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Let’s be serious. Nobody hearts Mondays. So every Monday we are here to lighten the mood and talk about things we do heart: Extraordinary Escort Cards
I can’t think of anything more boring than a blank piece of paper with a name on it. Escort cards shouldn’t be dull or overlooked. There are so many ways to create escort cards that not only add a personal touch to your wedding but also impress guests with your creativity and thoughtfulness.
She Says: This is another one of those great little ways to make the wedding all about you as a unique couple.
Guests love little details like this. They will take photos of the cards, talk about them and in some cases cherish them! For example, the little candles below serve as escort cards and wedding favors.
So what’s the difference between escort cards and place cards?
Escort cards tell guests at what table they should sit at.
Place cards are at the table and tell guests in what seat they should sit.
Some important tips for creating escort cards:
1. With a large amount of guests, avoid tying the cards to trees like the photo on the bottom left. It will take forever before guests find their card.
2. Try organizing the escort cards in alphabetical order rather than table numbers to make the process quicker. If the cards are tied to items, line up the items so guests don’t have to search.
3. Don’t have loose leaf escort cards at outdoor weddings (even on a sunny calm day). The wind could sweep them off in a second. Hold them in place with faux diamonds, river rocks or ribbon.
4. Keep them consistent. If you write Mr./Mrs. on one card, continue to do this on all of the others.
5. Depending on what your escort card is, decide whether you want to give one out per person or per couple or per family.
Photos Left to Right, Top to Bottom: www.theknot.com, www.josevillaphoto.com, www.theknot.com, www.elizabethannedesigns.com, www.diyweddingprojects.com, www.LIWeddings.com, www.lisalefkowitz.com, www.papertastebuds.com, www.countryliving.com
My name’s Kendra Scott, I’m the Wedding’s Division Manager at Firefly Occasions and as of December 19th, I now have my own wedding to plan! Every Friday I write a feature article where I document my personal wedding planning journey each step of the way.
Well with only 6 months left until the wedding, it was time to start thinking about the décor plans. So this week, you get a little sneak peek into part of our planning process with our décor clients. Normally, after our décor consultation with the client, we create renderings of the décor ideas and when possible try to incorporate these renderings into their actual venue. We find it very helpful to be able to see what these ideas will actually look like in the venue. However, since this is for my own wedding and not a client, I haven’t put quite that much effort in haha. So you won’t see what this looks like in our venue but I think you’ll get the idea. Of course, my sketches had notes written all over them, so I’ve tried to crop those out as much as possible. I had decided already on the pink, champagne and ivory colours with lots of lace, pearls, antique picture frames and tea cups. I think we’ll have our flower girls dressed as little ballerina’s as well 
. Recently, I saw a blog post on stylemepretty.com where they used hanging glass bubble vases filled with flower heads and I just had to incorporate that into the ceremony décor as well. My vision, is to have the below wrought iron Chuppah covered in vines and flowers with flower heads and bubble vases hanging through-out the center at varying heights.
At our chosen venue, we are using the same room for our ceremony and reception which means we need to allow enough time in between to have the room flipped. We are expecting roughly 65 guests and have chosen a venue that accommodates up to only 90. Due to the size of our venue, the head table is normally placed on the dance floor and is removed following dinner. This allows me to use the Chuppah as my focal point through-out the whole evening. During the ceremony we will be married under it. When the room is flipped, this Chuppah will have our head table (a round of 8 ) placed under it. After dinner, when that table is removed, the first dance will then take place under it.
Photos found at www.stylemepretty.com
This Saturday Firefly Occasions decided to come up with a little inspiration for anyone out there planning an upcoming wedding. We chose to do an inspiration board centered around a “touch of pink.” Whether you choose to wear pink shoes, decorate with pink flowers or even have pink backdrop lighting, we think it’s a very romantic yet stylish color theme! WARNING: Pink is one of those colors that is easily over done. –Note we said “touch” of pink. Our favorite shades are salmon and hot pink!
Inspiration boards are an elegant way to jumble all of your wedding ideas together to see how they look as a whole. It’s also a trendy way to showcase your wedding ideas to your friends and family and even inspire other brides! Are you interested in making an inspiration board too? Go to www.bridalcanvas.com.
We challenge you to inspire us! Send us your best inspiration board at info@fireflyoccasions.com and we will credit you with a feature on our blog! For more examples of inspiration boards go to www.stylemepretty.com or scroll down and check out Kendra’s blog on “A Wedding Planners Wedding!”
Happy Saturday! – Firefly Occasions
My name’s Kendra Scott, I’m the Wedding’s Division Manager at Firefly Occasions and as of December 19th, I now have my own wedding to plan! Every Friday I write a feature article where I document my personal wedding planning journey each step of the way.
Cupcakes, Candy Bar, Wedding Cake, Sundae Bar, there are sooooo many options! Probably my current favourite is the Sundae Bar we posted earlier this week on the blog:). However, I can’t have it all and my unhealthy obsession with Crave Cupcakes has taken over. The majority of my guests are travelling from Ontario and though they have their own cupcake shoppes there, I know many are looking forward to tasting these little mouth-fulls of joy that I won’t stop talking about . We’ve decided to go with a sweet table of mini cupcakes, macaroons and a 6” cake. This week I came across so many cute options for cake toppers and I’m really excited for the topper we’ve selected. I didn’t want a traditional Husband and Wife cake topper and I wasn’t sure what I did want. Luckily, Etsy.com never fails and I found an abundance of great ideas! I really liked the “Love” topper and custom colours were an option which is wonderful. However, I really fell in love with this sugar rose. I can’t believe the talent some people have. Can you believe this is made from sugar!? I’m curious to see how it’s shipped? Hopefully it’s not in little pieces when it arrives. They do say though that they won’t ship to Canada….minor detail haha that’s not stopping me.
Now that we’re within our six month mark to the wedding we can finally arrange a meeting for our cupcakes and cake… one of the only aspects my fiance has any interest in.
Let’s be serious. Nobody hearts Mondays. So every Monday we are here to lighten the mood and talk about things we do heart: Ice-cream sundae buffets.
She hearts the idea of anything unique and far from cookie cutter!
He hearts the thrill of being able to customize an ice cream Sundae.
Having an ice cream buffet for a wedding on a hot summer day is a unique and fabulous idea. Guests can choose their own flavor and sugary, colorful toppings. If you have an outdoor reception, this will be a great way to cool off your guests, entertain children and keep people talking about your exceptional, vibrant and entertaining ice cream buffet.
Having a buffet is also a great opportunity for you to incorporate your wedding colors, theme and decor.
Photos found at www.eatdrinkchic.com
She suggests: Light pastel colors such as salmon pink or mint green and cream.
He suggests: Having someone serve the ice cream to avoid a mess and ensure the buffet line moves along quickly. This is especially important if you have a large attendance at your reception. Bon Appetite!
by Ciara Daykin
It was supposed to be a beautiful springtime outdoor wedding but when snow started falling in Calgary in May we knew the wedding would need to be moved inside. Luckily our backup plan worked out perfectly and the couple were married with a backdrop of a beautiful oak wall with lime green and brown lampshade chandeliers. The aisle was lined with green amaranthus and guests sat in gold chiavari chairs.
The bride and groom had a ton of fun taking photos with Perry Thompson Photography and returned to their room at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce which had been completely transformed into their reception. Tables had corkscrew place card holders, green napkins, chocolate brown dupioni silk table cloths and of course the gold chiavaris. You can see that chairs really do make a difference in the atmosphere of the room. The centerpieces were a combination of low boxes filled with green button mums, freesia and roses and tall lampshades on a vase with green orchids floating inside.
Click on the thumbnails below for a better view of these awesome pictures from Perry Thompson Photography!
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasions Inc.
This weeks inspiration came from Raj Tents. This company makes the most amazing tents, linings and walls. What a way to completely transform your ballroom or create smaller lounge areas. This wedding is full of bright colours and intricate detailing. Definitely a wedding to remember!
Photos courtesy of:
http://www.inspirationwed.com – cake and cupcakes
http://www.kembacelebrations.com/community/blog/cultural-traditions/wedding-inspiration-indian-block-prints.php – save the date card
http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop/2009/06/23/its-jaime-thing-spellbound-weddings-inspired-indian-culture – drinks
http://www.americanbridal.com/personalized-coffee-favors-dsws871.html – favors
http://www.rajtents.com – tents and furniture
http://www.wildflowerlinens.com – table linens and place setting
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasions Inc.
This weeks inspiration came from a lovely gown by Vera Wang. This bridal gown is a strapless, full A-line gown with a pleated bodice, emphasis on the natural waist and a softly tucked hand painted skirt. It can be discribed as vivacious as well as uniqeuly flattering and could only be the work of Vera Wang. Available in Citrus Watercolor, Ivory or White. The opening price points range from $3,100 – $4,500.
I’ve used this one dress to create two completely different weddings. The first wedding has a beautiful simplicity to it. It feels clean but not boring. I call this wedding Citrus Breeze. The second wedding will take you into a whimsical, enchanted forest and is appropriately titled Fairy Dust.
Photos courtesy of:
Citrus Breeze
http://blushevents.blogspot.com/2008/04/happy-earth-day.html (Butterfly place setting, green and white flowers)
http://www.mnweddingminister.com/weddingblog/blog.html (Table setting with Limes in tall vases, place cards)
http://www.thepartydress.net/?p=2704 (Wedding Cake)
http://paperolive.blogspot.com/2009/08/hip-lemonade-coolers-summer-wedding.html (Citrus Drinks)
http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/06/16/lemon-yellow-wedding-by-sillapere/ (Ceremony Set-up)
http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/33016/detailview.aspx?type=3&id=33016 (Bouquet)
http://www.declanphotography.com/gallery.php?gallery=1&tstart=3 (Flower Girl)
Fairy Dust
http://www.kissthegroom.com/?p=1827 (Fountain, path, forest set-up)
http://manolobrides.com/2009/10/26/kristen-and-todds-fairytale-affair/ (A fairy wedding Fairy flower girls )
http://www.yourweddingday.com/ywd/event-design/Fanciful-Garden.html (Table linens, table setting, cupcakes)
http://www.momentaldesigns.com (Stationary)
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasions Inc.
For this week’s inspiration board, I decided to use Taylor Swift’s music video for Love Story as my starting point. Here is a wedding with purity, romance and old elegance. This one is the fairy tale wedding of all little girls dreams. Think lots of ivory, lace, castles and horses.
Photos courtesy of:
Horse: http://npclub.wordpress.com/
Car photo’s: http://masterpieceweddings.blogspot.com/2009/03/victorian-amazing.html
Victorian Stationary: http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/03/12/wedding-invitations-by-wiley-valentine-ii-2/
Table Setting: http://www.yourweddingday.com/ywd/user2/Hollywood-Glamour.html
Castle: http://www.ehow.com/how_5026466_attend-tennessee-renaissance-festival.html
Taylor Swift: http://strawberrytartmusic.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/album-fearless-taylor-swift/
Ceremony set-up: Firefly Occasions Inc.
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasins Inc.
I think it’s really fun to take inspiration from pop culture and with the release of New Moon, the world is once again in Twilight mania. Here’s an inspiration board to show you how to take a theme and fuse it into your wedding. It’s important to remember especially with a theme like this, that you don’t want it to be cheesy, it’s not a child’s birthday party. When your guests arrive they should be able to feel it, not necessarily see it. There should be something in the mood and decor that is inspired by but not necessarily taken directly from the books/movies. I don’t want to see vampires, blood or fangs but there are definitely characteristics that can be used. If you do want something obvious, consider naming your tables after the novels: Twilight, Midnight Sun, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn etc. You could also chose to use music either from the movies or from Stephanie Myers list of songs that she felt went with specific scenes. As with any elaborate theme you want to keep the obvious connections to the smaller details.
Photos courtesy of:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/twilight%20inspired%20wedding/kdhart226/mlw%20inspiration%20pics/twilight/twilightbookWScopy.jpg – meadow wedding
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LaayJVYtK58/Sdm4N4ONP7I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/jlHvLHnaWSk/s400/gothicchic.jpg – place setting and candle/chandelier
http://media.photobucket.com/image/bella%20and%20edward%20gazebo/patticakes/ljentries/gazebo.png – gazebo
http://www.daintree-ecolodge.com.au/media/image/large/daintree-ecolodge-high-res061-800.jpg – rainforest wedding
By Annette Hoegner, LA Division Manager, Firefly Occasions Inc.
So you may not be a Go Green activist but you do care about the environment and want to take the small steps in making a big difference. You decide to start with your wedding. Not only will you be doing your part but you will be impacting all of the family and friends that will be there on your big day. The little things make a big difference so empting your wallet isn’t necessary, in fact you can spend the same or even less money on environment friendly ideas. As someone who is always looking for ways to improve my day to day living I have found some simple and easy ways to make your white wedding a Green one.
Find a Veriflorist in your area. They incorporate environmentally sustainable flowers, products, materials, and practices into all of their projects. Flowers are often an overlooked element of eco-friendly decor, and now they have made it easy for eco-conscious companies, event planners, individuals, and brides to go green in every color.
There are a few facilities popping up that are environmentally friendly throughout. One example in Orange County is The Environmental Nature Center. Facilities like these use biodegradable products and require all events that come through to abide by their rules. They provide affordable “green” products and services that can reduce environmental harm while ensuring joyous, memorable and stylish celebrations.
There are so many more easy ways to make your white wedding green and reduce your weddings carbon footprint. Tune in next week for some different tips.
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasions Inc.
I just love this one! I saw a clip from Britney’s circus tour on T.V. this evening and set on a mission to find inspirational photo’s. This 1920’s circus theme is super cute and so unique. I’m not a fan of balloons at weddings, but the giant round balloons used in this inspiration board are perfect for the occasion. Let’s admit it, balloons and candy (when used
correctly!) are alot easier on the wallet then flowers.
Photos courtesy of:
http://culturebrat.comp=140
http://meandmyinsanity.blogspot.com200906more-wedding-fun-carnival-style.htm
http://wedding.blogdig.netarchivesarticlesAugust2009284_Must_Haves_for_the_Circus_Themed_Wedding.html
http://inbloomeventdesign.blogspot.com200907shayna-and-dans-circus-wedding.html
http://www.julianneaustin.com200906wedding-balloons.html
http://2daysintherain.blogspot.com200907circus-wedding.html
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasions Inc.
Photos courtesy of:
http://www.strictlyweddings.com/blog/2009/08/linens-make-a-statement-set-the-tone/ (Wildflower Linen’s chair cover)
http://www.strictlyweddings.com/blog/2009/08/linens-make-a-statement-set-the-tone/ (Preston Bailey foral arches)
http://www.joycetan.net/index/projects/wedding/index.html (bridesmaids with umbrella’s)
http://www.swsmag.net/blog/2009/4/14/gia-graham-color-palette-mint-coral-and-ivory.html (melong sorbet)
http://delightbydesign.blogspot.com/2009/03/wedding-details-blush-pink.html (water jug and pink corbet)
http://www.weddingthings.com/product/purple-grapes-cupcake-wrappers/wine_theme_wedding_favors (cupcake)
By Kendra Scott, Associate Planner at Firefly Occasions Inc.
Photos courtesy of:
http://www.stylemepretty.com/2008/02/28/dear-abby-14/ (bridesmaid dress) http://mymodernvintagewedding.blogspot.com/2009/05/shes-going-to-kill-me-over-dusty-roses.html (roses)
http://www.creative-bride.com/EB1025PK-pink-wedding-favor-boxes.htm (favour box)
http://www.swsmag.net/storage/karentranromance.jpg (lace overlay)
http://www.herecomestheguide.com/blog/detail/new-wedding-professionals-november-2008/ (Wildflower Linen’s chair coverand centerpeices)
We are so excited to announce that Firefly Occasions was named the 2008 Canadian Wedding Industry Awards Winner for Best Ceremony Decor! For more information on the Canadian Wedding Industry Awards, visit their website: www.theweddingawards.ca.
front page image thumbnail by kevindooley
