the old adage, “Something borrowed, something blue…” always stay the same, but other things, like dress styles, decor trends, and food choices change as often as do other fashions. 

A summer addition to weddings that can be trendy is the parasol. There are ornate decorated umbrellas with 8 foot handles used to line aisles, mini-parasols planted in trees with lights behind them, and, of course, they can also be used as favors. Or you know, you could use them for the things that umbrellas and parasols are usually used for, keeping the rain and sun off. Unlike so many favors and decorations, they can be useful, and actually used again.

Top America Bachelorette Hot Spots

New York, New York…Ah, the mere sound of the city name. The city that doesn’t sleep. The playground for adults. The shopping, dining and arts mecca of America. It is clearly one of the best bachelorette party destinations where you can enjoy the best of the best with your best friends. Start off with breakfast at Isabella’s at Central Park, followed by shopping on 5th Ave., a tour of Metropolitan Museum of Art, dinner in Soho, Mama Mia on Broadway…the options are literally endless. Check out the super stylish Gansevoort Hotel where you need not leave the hotel to enjoy the last precious days as a single woman. Enjoy a spa treatment at the hotel’s G-Spa where you can indulge in pedicures, facials, and massages. For your happy hour, before you and the girls get dolled up to hit the town, enjoy a drink here in the company of your guests. The hydro pools have been morphed to create liquid-illusion dance floors.

What? You want to go the beach? Consider South Beach, Miami, Florida where the days are spent sprawled under the sun on the white beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and the evenings are filled with delectable dining cuisines and dancing beyond the velvet rope at ultra exclusive dance clubs. Enjoy a chilled mojito in a beachfront cabana on a comfy lounge bed at Nikki Beach’s Oceanfront Beach Club where a DJ spins the latest hot dance sounds. Or if you have the itch to shop hit the chic boutiques along Lincoln Road to select your new little party dress that will show off your tan. Many hotels like the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club have enticing “Style the Last Mile” bachelorette packages that are surprisingly affordable. Or consider Delano Miami, the all white modern luxury hotel featuring an unsurpassed Agua Spa and pool suited for those who have pampered relaxation on the mind. 

Who doesn’t love old Southern charm? Charleston, South Carolina is a quaint, but lively city that has a natural charm of its own. You and the girls can relax at your beach house rental at Sullivan’s Island during the weekend and visit Charleston for shopping and dining. Wear your pretty sundress and oversized hat as you take a stroll along King Street where you’ll find art galleries, antiques and modern clothing boutiques. You can even get yourself enrolled into a cooking class at Maverick Southern Kitchens. As the sun sets, unwind at a multitude of wine bars, the Torch Lounge for martinis or hit the Music Farm for live entertainment.

Last but not least is Viva Las Vegas, Nevada, baby. Have your lingerie shower in a limo and get chauffeured all night long. Options are seemingly endless in Las Vegas. From the thrill of the casinos, to infamous las vegas shows, to adapting your own stripper-inspired moves oat StudiOhm. Be sure to visit Pure, LAX, and Tryst, the star studded hottest nightclubs on the strip. To recuperate from your big night out enjoy spa treatments at Spa Bellagio, Vita di Lago at the Ritz, or the spa at Wynn Las Vegas. Or perhaps a little “hair of the dog” is in order.  If so, hit the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Beach Club where music fills the air and the pool with their underwater speakers. One of Travel Channel’s Top 10 pools, this is THE place for a raging pool party, swim up black jack and even a water slide in a beach like oasis. Don’t forget to check out what concerts are playing at The Joint, the Hard Rock’s premier live music venue.

With any of your travel plans we hope you’ll consider contacting our StrictlyWeddings.com travel partner Signature Travel Boutique.

Say I Do To The iPhone

What will they think of next? The iPhone now counts down your “I DO’s.” This new application allows you to be a bit more obsessed with your date. Now every time someone asks how long it is until the big day you can have an exact answer! Simply enter in your wedding date and time and let the countdown begin. Wedding Day application counts the years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until you say “iDO!” Helpful in planning since every second counts for busy brides and grooms!

Wedding Day applications continues to work even after you say your vows, by tracking how long you have been married. Down to the second! Since your iPhone or iPod Touch is always with you, the countdown is only a click away. Wedding Day is a real time tool and available on the iPhone App Store.

Found on: BridalBarBlog 

Party Time…The Eco-Friendly Way

Everyone is talking green these days. Brides who are into the whole eco-friendly trend can get wedding confetti poppers! They are a chic, biodegradable alternative to rice and seeds. They are perfect to use as guests cheer you after the ceremony, at your outdoor reception or your grand exit. Wedding poppers are filled with white tissue paper confetti that shoots into the air when the safe, spring-loaded device is activated.

Photo by: f8studio