My ?? turned into a !!

We did a wedding last week at Villa Botanica, one of my favorite locations. My bride told me that the caterer was helping her put the favors together, which would be "cupcakes in a jar". I kind of had to think about that one, cupcakes in a jar?? I wasn't quite sure how that would work out. So when the caterer arrived, I definitely needed to check it out. And that's when my ?? turned into a !! These things were adorable!!



I took pictures before they were fully assembled. They used ribbon to tie a spoon to them and were set out prior to the guests leaving, so they could take the little snack with them. I think it would have been adorable with a little silver gellato spoon as well.

Spicy Favors!

Heading to bed after an awesome welcome party at Iggies tonight, but was just going through some pictures from last week and wanted to share this favor that our bride gave out to her guests. This was from our Rhumblines wedding on St. John. Look how cute these little straw bags are:



And inside? A bag of St. John Spice (you HAVE to visit their shop in Wharfside Village, the smell in there is intoxicating!) and a mini bottle of Cruzan rum! Perfect Virgin Islands wedding favors!



And speaking of Cruzan rum, stay tuned to see what my bride for tomorrow has in store for her guests. Another unique and fun idea!

A taste of Morocco...

I'm 100% impressed with the work this bride put into the details of her wedding day. Guests were coming up to me left and right, complementing me on what a wonderful job I did and each time I had to tell them that all the credit went to the bride - all I did was put it together for her. Lindquist Beach lent itself well to this very Moroccan influenced event.

One of my favorite aspects of the day was the guest book...each page was dedicated to a guests with a slot for a photo of them and a section for them to fill in a wedding wish for the couple. This scrapebook of a guest book will be such a wonderful keepsake of their wedding day...




But you all know how I feel about wedding favors...LOVE THEM. And after the ceremony, everyone was taken to a sailboat for lunch & snorkeling...so, what better favor could there be than a beach towel?? And just look at the details our bride put into the favors...a beautiful gift tag with starfish pendant. Just beautiful...




Congratulations J&J - I wish you many happy and wonderful years together!

Sorry Disposable Camera Industry

I know you're not going to appreciate this post. But these days, I just don't see your relevance anymore. Everyone owns a digital camera and almost everyone knows how to upload their images to the internet. I just feel that the days of leaving a disposable camera on the reception tables are long gone. But how, do you ask, do you get everyone to share with you their digital photos? Ah...I have the solution for you! Most photo sharing & printing websites (like shutterfly, snapfish, etc)allow you to create websites easily (and for free) to allows friends & family to upload their photos to. I have a website like this for Island Bliss Weddings (www.islandblissweddings.shutterfly.com) and even have a site for my daughters so that the Grandma's can see & order photos of their grandkids (www.marleyandmaya.shutterfly.com). Personally, I love Shutterfly but mainly because it is what I'm familiar with. I'm sure the others are just as easy and great (although if you have any experience with any of them, please feel free to leave a message in the comment section to share with others).

The best way to inform guests of these sites are to leave a little card on the reception tables (a little note such as, "We'd love to see the photos you've taken of our wedding day! Please share with us at www.ourwedding.shutterfly.com) or to put a note in your welcome letter, programs, etc.

Now, before the disposable camera industry issues a hit out on me, I do want to recommend this little treasure for the welcome bags. Wouldn't everyone love a cheap little disposable UNDERWATER camera for their Virgin Islands vacation?? I found this cute little thing at www.weddingcameras.com

Adorable favor idea...

I am a favor nerd, I will totally admit it. Cake and favors are the two things I totally look forward to when I attend a wedding. Which is probably not what a lot of brides want to hear since the big trends lately have drifted to dessert tables instead of cakes and charity donations instead of trinkets. But I'm a traditionalist - I love the little tulle bags of Jordan Almonds and the big slice of cake with thick sugary butter cream frosting! And if I can, I always steal a second piece...at weddings I'm attending mind you, not the ones I'm coordinating. =)

A post or two ago I posted about my friend Maddie's wedding here. As I was taking her and her groom (ooops! I mean, husband now!) back to the airport, I subtlety asked if they would be doing favors at their reception back in Indiana and had a plethora of ideas to share. Maddie actually already had in mind what she would like to do for favors, since she had attended a wedding last summer and loved their favor idea. This isn't exactly what she described, but the best I could find online...



A coworker had silver drink stirrers, or swizzle sticks as favors. These pictured above are acrylic and can be personalized with your name & wedding dates were found at www.hqweddingfavors.com. Maddie says she uses hers all the time - which is exactly what you are looking for in a favor - something that won't be tossed out at the end of the night or forgotten on the table! I like the silver idea best but couldn't find any online in the short search that I did. I suggested adding a little something to make it more "Virgin Island-y" since this is where they were married. Why not attach the swizzler to a miniature bottle of local Cruzan Rum?



How cute could that be? A little bottle of rum and a silver swizzler at each place setting? Definitely appropriate for a drinking crowd, which I'm sure Maddie's reception will fall into! And if you really feel confident about your crowd's drinking abilities, just skip the swizzler and put a little shot glass at each setting with the bottle of rum inside!