Wedding Photos Fun For Your Guests

Why not  provide a fun,  photo opportunity experience for your guests that will be a memorable and  lasting keepsake  (and I don’t mean cameras on the tables).  Of course, this will not take the place of your professional photographer taking pictures of your special day, but it’s a great, joyful  idea to make your wedding stand out from the rest.

Some brides take their professional pictures before the wedding so they won’t keep the guests waiting extensively for them to arrive at the reception.  I think that’s the way to go.  However, some brides prefer to take their pictures after the ceremony and that’s where this idea will be most helpful. It keeps your guests occupied so they don’t even realize how long they’re waiting for you to “start the party”!

A photo booth brings back many memories of my childhood when my girlfriends and I would put a coin in the machine, make funny faces, and take strips of pictures which we would cut up and share.  I still have those pictures in my photo albums and remember the day we took them (you know how silly you can be with your best friend).  Well, photo booths are a current trend for wedding receptions and I just love it.  These are the details:

1-  At Foto Cabina you can rent a photo booth which provides digital quality pictures (same as your photographer is using) in 10 seconds.  What better way to get your guests involved in your big day?

2-  Once entering the booth guests can instantly see what they look like on the screen inside.  They can be as silly as they want..it’s more fun that way!

3-  Every photo that is printed has 2 copies, one for the guest and one for your photo memory album.  An attendant who accompanies the booth is standing by to assist the guests and add the photos to your album.

4- A silver or gold sharpie is  provided for the guests to write a note next to their photo in your album.

5- Provide a picture frame favor and your guests will have something to take away with their instant photo.

6-  Make sure you and your groom get in the booth.  It will capture  tender and fun moments allowing you to relax and have a good time after what most likely was a stressful, nervous energy day.

Filed under Blogroll, General Info, Photography, Reception Basics | Comment (0)

DIY Wedding & Bridal Shower Decorating Ideas

Decorating a wedding or party can be great fun if you have a vision and pictures to help inspire you.  I love the challenge of  “decorating on a dime”, while at the same time having the event look like a million bucks.  For those of you who enjoy doing it yourself (or with your family and friends), these will be some helpful ideas.

Flowers usually take up a large part of the budget when decorating an event.  There are alternative centerpiece ideas that can be equally as elegant while bringing  in the color palette you desire to give your event that Wow! factor.

1- One way to accomplish this is with Pillar Candles. Finding candles in your color scheme, in various sizes and widths and grouping them together so you have a nice presentation on the table can look gorgeous.  Choose one color for all the candles.  Use a strong contrasting color in your color scheme in satin ribbon in two different widths, and wrap around the candle at two levels.  Depending on the size of your tables, I would suggest you use an odd number of candles per table ie.,  3, 5 or 7.

Duplicate the look with added flowers at base of candles and make the arrangement of the candles more horizontal for  the buffet table, escort card table or sign in table.  To keep the flowers fresh, use those little tubes that contain water and put the stems in them (the tube can be hidden from view)  If your site doesn’t allow open flames, simply use LED tea lights and embed them a little in the top of the candle.

2- Vases can be costly if you are having a large reception, so when I saw what Colin Cowie  did with glass vases, I immediately thought of an idea you can use for a fraction of the cost.  Now, stay with me here…don’t think this is too silly until you try it.

Start saving your milk cartons (orange juice cartons will work too).  Use both the quart size cartons as well as the 1/2 gallon size.  Rinse them out well and start stockpiling them.  You should figure on 5 per table if your tables are large round ones.  Since these cartons are obviously already used for  a liquid, you know they will  hold water for your arrangements.

Your objective is not only to have different width cartons, but you’ll want to cut them down so you have different heights.  Once your happy with the different heights, measure them and cut all of them the same way.

Practice on your different size cartons with inexpensive fabric so you can make patterns from a paper bag  for the fabric you will cut up.  Allow room at the top and bottom to iron a little “hem”  so the ends are finished on both ends.

Choose a beautiful fabric.   You can even be extravagant in your choice of fabric because it won’t take much, and most fabrics come in very wide widths. Once you’ve made your patterns you can figure out how much fabric you will need.

Simply wrap your gorgeous fabric around the container and hot glue the seam together (being careful to use the glue sparingly so it doesn’t seep out the edges when you press down.  When placing the vases on the table, make sure the seam side is facing inward so all the guests see are nicely wrapped containers.    Add a contrasting ribbon to top and bottom and fill with flowers that are easily arranged (see my tips on arranging flowers in a previous post).

If you feel your container needs more weight for the flowers you are using, place a glass of water in them to hold the flowers and this will give additional weight and support.  The containers pictured here  are filled with lots of roses, however, if you use a large bloom, you don’t need as many flowers.  Experiment with your flowers to determine how many you will need per container.  Make sure whatever flower you choose you do a “mound” design of them making sure the bouquet covers the top of the container  to make the arrangement look luxurious.

A crystal rose favor, if you’re using roses, would be a perfect remembrance gift for your guests.

If you use this idea, I’d love to see your pictures.  Send them to eileen@yourweddingwhisperer.com and I’ll post them so everyone can see your creativity.

Filed under Blogroll, Bridal Shower, Flowers, General Info, Reception Basics, Weddings By Color, Weddings by Seasons | Comment (1)

Wedding Reception Decorating Ideas

Colin Cowie  is my hero!  I have followed him for years on Oprah and various other shows I’ve seen.   I  have been awestruck by the incredible designs he comes up with.  So today, when I sat down to write my blog of useful and helpful information for your wedding, I digressed to look at some pictures of his work and decided to give you a taste of his remarkable talent.  We can all dream, can’t we????

Feast your eyes on the pictures so you’ll have lot’s of happy thoughts to think about for the weekend.  We’ll get back to the practical things on my next post.

On a practical note (can’t help myself), I do think you can glean ideas from these pictures for your reception.  I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I do.

I think the perfect favor to go with this very elegant reception would be a beautiful candle.

Filed under Blogroll, Flowers, General Info, Reception Basics, Weddings By Color, Weddings by Seasons | Comments (2)