With 2012 off to a great start, we have several brides who are wanting to make their wedding more of an event rather then the “traditional”  sit down reception.  Entertainers, musicians, even celebrity starts are now appearing at weddings and events, so why not take it one step further make your guests part of the fun!  We know not all will event entertain the idea of having animation, let alone games at their wedding, but by popular demand, here are some popular games that are played on or with the bridal couple.

Lifesaver
Blindfold the groom (you don't want to mess up the bride's makeup). Put 4 different colored (flavored) life savers in the Bride's mouth. Have the Groom fish each color out in a specific order (get the audience to choose). For each one he gets wrong, he has to do a drink (if he has been drinking too much may I suggest a full glass of water for each error)

Pop the Balloon
Get the wedding party out and place a balloon between each woman and man (use your imagination of where to put the balloon). They have to hug tightly enough to break the balloon. The last one to do it is punished. (Do not fully inflate the Newlyweds balloon - it makes it harder or impossible to pop). Punishments can be anything from kissing, to singing , to carrying the bride around the room, etc...

Instantly-Wed Game
Same as the Newly Wed Game - When the Bride leaves the room to change (or powder her nose) ask the groom some questions about them to see if the Bride answers the same when she returns. For each wrong answer you can offer a punishment. Sample Questions would be: What was the other person wearing when they met? Does the other person like their toilet paper to roll off the top of the roll or the bottom? Who is smarter, the bride or the groom and why?
You can also use do the above game with the bride and groom taking off their shoes and exchanging one of theirs for their spouses. Make the questions so that they have to answer with either a him or her. For example, "who will be the one who takes out the garbage?" The newlyweds would then hold up the shoe that corresponds with who they think is going to do it. Of course the couple have to be back to back so they cannot see how the other responds!

Guess Who

Have the bride and groom sit on chairs face back to one another, and ask a series of questions as to who is more likely to? Or who will be the first one to?

Check out this video from utube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yubZktEvvrU

Guess the Hands (Calves, Thighs, Butt, etc... work too)
Blind fold the participant and have him or her feel a certain body part of some volunteers and then their spouse (remember your doing a family show here!). Then he or she has to guess which one was their partners.

A Little Green Activity

I decided to write yet another blog on green events not because I'm an environment conscious junkie, but rather because more and more clients are becoming educated on the simple ways to recycle without compromising their style and wallet.

We're all about creating one of a kind events and invitations, but if we can reusing things intelligently, ultimately wasting less, so where's the harm?

We hold the idea that being environmentally friendly doesn’t mean refusing the things we love and want, but rather designing, developing and using products in more informed, eco-friendly ways.

While in the planning stages of your event, big or small, special or corporate, consider the following ideas to show your guests your passion for the environment:

-        Have all of the elements of your event in one location so as to minimize the amount of driving for guests

-        find a local non-for-profit organization that will welcome the leftovers from your event rather then throwing it to waste

-        -consider (for weddings) rather then a registry with items you may not necessarily need, give your guests teh options to donate to your favorite organization in your name.

Your event invitation can set the tone for your environmentally friendly wedding. Today there are many options for 100% recycled, partially recycled or completely tree free papers which Over the Top Events can provide. Consider all the following where you can use recycled paper:

• engagement announcements
• save the date cards
• shower invitations
• shower thank you notes
• wedding invitations
• ceremony programs
• place cards
• menu cards
• wedding announcements
• thank you notes

 Your wedding flowers can be a place where you can make conscientious decisions which can have big eco consequences. Choosing a florist where organically grown, in-season, local flowers are used can be a much better earth friendly choice.

One thing that I try and have my clients participate in, is to donate the flowers to a local hospital or senior citizen center or send them home with your guests.

A great addition to the eco-friendly favors on the tables is to pull the "green" theme into your centerpieces. Table decor can take the form of small perenials or baby bushes that can later by planted by your guests. If you are looking for a vessel for the center of your table to hold sea shells or colorful rocks, consider vases made from recycled glass or a bamboo bowl, due to renewable tendencies.

The Green World Project
Favors 4 Wedding
The I Do Foundation's Favors for Charity program
Tender Seed Company

Love the earth,

J

 photos courtesy of weddingobsession, dreamgreenweddings,thecakelist

A little Vintage

Vintage weddings are as popular as they ever were. The fashion world looks back for inspiration, and now the wedding world is following suit! If you’re planning a vintage wedding and you’re looking for ideas you’ve come to the right place.

Every bride can look fabulous with a vintage wedding dress. Every wedding venue can be decorated in vintage styles – and some of the top wedding venues are stately cottages and castles with a sense of history and beauty which perfectly suits a vintage wedding day.

Decorate tables with crystals and pearls or hire vintage crockery – use peonies, roses or wildflowers for an eclectic look!

Everyone wants to please their friends and family when planning a wedding. Parents, friends, bridesmaids and wedding suppliers will all want to get involved if they can, and vintage weddings are great crowd pleasers!

Every wedding magazine is full of vintage inspiration, and vintage wedding ideas are all over the internet – so you can’t go wrong hunting for inspiration for your vintage wedding day. Top celebs are incorporating the vintage style into their weddings, with everyone opting for classic lace, pearls and vintage accessories it’s a trend that is set to last and last!

The vintage wedding theme is easy to adapt to your own wedding budget. Whether you’re having an elaborate celebration or an intimate wedding at home, you can use vintage elements to create beautiful wedding decor – either source it online, buy antiques or make your own vintage inspired accessories.

I love quirky vintage wedding website www.weddingspinster.com. It’s full of vintage photos and information that might help brides- and grooms-to-be plan unique, vintage-inspired weddings.

chat soon,

J

Beach Weddings and ideas

With winter quickly approaching and the layers being added, many couples are beginning to plan their winter destination wedding.  When planning a beach wedding, people may think there are numerous things to consider, sometimes more so than a traditional wedding. It can get overwhelming and tricky to come up with destination beach wedding ideas.  People usually give their attention and priority to the following things:

Beach Wedding Idea

1. Beach wedding invitation – A great way to get your guests in the mood for travel is to add a beach theme to your invitations.

2. Beach wedding dress – The fabric, length and style make finding the perfect dress for a beach wedding confusing. More casual dresses with lighter fabrics, which are easier to pack become the best option for beach brides.

3. Beach wedding destination – You must consider the place where the ceremony will take place. You may choose an island you have always dreamed of. Do not forget to consider the marriage license prerequisites for the country.

4. Beach wedding favors – It is necessary to thank your friends and family for sharing your special day with beach them favors.

5. Beach wedding gifts- It is a good idea to thank your bridal party with ocean theme gifts that they can use to remember the occasion.

6. Beach wedding décor – You should consider how you will decorate the reception area. You should work hard whether you will keep it simple or you will add touches of the ocean and beach to keep the theme going.

Beach Theme Wedding Ideas

They are of course the more important issues to address, but there are many others that will sneak in. In addition to your dress you will have to consider what type of beach wedding shoes you will wear. You also need to think about how you will style your hair. Beach wedding hairstyles can be loose and free or tide up as to keep the elements from taking control of it.

The type of music you will play is something else to keep in mind for your reception. You should decide whether you will hire a local band or you will play beach wedding music. Design of your cake also needs your attention. There are many wonderful cake designers who can incorporate beach themes into their designs.

chat soon,

J

With Halloween around the corner, and many decorations already up around the neighbourhood, here are some DIY ideas:

Add some spider web to your Halloween decorations and haunt, you can find it at most stores selling Halloween products. Just attach to something and pull it out all over! There's a new product called "Cob Webs in a Can" that lets you add light layers of spider web effects to your Halloween decorations and props.

Put up a Halloween tree in your home this year! It really adds a festive mood and looks beautiful!

Try out some creepy Halloween cloth! Used in commercial haunted attractions for years, distressed, tattered, torn and shredded looking cloth can make your home look deserted and dilapidated. You can find it at most mass retailers during Halloween season.

Transform your front door into extremely spooky portals of doom with door frame facades and trim! You can find a variety of them both online and in Halloween stores.

Scarecrows have also become a source for wonderfully scary Halloween decorations! Make a couple for your front porch, yard haunt or to sit inside your home for decoration.

Create a lighted jack-o-lantern walk-way to your front porch! It's easy to do, all you need are some plastic jack-o-lanterns and some battery powered candles.

Use mini ears of Indian corn, mini pumpkins and gourds to embellish your Halloween party table. They make excellent arrangements for an autumn table as well.

If you live out of the way, build a giant Halloween beacon to draw trick or treaters to your house. Its easy to make using a large plastic jack-o-lantern, some ABS pipe and a few assorted attachment pieces. This light really stands out!

You can find all kinds of Halloween flags and banner during the Halloween season. Hang one or two up around your house to show your Halloween spirit!

Make some Halloween wreaths to hang on your front door and around the inside of your house. They are simple to make and fun to do!

Add artificial ravens and crows to the tops of tombstones, in the trees, anywhere they can sit and stare at your visitors. You can find them at most arts and crafts stores, department type stores, just about everywhere!

Decorate your vehicle for Halloween! Hang a wreath or decoration on the front grill, have a Halloween slogan license plate holder made, make an antenna ball out of a little pumpkin!

Chat soon,

J

The accessories

The category of bridal accessories includes so many objects for which a bride can apply for and they depend on the tastes and of what you’re expected to look like in the big day! If some days ago we took into account only a part of the bridal accessories, today we’re going to mention about bridal accessories in general!

First of all in this section of “bridal accessories” there’s always the veil, which can have diverse shapes and formats…. There are the modern ones, made shorter and with ruffled details on. It’s also the long bridal veil that can cover your face and made with really interesting embroidery on its surface….

There’s a big range of accessories and you can be sure that you’re not going to look bad at all with them on! Another thing is that you’re able to renounce to it, the bridal veil isn’t a necessary accessory, but the bridal shoes are….

The bridal shoes can be found in several models and tones. With such a pair on you’re able to look really fine and in the same time let’s add that they can be comfortable or with a really high heel. It depends on your wish. You’re the bride, you make the rules!

As for the bridal shoes, make sure that the pair for which you apply for is really comfortable or that you switch them with another pair, in case you find them relatively uncomfortable! 

Besides the classical white tone for the wedding shoes, there’s also the option in which you can apply for a pair of metallic bridal shoes as well as ones colored in a really bright tone!

We’ve got this aspect figured out; let’s continue with the bridal jewelry. When it comes to this part, the situation stays in this way: you can apply for bridal jewelry sets, or for separate jewelry. The bridal jewelry sets may contain: a tiara, a necklace and a pair of earrings, all blending perfectly together. There’s also the option for bridal jewelry sets in which you can find a pair of earrings, a necklace, a bracelet or even without a bracelet.

Similar to the bridal tiara is the bridal headband for which you can apply for and if you want to, you can attach a thin and gorgeous looking veil or you can leave it in this way. There’s also the bridal comb that was recently mentioned, as well as the bridal cockade. All these bridal accessories are great to take into account.

And last but not least, is another bridal accessory that we consider it would be a really nice idea to take into account – the bridal purse, which isn’t obligatory as well! You decide whether you want one or not!

Chat soon,

J

Just got ENGAGED!!!

Just got engaged? First off, congratulations! Second: these are the 10 things you should do next…

1. Share the good news with family and friends

This is a happy time and the great news must be shared with loved ones, preferably in a creative and fun way! Create a digital postcard with a photograph of the engagement ring or of the bride and groom and email it to all your family and friends announcing your engagement! Share the good news on Facebook, Twitter or other social media and keep your account up to date with all the next steps.

2. Plan an engagement party

Whether it’s a lunch, dinner or an all out engagement party, plan something special to announce and celebrate your engagement with close family and friends. Don’t forget to let them know that a fabulous wedding awaits them…

3. Choose the wedding date

In order to choose the perfect wedding date decide if you want a Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter wedding. Is there a special date on which you would love to have your wedding? Don’t forget to check the calendar so that you know exactly what day of the week you’re talking about when you decide to choose the wedding date.

4. Determine a budget

How much can you afford to spend on your wedding? What is your dream wedding? Can your budget cover it? What can stay and what must go?

5. Put together the guest list

Many decisions go into putting together the guest list: how many guests does your budget permit? Who do you invite? Who don’t you invite? Do you invite colleagues from work or just close family and friends? Do you want an intimate wedding or a traditional wedding with hundreds of guests?

6. Choose the place where the ceremony is going to be held

The place where the wedding ceremony is going to be held should be in agreement with the guest list, as well as the venue for the reception. If you expect 200 guests, then maybe getting married in a small chapel is not the best idea.

7. Choose the venue for the reception

Many popular venues, like hotels and other wedding appropriate spaces, require reservations a year or more in advanced, especially during wedding season.

8. Book an engagement shoot

It’s the perfect time to book an engagement shoot and document your love in a beautiful engagement album that will be a wonderful memory of this precious time in your lives. Since you have to hire a photographer for the wedding, look for one that also does engagement shoots – this is also a great way to get to know the photographer before the wedding and vice-versa. Make sure you get some very romantic shots and have fun doing it!

9. Decide if you’re going to hire a wedding planner

Idealizing, organizing and coordinating a wedding can be a full time job and stressful at times. So, if DIY is not a concept that applies to you, hire a wedding planner who will navigate all the pre-wedding organization like a pro. The result? Less hassles and unnecessary worrying for the bride and groom.

10. Choose the wedding dress

The wedding dress is one of the star pieces of the big day and requires a lot of idealizing and research, preferably in advanced, so you have time to check out all your options before making a decision. You don’t have to buy the dress immediately after the wedding proposal, but it is a good idea to start window shopping, magazine and online browsing… so the dream can start to become reality…