Red Letter Events was assigned the theme “Winter Desert” for the inaugural show in Tacoma. It was our challenge to create a vignette that incorporated these two opposing themes. To do this, we used rustic and organic elements like burlap, twine, wood, sand, moss and succulent plants. We also used snow and cool blue lighting, as well as blue napkins and ribbon, and brown and blue fonts in the paperie.

We want to give a big ‘thank you’ to our vignette partners, Trendy Event Rentals, Burning Cupcakes, Valerie’s Invites, AA Party Rentals and Mercer Island Florist for all of the time and materials you put into this event.

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What you’ll need:

1. One box cake mix of your choice. Red Velvet is always pretty and Devil’s Food is my favorite.
2. One container of ready-made icing. Any color or flavor will do, but we love Cream Cheese.
3. Candy Melts or Chocolate Bark (see notes below).
4. Lollipop sticks
5. Waxed Paper

Directions:

1. You begin by baking the cake in a 9 x 13 pan according to directions. Let it cool for several hours or overnight. Then you crumble the cake in a large bowl. Then you dump in the tub of icing (a little less than the full tub, actually) and stir the mixture together. Slowly but surely, the icing will totally incorporate into the cake and the mixture will be totally uniform in color when perfectly combined.
2. Grab pinches of the mixture and roll them into balls. Insert a lollipop stick into the center of each ball. Then: IMPORTANT! You place the cake balls into the fridge for a couple of hours OR into the freezer for a little while. You want them to be nice and firm. Not frozen solid, but not mushy.
3. Now, just before you pull them out of the fridge/freezer, you need to melt your chocolate. Chocolate or Almond Bark from the baking aisle at the supermarket works well or pop some wafers or bark into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30-second increment. You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler. The key when you’re melting the chocolate is to begin using it just after it fully melts and not to continue heating it. Under constant heat, it can dry out.
4. Once it’s thoroughly melted, just dip the cake ball into the chocolate using the lolly pop stick. Since it’s cold and firm, it should hold its shape and not crumble. Notice that you’ll want the melted chocolate to be deep enough in the bowl to allow the cake ball to be almost submerged. Tall, deep bowls are better then wide, shallow bowls. Also, keep your chocolate at a moderate temperature. If it is too hot, it won’t be thick enough to coat the cake ball, but if it is too cold it will be too difficult to manage and you won’t get a smooth finish.
5. Once you submerge your cake ball and it is covered evenly hold the cake pop upwards, you can take an angled knife to clean up the bottom of the cake pop and make a clean edge. Once the pop is covered, while warm either dip or sprinkle confetti or any kind of sugar glitter, then place in a Styrofoam hold to dry and use to later serve in.

A new favorite (and super simple!) design that I’ve seen featured by Martha Stewart recently is a DIY table number design, where you have a friend (or your engagement photographer) take photos of you and your groom-to-be holding a number in front of you both, and place each photo in a frame that matches your wedding colors, theme and/or design. You will need one number photo for each table you will have at your reception. You don’t have to limit yourself to numbers either – you could give each table a name, and even it’s own theme – just as long as you also use that number or name on the escort cards too, and your guests can easily read it.

You could be as cute, or as fun and crazy as you want to be – changing outfits, backgrounds scenery and number styles! You could be riding a tandem bike, standing in a grassy field, hiking a mountain (or standing at the top in victory!), walking on an old railroad track, sitting in a boat, or doing some sort of fun activities that you love doing together!

Our partner Kim with Vivid Images Photography, featured in our Behind the Veil blog series, would work with you to take some amazing photos, with all of the fabulous, secret locations she enjoys shooting at!

Although it takes more time than just buying pre-made table number cards from a store, it also allows you to express your individuality – and really, it’s all about having fun throughout the entire wedding planning process, making your wedding unique and individual, and enjoying life with your soon-to-be-groom!

Ice Cream Bars are becoming increasingly popular. You can offer a variety of different ice cream flavors for your guests to choose from (or just select a few), and have an assortment of cute glass containers full of candies, nuts, cherries, bananas, hot fudge, berries, cookies, sprinkles, brownie pieces… you name it. Oh, and don’t forget the whipped cream! Your Ice Cream Bar could be self serve, or you could have someone staff the table during your reception to serve your guests. It would be a refreshing late night treat, after hours of dancing the night away – or if you’re truly a non-traditional bride, you could offer an Ice Cream Bar instead of wedding cake!

Popcorn Bars have also become popular recently – you can offer it as your take-home favor for guests, or as a novelty treat during your reception. Offering a few different flavors to choose from would be a nice option (you can pre-make the flavors at home prior to the wedding) – and offer a few mix-in treats such as nuts, M&M’s, Sour Patch Kids and other types of candies. If you don’t want to try to pull it together on your own, you can hire someone to do it for you.

We’ll be featuring a Seattle-area based popcorn vendor called Pop! Gourmet Popcorn at the Tacoma Art Museum during the Wedding Walk Tacoma on February 20, 2011. You can check out their popcorn mix-in station to see if you’d like to include popcorn at your wedding. Hope to see you there!

One fun idea is to create program pockets for your ceremony programs. They are very simple to make. I would recommend finding a fun double-sided paper that coordinates with your wedding theme and colors, in the scrapbooking paper section of your local craft store such as JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts and Michaels. Create a master pattern for the pocket, making the pocket just slightly larger than your program so that it slips in and out somewhat easily. As in the photo, you can hang them from the chair with ribbon, by punching a hole at the top and securing the hole with a grommet. Another idea would be to display the program on each seat, or have your ushers distribute them at the door. You can also use this pocket idea to display menus at the reception.

Monogram letters of your initials is a personal way to decorate the entrance to your ceremony, and is rather inexpensive to include in your design plans. Many craft stores have a section with unfinished wood items – including letters and numbers. I would recommend using 1 to 1-1/2 inch satin ribbon to hang the letters, without wire in it. Satin ribbon is smooth, and easy to manipulate and tie a simple bow.

Entirely covering your center aisle with rose petals is a beautiful, romantic and whimsical visual effect. I especially love the large clear hurricane vases filled with water and rose petals, with lit floating candles. This would especially be wonderful for an outdoor garden wedding. The vases could be re-used later as decorations on your reception tables, lining the edge of an outdoor patio, or on your buffet and guest book tables. If you transfer the vases with candles, make sure to have an extra set of candles available for each vase, as floating candles will not re-light once they have water mixed in with the wax.

Red Letter Events recommends renting a large quantity of vases instead of purchasing, unless you plan to re-sell them to another bride at A Grand Wedding. We support brides who would like to ‘Go Green’ with their wedding, and we are glad to re-use some of the decorations from your Ceremony at the Reception.

One of my favorite new ideas this season is from Martha Stewart – glittered pumpkins! This would be relatively easy to make on your own with real pumpkins and squash, or you can buy them pre-made from Martha’s website. If you make your own, I would recommend using tacky glue or spray glue and clear or iridescent glitter. Even better is spray paint or spray glitter!

Placing a few leaf votive candle holders on each guest table around your centerpiece will shimmer, reflecting shadows on the table cloths when the lights are dim. Utilize seasonal flowers, berries and branches as a centerpiece to each guest table. Not every centerpiece needs to look the same either! You can make each one unique by using a different vase, varying height of the arrangements, having clusters of small arrangements at some tables but a single large arrangement at others, and utilizing different varieties of flowers, leaves and berries for each arrangement.

Top off your autumn themed wedding by serving hot spiced cider served with a slice of Carrot or Spice wedding cake smothered in Butter cream frosting. As a wedding favor for your guests, create small packets of mulling spices and provide instructions for making their own spiced cider at home.

Colin Cowie is a fantastic event designer – I sincerely admire and appreciate his beautiful and detailed work! I’m sure many of you have seen Colin’s show, “Get Married with Colin Cowie” on Lifetime.

I found an elegant and inspiring photo of a reception on Colin’s website today to share with you. This French style reception is located outdoors in a beautiful tent that has been set up with sheer tulle walls and a drop ceiling to cover all of the poles and electrical wires. The tulle walls allow a more intimate feeling within the tent, while also allowing shadows of the landscaping to filter through.

The chandeliers add such a beautiful ambiance to the tent, providing a small amount of light and sparkle, while drawing your eyes upward – and creating a sense of balance of dark and light colors. Also the dark metal on the chandeliers coordinates well with the dark wooden chairs, and is a great contrast with the white and ivory flowers and table cloths. The hanging crystals soften the look of the metal, and make the chandeliers appear more feminine in style.

An interesting effect that Colin created is an under glow coming from the table cloths, by putting lighting under the tables. This has added a significant amount of lighting to the space, where it would have been quite dark without it. This adds an entirely new element to a dimly lit tent reception.

Ivory pillar candles adorn the table, sitting on top of dark bronze metal pillar holders. Each long table includes two large pedestal flower arrangements, and three small clustered flower arrangements all in neutral colors of soft antique peach/pink, white and ivory.

Overall, the beautiful décor and unique lighting elements have made this French style wedding reception one worthy of sharing with you.