Thursday, April 22, 2010

Easy Being Green

In honor of Earth Day, here are a few tips to make your wedding beautifully green and environmentally responsible!

1. Donations - Instead of registering for gifts (or only for gifts), you can register for donations to your favorite nature-based charity or environmental organization. Or, give a small donation for each of your guests, and print up a pretty note in a frame as a favor.

2. Plantable invitations - Print your invitations (or menus, or programs, or escort cards) on paper with seeds imbedded inside. Guests can take them home and plant them for a lasting memento of your wedding!

3. Hemp clothing - Even wedding dresses can be made of natural hemp fiber: http://www.threadheadcreations.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=bridal

4. Local goodies - Try giving honey from a small local farm for favors, using bouquets of locally grown flowers from an organic farm, or hiring a catering company that uses local farm produce and then donating the leftover food.

5. Growing centerpieces - Potted plants or baby trees make beautiful centerpieces and decorations, and they won't die and go to waste the next day!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Day-of Coordinator = Fun Reception!



We saw a great article on The Knot a few days ago, so we thought we'd share it with everyone. It's called "10 Secrets to a Fun Wedding Reception." And guess what was the number one secret? That's right: hire a day-of coordinator! We couldn't have said it better ourselves! :)

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-reception-planning/articles/10-secrets-to-a-fun-wedding-reception.aspx?MsdVisit=1

There are also a lot of other awesome tips for making your wedding less stuffy and cookie-cutter. We especially like the idea of having a belly dancer do a short, surprise show in the middle of the reception - if anyone wants to do this, we have plenty of dancer recommendations!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

New Wedding Trend: Picnic Chic!


Every year brings new wedding trends and themes, and 2010 is no exception. One of the very hottest trends for this summer is called "Picnic Chic," and it is expected to make appearances at several upcoming celebrity weddings (including, it is rumored, the wedding of True Blood stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer).

Picnic Chic is a new reaction against the traditional, elegant, lace-and-satin style of wedding. Here are a few of the major aspects of this theme:

1. Attire. Out with fussy dresses and long white trains. Picnic Chic brides are focusing on gingham and cotton in red-and-white napkin patterns for their gowns. Some are even adding BBQ-stained aprons with funny slogans like "Kiss the Cook" or "Mistress of the Grill." Mosquito netting serves for a beautiful veil, and instead of expensive flowers, Picnic Chic brides carry handfuls of dandelions and onion grass. Bridesmaids can ditch their satin dresses for Daisy Duke shorts and country blouses, and groomsmen can have a blast with dressing up in ant costumes and carrying away food on giant plates.

2. Food. To be truly Picnic Chic, you need to serve the messiest ribs and fried chicken, all slathered in sauce. The wedding cake should be made of Little Debbies or deep-fried Twinkies (or both!). Paper plates and plastic forks complete the look, and don't forget can cozies with off-color slogans to keep everything cold!

3. Seating. Forget chivari chairs and round tables. This year's trend is all about weathered picnic tables with peeling paint and rusty screws. Brides can borrow them from a nearby park or even rent them from new vendors such as Bucky's Backyard Bridal (www.BuckysBackyardBridal.com). Decorate with some checkerboard paper tablecovers and a few dandelions stuffed into beer cans for a classic look.

4. Entertainment. This is a case where the louder and less talented your band is, the better it fits! Ask around town for the high-school garage band with the biggest speakers and coolest name, and you're set. Alternately, pipe some old country music over half-broken outdoor speakers for some ear-splitting fun.

Wedding trends may come and go, but Picnic Chic is here to stay. At least until April 2nd, anyway.