2010/2011 Wedding Trends

If you are planning a wedding or will be in the near future then this post is for you.

Here are the upcoming trends for everything wedding for fall/winter 2010 and the 2011 year.

Trending colors:

1. Jewel shades
2. Turquoise
3. Coral
4. Pale yellow with platinum or black
5. Fuschia
6. Deep red and teal
7. Violet
8. Mocha
9. Bright yellow and peach
10. Metallics
11. Pink, Bright orange and Turquoise
12. White on White
13. Always classic-black

Themes

• Bohemian/Gypsy style
• Campy 1950's retro
• Latin/African Design with bold prints and color
• Garden
• Winter Wonderland
• Vintage Glamour
• Woodland/Rustic
• Tiffany Blue
• Sparkling Diamonds
• Retro Style 50-70's
• EcoFriendly
• Vineyard- long wooden tables, lots of wines. Cheese and fruit platter appetizers and a more intimate feel
• Give a livingroom vibe
• Art Deco( flat geometric patterns, classic architecture and peacock themes)
• Romance! It is always popular:roses, white on white, pearls and lace
• embellish embellish embellish! On your invites, centerpieces, bouquets and more! This is super trendy and communicates luxury without having to spend a ton!

Decor

• Mirrors
• Peacock feathers
• Embelishments! Rhinestones, Lace, Pearls
• Have a wishing tree in place of a guest book

Invitations ( Our Specialty)- Invitations should set the tone for your wedding, elicit a response and also be a keepsake. Here are some fresh ideas to

• Stationery with embelishments ( rhinestone buckles, pearls, floral accents, feathers or ribbon)
• Combine retro and modern- vertical layouts are growing.
• Bohemian mixed withnon-dimensional floral patterns
• folksy/culture look: use decorative diecuts or embelishments that are unique to your ethic background or heritage ( bold colors of latin culture or soft hues of the midwest, vivid graphics with african influence, etc). Use calligraphy or floursih fonts that are highly decorative. Use large bold fonts.
• Go Eco! Use recycled papers, soy based inks
• Make it look futuristic- add touches of florescents or metallics. Include diecuts and transparent papers. Mix your mediums.
• Include bright colors

The Dress

• Subtle ruffles and frills
• Tea length wedding dresses are coming back in style
• If you can't do the untraditional style of a shorter dress that choose one with touile!

The Ceremony

• Instead of releasing doves- release butterflys. This popular trend continues to grow

The Reception

• Dinner focused receptions- treat it like a big dinner party- more comfortable, less formal
• Lose the formality- break it up! Change the seating, the order and the layout. People like a surprise!
• Don't do assigned seating
• Make your centerpieces in the same color tones but different sizes
• Have different shaped and sized tables- mix squares with circles and rectangles. This adds alot of variation that pleases the eye and mixes it up!
• Keep your reception more intimate, space closer together have vibrant colors and pick a more comfortable theme.
• After parties are growing in trend. Have a space with a coffee bar, cappuchinos or even a cigar lounge.
• DJ's instead of a band
• souped up photobooths
• Confection bar
• Rock candy cocktails in your wedding colors
• grand exits

The Cake

• Gourmet cupcakes are huge! And a little different from your everyday wedding cake.
• Classic White Cakes-Make them ALL white

Popular Money Savers

Instead of dinner, having a wedding brunch. Food isn't as expensive and you can be super cretaive with what you serve. Also the cost of vendors at this time of day is much less expensive and easier to book on a short times notice.

If you need any help with your wedding needs- contact us! We are happy to help.

www.whimsique.com

Party for 50 + guests? No problem!

A friend asked me last night " What do I serve at my house warming party for 50+ guests? I want to make a a great impression, but don't want to break the bank"... My wheels started turning as I thought of ways to keep the cost low... The best option I told her, is food stations. Sounds intimidating but prep can be done days in advance for the majority of it and people love to customize what they eat. You keep your cost low, guests happy and make an impression. Here are some menu ideas:

Baked Potato Bar

pre-bake all the potatoes in foil and keep them warm in the oven until time to serve and then serve with an array of options:

• cheese
• chives
• sour cream
• alfredo sauce
• brocolli
• hollandaise
• chicken
• bacon bits
• butter
• tomatoes
• ham pieces

Or Hamburger stations-

Include a few types of burgers like:

1) burgers with blue cheese mixed in the patties,

2) a tex mex style mixed with green chilles, cumin, onions, garlic powder

3) a turkey burger or veggie burger option

Then you spread out the toppings:

• ketchup
• mustard
• pickles
• tomatoes
• relish
• different cheeses
• lettuce
• bbq sauce
• pineapple
• teriyaki sauce

and anything else you can think of.

Side Dishes like any of the following:

• a big salad with a few dressing options
• a big fruit salad (or my favorite is to make the fruit into fruit skewers and then serve sticking out of the shell of the watermelon. )
• corn on the cob (if in season). Cut them in half and serve with honeybutter ( melt honey and butter in a dish and spread onto the corn once cooked. sprinkle with parmesan and pepper if desired)
• garlic parmesan fries and/or sweet potato fries

Then for Dessert, keep it simple with an Ice cream station:

Include a few types of popular ice cream flavors:

• vanilla
• chocolate
• strawberry
• cookies and cream

And then spread out toppings:

• crumbled brownie
• carmel
• whipped cream
• cherries
• nuts
• fudge
• sprinkles
• cookie dough
• waffle cone pieces
• candy bar ( like reeses)
• chocolate chips
• granola
• fruit
• rootbeer
• coke

Drinks

Bottled beverage and alcohol adds up quick. If you are trying to keep the cost down, make a big batch of lemonade but make it special by adding raspberry or strawberry juice to it. Then, add cut up berries to flat inside or freeze them in a bundt tray with water to make an ice cube ring and garnish with mint-yum!.

Presentation

The biggest impression will be how the food looks when it is displayed on the counter or table(s). Cute labels should be set out for all the toppings and when you display it,stagger things at different heights. Using cake holders, or trays you have etc. maybe add a sunflower here or there to make it cute. And viola! Let the party begin!

Summer Drink Recipes

Every Summer and every summer party should include fresh fruity drinks and delicious cocktails! Check out the recipes to some of my favorites below:

Italian Margarita

• 1 oz amaretto liqueur
• 2 oz sweet and sour
• 1/2 oz tequila
• 1/2 oz triple sec

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain in a chilled margarita or martini glass and garnish with a lime.

Playful Pina (non-alcoholic)

from backyard bartender

• 3 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz cream of coconut
• 1/3 cup fresh berries
• 1 cup crushed ice

Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth and serve into a margarita or wine glass. Add a mango or pineapple slice for garnish.

Bellinitini

from backyard bartender

• 1 oz orange flavored vodka
• 1 oz peach or apricot nectar
• 3 oz dry champagne or sparkling wine

Mix vodka and nectar in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice. Strain into a chilled flute glass and top with cold champagne. Stir once and add a fresh raspberry or peach slice for garnish.

The Lawn Mower

• 1 cup ripe honeydew melon, diced
• 1 oz vanilla vodka
• 1/2 oz cointreau
• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup cold dry champagne or sparkling wine

Puree melon in a blender adding 1-2 tbsp water if necessary. Press melon mixture through a strainer into cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, cointreau, lime juice and mint. Shake. Strain mixture into chilled martini glass or flute and top with champagne. Stir once and garnish with a skewer of melon and mint leaves.

Party Theme Ideas for Every Age

Whether you are trying to think of ideas for your little one's birthday, your middle-schooler , high-schooler, or yourself, it is always hard to think of themes that haven't been over done or that are fun and creative. For the next few posts I am going to focus on different themes for all ages and some decor ideas for each party theme.

One of the more creative ideas from this year was a party thrown by former Bachelorette Trista and husband Ryan for their one year old Max. A Candyland theme birthday:) the great thing about this is there are so many ways to pull off this theme. Use pieces from the board game to create decor. use candy for center pieces and take away treats. use lots of colorful plates, napkins and even little furniture ( IKEA is a great place for this stuff). Big lollipops with candyland labels are fun favors , top the cake with different candy treats ( lollipops especially).... Just be ready for the kids to be quite a sugar high:)

Another idea for someone a little older, maybe 5th grade and up is a super mario brothers theme. Make your decor look like scenes from the video games, create cuts outs , incredible cake ideas, mushroom candy tins are fun take home gifts and party games like a yoki egg hunt:)

A great idea for an adult theme party is lady gaga-with her outrageous outfits and popular music this party calls for a costume contest. I have only posted a small fraction of her outrageous outfits and the great thing with this one is she keeps coming out with new looks so the possibilities are almost endless!


More party theme ideas to come!

Unique Favor Ideas

There are so many options for wedding favors these days-but how many really make sense? Will you use the one glass coaster that was set on your plate? Or the tiny little eiffel tower that's only purpose it is to hold your name tag or the tiny heart shaped hand soap? Finding a favor people will actually use and that is unique and creative is hard to do. One thing I have found is you never can go wrong with any type of favor that is associated with food. Chocolate and candy is always a winner and your packaging is what can be creative. One of my favorites is actually cost efficient and creative-a paper cake. There are also cute floral boxes.

Cookie cutters are common but people will love and use them, or measuring spoons or even personalized hot chocolate-yum!

A really neat artsy item is button mirrors will add a pop of color and style to the tables.And nothing says vegas like personalized match boxes, or for nostalgic value try a cootie catcher.

During the holidays it is a great idea to use ornaments as your favor. Also personalized albums that second as placecards is a great idea.

.

Baby Shower Decor and Inspiration

I am in the middle of trying to plan my sister in laws baby "sprinkle". I aspire to create beautiful settings that are unique and inspiring, but I will be the first to admit that this is a work in progress. In my attempt to create a beautiful setting for this baby "sprinkle" I scoured the internet looking for ideas and inspiration. To save you time and energy I am posting some of the inspiration I found along the way. One thing I noticed was that I was drawn to the beautiful decor that was shown when a long table was created with the theme sprinkled throughout the center. It helped to create a theme, add color and texture and allow for uniqueness, like this beach theme. There are also more simple and elegant styles that I loved like this green one. Beautiful showers don't mean expensive showers. Creating chinese laterns or paper flowers are a great way to fill space and make a beautiful atmosphere whether you are having your event inside, or outside during the day or evening. For instructions on how to make them check out marthastewart.com

Here are some additional place tags, diaper cakes and table decor that might get your creative juices flowing:

Waffle Bars

Lots of bridal and baby showers are held in the early afternoon on weekends and if you have ever thrown one for a friend or loved one then you know it can be pricey. Add in paying for all the trimmings if you are a bridesmaid and you will spend the next year catching up on your credit card. One great solution for how to be creative and make your brunch a success ( while not emptying your wallet) is a waffle bar. Borrow a couple waffle makers from friends and family, purchase ready mix batter from somewhere like costco( make sure the only ingredient you need to add is water to keep cost down) and begin cooking about 1 hour ahead if time if you can or at least have everything ready. Keep your oven on a low heat with a baking pan inside. as you finish waffles place them on the baking sheet to keep warm until it is time to serve them. Set up toppings like:

• Maple syrup
• boysenberry puree
• fresh berries
• whip cream
• peanut butter
• chocolate chips
• nutella
• butterscotch drizzle
• cooked cinnamon apples
• butter
• granola
• bananas
• powdered sugar

include some beverages like orange juice, coffee and tea and you are all set.
if you really want to get creative create cute themed name tags for each topping !