December 2007 - Posts
1/5 update: I attended the Seattle Wedding show today. Wow! Some amazing booths. And although I am biased, the Safeway booth was very impressive. They have a garden theme with green turf afoot, a beautiful gazebo decorated with their wedding floral, and a gorgeous display of their cakes and wine selections. I saw some of their new wedding cake designs that even we don't have on our web site, yet. (They promised me new pictures as soon as the show is over. Can't wait!).
Oh, and grab a sample (or two or three...) of their cakes. Pretty tasty. If you stop by their booth tomorrow (Sunday, 1/6), tell them David from WedNet says "hi".
Side note: If you do attend the show tomorrow, be sure to catch the fashion show. Beautiful gowns and bridesmaids dresses, and dashing tuxedos, set to some very fun music.
Here we are in wedding planning business, and little did I know that just around the corner, literally, from my house there is a solution to one of the many decisions facing couples. The wedding cake! One-, two- or three-tier? Fondant or buttercream? Gumpaste flowers, fillings, icings, live flowers? Oh my! And what about these fabulous cupcake cakes I've seen at recent weddings? Who does those and do they dip, whip, swirl, gloss, confetti?
Until recently, I didn't realize that Safeway does wedding cakes. But after chatting with the baker/decorator in our local Safeway (Sammamish, WA!), they most certainly do wedding cakes. And not just a few!
In fact, after having very interesting meetings with several super nice folks in the Seattle division of Safeway, we are pleased to be able to help spread the word that Safeway has a lot to offer couples for their wedding day, including wedding cakes, flowers and even wines.
Read up on what Safeway has to offer, http://www.wednet.com/wedding-cakes/safeway/, and then browse their selection of available wedding cakes, http://www.wednet.com/wedding-cakes/safeway/cake-viewer/Default.aspx. Have questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you, especially if you have enjoyed a Safeway wedding cake at your reception.
Enjoy!
A majority of couples get engaged over the holidays. Now that you are engaged, you need to know how to announce the engagement. Here are some helpful hints to make sure you don’t offend anyone.
If you have kids from a previous marriage, they should be the first to know. You don’t want them to find out through the grapevine. They are often overlooked during the announcement period. Hopefully, you have prepared them for the possibility. This may be hard news for some children. Reassure them that the new spouse will not replace them in your heart.
Your parents should be on the list next. If you’re close enough to tell them in person, this would be the best option. Having both sets of parents over for a nice dinner to announce the news is always a great idea. If this isn’t an option, then typically the bride’s parents are the first to be told with the groom’s immediately afterwards. If they are not near, over the phone is a fine way of letting them in on the news.
Grandparents, siblings and other close relatives should follow the parents. Some want their best friends to know prior to everyone else, but consider the fact that it will hurt feelings if family discovers they were not one of the first to know.
A phone call to your closest friends is the next step, unless you want to surprise everyone and tell them all at once. A nice get together is the best way to take care of that.
Once you are ready to announce your engagement to everyone else, you have a few options.
Publish your announcement in the local newspaper. Make sure that you really want to take this step as many people that aren’t that close to you may see the announcement and feel they should be invited to the wedding. This makes the guest list a bit tricky.
Hosting a gathering is a great way to announce your engagement to all of family and friends. It is acceptable to invite close co-workers to this gathering if you choose. If you choose to host a party, make sure you register prior to the shindig as many will want to purchase an engagement present for you.
Create a wedding website. This is one of the most common ways couples are announcing today. This is a very easy thing to do through hosted sites. It allows you to email the link to those you want to share your news with, keep them up-to-date with wedding plans and details as well as allow them to link to your registries. Make sure this is not the way you announce to your family or close friends. This way can seem a bit impersonal and you should not use this as your tool for sharing your news with those closest to you.
Mailing formal announcements is a great idea. These can also serve as a save-the-date. Make sure that you are registered prior to them hitting the mailboxes. If you have an engagement photo session, a nice photo of the couple is a great touch to the announcement.
Many people choose favors that get tossed in the trash or left behind. These are often a waste of money, time and effort. Giving your friends and loved ones something to keep forever to remember your wedding is most likely not realistic. How many favors have you kept over the years? If you choose to still give favors at your wedding make them edible. Chocolate boxes, covered Hershey’s Miniatures, Jelly Bellies, Kisses, personalized M&M’s – these are ideas of some great favors that people will use, enjoy and most likely have finished before they leave!
Many toy between the idea of having a DJ or a band at their reception. Why just limit your choice to those two when there is a new alternative to music at your reception. Many people are now setting up their IPOD to play the music they want at their reception. This is a great way to go if the option is available to you. You would be able to pick your own play list and make sure the songs you don't want played remain that way (like the chicken dance). You could even set the order of which you want the songs to be played.
One downfall to this system is that you would not have the ability for those attending your reception to make requests unless you had someone manning the IPOD, which kind of defeats the purpose. Make sure the space at which you are holding your reception has the capabilities to either plug your IPOD into or plug in your IPOD base to the speakers at the site. You don’t want to get to the location and find out that you don’t have the ability to run your music. Yikes.
A DJ or a band are still the two most common sources of reception entertainment, and they are still great options, however; IPOD is a rising fad that is cheap and extremely easy!
Young guests and party members should not be forgotten on your big day. To most of them, your wedding is a stuffy, boring event that they can’t wait to end. Give them something to feel special about, to help keep them occupied and to keep them out of trouble. A lot of parents don’t keep all that close of an eye on kids once the reception begins. The kids meet other kids, and off they go. You can’t imagine how much trouble young kids can get into at a reception when not attended.
So, help with that by setting up a “kids only” table. This won’t feel like the normal kid’s table at their holiday dinners, but will actually be way more fun. Cover the table with butcher paper, put color crayons and coloring books on the table. This will allow the kids to color in the books or on the table – how fun is that?! Activity books for a slightly older crowd are a great idea as well.
Kids also love to get goody bags that are all theirs. A great way to do this is to fill an easy to carry container with treats that are not messy, such as age appropriate toys, animal crackers, Smarties, etc. You can even fill the container with note cards and crayons and you just might get a one-of-a-kind card! Remember to stay away from too much sugar, chocolate or sticky candies such as suckers. These are a recipe for disaster.
Having a holiday wedding, and you want it to still say elegant and sophisticated instead of Christmas? An easy fix to that problem is to make sure you pick a color scheme that can give you the feel of a warm holiday yet allow those attending to remember they are still celebrating your special day.
For hues that work well together try a scarlet red and cool it with a silver or graphite. Or how about a dramatic navy blue with silver? These tones paired together are perfect for an intimate formal evening wedding. For a warm wintry daytime or dusk wedding pair a high-gloss gold with an earthy olive or a lighter blue with silver. These tones create a dynamic duo.
These colors are guaranteed to make your holiday wedding a sure fire success!