Wedding Venue
Finding the perfect wedding venue is one of those magical moments in your wedding plans. As you stand in an elegant, romantic ballroom, or find yourself in a beautifully-bloomed outdoor garden wedding locale, your wedding vision will come to life. Many of our northern New Jersey and New York City brides say that when they found their dream wedding location, they just knew it was The One. They could see all the elements of their dream wedding, see their guests having the time of their lives, and see themselves enjoying their gorgeous celebration.
To choose your perfect wedding venue, begin your research by talking to recent brides and grooms you know who married at the New Jersey banquet hall you have in mind. This is a top way to get the inside story on what it was like to plan with the wedding venue’s staff, what they loved about their setting, what they enjoyed most about the planning process. Talk also to people who have planned bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs or other big celebrations at your ideal wedding venues, since they’ll have valuable input, too. 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…
Wedding Flowers
If your dream wedding design features thousands of flowers, in full bloom and creating spectacular décor for your ceremony and reception, you can get an even more dramatic floral effect on a budget by following these top tips:
- Always buy flowers that will be in-season at the time of your wedding. In-season flowers are more plentiful and therefore cost less.
- Choose more locally-grown flowers. Your wedding floral designer can show you images of terrific, unique flowers and wildflowers grown native to our area, which will often cost a lot less than flowers that have to be imported from exotic areas.
- Choose non-bridal flowers that may cost less. Some flowers are considered more ‘bridal’ than others – such as white roses, gardenias, calla lilies, stephanotis, and others – and at certain times of the year may cost more. Instead, look at unique flowers such as zinnia, ranunculus, and especially the top trend peony for beautiful effect on a budget.
- Loosely-bunched wedding bouquets are in for a more romantic look, which means fewer flowers may be needed. Read more…
Wedding Cocktail Party
When guests travel in from out of town to attend a wedding, it’s become a new wedding must to plan several additional activities and events for them to enjoy during their stay. While your beautiful wedding will of course be the centerpiece of the weekend, there are many more hours to fill with fun events that give guests (and you!) more quality time together. 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…
Restroom Amenities Baskets
Offering an attractive, well-stocked amenities basket in your wedding venue restrooms allows guests much-appreciated comforts during any type of wedding celebration. At any time during your reception, a guest might get a stain on his or her clothing, and be very relieved to find stain-remover packets in the ladies’ or men’s room. In the past, these comfort amenities baskets included just a half dozen basic products, and now the new wedding trend in amenities baskets is to fill them with dozens of different items, all arranged on an elegant platter, or in a wedding theme-matching basket, even a tiered display holder fronted with your wedding logo. Read more…
Wedding Favors
Guests at a wonderful wedding, having enjoyed fine cuisine, top entertainment, top vintages of wine and champagne, and the joyful company of friends and family for your happy occasion would say the experience itself was all the gift they need, but it’s a top wedding etiquette idea to offer a take-home wedding favor they’ll love.
In years past, brides and grooms gave our small wine bottles with their personalized labels on them, and now the top wedding trend for weddings in our Northern New Jersey area is edibles…particularly something sweet.
Here are the top trends edible favors, welcome at the end of your wedding reception: Read more…
Wedding etiquettemay have relaxed in some areas, but the long-held ‘rules’ still hold true with invitations. On this blog, we talked about giving guests a +1, and now we’re focusing on the art, and etiquette, of addressing your invitations.
Wedding Invitations
- The number one rule of wedding invitation etiquette is that it’s a Don’t to print out guests’ names and addresses on labels. Guests are not impressed when they see labels on the formal invitation envelopes, so be sure to hand-write yours out. 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…
Every bridal party wants to throw a spectacular, unforgettable bridal shower that suits the bride’s personality and style, and provides guests with fine cuisine and great entertainment. Here, we offer some of the top new bridal shower trends that can make your bridal showera stand-out crowd-pleaser that the bride will love.
Bridal Shower
- Choose a fine dining experience with the best buffet dinner or a gourmet Sunday brunch. Excellent cuisine makes a bridal party a success, and even on a budget, chefs can help tailor your menu to impress.
- More bridal showers are planned as brunches, which offers an array of delectable fine cuisine menu options, and multiple desserts, plus wine and champagne, and the earlier time of day allows guests to still have some of that weekend day to their own planning.
- There is more emphasis on food and wine pairings, with sophisticated menu options paired to great vintages.
- Offer unique bar menu items, following the top wedding trends of offering champagne and champagne cocktails, mimosas, bellinis, mojitos, prosecco, creative martinis and sangrias.
- Create a signature drink – one of the top wedding trends – and name it after the bride
- Offer not just a cake, but additional dessert items as well, such as family-favorite tiramisu, bananas foster, chocolate-covered strawberries, and other sweet treats. Read more…
