New Jersey Wedding Venue at the Manor
For those who already use Pinterest, the image-oriented social media platform, you know how addictive it can be–for brides especially. By giving users a way to easily catalog their interests by “pinning” ideas, information, photos, and more found across the web or uploaded on your own to a virtual pinboard–or even “re-pinning” favorites from other users–the site has opened up a new universe where creativity and new ideas can be discovered and shared. Read more…
Wedding Hair via Flickr: CoreyAnn
We’ve certainly seen our fair share of bold colors and wedding elements derived from statement pieces and color blocking recently. And we anticipate seeing more influences from the neons (especially pinks and oranges) and fuchsias that are walking the runways. But for those with a more classic aesthetic, you’ll be reassured to know that we’ve also been noticing already this year–on the other side of the spectrum–softer wedding trends. We expect wedding trends to drift even further in this direction. While over-the-top weddings will remain popular for sure, look for them to share the spotlight with more natural, less overstated affairs.
Though various nature-inspired wedding trends have popped up in previous years, following the ever-growing interest in eco-conscious weddings, today’s natural wedding trend is less focused on being “green” specifically and more attentive to highlighting softer, more classic, and less ornate wedding styling.
But what does this mean for the average bride? Read more…
Unique Wedding via Flickr: GrandVelasRivieraMaya
Tips For Brides About Using Pinterest for Stress-Free Wedding Planning
As we discussed in a previous blog post about Pinterest (www.pinterest.com), this virtual pinboard is a great way for brides- and grooms-to-be to collect wedding style ideas all in one place, organize your thoughts, learn wedding tips and trends, and share your wedding planning with those you love. To that end, here are a few more tips for using Pinterest to help gather creative wedding ideas and plan your ideal wedding: Read more…
Garden Wedding
An outdoor wedding brings your wedding ceremony, and perhaps your reception as well, out into the open air. A garden wedding is, naturally, an outdoor wedding taking place in a garden setting – surrounding you with beautiful landscaping, ponds and fountains that add a romantic quality to your big day.
With all the natural beauty of a garden wedding setting around you, you won’t have to do (nor spend) very much to complete your dream wedding scene. But there are a few top trends for garden weddings that may inspire you: Read more…
Wedding Catering
Winter wedding catering focuses on seasonal foods in warm, creamy, comforting textures and rich flavors that turn your wedding reception into a fulfilling feast. Here are some of the top trends in winter wedding catering: Read more…
Wedding Programs
Several years ago, brides and grooms looking to plan a budget wedding cut out many of the prettiest details from their day, thinking that would be a smart strategy. They soon regretted not having these extra-special wedding décor ideas and sentimental pieces. Now, wedding couples are back to including such items as wedding programs in their ceremony plans. Read more…
Carving Station Trends
When budget wedding guides say to ‘cut out the carving station’ as a way to save money, they’re talking about weddings that are planned in non-bridal locations, and self-catered. At an upscale wedding reception venue, carving stations are included in the entire wedding catering package. So you can very well include a carving station, or two, in your cocktail party plan. Read more…
Bridal Party Photos
Many of our New Jersey wedding couples choose to skip the stereotypical bridal party photos, such as the one of the entire bridal party jumping up in the air, and especially the photo in which the groomsmen hold the bride sideways. A top wedding trend is to add more originality to the bridal party group photos, and we have some suggestions for you, according to the top wedding photographers in our area: Read more…
Wedding Signs
Personalized weddings feature décor touches that bring the bride and groom’s personalities and the style of the wedding into your Big Day, so consider a new top wedding idea: decorating with signs. Here are some of the top ways that you can design and display signs all around your wedding location:
- A large sign at the entrance to your wedding ceremony or reception ballroom can feature your custom monogram
- A large sign at your entrance can feature not just your names, but a romantic quote you’ve chosen as an inspiration for your day
- Signs can direct guests to your garden ceremony area, to your reception room, to your cocktail party or other areas
- A sign can direct guests to your smoking section at the far end of your venue
- Use framed signs on your guest book table, again featuring your monogram or a romantic quote
- If you’re using an alternative to the guest book, such as cards on which guests write their wedding wishes, your sign instructs them as to how to use the cards Read more…
First Impressions
When guests arrive at your wedding ceremony venue, they’ll be taken by the beauty of the site, and a celebratory tone is set immediately by the smiling, friendly greeters standing at the entrance. It’s a new trend to ask close relatives or friends to serve as your official welcome party, greeting the guests and pointing them toward the inside or garden wedding location. They may hand out your wedding programs and also let guests know where champagne is being served – in the case of a garden wedding taking place on-site – or even where small children may be taken for sitter service during the ceremony.
The immediate recognition of greeters puts guests at ease, eliminating the ‘where do we go?’ concerns that some guests may have when they arrive at a sprawling wedding location. With the guidance of your greeters, guests enter the wedding site ready to enjoy themselves, soon met inside by banquet site staff members bearing drinks for their refreshment.
How to Select Your Greeters
Choose at least three special friends or relatives, ideally from your and your groom’s sides so that someone at the wedding venue entrance can recognize arriving guests. If you have an extremely large guest list, choose four greeters to eliminate a line forming at the door.
Choose guests who are naturally friendly, upbeat and good conversationalists who have no anxieties about talking to strangers.
Instructions for Greeters
Ask greeters to stand just outside of the wedding venue entrance, on the steps or at the base of steps, so that they’re immediately seen by arriving guests. At an outdoor wedding, they might stand at a point where the pathway leading to the ceremony begins.
Make it a firm rule that greeters are not to text, check their iPhones, or be distracted by their dates. Their full focus must be on their greeting tasks.
Ask guests to dress in accordance with the wedding’s formality. Since these are representatives of your wedding, it is perfectly okay to set a dress code, such as cocktail-length dress or suit.
Let greeters know how many wedding programs to give out, such as one program per couple, or one program per guest. If your wedding budget is limited, or if you’re having a green wedding, this top wedding idea eliminates waste.
If you expect guests who do not speak English, it’s smart to choose a greeter who speaks, for instance, Spanish or Italian for a welcome greeting guests appreciate.
Give greeters full information on where essentials are, such as the coat check, restrooms, handicap access to the ceremony site, so that they may instruct guests who request these locations.
Remember to give greeters information on directions to the reception site, if it is different from the ceremony location. Having a stack of printed driving directions is always a smart wedding idea, even if guests decide to just program the reception address into their GPS or smartphone as they exit your ceremony location.
Wedding greeters should remain at the entrance to your wedding venue until the last possible minute before your wedding ceremony or reception begin, so that late-arriving guests are welcomed and directed.
Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, Pleasantdale Chateau
