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.

Come join us at the Tacoma Art Museum on April 8th for and evening of delicious appetizers and beverages, provided by Jonz Catering.

You’ll get to meet an array of wedding vendors in an intimate setting, pick up some beautiful decorating ideas, and see the museum as you’ve never seen it before.

This free event is by invitation only. Please RSVP with us by email or by phone.

Come join us at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall on March 27th & 28th for the Tacoma Spring Wedding Expo. We’re going to be there with some great partners and an amazing 20′x20′ booth, showcasing our collective talents and services.

We’ve also put together a great package just for Expo brides – wedding-day coordination, photography, videography and a DJ, all for under $5,000. You’ll save over $1,500, just by attending the show. You won’t find a better deal at the Expo than this.

On site will be Kim with Vivid Images Photography, Adam with Adam’s DJ Service and Anthony with Motion of Life Video Productions. And of course, we’ll be there too. Be sure to ask us about our Expo pricing, as well as our group package with Kim, Adam and Anthony.

Tickets are $15. Sign up now and get 2 tickets for the price of one. Limited time offer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Whether or not you get to visit this bridal show, we thought we’d give you a sneak peak at some of our favorite things at this year’s show.

Favorite Unique Idea: Directly to the left and right of one of the entrances to the main hall where vendor exhibits are located sits Adam’s DJ Service showcasing these unique and cool inflatable lights from Air Sculptures. They come in various shapes and sizes – some hang from the ceiling, some sit on the floor, and there’s one that can act as a wall or divider. They’re all lightable in just about any color imaginable and make for really neat lighting.

Favorite Fun Idea: Straight down the center aisle from Adam’s DJ Service and those inflatable lights is Justin with Party Outfitters. Our favorite idea to add some fun to your reception, as well as some touching and crazy moments, is their photo booth. It’s been a common tradition in recent years to provide your guests with disposable cameras, so that they can take candid photos of your reception.

Not saying you couldn’t still do that, but how fun would it be to have a photo booth set up so your guests can take unlimited serious, silly or outrageous photos of themselves. And this option comes with instant gratification – within a minute, a strip of photos is deposited into their hands to take as a momento of your wedding. Not only that, but you get a copy of every photo taken in the booth at your event.

Party Outfitters will deliver the photo booth to your venue, set it up, and pick it up after the reception is done. You even have the option to have the photo booth manned by a staff member to assist your guests in taking photos – great for the technologically challenged guests. They even have all kinds of arcade games and billiards too.

Tastiest Treat: Since our center of referrence today is the inflatable lights, we’ll stick with it – just to the left is our favorite treat of the event, Affairs Chocolate & Desserts. If you get within five feet of Gay’s table, you’ll start to smell and see why. The plesant and intoxicating arroma of chocolate draws you closer. Gay places a small truffle in your hand. You place that truffle in your mouth. You book your wedding date with her. Then about five minutes after you leave her booth, you wake up from your chocolate-induced trance. I’ve got a feeling you won’t regret what you did though.

Favorite Decor Idea: Betta Mansions‘ variety of center pieces featuring all shapes and sizes of betta fish definately qualify as one of our favorite unique ideas, but we love the spandex chair covers that they have. They are form fitting and don’t hang on the floor – so no fabric to trip on – and when you swing around in the chair, the snug spandex fit keeps the fabric in place. They’re sleek and they’re practical, and they come in fourty-seven different colors. We really like the look, and we think you will too.