Bridal Show Advice

Are you recently engaged? Are you still planning your wedding? Are you attending a bridal show this month?

This is definitely the time of year that there are plenty of bridal shows to choose from! While bridal shows may vary in size, all will offer you the opportunity to see and meet with a variety of wedding professional in one place at one time. While some shows may be small and intimate, others may be huge and a bit overwhelming.

I have a couple pieces of advice for you to "make the most" of any show that you attend:

1. Know what you need.

Figure out in advance if you will be tasting cakes or looking for photographers. While you can, and should, try to walk through the whole show, if you don't have a game plan, you may find that you get too tired or distracted to find the wedding professionals you went to the show to find.

2A. Take good notes.

Imagine arriving at the bridal show with 200 wedding professionals showcasing their services and wares and you have the good luck of finding the best cake baker in the whole state. "But," you think, "maybe I should go peek and have a quick taste of the other cakes, just to be sure." After a few more tastes, your tongue is sugared-out and you forgot who your favorite baker was, let alone where their booth is located and now you fear you will have to settle for blah ordinary wedding cake! Taking good notes could have saved you.

When you find a wedding professional that you love, write it down, either on the literature they hand out, on their business card, or on the show program. Taking a few notes on why you love them will also help you remember who they are after you leave the show. Don't rely on your memory; you will have too many other things to see and do.

2B. Bring a fine-tip Sharpie.

Having a pen handy is helpful, and a lot of shows will even give you one for free, but having a fine-tip Sharpie is even better. Some wedding professionals will have a glossy brochure or a glossy business card which is difficult to write on with a pen. Your Sharpie will write on almost anything, so it is perfect for your bridal show note-taking.

If you are looking for shows to attend, come visit two that we will be at:

Wedding Planner & Guide

January 14 & 15, 2012

Alliant Energy Center, Madison WI

We have been in this show since 2002!

Spielman's Event Services Bridal Open House

January 28, 2012

Spielman's, Cedar Rapids IA

We are looking forward to our second year in this show!

New Albums!

It's that time of year again- when we update our album offerings! And just in time for the bridal shows. If you will be attending, please stop by to check them out!

We are excited to add a new album style to our line-up. This is a beautiful album that will complement our Artistic albums.

We also have a new wedding to show off in one of our Contemporary albums. This is a fun wedding that we affectionately call "the button wedding" because all the bouquets were made from buttons and they used buttons as a theme.

We look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at the Wedding Planner & Guide bridal show in Madison, WI!

Mariah & Stephen | Wedding

Mariah and Stephen were married in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this fall. Outdoor weddings in the midwest can be tricky to plan, knowing you might need an alternate location, in case it rains. (But they say rain on the wedding day is good luck, so that should be okay!) Mariah and Stephen had a beautiful day, with just a bit of rain after their ceremony. Aside from needing to do a few family portraits inside, we were able to capture the rest of the day outside with the fabulous fall colors.

These are a few pages from their wedding album that Mariah picked up today- just in time to show off at Christmas!

Alecia & Jon | Wedding

Alecia just picked up her finished wedding album from her August wedding. This was such a fun wedding! Alecia and Jon were such an easy-going couple and they really were relaxed and able to enjoy the day. Right after her wedding, I had asked Alecia what her favorite part of the day was. Her answer was watching the guests arrive for the ceremony while she waiting in her hiding place. She was pretty sure that Jon's favorite part was shoving cake in her mouth.

Alecia used buttons as her theme. Her button bouquets, inspired by etsy, were whimsical and fresh. The button details spilled over into the reception: on name cards, as decorations and even on the cupcakes. They were "cute as a button"!

Accessorize Your Inner Diva!

I just made my first shopping trip to Charming CHARLIE and LOVE it. I love accessories, and Charming CHARLIE has no shortage of choices.

Charming CHARLIE opened a new store at West Towne Mall in Madison about one month ago. This is a store dedicated to jewelry, handbags and shoes. And the prices are easy enough to keep your inner diva happy while allowing you to change your accessories as often as you change your mind.

When you walk in, you can see that the store looks very organized even with the eclectic variety of styles. They keep it easy to shop by organizing everything by color. So, say you find that perfect blue dress that is calling for a great necklace or fun ring: you can find that perfect piece easily by heading to the blue jewelry section. Then you get to browse until you find just the right style.

This store would be a lot of fun for a bride planning her wedding. Just imagine all the ways that she could accessorize those bridesmaids dresses! And how fun would it be for the bride to add splashes of color to her own dress!! Forget being a bridezilla and be a brideDIVA!

Wedding Cake and Dessert Trends

Wedding Cake and Dessert Trends | eleGALA.com

Inspire your imagination with this list of today’s top trends for wedding cakes and desserts…

Much more than a sweet finale to the reception meal, wedding cakes and desserts are a major style statement, and the trends, like all other wedding details, evolve with the times. The wedding cake presents a perfect opportunity for creative brides to play with shape, color, and embellishments. For those of you who need a little inspiration, consult this list of top trends for wedding cakes.

Back to Buttercream
Buttercream was once the traditional frosting for wedding cakes, but sleek cakes came into favor, and rolled fondant became the frosting of choice. Not anymore, thanks to advanced tools and techniques that allow buttercream to look as smooth as fondant, cakes iced in buttercream are again the norm. We love this trend, since buttercream frosting tastes better, has natural ingredients, and costs less than fondant. Now you can literally have your stylishly sleek cake – and eat it, too.

Keeping it Simple
As brides look for creative ways to meet their budgets without sacrificing style, simple cakes are making a comeback. Classic ivory fondant embellished with ribbon or flowers is a gorgeous and safe choice, but many brides are taking things to the next level with contemporary and fun “messy” icing. These cakes have gorgeous texture and a truly modern look while requiring less labor, which will help keep costs down.

Creative Toppers
While unique cake toppers like pinwheels, paper rosettes, and bird nests are adorning contemporary cakes, many couples are going back to the traditional bride and groom but with an interesting twist: completely personalized toppers that bear a likeness to the couple themselves. Etsy artist, Milk Teaoffers a plethora of pre-made toppers to choose from, but will also create a completely customized mini version of you and your honey.

Square Mini-Cakes
Cupcake towers in lieu of wedding cakes have been around for awhile, but brides are making cupcakes interesting again by playing with shape and size. Brides are stacking square shaped mini-cakes (slightly larger than cupcakes) adorned with flowers or dressed as presents for a completely different take on the cupcake frenzy.

Think Pink
Pink – the perpetual hot color for weddings – had begun to fall out of favor as brides experimented with more non-traditional hues like browns, grays, and even black. But soft pink is back in a big way, and brides are incorporating the blush tones throughout their wedding cake designs. Pink instantly freshens up classic white. Tone down an all-pink cake with real ivory flowers or lace details.

Cupcakes
For years, cupcakes have been replacing traditional tiered cakes and somehow, the tiny confections continue to evolve. From floral embellished towers to intricate icing and creative toppers, cupcakes always seem to both wow and please the wedding guests.

Dessert Tables
Dessert tables are an increasingly popular option that allow you to offer several different types of dessert. Pies, cupcakes, macaroons, rock candy, and M&Ms are often among the color coordinated sweets that dominate the dessert table while a single tiered cake tends to play a central roll for the traditional cake cutting. Often creatively decorated, dessert tables can become a fun, focal point of your wedding décor.

Groom’s Cake
The old Southern tradition of the groom’s cake is shedding its regional trappings and growing in popularity throughout the nation. And no, it doesn’t have to be the iconic red-velvet armadillo fromSteel Magnolias. Today’s groom’s cakes, now just as elaborate as the wedding cake itself, often reflect the groom’s interest in a dramatic and whimsical expression: a deer grooms cake for an avid hunter, shaped like a race car for an diehard Nascar fan, or decked with his favorite sports team logo.

Bridal Show Advice

Lori and Carla from Vacation Designers are fellow The National Association of Wedding Professionals (NAWP) members and they have some great advice to share about how to get the best out of the bridal show. You can see their whole newsletter here.

Vacation Designer's Top 6

Ways to keep your sanity at a bridal show

1. Dress for a marathon: wear your sneakers or other comfortable shoes. This is not the place to break in the new Manolos.

2. Plan your route: What do you need to get accomplished at this show? Make a list, bring it with you.

3. Dont' follow the crowd: You have some serious work to do. The 40 person pile-up in front of you is going nowhere fast. Break away from the crowd and start at the opposite end of the show, where the booths aren't as crowded... yet. If you don't need to watch the fashion show, use this time to talk with the vendors you are most interested in

4. Make labels: Other than comfy shoes this is the single most sanity saving tip there is. Unless you enjoy writing your name, adress, phone, email, and wedding date 87 times in one day, you should print up labels ahead of time. You don't want to miss registering for any prizes!

5. Find your Ohm: Focus. Walking in the door can be overwhelming. It's easy to trudge through a show with your jaw unhinged, staring at all the gorgeous cakes and dresses. Do your sightseeing AFTER you finish your to-do list.

6. Bring the other decision maker: Is that your fiance? Your mother? If there is an individual who needs to be in on decisions, bring them. Whoever this person is, they should start training those biceps, they also get to carry your bag-o-brochures.

Vacation Designers' first-hand knowledge of resorts, geography, and culture is indispensible. You can count on their experience and knowledge to guide you through the entire honeymoon planning process. Call them for a free consultation! 608.850.3025 or visit them online at www.vacationdesigners.net They are also on facebook here.