Sweet Heart Table vs Head Table

I think sweet heart table is becoming more popular than head tables.  Head tables are convenient if no one in your wedding party is together or married.  For my wedding one of my bridesmaids and one of my husband’s groomsmen were dating each other so if we were to have a head table with my maid of honor her date and my bridesmaid and her date than the table would be off balance and not look beautiful.  For my cousin’s wedding, my brother was the best man and his girlfriend was a bridesmaid as was I.  If they had a head table they would not be able to sit together or they would be off balance if they did. 

Sweet heart tables also make the bride and groom feel more intimate and I believe it brings them together and unifies them during their special day.  Sweet heart tables are more special if the bride and groom have custom flutes or decorations only for their table such as candles, a unity ceremony valuable and other engraved items. 

For my wedding we had a unity sand ceremony that was fun and brought us together during our wedding vows and it was displayed at our sweet heart table throughout the reception.  We also had an engraved mirror that beautiful candles were displayed that also have our names and wedding date along with our custom flutes.

This is taken from the knot.com

A sweetheart table is a small table set up for just the bride and groom at the wedding reception. The happy couple sits together, facing their guests, with their wedding attendants and families at tables in close proximity. The advantage is that you get to spend time together and enable your wedding party to sit with family and friends. If you're not comfortable with being the focal point at the wedding reception, you can have a head table. Your head table can be similar to the other reception tables or it can be a dais table (elevated), to stand out. The head table can consist of all the wedding attendants or include the parents, siblings, grandparents and anyone else who is very close to the bride and groom.

Some cute ideas for sweet heart tables are linked below:

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-reception-planning/qa/rules-for-sweetheart-tables.aspx

http://www.brides.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=518013

Here is an awesome blog post from the weddingbee.com

http://www.weddingbee.com/2011/09/16/sweetheart-table-vs-head-table/

Cakes VS Cupcakes

The great debate of the 21^st century is of the cake species!  What to have at a wedding or a special event: cakes or cupcakes? 

Cakes are formal, elegant and classic.  Cakes can be decorated with dazzling embellishments or left simple and classic.  Cupcakes are fun, pretty and cute.  Cupcakes are becoming more popular than ever at events.  Cupcakes are popping up because you know how many to order exactly if you are on a tight budget allowing individuals to have one cupcake.  However, in my personal experience your guests are more likely to eat more than one.  You can have them in multiple flavors and as many as you want instead of 4 layers of cake with 4 flavors.  If you have 100 cupcakes you could have 100 flavors literally! J Cupcakes are an easy more convenient type of dessert that you can dress up for any special occasion. 

I chose cupcakes for my wedding and they were made by Heavenly Cupcakes of Sarasota, Florida and they turned out beautiful and they tasted even better!  My husband and I were even able to have them bake a large cupcake so we could put our unique and personable wedding cake topper on top and cut that as husband and wife and also save it for our 1 year wedding anniversary.  Plus my own personal theory was if my loving and caring husband was going to try to smash my face with cake for our cake cutting ceremony, I was going to start throwing cupcakes one by one at him J luckily it didn’t come to that!

I love cupcakes because you can choose different frostings, flavors, colors and even individual embellishments and decorations for each cupcake.  A great idea I thought of was have the cupcakes as the wedding favors by putting the guests name on each cupcake and also have a display of cupcakes incase your guests wanted more than 1 each.  You could also have the individual cupcakes that for your favors in cute little boxes that match your theme or colors. 

I have shared some pictures form my wedding and some more from Heavenly Cupcakes website:

http://www.myheavenlycupcakes.com/Photos.html#grid

Candy Bars at special events.

Candy bars are popping up everywhere.  They are a great way to add a special touch of fun and creativity to your wedding as well as being kid friendly.  You can keep the colors simple and coordinate them with your wedding. 

Some brides like to match the candy with their favorites tastes or themes like 1960s or retro or Willie Wonka or Halloween.  I think it is best if you use clear glass containers that are different shapes, heights and sizes and match the candy to your theme colors.  Stick with candy that is well known and liked like lollipops, m-n-ms, rock candy, butter mints, jelly beans because these you can buy separately in the colors you want.  If you buy a bag of m-n-ms you will get the primary colors which will not look good in a candy bar fit for a theme or color concept.  You can go online to find specific colors.  I think this gives a better feel of cohesiveness.

I recently went to a wedding this past Saturday for my mom’s good friends: Julie and Brett.  It was a beautiful and fun wedding!  They had a candy bar and it was a huge hit.  The candy was gone before the cake was even cut!  They had an assortment of white and purple candies that matched the purple orchids on the tables and on the cake.  They have swirl lollipops, swirl stick candy, butter mints, purple gumballs, white candy ribbon, m-n-ms in purple and white, jelly belly jellybeans in purple grape flavored and white popcorn flavored, white and purple rock candy and mint lifesavers in white.  I think the lollipops and the m-n-ms were the most popular.  It was set up great with purple paper bags with a heart sticker with Julie’s and Brett’s name and their wedding date.  They had fun jars the candy was in including oversized martini glasses, Champaign glasses and other large jars. They had various scoops and thongs for each candy jar which made it quite convenient.

I love the idea of a candy bar.  I am definitely going to put one together for my next event.  Whether it is a birthday party, holiday party, bridal shower, baby shower or wedding, candy bars will fit any theme and they will be sure to be a big hit at your next party!

Check out these ideas I found online.

http://www.favorideas.com/wedding-blog/candy-buffet-ideas/

http://www.candywarehouse.com/candycolors.html

http://www.candyfavorites.com/

Bridal Show

Hey brides and bloggers! 

Save the date for the best local bridal show around!  The Nuovo Bridal Show in November at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium in Sarasota.

I am getting really excited about the upcoming bridal show in November.  I am getting prepared and making some really neat things for my booth and giveaways for all the brides to be!

There is a lot of preparation going into my booth.  I am having so much fun putting together extra sweet goodies for all the brides to be.  There will be some things kept secret to surprise those who stop by my booth! 

Special Notice:

I am giving away a free set of bride and groom Tervis Tumblers if you stop by our booth and fill out a simple form.  Will you be the lucky winners? Stop by and find out!

The majority of the props and items seen at my booth will be crafted or baked by yours truly!  My husband has put a lot of effort and help in making my booth great.  I love him very very much and appreciate everything he has helped me do thus far.  He has great ideas and if there is something you are looking for to make your wedding day unique or special and need a bit of inspiration, my husband and I are the team to ask!

If you are looking for wedding inspiration, vendors or just looking to have a fun afternoon, then be sure to come out to the Nuovo bridal show this November.

Events this weekend!!!

Brides to be….looking for something to do this weekend? 

I have 3 great suggestions: there is going to be a huge sample sale at Sarasota Brides and Formal Wear on Saturday August 27 from 10 am to 5 pm.  Gowns as low as $25!  Wow what a great deal!  I hope to see you there!  See link below for more information.

Also there is a bridal show in Tampa on Sunday August 28 from 1pm to 5 pm.  The Tampa Bay Bridal Show see link below at yourweddingtv.com. 

There is also a bridal show on the same day Sunday August 28 but it is in St. Pete from 12 pm to 4 pm see link below to i-do-bridalshows.com. 

http://www.sarasotabrides.com/

http://yourweddingtv.com/index.pl?market=7

http://www.i-do-bridalshows.com/

What a great thing to be doing!  Have fun gathering great ideas to bring back to your wedding planner!

Wait don’t have a wedding planner?  Than call Katie Aldrich to plan the wedding of your dreams without any added stress to you!  

I will be attending 2 of these 3 events!  I am persistent on learning everything I can to be able to pass that information onto my brides to help them make their wedding day a dream come true!  Hope to see you all there!

Guest Book Remix

Hey bloggers and brides to be!  

Looking for a guest book idea that is cool and unique?

I found an interesting article in Brides magazine.  It is called guest-book remix.  It has clever and unique ideas for a guest book at a wedding or an event instead of a boring guest book.  They have ideas that are better than just pages and pages of lines with small signatures or one line congratulations.  They are creative fun and will fit your personality!

Some creative ideas:

·         Paint an instrument a solid color of paint like a guitar or ukulele white or a soft color.  Then use Sharpies or permanent markers to have the guests sign.

·         Use a map of your state or the city you are getting married and have everyone sign.

·         Use fabric squares to create a quilt, table runner, banner or some other sewing creation.  See my website for Katie Sue’s Keepsakes for more great ideas!  http://www.myblushingbrides.com/

·         Use an art book or coffee table book to have guests sign on individual pages.  It is best to use books with lots of pictures.

Other creative ideas:

·         Seashells

·         Mirror

·         Rocks

·         Records

·         A scroll

Comment your fun and unique guest book ideas!

Wedding Dress Styles

Wedding dress styles are becoming more and more creative and modern.  There are the traditional classic ball gown styles and then there are wedding dresses that hit just below the knee.  I was more of a modern bride for my 2010 nuptials with my husband.  I had a short white lace wedding gown with a sweetheart neck line which fit my petite frame and personality perfectly.  I love the unique values that can make a wedding fit the couple and not a cookie cutter wedding.  Wedding dresses are one of the most important garments a woman wears in her lifetime.  This dress should fit your frame and personality to have the complete look of confidence and beauty.  With so many styles, options and designs no bride should settle for a dress. 

As the styles of the dresses are changing the fabrics are too.  Wedding dresses come in the traditional lace and satin fabrics and are now coming in cotton for the eco friendly or casual woman. 

Some great websites to check out for the latest and greatest wedding dress are:

Of course David’s Bridal and Alfred Angelo, two well known bridal gown retailers.

www.davidsbridal.com/

www.alfredangelo.com/

www.kleinfeldbridal.com

www.maggiesottero.com

The Cotton Bride offers all the elegance and beauty as a lace or satin wedding dress but it is entirely made out of cotton!  That’s right ladies all the comfort and simplicity of cotton in a wedding dress.

http://www.thecottonbride.com/