A Blend of Your Personal Tastes and Personalities: Creating a Signature Cocktail

Weddings are full of many details that are all chosen from your personal tastes and preferences.  From the dress and the flowers to the food and the venue space, you are in charge of making your dream wedding reflect just who you and your fiancé are.  Well this is just the same when it comes to a trending detail: The Signature Cocktail.  The signature cocktail has been trending for many years, but is becoming even more popular in 2012.  We have a couple tips for you to consider when it comes to choosing your very own signature cocktail.

Appearance

Appearance is everything.  First of all, make sure your very own signature drink matches your wedding color scheme.  You do not want a red cocktail in a venue that is decorated in green fabrics.  You want your cocktail to look fabulous and delicious so everyone will want to try the drink that shows off your personal tastes and personality.  Also, you could add a personal touch such as your favorite flower on top or a small umbrella that could possibly have a logo with your names and wedding date on it.  The skies the limit with personal touches, make it your very own.

Follow Your Theme

Follow, follow, follow your theme of your wedding when choosing your signature cocktail.  For example, if you are having a country wedding, you might want to go with a Long Island, a Twisted Lemonade or a Harvester cocktail.  Making sure all of your details directly link together will really help pull your wedding together in an amazing and beautiful way. 

Consider The Season

During the winter months, do you see yourself or experience yourself drinking a Margarita or a Pina Colada?  Or during the summer months, do you crave to drink a warm Baileys cocktail?  We would like to think your answers would be no.  Making sure your cocktail associates with the season your wedding date is set in is very important.  We have researched and found a great cocktail to consider for your wedding no matter what season it is in.

Spring: Cherry Blossom Tini

Summer: Twisted Lemonade or a Lemon Drop Martini

Autumn: Harvester or a Manhattan

Winter: Pomegranate Champaign Cocktail

Adding a personal signature cocktail to your menu is fun and unique.  It shows your and your fiancés personalities and your taste in a creative way.  Create something delicious that you and your guests can enjoy together, and if it is an exact blend of the two of you, you can go no wrong. 

BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now),

Olivia

Keeping Decision Makers Happy

Being a bride is a balancing act in many ways. One of the toughest jobs you have is to keep all of the decision makers involved in your wedding happy. You have to establish priorities as a couple, and decide on what means the most to you. Then…

You need to figure out who else will be contributing to your wedding budget, and what spoken or unspoken expectations come with that financial contribution. Even if there are not immediately spoken expectations, they are there. Your father may be making a small contribution and seem laid back (but he assumes you want him to walk you down the aisle), your grandmother may want to pay for your gown (as long as it’s not strapless), mother may tell you that she trusts you to select a menu (as long as it doesn’t include fish), and his mother may make a passing comment that she knows a photographer (but what she is not saying is that she fully expects you to use said photographer).

Photo Credit: S.A Kamath Photography

Here are a few tips to help you navigate these tricky waters:

• Start the conversation early – the earlier you start to talk about each person’s vision for your wedding, the better. This gives you the most amount of time to find common ground.
• It is your day, be careful how often you assert that – everyone wants you to be happy with your wedding day. The memories will be most vivid for the two of you. BUT, you will surely earn the title of Bridezilla if you overuse that statement.
• Be prepared to make concessions – as you and your fiancé decide what is most important to you, also start to think about areas that you are willing to bend to keep people happy.
• Listen to others’ wishes – while you may be exhausted of listening to others opinions, you never know when someone will offer up a suggestion that you truly are excited about.

Photo Credit: CBArt Photography

The old cliché is true, you can’t keep all of the people happy, all of the time. It is definitely in your best interest to figure out which people are most important for you to compromise with. Just don't forget, it's your big day. Stay strong, and do what makes you happy, your family will see it too. 

BBFN (Bridal Bliss for Now),

Olivia

Uniquely Yours: 2012 Wedding/Engagement Ring Trends

When the love of your life finally proposes, asks your hand in marriage and opens the most important box in a women’s life, what do you imagine and hope to see?  Well whether you desire a traditional or modern ring, 2012 wedding band trends have each style with a unique twist. 

            What’s Your Favorite Color?: Incorporating colored gems alongside a diamond has become a very popular trend that brides are desiring on their engagement and wedding rings.  Muted peaches, pinks and pale blues have been the most trending colors by future brides and have been the most purchased by future grooms.  This piece of jewelry should represent who you are and is a lifetime timeless piece, so make sure the color your fiancé chooses is one you will love forever.  Whatever you desire though, any color can add a unique twist to an incredible diamond ring.

            From the Heart: A way for a bride to have a constant reminder of just how her fiancé feels for her is for a message to be engraved inside the wedding band.  An engraving on a ring has become an even more popular trend in 2012.  Writing a personalized message, an inside joke or maybe even a short statement can be a very unique and romantic way to express your love for one another.

            Black Diamonds: Different & Desirable:   Sophisticated, glamorous and non-traditional all describe a black diamond engagement ring.  Black diamonds have been trending this year and are a great and classy alternative to a white diamond ring.  So if you want something different and timeless, a black diamond might be the perfect stone for your perfect engagement ring. 

            Don’t Forget the Men!:  Traditionally, men have been the ones to give an engagement ring but not receive one.  Although this is trending slowly, we are seeing more and more men wearing an engagement ring or a “man-engagement” ring as well.  Women are starting to desire that their fiancé wear this symbol of love, commitment and a future life with them, and most men are accepting to wear it.  Women have always received this symbol for centuries now, so why can’t we give the men this symbol as well? 

            A fun fact for those that do not know this, there is a reason why we place the wedding ring on the fourth left finger.  The wedding ring is worn here because there is a vein in this finger called the vena amoris that directly connects to the heart.  So since we are placing the symbol of a never ending love and bond on this finger, we want to make sure it is something that represents each of you and the love you have for one another.  Adding personalized touches like a color, the black diamond or a personalized engraving is exactly what will make your ring uniquely yours.  

BBFN,

Olivia

Costs of Your Dream Wedding

Establishing a budget for your wedding is something that you must do, and it should happen early in your planning process. It may mean a few uncomfortable conversations with your parents, but it’s best to know where you stand. There are a number of websites out there that will assist you in creating a wedding budget. This should be the starting point of your budget, feel free to reallocate dollars to those things you care most about. For some it will be décor, others will want to place emphasis on the menu and some will want to buy a designer gown, no matter what sacrifices have to be made. Remember lovely brides, for every expense you justify going “just a little over budget” you either need to reallocate those dollars, or add to your bottom line. This can add up quickly.

As an example we decided to look at a few online calculators and provide you some concrete examples of how pieces of a $25,000 budget (with 150 guests) can be allocated.

Bridal gown: Online calculators allocated an average of $1,500 to the complete cost of a bridal gown. We are going to automatically deduct $200 for alterations and foundation garments (this is a conservative estimate), This leaves us $1,300 to spend on the gown of your dreams.

• With $1,300 you can afford almost any gown at an establishment like David’s Bridal (including Vera Wang’s new line)
• In Bridal Gown Boutiques you will also find you can afford a gown by many of the designers you see in magazines, including Alfred Angelo, DaVinci, Watters and more.
• If you are looking for something from a high-end designer, and are an “average” size in a wedding gown (Size 6 – 10 regularly), be sure to check out local trunk shows and sample sales. You may find your budget stretches a bit more there.

Invitations: Online calculators allocated an average of $750 for invitations, and all stationary needs. This is inclusive of invitations, postage, programs and any other “paper” needs.

• With 150 guests I am going to estimate that you will need 100 invitations (some will be going to couples/families
• The average wedding invitations costs $.61 to mail, so we immediately need to allocate $61 in postage
• We will allocate $1/Thank You card, plus $.44 in postage per card for a total of $144 on Thank You Cards
• That leaves $545 for all other stationary needs. Let’s allocate $4 per invitation and have $145 left for all misc. stationary
• For $4 we found a wide range of options on Etsy.com, moderate selections (including some pocket folds) through Carlson Crafts, or you may be able to work with a local shop to create a custom DIY (Do-It-Yourself) invitation

Floral & Décor: Online calculators allocated an average of $1,800 for flowers and decoration.

• We had to make a few more assumptions in this budget, so we are budgeting for 4 attendants on each side and a sit down dinner reception that will require centerpieces.
• There will be delivery and set-up fees so we are estimating that initial cost at $200
• The average bridal bouquet is $175. This could be a large bouquet of wild seasonal flowers, an appropriately sized hand tied bouquet of roses, tulips, daisies, or an eloquent arrangement of orchids or calla lilies.
• You should estimate $60 - $70 per female attendant for her bouquet. This is typically a smaller version of the brides bouquet, but may it may not be. It may be flowers in a similar color family, or just a single orchid stem.
•  The ceremony will most likely need one or two large arrangements, and that total cost can be estimated at $300. These will be modest arrangements (think Daisies, carnations, and some green and babies breathe between the flowers of your choice)
• Assuming 15 dining tables at the reception this leaves approximately $55/centerpiece. For $55 you should anticipate a small floral arrangement, or possible a duo or trio of vases with submerged flowers and candles around it. Your florist should be able to work with this budget to incorporate your colors and flowers of choice.

Be sure to review the entirety of your budge before you start spending, and as always, take your time and enjoy the process!

BBFN, 

Olivia

Going Green by Going Local

  In the year 2012, brides everywhere have been going green in multiple different aspects of their wedding.  Eco-friendly weddings are the most trending theme this year and brides, planners and designers are coming up with creative ways to stay true to the environment on this special day.  One of the most important details that your guests will most appreciate, is what is being served for the reception meal.  When researching about these “green” themed weddings, we noticed that these bride’s were turning to sustainable and local sourcing to cater their meals.  Not only are they two ways that are great for the environment, but chef’s everywhere have been coming up with tasty and creative recipes that you and your guests are sure to be pleased with. 

Local and Sustainable Sourcing: What is it?

            By using local sourcing, you are going to caterers and businesses in your community and buying their supplies and services in order to serve your guests at your wedding.  Not only are you helping the environment, but you are also benefiting your community’s economy.  If the environment is very important to you, buying locally supports it because it protects the air and water, it minimizes energy consumption and it enriches the soil.  There are many benefits to using local sourcing when creating the meal that will be passed out to all of your guests.  Now on to the other type of sourcing: Sustainable Sourcing.  Sustainable food is mostly similar to local sourcing, but with a few differences and a few more benefits to your guests and the environment.  Sustainable sourcing means you are receiving food that is healthy and does not harm the environment at all because it is completely pesticide and chemical free and guarantees that hormones were not used during the growing process.  Local foods can be grown this way, but it is very rare to find a place close to home where chemicals were not used.         

The Positives to Using These Sources

            Obviously, helping the environment is the most important reason to use local and sustainable sourcing when catering your meal.  It helps all aspects of the environment including the air, water, soil and how the animals are being raised.  The economy has also been a struggle for most these last few years, so by reaching out to local businesses, you are helping not only their financial situation but the economy of your very own community.  Another positive to local sourcing is that you are staying local.  You will not need to travel far for a tasting or pay shipping and storage costs because it will be available to you very easily.  Not only does this save you time, but it also saves you gas and the environment from gas pollution in the air.  One important selfish but smart reason for using either of these sources is that it can save you a lot of money.  It is less expensive than most foods and you will not have to worry about shipping or storage fees because everything is grown near you and will be nice and fresh by the date of your wedding day.  With so many positives to choose from, how can you not choose a way that not only can benefit you and your guests but the important environment and community around you?

With Many Positives Comes a Few Negatives to Consider

            Even though the positives outweigh the negatives, there are a few things for you to consider and research before making a final decision.  Depending on where you live and where your wedding will take place, it could take some effort to find the right food source that can give you exactly what you are wishing for.  Research is key when it comes to finding your perfect source that also shares the same knowledge and respect for the environment as you do.  One last negative could be creating menu options that make sure that you and your guests will be satisfied.  If you are working with a caterer, this might make things a little easier, especially if this caterer specializes in eco-friendly meals.

Local and Sustainable Menu Options That Could Surprise You      

            With today’s creative chefs, there are many different choices you can have when it comes to menu options and using local and/or sustainable sourcing.  Your cake for instance can actually be created with these sourcing options.  If you are thinking about a country theme for example, pies might be the perfect choice for you.  By using a local market or farm, you can either purchase or make these pies yourself for the perfect dessert for this theme.  Other environmentally friendly options could be a fruit cake, carrot cake or even cupcakes.  Wine is another surprise delicacy that can also help reduce a negative impact on the environment.  Now for the main course, we recommend choosing chicken, fish and even vegetarian dishes to serve to your guests.             

           

By choosing these healthy and eco-friendly options, you are not only serving your guests something they will appreciate but it will be a fresh and creative option they most likely have never seen before. Americans are starting to change the way they eat and live, so why not correlate this to what you serve your guests on your wedding day.  

BBFN, 

Olivia

Why Hire a Planner?

You may have always dreamed about what your wedding may be, or perhaps it feels like your engagement ring must have magic powers, making your wedding the only thing on your mind. As your daydream becomes more vivid, filled with crystal and floral details you likely are NOT thinking about how this dream becomes reality. After assigning a budget, and hiring all of the vendors comes the real work, coordinating all of the details and executing them. Somewhere along the road though you will stop and wonder “When did planning this wedding become so stressful?” Simple, as your dream becomes reality, you want everything to be perfect and it is hard to put your trust in others to make that happen.

Often times the tension leading up to the big day is so enormous that brides cannot wait for their wedding day to be over! Brides miss out on the opportunity to spend cherished time with friends and family, take in the magic of the day, savor each moment as they promise their lives to their new husbands and simply enjoy themselves.

Much of this stress is alleviated by hiring a professional to handle the execution of your wedding. Planners often have a variety of planning packages to accommodate your wishes. They can stand by your side from the beginning advising on vendor selections, or come in during the few months leading up to the wedding to coordinate all of your details. You do not want to burden your close friends or family members with these responsibilities. You want them to have fun too!

Here are just a few responsibilities a planner should take off of your place:

1. Load in / Load out – your planner will confirm that vendors are arriving on time and providing the services you paid them for.
2. Point of contact – you wont have twenty different people coming up to you, you will only have one! Your planner.
3. Less Clutter – Planners are organized and will keep all of the information, from you and all of your vendors organized.
4. Communication – Planners will tell people (your wondering new mother-in-law, the groomsmen who just needs one more drink) where they need to be, and what they need to do in a professional manner. You won’t want to be stern to get them lined up for your entrance, but planners have a way of making this happen.
5. Acting as a sheild – Parents tend to be extra sensitive during your big day. The napkin layout might upset your mom, the clothes the DJ is wearing might offend your dad. At the end of the day, you don’t have to hear about it, your planner will listen to your family, talk to your vendors, and make sure you don’t hear a word about it.

Let your day be filled with love, laughter, happy tears and memories to last a lifetime!

BBFN,

Olivia

Is Mini the NEW Big Trend?

           No one can argue that food is one of the most important parts at a wedding.  It is something that can set your wedding apart from others.  The big trend in 2012 is to have mini foods in all parts of the big day.  Whether it is during the cocktail hour, the reception, or the after hours, brides everywhere have been incorporating mini foods in a fun and creative way.  From mini pies and sliders to dessert shooters and mini cocktails, mini foods have been trending and we believe is a cute idea that is easy for your guests to eat and pretty easy on the budget.

            Examples of mini foods that have been used at previous weddings can go on and on.  Depending on the vibe you were desiring for your wedding, there are many great and unique choices out there for any type of event.  During the cocktail hour choices range from little salt-rimmed margaritas and mini coca cola bottles to blueberry martini jello shots and mini crab cakes.  For the reception dinner, couples can choose to have mini steaks to mini meatballs with a small spaghetti portion on top.  The cake can also be miniaturized by serving mini cupcakes or small individual cakes for each guest.  And for those who are having late night wedding receptions and want to serve after hours snacks, the variety does not have an end.  Mini tacos, sliders, bite-sized grilled cheese sandwiches, and espresso shots topped with mini doughnuts are just to name a few.  Basically, if you dream it, it can be miniaturized. 

 

            Saving money never hurts right?  Well whether you serve mini delights in a buffet setup or have it served butler style on trays, mini foods are a very creative and less expensive way to feed you and your guests. They also allow a maximum assortment of different foods and flavors into your menu that can satisfy anyone’s appetite.  Mini foods also can easily incorporate cultural foods and traditions into the special day.  Whatever the reason and the use of these tiny treats, this unique style of food can be a focal point and conversation starter at any wedding event.     

BBFN ( Bridal Bliss For Now),

Olivia