Wedding Diagrams and Floor Plans- A Must.

Having a diagram or floor plan for your wedding is a must.  Ask your venue coordinator to provide one and make sure that its updated frequently as changes are made so that you can pass it along to all your vendors.

This way everyone has a good visual of where to go on wedding day and there is a little bit less confusion and far less questions to answer when you'd rather be drinking champagne!

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.

The difference 2 seats makes

Making the best of your budget.  How to stretch a dollar to get what you really want.  Have you thought about how many seats to place in each row at your wedding ceremony?  Have you thought about how many seats to place at each table at your wedding reception?  No? Well let me show you a little something that could potentially make a big difference to you.
Let's say you have 150 confirmed guests at your wedding. You have $175 budgeted for your aisle runner and $4,350 budgeted for your tabletops (flowers, details, and linen).  What difference does 2 seats make?

The Ceremony

On each side of the aisle you'll need 75 seats. With 6 seats to a row you'd need a 75 foot aisle runner.  By increasing the number of seats by just 2 seats per row, you would only need a 50 foot aisle runner.  Which means you could upgrade from a basic aisle runner to that patterned runner and matching vow book you were just dying to have!

The Reception

SouthernLiving.com

You have the option to have 8 or 10 seats per table. With 8 seats, you would have 19 tables to dress.  By increasing by just 2 seats per table, you now only have to dress 15 tables.  That means your per table budget goes from $230 to $290.  Imagine the difference in the centerpieces, details and linens $60 per table makes! It could mean adding those peonies that you were just dying to have or upgrading the linens from the basic that are included by your venue to the seersucker linens you really really wanted.

An actual garden wedding in Florida Vol 1

But not just a wedding on a lawn "decorated" like a garden.  We planned & designed Kate & Ryans wedding at the Naples Botanical Garden.  Hands down one of the most stunning ceremony backdrops we have ever had.  Because there were so many stunning images, there will be 3 posts in this series, starting with the Reception:

As guests arrived by valet golf carts from the gardens, they walked down the palm tree lined path to this escort card table.  Each guest had a succulent with their name and table number in calligraphy.

Inside the ballroom we had the challenge of space.  We had to make sure that we  maximized what room we did have and that it felt as open as possible. So we used ghost chairs on Kings tables and light floral arrangements on the tablescapes.  White Phalaenopsis orchids are always the perfect flower for this (not to mention they're gorgeous).  We also opted against chargers (which I normally love).

 The dinner menu was delicious.  After a warm goat cheese salad, guests were treated to one of 3 entrees:

Tenderloin of Beef with Au Poirve Sauce

Grouper with Key Lime Sauce
Roasted Vegetable Ravioli with Mushroom Marsala Sauce

Before dancing the night away to None Other Band, everyone went crazy for this cake with some absolutely scrumptous cake:

Meyer Lemon with Guava Filling

Vanilla with Mocha Buttercream Filling

All of the above images are by Ashley Brockinton Photography, and we are so grateful that she shared them with us!  You can also see more images in the current issue of The Knot Florida magazine!

Wondering who else helped us make this another great wedding? Signature Florals, Kakes by Karen, Catermasters and None Other Band

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We had a few more photos taken by not professional photographers that showed off this beautiful room (in other words, don't judge us)...

10 tips for a great welcome reception

Southern Sweetie Bride was kind enough to let me "iphone photograph" her welcome recpetion for this blog post.  The reception at the Gasparilla Inn Beach Club was the perfect example of what a welcome reception should be- a casual event to kick off the weekend celebration.  Welcome receptions are the perfect opportunity to introduce all your friends and family to each other, so that by the time the wedding comes around- everyone knows everyone.  When guests bump into each other on the island (or where ever your destination wedding is), they'll be excited to see a friendly familiar face.

1. Do something unexpected.  This is Southern Sweetie with her Groom.  One of my priorities the entire length of this wedding planning was finding this dinghy for the welcome reception.  Hands down the best "bar" we've ever had!

2. Have a few great games if you've got the right crowd for it!  We had Bocce, Volleyball, and Cornhole.

3. Always a great idea if you're doing a beach event- provide flip flops for your guests.  They can use them again at the wedding reception for dancing shoes.  Oh, and no worries brides, you can still get "good" shoes to arrive in (you know, the shoes)...

4. Big tip: HAVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS THERE!  This is a great night for candids & group photos

 These almost always turn out to be some of the best pictures because everyone is just so relaxed.

 This is Lauren gathering everyone for what I think is going to be one of the best laughing shots ever.

5. Provide seating for just chatting it up.  This may be the 1st time your guests have seen each other in a while- it's great to have conversation areas.

6. Hire a wedding planner so that when your dress literally starts to fall apart, she can sew you back up and get you back to the party.  Yes, this happened tonight.  No, it wasn't the 1st time. Yes, I confess I sewed right through my finger at one point.  Nothing a little nail polish can't fix.

 

7. Have your photographers take detail shots of everything, before they get "messed up" This is the firepit.  Why a firepit in Florida, at a beach welcome reception with an 80 degree temperature?  See below.

 

8. That would be for dessert.  Smores anyone?  Or if smores aren't your thing, perhaps a sundae bar is.  Complete with sprinkles in your wedding colors.

9. Serve food; welcoming food.  Serve the kind of food they can't get at home, but make sure there's something for everyone.  Tonight the biggest attractions at the dine around were the mini Snapper sandwiches, the Coconut Shrimp and the Schettani Sangria.

10. Have fun.  If your guests see you smiling and having a blast, so will they.

The New Years Bride Series Vol 4.

Ready for more?  The wedding only gets better.  Here's what happened when the sun finally set.

 

The tent was divided into 2 sections, the lounge and then Dining & Dancing.  For Dining & Dancing we draped the ceilings with sheer panels and white light beads.

 

Here's Mrs. Prince dancing with her dad on the Mohagany dance floor. Yes, I cried.

 

This cake by Ellas Cakes was outstanding.  So much so that there wasn't a slice left. It sat front and center at the opening of the lounge to the dining & dancing so that it could be a true focal point.

 

In the lounge we had 2 conversation sets with tables that lit up blue at night.  We went with all clean lines in here, so potted orchides were perfect.

 

The blue paper lanterns stole the show in the lounge.  The varying heights and sizes added the perfect sense of whimsy without it being too busy. Sheer panels and palm trees were the perfect way to divide the 2 spaces without taking away from the tropical & light feel that we were trying to create.

 

The photo station is always a huge hit at our weddings.  The guests sat and took pictures at their leiasure and then signed the album with notes and messages.

As you can see, lighting played a big part in the design of this wedding reception.  Between the ceiling light beads, the amber uplights, the blue lit lanterns, and the blue lit tables in the loung- we were able to create 2 magnificent atmospheres in one structure.

Did you see the rest of the New Years bride posts? Click here.  Still one more to come!

Candles are hot. Just a reminder.

I hear it every single day, "I want candles everywhere" "Can we have more candles?" " I really like that romantic candle lit glow"

Guess what. I like it too. Me, produce a wedding without candles? Unfathomable. However, I do find it necessary to remind you that candles bring fire into the mix. Fire produces heat. Heat and crowds don't mix so well. Particularly in July after eating beef. Throw in some non LED lighting and you've got an a/c catastrophe on your hands. So, with that said...
✵Perhaps ask your lighting designer if LED perimeter lighting is a possible substitution for sometimes standard par lights.
✵Fall in love with battery powered tealights in frosted votives if you really really must have 40 candles on each dinner table.

An Eclectic Wedding Reception

{Hot Trend Alert} This is more than stepping outside the box, it's more like ripping the box apart and making your own shape out of it. And I am loving the idea of doing this for so many reasons.
Consider how beautiful museums are. Nothing matches in there. Yet, it still looks phenomenal. Mostly because the spacing is right, the lighting is right, and there's a foundation (walls) that keeps some form of unity.
There is so much that you can do if you move in this direction; and, even better, your costs can seriously plummet! For instance. Let's say you have 75 guests at your wedding. How about doing 5 or 6 completely different tables? Totally different centerpieces, some floral, some not. Different linens, some textured, some flat. Different chairs; all the same at each table, but different from one table to the next.
How to use this to cut costs: Let's say you love Ghost chairs, but can't afford the price tag 60 times over? Fine, do it at two tables of 6. Then, have two tables of 10 with less expensive bamboo chairs. Next two, tables of 8, standard chairs with slip covers. Then finally a couple tables with chivari's.
I would suggest that you stick to complimentary colors if you do go this route. One thing, I really think you'll need to go all the way to pull this off. No toe dipping; Jump in the water.
The possibilities are so endless its ridiculous.

Elegant & Modern Wedding Centerpieces & Tablescapes

{Cheap but Chic alert} Big centerpieces are fabulous in the right conditions. I adore and love to design centerpieces with tons of flowers, and candles, and heights. However, this isn't always the best look for certain reception rooms or to evoke a specific ambiance. Also, a limited design budget can be a reason for deciding to go with a chic less is more design.
A modern, simple, yet elegant centerpiece with a great linen selection can make all the difference in either case. For instance, this centerpiece is a fantastic example of making the best of a room that should not be over filled, or a budget that restricts. 3 perfect white starfish, on a beautiful green linen, gold chargers, chocolate colored napkins. Total cost for this table: about $40.
Obviously, there's more that you can add to this to complete and/or add to the look. Some design options would increase the costs slightly, and some could also be free- it's a matter of thinking outside the box.
I know that I've just scared some of you. Worried that it doesn't look "wedding" enough because there aren't any flowers? Easy fix. Go ahead and get 2 or 3 big lush arrangements for your reception room and place them in various focal points around the room, just not on the dinner tables. Also, my biggest design pet peeve: Don't stick your wedding cake in a corner! Use it for decor, not just dessert. Make it a focal point- it screams wedding. One last big dollar saver for you on this fantastic Monday: If you're ordering those 2 or 3 floral arrangements, use them at your ceremony site, then have your wedding planner move them into the reception room for that "wedding" look. Very important- let your florist know this is your plan so that they can design arrangements that can be moved. I adore double duty.

Spotlight on: Impressions PhotographySummer Wedding at Sanibel Harbour

{Photography} Impressions Photography (Are they great at this or what?)
{Ceremony Venue} Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa (Best poolside ceremony location in Ft Myers)
{Reception Venue} Dolce Vita (You MUST eat here when visiting Sanibel)
{Cupcakes} Flour Cupcakes (I dream of these weekly)
{DJ} Clint Wiley (You guys know I adore Clint Wiley band)
{Band} Dana Paul & Joe McCormick (I still can't believe we had Dana Paul!)
{Floral} Weddings by Socialites (there is a story behind this- we aren't florists!)






This was one of the funnest wedding days ever. I think because it was a change from our usual calling of the ceremony on the beach and reception at the resort. Florida brides wedding started by welcoming their guests to the poolside ceremony with pink lemonade and mojitos and a selection of cool & refreshing hors dors. Cool and refreshing was key because it was HOT. Not hot, but HOT. As in , bring in the outdoor a/c. The hand fans certainly played a key factor in keeping guests cool as well. Before guests received their ceremony programs, we asked for their dinner selection. It was the first time we did this and it worked out perfectly! After the ceremony we had a champagne toast and then all headed over to Dolce Vita for the best dinner. It was spectacular. I adore restaurant wedding receptions, the food is always off the charts. After dinner the dance floor filled and stayed that way until the very last song. It was quite the evening. Oh, the flowers- read the story here: Ugly Bouquet.