This year, 100% of our clients through out the receiving line, and we couldn’t have been happier about it. For the sake of soon-to-be wed couples that are trying to figure out what to do to acknowledge their guests, but really aren’t excited about the thought of a receiving line, I thought I’d offer some alternatives to consider.

• Mingling during the cocktail hour – Instead of planning a grand entrance to your reception with your new spouse, you could enjoy a more casual entrance to your party and mingle with your guests during the cocktail hour. You probably won’t have to go far though, because what you might find is that an informal line will start to form, and the guests that really want to greet you will come to you.
• Releasing tables to the buffet – Of course this only works if you’re planning dinner buffet-style, and not plated. The idea is that you and your new spouse visit each table, receive your congratulations, thank your guests, and excuse them to the buffet before moving on to the next table. This keeps the buffet line short and managed, and gives you and your guests a moment together. Don’t forget about you, though. To pull this off, I recommend having your wedding coordinator prepare a plate of food for the both of you, and eat a bit before you make your entrance into your reception. Depending on the size of your guest list, releasing tables could take a while, and if you don’t eat before, you’ll be starving by the time you’re done. That, and there won’t be much time before toasts, cake cutting, and the many other reception events replace your time to eat.
• Mingling at guest tables – This works for buffet or plated dinners. You and your wedding party lead the way to the buffet, or receive your plated dinner first. Because you’re first to eat, you’ll likely be first to be done. When you’re done eating, you and your new spouse can spend a few minutes at each guest table. This is less rushed than releasing tables to the buffet, but you still need your wedding coordinator to manage your time, otherwise, you may not make it to every table before reception events begin, and you lose your opportunity.

While we don’t wish ill will on the poor Receiving Line, or any clients that are planning on “the long walk”, we are glad to see this tradition fading into the past. Always have fun planning your wedding, and don’t be afraid to make some new traditions.

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.

Here are a few of our favorite first dance song selections:

Maybe you’d like a barefoot barbeque on the beach with a bonfire, tiki torches lit all around, and s’mores as a late night treat. Maybe your style is an elegant ceremony overlooking a vineyard, and reception in a winery with dancing until late into the night. Or maybe you’d like your reception at a New York styled loft, with a modern feel overlooking a cityscape – with simple designs, white lanterns hung from the ceiling, Frou Frou’s ‘Let Go’ playing in the background, with popcorn and mini burgers as a latenight snack after hours of dancing.

Consider how many guests you would like to invite to celebrate your nuptials – the venue’s capacity can help narrow down your choices. For a small celebration, a ceremony and reception on your parent’s beautifully landscaped lawn may be a wonderful option for you.

Don’t feel pressured to rush into reserving a venue that you’re not sure about. More traditional venues in past years have included local neighborhood banquet halls, and hotel ballrooms. Consider less traditional options – a museum space such as the Tacoma Art Museum, an aquarium such as Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, a garden such as Rock Creek Gardens, a public or private golf course such as Golf Club at Newcastle, or even a destination wedding to a remote tropical island. Your venue can set the mood and style for your event – so make sure that you love the one you reserve, and it truly represents you and your style.

The saying is true: Your wedding day will fly by and will be over before you know it. All of your guests will want at least a few minutes of your time during your reception – your wedding planner will occasionally steal you away from conversations to keep the event flowing and make sure everything happens that is intended to happen in the timeline. When contemplating how you will handle greeting all of your guests at your wedding, know that there are a few different choices you have to ensure everyone has a chance to briefly spend a few moments with you.

Option 1 – Traditional receiving line after the Ceremony:
This is the most efficient and quickest way to ensure that you greet everyone and thank them for attending your wedding. Typically the bride and groom, as well as their parents, will stand in a line immediately after the Ceremony in the lobby area of the Ceremony site – and all of the guests line up and offer hugs, kisses and congratulations to the happy couple and their family. The standing order is typically the bride’s parents first (if they host the wedding), bride and groom, and finally groom’s parents. If grandparents are able to stand for a long period of time, they could also be included. The bridal party can be included in the receiving line as well; however it can be awkward for guests who do not know them. A traditional receiving line is considered ‘etiquette’ if your guest list is over 50 guests.

Option 2 – Dismiss individual rows from the Ceremony:
This works similar to the receiving line, except that it is not a very quick process. Everyone remains seated until the bride and groom release their row. Guests tend to become restless, waiting for their row to be excused, if you have a large number of guests attending. This option would work best for a small wedding.

Option 3 – Greet guests at their tables during dinner:
Greeting guests while they are seated during dinner is my favorite option. This is a less formal option than the traditional receiving line, and while conversations must be brief, the bride and groom still have the opportunity to greet everyone. Something fun to incorporate is to have the Photographer follow the bride and groom around to each table to take a photo of the bride and groom with each table. Then they will have a permanent memory of each person that attended their wedding.

Option 4 – Mingle around the reception during the cocktail hour:
Mingling works best for a small group of guests, not a large group – otherwise it is very possible that some of your guests will never be greeted. You will need to keep conversations short and be prepared to let guests know that you need to visit with others. This process can be a bit more stressful than the others since it is possible that you may not be able to visit with everyone.

Tools and Materials

• Spray adhesive
• Decorative paper
• Card stock
• Template
• Pencil
• Scissors

Floaty Butterflies How-To

1. Spray-mount paper onto card stock or paper that’s colored on both sides; fold in half. Place butterfly template on paper with flat edge of butterfly’s body flush against fold; trace.
2. Cut out butterfly along inside of the traced line and cut out V-shaped notch along the folded edge. Open slightly. Slip notch over rim of glass to hold butterfly in place.

Ribbon-Belt How-To

1. Print template onto white card stock.
2. Cut at crop marks using a metal straight edge and a craft knife (don’t cut all the way to the paper’s edges; this will leave the crop marks intact for each subsequent cut). Write or calligraph guests’ names on cards. (If you want to print them using a desktop publishing program or Microsoft Word, import the full-size PDF into your document as an image, and layer text boxes over it. Then print out, and cut into cards.)

For Each Place Card

1. To cut the slits for the ribbon “belt,” first measure the ribbon’s width (we used a ribbon that was 36 mm or 1 7/16″ wide). Use a craft knife and a metal straight edge to cut slits at the ends of the card about 3/8″ in from the colored border; the slits should be only slightly wider than the ribbon itself. (Use the tip of the craft knife to make small indentations to mark the beginning and end of each slit, if you are uncomfortable cutting it freehand.)
2. Cut the ribbon into a 12″ length. To notch the tails, pinch each end of ribbon in half, and cut at an angle to make a deep V. Slide the ribbon ends through the slits in the card from the back, and adjust the spacing. (Use a spare napkin the same size as your dinner napkins to estimate the positioning of the card.) Fold the ends of the ribbon back away from the card, and finger-press along the fold. If the ribbon doesn’t lie flat, use double-sided tape under each tail to secure.
3. Slide the practice napkin out from the middle, and make the rest of the napkin “belts” following your first sample.
4. To slide the “belts” into place just before your wedding, bend the folded napkin slightly along the middle, and slip it into the ribbon loop, then flatten it back out.

This is Part 3 in our 3 part series on saving money while getting the wedding you want. There were great ideas long before these, and there will be more tips after this series – but we hope that some of the info in this series has been a help to you in planning your wedding. If you find yourself in need of some cost saving or trendy ideas, or you need help on your wedding day, please call or email us – we’ll be right there for you.

Videography: Limiting the events that your videographer captures will save room in your budget. Instead of having them film from the time you start getting ready to the time you ride of into the sunset, you could have them capture just the ceremony and the formal events of your reception.

Wedding Cake: Instead of getting an elaborate cake for display and eating, you could have a small 2-tier cake made for display, and then have a sheet cake made that will be served to guests.

Favors: You can save on cost by making your own classic favors from scratch. Buy tulle circles (or cut them out yourself) and wrap some Hershey Kisses or Jordan Almonds with ribbon tied around it. Other affordable favors might include paper fans, coasters, candles, or handmade chocolates.

Hair & Make-up: Depending on the look you want, hair and make-up are easily done by you or a friend. More complicated hair styles will require someone with some expertise, though.

Wedding Planning & Coordination: With enough time and enough organizational skills, you can plan your own wedding and save the money for day-of wedding coordination. Having a professional wedding planner coordinate your wedding day allows you, your family and friends to enjoy your wedding day instead of working. We have the experience with vendors and venues to make sure that your wedding day looks just like you imagined it.

This is Part 2 in our 3 part series on saving money while getting the wedding you want. Why a series? Because trilogies are cool and too many tips at once can make you sick, like too much wedding cake in an hour. Read on our weary friend:

Transportation: A handsome new stretched limo can add a fun dynamic to your wedding. Instead of picking up everyone in your wedding party and taking them to the ceremony, then to the reception, you can save a bit of money and still enjoy the ride by renting it just for your send-off.

Reception Venue: Having your reception at a friend or family member’s home will save you the most money, by far. But, if that’s not a possibility because of guest count or you just don’t know anyone that can accommodate, look for venues that have a low minimum hour expectation, and then limit the total time for your reception. You don’t have to party until midnight to entertain your guests. Half your guests will leave after the formal dances are done anyway. You can make a rockin’ reception in just a few hours.

Catering: Feeding your guests can get expensive - period. A low end estimated cost for a catered dinner is around $30/per person plus tax & gratuity (18%) is approx $5,800 for 150 guests. To scale down the cost of food, you could have a late evening or early to mid-afternoon wedding so that it does not fall during a meal time, and just serve your guests hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

Reception Music:  Hiring a DJ that does an exceptional job at keeping guests entertained with music – no matter the age or background – and serving as your master of ceremonies is incredibly important. There are many people that do it, but few that do it well enough to get repeat or referral business. As with any hourly vendor, limiting the time of your reception can save you some money, but hiring the cheapest DJ is not a valid way to save money. With any DJ you hire, make sure to check references and ask for a sample of their work – either a recording, or to stop by an event and see them in action. Don’t expect to get to come to a wedding they’ll be at though – would you want a stranger at your wedding? It’s rare you’d get to tag along at a reception.

Photography: You will have your wedding photos forever, so choose your photographer wisely. Like hiring a DJ, the least expensive photographer isn’t always the best choice. Ask for referrals and look through their portfolio. Asking for custom package quotes and limiting the number of hours that you require them to be with you can save some money you can put into other areas of your wedding..

Look for Part 3 coming soon. And if you have any tips that you’ve used or like but don’t see here, please comment and share.

More and more brides and grooms are asking us how to fit all their dreams and desires into their wedding day on a budget that isn’t as big as it once was. Here’s the good news – it’s totally possible to have the wedding of your dreams on a limited budget – you just need to think outside the box to get there. Sounds like a good time for a quick tip series. This will be Part 1 in a 3 part series – because trilogies are cool and too many tips at once can make you sick, like too much wedding cake in an hour. So here we go:

Ceremony Venue: Set up your ceremony in a large back yard of a friend or family member, or have it at a local park ($50-150). Rent chairs from a party store such as AA Party Rental or Alexander Party Rentals for approx $300 including delivery/pick-up for 150 chairs. Metro Parks Tacoma offers the Rose Garden at Point Defiance during the summer for $400 for 2 hours (chairs included).

Bouquets, Boutonnieres & Floral Arrangements: Local farmer’s markets are a great place to meet growers and florists, and are a wonderful place to find flowers in the summer-time, as long as you aren’t particular about the colors. You might contact a local grower early in the year before they plant their seeds and see if they will grow specific flowers or colors for your wedding. Buying in bulk from a grower will save you big money too. You and your friends could make the flower table arrangements and bouquets during the last couple of days prior to the wedding. You can also find affordable vases at your local dollar store. Talking to a florist early about flowers that are in season during your wedding will help make better decisions and save you money.

Officiant: The cost for an officiant is generally around $200 – if you belong to a church or synagogue, you might ask your pastor or rabbi if they’d be willing to officiate your wedding for free as a gift.

Stationery: Buy make-it-yourself kits from Michaels craft store for around $40 for 50 invitations ($120 for 150). Generally you can find matching place cards, table numbers, thank you cards, and more in the pattern you’ve chosen. They are easy to make and print from your own computer. If you’d like to have raised lettering, you can purchase embossing powder and an embossing heat gun to create raised letters immediately after printing.

Attire: Attending a bridal dress show like the South Sound Wedding Show can net you deep discounts on designer wedding dresses. Or, choose a dress from David’s Bridal in their online outlet section.

Look for Part 2 coming soon. And if you have any tips that you’ve used or like but don’t see here, please comment and share.

Hosting a family reunion at a local park can be a fun way to gather together. Pierce County and the City of Puyallup have a variety of parks with picnic shelters available for rent – my personal favorites include Bradley Lake, Clarks Creek, DeCoursey and Wildwood Parks. A theme idea for your family reunion could be an “Old Fashioned Family Picnic”. Imagine picnic tables set up with white and red checkerboard table cloths, white china dishes, red linen napkins, a wooden basket filled with mixed nuts located in the center of the table with a fresh edible fruit arrangement in the middle, with pitchers of icy pink and yellow lemonade on the table ready to enjoyed. Lunch or dinner could include a buffet of traditional barbecue fare – hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon slices, macaroni salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, baked potato salad and kettle chips. The perfect dessert for a hot summer day would be a shaved ice machine offering a variety of flavors (you would need a power outlet, which most of the Puyallup picnic shelters offer).

Family reunions are not just about eating and comparing stories from years gone by, but also having fun together as a family and making new memories. Outdoor games are a great way to mingle and have fun as a group, and are also great ice breakers for families who may have some barriers to break through when they gather. Old fashioned game ideas include arranging a 3-legged-race, potato sack races, object-on-a-spoon race, badminton, croquet and bocce ball. Last but not least, buy or create an invitation that sets the tone for your Old Fashioned picnic theme. Happy picnicking!