A Budget but Beautiful wedding?

Well is it?  If you have to add it all up, weddings these days can cost an absolute fortune.  In the grand scheme of things, invitations get thrown away, flowers die, food gets eaten and the day is gone.  Your bridal gown , if not hired, is a wonderful memory and MCouture encourages brides that choose their stunningly romantic mantillas to keep them as the covering for their first child’s crib.  What a precious memory to have.  Even though your gown might remain in a box, it’s something that, when opened now and then, brings back all the love and special thoughts and feelings you had on your wedding day.

One of the most budget friendly colour schemes for a wedding is Shades of Green and White.  It’s fresh, it’s crisp and elegant, it’s unfussy and simple and it’s SO easy to put together without much nonsense.

Striped green and white paper napkins can be found almost anywhere.
Small leafed ivy and shades of green ranging from dark to a creamy yellow are seen in any garden and your friends and family will be so happy to let you have some sprigs – there is nothing nicer than an elegant bowl or spray of leaves that come in all shapes and sizes.  If you like, you can add a few sprigs of Baby’s Breath or Gypsophila to create a dreamy white contrast.  Your bridal bouquet can have one or two more expensive additions like orchids or white roses.  Believe it or not, but bed sheets make beautiful table cloths and some of the local Material shops sell really reasonable Organza if you’d like to have some down the centre of the tables.  Organza comes in al colours and looks beautiful, especially sparkle organza to just add a bit of zing.

InvitationCreation has just launched the most amazing Wedding invitation kits.  They do the majority of the work in that they have already designed a selection of 14 (which they keep adding to ) basic designs, then you choose your wording, your colours and ribbon or buckles..  InvitationCreation puts it all together into a kit form and you and your bridesmaids, mom, sisters and mom-in-law can get together for an evening of laughter and champagne while you put your invitations together.  Depending on the quantity, it should take an hour or two.  They really are worth looking at and InvitationCreation are willing to help with alternatives if they can.  Their prices are really reasonable and prices quoted on their website include and envelope.  If you want to, you can have thank you cards and menu sheets added as well.

There are various food options that are not very expensive either.  A beautifully presented spaghetti Bolognaise with a garnish of basil and parmesan, fresh crispy garlic bread and bowls of lovely green salads with olives and feta cheese on the side is perfect.  Presentation will dictate it’s elegance and almost everyone likes it.  A vegetarian option is just as easy.
Cold meats can be expensive, but roasting lots of chickens that have had their cavities stuffed with pieced lemons and thyme is fantastic.  They come out succulent with a hint of lemon and they can be done the day before and then served cold with lots of varieties of salads, breads and pickles.

If you want to hire a bridal gown, that’s will help but if you do want one to keep as a memory, MCouture have a stunning Purse Sensitive range.  All the gowns there are around R6000 and that includes everything including built-in petticoats and a simple veil.  They are also open to listening to your ideas and trying to suit your budget.

So we’ve covered quite a few options, there are more – but we’ll look at those another time.

Have a wonderful weekend…don’t stress!!

www.mcouture.co.za   www.invitationcreation.co.za

Family Wedding Decorations

So here we are discussing the different “feels” to a wedding, an elegant one, a family one or a relaxed and chilled affair.  As discussed yesterday, it is possible to have an elegant beach or picnic wedding but when it comes to family weddings, there has to be a balance as anything too elegant is likely to not stay in place very well with children around.

Even though you might set aside a table for children, chances are it won’t be long before they’re winding their way through the tables in search of mom and dad.  As you can imagine, having very tall centre pieces with delicate crystal hanging beads is an accident waiting to happen.  So, if you like the idea of lifting flowers off the tables, choose a sturdy glass cake pedestal that isn’t too high or have the flowers sit on the table.

The fewer things on the table that are “mouth size” , the better.  For example – just say you want a sparkly look so you dot the tables with little glass pebbles.  Where are the pebbles likely to end up with small children?  They’re pretty, they sparkle, they’re easy to fiddle with and pick up and..ooo…I wonder what they taste like?

If you’re going for a buffet, try to set aside one or two items that children can feed themselves.  It’s not easy for parents to enjoy the evening if they have to keep seeing to the children.  So a table that has cocktail sausages, mini burgers, fish sticks, carrot sticks and mini tomatoes is an option,  They’re bite size and don’t need too much in the way of utensils to eat them.  As mentioned in a previous chat, hiring a person (even if it’s a shy niece or young cousin) to oversea the kiddies table also helps and it gives the shy one something to do and feel like she/he has a “mission”.

So there are a few family wedding ideas…..

Look after yourselves till next time….

Elegant Beach or Picnic Wedding

So we left off last time looking at the elegant wedding.  We said “less is more” and generally colours are a little more subtle and simplicity is a good thing.

But that doesn’t mean that you must have your elegant dream wedding in a ballroom or beautifully decorated hotel. Granted, the way you, your fiance and your guests are dressed does add to the elegance of the day if that is your theme, but you can cater for high-heeled shoes at a picnic or beach wedding.

Instead of having relaxed seating ie: picnic blankets and hay bales, opt for tall backed chairs or metal ones.  Place these at long trestle tables that have been whitewashed or left wood and without using a table-cloth, place your cutlery and crockery on pretty placemats.  You table flowers can be a rambly affair of flowers mixed with ivy and tall candelabras with long thin candles.

Three tables of food is a great idea – one of starters, one of mains and another for deserts and cheeses.  Try to layer the food on boxes or upside down crates and cover these with table cloths.  Then decorate the various levels with a few flowers and ivy and perhaps some t-candles.  As dusk falls, the t-candles can be lit and your food will look romantically inviting.  You can get a little more on tables that have been layered with boxes and the effect is beautiful but do take care to ensure the food isn’t precariously balanced and likely to fall off!

Your tables can be placed in a semi-circle with a separate smaller table in the centre that holds your wedding cake.  This layout allows your guests to move easily from one table to the other, mingle and chat as they go and admire the beauty of your cake.

All you really need on grass or beach sand is a clip-to-gether floor (there are a few companies that provide such flooring) to act as your dance floor as dancing on grass or sand isn’t always that easy.

It’s the mix that makes it elegant….the mix of a relaxed picnic theme but the addition of elegant candelabras in the middle of the tables and the layered food tables decorated with candlesticks or t-lights, that is what will make your wedding day more elegant rather than a relaxed casual affair.

Next time, lets look at how to decorate for a family wedding.

Hope this is all helping a little bit – I’d love to hear from you

Bye for now.

Ps Breathe!

Elegant Wedding Day Decor

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, lots to think about when planning a wedding.

So what kind of decor suits the Elegant themed wedding?  Try to look carefully at the “less is more” concept.  If you have a look at various fashion leaders – like the french for example…mmm…Coco Chanel. Simplicity rules when it comes to elegance.

So look at colour combinations first…think of the colour combination of Turquoise and Yellow.  Would Elegant simplicity be the words to describe that combination? Or would you think of words like fun, sunny, lively and fresh?  It’s always possible to create elegance around any colours…but in most cases, an elegant wedding has a slightly understated colour scheme.  Dusty rose, cream and dull sage,  antique lavender, silver and grey, wine, rose and gold…these are the colour schemes that make creating an elegant wedding easy to do.

Plain fabrics or damask fabrics for table cloths and not much in the way of fussy overlays and bows.  A simple table-cloth, elegant white crockery, silver or gold cutlery and perhaps hints of glass or crystal in the way of glasses as well as flower vases.  Lifting the flowers off the table in long vases or pedestals helps to bring in vertical lines…vertical lines or stripes are elegant.

But while we’re on the subject…do you think it’s possible to have an elegant beach wedding?  Or an elegant picnic wedding?  Of course it is…lets chat about that next time.

For now though, take care and breathe, breathe, breathe

 

www.mcouture.co.za  www.invitationcreation.co.za

Achieving A relaxed wedding

It’s friday so it’s good that we chat about a relaxed wedding.

 

As I mentioned before, the two of you together as a couple need to decide what kind of wedding epitomizes the two of you, elegant, family or a relaxed easy-going couple.  We’ve touched on the first section of elegant and family, so let’s look at the foundation of a relaxed and easy wedding.

The formal sit down served meal that is at the heart of an elegant wedding just won’t do.  You want your guests to feel as comfy and as “at home” as possible.  We’re not talking the “family” wedding here, but rather a slightly more formal (as in “regret no children” but still chilled.  Here, your venue can be anything from taking over a restaurant to decorating a hall or other venue.  The secret lies in the decor, the flowers and general layout – those are subjects for another chat but in the meantime,  if you want to have everyone sitting at tables to eat a meal, then have a buffet where people can meet and chat as they select their food.  If the venue is small and there isn’t enough space for your guests to get up and down all the time, then, providing the tables are round, you can opt for a beautifully laid out finger buffet in the centre of each table.  These platters can be changed to include cold finger starters of fish, crudities and dips, a warm finger “main” of mini kebabs, cocktail sausages, stuffed savoury pastries and a small bowl of salad for each guest.  You can follow with deserts and then a lovely cheese and fruit platter.  The “help yourself” meal is alway a relaxed ones and tends to make people chat to each other and get to know each other more as they are, in effect, “Sharing their meal”.

Another way is to have dessert or cheeses dotted around the hall at bar tables.  This way people will get up after the first or second course, and wonder around chatting and eating as they go.

So  now that we’ve set the tone by looking at the venue, we’ll spend the next few chats looking at the wedding decor and flowers of each – the elegant wedding decor, the family wedding decor and the relaxed wedding decor and flowers.

Have a lovely weekend……breathe deeply…..

till next time

www.mcouture.co.za  www.invitationcreation.co.za

A Family Wedding

Hi there!  How are you all today?

It’s quiet weird talking to my PC screen and wondering whether anyone will ever read this…  Anyway..yesterday we looked at one of the first ways to get you emotions and butterflies flying in formation when it coms to the stress part of your wedding plans is to 1) decide who you and your fiance are as a couple – your likes and common interests etc and 2) with what you’ve discovered in step 1, next decide firstly on your venue as this will set the theme or tone of your wedding.  We chatted a bit about the first step of an “Elegant” wedding and now we’ll look at the first step of a “Family” wedding.

Let’s face it, having children at a wedding isn’t always easy and many brides choose to have “regret no children” written at the bottom of their invitations.  But what if you have lots of nieces and nephews, friends with children and you as a couple love having them around you and want to make your wedding a happy, family affair with sounds of children laughing and the general mayhem of a family..but in this case..slight mayhem that’s kept in some sort of order?

First of all, if possible, choose a month where there is less possibility of bad weather.  I know it’s not easy to do, but in Cape Town, the summer months are more likely to remain rain-free and in other parts of the country like KZN, winter and autumn are good times.  With this in mind, you can opt to have a country picnic wedding.  I LOVE this idea…lots of blankets on the grass under the trees, hay bales dotted around and lots of picnic baskets or trestle tables filled with exciting cheeses, pates and cold meats.  A horse and carriage could take you to and from your ceremony and there are stunning options for a wedding gown as well..but more of that another time.

If you’re worried about the weather and want to play it safe, there are options for that as well.  A buffet meal is more relaxed and children can choose what they want to eat or parents are free to go with them and help make the decision while they plate up for themselves.  It’s often a good idea to have a table set aside only for the children and decorate it in the colours of your wedding, but with plastic “crockery” so there are no mishaps.  A wedding favour of a colouring book and crayons for each child or an individual game of some sort might keep them a little more occupied.

Another idea is to get someone who loves children and who’s “job” at the wedding is to keep the children occupied for an hour or so at a certain time during the wedding.  There are a list of ”car games” listed on the Net and it’s well worth writing down a few.  I had the opportunity of traveling with my 4 nieces – all under the age of 9 at the time and we were going to be in the car for 4 hours.  You know how long that is to them? “Are we nearly there yet?” “I need the bathroom (even though we stopped 10 minutes ago” etc.  I Googled “car games for children” and it was fantastic!  If you want a few ideas..please let me know..I still have the list somewhere.

Children like to feel a part of something so if you can and before they’re all to tired, keep them excited and in anticipation by having a children’s dance a little after your own first dance.

So those are a few ideas to include families at your wedding.  Next time, we’ll have a chat about a relaxed wedding day.

remember to keep breathing…hhhhhuuuuuuuummmm

Till next time

 

www.mcouture.co.za   www.invitationcreation.co.za

 

Emotions marching in order

So Brides, let’s look at this one step at a time. You have a REALLY exciting event coming up in your life..and I mean REALLY exciting.  But, unless you’re in the budget of hiring a wedding planner and sitting back and letting it all happen with minimum effort from you other than choices and decisions, it can be a stressfully exciting event.

The first thing you need to do after taking your deep zen breath, is to decide who you and your fiance actually ARE.  Get a thick notebook and on a fresh page write the heading “Who WE are”…the two of you as a couple.  As much as the Bride is more often than not the main feature at a wedding,  you are no longer a YOU but a WE and trust me when I tell you, the wedding will revolve more around you, but you need to make your fiance feel included.  So….Are you a relaxed couple?  An elegant one? A corporate one?  A family one? If you’re not sure…ask him for his thoughts over a glass of wine and write down as much info about yourselves as possible.

Let’s decide for this exercise that you’re an “Elegant Couple”.  Having written this in your book, you now can start deciding on a venue.  This is probably the most important decision as it will set the tone for  your wedding and everything else will follow from there.   Look around and find a venue that offers elegant surroundings, perhaps drinks on the lawn while you have your photgraphs taken and then a plated set menu in a beautifully decorated diningroom. There are a few things that speak “elegance”.  A  simple, less is more philosophy, gentle background music to start off with and a sit-down, plated or seved meal.  As nice as a buffet is, it isn’t as elegant as a served meal so bear that in mind.

We’re going to be talking a bit more about what else, such as the flowers and gown, goes with an elegant wedding in a later article but next time, we’ll look at the pro’s and cons of a “family wedding”.

in the meantime…breathe, breathe, hhhhuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

www.mcouture.co.za  www.invitationcreation.co.za