We received a very interesting reader question today.  J & Fiance are marrying in September.  F has three siblings, J has none.  Because Fiance’s siblings are older, J & F decided to ask friends only to be in their wedding party.  But unfortunately now, F’s family is feeling a little bit left out.

The three siblings have children that can be incorporated into the event.  But obviously it’s an “include one, include them all” scenario.

Brother 1: Girl 6 and Boy 8
Brother 2: Girl 3, Girl 5, and Boy 8
Sister: Boy 6

What can J and F do to incorporate F’s family?  It seems that the two 8 year old boys are a bit big to be ring bearers and the 3-year old is bordering too young to be a flower girl.  Should they choose roles for the two brothers and sister instead of the children?  J is already incorporating one reader from her side.

Ideas from our loyal readers?  I’ll put some thought into it and post my ideas in the morning!

E.

While searching for coral yesterday I came across Passion Paper, a company specializing in custom invitations inspired by nature.  These are *perfect* for destination weddings!

The hand-detailing is wonderful – you can see a handpainted pineapple in the bottom right, and a clearly attended to leaf in the gorgeous wine label. 

Visit their site to enjoy more nature-inspired work (they do custom orders as well)!.

E.

I’m off to Boston for a week.  Does anyone have great suggestions?  Or stores they would love to check out?  I’ll review!

Somehow today (maybe it’s the inkling of spring actually appearing), I began thinking of beaches and snorkeling.  Which led me to a color I don’t think I’ve spoken of yet but love – coral.

Clockwise from top left: Floral Arts Bahamas, Papel Vivo via Dahlia’s Day, the Knot, All Products, Perfect Bridesmaids Dresses, Wholesale Wedding Flowers, Vermont Vows

Pair your coral with white, light blue, yellow, gray, or gold – it’s an extremely versatile color and looks great with almost all skin tones!

E.

I hope all of you enjoyed Davash’s fantastic guest commentary this week.  I know I did!  We can’t wait to see pictures from her wedding and I’m sure she’ll be back to check in with us soon!

Thanks Davash!

E.

Helloooo Readers!

Long time no write!  I’ve been obnoxiously busy with work and trying to organize life for a week long business trip that starts tomorrow.  It’s been hectic, to say the least.

To add to the crazy days and nights, my father in law called late last week with a catering emergency.  He works in the restaurant business, and a close friend needed servers for a wedding.  Her normal staff was unavailable.  We were happy to help.  I was interested in seeing what happened behind the scenes at a wedding.

We spent two hours setting up and then tearing it down at the end of the night.  We threw away bags upon bags of trash.  We met a fantastic photographer and her second shooter.  We underestimated a DJ with a horrible sign.  We served a lot of alcohol.

One thing I learned, I wouldn’t recommend flipping a space for ceremony and reception unless you have a HIGHLY organized coordinator and caterer.

Oh, and hire a caterer who is smart enough to emergency rent a heater for the abnormally cold weather and who knows what people to kick into high gear when linens are missing.

A.

I’m intrigued by a recent thread on the Unbrides forum.  We’re discussing ceremony music and I’m surprised (but happy) about the number of people choosing to use non-traditional tunes.  So I thought I’d carry that over here and ask our loyal readers – are you using (or are you a fan of using) non-traditional music for the processional and recessional?  If you are using nt music, what type of musician is performing?  And while we’re at it, throw in your first dance song too!

PS – The venue walk-through went extremely well.  I heart my florist!  She did a fantastic job with the mock-up centerpieces.  I also chose linens, silver, and glassware.  The details, people.  That’s the fun part.  :)

We have a fun announcement for all of you!  The winner of our EAD inspiration consulting contest, Rachel, is going to be chronicling her wedding adventures in a weekly column!  Each Friday, she’ll be clueing us in on her vendor selections, checklist items completed, and giving us all of the other juicy details.  :)  Rachel says: 

Hi! I wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little about me.  Like you, I have discovered the world of the wedding blogs. Wow! There are so many brides out there, so many different sites with so many different pretty pictures, and it can be so overwhelming! I found Elizabeth Anne Designs and it quickly became one of my very favorites. I entered and was chosen by them to receive a consultation with them about my wedding (which was so helpful to me!).  I’m so honored they would ask me to be a guest blogger on their site, and I’m really looking forward to sharing my experiences with you all!

{Read the rest of this entry…}

In honor of my mother’s favorite TV show, Keeping Up Appearances, I have compiled a collection of pretty hyacinth arrangements for brides with not only a sense of humor, but a sense of adventure.

Top row: Arena Flowers, Bella Fiore, unknown source
Bottom row: Polly Yau, Florist Blogs, Jupiter Images

Are you using hyacinths in your floral and decor?  If not, what flowers are you incorporating?

Ask any one of my friends and family what my favorite food is, and they will all answer the same:  CAKE.  I have such a sweet tooth, and my absolute greatest weakness is frosting.  My mouth is watering just typing that word…frosting.  But I digress.  I’m sure it came as a great shock when I decided not to serve a wedding cake at my own wedding.  I love cake, but I’m not sure I love it $1500 worth.  Instead, I’m getting all the frosted gooey goodness with Magnolia cupcakes, without the hassle.

 But, as you may imagine, this was not an entirely easy decision for me.  I still look at pictures of other people’s weddings and pine, lustfully, after their decadent cake creations.  So, I finally broke down.  I’m still going with the cupcake idea, and I’m happy with my decision, but I’m getting the cake lust out of my system with this post.  Below, the most mouth-wateringly beautiful cakes I could find.

Top row: Margaret Braun, Montecito Confections
Bottom row: Sugarcakes, the Knot