Wedding Favors

Favor Boxes in Autumn Colors

Small Lantern Favors

Small Topiary Place Setting Favors

Wedding Favors are not what they used to be. When I first started creating weddings years ago, wedding favors were the traditional white or pastel candy coated almonds wrapped in tulle. Even the most prestigious weddings supplied their guests with the small tokens. Now we are a lot more creative with our ideas and realise that just another token will just not do.

I just love some of the ideas for these sweet favors and love this site for those who want to add momentos to this wedding reception.

http://www.americanbridal.com/uniquefavors.html

Another idea that we very often suggest is charitable donation to the charity of the couple's choice in the guest's name. There are two ways to do this:

1. Put photo frames on each table giving the Charity information and let your guests know that the donation has been made in the names of all the guests

2. Place information about the charity in envelopes and wrap each envelope with theme colored ribbon and ensure each guest receives one.

The first of the two options is the preferred "Green" suggestion for obvious reasons.

Enjoy!

PETAL OR LAVENDER TOSS

I love doing these fun little cones for our clients. We use the color theme of the weddings and double wrap the cones by hand with small loops for convenient hanging on trees. chairs, etc. When everyone is ready to do the 'send-off' of the newlyweds, each cone is pre-filled with the petals or lavender.

Hang them on tree branches, on chair ends or just put upright in large baskets. They always looks clean yet beautiful.

WEDDING FORMALITIES

So many receptions have the same type of flow and most people are used to the standard, cocktails, then dinner, then formal dances and then cake cutting followed by bouquet toss.

Nowadays nothing is set in stone with formalities except ensuring that all of your guests are greeted by you both and know who your parents/sponsors are as well as the members of your bridal party. This is usually done either with a receiving line or more popular nowadays through a grand entrance announcement. Oh yes, and having the Bride and Groom stay together and greet each of their guests together is a must.

I personally feel that the most important part of any wedding is putting YOUR touches on it. Whether or not you have a professional wedding planner helping you, each couple should have their own ideas incorporated into the wedding and reception. Take ownership of your special day and enjoy each and every moment of it, as it will pass by so fast.


SUGGESTED FLOW OF EVENTS

Here's a suggestion on a beautiful, yet easy flow for the perfect wedding reception...

Guests await the arrival of the Newlyweds
Queue the Emcee/DJ
Bridal Party and Family Members line up for Grand Entrance
Newlyweds line up at end of line for Grand Entrance
Announcement of Parents of Bride and Groom
Announcement of Bridal Party
Then for the first time in public...
Announcement of Mr. & Mrs. ___
Newlyweds go straight into their first dance
After the first dance, if there is a Blessing over the meal, this is when it would be done
Dinner/Lunch is served OR Food Stations are Open
Newlyweds make their way around to greet guests
Cake Cutting
It is suggested that this be done as soon as everyone has been served . You'll ensure that doing so early on, guests will not miss the formality and everyone can witness the cake cutting.
Toast by Best Man (and anyone else doing toasts)
Family Unity Toast (Newlyweds and both sets of parents)
Blending the new families together
Toast made by Father of Bride
Once Father of Bride has made his formal toast, he ends his toast by inviting his daughter to dance floor
Father/Daughter Dance
Mother/Son Dance
Everyone invited to dance floor
Party, Party, Party!
Getting all the formalities out of the way early on, wil ensure that once the party has started, you will not have to continue stopping and going
Towards the end of the evening, if you are going to offer a bouquet and garter toss, this should be done now
Farewell Dance followed by a
Formal Send-off

TRENDY WEDDING FORMALITIES

Spring is in the air and along with it comes weddings with flair. When helping our brides plan weddings, my italian roots come into play. We LOVE to bring immediate family into the formalities. One of the ways we encourage this is by having a Family Unity Toast.

The Bridal Library's Signature Unity Toasting Set is just one way of holding it, but you can use any toasting glasses. The custom comes from Italy when the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom, along with the newlyweds, come together to welcome their new in-laws to their family.

Usually started by the father of the bride, the toast is made to thank everyone for joining in the wedding celebrations. Then he welcomes his new son-in-law and his parents to the family and in unity, they all raise their glasses to his toast, then drink together. Most times, sisters and brothers also join in the toasting.

Wedding Cakes

When it comes to wedding cake, the best of the best can be found in Charleston. And wedding cakes are not just the typical classic white cakes anymore either. More couples are choosing fun, whimsical cakes with all the colors of their wedding. Take this one shown. While a huge number of brides are leaning towards more extravagant cakes, this bride loved gerbera daisys, so it was no surprize that she wanted them incorporated into her cake. Bright, colorful and a beautiful display.

The other BIG trend is choosing different flavors for each layer. The bride loved chocolate and the groom loved vanilla with raspberry filling. Each layer was baked specifically for them. An additional sheet cake was kept in the back that was the traditional wedding cake with buttercream filling.

In England, when the cake is cut, it is usually sliced and sent home with the guests. Here, the cake never lasts long enough to think about sending any home. The sign of a great cake baker, is that there is never any cake left for the wait staff to clear. There are however, small cake bags that are available through stores like Party City and Michaels, that are used for the very same purpose.

Some cake bakers that we highly recommend:

• Artistic Cakes by Linda
• Lady Fingers Confections
• Ashley Bakery
• Saffron Bakery
• Cakes by Elaine
• Cakes by Jim Smeal
  

Not just in WHITE

More and more brides are choosing to get married in colors other than the classic white or ivory. This particular bride beautiful hues of blues and lavenders. The only ivory that was at this wedding was in the vandella roses that were intwined throughout her teardrop bouquet and present through all her ceremony arrangements and centerpieces at the reception. He bridesmaids wore blue and the groom and groomsmen work classic tuxes. This particular dress was purchased at Berlin's Woman on King Street in Charleston, SC.

The old fashioned teardrop bouquets are also making a huge come-back. Each teardrop bouquet has a slight hook-like holder, to make it easier to carry. I love the way this particular bouquet cascades down in front of the bride. It looked beautiful as she was walking down the aisle.