Party Planning

By Christopher Gellings, Banquet Manager, Highlawn Pavilion

Here at the Knowles restaurants in the New Jersey, New York metro area, we’re seeing more interest in all things “eco friendly” and “green” when it comes to wedding ceremonies and wedding receptions these days. These “green” trends range from choosing wedding and reception locations that minimize travel for guests, to selecting invitations made from recycled paper. Now we’re also seeing the green trend in the wedding favors the bride and groom bestow upon guests.

If you’re interested in giving guests an eco-type gift, here are a couple of recent examples from ceremonies hosted at the Highlawn Pavilion . One couple gave their guests potted saplings. We’ve seen other couples make charitable donations in their guests’ names to organizations from Greenpeace to the Environmental Defense Fund. You could also dispense with favors altogether and explain it’s part of your effort to minimize the footprint of your wedding celebration, and save yourself some green in the bargain. The things you can do to inject a green element into your wedding are almost limitless. However, we would draw the line at choosing recycled burlap for your wedding gown!

Thanks!

Christopher

By Rolf Shick, Banquet Manager, The Manor

We want everything to be perfect on our wedding day. But sometimes things out of your control go wrong – for example, a vendor messes something up. Maybe the flowers are droopy, or the photographers or musicians are dressed sloppily. The possibility of a vendor faux pas is one reason why it’s important that a contract or contracts with vendors for all your wedding services stipulate the last check is due at the end of the wedding day. That gives you leverage to hold out on final payment if you are unsatisfied with the performance of any of your vendors. If you are unhappy with the way the flowers look or the musicians are dressed, for example, make sure someone you know takes photos of the culprits or offending items so you have visual documentation of what you are unsatisfied with. Even pictures from a camera phone can suffice, and almost everyone has one of those today. That way, even if your dream wedding isn’t completely picture perfect, you can help ensure vendors will make the proper financial adjustments to their fees.

Thank you!

Rolf

By Laura Madden, Senior Sales Manager, Pleasantdale Château
The ceremonial “First Dance” at a wedding reception often looks uncomfortably like its name implies: The newlyweds are usually nervous and hesitant, even if they took dance lessons a few weeks before their wedding day to be prepared for their pas de deux. We say don’t worry about it – just grin and bear it. First dance songs are usually a classic or traditional standard, and danced in relatively slow motion anyway, so there’s not much risk of embarrassing yourselves. But one trend that’s getting more popular at wedding receptions is the Second Dance.

The Second Dance can be a surprise the bride gives to the groom, a dance for the newly married couple to really enjoy themselves. It can be fun and fast or slower and romantic, but it’s a way that a bride can really show her new husband a good time on the dance floor. It’s also one more time where you two can steal the spotlight together, dancing. If the couple had trouble agreeing on what to play for the first dance, you can use the song that got passed over for the second dance. (In other words, the groom’s choice that he was gallant enough to defer in favor of the bride’s selection!) Whatever song you choose, the Second Dance is another good way for newlyweds to start off their new life together in step.

Have a great day!

Laura

By Rolf Shick, Banquet Manager, The Manor
By now we’ve all seen the crazy freestyle dance on YouTube, and again during The Office’s season finale when Pam and Jim got married. But that style of wild celebration clearly isn’t for everyone. That begs the question: How should the bride and groom, and the wedding party make their entrance to the wedding reception? One interesting way to introduce the bridal party is to use a song that builds up over the course of a minute or so, with the bride and groom coming into the reception at the highpoint of the musical build up. The Dave Matthew’s Band’s “Two Step” is an example of a song that works well as an entrance soundtrack. If you’re sports fans, you can use Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll (part 2)” or Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” both famous for being played during the intros of many professional sporting events. A simple announcement made by a member of the wedding party or event staff will also work for an entrance, but for couples who want something a little more, there’s nothing wrong with putting a little pizzazz into it.

Thank you!

Rolf

By Laura Madden, Senior Sales Manager, Pleasantdale Château
Remember playing the daydreaming game, “He loves me, he loves me not?” Well, if he’s marrying you, he obviously does love you, but some brides-to-be play a version of this game with their bouquets: they put so much attention and thought into them, they ask themselves, “Should I or shouldn’t I toss my real bouquet?”

Be that as it may, it’s smart to spend time planning your bouquet. And invariably the first question that comes up is, “What size should the wedding bouquet be?” The answer depends on a number of things. And the flowers you want to use aren’t the only consideration. Your size and, believe it or not, even your strength – no, not so you can toss the bouquet across the room – are important factors to consider, as well. The size of the wedding bouquet should be appropriate to the size of the bride. Petite brides could get lost behind an overly large bouquet, while a larger bride could make some bouquet arrangements look undersized. And consider your strength – You’ll be holding the bouquet for a long time, so you don’t want a bouquet that’s going to seem like a lead weight after a few minutes.

And let’s not forget the boutonniere for the gentleman. A smaller flower for the guy is a must. Keep the boutonniere a modest size. I’ve seen some grooms parties where the men look like they’re wearing corsages. For bouquets and boutonnieres alike, size does matter.

Have a great day!

Laura

By Lars Johnson, General Manager, Pleasantdale Château
The music selection for your wedding literally sets the tone for the ceremony. You’ve got a lot of options to consider – not only in terms of the music selection itself, but also the kind of musician or ensemble to play it. Do you want a harpist? A flautist? A string quartet, or Mariachi band? The truth is, you can use recorded music, but having live musicians can be a really nice touch. Keep a few simple rules in mind. First, make sure the choice of musicians is appropriate for the venue. For example, if you plan to have a harpist and your ceremony is outside, make sure that you aren’t underneath the path of low-flying airplanes – Your guests might never hear a note of music, otherwise. In a church wedding, organists traditionally provide the music, but duets singing Ave Maria or other classic songs are gaining favor with brides. We’ve seen family members who are opera singers lending a hand, or rather, voice, to wedding ceremonies, too. But we’re talking about trained singers. Your wedding is not a time or place for Uncle Al to show off the vocal talents he’s too old to showcase on American Idol. So put a little time into your music selection, and you’ll start your wedding ceremony off on the right note.

Best,

Lars

By Preston Postlethwaite, Banquet Director, The Manor
When love blossoms, flowers often mark the occasion. That’s why the floral selection is such an important part of wedding celebrations, and why so much time and attention is devoted to their selection. Usually the choice of flowers is based on the season. So with the end of winter in sight, let’s take a moment to talk about flowers for a spring wedding.

Of course the availability of flowers depends on where you live as well as the seasons. We’re assuming that anyone reading this is in the New York tri-state area and has access to great vendors like Crest Florist and Betina’s at Parkview. Of course some flowers are appropriate and available for a wedding any time of year. These include popular flowers like Roses, Lilies, and Gerber Daisies. But if you really want to say spring with your flowers, consider choosing Lily of the Valley, hyacinths (which are nice and fragrant), peonies (which have great volume, making them a great value), and Forsythia. Want to add something a little different? Think about using herbs as part of your arrangements – like lemon verbena, basil and the like. That’s a fresh idea that’s ideal for putting a seasonal spin on your floral displays for a spring wedding.

Until next time,

Preston

By Laura Madden, Senior Sales Manager, Pleasantdale Chateau

Move over, Mom! The bride and groom are taking center stage in making wedding plans.
Mothers have traditionally taken a large hand in planning their daughter’s weddings. And Moms’ plans and those of their daughters haven’t always been in sync. But today, many mothers seem more comfortable deferring to the bride- and groom-to-be when it comes to making planning decisions, from what kind of wedding ceremony to have, to where to hold the reception.
Several factors are behind the change. Couples are getting married a little later, so they’re often more established and independent to begin with. Mothers themselves are more likely to be remarried or single, and be less concerned with reliving their own wedding through their daughter. And society as a whole has loosened up a little, so Moms are often less rigid about protocol or concerned with what other parts of the family may think if their daughter or future son-in-law wants to do something untraditional.
This is saving a lot of wear and tear on many mother-daughter relationships. Wedding planning can be a stressful time under any circumstances. Experts tell us that weddings represent a big change in the relationship between mother and daughter. After years of watching out for her little girl, mothers, consciously or subconsciously, can fear losing that relationship. And daughters can feel that their Moms are being too stifling, and are often eager to show their independence. Additionally, mothers and daughters often view what the wedding is about differently. For mothers, the wedding is a statement about the family, while to the daughter it’s a statement about the bride and groom.
Whatever the extent of their involvement in wedding planning, both Moms and daughters should remember that this can be an emotional time. Work together, and those emotions can be ones of joy. We should know. Our restaurants have been helping couples and families have joyous weddings since 1953.

By Roman Bienkiewicz, Banquet Manager, The Manor
Looking for a way to keep the cost of your wedding in check? Rethinking the plans for your reception dinner can provide some significant opportunities for savings, without skimping on the hospitality you offer guests. Consider a buffet instead of a formal sit-down meal. A multi-course sit down meal is more expensive than a buffet for two major reasons:

First, the server-to-guest ratio is much higher for a sit down meal: the wait staff has to be large enough to make sure everyone is served their courses almost simultaneously. Secondly, the food selections can be pricey for a sit down meal, if guests are offered choices like steak and lobster, seafood appetizers and other premium items. With a buffet, the size of the wait staff can be considerably smaller. That alone can save significantly on costs. If you want to save even more, you can choose a menu that provides lots of variety and ample quantities of food at a lower cost per person than a surf and turf meal, for example.

But buffet doesn’t have to mean “budget” in the menu department. For example, here at The Manor, we’re well known among regular customers for our Lobster Buffet evenings. And now the Lobster Buffet is becoming a popular choice at the wedding receptions we host. There are additional reasons beyond cost that can make a buffet a good choice. Your guests can serve themselves as much or as little as they want, unlike a sit down meal where all portions are the same size. It can also create a more informal ambiance. And by encouraging guests to move about the dining room and serve themselves, it can get guests to interact with each other more. And a buffet is also a festive display in its own right. Even though it costs less than a comparable sit down meal, a buffet looks impressive – and mouthwatering! So when it comes time to plan the menu for your reception, talk to your caterer about your buffet options, and you’ll have some tasteful, money saving ideas to consider.

Thanks!

Roman

Welcome to The Art of Reception, a blog about everything to do with weddings. The Knowles properties (The Manor, Highlawn Pavilion, Pleasantdale Chateau and Ram’s Head Inn) have been hosting wedding of every size, style, nationality and budget since 1953. That’s more than five decades of experience, something few others can claim.

As a result, we have some of the finest, most capable bridal experts both in-house and as preferred vendors. This blog will feature the expertise and helpful hints from our in-house bridal experts and occasionally we’ll hear from our preferred vendors too, on trends specific to their line of work. Here’s a Who’s Who of our blogging wedding experts… Read more…