A Delightful Day - Event Planning - Blog

A Delightful Day off to sunny Jamaica

Amber and I are off to sunny Jamaica early in the morning tomorrow for 4 fun filled days of sun and learning about Sandals resorts. When we return, we will be certified Sandals associates. If you don't have a honeymoon picked out yet, check out www.sandals.com and we can help you with an all-inclusive Sandals resort honeymoon in many of their Caribbean locations. Here we come Jamaica!

Green Wedding Trends

Green color schemes have become very popular in wedding magazines and weddings. It's such an organic color, eco-friendly weddings are also very popular, and can be combined with so many different colors. It's gorgeous with aqua, chocolate, simple white, yellow, you name it, it looks good! There are many shades of the green being used; chartreuse, lime, sage, apple green, I could go on. Here are some cute ideas from a variety of sources using the feature color, green!

Some great and fun florals to use in green are button mums, roses, carnations, orchids, and hydrangea. These kissing balls, or pomanders, are fun with green florals as part of your centerpiece.

Chartreuse and Aqua

I love these individual cakes! If your budget allowed, these would be precious as part of your centerpieces at each guests' setting. Also, you could have one of these for each of your bridesmaids at your bridal luncheon and carry your wedding colors over to your other events.

Lemon and celadon

This has such a garden feel. The lush florals in a traditional vessel with the clean, crisp, white linens. Iove the additional touch of a floral on each plate.

Green with a classic white

Fruits are such a popular centerpiece filler! It's so inexpensive and easy to use whether cut apart or used whole.

I love the use of another inexpensive filler, dried peas!

I hope this beautiful, natural, and organic color inspires you! 

The Rose Blossom

As we've posted about before, brides are serving more and more options to their guests. Including drink options. One fun way to incorporate a bar into your wedding is creating signature drinks or cocktails for your bartender's to mix up for your guests. Having several different drinks will keep bar costs at bay because you're only providing several drinks limiting the liquor selections. Here is a really fun recipe that sounds sooo scrumptous and would be perfect for a berry pink, red, or hot pink color scheme:

The Rose Blossom

1/2 oz. seltzer

1/2 oz. rose water simple syrup*

2 1/2 oz. rose'

Squeeze of lemon

Raspberry (optional)

Sprig of mint (optional)

*To make rose water simple syrup, combine a splash of rose water (www.kalustyans.com), and 1/2 oz. of simple syrup (simmer 1 part water with 1 part sugar).

Mix first four ingredients. Shake and strain over crushed ice in a martini glass. Garnish with a raspberry and mint sprig. Serves one.

Drink up and Enjoy! 

Vendor Spotlight: Matchless Limo's

Every bride loves to ride in style! I got to meet with the amazing team at Matchless Limo here in Nashville last week. I got a personalized tour of the office, the fleet, and what makes Matchless, matchless. When a bride chooses Matchless for her transporation on the day of her wedding she is getting the best of the best when it comes to vehicle and service. Diane, the owner of Matchless, filled me in on how wonderfully these vehicles are treatly. Her husband restores the vehicles in house and all maintainance is performed at their warehouse as well. You are given the red carpet treatment, and every bride and groom receive complimentary chocolate covered strawberries, homemade and wonderful might I add, and a bottle of POP champagne. Patti, took me on a tour of Matchless' fleet, and introduced me to the team that makes Matchless so desirable. I wanted to share several of the vehicles with you, the more bridal vehicles, so that you can see what they have to offer. You don't even have to think just for wedding day, but bachelor or bachelorette parties, bridal luncheon's, or spa days with the bridesmaids. What would even be fun would be limo transportation for driving you to and from bridal salon's to choose a dress! But who has that kind of money!?!? We can only dream can't we? Without further adue, here are the cars that make Matchless:

This is the fun, new Blue Jaguar that has been introduced to the Matchless fleet. Isn't she gorgeous and she could be your something blue that day!

This is the classic Rolls Royce and offers more space to bride's with a lot of dress to tote.

This is the classic, high desired, white jaguar that creates that picturesque photo of the bride and groom next to it, kissing in front of it, or the couple inside. Here is a photo of the classic white jag in use by our December 29th couple, Darcie and Kyle.

There are several stretch limos to choose from to transport up to 10 in a bridal party. As well as the Executive Coach and the "Patron" Limo Bus down below.

They can even customize the color to your wedding! :)

They also have the precious, and cozy might I add, London Taxi that can trasnport you and the groom.

A carriage and trolley are also available. The carriage makes a great exit at the end of your night and wisks you off to your hotel. The carriage services the immediate downtown area. A Trolley is great to have to transport a larger bridal party as well.

Matchless has so much to offer and I rely on them for the transportation of my brides because I know that I can trust them to be on time and to make my bride and groom their number one priority. Give Diane, Patti, and the team a call! Thanks for letting me take a personalized tour Patti!   

Getting creative: Guestbooks

Guestbooks are such a staple at weddings. They serve the purpose of seeing who attended your wedding as a guide to sending your thank you's for attending. For years brides have used the standard spiral bound "bridal screaming" guestbook with the lined pages for guests to sign. I personally, along with a lot of other brides today, find that way so boring and non-personalized. I love to encourage my brides to come up with another option to serve as a guestbook, something that will serve a purpose in their decor at home. Something that represents them in their own way. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but could be anything from a scrapbook with photos of your childhood and then dating lives together, which is what I did :), to a more traditional signing mat that can be placed on your wall with a photo from your engagement or wedding. Here are some other fun ideas to creating that record to represent who was at your biggest day ever!

If you were having your wedding take place at a vineyard or if you and your husband to be are wine or champagne lovers, choose a bottle of wine or champagne that will be served at your wedding. Have that serve as your guestbook with a special pen available for guests to sign their names and well wishes to you and display that in your home.

Have your guests pen a note of well wishes to you and the new Mister and put these notes into a scrapbook for others to look through. These are fun to read through when you arrive home from your honeymoon and are unwrapping gifts as well. You would be surprised the funny, and inspiring, notes you'll receive. Great stationary for this can be found on many websites, including Paper Source for stationary with motifs or colors to match your theme.

Document your guests with a photo. Whether it's from a poloroid being carried around by several designated friends or a photobooth set up, it's a great momento to represent who was at your wedding and attach this to a guestbook for them to sign a message into. Photobooth Nashville is a resource we use very often. They bring in a photobooth to set up and an attendant is there all night as your guests are going in and out of the old fashioned photobooth, to take their pictures and compile them into a scrapbook with well wishes. Guests love it!!! It also can double as a favor because the guests get a copy of the pictures they took as well.

Another fun thing to do, that many photographers are doing now, is creating a mini album of photos from your engagement session, and even bridal session, and having your guests sign on opposite pages. This serves as a great display for your photos, as well as something more appealing to look through than just pages of signatures only. One of A Delightful Day's favorite photographers, Dove Wedding Photography, offer this as part of most of their packages.

Another great tip I've seen is forgo the traditional written guestbook all together and have your videographer take messages from your guests. It allows for more personalization, tears, and laughs!

Whatever your style is for a guestbook, make it personalized! Guests love those little details that make your wedding your own! 

Toppers With Glitz

I had to post about this as my something delightful this week! Amy, our June 21st bride, ordered a beautiful matching set of a monogram cake topper and serving set. She chose incredible detailing from a wonderful vendor called Toppers With Glitz. They have incredible personalized cake toppers whether you're wanting to do a one letter, two, or three letter monogram, a shape, number, flowers, you name it they can do it.  You have an unbelievable amount of swarovski crystal colors to choose from to match the theme of your wedding. There are many fonts to choose from as well to find one that is your exact match to your invite or program or one very similar. Contact Sari Watkins for any custom design work at questions@ToppersWithGlitz.com. I have ordered from her several times and I have nothing but good things to say about her. Here are some examples of Sari's work put into action by A Delightful Day and sneakpeek at Amy's topper and serving set.

This was the single letter monogram "M" for Darcie and Kyle Malone, December 29th. Since her colors were platinum and deep red, she chose more gold/brown accents that went very well with her decor and cake color.

This will be Amy and Jason's single letter "H" monogram. The colors she used, golds, taupes, and cremes, work perfectly with her neutral palette she's chosen for the wedding. These pictures don't do justice for the shimmer of light these crystals project.

This is the coordinating serving set that Jason and Amy will use to cut their cake and the serving knife is engraved with "Amy and Jason, June 21st, 2008" serving as a beautiful display piece for both the wedding and as a great memory piece after the wedding.

Using these types of personalized elements help create the unique day that you're looking for and really incorporating your personality into the day as well. Contact Sari and Toppers With Glitz for a "delightfully" unique wedding piece that could be handed down. 

Vendor Spotlight: Nashville Event Lighting

Our Vendor Spotlight for this week, well overdue, is one of my all-time favorite vendors to work with! The trend in weddings is lighting and Blake Chaffin with Nashville Event Lighting is the best in Nashville by A Delightful Day's opinion! :) Blake has chosen some of his favorite lighting situations to showcase his talent and skill for us! Many of you may have known Blake as SelectSound Entertainment. He still DJ's occasionally, for his favorite wedding planner Mary Alice :), but lighting is his true passion and desired career! He loves creating a beautiful ambiance for any bride! Enjoy Blake's favorite photo's displaying his work and his answers to our inquisitive questions!

Name:  Blake Chaffin

Business:  Nashville Event Lighting

Your Site Address and/or Blog Address:  www.nashvilleeventlighting.com

How would you describe your style or work:  Custom Event Lighting

Favorite Thing About Your Job:  The creative side of coming up with a lighting design that makes the clients' event one-of-a-kind.

Magazine Must Have:  Rolling Stone

Guilty Pleasure:  Ben and Jerry's Pistachio Ice Cream

What Do You Do When You First Wake Up:  Try to find my glasses.

When It Rains:  My dog gets terrified and hides her head under the  bed.

MAC or PC:  MAC

What’s on your iPod:  Stevie Wonder, Alice In Chains, Darrell 
Scott, Roger Miller, Timbaland, Counting Crows, Cake, Real Time 
with Bill Maher Podcast, NPR: Intelligence Squared Podcast, The 
Onion Radio News Podcast, Larry King Live Podcast

Travel Dreams:  I want to go to Space on Richard Branson's Virgin 
Galactic Space Tourism venture.

One piece of advice for Brides-to-be:  Meet with your Vendors in 
person, so you can hire people you like and trust.

Here are the photos that Blake chose as his favorites... enjoy!

Check out Blake's website for his contact information. Lighting is such a wonderful element to your wedding decor, whether simple or grand. We love working with you Blake and can't wait for events with you this year! Have a delightful day! 

Spring is in the Air

A Delightful Day loves color! It's always so fun to incorporate color into your wedding, shower, or bridal luncheon. It's especially fun to make those outside events like bridal luncheons or showers be a contrasting look to your wedding. If you're doing neutrals like champagne, gold, whites, ivories, doing a fun bold color for these events. Here is a fun inspiration board that we want to share with you that is full of fun color!

Invite Etiquette

While I'm on the Invitation and Paper kick, here are some invitation etiquette answers to your common questions!

• Q.How far in advance should you send invitations? What is the proper date to ask for the reply card?
  A. Ideally, invitations should go out eight weeks before the wedding -- that gives guests plenty of time to clear their schedules for the day and make travel arrangements if they are out-of-towners. It also lets you make the RSVP date a little earlier -- say three weeks before the wedding date -- so you can get a final head count and start making a seating chart (if you'll have one) before the final-week-before-the-wedding crunch begins. At the very latest, guests should receive invitations six weeks in advance, and you should get responses back two weeks before the big day. You will have your few stragglers that don't get in their RSVP's until the week of, so always allow for a few extra in your headcount when it is given to your caterer, just to make up for those. It's better to have a little more than you need versus not enough.
• Q. We're in a tizzy over announcements versus invitations. The groom grew up in a very small town 2,000 miles away from the wedding city. We're afraid that feelings will be hurt if we don't invite everyone from his hometown, but we know the trip will be impossible for 95 percent of them. Help!
  A. Even if you're pretty sure certain guests won't be able to attend the wedding, it's a nice gesture to invite them -- who knows, they might decide to attend. And if not, they'll feel good knowing that they were invited. Announcements should be used to let friends, family, and possibly professional colleagues who were not invited to the wedding for whatever reason -- budget constraints, etc. -- know that the wedding took place. Invitations are sent to those people whom the families want at the wedding. Let the recipients decide on their own whether they can attend or not. If you're right and most of them can't come, you might consider having a second reception or party in the groom's hometown after the couple returns from their honeymoon.
• Wording is always a question as to who belongs on the invitation. Here are some suggestions:

*** This invite implies that both families are hosting, therefore paid, for the wedding:

Tina Maria Smith
and
John Michael Douglass
together with their parents
Barbara and Robert Smith
and
Bob and Jane Douglass
request the honor of your presence

*** In this situtation the parents are being honored, but the bride and groom have paid for the wedding:

Jane Marie Darling
and
John Michael Rooney
together with their parents

• Q.We are getting married at a local hotel located on the beach. The ceremony will be held outside, with the reception following in a banquet room inside. It seems almost silly to have a separate reception card with the same location, but I have no idea how to put it all on the wedding invitation. Any ideas?
  A. All you have to do is add a single line to the bottom of your ceremony invitation: "Reception to follow." It's invitation parlance for "The reception is in the same place." Just make sure your ushers know where to direct guests after the ceremony, so they're all taking the most convenient route to the reception area.
• Q.Do couples who live together but aren't married receive a single invitation or separate invitations?
  A. Unmarried couples who live together receive a single invitation because they are a couple. Address it the same way you'd address the invitation of a married couple with different last names -- alphabetically, on separate lines on the outer envelope:
  Ms. Janine Myers
  Mr. Richard Stevenson
  
  The inner envelope would read:
  Ms. Myers and Mr. Stevenson
  or
  Janine & Richard
• Q.My parents' friend called to say that her daughters and their husbands have not received invitations to the wedding. They didn't receive invitations because we didn't invite them. Should we? We invited them both to the engagement party and the shower. Are we obligated to invite them to the wedding even if we aren't close to either daughter?
  A. If they were present at your shower, you really should invite them. Shower guests should always be only people you're planning on inviting to the wedding. Here's why: The shower is, by definition, a gift-giving party -- an opportunity for your closest friends and relatives to help outfit you for your new home and life. If you invite someone to the shower but not to the wedding, they may feel as though they were only invited to the shower (and engagement party, for that matter) because you wanted gifts from them. These are your parents' friends' family, so these guests probably should have been on your parents' section of the guest list. This decision is now up to you -- if you don't invite them, you (or more likely, your parents) may face conflict with them.

Hope these suggestions help you in sticky situations that invites bring! Emily Post or Crane's Blue Book is always a great etiquette reference for more invite questions.

Invitation Trends

Your invitation is what sets the mood for your guests for what type of event to expect. Whether you're having a black tie affair with a very formal invitation with formal fonts and paper to an informal affair with a theme, your paper is an important element in your wedding planning. The average amount of your budget spent on paper is 2-3%, sometimes more for those who have invitations as a high priority on their list. Here are the invitation trends for 2008 and what we're seeing as a change in paper styles.

• Pinstripes are a hot look right now whether it's horizontal, vertical, multicolored, or in shades of your wedding. Use a formal Script font with this fun stripe and create a elegant combination of classy with contemporary.
• Bejeweling your invitations with rhinestones, pearl-toned beads, pearls, mini-swarovski crystals make a simple invitation automatically classy and elegant, with a touch of bling! I'm a scrapbooker, and those fun rhinestone buckles you can find in the scrapbook section of stores make a great addition to invites as well.

• Going bold with color, only this is with white. Taking a dark hued, bright cardstock and using white typesetting. This is a beautiful alternative to a white cardstock with a dark hued type.
• Pockets are very much in style. Instead of having to worry about what goes into the envelope and in what order, choose to use a pocketfold style and don't fuss over what order the pieces go in and supplying tons of envelopes. Another big trend saving money and envelopes is RSVP Postcards. They're fun and they save money!

• Paper flowers are popular now on invites. That's a great thing to those us who are scrapbookers. This adds an element of natural to your invitations.

• Unique textures are fun for invites as well, using fabric, stitching, acrylic, even invites burned into wood for a nature themed event. Check out Modern Letterpress for some beautiful, textured invites.
• Modern Motifs are taking over having an allover pattern, using your dress as an inspiration even.

 

• Modern Monograms are great for personalizing your invites and you can use this monogram everywhere in your event. Carry it on with your lighting, on your dancefloor, favors, save-the-dates, program, need I go on! This invite shows carrying out your theme with the monogram design.

• Last but not least, Designer envelopes, the first thing your guests see. Splurge for those envelopes that have your motif, metallic envelopes in your color, or go for an elegant calligraphy.

No matter what your invite choosing is, use something that's unique to your wedding. You can have invites that are customized to your wedding, without the "custom design" price. Have fun with them. Paper is one of my favorite elements of a wedding! Happy planning!