7 least favorite and the 7 most popular cocktail hour hors d'oeuvres for your wedding

I was shocked to get these results for the survey I held on cocktail hour.  The survey was open to anyone, anywhere, because really, when it comes to destination weddings, every guest is coming from anywhere and going to anywhere!

Found on Colin Cowie Weddings via Pinterest 

Here are the top 5 favorite butler passed hors d'oeurves according to 130 "wedding guests" (aka survey takers). Each guest was allowed to choose four favorites that they would never turn away if offered and 4 that they would never take if offered.  By the way, 130 guests was the average guest count at our destination weddings in 2013:

1. Crab Cakes (29% of guests)
2. Stuffed Mushrooms (27% of guests)
3. Brie & Raspberry Tartlet (22% of guests)
4. Macaroni & Cheese Bite (22% of guests)
5. Bacon Wrapped Scallop (21% of guests)

Honorable Mentions: Ahi Tuna on Wonton Crisp (19% of guests) & Bruschetta (17% of guests)

The least favorites were not as much of a surprise, except that notice two of the least favorites are also on the most favorite list!

1. Bleu Cheese Stuffed Olives (38% of guests)
2. Stuffed Mushrooms (21% of guests)
3. Smoked Salmon Canapes (21% of guests)
4. Fish Ceviche (19% of guests)
5. Gazpacho Shooter (17% of guests)

Honorable Mentions (hmmm, that might be a contradiction): Ahi Tuna on Wonton Crisp (16% of guests) and Olive Tapenade on Toast Point (16% of guests)

So what to do about this?  Here are a couple tips:

• When planning your menu you want to consider the rest of your dinner first. This way you don't overlap between cocktail hour and dinner.
• Make sure that you have a variety of foods available: cold & hot, fried & fresh, protein based & vegetarian friendly (and seafood when possible).
• If you do go with a selection of "please the masses", make sure the presentation is incredible - it makes all the difference.  There isn't anything thrilling about an ugly mushroom.
• Consider choosing safe items (anything in this favorite list will work), and more of them. Then, add a couple items that are less conservative and more exciting.  After all, you do want your wedding to be unique right?

On the survey, we also asked about why they may avoid certain presentations and here are the results:

1. Anything that requires a fork & knife (61% of guests)
2. Anything that will crumble or fall apart (43% of guests)
3. Anything that I can't figure out what it is (41% of guests)
4. Anything greasy (21% of guests)
5. Anything with a sauce (15% of guests)
6. Anything that requires more than 1 bite (11% of guests)
7. Anything on a stick (6% of guests)
8. Anything fried (6% of guests)

Ever wonder about what your guests prefer to sit (or stand about) while at your cocktail hour?:

• Hi-boys or tall cocktail tables (57% of guests)
• Furniture, conversation areas (23% of guests)
• cocktail tables with seats (16% of guests)
• communal tables (3% of guests)
• "I never sit or use a table" (1% of guests)

A tip for your tasting at your caterers

Mini Vegetarian Falafel Petit Fatoush Garnish

A quick tip: When you are tasting your cocktail hour food, be sure to eat the hors d'oeuvres the same way that your guests would.  This means, do not pick up a fork and knife...because they most likely wouldn't have them. Instead, use just a cocktail napkin under the finger food. Is the item too messy?  Does it take more than a single bite?  If so, consider asking your venue coordinator what can be done to make enjoying the item better or easier.

A great idea for the party on the dance floor

If you're having the best band ever at your wedding and you have that great group of friends who love to party, would totally jump on stage with the band (bands typically hate this by the way), love to sing along - here is a fun idea.

Photo Credit: Impressions Photography

When the song comes on that everyone loves to sing along to (really loud), when they've had a few cocktails and are having an amazing time... pass these out to everyone.

Yes, it is a plastic Microphone and its bound to bring great fun and hilarious pictures & video.

Want to give a hint for the fun to come? Update your wedding website with the lyrics to the microphone song(s) - but don't say why.  You can also print the lyrics on the back of your dinner menus.

Great sing along songs:

Living on a prayer, Bon Jovi

Don't stop believin, Journey

Brown eyed girl, Van Morrison

Benny and the Jets, Elton John

The hot new sing a long song: We are young, Fun

Quick Tip: Always make sure your photographer and videographer are prepared in advance for this kind of surprise because this, you will want to see again.

Destination Wedding Invitations (Gorgeous ones)

I just felt like sharing some pretty.  I confess to stalking the Ceci New York website. But do you see why?

Oh, and of course, there's also the love for pretty much everything on the Martha Stewart Weddings website too.

Quick tip: Put as much information in your wedding invitation as you can or (I like this idea best) send a "looking forward to seeing you" package when you receive a yes rsvp from your wedding guests. The package can include more details about the events you're hosting, as well as local places to shop, dine and tour during their time away.

Styled Shoot on crack.

Most of the people I work with in the wedding industry will agree that I can never do things small.  I love to push the envelope.  Its always, ooooh I wonder if we could...
Last summer I gathered nearly 30 of some of the most talented and creative people I work with and we just went crazy on a styled shoot.  Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share what we came up with.

Here are the talented people behind this series and the companies who contributed:

Photography

Ashley Brockinton Photography

Floral Design

Botanicals on the Gulf

Cake Artistry

Kakes by Karen

Cinematography

Iheart Films

Bridal Gowns

Tie the Knot Bridal Couture

Stationery Design

A Deux Bespoke Bridal Paper

Tuxedos

Rnells Tuxedos

Linens & Chargers

BBJ Linens

Venue

Mediterra Country Club

Makeup Artistry

Hope Henderson Artistry

Hair Artistry

Faces by Frohmberg

Jewelery Design

Ring Finger Studios

The Mrs Shop

Styling & Production

Kelly McWilliams' Weddings by Socialites

Here's the behind the scenes video of our styled shoot. I think you'll get an idea from this that we weren't looking to do your standard pretty shoot. In fact, rather than just show everyone the results of our hard work on Vimeo, I went all out and planned a big screen Premiere at Silver Spot Cinema in Naples. It was the perfect way to celebrate.  Enjoy!

 

Quick tip: Renting out your local movie theatre and then heading to a local restaurant or swanky cocktail spot is a great and unique way to share your short wedding film, trailer or directors cut. Especially if you had a destination wedding and want to share with friends and family who weren't able to attend your celebration.

13 wedding planning tips worth considering

From my perspective a little savvy can go a very long way.  Here are a few tips that you can use while planning your wedding. Keep in mind that there are exceptions to every rule, and usually for good reason. So- these aren't rules. Just a few things to at least consider.
1. Read all of your contracts thoroughly and make sure they state everything you expect and what is expected of you. “Oh, you didn’t want the Macarena?” Yeah, that happens.

Mindy and Rob by Riversedge

2. Lesson learned: Don’t give your guests sparklers before they leave the building. Enough said.
3. Find quality vendors on referral lists, magazine editorials and blogs. The names you see & hear repeatedly are typically the best ones. But its imperative you do your research- ask actual people. You can't believe everything you read.
4. Make every effort to build a relationship with your professionals. For this reason I highly suggest that you hire people you like. Gosh, why would you hire someone you don't like?
5. Plan for the experience you want and then plan the details that will make the experience come to life. As much as we all love the cutie drink stirrers, you’ll need a cocktail hour planned first.
6. Use your downtime wisely. Once you have contracts in place, work on items that don’t require a guest count. There’s no reason why you can’t pick out your music, hair and makeup 6 months before the wedding. So long last minute stress.
7. Address and stamp your thank you notes as you receive your rsvps, this way when you return from your honeymoon all you’ll have to do is write the note! There is no excuse for not writing a thank you note. Ever.


Hydrangeas & Roses photo by Ashley Brockinton

8. For goodness sakes let those who are documenting your wedding in on the surprises. Your priest doing the Irish Jig at your reception? Kind of a great thing to get on video. I will say this until my face turns blue and blue is not my best color.
9. Make sure all your vendors know who they are working with. A simple email with a list goes a long way. You would be amazed by how much goes on behind the scenes and how much more gets accomplished when your pros are working together.
10. Get video. You cannot see yourself walk down the aisle and you’ll never hear your dads toast again if you don’t.  #1 thing I get thanked for post wedding (telling my clients that video is more important to you than you think & not to skip it).
11. Consider what you liked and didn’t like about weddings you’ve attended and tell your vendors these things. It will save you both time and frustration. Nobodys offended if you don't like Hydrangeas. Especially Madonna.
12. Take professional advice into consideration, but don’t get talked into things you don’t want.
13. If planning anything outdoors, have a solid contingency plans! Not just for rain; plan for heat, cold and wind too. Escort cards love to blow away.
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You get what you pay for & be nice.

Quick bits of advice:
Do not ask for discounts.  When you ask for a discount, you often end up with discounted service & product. So I advise against it. True wedding professionals will always charge what they are worth anyway.  Your follow up to this advice may then be,

"Well then how do I save?"

I think its quite simple. Ask for what is possible for the amount you have to spend. Yes, its possible that the answer could be that there isn't anything. But you'll never know unless you politely ask.

This leads me to my next little tip.

"Lauren getting ready" Photo by Ashley Brockinton Photography

There is no reason why you can't reach out to who you think could be the absolute best in any given field because you're afraid they're going to cost too much or your wedding isn't going to be grand enough for them. You may be pleasantly surprised. For instance, let's say that you love hair & make up artist "Brillianta Wonderful", but she looks really really expensive. You saw her work in the fancy wedding magazine, the uber sophisticated blog, and her website portfolio is off the charts amazing.  Just because her name is everywhere does not mean that you can't have her and she's going to be insanely expensive.  What if she's been wanting to go where your wedding is taking place and this is the perfect opportunity for her, especially because she's just going to be on the next island over the week prior? It happens more often that you would think.  You don't know until you ask.

Finally, the nicer you are the more people want to go above and beyond for you.  It truly is that simple.

Preparing for your floral consult

A brilliant bride goes to consultations prepared and open minded.  The problem so many people run into is that they don't know what being prepared means.  So here's a few simple things that will help you out.

1. Know who you need flowers for: all the ladies, gents and kids.
2. Know as much as possible about the venues you'll be using.  By this I mean, what times your florist will have available to deliver, install and strike, the number and sizes of tables you'll be using, and what sites you'll be using for which parts of your wedding day. Also provide the florist with the on site coordinators contact information if you aren't using an independent wedding planner.
3. Bring a picture of your wedding dress.
   
4. Know and give your comfortable and bottom line budget.
5. Let your florist know if you would like them to give you a creative proposal or if you prefer to have something quite similar to what you're showing them.
6. Know the kinds of flowers you like and the ones you hate.  Best bet is to bring pictures. Be as descriptive as possible. Blogs and wedding books are great for this. Here are a few good ones:

• Beautiful Wedding Flowers: More than 300 Corsages, Bouquets, and Centerpieces
• The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers
• Signature Sasha: Magnificent Weddings by Design
• Weddings by Tara Guérard
• Colin Cowie Wedding Chic: 1,001 Ideas for Every Moment of Your Celebration
• Signature Weddings: Creating a Day Uniquely Your Own 

Wedding Inspiration and Wedding Sitters

Quick post of a few things I wanted to share. First, this is going to cause daily distraction and giddiness and you may very well love me for telling you about it. It's called The Wedding Tribune.

It's digital wedding newspaper of sorts.  The kicker- all the articles are pulled from the best blogs out there.  AND it re-publishes several times a day.  Meaning yes, you can keep going back for more (this is where the frequent distraction comes into play). An Ipad version is expected in the next several weeks.
The tribune is another fancy doo-dad care of My Wedding Concierge - another wedding eye candy site to get your wedding juices flowing.

Next, I have been meaning to forever let you know about Elegant Event Sitters.  If you're having a destination wedding where any of your guests are bringing children- add a link on your wedding website.  This company is exactly what moms are looking for so that they can enjoy your wedding and know that their kids are not only in the best care, but having a great time.  Another great idea is to have a great kids area set up and attended by the Event Sitters staff.  Check out their website for all their great offerings.

The fine print: Nobody paid me to mention any of these companies.  I just think they're awesome. -Kelly

The difference a font makes

You don't always realize it until its laid in front of you in one piece, but font selection is pretty important.  It used to be a task I spent far too mcuh time on.  Here's how I've learned to select a bit quicker.  When choosing your fonts for your paper pieces, collect them together on one sheet and edit out one by one.

 

By the way, which one do you like?

What to bring with you to meetings and consultations

Brides Wedding Planning Box

Just a quick tip:
When you go to all your meetings, be prepared and as educated as possible.  It doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have to bring out all 329 of the magazine rippings, spreadsheets, brochures and quotes you've collected; but it does mean that no matter where the meeting goes, you'll have something to help you "show what you mean".
Some things that are very helpful:

• Photos of your dress and the bridesmaids dresses
• A floorplan of the sites you'll be using for your events
• Lists and contact info of any vendors you've decided to work with
• Your instant answer sheet with tentative event dates, times, locations, budgets and guest counts

Also, don't be afraid to have more than a binder, sometimes an organized planning box is easier.  It just proves that you're prepared and ready to do business.  And for once in your life, this business is fun.  Please believe me when I say that the wedding professionals that you visit will be incredibly happy that you've walked in their door! 

The ultimate wedding travel gift & a giveaway!

My clients will often ask what is a little something they can give to their bridesmaids just before they leave to head down to their destination wedding.  I love this pair because its perfectly small, airport friendly, and completely on the mark for sun-shining-get-me-to-the-beach-now weather. I found and immediately fell in love with these Travel Packets. How many times have you gotten off the airplane and just wanted to start all over? Enter La Fresh...

These La Fresh travel pockets are beyond amazing. I keep one in my purse and they're stocked in our Bridal Party ER box.  Yes, they make a combo pack for the guys too.

Some might think matching wedding party tanks or tees are cheesy.  I don't.  When I'm waiting to get my hair and makeup done, I want to look cute some how.

Another great thing, its so light you can mail this cute gift with minimal postage.  Throw in an itunes gift card so that they can buy an audio-book to listen to during their flights, and you have the ultimate destination wedding travel gift. Have a bit more to spend?  Pre-load an ipod shuffle and include that too. Guaranteed giddiness.

Giveaway: Two ways to win a travel pouch (We're giving away up to 5!)
1. Leave a comment with your favorite travel item or tip or
2. Tweet this post (click below)
Grand Prize for the best tip or tweet: A travel pouch, a bunch of Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazines, and an itunes card.
Everyone (Wedding Industry Pros included!) in the continental US is eligible to win. Winner announced Friday.

Quick tip: Put a weekend itinerary in with the gift.  One more chance to remind everyone in the wedding party what time rehearsal is and what time to show up for hair & makeup and pictures.

What did those plates look like again?

Did you look at the place settings when you picked your venue out?  This is one of those little details that can really add up in the end in your- "Oops, I didn't budget for this" list.

Quick tip: It's very easy to miss checking the little details that can make a big difference in your aesthetic and budget.  When you are scouting possible venues for your wedding ceremony and reception, make a check list of things to ask to view.  Why?  You might be surprised to find some of the most gorgeous venues have the ugliest plates, chairs, linens,  you've ever seen in your life.

So be sure to include the following very important items on your check list:
Standard chairs
Standard Linens (for guest tables and food tables)
China, Silver & Glassware
Dance floor
Tables (make sure you get the available sizes)

Also take note of:
Light fixtures
Carpet
Table
The bathroom

Warning: Escort cards can and will blow away.

Just a note to think about. No matter how pretty or awesome your escort card display is, wind can change everything. Prepare your "cards" so that they can remain stationary and in order. Missing cards and cards not in alphabetical order cause wedding chaos.
These were message in a bottle escort cards from Blizzard Bride's wedding. The guest name and table number was wrapped around the outside, and then on the inside there was a tiny handwritten note for each guest.

Take notes & pictures at your early meetings.

Most things you'll be deciding during your wedding planning will not be instaneous decisions and many will be difficult to finalize. Mostly because there are so many wonderful options these days.Today lets use your Wedding Dinner (or Brunch!) as an example.
Choosing your wedding food and drink can be one of the more complicated, however, if you make a couple small efforts in advance of your tasting, making those final decisions won't be a struggle. One of my clients recently came prepared with a survey she created so that she and her fiance could write down their thoughts as they came and not forget some of their reactions.
Also, we took photographs of every dish that landed on the table. This way, when they got home, they could open up the wedding planning blog we have set up for them, and match the survey notes with the photos of the items they tasted.
A little extra pre-planning can make all the difference.