"Marriage hath in it less of beauty but more of safety, than the single life; it hath more care, but less danger, it is more merry, and more sad; it is fuller of sorrows, and fuller of joys; it lies under more burdens, but it is supported by all the strengths of love and charity, and those burdens are delightful."
~Bishop Jeremy Taylor

Inspired by Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving coming this week, I'm sure you expected nothing less than my take on the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Here is what my dream Thanksgiving meal would consist of and if you are having a holiday wedding and you don't include a few of these crowd favorites you might have a mutiny on your hands!










From top to bottom: Baked Brie with Walnuts from Rachael Ray, Mixed Green Salad from Whole Foods,Fresh from the oven gluten free brioche from Cannelle et Vanille, Traditional Roasted Turkey from Martha Stewart, Kale & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes from 101 Cookbooks, Black Eyed Pea & Cornbread Stuffing from Rachael Ray, Tarragon Green Beans from Martha Stewart, Mashed Vanilla Sweet Potatoes from 101 Cookbooks, Peach & Plum Crisp from 101 Cookbooks, Cinnamon Ice Cream from Technicolor Kitchen, Pecan Pie Martini from Rachael Ray.

How to I ensure my invitees do not bring along uninvited guests?



The etiquette is the envelope is king. If you do not want your guest to bring a date, simply put "Mr. John Smith" on the envelope. If a date is acceptable, write "Mr. John Smith and Guest". They should get the hint. If, for some reason, you think you have a large amount of guests that do not know or won't abide by this rule, you can try the more direct approach on your RSVP card. Have your invitation designer add a line that says "____ seat(s) have been reserved for you". Before you send the invitations out, fill in the number of seats the guest should expect and leave it at that. Lastly, to add my two cents onto a very cut and dry question, please remember that while it is your wedding day, you are also entertaining your guests. A good host will always keep their guests comfort in mind and if allowing your guest to bring a date to the wedding is within reason for your venue and budget, please consider encouraging this. After all, think about how comfortable you would be if attending a wedding, party or dinner without a date.

Designing your wedding welcome gifts

There's really no way around it...if your guests travel hundreds, if not thousands, of miles, you really should acknowledge their arrival. A great way to do so is having a welcome gift left for them either in their hotel room or at the front desk. The welcome gifts do not have to be as complex or even as pretty as the ones we put together for the photo shoot, but they should be thoughtful and useful. Here are the top things I ALWAYS include when putting together a welcome bag:

Food & beverage: If there is one thing people are when they get off of a long plane ride, is hungry and thirsty. Rather than making them dig into the mini bar, providing a little snack and something to drink is much appreciated. I try to take this a step further by selecting foods and drinks from the destination as to get the excitement started, but many of my clients choose to simplify by providing things like bottled water, trail mix or fresh fruit. I think a simpler approach is okay too, as long as their is a little something they can munch on.

Details about the destination: Whether you have a mini "Survival Guide" created with your favorite activites and hand selected restaurants, or you choose to include a local publication, guests like some assistance in planning their excursions. If you are in a popular or even semi-popular tourist destination, the airports will have free publications or guide books that are perfect to include in the gifts.

Details about the wedding week: Whether it be in the form of a map, an itinerary or a welcome letter, remind guests about all of the activities and other details they need to know such as start times, shuttle pick up locations and so on.

Something they can keep or use: I personally like to present the gift in a bowl, bag, box, etc. that represents the destination and can serve as a souvenir. It's a great way to pretty up the gift and ideally gives the guests something to remember the trip by. However, some people are a little more functional and if this is the case, you might prefer to put things they can use in the destination in the gift. A good example is sunblock or flip flops if in Mexico or a pair of super warm slippers or scarf if in Aspen.

So, there you have my "must haves" for a welcome gift, but if you want to go above and beyond, also consider personalizing the bags a bit. A simple thank you letter that was written for each couple or some hand selected books the guest can read poolside is a great way to let each guest know you thought of them specifically.

Southern Weddings Photoshoot

Now, that I know all of you have picked up your copy of the latest Southern Weddings magazine, I feel safe to share some of the images from the photo shoot I worked on with Steve Steinhardt and Laura Hooper. The assignment from the magazine was to design three welcome baskets for three different wedding destinations. I chose Mexico, Italy and Georgia and had a blast coming up with the concepts. Tomorrow I'll share how to create a meaningful welcome gift, but for today, just enjoy some of Steve's beautiful pictures:

First up was Georgia. We included Fresh Georgia Peaches, Apple Cider, A mini pecan pie and some crusty bread with fresh peach jam. It was all presented in a beautiful ceramic bowl with a Southern Flair and was accompanied by some hand selected books wrapped in coordinating papers and a parasol for the warm Georgia sun. Laura created a custom tag for the gift with a peach graphic in the background that went with the feel so well.





Next up was Mexico! For this destination, I chose to greet the guests with chips, salsa, fresh limes and local beer. For the presentation, Spanish inspired pottery which doubles as a beautiful souvenir for the guests. Laura Hooper created one of her amazing maps of the destination which she has become so famous for and I finished the gift with some brightly colored flowers for the guest to enjoy throughout their vacation.





The last welcome gift was for Italy. Inside of a wrought iron basket, I included regional olive oil, italian bread and fresh basil. To quench the guest's thirst, fresh lemons and refreshing bottle of Limonata from San Pellegrino. In the bottom of the basket, I included a cozy pashmina for the evenings and Laura Hooper finished it off with a wedding week itinerary outlining all of the activities the guests can expect during their stay.

Over the past few days, Beth Helmstetter Events had a couple of mentions in the blog world. Check them out here:

Hostess With The Mostess Blog
Winery Inspired Dinner
Here are the images from the Winery themed rehearsal dinner I planned back in June shot by Steve Steinhardt.



Inside Weddings
Louisa Eckersely & John Kimble: The Best-laid Plans
This has been up for a bit, but in case you didn't catch the article in the magazine when it came out, they included a nice little write up online as well.


The Broke Ass Bride
BAK to Basics-The Birth of a Wedding Theme
Dana's guest blogger Karen showed off her wedding theme this week and she's using Louisa & John's wedding for the inspiration. What an honor!

BLUSH
Top 5 Ways I've Reduced my Wedding Stress
Written by one of my current clients, Kim shares not only a mini review on me, but also some other wonderful tips on how to keep the stress in check during the planning process.

Lucky Orchid Blog
Laura Hooper gives us a shout out and even shares a couple of pictures from our photoshoot for Southern Weddings Magazine. I'll be sharing more pictures soon too, I promise...


Elizabeth Anne Designs
I literally stumbled across this one today so it's a little older, but she just says the sweetest things about one of my favorite weddings ever. I like a girl who has the same aesthetic as me. Is that arrogant?!

Real Life Bride: Week 2

Everyone who knows me knows that I hate bright colors. Neutral, neutral, neutral is my mantra - for clothes, furniture, everything. When Ryan and I first moved into our apartment and started thinking about colors, the first thing he said was "Okay, Lys, not everything is going to be green and brown!" So of course as soon as we (my mother, sister and me) started discussing wedding colors and decor, a green/brown/ivory color palette was the natural choice and worked perfectly with the "rustic wedding" ideas bouncing in my head.

You can imagine my absolute horror when Ryan announced that he would like to wear a grey suit to our wedding. Ummm, what? I had already accepted that a tuxedo was out, but a grey suit? That does not fit in with green, brown and ivory or the natural linens or any of the decor! His response: "Alyssa, we've been engaged a week, we don't have decor, nothing has been decided, right?" Oh...so you mean the pictures & plans I have in my head aren't final? Interesting...I will have to think about that.

Nevertheless, I want my fiance to be as excited and happy as I am, so we came up with a whole new color scheme, together, that I think will be gorgeous, classic and still a little rustic.

On another note, we have entered into Wedding Nightmare #1 - The Guest List. As my best friends were/are navigating the guest list dramas with their own families, I happily thought about how easy it would be for us: my family is miniscule, Ryan's friends and family are scattered across the country, this will be a piece of cake. No such luck. With a venue that fits only 100, we somehow have to widdle down to 50 guests each.

Well, to anyone who thinks that would be easy, please start listing your friends, their significant others (who on my list will unfortunately need to be cut if not married, live-ins, or friends with Ryan and me), your family and your parents' friends (did you think this wedding was only about you?) and notice just how quickly you significantly surpass your allotted 50! Fortunately, Ryan and I are both on the same page and determined to keep this wedding relatively intimate.


This week's planning update:
Guest list - drafted
Color scheme - tentatively decided on