Archive for the ‘Reception Ideas’ Category

Simple Ideas for Autumn Themed Weddings

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

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Fall is such a wonderful time to have a wedding. Crisp air and Autumn hues just lend themselves for warm and oh so inviting celebrations.

Some of my favorite venues for Fall weddings are wineries, apple orchards, farms and rustic looking clubhouses with big old fireplaces.

Natural decorations that show off the beauty of the season can be inexpensive and stunning. Outlining a processional aisle with autumn leaves easily sets the tone for a fall wedding and can cost you nothing if you have your cadre of friends collect them the month before your wedding. Remember Runaway Bride when Julia Roberts finally married Richard Gere? The only decoration at that ceremony was a hill full of beautiful fall leaves.

I love to decorate with barrels of apples and apples as place-card or candle holders. And I am nuts about nuts in table-scapes. Decorative bowls of nuts (with nutcrackers handy) on each guest table, tall vases filled with nuts and topped with fall flowers, or nuts just strewn around a centerpiece provide some great accents. My girlfriend had a chocolate iced wedding cake decorated with maple candy leaves and marzipan fruit. The cake was surrounded by a variety of nuts and candles on a gold tablecloth; it was…fabulous.

I went to a wedding last year that served hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks and also had hot buttered rum drinks. At the end of the evening they handed out waxed bags filled with warm mini apple cinnamon doughnuts for the trip home. I am certain no doughnuts actually made it all the way home! At another wedding they had caramel apples as their wedding favors – what could remind you of a fall day more than a caramel apple?

Tell us about your Autumn themed wedding. We’d loved to hear your creative ideas!

A Potluck Wedding???

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

When you see the words “potluck” and “wedding” you don’t tend to think those words could possibly go together well. Let me tell you about Mary and Jim’s Wedding.

Mary and Jim surround themselves with “Foodies and Winos”. No one can really cook better than their own friends and they all love to show off their culinary skills.

So when Mary and Jim decided to say “I do” they asked their friends to leave the gravy boats at Macy’s and instead, “gift” them, with their favorite recipe and a plate of it to share at their wedding reception. On the response card their friends told them what they were bringing and sent a copy of the recipe. Three friends coordinated what they would need to set up a beautiful buffet that would not only show off each dish but would keep all the food at the right temperature (not only for flavor but to avoid food poisoning). They prepared a silver framed label for each dish that featured the name of the recipe and cook.

The Bride and Groom chose amazing wine to share with their guests, added a few of their own favorite recipes to the buffet and hired a “Day-of coordinator” and some party staff so they could truly enjoy their celebration. The reception was a huge success and the food… let’s just say it was one culinary orgasm after another

For a thank you gift, they sent their guests a “Wedding Cookbook,” a collection of recipes from their potluck reception. The cookbook included wedding pictures and a heart-felt thank you letter to their treasured friends.

This was such a special wedding that perfectly reflected the bride and groom and their guests. What could be better than that?

Please share your ideas on how to create a potluck worthy of a wedding day!