Doing your wedding at a hotel that has a beach front makes it comfortable for your guests to come in and enjoy the reception in one of the banquet halls.  Your theme is already set so your flowers and favors can be reflected in the design and makes it as stress free as possible.

Beach Theme Centerpiece

Flowers by Dellables

Beach Theme Centerpiece by Dellables

Do It Yourself Beach Theme Centerpiece

Using starfish, pearls, sandollars amidst orchids and other tropical fresh flowers can be incorporated in your chair decorations and on the aisle and arbor, as well as your wedding cake and centerpieces.

Your guests will not only enjoy sharing your special day in a beautiful setting, but may view it as a vacation and the fun begins as soon as they arrive.  Whether it’s an exotic beach your guest will travel to, or, if you’re fortunate to live in an area close to the ocean, and it’s a local wedding, either way your guests will feel like they’ve “been away” for the day.

Decor on the Beach

Your favors can tie in beautifully with your theme so your guests will have a wonderful rememberance of your wedding.

Sand Castle Favor

1)  First choose your colors.  What color makes you feel good?  Orange or yellow?  Pinks and lavender?  Red and white?  All these colors would work beautifully for a summer wedding.

2)   The flowers are also expressing your informal look.  You can achieve this by the style of container they are placed in and, in some cases, by the flowers themselves, such as Sunflowers, Daisies, and for a little more formality, Roses and Hydrangeas.  Clay pots filled with Hydrangeas make a wonderful summer centerpiece.  I’ve even spray painted the clay pots when I wanted to use them in white…you can make them any color you like to coordinate with your theme.

3)  Lots of twigs, branches and moss can add ambiance.  I’m also a big fan of the LED candles that are available now so you don’t have to worry about them blowing out if you’re outdoors.

Barn Wedding by Jennifer Whalquist

Flower Decorations

Country Centerpiece Idea

Garden Wedding Centerpiece

Buffet Tablescape

Your wedding favors should also express your informal country look.  Succulents are very popular in flower arrangements this time of year, and these succulent style candles are the perfect favor to tie in with your theme.

Candle in Clay Pot

Florists are no longer limited to what is growing seasonally in your region, but can buy flowers from all over the world. Of course, the cost will be higher for flowers that are not seasonal, but this is your chance to be luxurious if you see an arrangement you love with your favorite flowers.

A number of years ago I visited a very high end hotel in Las Vegas and was blown away by the flower arrangements there.  Very simple, yet a new, totally fresh approach and I could envision a bride and her “worker bees” able to capture this look if she was having a DIY wedding.  Recently, I found the floral designer who came up with the look, Jeff Lautham and thought you would want to see his incredible work.  Whether you call Jeff,  try this yourself, or give the pictures to your florist for inspiration, this will be a feast for your eyes.

1- Using lots of risers/pedestals  Jeff fills a room with pink hydrangeas, which are a perfect flower for lots of volume.  Notice he keeps it monochromatic for impact as well.

Image courtesy of Jeff Lautham

2- If you are using long banquet tables at your reception, this is a beautiful centerpiece idea.  You can use flower petals in abundance (as seen here) or you  can even use flowering plants if you’re flower arrangement challenged.  Lots of votives give the table a very romantic look.  Nowadays the battery operated votives are a life saver for reception halls that don’t allow open flames.  Again, notice the big splash of monochromatic color.

Image Courtesy of: Jeff Leatham

3- I think this is brilliant!  You can always have a round rose bowl with submerged flowers or an arrangement coming out from the top, but this is so interesting, isn’t it?  For safety sake, I would use a wax like product they use to hold candles in a candle holder, or that can be purchased in a home improvement center made for protecting items from falling off shelves in an earthquake (tell them what you need to do, they will figure it out) to temporarily secure the top bowl to the bottom.

Image Courtesy of Jeff Leatham

4- I guess what I love about Jeff’s work is that he thinks outside the box.  Making a “bouquet” of any kind of flower, keeping it monotone, and “leaning” it in a very tall container is his signature look.  It’s what first caught my eye at the hotel I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  Check out your local party rental store, or search online to see where you can rent containers like this.  Again, hydrangeas are an easy flower to work with and  because the heads are so large, you don’t need as many flowers,  Calla Lily’s work wonderfully as well, and they come in all colors.

Image: Jeff Leatham

Image: Jeff Leatham

1- Serve organic food

2- Wear a gown made from natural fabrics

3- Send invitations printed on recycled paper

Even though you’re going green, your wedding can still be ultra chic.  Just cutting down on the number of flowers you use can help.

Using branches with some flowers and crystals can fill in a room with a tall ceiling or an outdoor event while limited the amount of flowers needed.

Branch Centerpiece - Photo Courtesy of On Occasions Of Atlanta

Hydrangeas are a wonderful flower because they have so much volume. Be creative with DIY centerpieces. Pick flowers from your garden. I once had a bride with a very limited budget for decorating. Fortunately her wedding was in a month when everyone’s hydrangeas were in full bloom. We found a neighborhood bursting with hydrangeas in the front yards. Three of us split up and with clippers in hand, knocked on doors , explained why we needed them, and all the neighbors were so willing to let us clip a few hydrangeas from their bushes. Many said “take as many as you want”. I was able to make centerpieces from “free” flowers for all the tables and it was beautiful.

Photo Courtesy of: On Occasions Of Atlanta

A lovely flower inspired favor for your wedding could be a Cherry Blossom Candle.

1- Having light near the floral arrangements brings the eyes there and is helpful if you want to distract from things in the space you’re not crazy about.  You can accomplish this with candlelight or  spot lights.  Using crystals in the flower arrangements can also bring more light as it reflects the candle light.

2- Be careful about using too much scent at the tables because it interferes with the taste of the food and makes your guests uncomfortable.  Don’t use scented candles at the reception – save that for home.

3- Even though they’re gorgeous, gardenias have a very strong scent so you’d want to use them sparingly, if at all, in your flower arrangements.

4- Choose food that reflects both of your personalities and culture and incorporate your ethnic food and upbringing.  If your wedding is being catered, often the caterer will make your mom’s or grandmother’s best recipe for you, even if it’s in a hotel.

5- As for the music, there are so many choices to reflect your taste and style.  Chamber music, a harpist or soft background music is lovely as guests arrive at the wedding site.  For your reception you need to choose not only the type of music you enjoy, but be watchful of the volume.  There’s nothing worse than trying to have a conversation and enjoying your dinner with music blasting so loud you can’t hear yourself think, much less what someone is saying to you.  As the evening progresses and the dancing begins, the volume can be raised to accentuate that it’s time to party.  However, be aware that there will be guests who still want to visit with each other, so the volume has to be monitored.

Now for some beautiful pictures to inspire you:

Colin Cowie Design

Image: Xquisite Events

Asiel Design

If you’re guests will be traveling to your wedding, the Fall season will be less expensive since, as we all know, the airlines and gas prices always go up in the summer.  Also, hotels and reception sites will be more readily available.  Since most tourists head home after the summer, hotels will welcome your business and this can be reflected in their banquet facilities as well as the rooms for your guests.

I love the Fall because of the beautiful colors of that season.  Think of your wedding pictures with the beautiful, rich fall colors as a backdrop.  If you’re doing the wedding yourself, decorating can be so much fun using gourds, fall leaves, pumpkins, apples, etc. and the warm glow of candles inserted into these items as candle holders are wonderful for your banquet table or centerpieces.

To make candle holders from apples, tiny pumpkins or gourds, simply make an indentation in the fruit deep enough to hold your votive, taper or battery operated candle.  Also, you can cut out pumpkins and gourds and use them for serving dips, soup, dessert, etc.

I hope you’ll enjoy these inspirations:

Fall Bouquet

Image La Partie Events

Image Jennifer Wahlquist

Image: Tapestry Flowers

Image: Skye-Blu-Photography

There are Fall Theme Save The Dates and lots of wonderful Fall Theme Favors that will tie in beautifully with your wedding.

Start by creating the big picture then decide on the style that shows your personality.  Then add the details.

1-  What colors are you attracted to?

2- What season is your wedding?

3- Bring in different colors of candle holders to compliment your color scheme. Some may hang from the centerpiece, some on the table.

4- Whether simple or extravagant, consider the size of your reception space.  If your space has high ceilings, you need to bring in height to the centerpiece.  You don’t have to have all of them high, you can do high on one table and low on the other.  It brings more interest to the room.

Simple Centerpiece

High Centerpiece

Low Centerpieces

Image: Laura Davis Events

Image: Simply Blooms

5- Using  square vases is a way to do your centerpieces yourself with minimal flowers and a lot of elegance.

6- Always test your design ahead of time.  Especially if it’s a DIY.  If you are using a floral designer, ask that they make up a sample to be sure you are happy with the final results.  This way you don’t have to imagine what it’s going to be like, you can experience it.

Idea:  If you’re doing it yourself, keep it simple and elegant and bring in color with candles.

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.

Image: La Premier

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.

Fabric Covered Container With Ribbon

Fabric Covered Containers Grouping

Fabric Covered Containers With Colored Votives

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.

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.

Courtesy of Colin Cowie

Courtesy of Colin Cowie

Courtesy of Colin Cowie

Courtesy of Colin Cowie

Courtesy of Coline Cowie

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.

Written by Kristin Brancaleone of  The Treasured Petal a very talented florist, who I just discovered and love her work.  These are the tips she gives for decorating your cake with fresh flowers:

Step 1: Select the flowers you’d like to use. Now this is kind of a bummer- most flowers are indeed toxic to some extent. I think the only common wedding flower I didn’t see on the on that list was roses. Hmm. That doesn’t leave us with much, right? Keep in mind that there are some flowers that are considered more toxic than others, including ivy, delphinium and kangaroo paws, so try to avoid those. Thankfully, this method really reduces the flower-to-cake contact, so you don’t have to lose sleep over this.

Flowers From The Garden

Step 2: Cut off the stems completely, leaving just the flower head.

Cut Stems Off

If you’re really concerned about your flowers making any contact with the cake, you can cut a small circle of cellophane, a little smaller than the flower head. Then pierce it with the toothpick and shimmy it up to the flower head so it acts as a barrier between the cake and the flower.

Step 3: Take a clean toothpick and poke it into the bottom of the flower.

Step 4: Simply insert the toothpicks into the cake and voila! Couldn’t be easier! The best part- it doesn’t leave a huge gaping hole in the cake like a flower stem would.

Put Toothpicks in Flower Head

Thank you Kristen, I know many brides will find this information invaluable.