Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

Congratulations to all the newly engaged couples.  2011 will be the most exciting year of your lives together.  Your love for one another will continue to grow as you get to plan the wedding of your dreams.  It doesn't stop at the wedding- the wedding isn't just an event, it's the beginning of a new life together.



Thank you to all of our suppliers.  Without you we wouldn't be the great company we are today, FlutterFly Events.  Wishing you a happy, safe and successful 2011.



To all our friends and family- we love you and look forward to spending another great year with you.



Cheers, love, safety, healthy and success.  Happy New Years 2011

Wedding Planning With Your Five Senses

Our five senses are something we unconsciously use everyday.  We smell, taste, hear, see and touch then quickly make judgments as to what we think about those interactions.  During a big celebration such as a wedding, people will pay a bit more attention to these interactions which is why they should be taken into consideration during the planning process.

Smell: Choose a special scent for your wedding day whether it be in the form of flowers, candles or a room spritzer.  When your guests walk into the reception they should smell something that is unique to you and your wedding. 

Taste:  Guests will always remember the food from a wedding. Have a tasting with your caterer and give special thought to any pre-dinner canapés and the starter course as these will set the tone for the rest of the meal. 

Sound:  Good music can make or break the life of a party.  Spend a good amount of time putting together a playlist and communicate with your musician/DJ in the run up to the big day.  Opt for a live band where possible but if your budget doesn’t stretch that far then there are some phenomenal DJs who are known to get all of the guests on the dancefloor. 

Vision:  Guests will be seated for a long time so put extra effort into the look of your banqueting tables by creating something that’s visually interesting to the eyes.  Try having two to three different flowers on the table for a variety of floral textures, or use a mix of sharp and soft edged décor, or try mixing shapes and sizes of tables and chairs. 

Touch:  Use table linen that has a nice feel to it.  Arms and elbows will be resting on the table and you want to give your guests a nice napkin to dab their chins with after the wedding cake.  You’ll be surprised how many guests remember the small details!

First Steps of Planning Your Wedding

Congratulations you're ENGAGED!!! 

You've never planned a wedding before so where do you start? 

Step 1: Get Focused

·       Set your budget.  Figure out realistically how much you have to spend on your wedding

·       Guest list.  What size wedding do you want?  Together with your fiancé and family, write down a must list and a maybe list

 

Step 2: Location

·       Where do you want to get married? In your hometown? Destination wedding?

·       The style of wedding you want to have will reflect the venues you start to look at

Step 3: Style

·       Focus on what YOU want, not what others have told you. 

·       Sit down as a couple and discuss your dream wedding.  Flip through magazines and browse the web for things you like and dislike.  StyleMePretty

·       Start thinking about style of wedding- classic, traditional, elegant, modern, whimsical, formal, informal, etc.

Step 4: Prioritize

·       What’s truly involved- focus on priorities

·       Is good reception music high up on your priority list, or would you rather plug in an iPod and splurge on flowers?

·       What’s important to you?  Start budgeting for your priorities.  Fill out priority worksheet provided by FlutterFly Events (contact us for your worksheet)

Step 5: Find Dream Team

·       Find wedding vendors to match your budget and complement your style and personality

·       Ask friends and family for vendor referrals

·       Make sure you get along with your vendors, as well as being confident in their work.  They will be with you throughout your engagement and you want to share this wonderful experience with someone you can have fun with

Step 6: Design

·       Pick your colour scheme and theme, if you have one.  This influences everything from save the dates to the dress to flowers and food

·       Think about additional design touches such as lighting, furniture and décor

·       Choosing your colour palette:

What are your favourite colours?

What does your venue look like?

What season will your wedding take place?

Pair cool colours with warm colours?

Start with two colours, three at the most.

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

Flowers are at the heart of every wedding.  When you hear the word, "wedding" you most likely have visuals of a man, woman, a white dress and lots of fluffy wedding flowers.  Right?   You may envision an aisle runner lined with hundreds of white hydrangeas, or your banqueting tables having large vases overflowing with beautiful pink orchids, but then comes the reality... wedding flowers are a pricey business.   Can you still have your hydrangeas and orchids even if you don't have an enormous budget? Sure you can, just be honest with your florist about your budget and think about the following tips:



1. Reduce:  A couple of statement flower arrangement will be more stunning and remarkable over multiple small arrangements.   Together with your florist, try to come up with something that will create a talking point throughout the evening.   Note: Guests are likely to remember larger arrangements.

2.  Re-Use: Gather up your wedding party and have them transfer the wedding flowers used at the Ceremony, and bring them to the Reception.  Flowers can be used in places such as the restrooms, mantels, fireplaces, bars, etc.  A move like this must be planned well in advance so there aren't any delays at the Reception venue.  If you're travelling a long distance speak to your florist about transporting the flowers.

3.  Recycle:  If you're having a party on the eve of your wedding, why not re-use the flowers somewhere at the wedding the following day?  Similarly, think about ways you can use flowers and herbs for the Ceremony, cocktail reception and dinner.  For example, use bunches of lavender to decorate an Escort Card table during the cocktail reception, then have someone place a bundle of lavender on top of each napkin before dinner.  You get to recycle the lavender that was originally purchased for decorating the Escort Card table! Win/Win

Rocky Mountain Wedding

TV News Reporter and my friend from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Valerie Castro, got married to her lovely fiance, Chris Mosher, in a stunning Rocky Mountain wedding this past September.   The marriage took place at the Chapel at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, and a reception followed at the Terrace Gardens Ken Caryl.  



As always, the Colorado weather held up beautifully and the sun was beaming against the famous Red Rocks.  Every well known musician in the world wants to perform at the Red Rocks Amphitheater and to get married there is a real treat.  Their wedding photographer, Lindsay Pierce, captured the day wonderfully and managed to get the bride and groom to roam through the fields for some contemporary photography.



The bride looked gorgeous in her Pronovias and carried a bouquet of lilac, hydrangeas, roses and orchids.  



Details:  Instead of a Champagne toast, they toasted with a liquor called Aguardiente which is the national drink of Colombia.  The bride's mother's side of the family is Colombian so it was a special touch that made the family and friends feel close to one another.  The Aguardiente is what led to the idea of tailor made shot glasses as wedding favors!  And of course, they also made sure the DJ played lots of Latin music.  The DJ did such an incredible job that the bride and groom extended the music license three times on the evening!

Guest Management

Having a database or tracker for your wedding guests is uber important.  You need to store important information such as guests attending, mailing address and assigned seating.  Here are some tips on how to go about staying organized:



Set up a guest tracker in a user friendly program such as Excel.    My tracker has 15 columns but adjust yours to the way you're organizing your reception.  These are my columns:



Guest Name

Mailing Address

Phone Number

Email Address

Reply Card Number

Date Invitation Mailed

Date RSVP Received

RSVP Accepted

Attending Ceremony

Attending Reception

Meal Preference

Dietary Requirements

Table Number

Gift Received

Date Thank you Card Mailed



Let us know what else you have in your guest management system.  We'd love to hear from you.

A Winter Wedding in London II

As a follow up to our previous post on Kayleigh and Dan's upcoming wedding, we'd like to take this time to thank all of the vendors who have offered their services for this special wedding.  Kayleigh and Dan will have their ceremony at St. Thomas' Catholic Church Wandsworth, followed by a reception at Selsdon Park and Golf Club on Saturday 19th of February 2011.



Some of the below vendors are no longer involved in this wedding due to a change in date and venue, but we'd like to thank them for offering their time and services/products for such a special couple:



Athena Network

Renata- All About Pearls

Eltham Palace

Sarah Jagger

Euphoric Flowers

Blue Strawberry

Payne and Gunter

Acclaim Food

Vsj Marquee Hire

Drake Algar Flowers

Young Guns UK

Giles Penfound

Unique Thinking and the Windjammer Landing in St. Lucia

Beautiful Bosom

Pearl Pictures

Move Three Sixty

Gift of Bio Energy

Parfum Parfait

Kerry McNair Photography

Cherry Crimp

Palecek-Principles

The Hire Emporium 

National Coach Hire

Nicole's make-up and hair

John Vassallo

Frank Noon