Wedding Favors

Are they in or are they out??

There is always great debate in the wedding world about favors - should a bride spend the money on a silly favor that will inevitably end up in the trash or will the guest be upset if the traditional favor is missing???

Our opinion in the great favor debate is - go for it but think of them in a different way. We recommend spending a little more on your favors and using them twice in the wedding. Below are a couple of great ideas on how to multi-purpose wedding favors.

Favors & Placecards!

Above are super cute terracotta pots that that have been planted with an array of herbs. Theses favors are a great gift that your guests will actually be able to plant and use after your wedding. They also are being used as the placecard display. (available at Tre Bella Florist. http://www.trebellaflorist.com/ $$$)

As your centerpiece you can combine an eclectic mix of bud vases with thank you tags for the guest to take at the end of the night. You can also use them as additional decoration on the table with placecard assignments as shown above. (available at Tre Bella Florist $$$) Also, check out the post on our bride Youn's wedding, featured on Style Me Pretty. She bought awesome mugs from anthropologie and we mixed them into the centerpieces.

Cupcakes!!
Dessert tables in addition to wedding cakes seems to be a new trend. Skip the extra dessert and use them as your wedding favors. Have preset cupcakes at each seat with a thank you note. These awesome cupcakes are available at Daisy Cakes ( www.eatdaisycakes.com $$).

Be an environmentalist!
I love the plant a tree favors which can also be used on display as your place card. (available at http://www.nurserymen.com/ $$). We also offer a version at Tre Bella Florist.

Be Original!

We haven't seen this anywhere yet but we think it would be an awesome favor :) Use these super cute dry erase boards as your placecard/favor. What we think is cool about this placecard/favor is that you can really personalize them for your guests. Include a handwritten note thanking them or include individualized pictures of you with the guest or of you and your finance. (available at shop.threebythree.com$$$) We have a chalkboad version available at Tre Bella Florist.

Heirlooms - Pass it down

As a bride (or a groom) you spend so much time planning every detail of your wedding. Then the wedding day comes and it is over before you even realize it! Make your wedding last longer than just that one day. We suggest having a couple of unique details from your wedding become heirlooms - you may spend a little more on them but you can pass them down to your future children and grandchildren.

Below are unique ring bearer plates that you can monogram with your names, initials, or with a saying (check out their website at http://www.palomasnest.com/). I love them - what an original and unique element to add to a wedding.

Buy nice champagne flutes for you and your finance. We suggest finding flutes that reflect your personal style. I love the modern look of these monogrammed flutes available at http://www.westelm.com/.

And don't forget the cake!

You have to check out www.rogersgardens.com for these awesome cake toppers - they are so detailed and vintage looking!

I wish I could tell you were to get the toppers below because they are the coolest toppers I have ever seen! But alas I found them on another blog and they did not list the web address :(

Happy hunting - if you fin them let us know!

Yellow in the Fall

Most brides associate yellow with the summer or the spring . . . we say yellow is an undervalued color for all year! The trend has been to match yellow with chocolate brown or black but we suggest trying something new. Pair bridesmaid's bouquets in shades of yellow with dresses that are navy or plum.

We also love having separate looks from the reception to the ceremony - keep some elements the same but mix in a new detail or color to make the venue feel more interested. If you keep the ceremony flowers in shades of yellow, green, white then add darker shades of burgundy, rust or even dark pink at the reception (the darker colors will also help keep the yellow from looking to springy).

Instead of the traditional white cake try a cake with yellow flower details - or even a very pale yellow icing.

Below are some yellow flowers we love (clockwise from top to bottom):

dahlia, cymbidium orchid, tulip, rose, mokara orchid, freesia.

What's in our toolbox???

We LOVE looking at other florists blogs and websites. Becky recently forwarded me the following link to a really cute florist in California (http://thetreasuredpetal.wordpress.com/). You should definitely check it out!

Anyway, she did a blog post called "what's in your toolbox", I thought it was a great idea and so I want to share what is in our toolbox!

When you are out on site setting up a wedding you never know what might happen and you need to be prepared! Our mom actually went out and bought our actually "toolbox" at Home Depot - they are heavy duty carpenter style man bags :)

In our bag:

floral tape

wire

Windex/paper towels

extra ribbon (coordinating with the wedding colors)

pearl pins (white and black)

extra floating candles

corsage bracelets

wrench set (for our chuppa)

fishing line

thread

clippers/sizzors

snacks & water (sometimes we are out all day)

ALSO:

we always bring extra vases

extra loose flowers

Recent Wedding at the Gardens

We recently had the chance to work with Lashelle Chappell on a Duke Gardens wedding. She was sweet enough to share some of the images from the wedding ~(http://www.chappellphoto.com/) ~ thanks!

During my first meeting with this bride and groom we got to chatting about where we all were from . . . long story short after a while of describing Richmond (where the groom and my partner are from) we discovered that his grandfather lived next to Chaz AND they knew each other as kids! It is such a small world.

I LOVE THIS PHOTO

I love the image below by Lynette Mittendorf!!

What a awesome backdrop for the bouquet!

More images by Lynette from a wedding we recently did at the Duke Gardens (ceremony) and the Millenium Hotel. THANKS :)

Back Room Sale

Hurry In . . .

We are having a back room sale at Tre Bella Boutique on Ninth Street.

Clothing, Handbags, T-Shirts and more all at 50% off.

Check this site out!!

Check out this awesome website . . . http://www.bridalcanvas.com/. You can select from several galaries of images and create a collage of your wedding must haves! Above is an example of the site - a truely "tre bella" dream wedding :)

It is so much fun and a great tool to help you get started on your wedding planning.

I see myself using this site alot in my near future!

Have fun!

A Summer Wedding at the Washington Duke Inn

Thanks so much to Phreckles Photography for the awesome images below!

This gorgeous wedding, ceremony at the gardens/reception at the Washington Duke, was so much fun to work on!

The bride carried an all white bouquet of roses, freesia, peonies, stephanotis, and lily of the valley. It was wrapped in an heirloom handkerchief and a piece of the bride's dress.

At the reception the guests found their place cards nestled in a bed of flowers and mini branches - this actually took up an entire table and I LOVED IT!!