Wedding Décor

Wedding Trends

Our Northern New Jersey wedding couples most often find that their families and friends give them wedding gifts in the form of a check in an envelope, but with weddings bringing friends, family and work associates together from all corners of the globe, we are seeing more wrapped wedding gifts at today’s wedding celebrations. That calls for a decorated wedding gift table in the reception ballroom, where guests may place and display their beautifully-wrapped wedding presents for the bride and groom.

Wedding décor methods apply to every detail in the wedding ballroom, large and small, so we and our New Jersey wedding coordinator contacts pay special attention to both the design and the functionality of the gift table. Here are the top trends for making your wedding gift table more attractive and fitting to your wedding theme and décor style:

1.      Your gift table linens can have a style of their own. They do not have to be the same color, fabric, texture and style as the wedding guest table linens. Many of our wedding couples choose an alternative color and style of linens for the gift table, guest book table and other wedding venue entrance display tables, and these might be accented, shimmery, crystal-sewn, even patterned linens that reach the floor on all sides for the most polished effect.

1. Add a table runner. Just like the wedding guest table décor, add a length of décor fabric to extend along the table to create a colorful, decorative effect.
2. Decorate the front edge of the table. An extra garland from your wedding floral décor can be strung along the front of your gift table. A fabric drape might have your monogram on it, in a color matching your guest table décor accents.
3. Place your wedding gift box or wedding gift birdcage on this table, ideally in the center, for guests to use and wrapped-gifts to surround.
4. Allow the gift display to take its own form as guests place their presents there. Don’t worry about arranging gifts on the table.
5. Skip the votive candle holders. Even though these are pretty accents, you don’t want a gift ribbon to fall into the flame and create a disaster. If you like the look of candlelight on the gift table, a top wedding idea is to set up flameless candles or LED light cubes in glass vases for a budget-friendly wedding décor look.
6. Provide room on either side of the gift table for guests to place extremely large wrapped gifts that cannot be placed on the table itself. When you allow room for these boxes, they will not pile up around the table, jutting into high traffic areas.
7. When you bring your wedding reception supplies to us prior to your wedding, bring a few large, empty, plastic-lidded bins in which we can securely pack your wedding gifts for home transport. We’re happy to help bring your gifts to your car, but we recommend these bins for easy use on your big day and also for organizing systems in your home after the wedding.

Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, Pleasantdale Chateau

One of the most important elements of beautiful wedding décor is the floral centerpiece set on each guest table, and here at our northern New Jersey wedding venue, we’re seeing gorgeous, innovative centerpieces inspired by the top wedding room décor trends shown in national and regional bridal magazines from North, Central and South Jersey, as well as the designs shown in real-wedding photo spreads of socialite New York City weddings. Here are the top trends to inspire you:

• Elevated floral centerpieces are back. While low-set floral bunches will always be popular for wedding table décor, today’s trends lift those large, lush, bountiful floral arrangements at least four feet off the tabletops, suspended on equally-gorgeous, decorated floral stands made of bronze, pewter, even wood in rustic-elegant wedding décor schemes.

• Elevated floral centerpieces contain multiple colors of flowers, most often a beautiful blend of brights and pastels.

• Classic, traditional floral pieces in ‘bridal white’ achieve great texture and dimension by using blends of cream and white shades.

• Elevated floral centerpieces reach down toward the tabletop in delicate drapings of floral strands, or a ‘willow tree’ effect of floral branches and suspended crystals on invisible wire.

• Crystals are being incorporated into floral centerpieces in greater number, in elegant style. They may be affixed by floral wire in stand-up, starburst effects, or individual crystals may even be pinned into the centers of roses. The crystals give a sparkling effect in the room when they reflect the flickering of candlelight and the glow of our soft lighting in the wedding reception room.

• New Jersey wedding couples now request the incorporation of locally-grown, in-season flowers to cut down on their carbon footprint, as a green wedding value in their day.

• New Jersey wedding couples are also using more leaves and greenery in their floral centerpieces, as well as in their general wedding room décor to coordinate with our garden wedding atmosphere. The use of greenery provides a lush, natural look and is also among the most effective budget wedding strategies.

• Centerpieces are arranged more often in clear glass vases, either rounds or squares, and also in tall rectangular shapes. Couples are also mixing up the sizes of their glass centerpiece vases to provide an eye-catching trio of low, medium and high-set centerpiece containers.

• Glass vases and bowls may also hold collections of colorful flower petals, with the bowls surrounded by color-matched votive candles in their own decorative glass votive holders.

Elements of nature play a new role in wedding centerpieces, just as they do in the designs of our own wedding gardens, so look into incorporating smooth river stones in neutral shades of gray, tan or brown, as well as mosses and tall, architectural branches to make your centerpieces stand out.

Have a great day!

Laura Madden, Senior Sales Manager, Pleasantdale Chateau

Every bride and groom wishes to personalize their wedding décor, looking at their wedding ceremony site, their wedding reception venue, their wedding gardens…and one of the most popular décor ideas right now is decorating with your wedding monogram.

When you entwine your first initials together, or simply use the initial of your new, shared last name, this style of décor carries a great sense of symbolism. Your new, married monogram depicts your partnership, the joining together of your lives.

Here are some of the most inspiring ways that our New Jersey wedding couples are incorporating wedding monograms into so many aspects of their wedding décor:

Ceremony Decor

• On your wedding programs, with your entwined monogram featured on the front of your wedding programs or as a small, top-of-page accent on each wedding program page.

• At the start of your aisle runner, with your wedding monogram design silkscreened beautifully onto the fabric.

• As a part of your unity candle décor (some styles of unity candles feature oval ‘frames’ where photos can be slid in. Use this ‘frame’ to showcase your entwined monogram instead)

• As part of aisle or pew décor, such as a small silver frame containing your single last-name initial, attached to a pew bow or floral accent piece.

Outdoor Wedding Garden Décor

• Individual flowers, such as white roses, spell out your last name initial or entwined first initials in a large garden hedge or shrub.
• Your wedding monogram can be spelled out in staked flowers on the grounds, perhaps by a walkway.

• Pedestals at the start of the aisle can display floral pieces that showcase your monogram in flowers.

Wedding Room Décor

• ‘Gobo’ lights can project your wedding monogram beautifully onto the dance floor or onto the reception ballroom walls.

• Your guest book can feature your beautiful, custom-designed wedding monogram on the cover, and also at the top of each page.

• Your monogram can be printed at the top or far left portion of your place cards.

• Your monogram can be printed on each table number sign.

• Your monogram can be printed at the top of each guest table menu card.

• Ice sculptures can be designed in your monogram design, set on buffet tables or on food station tables.

• Place setting plates and chargers can feature your married last initial monogram.

• Table runners and napkins can be printed or embroidered with your married monogram design.

• Centerpiece designs can be made using flower petals arranged into your monogram shape at the center of each guest table.

• Pillar candles used as table centerpieces can feature your wedding monogram.

• Wedding favor votive candles and favor boxes can be imprinted with your monogram.

Wedding Food Accents

• Your wedding cake can be piped with your beautiful, intricate married monogram as the ultimate in indulgent wedding décor.
• Cupcakes on the dessert table can be piped with your last initial on top.
• Our pastry chef can swirl your wedding monogram in dessert sauce onto each guest’s wedding cake serving plate.

Have a great day!

Laura Madden, Senior Sales Manager, Pleasantdale Chateau

Like many aspects of wedding décor, ice sculptures have returned to the top trends list after a brief absence, having gotten a style makeover and a big boost in intricacy of patterns and presentation. Here at The The Manor in West Orange, our in-house master ice sculptors – a father and son team who have been part of our family for over 30 years – have created gorgeous ice sculptures for display in our wedding banquet rooms and at our outdoor garden weddings. Our sophisticated, style-savvy New Jersey and New York City brides and grooms consult with our ice sculptors in order to select and co-design beautiful ice sculptures matching their wedding’s themes and colors, to accent their cocktail hours, their reception décor, and even their location entryways to make a fabulous first impression on guests.

This resurgence of stunningly-cut, intricately-detailed and beautifully-lit ice sculptures as seen in our wedding venue makes the couple’s wedding décor stand out with the kind of attention to detail that’s often seen at celebrity weddings and royal weddings.

Here are the top trends in ice sculpture designs for your wedding:

• Welcome guests to your indoor wedding venue by placing a 5-foot or taller ice sculpture on a gorgeous table set right inside the entrance doors. Surround the ice sculpture with low-set fresh flowers in small glass or crystal bowls or vases to carry the ‘ice’ effect across the entirety of the table.

• Choose a unique theme and shape for your wedding décor ice sculpture. Our Passaic County, Morris County, Somerset County and other regional wedding couples have recently looked beyond the traditional oversized heart to such wedding symbols as intertwined wedding rings, wedding doves, and wedding swans. With a garden wedding theme in mind, many wedding couples have commissioned ice sculptures in the shapes of butterflies, hummingbirds, floral bouquets, and seasonal and cultural shapes may also be expertly carved and intricately finished in a unique design.

• Engrave your names, initials or monogram on one, central, focal-point décor piece to personalize your ice sculpture ‘collection’ throughout your reception rooms and wedding gardens, or feature your full names on this one, large ‘centerpiece’ sculpture, while the additional, smaller ones feature just your initials.

• Lighting effects now make the ice sculpture a true work of art, with ice design artists training décor effects lighting on the ice sculpture from above, and also from within the ice sculpture. White, pastels or bright colors are used like paints on an easel to create the perfect, complimentary effect for an ice sculpture, and wedding décor takes a modern twist when eco-friendly LED light blocks are placed inside smaller ice sculptures.

• Speaking of smaller ice sculptures, it’s becoming a beautiful wedding décor trend to set small, individual ice sculptures as the centerpieces on each of the wedding room guest tables. Choose an identical style for each table, or select different theme-coordinating designs – such as different flowers or different butterflies – for each table.

• Set themed ice sculptures on your buffet tables, as décor on food stations, and also behind your cocktail bar. The design of each sculpture is sure to impress in its size and detailing, as well as its sparkling in the room’s lighting.

• A fun aspect of a cocktail party bar setting is offering a more refined twist on the ‘ice luge’ that you might see in more casual lounges or collegiate nightclubs. In this more upscale presentation, our bar managers pour flavored vodkas or other liquors down an intricate, impressive ice luge and into a stylish serving glass.

• Also at the bar, our ice sculpture masters can create ice blocks in squares or cylinder shapes, fill them with ice shavings, and place cone-shaped vodka glasses or stemless drink glasses in them for a stylish any-season drinks presentation. Especially when they feature a glowing block of colorful LED light below the ice shaving surface, giving this ice sculpture a magical, gemlike effect.

Thank you,

The Manor

A growing trend in wedding décor is the creative showcasing of the bride’s and groom’s family wedding photographs. It’s long been a tradition, especially among our New Jersey wedding couples, to display framed family wedding portraits at the reception, giving guests the chance to see the bride’s and groom’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and siblings in their fabulous wedding day attire, standing before stunning scenery in a wedding garden or aligned on a grand staircase. Especially in wedding portraits from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the details of the bride’s dress and bouquet can be quite breathtaking.

Such a display pays tribute not just to wedding fashion, but to the couple’s relatives and ancestors, including the marriage relationships that served as great inspirations to the bride and groom. Relatives in attendance at the wedding are especially touched to see generations of family honored in this way.

You’re not limited to the traditional arrangement of family photos lined up on a long table by the reception’s entrance, as you’ve likely seen time and time again at other weddings. Today’s fresh take on family photos as wedding décor offers the following display trends:

• Switch family photos carefully from their original frames into all-matching, coordinated frames such as sleek and simple silver frames or ornate filigree frames for a unified look.

• Display family wedding photos in colored frames, including pastel pearlized designs or brightly-hued frames.

• Scan all of your differently-sized family wedding photos and print them onto photo quality card stock in 3”x5” or 4”x6” size. Frame each small photo in a clear plastic frame, and use colorful or black and white ribbon to hang each from a potted, living ‘family tree’ that stands next to your guest book table. After the wedding, the potted tree comes home with you and is planted on your property.

• Display photo frames at different heights. Place some on table level, and some on glass or decorative ceramic footed pedestals of varying heights, with a collection of colorful votive candles and flower petals interspersed between them.

• Pair each framed photo with a separate, smaller frame containing your computer-printed notes on who’s in each picture, where and when the photo was taken, and perhaps even a treasured anecdote about that couple.

• Skip the framed photos and edit a slideshow of family wedding photos that play on a small plasma television set on your guest book table.

• Replace the ‘all about us’ video montage that opens some wedding receptions with a ‘memory lane’ video presentation featuring wonderful family wedding portraits and other images. Guests will be so impressed that you chose to open your reception with a tribute to the loved ones who came before you, displaying the importance you place on family and your lineage.

Best,

Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, Pleasantdale Château

One of the first opportunities you’ll get to impress your wedding guests is the design of your ceremony setting, whether it’s in a ballroom or outdoors in a garden wedding scene. At the forefront is the trellis, chuppah, or altar where you’ll take your vows, and the surrounding wedding décor that makes so much of a visual impact in person and in your wedding photos is your ceremony seating.

Wedding Décor

Here at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, New Jersey, our wedding ceremony décor has always provided for attractive, elegant guest seating in straight or arched rows, with each seat getting special attention such as fine linen chair covers or a single rose placed on individual chair cushions. This first moment of your wedding celebration is sure to impress your guests when you follow one of the latest trends in special wedding décor for your ceremony seating:

• Have each chair fitted with a snug chair covering, in a comfortable fabric with a bit of stretch to it. Top-quality fabrics are essential so that guests are not sitting on itchy fabrics that may look nice but feel like burlap.

• Chair covers may be done all in white to create a sea of bridal-white seating, or you might choose to have the majority of guest chairs covered in white, with just the first two honored-guest rows featuring chair-covers in a pastel color to set them apart and add visual interest to your wedding décor.

• Another creative trend in chair covers is to have five rows covered in a dark hue of one color, then the next five rows covered in a lighter hue of that same color, then back to the five darker hues of chair covers, and so on, to create ‘waves’ of colored row blocks. Don’t alternate by row, since that can look too busy. New Jersey wedding coordinators and our banquet planners suggest wider blocks of color for a more sophisticated look.

• Tie each covered chair with a length of 2”-wide ribbon in the wedding’s colors, with each chair being tied in the same color of ribbon. And you might also alternate, tying those darker-hued chairs with light-colored ribbons, and those lighter-hued chairs with slightly darker-colored ribbons.

• Add some sparkle to chair ribbons and bows by fastening a few crystals to the ribbon’s ends or bows. Crystals will catch the light, indoors or outside in a garden wedding, providing a sparkling wedding ceremony scene.

• Insert a fresh flower bloom into chair ribbon-bows.

• Use a ribbon that’s been imprinted with your names or your married monogram as your seat cover décor tie.

• Place a single long-stemmed rose on all guest seats, or just on the seats intended for your parents.

• As a tribute to a departed relative or friend, place a single white long-stemmed rose on a chair to be kept unoccupied, the departed’s ‘place’ at the wedding.

• Allow plenty of room between rows of seats. Our experienced event professionals will create a seat layout that provides plenty of room for guests to move comfortably within their rows. When you provide for your guests’ comfort, such as room to cross their legs, your wedding begins with impressive attention to details and wedding décor that impresses as it sets the stage for your nuptials.

Best,
Michael Mahle, Director of Communications, Pleasantdale Château