trendy tips
wish upon a wedding
Pleased to let our readers be aware of a new non-profit organization that will be helping people who are terminally ill. I’m so pleased to announce/promote:
Wish Upon A Wedding was founded in San Francisco, CA, in January of 2010, by a group of wedding and business entrepreneurs and is America’s FIRST nonprofit wedding wish granting organization, producing weddings and civil union ceremonies at destinations across the United States for individuals facing terminal illness, regardless of sexual orientation.
Chapters:
Wish Upon A Wedding is now boasting twenty chapters nationwide, headed by some of the industry’s most renowned leaders with plans to expand to over 40 chapters worldwide.
Presidents:
Sasha Souza, National President & SF Bay Area President
Kevin Covey, LA/Orange County
Stella Inserra, New York
Ivy Robinson, The Carolinas
Eliana Baucicault, Atlanta
Mary Alice Sublett, Tennessee
Mark Kingsdorf, Philadelphia
Heather Hamilton Sims, Houston
Elisa Delgardio, Orlando
Ali Phillips, Chicago
Daniela Isabella Ferdico Fagét, Seattle
Forming Additional Chapters:
Other chapters opening soon include Boston, Colorado, Arizona, Portland, Miami, St. Louis, Ohio and Nevada. We are also planning to open to chapters in other areas depending on need including international chapters. If you wish to start a chapter, please fill out the online form for consideration.
Who Is Behind Wish Upon A Wedding?
Many influential people in the industry are beginning to endorse Wish Upon A Wedding & you can find those endorsements on the website. There are also amazing people sitting on the Boards and Advisory Panel throughout the US such as Dana Larue Stiebel “Broke-Ass Bride” {LA Chapter PR Chair}, Leila Khalil {National PR Advisor}, Beth Helmstetter {National Outreach Director} just to name a few. They would love to have you join as well either as a board member or wish granter!
How We Grant Wishes:
To qualify for Wishes, applicants must be unmarried legal citizens of the United States, over the age of 18, who have been diagnosed with less than three years to live. Couples can be granted wishes either in the chapter where they live or in a chapter of their choosing as long as they are able to make the trip.
Couples can simply apply online to request one of three wedding types:
URGENT (Up to 10 guests, in hospital or at bedside);
BOUTIQUE (up to 25 guests, in home town of applicant);
ROMANTIC (Up to 50 guests, at any WUW destination)
How Can You Grant Wishes?
As the organization is building, Wish Granters are needed in all locations. Please apply online today to start helping Wedding Wishes come true. In two weeks, Wish Upon A Wedding will be granting the very first wish. To read more about that wish and the couple please visit the website.
Please use this info on your own blog and during the course of this week…if you have the time and the room on your blog this week.
It will help build a network of very important people in this industry whose main goal is to help these very deserving couples. After all, if you are in the business of creating lifetime memories, we are now asking you to help us create memories for those who are left behind because these couples do not have a lifetime together.
save-the-date :: video style
I was reading one of my favorite bloggers and friend’s (Khris) website, DIYbride.com and came across the super Save-The-Date video by Tim and Jane.
press play… from tim and jane on Vimeo.
Creative + Fun + Interesting + Techie = Awesome. Really nice job!
children’s songs debut at weddings
Trend Spotted:
Children’s songs are finding their way into wedding ceremonies and receptions. We’ve had two brides come down to super cute and adorable songs:
All I Want is You by Barry Louis Polisnar (made popular from the movie, Juno)
The Rainbow Connection by The Muppets (or more specifically that favorite froggie, It’s Not Easy Being Green: Kermit)
We think the use of individualism and creativity is just nifty.
What have you seen?
wedding details :: napkins
Might sound silly, but a huge pet peeve of ours is how your napkin is folded on the table. It’s a detail that is often overlooked.
Your venue coordinator or caterers may suggest napkin folds like this:
photo credit: napkin folding guide
The pyramid, fan or bishop hat napkin fold should never see your wedding reception. And anything stuck in a glass goblet. These napkin folds are for business meetings, not your beautiful wedding.
However, if you get too creative on the fold, your caterer may not have the staff to implement a challenging fold for 300 guests. Remember too, that you have to use a stiffer 100% cotton napkin for some folds, which isn’t always what caterer’s carry. So be sure to check into that before you decide on a particular fold.
However it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Take a look what we’ve created at some of our weddings:
first 2 photos: studio b and 3rd photo: walker studio
The first photo, the bride Katie, decided to come in the day before the wedding with her bridesmaids and moms, and we hand tie bows/menus on each napkin. Definitely made a beautiful display on the table.
The second photo, the bride, Brittany, really wanted to have charger plates, however since we were having petits fours on the table it would have been too cluttered. I love this fold that drapes off the table. It gives a great presentatin and it’s easy to implement.
The final photo is our bride, Christy, really wanted silver chargers on the table. The table presentation was full, so in this instance it was better to go with a simple napkin fold and not take away from the decor.
What are you going to do with your napkins?
dressing up your wedding aisle
An economical way of dressing up your ceremony is to place close attention to the details of your aisle runner. It’s the easiest way to transform the church or ceremony site into something that looks like a “wedding”.
Now the impulse might be to run out to the local store that has allocated one aisle to the theme of “weddings” and purchase a rolled up, aisle runner that is around $20. It’s made of paper, kind of like interfacing. One step on it with girls heels and it rips. It also looks like it’s worth about a buck twenty. STOP. Resist the urge to buy any paper product to walk float down the aisle to your groom.
Above are a few alternatives to your typical aisle runner. The first photo was a wedding we coordinated outside, the most challenging situation to have an aisle runner. Instead the designer laid down white dance floor. It was spectacular looking fabulous as well as comfortable for the girls in heels. Cloth aisle runners have a hard time staying on grass, that’s why you see so many outdoor weddings with flower petals as the aisle runner. Just be sure to have your planner put the roses petals down just before you walk through, wind tends to blow them away.
The second photos is an aisle runner made of white carpet! Such an interesting twist and we like to use this technique in venues that might have hardwood floors, so when the girls walk down they don’t sound like a herd of elephants.
The last photo is the an aisle runner at one of our weddings, Jenny + Adam. We didn’t do too much decor at the church, instead concentrated on the aisle. As always, we used cloth!
do not box in your wedding bartenders :: part five/finale
So far the series of “not boxing” in certain wedding vendors has probably made some sense to you, perhaps you it even made you think, aha?!
So I bet you’re wondering why we would talk about your bartenders and their needs? They just pour drinks, right?
You must recognize that a life-blood area at your reception is your bar. If service is slow due to the small ratio of bartenders to large quantity of guests or the setup is not correct, then your service will suffer. And your guests will be frustrated.
Tips for the best outcome working with your wedding bartenders:
1. If you have a down-time between your ceremony and wedding reception (ceremony starts at 1:30pm and reception starts at 5:30pm) then be sure your venue will not open their doors to your guests until 5:30pm. Guests will always come in and may go to the bar for a drink. Your bartenders have to decline them and your guests will perceive they are being rude.
2. Try not to come up with a complicated, well-intentioned cost-savings idea for your bar. You can thank ill-advised websites for publishing these crazy concepts. Such as:
Open Bar for Pre-Dinner
Bar Closes for Dinner
Bar reopens for Dancing but only serves hosted Beer, Wine, & Signature Drink until 9pm
Cash bar for the remaining wedding reception
Huh? You need a time grid to remember all of this. How do you expect your guests to react to your bartenders and vice-versa?
3. Do not try to squeeze your bartenders into the corner of the room with limited space and light. Sure they are tucked away, but there isn’t enough room to turn around 3x.
4. Please do not skimp and only hire 2 bartenders for 300 wedding guests. The ratio to keep service at its optimum is as follows:
1 Bartender per 75 guests (and some say 100)
But DON’T forget you need a bar back for multiple bars. This is a person who runs back and forth for ice, restocking etc. A very necessary position.
Trust your bartenders.
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