Linen Pick of the Week: Giverny

This week's linen pick is Giverny. This beautiful watercolor-inspired fabric features a bold floral pattern with an indigo and green print. When working with such a bold linen, it's important to keep other decor elements slightly more subdued. 

As you can see, for this mock client, we would suggest using lush cream-colored flowers, as well as a simple place setting, in the same color scheme. We would then be inspired by the decorative floral pattern in the linen and translate that design to the invitations, as well as the wedding cake. This creates a sense of consistency throughout your entire event that will become apparent to your guests. 

Are floral patterns not exactly what you're looking for? Check out The Events Company for other options regarding linens, and much more!

 

Creative Favors - we know how!

Ok, so everyone knows about the traditional bubbles, disposable cameras and candy as wedding favors, can we say boring? Think outside the box and give your guests something to remember your special day by!  Doing searches on the web on sites such as Favoraffair.com  and Elegantfavorideas.com are a great starting point.  We always tell our brides three points when selecting favors:

1: Reflect you and your fiance's relationship (your first date was apple picking - use potted apple cuttings in ornate and customized pots)

2: It is not something that only makes sense in pairs; candle and shot glasses have come and gone and unless you have a collection started, they look a little unfinished sitting on a shelf alone, if they make it that far...

3: You cannot please everyone. Don't stress out wondering if everyone is going to love it.  Even if you spent $490 a favor on a diamond shaving encrusted picture frame - there will be a handful of people who find it useless or will give it away.

You cannot make everyone happy but be sure to be proud of your choice!

In Lieu of donations are another great, simple way to give honor and meaning to your wedding while having your guests be part of a great cause.  Then each year you can continue donating and send cards to your guests annually thanking them for being part of your life and up-to-date status on the donations.

When your wedding has come and gone, your guests will be left with one thing and one thing alone, a memory. Help them to create the best one for years to come!

Here is to Wonderful Wedding Planning!

Shannon Marie Lach

Wedding & Social Event Director

The Events Company

Syracuse, New York

The Wedding Planner - The movie has some things right!

I needed some relaxing inspiration the other day. I had read through all the new Bride magazines, read all the new information on The Knot, but needed something fun. So I popped in The Wedding Planner and enjoyed some Kettle Corn popcorn and realized, parts of the movie actually reflected our profession right!

So here are a few things from The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez I think are interesting and important notes to remember when hiring a Wedding Planner:

1. Hire us BEFORE you select your venue or any other providers,really.
2. A planner is prepared for most anything; although we don't typically store it around our waist.
3. We feed the best man his toast. No,that's not true, although I suppose we could if really needed, but We prefer the spontaneity of the moment.

OK, so maybe not too many parts of the movie, but it's still a good watch for a chick flick and who doesn't love Matthew McConnauhey?

Planning Your Wedding Decor: The Tables

Yesterday we wrote about your overall room ambiance. Today we write about the tables...

The Table – treat the entire table; chairs or chair covers, the linen, the napkin, the centerpiece, stemware, china, and flatware. You don’t need a $100+ centerpiece when you make the entire table look attractive.

Specialty Tables – here is where you can add a color pop and personality with designer linens. (cake table, escort card table, and gift table)

Planning Your Wedding Decor: Room Ambiance

Creating the ambiance for your wedding reception is more than just the guest tables. If you treat the entire space as a whole, you'll create a better overall look and feel. You may be thinking, 'but this is going to cost me more money.' Not necessarily true... you can always spend more money (that's easy) but using a holistic approach can offer you an alternative to spending so much money on the guest tables (we'll talk about those tomorrow).

Venue – does the room represent your style or do you need to totally transform? When selecting your venue your style should be taken into consideration. A non-traditional venue may be better suited to your needs. You may need to pay a venue rental charge, but if the venue fits your style, then you have less need for the 'total room transformation.' This is why so many bridal couples are looking for unique venues.

 Lighting –  ambient lighting softens hard edges, hides ‘not so nice’ walls and can highlight wonderful architectural features.

 

Fabric Draping – Fabric can create a focal point, intimate spaces, and hide ‘ugliness.’ Use it for head table backdrops, canopies over the dance floor, or to reveal surprises during the night like a lounge area or candy bar.

 

 

Ceiling Treatments  - can help lower a really high (or ugly) ceiling and create ambiance.

 

Opera House Love

Just a little view of the lovely couple Brittney and Eric from last weekend. Truly was a magical wedding, can't believe it is over already! Bert Pohl Photography did an amazing job, lovely to work with, and I can not wait to see all the pictures and post them!

White Wedding - Tented Perfection

Chivari Chairs are a great way to add the WOW factor to your wedding. As wedding designers and planners, we are able to best help you understand how to incorporate the theme, color and feel you are looking for on your big day. Simply using white chivari chairs without considering every other aspect of your decor options could have ended in a tragic white blizzard rather than a white wedding to be talked about for years.

The wedding vision and theme are a product of you, the bride, and a lifetime of personal experience and love; as a wedding designer it is my job to be sure your special day reflects every aspect of that. From the chairs, to the napkins even the silverware and lighting, it all should be reflection of you and your fiance. Once you see the parts put together, I can promise you your breathe will be taken away, like the day your he proposed.







Lisa and Steve celebrated their lovely day at the Aurora Inn, NY. These photos from Larrisa Cleveland Photography capture exactly how magical your wedding day can be with the perfect blend of friends, family, great venue and exceptional decor items, like the Chivari chairs from The Events Company.

DIY Questions to Consider

Sure, DIY sounds tempting at first. But there are some key questions you should ask yourself before embarking on your DIY journey.

Will adding this element make a big change to my wedding?
Is the price differential really worth it? Especially when I factor in labor?
Will this project be complete by at least one week before my wedding?
Will this project cost me minimal stress?
Can I make this special for my guests?


If you can safely answer “yes” to all of these questions, then you have a perfect DIY project. We recently had a bride who wanted to personalize her place cards. She asked the guests for photos of themselves months before the wedding, and incorporated each photo into a mini frame. These frames were great- they provided a no-fail seating plan, and gave the guests personalized favors to take home at the end of the night! They were clever, cute and fit nicely into the color concept of the wedding.
Now that’s DIY done right.

The Militant Venue Owner

We're wedding designers, planners, and producers and spend a lot of time in a variety of venues. Some are great and easy to work with. Others, not so much. I've coined them 'militant venue owners.'

Did you fall in love with a venue that was just what you were looking for and as soon as you signed the contract you suddenly were being told you can't do that or no, we never do it that way, or some other comment about what you can't do? You've just been diagnosed with "militant venue owner' syndrome.

Suddenly all the joy and fun of planning your wedding has been sucked out of your soul. This is where you will find having a wedding planner on your team who will be your liaison is worth her weight in gold. You can even hire them for that sole purpose. Just make sure the person you select can effectively communicate (diplomacy)your needs and expectations.

We keep note of the 'quirks' each venue has so we're prepared any time we are in that venue.

My ultimate goal is to have a venue (in the not so distant future - within a couple of months) where a client will never hear the words, no, you can't do that. We'll be about solutions not dead-ends.