Event Planning: Vegetable Details

Posted by Matthew Robbins, Contributor

Table numbers and menu cards are often an afterthought, but they can really bring a magical and finishing touch to your table design. Take this fabulous wedding, for example.

It was held at Blue Hill Stone Barns, one of my absolute favorite venues and restaurants in New York. The bride worked with Ceci NY to design these wonderful menus and table cards. We all wanted to avoid the typical table number—for creative reasons but also to save space on the table—and the bride is a bit of a foodie, so the final and perfect idea was to use garden vegetables to "name" each table. Ceci printed different garden vegetables on a simple band meant to wrap around a menu set at each place setting, so if you were seated at the Butternut Squash table, you could very easily walk around the dining room and find ten of these bright vegetables marking your table.

It was also just so much more fun and perfect for the venue. Blue Hill is famous for serving the most exquisite and delicious food straight from their own garden, so the vegetable theme was very appropriate. If you want to try this on your own, click here to download a menu card template online from Martha Stewart Weddings. This is one more great link for table number ideas.

What are your ideas for finding original table number and menu card presentation ideas?

 

Each table was uniquely vintage-inspired. We used zinc tabletops, and copper and wood accents. I love the contrast of each table surface with the different menus and place settings.

Decorating with Color

Posted by Matthew Robbins, Contributor 

During a recent drive upstate, I was so inspired by the beautiful Fall foliage. After all, there's nothing more beautiful than a glowing autumnal yellow foliage against a moody blue-gray sky—the contrast is incredible. Though this year the leaves aren't as intense as years gone by, they are still delivering some wonderful hits of blazing orange, red, and vibrant yellow.

All of this Fall color reminds me that a clear color palette is often all you need to pull a room or an event together; in fact, if your color palette is really well thought out, you don't even need a theme for your wedding.

Here are details from a recent cocktail reception we put together. As you can see, we pulled the vibrant sunset tones into as many details as we could. The flowers, of course, featured blazing orange and deep red orchids. The linens were in a more muted, persimmon tone, and the candles were all in a beautiful juicy red and citrus palette. Even the specialty cocktails were in a golden amber glass, and the actual drinks were a delicious caramel tone as well. We created several lounge areas with dark chocolate leather ottomans and accent cushions featuring all of these beautiful colors.

Remember to use color as a tool for adding a finishing touch to your wedding. Do you have any challenges with using color? Let me know if I can help!

All photos by Mel Barlow

Vibrant vanda orchids on persimmon table linens.

Even the stemware had a warm amber tint to it, and the wait staff worked with the color palette (notice the necktie)!

Blazing red and orange candle holders were perfect on the bar.

We even used the lounge furniture and accent pillows to pull the color palette into every detail.

My Current Obsession: Photobooths

Posted by Shira Savada, Real Weddings Editor

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about photobooths. Mainly about how much I love them; how people seem to step inside them and completely lose their inhibitions; how they’re a bit like giant Polaroid cameras. And how nowadays, there are photobooths of all shapes, sizes, and forms. But first you've got to choose between the two main options: digital and film.

Fall Harvest

Posted by Britni Wood, Style Expert

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: fall really is my favorite season. I love the idea of the harvest as a wedding theme, and October is the wonderful month when gorgeous olives are picked from their branches and cured or made into oil. Olives and their branches have the most sophisticated look when used in your wedding decor and can give your guests a feeling of being in the Tuscan countryside. Enjoy all these earthy delights from our past issues.

   

top: candy olives in burlap pouches, black olive and sage madeleines.

middle: an olive branch buffet, harvest table centerpiece and favors

bottom: gold band cake with olive branches

Smart Decor

Posted by Matthew Robbins, Contributor

I was looking at the lovely photos (provided by Christian Oth Studios) from a recent summer wedding we designed and came across a perfect decor moment to share.

Often, your biggest concern is how to spend your money wisely as you plan your wedding. One smart idea is to make your ceremony decor work double time, using it to embellish your reception long after it leaves the altar. For this wedding, we created beautiful hydrangea and passion vine wreaths for the aisle decor and later repurposed them as decor for the bride and groom's chair and for doorways, windows, and other areas around the reception venue.

Are you looking for smart decor ideas for your own wedding? Keep this little trick in mind as you plan your ceremony decor. Think about how the pieces might relate to your reception site; perhaps you'll need to use colors and materials that work in both scenarios to take advantage of the beautiful decor for the entire evening! 

 A perfect wreath hanging on one of the pew ends in the church.

 

The same wreaths were used to embellish the bride and groom's chairs.

A beautiful window for one of the hydrangea wreaths.

Savory Decor

Posted by Matthew Robbins, Contributor

Autumn weddings are in full swing, and last weekend I worked on a beautiful country wedding in Connecticut. All the design details were authentic—even the cocktail tables were vintage cafe tables from an old hotel! 

The bride and groom really wanted a relaxed but chic and elegant event. Dinner was served "family-style," and the menu was amazing: Bowls of Brussels sprouts, hearty mac and cheese, and seasonal vegetables were some of the lovely things placed on every table. The main course was a roasted pig, which was served from platters by the wait staff at each table. I had to work closely with the amazing Franck Cursat from Olivier Cheng Catering to incorporate the food into the table decor, which you'll see below. We unified everything with beautiful white flowers and linen table runners. White is always so incredibly chic when paired with deep chocolate and wood tones, and it's a great alternative to the traditional autumn color palettes! 

If you are planning a family-style dinner for your wedding, consider the tones and textures in the food and how these might work with your overall design scheme. In other words, think of the food as decor. And the serving pieces should work effortlessly with your table decor. 

Are you planning a family style dinner for your wedding? Let me know if you have any tips or if you need solutions for your table!

Olives and breadsticks garnished each table.

I love how the palette came together, from the tones in the autumn grasses found in the centerpieces to the breadsticks to the burlap curtains and the sisal carpet.

Large white bowls on the tables were filled with delicious sides to accompany the main course.

Mason jars and vintage bottles collected from antique stores held the flowers.

The runners were made from a beautiful open weave linen, and the chargers were pewter.

Using Candlelight

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

Everyone looks great by candlelight, an effect not lost on your wedding guests, especially the single ones! It's romantic and makes a big impact even if you just use a few candles sprinkled around the room. So, I rounded up a few of my favorite candle ideas to share here.

These simple floating candles (along with a couple of orchids) are easy to recreate, are not super expensive, and are undeniably beautiful.  

And I've always loved this combination of amaryllis and candles, perfect for a holiday or winter wedding.

  

And these may be my favorite. They're votives inside cylinders, wrapped in beautiful shades of beeswax. 

Are you using candlelight at your wedding?

Table Numbers

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

We're big fans of table numbers here at MSW. After all, who wants their guests wandering around aimlessly looking for a table to sit at? Not me. So here are a few ideas to consider.

This is one of my all-time favorites, a series of downloadable clip art table numbers, calligraphed by Maybelle. Check out the beautiful flower arrangement by Naomi DeManana behind it. Keep an eye out for more of her stunning work in the flower story coming out in our Winter issue. 

 

Here's a great way to integrate photos into your wedding for instant personalization!

And finally, have your table numbers pull double duty, as shown here.

 

How are you numbering your tables? Anything out of the ordinary?

When to Dance Your First Dance

Posted by Talley Sue Hohlfeld, Etiquette Expert

One of our readers just wrote for advice about when to schedule her and her groom's first dance. They'll have the ceremony and reception in the same space—immediately after the vows, a band will play for the cocktail-style event and will depart after an hour, leaving guests to dance to music from an mp3 player. 

Her plan is for herself and her new husband to dance their first dance at the music change. This would mean that our reader and her husband wouldn't get to dance until the reception was well underway—and that would be a very sad waste of that band!

I'd love to see her get the band to delay a little while (or play background music), so the happy couple can kick off the dancing part of the party.

Miss Manners has pointed out that the first dance is not a performance. It was intended to be the first dance of the *night,* not just the couple's first dance as husband and wife. The bride and groom, as guests of honor, were supposed to "christen" the dance floor, and then be joined by others, who will have hung back for several moments to watch.

Nowadays, many brides and grooms don't have people join them midway through the dance, and so the "performance" aspect has grown in importance. But it still ought to be an emotional moment, and a first of some kind.

What would you advise her? And when you will dance your first dance?

Autumn Inspiration

Posted by Matthew Robbins, Contributor

We're so busy preparing for our October events, which is great for me because I love autumn weddings. In keeping with the season, we're incorporating unique rustic elements and a few very beautiful garden and farm pieces in the decor for these upcoming parties. I thought it would be fun to share a few images of the decorative pieces we're using for the tabletop and other areas of the events.

Here are a few snapshots of the centerpieces for one of the weddings taking place on a farm. We're doing a mix of round tables and long antique farm tables, which I sourced directly from several antique dealers in upstate NY. I love all of the autumnal details in the centerpieces: dahlias, fruits, berries, and pods. Also, the color palette is deep and rich for fall but not too predictable—that is, no orange or brown!

Are you having a fall wedding? What elements are you incorporating, and what is your color palette?

I'm using an eclectic mix of vintage and antique objects, such as directional signs and weathervanes. The containers include maple sap buckets, grain scoops, and unique tin vases along with many other fabulous jars, crates, and planters. Here are a few of the details.