DIY - Petal Toss Cones

Are you having a hard time deciding what type of toss you want to use at your wedding. One option is rose petals. Having your guests toss rose petals is not only beautiful and elegant but it's also painless! I have to tell you, that new bird friendly toss they sell online is painful!


Today I wanted to show you how to make your own petal toss cones. It's fun and easy and you can add a personal touch to personalize your cones to your wedding theme. Here's what you'll need:

• Decorative paper of choice (8 1/2" x 11"), you can use colored paper, textured paper or even velum.
  


• Scissors (I like to use the decorative paper edge scissors made by Fiskars)


• Glue gun

Download the template I have supplied. This is in a Word doc format. Then all you have to do is follow the directions on the bottom of the templates. You can change the font and font colors, add a special quote. Print the template and cut around the line using decorative design scissors. You can find the decorative scissors in any scrapbook section of any craft store. Glue the edge of the cones and then just fill with live rose petals. Be sure to tell your florist how many guests you will be having. He or she can recommend how many petal you'll need.

Happy Planning!

Sweetheart Table or Head Table?

There's a lot of thought that goes into your seating arrangement for your wedding. You have to take all of your family and friends and decide what will be best in your personal situation, with all of the personalities and hope they will all get along and have a wonderful time. The big question is will you and your groom sit at a sweetheart table or at a head table?


The traditional way would be a head table, but if you are looking for something more intimate and not so traditional, try opting for a sweetheart table for you and your new husband.

Some of the benefits would be you would have a few minutes of along time with your new husband. And if you opted not to have a receiving line, which lots of couples are doing, your guests would know where to go to find you to congratulate you. It also lets your wedding party sit with their significant other as well.

Since you would be along with your groom, it would give you time to eat and get up and mingle with your guests, after all you and your new husband will always be the first to be served whether a seated dinner or a buffet.

Since a lot of brides and grooms are on strict budgets because of the hard times we are in, you can go all out on the decorations for your sweetheart table and still save money since you will have to decorate an entire head table. All eyes will be on you at your specially decorated sweetheart table.

Whatever you decide, it will be the right choice. It's your personal preference for your special day and whatever works best in your situation. If your goal is to be sure to speak to all of your guests to thank them for being their on your special day, then the sweetheart table would be the right choice.

Happy Planning!

Today is our anniversary

Today is our one-year anniversary. We are taking today and tomorrow off to celebrate. We had a beautiful beach wedding last year on June 7, 2008. What a wonderful day and what a wonderful man I married. We are looking forward to a wonderful dinner and eating the topper of our wedding cake.

Check back next week for more blog updates!

Carol

What's in our Etsy shop?

I know a lot of people have heard of Etsy but maybe you haven't? I thought I would take a few minutes this morning and tell you about Etsy. Etsy.com is a website dedicated to handmade items. Anyone can buy or sell handmade items on Etsy.com. It's a great place to showcase your handmade items. And there are LOTS of wedding related items on Etsy.com. I found my wedding garter on Etsy. You can get things personalized for your wedding.

Why not purchase your wedding jewelry on Etsy? Not only am I a wedding planner but I also design jewelry. I make a range of styles, including of course my favorite, beach themed jewelry. I use beautiful gemstones, sterling silver and also fine silver created by hand from metal clay. It is tiny particles of silver inside a clay binder. I shape the clay like you would any other clay, let it dry, fire it in my kiln and brush off the outside layer of dried clay and underneath is beautiful shiny fine silver. The photo above is an example of a piece of jewelry created with metal clay. We also will take custom orders so feel free to email us with any special requests. We will do our best to make it happen!

Just a few items from our Etsy shop.

Happy shopping!

Beautiful Wedding Cakes

Have you been looking for the perfect wedding cake design. Well, I just wanted to share with you a website I just came across that has some incredibly beautiful wedding cakes. Visit the Pink Cake Box blog and take a look at their beautiful cakes. You might get inspired.

There are lots of beach themed cakes, cupcake trees, cakes with incredible color, cakes with ribbon, cakes with flower. This site will give you lots of inspiration for your cake.

One of my favorites is the cake pictured. It is pink, green and orange with lots of color and very whimsical, yet elegant.

Enjoy!

FREE Gift with Wedding Planning Services

We are currently giving away a free gift for any bride who signs a contract with us for wedding planning services. Contact us for a free one-hour consultation and if you book our services, you will receive a beautiful white ceramic handcrafted ring bearer bowl.

THE ORIGINAL ring bearer dish design from Paloma's Nest that is creating a new tradition in weddings all around the globe. A new spin on the classic ring bearer pillow...See it in the fall/winter 2008 issue of BRIDES regional magazine!! Called the "biggest new idea for wedding ceremonies this year"...This little white ceramic bowl is hand crafted and stamped with the words TO HAVE & TO HOLD.

What makes it different is the two little holes near the top rim, through which silky cotton cord has been laced to hold your rings for your wedding ceremony. This cord can be easily switched out for a ribbon that matches your wedding style.

After the ceremony, the cord can be tied into a loop or a bow, and the bowl can hold jewelry, momentos or other treasures. But that's not all...my favorite part of this piece is that the tiny bowl can also be hung by the cord, on a wall in a special spot (next to your wedding photo would be nice), in a shadow box frame, or on your Christmas tree.

Each piece is handmade of fine white clay, and fired in a kiln; the bowls have a protective matte finish applied to the surface and are designed for decorative use only. Bowls measure approximately 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter...they fit nicely in the palm of your hand.

Call or email us today for your free consultation.

Favorite Summertime Places

This is my favorite time of year and the time when I love going to the coast and sitting on the beach to relax for a few minutes or a few hours, whatever my day allows. I usually take my favorite book and sit under the shade of my umbrella and watch the waves roll in. This weekend I was in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina and it was a very nice weekend. We had a few spotty showers but for the most part it was gorgeous.

But I also wanted to mention what else I did this past weekend. I was down to help Pam DuVal of Promised Hearts, Inc. with one of her weddings. The wedding ceremony and the reception were both at the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

What a great venue to have a reception! The bride and groom were married in the Coastal Plains Gallery and then the reception flowed from one section to another until they arrived at the huge saltwater tank where they had their dinner and dance floor set up.

The bride and groom had a harpist playing during the cocktail hour and a DJ for the dinner and dancing. I only took a few pictures but you can see more pictures on Pam's blog.

Take a look at the Aquarium's rental page to see additional photos of other events they have hosted. If you are thinking of a beach wedding or a wedding somewhere on the coast, the Aquarium is a wonderful idea. Your guests will have a wonderful time. And because of all the interesting exhibits and tanks, it doesn't really require a lot of decorating. Some nice linens and a simple centerpiece and your event will be stunning.