Our favorite wedding favors!

Although less couples are choosing to do wedding favors these days, many couples still practice the tradition of giving their guests a gift as a thank you for taking part in their special day. Favors can run any range of choices and in the past few years couples have gotten very creative about what kind of favor they decide to give their guests. Here are photos of some of my favorites from the past few years.

The top picture as well as the one below shows an incorporation of the place card and the guest favor. This is a really simple and fun way to kill two birds with one stone - instead of putting out a traditional place card (which usually just gets tossed anyway), you can either add a tag onto your favor or use a keepsake holder (see below) that lists the guests' seating information. I personally love the favor in the top photo because it is a take home tree sprig that guests can plant in their yards. This is a smart green choice, and super cute accent when placed on the guest tables, too.

Photos above: Niki Rossi Photography and Heather Bohm-Tallman Photography

Other options for favors are items that the guests can take home and enjoy after the wedding is over. Below there are candle holders wrapped in the couple's wedding colors that lists the bride and groom's names as well as their wedding date. The second photo shows a CD that the couple made of some of their favorite songs (including their first dance song). They made a personalized cover and wrapped the disk in a ribbon that matches the bridesmaids dresses to keep with the color scheme of the event.

Photos above: John Seakwood Photography and Tracey Buyce Photography

Some of the most practical favors are those that are edible. A lot of times guests will leave the event and forget to take their favors home, but if you give them all something sweet to eat they will either enjoy it at the reception or they will be sure to take it home with them when they leave. This first picture is of a simple box that contained a fortune cookie with a wedding wish inside. The couple added a favor tag and used this ribbon throughout their wedding accessories. The second photo is a simple clear box with two macarons inside. Classic, simple, and beautiful. Below that is a cookie in the shape of a wedding cake in the same bright Tiffany blue color as the rest of the wedding accents. And the fourth is a take home bag of hot chocolate. This wedding was in February and this warm drink was perfect for the season. Best yet, the bride put these together herself so she saved a ton of money by DIY'ing them. Cute, practical, and affordable - doesn't get any better than that.

Photos above: Dean Forsythe Photography, Belathee Photography, Shannon DeCelle Photography, Niki Rossi Photography

The next set are showcasing a very popular trend in wedding favors - the do it yourself take home treat. Candy bars like the one pictured below have been a popular choice for the last few years, mainly because they are super fun, they are colorful and visually appealing, and guests can load up their bags with whatever combination of treats that they want. Candy is not just a kids treat anymore! Also shown below is a photo from a fall wedding where I put out apple cider and cider donuts at the end of the night so guests could fill up a cup and a bag and have a super tasty seasonal treat for their ride home. Trust me when I say that these guests loved the late night donuts. I couldn't put them out fast enough! And the last two pics below are another great favor treat - a make your own sundae bar. Ok, so these are exactly 'to go' items, but when this ice cream bar was put out that night there was a very long line waiting to jump in on the ice cream goodness. This pairs super well with the service of cake. And besides, who doesn't love ice cream?

Photos above: McGarry Photography, Jessica Patch Photography, and the bottom two are Tracey Buyce Photography

Another super popular trend right now is having an old time photobooth at your wedding. Photobooths have attracted a lot of attention at the weddings I've used them, and guests can't wait to jump in and make silly faces as the camera snaps away. Then the get to take their photo strip - which usually includes an area on the strip that says the couple's names and wedding date - and they can take those photos home as keepsakes of the awesome time they had at the wedding. The other cool thing about the photobooths is the couple's ability to add on a photo guest book. What this does is allow guests to cut photos out of their photo strip, paste it onto the pages of a blank guest book, and write notes to the couple around it. So in a way you combine a favor with a guest book in a way that is super fun and super personal. You can see the guest book in the third photo below.

Photos above: Gallery 9 North, Bailly Photography, Out of the Ordinary Photography

And lastly I wanted to highlight the favors that are a totally different kind of gift - charity donations. Many couples feel that instead of spending their money on a traditional favor they could serve the world better by making a monetary contribution to a charity that means something to them personally. As you can see below I have had couples who have made donations to charities like Live Strong and to the World Wildlife Fund, and have done so in the honor of their friends and family. Some charities will provide cards to put out and inform your guests of this donation, but if yours doesn't I would recommend some sort of notification so your guests can be aware and appreciative of your choice.

Photos above: Jill Kaiser Photography, Bob Donlon Photography

Wedding Planners In Action!

I swear I stay way out of the way of the camera but some wedding photographers like to capture all moments of the day, including times where I am doing things like fixing a bride's dress or pinning the boutonnieres on the guys. These photos are from the Hotz wedding I did back in May 2009 at the Albany Country Club. Their wedding photographer, Tracey Buyce, is a friend of mine as well as one of my favorite vendors, so there are times when she gets a few more shots of me than normal - including the ultra embarrassing shot of the groomsmen who pulled me out on the dance floor for a slow song. It was completely unexpected and my face turned bright red once I realized what was happening. Thanks so much for being in the right time at the right place for that one Tracey!! ;)

What not to skip - Menu tasting

Photo by Shannon DeCelle Photography

When planning your wedding you come across what feels like a million decisions along the way. Some you decide to go with, some you decide to skip. Most often the reason to skip something comes down to cost, and if you are trying to stick tight to your budget it may seem best to skip a lot of the things that seem unnecessary. I am a super practical person myself - and I carry this into my practices as a wedding planner - so I will be the first one to tell you to cut out the items that aren't vital. But here is one area that I feel is totally worth the time and cost (if it even costs you anything) - menu tasting.

You have likely picked your venue or caterer based off of recommendations from friends, family, or reviews you've found online. You want good food and are confident that your caterer is going to provide that at your reception. You have gone through and made your selections for hors d'ouevres, appetizers, and entrees and you think you have made all the right choices along the way. But what if you get to your reception and the food isn't exactly what you had expected? And what if that entree that sounded really good on paper ends up tasting, well, not so good? These are all the reasons to have a menu tasting. A menu tasting is done with your caterer (or your venue if their food service is provided on site) and is a chance for you to not only taste all of your menu choices but to learn more about the ingredients, the preparation, and to meet the chef who is putting it all together. You can decide then if you want to switch your choices to something else on the menu, or maybe if the chef allows it, you can tweak a dish a bit to get to a flavor that is more pleasing to your palette. And above all this is a great chance for you to reinforce the confidence you have that the food at your wedding is going to be nothing short of amazing.

Some caterers/venues charge a fee for menu tasting for the majority of places include this as complimentary for the bride and groom. If your caterer offers a tasting for free definitely take advantage of it! And even if it comes with a small cost I still highly recommend doing it. There are some things you may want to take a chance on for your wedding, but the food (which, let's not forget is a HUGE cost in your overall wedding budget) is not an area you want to take a risk with. Schedule your tasting, feast on your wedding food, and enjoy this nice time with your fiance. Trust me it's worth it!

Photo by Rob Spring Photography

Addeo Wedding - October 10, 2010

Mr. and Mrs. Addeo were married at Crystal Cove on the most popular wedding date of 2010 - 10.10.10. Their ceremony took place on the platform down by the water and their reception was in the pavilion. They had a beautiful day for this outdoor event! Liz and Jimmy are super special people, and I was thrilled to help them with the coordination of their wedding day.

The couple has spent a lot of time traveling the world and the theme for their wedding was a blend of vintage elegance and global influence. Instead of going with a traditional centerpiece Liz and Jimmy chose to have multiple elements on the center of each table. They had a burlap square as a base and on top of those they placed Moroccan lanterns and vintage tin boxes filled with flowers. And instead of a traditional multi tiered wedding cake they chose to have three smaller cakes that we placed side by side on the cake table. And to round of the unique pieces was the apple cider and cider donuts I put out at the end of the night so guests had a sweet fall treat to snack on on their way home. It was a really personal and special wedding, and the exact kind of event this special couple deserved.

As always I was joined by a team of wonderful wedding vendors at this event. Special thanks to Jessica Patch for providing me with these beautiful photos! Jessica works out of NYC so if you are in need of a photographer down there definitely check her out. Also on hand was Bill Teller from Piano Man DJs, Lisa Russel who did the beautiful floral arrangements, Coccadotts who made the three wedding cakes, officiant Jessica Rowell from Carissa Ceremonies, and the Albany Aquaducks Trolley who provided transportation for the bridal party to and from Crystal Cove.

Congratulations again Liz and Jimmy! And thank you for allowing me to take part in your special day!

Matching bridesmaids dresses with groomsmen attire

For the most part brides have an easy time settling on a color (or colors) for their bridesmaids dresses. When going with most of your standard colors you can pair them with a tux or suit color for the guys without too much difficulty. But the number one question I get from brides comes from those who want their girls to wear chocolate brown or a dark blue and they don't want to pick a color for the guys that is going to clash. Will a black tux clash with a navy blue dress? And what color tux do you choose when your girls wear brown?

These photos are from some of my past weddings and as you can see with these samples anything goes. The top photo and the three below show examples of couples who decided on chocolate brown bridesmaids dresses and black tuxes or suits. The photo with the bridal party in the reception tent shows a wedding where chocolate brown tuxes were worn to match the girls' brown dresses.

In the photos further down you can see how different shades of dark blue look next to black tuxes and suits. Some people shy away from combining these two colors together but it totally can work. And for vests and ties you can see some have gone with blues and some have stuck to black or white.

Black and brown are neutrals, so don't be scared to put them together or to use the black with a blue. As long as the shades work and your flowers and accessories match you will putting together one dapper looking group. In the end it's important that you think through your color selections to make sure it not only fits with your preference and personality, but that you will look back at your wedding photos for years to come and still feel satisfied with your choices.


Chocolate Brown bridesmaid dresses with black groomsmen tuxes and suits:

Chocolate brown bridesmaid dresses with brown groomsmen tuxes:




Dark blue bridesmaid dresses with black groomsmen tuxes and suits:

Title Photo: Heather Bohm-Tallman Photography
Photo 2: Tracey Buyce Photography
Photo 3: McGarry Photography
Photo 4: Shannon DeCelle Photography
Photo 5: Michael Grace-Martin Photography
Photo 6: Jessica Patch Photography
Photo 7: Out of the Ordinary Photography
Photo 8: Ilana Ben Harav Photography
Photo 9: Colleen Photography

Have you seen the new issue of WellWed magazine?

The new spring/summer 2011 WellWed is out and we are so excited to once again have one of our weddings featured in this magazine. So for those of you who have it turn to page 51 and feast your eyes on the wedding of the super fabulous Andrea and her hubby Chris. Their wedding was picked by the editors for a reason - all of the details - and the radiant bride - are drop dead gorgeous!

(If you don't have a copy yet just click on the WellWed link above and you can view the magazine's pages online for free)

And to see the videographer's highlight reel click on the link below. Thanks to Dan Keese from Keese Photobooths and Video Production for allowing me to share this with all of you!


Andrea and Chris' wedding highlights video

Yes, these are cakes, too!

Alright, there is one last kind of cake that I wanted to make sure I included, and that's a groom's cake. Here in the northeast we don't see a lot of groom's cakes, and when we do they are almost always displayed and served at the rehearsal dinner (which is why I don't have too many examples to show here). But I have had a few weddings where the couple included this dessert at their reception, and seeing these pics I'm sure you can see why. Groom's cakes are usually something super fun and in the honor of groom's personality and hobbies. I have seen a lot of groom's cakes that represent sports like fishing, golfing, or a throw back to college sports days like the pic below of the Syracuse jersey. Also fun are ones like the pic above which, I'm sorry, is hands down the coolest groom's cake I have ever seen. This cake was a multi level masterpiece showing beer in an ice bucket, a frosty mug, and chicken wings with a side of blue cheese dressing! This cake looked so real that no one believed it was actually edible! The couple was from Buffalo so this cake paid perfect homage to the food and beer of their hometown. It was awesome!

Title photo: Rob Spring Photography
Photo 2: Bailly Photography

Let them eat MORE cake!

What if a 'traditional' wedding cake isn't for you? Or you wanted something more unusual for your cake topper? Or what if you want to make a statement with your cake, do something different, or choose a type of dessert that's more to your liking?

Well now that you've had a chance to digest all the photos of some of my more traditional wedding cakes, I wanted to show off some of the more unique confections that some of my couples have had at their weddings. There are some that are asymmetrical, colorful, or have funky toppers - or like the pic above which shows one that is all three! From multiple small cakes to cupcake towers to some that are totally not cake at all (cheesecake!) here are the ins and outs of some of the more wacky sugar based wedding goodness.

Title photo: Bob Donlon Photography
Photo 2: Hillary Harvey Photography
Photo 3: Jessica Patch Photography
Photo4: Niki Rossi Photography
Photo 5: Shannon DeCelle Photography
Photo 6: Dean Forsythe Photography
Photo 7: Heather Bohm-Tallman Photography
Photos 8-10: Tracey Buyce Photography