I was invited to talk about affordable and fun ideas for weddings on Martha Stewart's radio show Morning Living this morning. It's on Sirius channel 112. Here are some of my favorite DIY ideas for wedding favors, wedding trends, colors, cakes, centerpieces and affordable design.
Wedding Favors
Miniature Glass Jars from the Container Store (also found online) for $2.49ea. Fill them with your favorite treat and use round label paper ($12.00 for 600 labels) to personalize the jar lid and identify the contents. We used a few different things to fill the jars - mini oatmeal raisin, sour cherry, and potato chip cookies from DoughRayMe.com and personalized Wedding Bell Hersey’s Kisses from Orientaltrading.com (63 pieces for $9.99). We also filled jars with honey--which is a symbol of sweetness and fertility ($2.99 a bear)--and Cadbury Eggs or any candy treat ($3.80 for a 10oz bag).
We also filled a box of my favorite caramels that can be personalized with wedding tags from Good Karmal ($100 minimum purchase required-about $1.00 each piece).
And, my favorite wedding cake cookies from ChocolateGourmet.com (I've used them for many events!) can be boxed and given with personalized tags to each of your guests ($8.00 per box).
I came across great packaging from one of my favorite bakeries - One Girl Cookie. They package their items so well in cute custome film strip photos of the bride and groom.
Another wedding favor idea that is very out-of-the-box is a professional teeth whitening pen that comes in silver. (VIVO WHITE, $14-$20ea)
Here are even more ideas:
-Evergreen Memories Saplings that support the Alzheimer Society and "Green" events all across North America
-Personalized Wedding Golf Balls from http://www.favorideas.com/ ($2.00 each)
Latest Wedding Trends
Fragrance is important- Candles from Daniel Benedict can be personalized with the couple’s names and dates. (Found at http://www.centsandsprays.com/, $10 each - $30 for the set of three - $150 minimum order).
Lunch and early afternoon weddings are a fantastic way to save money and still have a really beautiful event. You can have buffet stations and serve wine with one specialty drink. Booking your venue may be more cost effective too. Another great idea is to have a more intimate guest list for your actual ceremony and later throw a “Wedding Celebration” which is more of a party at a different location for all your friends and family.
Destination Weddings- now is the time- Miami is a great spot now to host a “getaway”. Flights are affordable and places like the new Fontainebleau Hotel have great deals on accommodations.
And- CRUISES! You can find really great bargains now on cruise lines!!!
DIY- do it yourself is bigger than ever before. We did a wedding this summer for a really great family and the bride really wanted to add a few of her own special touches. For her favor, we used the wedding cake cookies from Chocolate Gourmet and she printed out some terrific photographs of her and her fiancé using an online company, Moo.com, that were tied to the favor boxes. In the end, it added a special something to the wedding favors!
New Colors for Weddings
What are the hot colors for weddings? I have hot colors for weddings but here is my own hot trend: an all white wedding. White is the cheapest color to use--you could even use white paper as tablecloths. For centerpieces, keep it chic and simple. If you want colors, lilac and lavender are great for spring and early summer. For the summer, shades of pink and one my favorite classic colors: grass green.
Centerpieces
Flowers in individual bud vases are great. White lilacs in a bud vase would be beautiful and taper candles in different heights would create scale on your table. Also, paper doillies and crêpe paper and carnations are all very beautiful as centerpieces. Keeping the one color philosophy but using different things is very powerful and stylish. Design is key.
Wedding Cake
Old-fashioned cakes from your great grandmother’s recipe box are the trend this year. It will be popular to have delicious cakes this season. I love an old-fashioned spooned frosting cake, which is where you take the back of the spoon and frost the cake in layers.
A Few More of my Favorite Things
I love biodegradable Heart Shaped Wedding puffed rice . ($15.45 a bag)
Golf Wedding Placecard Holders – you can make your own with a mason jar, wheat grass, kabob skewers and mini flags that you print the couple’s monogram on…
And, my favorite gift these days to give is my grandmother's favorite receipes in a personalized cook book. You can do this for the bride and groom and they can later add their own family receipes as well. It's a gift they will treasure and use forever.
This is just a preview of our Wedding Showcase Celebration April 6th in New York City. Stay logged in for more wedding and creative party information!
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