Tag Archives: Utah wedding location

How-To Tips, Receptions

Customary Wedding and Reception Floral Arrangements

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Wedding and reception floral arrangements are an important focal attraction of a wedding and reception. Western Gardens Utah wedding reception recommends Hillside Floral as a preferred florist, both for their designs and for prices that accommodate any budget.

There are varieties of floral arrangements that are customary for the wedding ceremony. These include the bride’s bouquet, maid of honor’s/matron of honor’s bouquet, bridesmaids’ bouquets, groom’s boutonniere, best man’s boutonniere, groomsmen’s boutonnieres, corsages for each mother, boutonnieres for each father, a hair piece for the flower girl and rose petals for the flower girl to gently toss down the aisle.

The wedding reception typically includes centerpieces, the customary bouquet that the bride throws, flowers on a gift/guest attendance book table and cake flowers.

A wedding’s theme and colors incorporate into the flower selection process, including types of flowers, flower colors, ribbons, greenery and accents. Flowers are a beautiful reflection of a couple’s personality, albeit it the exotic orchid to timeless calla lilies. Flowers also help capture the theme of a wedding, from romantic, timeless, elegant, rustic, modern, antique to simple. A bridal bouquet reflects the essence of the bride’s gown and is an accessory that completes her attire.

To help keep the flower budget at a reasonable cost, it is always less expensive to select flowers that are in season and locally grown. This may mean improvising and coordinating colors and flowers around certain seasons, but it also means that a couple can afford more flowers if they are open-minded and willing to work with the local expertise of a florist, instead of having their hearts set on certain varieties of flowers that require importation.

It is easiest to coordinate with a florist who can accommodate both the Salt Lake City wedding venue for the ceremony and Salt Lake City Utah reception center venue flowers. This allows the florist to help form a cohesive theme. Florists are professionals and are able to provide guidance and advice about what flowers will work best with themes and colors. Many times, they can supplement flowers in bouquets and centerpieces with more greenery, feathers, pearls or artistic elements.

It is important to inquire about vases for centerpieces, if they are rented through the florist, if the florist provides the service of setting up centerpieces, aisle runners, potted plants, etc. Another query is if the florist allows guests to take the centerpieces home as gifts and if the florist cleans up after the reception. These are all important questions to ask and items that should be readily addressed by a seasoned, professional florist.

Many brides want their bouquet preserved and some florists provide this service. Inquiring ahead of time will help save the bride significant time and allow her to preserve her bouquet while it is still vibrant and fresh.

How-To Tips

Wedding Don’ts to Remember

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All brides, attention please! Your wedding is a time of great joy and delight. It is also a time when you can be stressed out. It is perfectly understandable that you want each detail of your wedding to go just as you have planned – and you can work towards achieving that. But be careful – there is a line you may have crossed unawares where people are starting to call you a Bridezilla. (You wouldn’t want that, do you?)

Here are some pitfalls to steer clear of:

–          Don’t center everything on your wedding and wedding preparations. Of course, you’re excited about your wedding, but don’t let every conversation with friends and loved ones revolve around your wedding. When someone asks about how the wedding preparations are underway, keep your answers short and sweet. Refrain from launching into the detailed search you have made for that perfect gown or how difficult it is to find that cute cake topper and so on and so forth.

–          Don’t try to do everything on your own. With the many details that go into the wedding, there is one mantra you need to constantly remind yourself about: “delegate, delegate, delegate!” This is the secret to keeping your sanity (and poise!) during the wedding planning days and the wedding day itself. You don’t want to look harried and harassed on your wedding day, do you?

Your maid of honor and bridesmaids, as well as loved ones can be a big help during your wedding preparations. But, you can also consider getting professional help – such as hiring a wedding planner. There are also a number of Utah wedding venues that offer not just their facilities but other services you may need for your wedding. For instance, Western Gardens’ Salt Lake City wedding location, The Ivy House makes things easier by providing you the option of getting in-house vendors including photographers, caterers, florists, invitation printers and linens.

–          Don’t expect too much from your maid of honor and your bridesmaids. Traditionally, your wedding party is there to help you with the planning. However, be reasonable with your expectations – you can’t expect their world to revolve around your wedding and your wedding planning requirements at all times. Remember, these are loved ones and friends who are there to support you. They are not errand girls who are there to do your every bidding. Also, be considerate about their financial capacity – can they afford the outfit you want them to have? There are horror stories of some brides expecting their bridesmaids to wear hair extensions on the day of the wedding (and you know how much that costs!) on top of paying for their gowns.

–          Don’t make your guests waiting for too long between the wedding ceremony and reception. Ideally, the longest waiting time between the two would be two hours, including travel time to the wedding reception location, if this is different from the location of the wedding ceremony. Of course, you may need some time after the wedding ceremony for more photos, as well as to change into your reception dress and freshen up but avoid giving your guests too long a waiting time. If you have to extend the time between the ceremony and reception or if the reception venue is far, provide entertainment as well as transportation.

–          Don’t make the wedding too difficult or complicated for your guests. It is natural that some guests will have to take time off to go to your wedding, especially if these guests are from out of town. But also be considerate about how convenient your wedding date is for your guests. If you are planning a destination wedding, think of how guests will cope up with your plans. Are your elderly guests up to a trip to that deserted beach (which involves a good 20-minute walk from the nearest road?) Will it cost your guests an arm and a leg to go to your wedding in Bali?

–          Don’t focus on perfection. Work at having the “perfect” wedding but be ready for some things to go awry. Smile, it’s your day so enjoy it rather than focusing on the fact that the flowers are a shade off than your color motif or that one flower girl fell asleep and was not able to walk down the aisle.

–          Don’t be a DIY Diva. With today’s tough economic climate, it is good to try to cut corners and save money on your wedding by going the do-it-yourself route on some items for your wedding. But consider your resources – the time and skills you have. If you are new to sewing, it may not be a good idea to sew a quilt as your gift to you and your groom’s parents. Also, making your own favor boxes may sound cute but not if you need 200 of these within a week. You’ll end up sleeping at 4 a.m. and having unsightly dark undereyes on your wedding day. If you can, buy or borrow items that you need. You can still go the DIY route but don’t overdo it.

Beautiful Celebrations, Ceremonies, How-To Tips, Receptions

The Challenges of Planning a Backyard Wedding

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A wedding at your own backyard has several distinct advantages. First, it saves you a considerable sum of money you would have spent renting a wedding reception location. Secondly, it gives an intimate and personal feel to the wedding, particularly if you’re only inviting a small group of close family members and friends. Also, everything is nearby so you don’t have to rush about to get something you may have forgotten.

Some of the basics in setting your backyard as your wedding location include:

–          Space planning. Even with a spacious backyard, you have to allot spaces to key elements of your wedding. This includes the place where you and the groom will stand during the wedding ceremony, the seating space for guests, and space to set the guest tables and buffet tables. You will also set aside some space in your kitchen (and even your dining room) for the caterer. In addition, you will also need to allot for dressing areas, particularly for the female members of the entourage.

–          Rental of equipment. Please note that there are a lot of items that you will need to create that special ambiance for your wedding. This includes the lighting and sound systems, chairs and tables for the guests, decorations such as potted plants and sparkling lights, and more. If you plan to serve lunch or dinner, you may also need to rent plates and linen.

–          Decorations.Of course you would want to prettify your backyard so that it becomes a great setting as a wedding venue and reception location. You may need to work at adding decorative elements – plants, lighting, decorations for the photo booth and for the overall surroundings. Some of these things you may need to have to build from scratch – for instance, if you’d rather make your own gazebo, then you need to allot time and materials to get this done. You will also need more than an extra pair of hands to set up the seating and floral arrangments on the day itself. Some arrangements should also be made with regards to packing and cleaning up.

–          Alternatives to an outdoor wedding. What happens in case it rains? Will you have enough space indoors to accommodate all the guests? You may have to make provisions for this, otherwise, to have some tents or some kind of shelter built to ensure your guests are happy and comfortable during the ceremony and reception.

–          Kitchen space. Your standard sized kitchen may not provide enough space for your caterer’s requirements so you may have to find an area where they can work more efficiently. They may need to set up a buffet table and also a station to heat and prepare the rest of the food.

–          Parking considerations. Remember that guests may be driving over to your home. Your parking area may not be enough to accommodate all these. You may need to make arrangements with your neighbors for the temporary inconvenient of occupying available parking spaces in your area.

As you can see, having a backyard wedding will take a lot of work for both you and your family and friends. However, if you do get it right, your wedding can be as intimate and personal as you want.

If you want to have less stress and hassle on your wedding, you can also think about having your wedding at the many wedding reception locations in Utah. This can free up a lot of your time with regards to setting up and organizing the items stated above. One such option is The Ivy House, a SLC, Utah wedding venue.

The Ivy House is a Utah wedding location equipped with all you will ever need to have a hassle-free and enjoyable wedding experience. These include dressing areas for the bride and groom, a good sound and lighting system, enough table and chairs for a mid-sized occasion, a romantic staircase with indoor and outdoor balcony, a baby grand piano and more.