Wedding Trends: What's Hot vs. What's Not Fall 2011

Looking for the latest trends in the wedding world? Here I have highlighted what is hot and what is not within the wedding industry. The article was originally published in the Summer 2011 issue of EA Bride Magazine. To view more wedding awesomeness, view the full issue here.

What's HOT:                                                                       What's NOT:
Wedding Dress Change After First Dance                            Trashing the Dress
Wedding Website                                                              Overage Charges from Cell Phone Carrier
Unique Groom's Cake                                                        Grandma's Mystery Chocolate Cake Creation
Stocked Cookie & Candy Bar                                             Screen-printed Couples Photo M&M's
Organized Children Activities with Childcare Provider            Adult Guests Chasing After Their Children
Surprise Choreographed Dance                                           Skipping Dance Lessons
Photo Thank You Cards                                                      Lifeless Wedding Stationary

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

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.

Client Review of Plush Productions

I just received this very kind review from Ali & Sean Brown. Being apart of their special day was a treat!

Dear Britney,

Thank you so much for providing such wonderful service for our wedding day. Your expertise made our day run smoothly and effortlessly. Hiring you for our day-coordinator turned out to be so much more than we could have expected. You took the stress of our rehearsal off our hands and left us no worries for our big day. Not having to worry about working with vendors as they arrived allow us to spend more time with our families and friends. Your hard work exceeded our expectations and I would recommend you to any bride looking for coordination help whether it's the whole wedding or just for the day.

~Ali

Brown Wedding & Reception 9.18.10

Everything about this wedding was amazing: the couple, the venue, and all of the unique touches throughout! Check out the photos of a wedding that I coordinated this September. All photography is provided by Shades of Gray. Both the wedding and reception were held at the new 909 Walnut Event Space. To view more amazing photos of this wedding, please visit the Plush Productions Website.

 

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!