Bring the Candy Man To Your Wedding

Last year I did a wedding for an American bride who was absolutely amazing. She got married in the Adelaide Botanic Garden and she had the most perfect day! As a special treat she decided to create a candy bar for all her Australian guests to try the chocolates that she grew up with back in Virginia. Each glass container was filled with different American chocolates for all the Aussies to try...what fun! There were Hersey Bars, Jolly Ranchers and Babe Ruths all of which (except Herseys) that I had never seen before! All the candy was wrapped so guests could use their hands to choose what they wanted to eat and little bags were placed on the side for them to take home. YUM! 10/10 for a great idea!

This is also a fun idea for a childrens (and even adults!) birthday parties. You can also get candy is so many colours that you can co-ordinate it too! Ummm I need a sugar fix:)

PS: Sorry its not the best idea but you'll get the idea.

Cheap Centrepieces That Look A Million Dollars

Hi, I thought I would share something with you that happened twice over the last 2 days. Firstly, I had a bride who was budget and while wanting to have a beautiful centrepiece she couldn't find anything that looked great but didn't look cheap. She was becoming very disheartened because her dream wedding wasn't coming together as she hoped and rather than being excited she was becoming upset. Now, I find this a lot with brides, obviously because there are so many expenses with wedding, brides start to feel the budget pinch early but I want to share with you a tip that will ease the financial pressure.

If you want a beautiful centrepiece without the big cost and your using flowers....the secret is not to use a lot of flowers. Instead choose either a single flower or 3 stems of flowers only and mix it with things such as sticks or willow. Last Friday afternoon I setup a gorgeous centrepiece made with 5 small antheriums with 4-6 small dark chocolate thin bamboo sticks in a round vase approx 15cm high. The vase was placed onto a mirror base with t-lites around it. It looked amazing...unfortunately I didn't take a photo!!! Sorry! Now my guess with the t-lites and the mirror it may have cost $15-$20 at the most including the flowers which will be the major part of the cost. Now for flowers I suggest going to the wholesaler, now normally you have to be a florist or in the industry but I know at our wholesale market they don't even ask! But if your not sure try to see if anyone in your family knows a florist and ask if they will buy them for you. Its worth the effort because the markup on flowers from the wholesale to retail is normally double...at least! Or if you cannot get to the wholesaler go to your local market. Here in Adelaide we have a farmers market on Sunday. Its runs from 6am-1pm and local farmers sell their produce direct to the public and that also includes flower wholesalers. They dont necessarily have the variety but the prices are amazing!!

Now going back to making the centrepiece i described, its a definately possible to do it yourself and also to do it the the day before as well. The vase was a simple round one ....nothing special at all (florists hire vases) or you can pickup cheap vases at places like Target and Walmart.

One thing that will also help your centrepiece is to pin spot them from a light above. What this means is above each centrepiece there was a light that shone directly onto it which gave it a great look. ...now this depends on your venue so make sure you ask if they can do this when checking out reception possibilities. Now if you don't have this don't worry because the t-lites will have a similar effect but from the base of the centrepiece instead.

So goodluck, I'll actually writing a DIY centrepiece e-booklet to show you how to do some of these. I'll keep you updated and let you know when its finished!

Good luck!

Ariella Chezar - Amazing Floral Designer

When it comes to floral designers make sure you visit Ariella Chezar at www.ariellasflowers.com
I just saw a picture of hers in one of my files and instantly remembered how I loved her work.
She has a beautiful free flowing style that mixes all types of flowers together. Her site features 8 weddings including her colorful 30th birthday.

Ariella Chezar, an incredibly talented and works on magazines such as Martha Stewart Weddings, Elegant Bride, House and Garden and Oprah to name a few. I've created an inspiration board of some of my favorites using orange! I love orange at the moment.

Dinner Table Delights

I thought I might just add something a little different. While we decorate our weddings what about making every occasion a time to decorate! Life is short and when you can take some time to make your table look special.

For me thats easy because I absolutely love decorating tables and are fortunate to be in the wedding and event industry so I do it most of the day. But, even at home and for my family I love to decorate. Here are a couple of examples from the last couple of Xmas's. The image on the left was my Mulberry Magic Christmas held at my parents in laws. As they are a little older, I decided to do a more traditional look in keeping with their preferred style by using a deep purple and lilac with a touch of crisp green to lighten te table up. The other table on the right is from last year held at my sister in laws. They have a beautiful home in the hills and for this one I decided that I didn't want any white....except the plates so I made the table extra colourful. It looked amazing and is my favorite Xmas table to date! Enjoy

Indian Wedding Website - A Colour Explosion

I've somehow stumbled on the most amazing Indian wedding site ever when doing some research for a client who wants a Bollywood theme. To my absolute delight I've been totally blown away by the absolutely stunning designs and colour that fill the pages of this website.

The wedding ceremony's are amazing, and a complete dream come true for a wedding stylist like me! So if your getting married in India please give me a call!

Also, if you want to theme your wedding with a bit of difference or you're an Indian Bride or your daughter or son is marrying an Indian girl/guy its a great insight into traditions with heaps of pictures you'll find it an invaluable resource. Enjoy weddingsutra!

PS: If anyone has any other international wedding sites they can recommend I would love to hear about them too :)

I got this inspiration board and idea thanks to "Style Me Pretty" and wanted to share it with you. I love the use of the vases on the sand filled with colored water to match the turquoise sashes around the chairs.

The turquoise organza over the Americana chairs looks beautiful with the ocean as the back drop! Also notice how they have dropped sea shells along the edge of the aisle. Not only does it keep the runner down but it gives its a gorgeous trim and is in keeping with the beach theme.

Sometimes coming up with a beach idea that is different can be a little difficult but this has been done perfectly and moved away from the traditional white normally used for beach weddings.

So for beach brides keep this picture on file and visit style me pretty for more pics!!

2008 Flower Trends - Whats Hot This Year

Wow, if you want the latest trends in flower types,colours and vase shapes visit the www.flowercouncil.org.

Each year based on trends that they see in fashion, homewares and just about anywhere else they create 4 colour pallets for each season to ensure florists are up to date. This year they have "colourful grey" for Spring, Talking Flowers for Summer, Folk Design for Autumn and Look and Wonder for Winter...my favorite of the 4. They also include inspiring photos and colour information to use too. If your a flower lover this site is for you as they know exactly what's hot and what's not.

One other trend that they are predicting is flowers in your hair and we can see that by Carie wearing a flower in her hair in Sex and The City movie and more recently Paris Hilton wearing a wreath of flowers around her head. So if you want to be ahead of the fashion incorporate flowers not only in your centerpiece but into your hair as well!!

Happy flower hunting :)

Colin Cowie..King Of Event Design

Although this may sound really weird...Colin Cowie to me, is the absolute best in event design and is a must see for any bride or event designer wanting to get ideas and inspiration from one of the worlds best. I am biased because Colin was actually the first person I ever heard of doing this type of work 4 years ago...I am a little behind. Fortunately for me, when I was a bride to be, I saw him on a show on Oprah and was instantly hooked!

Until I had seen Cowie I had been totally disheartened by the lack of originality in the wedding magazines I was buying and the internet at that time didnt have much at all! Thank goodness its changed!

Originally from Sth Africa Cowie has the most beautiful accent and impeccable style to match his good looks and the parties he designs are a whole new level that makes him one of the most sort after party and event planner for the very rich and very famous.

So do yourself a favor check out his site, I've just been on it and he has changed it again featuring some of the latest events he has designed. He is one of the greats. Thanks Colin for your inspiration! I'm sure you'll feel the same, just click here to visit his site www.colincowie.com

Get Inspired By Sex In The City

We all love wedding movies but have you ever wondered who does the flowers in them? Well, let me introduce you to one of the most well known floral designers in film.

Tess Casey of Aisling Studios is the floweral designer in well known movies such as Devil Wears Prada, Nanny Diaries and more recently "Sex In The City". If you're a fan of the movie and beautiful flowers you'll love her site www.tesscasey.com as it includes behind the scenes photos of Sarah Jessica Parker and her sexy friends preparing for filming. You'll also get a close up of SJP, alias Carries beautiful creamy bouquet plus great shots of her brides maids black dresses which look very Spanish.

Tess Casey has also got photos loads of flowers from television shows and events giving us a rare insight into the movie world. Enjoy and don't forget to show your girlfriends!

Style Me Pretty - The Best Wedding Blog Ever!

Hello!

I know saying "Style Me Pretty" is the best wedding blog ever but to me it is. Its absolutely amazing and if you can find a blog that is visually better than I would love to know about it. Filled with amazing photos of stationary, dresses, reception and ceremony decoration you'll be hard pressed not to find at least one idea that will inspire you...in fact it will probably confuse you as so many of them look so good!

I spent heaps of time on this site and I'm sure you will to. Let me know what you think...Enjoy