Trends We Love: The Unity Painting

We love that couples are continuing to find ways to personalize their weddings, to break out of the molds of weddings past and do something that is unique and representative of them. One great way to do this is to put a personal twist on an existing tradition.

We've seen this a lot with the unity ritual during the wedding ceremony. Initially, couples lit a unity candle, but soon that gave way to other unifying symbols, such as unity sand or unity flowers. One of the cooler new takes on the unity ceremony that we've seen - and loved - lately is the unity painting.

There are so many ways you can do this, the possibilities are endless! Many couples simply use two paints that are tied to their wedding color palette and either pour them down the canvas from top to bottom or swirl them around.

Others are incorporating personalization to make the piece more meaningful as it hangs in their new home. This couple added a large vinyl initial to the canvas before the paint was poured and once the paint is dry, they peel it off to reveal their monogram in white amidst the paint.

Another way is to incorporate your wedding date:

And this bride took it a step further but placing lyrics from the couple's first dance on the canvas in vinyl letters to be removed once the paint dried; she spray-painted the canvas black once the letters were affixed and then they poured paint for their unity ceremony:

If the poured paint isn't your part of your vision, you can get a little more creative by actually painting something during the ceremony, like hearts or something more abstract:

 

This couple painted a simple heart during their ceremony then used the canvas as their guest book at their reception:

Again, there are so many options, you're truly limited only to your imagination! Well, and possibly your wedding venue's policies, so be sure to check with your facility contact! This does work best in an outdoor ceremony setting, but even if you're marrying inside, just ask to see if it's a possibility for your wedding day! Happy unified painting!

p.s. One word of caution: of course you'll want to be careful not to get paint on your wedding gown; we would NOT recommend finger-painting, no matter how much your and your fiancé's inner children like it! ;)

image sources: Chris Diset Photography, Cloud Seven Photography, Etsy, Gracenote Photography, Pinterest, TWA Photo and Wedding Chicks

Trends We Love: The Pre-Ceremony Beverage Station or Cocktail Hour

A wedding is a time of celebration and fun - and an opportunity to flex your hospitality muscles! All good hosts know it's best to welcome guests into your home by offering them something to drink right away. We love extending this sentiment to weddings with the pre-ceremony beverage.

Think of this trend as the cocktail hour before the wedding. But, the beverages do not necessarily have to be alcoholic! The pre-ceremony cocktail hour is a fun way to have your guests mingle and get to know one another before the official festivities start.

This idea really works best when your ceremony is at a venue that's not a church, temple or other place of worship because of time and space constraints or the facility's policies. The pre-ceremony drink station is especially appreciated if your ceremony is outside. In the fall, a warm beverage station (think coffee, cider and hot cocoa - spiked or not) is a fantastic way to welcome your guests and help them ward off a chill while waiting for your walk down the aisle.

And, now that we're enjoying warmer weather, something cool and refreshing would be the go-to for a pre-wedding drink!

It can be something simple, such as flavored or sparkling water to lemonade and tea (ooooohhh, Arnold Palmers!) to mimosas or maybe even a signature cocktail just for your special day. Just make sure if you decided to serve cocktails to keep the time relatively short and consider having the drinks passed so guests don't consume too much alcohol before your ceremony.

 

 

Consult with your caterer or ceremony venue contact to explore what your options are for a pre-ceremony beverage offering. Or brainstorm with your wedding planner on other fun and creative ways you can make your day special. Oh, you don't have one of those? Our talented Weddings by StarDust planning team would love to chat with you about how they can help you have the beautiful, imaginative wedding you've dreamed of! Schedule your initial consultation with one of our expert wedding planners online now!

images: first shot Helmutwalker; all others via SMP

Trends We Love: Seasonal Cocktails, Part 1

Ahhh, the holidays! The time of year when we can enjoy delectable food and drinks during many wonderful celebrations guilt-free. Well, at least a little bit guilt-free. Lucky for those of you planning your winter wedding, you can incorporate some of the season's most adored flavors in your wedding day menu and your guests will be oh-so-grateful! Today, we are focusing on cocktails!

Seasonal cocktails are festive and tasty, and they give you an opportunity to do something fun and different for your signature drink at your reception. There are so many delicious flavors of the holiday season, it's not hard to find something special for your big day. And we discovered that there are so many fabulous options that we're going to break this into a two-part series. Let's take a look at some of your numerous options!

Apples and pears are what's know as pome fruits, but all we really care about is that they're crisp, juicy and sweet - a perfect jumping-off point for a luscious cocktail while these lovely fruits are in season.

An Amberjack is a beer-based cocktail mixed with apple vodka.

Isn't the garnish on this Apple Cidercar just so pretty?

Would you believe this Pear of Desire cocktail features a slash of cream soda?!

The Pear Essence Cosmopolitan features two flavors of the season: pear and cranberry!

Which brings us to our next featured flavor - cranberry! This tart little berry can help balance out sweetness that can overtake a cocktail. Here are some tasty-looking beverages.

The cranberry stirrers are super-cute in these Cranberry Cocktails, but for your wedding, you might want to ditch the Santas.

This Cranberry-Mint Martini features vermouth that's been infused with the tart berries.

Spice things up with this Cranberry-Spice Cocktail.

Keep things festive with a signature drink made up of wine, champagne or sparkling wine. A little more special than just a glass of wine or champagne, a mixed drink starting with one of these is perfect for your wedding reception cocktail hour.

A Bubbly Poinsettia calls for either a Rose Brut Champagne or sparkling wine, so it's flexible.

As if mojitos could get any better, but they did, when someone decided to add a splash of champagne to these Champagne Mojitos!

Mmmmm...Hot Spiced Wine, guaranteed to warm your wedding guests from the inside out!

This Marasca Fizz is light and bubbly and so pretty!

A Mulled Manhattan is a lovely seasonal take on the classic cocktail.

Crispy and woodsy - a surprisingly good combination in this unexpected Sparkling Bourbon Cocktail.

What lineup of seasonal drinks would be complete without mint- or candy cane-inspired beverages? There are a surprising number of options when it comes to these mint-centric drinks, but it seems the mixologists all agree - they should be served in a martini glass!

Super-minty and a pretty shade of red, this Candy Cane Cocktail includes both peppermint schnapps and candy cane-infused vodka.

A richer, creamier version of a Candy Cane Cocktail features peppermint, vanilla and white chocolate.

This pretty little Candy Cane Cocktail is a berry-mint combination, sure to make your guests' spirits bright!

The White Chocolate Candy Cane Martini - we think this sounds divine!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this feature, when we'll focus on ginger, pomegranate and (of course!) eggnog cocktails! And if you're looking for ways to bring special details or unexpected surprises into your wedding day, give our phenomenal team of wedding planners a call!

Branding Your Wedding with Logos, Monograms and Initials

We LOVE monograms! Simply adore them and truly cannot get enough of them! We love how easy for couples it makes personalizing their weddings merely by incorporating a monogram, their initials and/or names or even a custom wedding logo into their wedding day design. And while it's historically known as a southern thing, and monograms have been big here...well, pretty much always...this unique twist to weddings just keeps spreading as more and more couples across the country are using them for their big day.

We've planned several weddings in recent times where we've incorporated such personalization, and part of the fun is coming up with all of the ways or places you can use them! Here are some of our favorite examples:

We put this couple's initials on their invitation, their joint monogram on their cake (which also had a gorgeous initial topper!) and their last name initial on their reception dinner menu. But our favorite personalized element of this wedding is that stunning monogrammed aisle runner!

 

 

 

 

For this couple, we included their first name initials on their wedding program, put a gorgeous monogram gobo on their dance floor and included that same joint monogram on their reception menus and even their photo booth strips!

 

 

 

This couple wanted an eclectic mix of personalization, so their cake showcased their married surname initial, the dance floor gobo showed that initial along with their first names and their table cards included their first name initials. We tied them all together by using the same scrolled oval frame around each element.

 

 

 

For this elegant event, we include a fanciful initial for the bride's maiden name on the wedding program, and their married last name was represented on the reception dinner menu.

 

 

We mixed things up for this wedding, as well. The couple's first name initials were on the wedding program, while the cupcakes featured their last name initial and their dance floor gobo showed their first names and last initial.

 

 

 

This glam wedding featured another eclectic mix of initials and names, tied together with an elegant scrolled frame. We especially love that calligraphied cake topper that perfectly matched the paper products!

 

 

 

 

This stunning red and black affair featured the bride's and groom's initials as large hanging floral arrangements framing the chapel doors, and we repurposed them at the reception. We also included the couple's married last name initial on pillows and napkins in the cocktail hour lounge. Their blinged out favor boxes included their last name initial with their first names.

 

 

 

 

Do you brides love monograms as much as we do? Are any of you planning to incorporate them in your wedding day décor?

photo credits: Allen Tsai, f8studio, Graham Hobart, HelmutWalker, KJ Images, Sarah Kate, Sil Azevedo