Plush Prodcutions Wedding Featured in EA Bride Magazine

Hello Friends!

I am so excited to announce that one of my Plush weddings has been chosen to be featured in EA Bride Magazine in the Fall 2011 Issue.

Sean and Ali were married in downtown Kansas City at 909 Walnut Condominiums. They were the first to host their event in the newly remodeled event space exclusive to residents.

View their wedding and love story below! To see the weddings of more local couples from this issue, visit EA Bride!

Invitation Wording

Looking for the right words to put on your invitations… fear not! I have put together a fool proof guide to generate the perfect wording for your wedding invitations. The invitation is the first formal approach to set the mood for the wedding and reception. For example, black and white formal written invitations gives guests the impression that the event is going to be very classy, whereas invitations with artistic design and bright colors give guests the impression that the event is going to be more informal.

Formal Invitation Wording

1^st Line: tells who is extending the invitation

2^nd Line: tells the guests what they are being invited to

3^rd Line: the brides name goes first

4^th Line: “to” for traditional Christian wedding

5^th Line: grooms name

6^th Line: Date and time

7^th Line: Address

8^th Line: Attire (Black Tie)

Bride’s parents are hosting the wedding:

Mr. and Mrs. Danny Robert Beach

request the pleasure of your company

at the marriage of their daughter

Christina Lynn Beach

to

Christopher Eric Hopkins

Bride’s parents are hosting but you want to recognize the groom’s parents too:

Mr. and Mrs. Danny Robert Beach

request the pleasure of your company

at the marriage of their daughter

Christina Lynn Beach

to

Christopher Eric Hopkins

Son of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Hopkins

If the groom’s parents are hosting the wedding:

Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Ross Hopkins

Request the honor of your presence

At the marriage of their son

Christopher Eric Hopkins

To

Christina Lynn Beach

If the couple is hosting the wedding:

Christina Lynn Beach and Christopher Eric Hopkins

request the pleasure of your company

at their marriage

on Saturday, the sixteenth of October

two thousand and ten.

If the couple is hosting but wants to include their parents:

Together with their families

Christina Lynn Beach and Christopher Eric Hopkins

request the pleasure of your company

at their marriage.

If parents are divorced and not remarried or are hosting without their spouses:

Mrs. Martha Beach / Mr. Danny Beach

request the pleasure of your company

at the marriage of their daughter.

If parents are divorced and remarried:

Mrs. Martha Travis and Mr. Damon Travis

and

Mr. Danny Beach

request the pleasure of your company

at the marriage of their daughter.

Reception Only Wording

Just Married!

Please celebrate our marriage

Cocktails, Dinner, and Dancing

Saturday, the fifteenth of October

At six o’clock in the evening

The Cotillion

1717 Burdett Crossing

Blue Springs, MO 64015

2012 Wedding Trends

One of my brides wanted to personalize her wedding cake table by placing photos of her families wedding day photos around the base of the cake. It really tied in the celebration of marriage, not only with the new couple, but the whole family.
 Photo by Lark Photo

   

1.      Personalization, Personalization, Personalization!
2.      Relaxed and natural wedding hair up-dos
3.      Jeweled bridal bouquets
4.      Looking outside the church for ceremony inspiration
5.      Vintage and rustic colors and decorations
6.      Dessert tables featuring cake, cupcakes, cookies and other sweets
7.      Statement shoes for bride and bridesmaids (possibly the fashion forward groom)
8.      Full theme production reflecting the couples style and interests
9.      First look photography
10.  Going green to eliminate wedding waste

That Catering Company

I have started an exciting adventure with a catering company located in Kansas City. That Catering Company has been in business for three years providing delicious food for companies and private clientele. After working the same market together, the owner, Niccole Young and I have brainstormed a great alliance to increase wedding business.

I am excited to begin working more with That Catering Company to develop their presence within the wedding industry. If you have someone looking for their perfect menu, feel free to contact us: 816-726-2877! That Catering Company offers a complimentary consultation to customize your menu as well as a free tasting to ensure that it is up to par for each and every one of your guests.

Christmas Proposal Plans

Christmas: the time of shopping, cold weather and delicious food.... and engagements. When would there be a better time to ask your loved one to marry you than the holidays? With the engagement boom right around the corner, it can only lead me to believe that there are some fellas out there brainstorming their strategy to pop the question.

Check out these ideas from Santa on North Pole:

Make the Ring the Ornament
A cute way to propose at Christmas is to hang the ring on the Christmas tree – like an ornament! Have the ring be the ONLY ornament on the tree when she walks in…or, hang the ring box with ribbon on the tree and point out the “interesting” new ornament. She won’t know what to think!

Visit Santa Claus
No, seriously. Go to the mall and visit Santa Claus. This could be the making of the perfect Christmas engagement! Tell her you know what she wants for Christmas…then BOOM. Drop down on one knee in front of everyone. She will have to say that Santa knew what she wanted! (Cheesy, but true!)

The Magic of Mistletoe
Everyone knows that the Christmas tradition is to kiss under the mistletoe…so why not take it a step further? Give her a quick smooch then pop the question right there – propose under the Christmas mistletoe! It is a romantic, personal, and intimate way to share the moment together.

The Bottom of the Stocking
This Christmas engagement proposal idea is pretty easy to figure out. Hide the ring box at the very bottom of her Christmas stocking. When she goes through all the candy and little things along the way, the best present yet will be waiting at the bottom – an engagement ring!

Do you have a favorite holiday proposal?

Floor Plan Checklist

It is crucial to develop a floor plan for your event. Leaving the layout to chance can inhibit the true potential of your event. There are some key points to remember before checking this task off your list:

Sample Cotillion Floor Plan

1. Seat yourself or the guest of honor first. As the main focal point of the event, you want to make sure that the bride & groom or guest of honor are comfortably seated. 
2. Allow for extra space around the head or main tables. Guests will want to visit and congratulate the happy couple or guest of honor.
3. Wait lines always take up more room that you can imagine. Make room for guests to wait to order their next drink, grab their coat from coat check, or patiently wait for the next available restroom. 
4. Bathrooms: as a rule of thumb, I would seat people as far away from the bathrooms as possible. You don't want any guests to take it personal.
5. Vendors that provide photo booths and DJ's take up quite a bit of space. Double check with your contact how much space they will need and if they will be bringing their own table or need to use one of the venue's.
6. Leave room for traffic flow. As your guests enjoy the evening, they will need a path to walk from their seat to the dance floor, bar, food, etc. Provide a little extra room between tables to provide a path. This will greatly help control the flow of the events as your guests will recognize your path as the one with least resistance. 

At The Cotillion, I help each guest personalize their floor plan two weeks before the event so they are aware of how many guests they need to accommodate. Arranging a floor plan should be done once most of the RSVP's have been received.

Customize Your Coat Check Tags

As I glanced outside this morning, I found light flurries floating around the sky. Time always slips away through the summer and it is now time to bundle up for winter weather.

As you prepare for your winter event, make sure that you have a system set in place for your guest's coats. Failing to do so will result in coats falling off chairs and tables only to be tripped and stepped on. Hiring a coat check attendant is well worth the expense as your guests will not have to keep track of their winter-wear throughout the evening. If the venue does not already have a procedure for coat storage put in place, make sure that you discuss your options with them prior to the evening of the event.

You can also look at this as an opportunity to provide your guests with a favor from your event. An online company, Pilgrim Plastics allows you to customize your coat check tags. You may choose to use the monogram or color scheme from your special event with a quirky quote or message from you at the bottom. The design opportunities are endless. Once you have finalized the design, Pilgrim Plastics will print two cards for each number, allowing the coat attendant to put one tag on the coat and provide your guest with the second card. Each card has a hole punch at the top, so your guest can easily put it on their key ring to find it later. As your guest is leaving, they show the attendant their number to retrieve their coat and then take their card as a memento.

This is not only a unique way to incorporate your theme throughout the evening, it is also very inexpensive. Pilgrim Plastics offers pricing by the 100's and decreases the flat rate as you order more. To begin designing your coat tag visit Pilgrim Plastics website today.

The Cotillion: Kansas City's Newest Event Space

I am currently the General Manage of a brand new event space in the Kansas City area, The Cotillion. From the first day of business in June 2010, I have hosted 22 events ranging from birthday parties, wedding receptions and charity events. The space was intelligently designed to be contemporary while also elegant and easily suitable for each client's taste. After 22 events I have seen just about every color combination, and every one of them looked amazing.

To learn more information about The Cotillion please visit the Official Website! Check out some photos of the space below. I will update you with photos from events that we have had in the past as well as those that are in the future. Enjoy!