Custom cake ornaments

There are various ways of preserving the memories of your wedding: high-quality photographs and videos, drying your bouquet, or framing your invitation are just some of the classic options.


If you’re looking for something a little different, try commissioning a custom miniature version of your wedding cake. Aberrant Ornaments creates scaled-down versions of your confection (based off of images you send) and you receive a personalized souvenir of your special day.


Each ornament is hand-sculpted from clay, then hand-painted and sealed. The intricate details of your cake are meticulously replicated and the piece includes a loop at the top so you can hang it like an ornament or display it on a flat surface.


The ornament makes a great wedding gift, but would also be lovely for an anniversary or a couple’s first holiday together. Here are a few examples of their work:


  

     

Two comparisons between the original cake and the ornament:






More information about the pricing and other details can be found on their website.


Photos: Aberrant Ornaments

How to choose your wedding date

Recently, The Knot posted this article about dates you might want to consider skipping when selecting your wedding day.

The religious and cultural holidays seemed the most appropriate to consider. I know when my husband and I got married, several of my relatives on my Jewish father’s side couldn’t make it because our date happened to be a Holy day that year. We would have loved to have those relatives with us, but we chose our date because it had special significance to us as a couple, and any other date wouldn’t have meant as much to us. But if your family is especially religious, or you know a holy or special date would be a real conflict for many of your potential guests, it’s certainly worth keeping that in mind when selecting the date for your big day.

The article mentions many three-day weekends, but I actually like weddings on three-day weekends because it usually means that you can spend more time with the people you came to see. And if you traveled for the wedding, it gives you an extra day to explore the area and/or make the return trip so you don’t have to take off of work—unless you want to, though often people can’t.

Certain dates, September 11 among them, I can see because they are sensitive for some people, rightly so. My personal opinion is that dates like that should be filled with as many new, happy memories as possible; though if you or your family were directly affected, you may want to gauge whether or not anyone would be offended. We went to a wedding on September 11, 2010 and it was a wonderful celebration. September 11 existed as a potential wedding day before 2001 and all of those people still celebrate it as their anniversary; I don’t think it needs to be automatically taken off the table.

Last year, my mother-in-law remarried on New Year’s Eve. Before they firmed up the date, they asked everyone they were inviting (less than 100 people) if they would be willing to travel during the holiday. Everyone was enthusiastic about coming, regardless of the holiday. The ceremony started at 6p, the reception at 7p and ran until 11:30 at night when the décor was switched over in the cocktail area, champagne and desserts were put out, and boas, top hats, confetti, and streamers made for a great way to ring in the new year all together. My husband’s cousin held his wedding on December 27, and everyone traveled for that, too. We brought our Christmas presents with us (my husband’s uncle’s birthday is also Christmas Day) and we just made the whole week a huge family celebration. If you have your heart set on a holiday wedding, check with your friends and family first. You may have a few people who aren’t able or willing to attend, but I bet most people would.

There are some dates in the article that seem a little out there though:

Like checking with your parents about having to share Mother’s or Father’s Day weekends? Do people treat Mother’s and Father’s Days so solemnly that they cannot be shared with any other event? That seems like the biggest stretch of all in the article. They also mention considering that you’d be sharing your own anniversary with those days, were you to have kids, but I think that just sounds like a nice full weekend of celebrating the people and relationships that mean the most.

No matter what date you choose, it will be a beautiful day and you’ll be surrounded by friends and family who love you, and that trumps everything.

What date did you choose and were there any you actively avoided?

Photo: SimpleandStunning2 via Etsy

Crisis Control

Most of the time when you’re planning your wedding things go smoothly, save some minor hiccups. But sometimes a crisis comes up and you’re left with a lot of stress and a lot of questions. While any number of issues could arise unexpectedly, one of the most stressful situations is when, for reasons man-made or natural, the reception venue you’ve selected for your big day becomes completely unavailable.

This happened to many couples in the New York City area after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Venues on the waterfront, such as the South Street Seaport area, were essentially destroyed and couples who had weddings booked during the end of 2012 and through much of 2013 were left scrambling to find a new location for their special day (and in some cases, recover their deposit). 

A storm caused a mess, we cleaned it up!

We’ve dealt with weather-related disasters, too: A micro storm caused a near-catastrophe at a tented reception site, just hours before the bride was going to walk down the aisle at the ceremony location. The tent had collapsed, their alfresco lighting was tangled and broken, and chairs were strewn about. Our team sprang into action securing a new venue nearby, adjusting the decor, and setting everything up so that by the time the guests arrived, no one knew there had been a problem at all until they saw the video footage the next day. The bride and groom knew the situation was under control and were able to just enjoy their day.  

We’ve had to put out other fires, too; though luckily, never real ones. Though Mother Nature isn’t always responsible, no matter the cause our response is the same: remaining calm and employing a take-charge attitude to make sure your day is exactly what you dreamed it to be. The ability to handle a crisis is an extremely important factor to consider when hiring an event planner for your wedding, or any event you might be hosting. And one that most people probably don’t think to ask questions about until it’s too late.

We take a team approach to all of our events to make sure that we’ve always got you covered and the vendors we recommend and work with, including our partners at our new SKY Armory venue, are chosen with that same idea in mind. From start to finish, everyone we work with makes your event a priority, anticipating and handling issues before you even realize there was a problem.

We would love to tell you more about how we take worries off your mind. Give us a call or send us an email!