New Jersey Wedding Venue at the Manor
For those who already use Pinterest, the image-oriented social media platform, you know how addictive it can be–for brides especially. By giving users a way to easily catalog their interests by “pinning” ideas, information, photos, and more found across the web or uploaded on your own to a virtual pinboard–or even “re-pinning” favorites from other users–the site has opened up a new universe where creativity and new ideas can be discovered and shared. Read more…
Small Wedding
Some of the couples we meet with at our northern New Jersey wedding venues say their dream wedding is a small one, a more intimate event that’s more their style. As you begin planning your wedding, you may be trying to decide if you want a large or a small wedding, and we can help you make that very important decision that factors into so many of your biggest and smallest wedding planning details. Read more…
Big Wedding
When you’re planning your wedding, one of the first questions you’ll ask yourself – which has an enormous impact on everything from your wedding budget to your choice of wedding venue – is “How big do we want the wedding to be?” For every bride and groom, the issue of a wedding’s size is very subjective – you might think a 150 guest wedding is big, or a 400+ guest wedding is your definition of a big wedding. The number you come up with will form many of your wedding decisions, and factor into your wedding’s style. Read more…
Wedding Bouquet via Flickr: jenniamigo
Tips For Brides to Bring Nature & Romance Into Your Special Day
In a previous post about natural wedding trends we discussed wedding gowns and bride’s maids dresses, wedding invitations, and table card ideas, as well as wedding hair and makeup that we have seen gaining increased popularity in our NJ weddings. But natural wedding trends extend to so much else, especially flowers and décor. Read more…
Unique Wedding via Flickr: GrandVelasRivieraMaya
Tips For Brides About Using Pinterest for Stress-Free Wedding Planning
As we discussed in a previous blog post about Pinterest (www.pinterest.com), this virtual pinboard is a great way for brides- and grooms-to-be to collect wedding style ideas all in one place, organize your thoughts, learn wedding tips and trends, and share your wedding planning with those you love. To that end, here are a few more tips for using Pinterest to help gather creative wedding ideas and plan your ideal wedding: Read more…
It’s now one of the top wedding trends of 2012 to have the bride and groom see each other before the wedding ceremony so that they may take their wedding photos.
Taking Photos
If you choose this timing for your pre-wedding photos, there are several advantages:
- You look your very best, having just had your hair and makeup done, and everyone else looks their best as well…you’re not taking photos five hours after your wedding beauty services, so you look fresher and prettier, as does your wedding gown.
- Your pre-wedding photos will not be rushed. Set at least an hour and a half for this relaxed photo session, so that you can get wonderful couple portraits and group photos. Read more…
Every bridal party wants to throw a spectacular, unforgettable bridal shower that suits the bride’s personality and style, and provides guests with fine cuisine and great entertainment. Here, we offer some of the top new bridal shower trends that can make your bridal showera stand-out crowd-pleaser that the bride will love.
Bridal Shower
- Choose a fine dining experience with the best buffet dinner or a gourmet Sunday brunch. Excellent cuisine makes a bridal party a success, and even on a budget, chefs can help tailor your menu to impress.
- More bridal showers are planned as brunches, which offers an array of delectable fine cuisine menu options, and multiple desserts, plus wine and champagne, and the earlier time of day allows guests to still have some of that weekend day to their own planning.
- There is more emphasis on food and wine pairings, with sophisticated menu options paired to great vintages.
- Offer unique bar menu items, following the top wedding trends of offering champagne and champagne cocktails, mimosas, bellinis, mojitos, prosecco, creative martinis and sangrias.
- Create a signature drink – one of the top wedding trends – and name it after the bride
- Offer not just a cake, but additional dessert items as well, such as family-favorite tiramisu, bananas foster, chocolate-covered strawberries, and other sweet treats. Read more…
Being Introduced Into the Room
Making an unforgettable entrance to your wedding reception is now a top trend. While there are some couples who happily embrace the traditional method – the emcee announces each bridal party member, parent and the couple by name, and everyone cheers as these honored people walk into the room – many of our New Jersey and New York City wedding couples ask for a more creative Grand Entrance.
Here are the top new trends for making your entrance into your wedding reception venue:
- The deejay or band plays an upbeat song for the bridal party’s introductions, at which point the couples dance their way into the room. When it’s the parents’ turn to be announced, the music switches to a different, upbeat song chosen just for them. The wedding couple then gets a different song. (Our favorite New Jersey wedding deejays and bands can provide you with lists of song ideas.) Read more…
Jewish Wedding Ceremony
Your chuppah is the centerpiece of your wedding ceremony, and our Jewish wedding couples have designed beautiful chuppahs under which they become husband and wife. In our beautiful wedding location, we’ve seen elegant chuppahs, bejeweled chuppahs, floral-covered chuppahs, and true artistry done by local New Jersey wedding coordinators and floral designers in their designs.
We thought we’d share with you some of the top wedding décor trends related to chuppahs for Jewish weddings and interfaith weddings:
· Spectacular Sparkle. The expanse of a wedding chuppah, from the top tenting to the draping of the sides, is covered with thousands of hand-glued or hand-sewn Swarovski crystals in swirling designs, with some forming the wedding couple’s monogram. As an alternative to the all-over crystal décor design, we’ve also seen wide lines of crystals as a frame around the top and sides of the chuppah.
- Dangling ‘Diamonds.’ Also in the sparkle category, chuppahs often drip with wire-suspended crystals. There may be a lineup of a dozen crystals per wire, or one larger crystal bauble at the end of each line.
- Raining Orchids. A top wedding trend is suspending décor items. Clear wire is also used to suspend hundreds of fresh flowers, from all-white orchids, to colorful blends of white and blue orchids, gardenias and other elegant flowers. At informal garden weddings, the chuppah may be festooned with a raining wall of white and yellow daisies, which also outline the chuppah’s frame.
- Gorgeous Garlands. Our favorite New Jersey floral designers have wowed us with thick, lush green garlands outlining the chuppah frame and hanging in draping arches as the roof of the chuppah. These garlands may be purely made of greenery in visually interesting textures, or they may be dotted with white or colorful flowers.
- Elegant Simplicity. Hold the sparkle, hold the flowers, hold the garlands. A new trend in elegant wedding décor is a completely accent-free chuppah designed entirely of rich fabric, pleated and draped, providing an unadorned backdrop so that the bride’s wedding dress can sparkle and shine while she stands below it.
- Aisle Runners. Coordinated to the colors of the chuppah, a big wedding trend is a wide, decorative aisle runner leading up to the structure, often leading up steps to where the bride and groom will stand. Today’s aisle runner designs are colorful and bold, or sparkling with thousands of hand-attached crystals, with floral motifs and metallic accents, and perhaps the couple’s favorite saying at the beginning of the runner. At the infamous Kim Kardashian wedding, the extra-long aisle runner featured black flourishes at several points along its length, and couples with dramatic flair are emulating that celebrity wedding style.
- Fabulous Flooring. The bride and groom are setting down artistic flooring or a twist on the aisle runner to create a decorative carpet in color, shine and personalization.
- Tied Accents. The front curtains of the chuppah may be tied back with tasseled lengths of fabric, or similarly sparkly crystal accents, even fresh floral nosegays in metallic cones or holders at the entrance. This is a top décor choice for couples on limited wedding budgets.
- Pedestal Florals. On either side of the chuppah, large planters filled with tall, dramatic flowers and branches create a garden wonderland look that adds extra bridal beauty to the space around the chuppah, widening its decorative effect.
- Using Heirloom Items: As a way to add dazzle without straining the wedding budget, our Jewish wedding couples are in increasing number accenting their chuppahs with crystal-accented ties and other décor items their parents used at their own weddings. This adds a dash of personalization and extra meaning to the wedding ceremony.
Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, Pleasantdale Chateau
Wedding guest books have gotten so beautiful! Just a few years ago, it seemed like most brides and grooms bought standard, white or ivory, lined guest books from wedding websites – with or without the big, plumy pen – and now the same color and creativity that goes into modern wedding invitation design is going into the wedding guest book.
When guests arrive at the ceremony or cocktail party venue, the first thing they see on display is the guest book they’re expected to sign as a record of their presence at the wedding celebration. Here are the new trends of the guest book awaiting their signatures, the guest book that becomes such a priceless keepsake to the bride and groom:
Guest Book Colors
Wedding guest book covers may still be selected for their traditional colors of white, ivory, or ecru, with silver or gold trim or accents including the simple embossed wording of Guest Book on the cover. Many of our New Jersey brides and grooms say they like to keep the ‘something old’ of a traditional guest book design, since so much of their wedding is non-traditional, colorful and creative. And then we see many local wedding couples choosing, or making, guest books in beautiful colors that may match or coordinate with their wedding’s signature colors. The biggest wedding color trends reflected in guest books right now are pale pink, sage green, lavender, and the bright shades of turquoise, tangerine, sunshine yellow and lipstick red. The guest book welcomes guests with their first glimpse at the shades of the wedding venue décor.
Guest Book Cards, Papers and Stickers
Creative brides and grooms seek out easy, money-saving wedding DIY crafts, and the make-your-own wedding guest book trend has introduced this guest-pleasing option: the guest book table welcomes guests to sign individual, unlined index cards chosen for their coordination with the wedding décor colors, inscribing their messages on, say, lavender index cards with a deep purple pen, or with a shimmering silver pen. The cards are then dropped into a silver serving bowl or glass bowl, to be assembled into a scrapbook later.
Another trend is for guests to sign individual wedding theme-shaped cards or papers, such as heart-shaped paper stock, and wedding photo booth attendants now affix on guest book pages the self-stick strips of guests’ photo booth pictures, and finally the guests sign with silver pen or colorful Sharpie on ‘their page,’ alongside their sweet or silly photo booth pictures.
What Guests Are Writing
In years past, wedding guests simply signed their names on a line in a basic wedding guest book, and now we’re seeing wedding guests write heartfelt messages of “Congratulations!” and “We are so happy for you! What a beautiful, perfect day!” on a half- or whole page of the guest book. Brides and grooms love having the keepsake of personal messages written in their loved ones’ handwriting, which becomes all the more special over time.
Best,
Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, pleasantdale Château
