Tag Archives: wedding venue

March 24, 2012 – Beautiful Salt Lake City Wedding Celebration Planned From 1000 Miles Away

May 2, 2012 Wendy Pettit Leave a comment

Salt Lake City wedding ceremonies are beautiful at Ivy House Weddings at Western Gardens Center downtown. This wedding ceremony and dinner were planned from 1000 miles away. Ivy House wedding venue includes so many options that this bride and her mother could easily plan the event, then fly in from back east a few days before the wedding and finalize all the last details with our preferred partners.

Ivy House creates a majestic yet warm ambiance without being in a cathedral. From the balcony, the photographer took beautiful photos looking down on the memorable scene below. This bride chose to have her ceremony promenading down a center isle toward the majestic fireplace. Ivy House wooden screens were places between the ceremony area and the dinner area. She also used a white carpet runner to emphasize her walk to her soon-to-be spouse. After few words from the officiator and exchange of wedding bands, the couple kissed as husband and wife. The twinkle in Maren’s eyes were witnessed by all as guests congratulated the newlyweds. The bride chose a 3-tiered blue cake with classic and lacy white frosting and pearls created by Ivy House preferred baker Carrie’s Cakes. A special wedding couple figurine adorned the cake. Another preferred partner created her wedding bouquet and flowers for the event. Hillside Floral is very friendly, professional, and reasonably priced.

Dinner followed with dear friends and family. Again, the mother of the bride had confidence in Ivy House preferred caterer Utah Celebrations. The food was artistically presented, tasted divine, and was served by their friendly workers.

RLT Photography was the Ivy House preferred partner that the wedding party chose to snap those lasting memories. RLT photos are indicated.

Giving a ranking of 5 out of 5, the bride’s mother, was so pleased that she wrote these comments about her experience with Ivy House:

Everyone here at Ivy House was so friendly and helpful. There is no way we could have planned a wedding from 1000 miles away if it had not been for Ivy House Event coordinator and her crew of preferred vendors. It was a beautiful day. Thank you so much! – SallyAnn

Ivy House is one of the only wedding reception centers in Salt Lake City that lets you make the choices in all your planning; but then again, if you choose, try our preferred partners. They are wonderful, especially if you are planning your event from out of state!

Beautiful Celebrations

February 25, 2012 – Wedding Venues in Salt Lake City and Paper Lanterns

April 4, 2012 Wendy Pettit Leave a comment

Can you imagine a more happy place than at Ivy House Weddings, one of the wedding venues in Salt Lake City on February 25, 2012? I was there to witness an event that put smiles on every guest in attendance.

The bride loves paper lanterns, so her family decorated above the wedding cake alcove and above the refreshment buffet tables with large red, orange, and white paper lanterns of various sizes. It created such an enchanting feel to the evening. The entire family came early to set up the dream wedding their bride has dreamt about since the age of 8 years. Several sisters-in-law helped hang the paper lanterns along with the father of the bride. A couple of brothers created the framework wrapped in white fabric from which to hang the lanterns above the refreshment tables.

Another sister-in-law, nieces, and grandmother helped stuff black rocks, lush green moss, red painted willows, cranberries, and sliced clementines down into a tall glass vase. These would make the striking centerpieces on all the tables. Others helped set up the displays of bride and groom photos decorated with smooth black rocks and votive candles. I dare say that Salt Lake wedding venues have never seen such an elaborate collection of busy bees accenting Ivy House’s backdrop for this bride’s perfect celebration. This is one of many advantages to booking with Ivy House weddings – the bride can decorate as she sees fit. Of course, within reason; but all in all there are few limitations. All the while, the bride’s mother kept the wheels turning and filled in all the little last-minute details awaiting her daughter’s arrival. The couple got married the day before, which made for a more relaxed actual wedding day and now the time for partying had arrived.

Refreshments matched the bright atmosphere – trays and platters of fresh fruit and petite rolls to be filled with broccoli cheese soup. For the more hungry guests, they could savor a slice of melt-in-your-mouth prime rib.

After greeting more than 350 guests, the bride and groom followed with the traditions of throwing the bride’s bouquet and the groom flipping the garter, which he carefully fetched. This couple chose to do this entertaining from the balcony! Not all Salt Lake City wedding venues offer this platform to highlight the honored couple.

From there is was time for the brother’s of the bride to get her iPod playlist going for dancing. The most romantic and emotional first dance was witnessed by all. It was beautiful to see the love that radiated from this couple. Then it was father’s turn. Of course, he was cut-in by the bride’s brother, then another brother, then another. Five brothers in all stole a dance with their younger sister then passed her back to her father. Again, what harmony and love was expressed at this wedding reception. The groom danced with his sweet mother and then the guests took over, at the lead of the bride. I have never seen a bride dance and dance and dance like this energized woman. Her smile and energy was very contagious. The children, bridesmaids, best men, brothers and sisters-in-law all found themselves at some point on the dance floor – dancing with the bride, by the bride, or with others.

One did not have to be on the dance floor to catch a huge smile. Grandmas and Grandpas sat in chairs close by and couldn’t stop beaming as little ones came up to them dancing. Of all the photos I took of this reception, 75% of them are just of the dancing. Did I mention the traditional bunny-hop found it’s way into the mix as well.

After more than an hour of dancing, it was time for the couple to wind things down and depart. They had been having so much fun that this is when they finally stopped to have a bite to eat while they watched one of two DVD shows that were playing. By the time they were done, most of the set-up had been taken down by family and the family was prodding the newlyweds to leave for a sparkler send off out the door! At least 20 sparklers were lit and formed a gateway to their waiting car that was just-married approved decorated. Even some orange slices from the centerpieces dotted the car.

Truly, all wedding receptions in Salt Lake City should be this fun and beautiful. Ivy House Weddings reception center was the catalyst for a beautiful celebration honoring this beautiful couple. It also reflected on the union of their beautiful families.

Beautiful Celebrations

Utah Weddings with COLOR at Ivy House Weddings

March 22, 2012 Wendy Pettit Leave a comment

One of the first decisions made and a most important attribute of any wedding is the color scheme a bride will use in her reception halls. Many Utah brides started at a very young age dreaming of their Utah weddings with certain favorite colors. The color the bride chooses will radiate the kind of woman she has become and the kind of ambiance she wants her guests to feel at the celebration honoring her and her husband.

Factors that should be considered in completing your color scheme are simple: 1) Obviously, a color that you love, 2) the season for the celebration, and 3) the wedding venue you’ve chosen.

#1 – The color you’ve been dreaming of is most important. However, be prepared to have it be the main bold color or possibly an accent combined with other complementary colors. For example, red is a beautiful autumn and winter color for weddings. Spring, not so much. However, red coupled with yellow and a hint of orange is a beautiful combination for a spring wedding. Your color can serve as the main event or as a beautiful accent.

#2 – The season does make a bit of difference on your color palette. Again, be prepared to have your favorite color coupled with others to create that ambiance for a complete event. Spring colors like baby blue and pale yellow can work in the winter by adding some accents of black or browns. The atmosphere you create inside will compliment the outside.

#3 – Sometimes the wedding venue you choose will have a bearing on the color tones you finally put together. You want your colors to make a statement. Remember, you are creating a feeling and a flow for all your guests to experience. If your venue is a garden type with plants all over, then kelly green might not make a statement but rather blend into the green already there. Maybe a waste of money. However, a soft green coupled with white would be stunning.

View the color wheel found at Budget Brides. It is complete with seasons, the meanings of the colors, and easy to see visual of complimentary colors (two colors that lie directly opposite each other on the color wheel), and tertiary colors (three colors of equal distance from each other on the wheel). These color schemes are pleasant to the viewer. There are other color schemes. For example, monochromatic colors – using different shades of a color for a more dramatic effect.

Many wedding reception centers in Utah, like Ivy House Weddings at Western Gardens downtown, lends itself to any color scheme. From bold reds to soft pastel peach, most color schemes will work beautifully in well put together wedding places. With your creative touch, your expressive personality, and the right reception venue in Utah, your wedding celebration will be most memorable for you and for your guests.

Beautiful Celebrations

A Wedding Planning Meal: Part 1 – The Appetizer

March 13, 2012 Wendy Pettit Leave a comment

So, you’ve chosen to have your wedding celebration at a wedding reception venue? Don’t want to hassle with the weather in your backyard, or the generic feel of a church gym? Now what do you do? It can seem overwhelming, but if you think of the planning process like eating a huge meal the Weight Watchers way, methodically eating one bite at a time. As you strategically chew each morsel and savor it, your delicious wedding planning meal will be very satisfying. Your special day will be here before you know it and you’ll be calm as a cucumber to enjoy every moment of the day.

Planning a wedding event for a Salt Lake City wedding reception can be overwhelming like eating Thanksgiving dinner in one bite. — Wedding reception events are easily planned step-by-step, like taking one bite at a time at Thanksgiving!

The first task to do before you eat any meal is……set your napkin in your lap, of course. Your napkin is most important and you use it the entire meal. You pull it out whenever you need it. Well, in our little analogy, your napkin is a file of some sort. It is most important during this meal because you’ll need it quite often and it needs to be handy. Acquire some type of file system that works for you and is very easy to haul around (keep on your lap)! You will be writing down all your decisions and the details of your findings. Keep it all in one place. If a pad of paper and pencil are too old-school, pull out that iPad or other techno tool. Whatever it is, this will become your wedding bible! Don’t leave home without it! Now it’s time to eat!

Like when eating a meal, Salt Lake City weddings are best planned always having your napkin (planning file) close by! — Never forget your napkin! Keep that organizer close by!

The Appetizer – The first course of your wedding planning meal. There are three items that must basically be decided before you move on. Remember don’t take too big of bites or you might choke! Bite number one, which you and your beau may have already figured out, is to decide when your wedding event will take place?

Know your possible wedding dates before you hunt for the perfect wedding reception center.

Before you choose a wedding reception venue, I suggest having one or two dates in mind. It can be very disappointing when you think you’ve found your dream reception place only to be told that another bride has already booked it. If your date/dates are not available, save yourself frustration and move on to another wedding venue that will work.

Bite number two of the appetizer is discovering the location where you will celebrate. Now that you’ve eaten the date (ha-ha), venture out to the web or to the streets to find the place where your memories will be created! You’re armed with your planning file and 2 dates. If you are students, keep in mind that when school ends, people get married. Many Utah wedding reception venues book up quickly for that week after finals!

Salt Lake City wedding venues are numerous and can be found on the web — Browse the wedding venues that are located within a reasonable distance you want you and your guests to travel.

A very smart place to begin in your quest for a wedding location is the internet. You can enjoy this bite by being selective of what you search in your favorite search engine. If you simply type “wedding reception venues” you may end up with reception places in another state or even in another country. That would be a shock to the mother-in-law, wouldn’t it? So, make this a simple delicious morsel by being specific as to where you are willing to travel for your reception. You only need to add the city after your search. For example “wedding reception venues in Salt Lake City” works well. Or you can even leave out the “in” – wedding reception venues Salt Lake City. Doing this will save your surfing time and isolate your options to your benefit. You may wish to send an email requesting information from any venue that catches your eye as a possibility. A simple and good question to ask is about the availability of the venue for the dates you’ve chosen. This way you’ll know if the company is attentive, thus possibly indicating they will be attentive to you as a bride should you choose them.

Sit-down dinner at Salt Lake wedding reception center Ivy House Weddings — Do you want a sit-down dinner at your wedding venue?

The third bite of the appetizer is deciding generally what you want to do at your wedding reception. Want dancing? Want a full-course dinner? Finger foods? Do you want a cake? These are the things that only you and your beau can decide; its your special day.

Wedding reception centers in Salt Lake City can serve whatever the bride wants. — Wide varieties of smaller goodies please a crowd

You’ve eaten your date, your location possibilities, and the activities you wish to include. Now it’s time for you to go out and find that dream reception center in Salt Lake or wherever you live. You’ll find the one that meets your needs.

Next you’ll be devouring the second course of your wedding planning meal. Stay tuned!