Did You Know?

You can bring nature and a more earthy feel into your home by changing just the accessories and a few decor points in your home! Our homes are our own personal signatures we establish in life, each one as unique as our voices and penmanship. In this day in age being green is a concept that has a large following and will most likely be here to stay so why not bring that green nature feeling inside for awhile? How can you bring something so vast as nature into your home you ask? It's not very difficult at all and can be easy enough for even the most low maintenance person that wants to connect a little further with mother earth.

Outdoor Elements

Bringing in some scenic elements such as a waterfall or setting up stones or shells in glass vases around to give the feel of a natural setting is a good way to start. Setting up a small area for plants either hanging or potted can give the feel of outdoors. Another way is to have fake branches in a tall floor vase displayed in a rooms corner or a whole fake tree can give you that indoor garden appeal.

Our New Logo!

Hi blog world! After two months of toying with ideas for our logo, and debating on whether or not we would design it or have someone else do it, we can finally say our new company logo is done and we designed it all by ourselves!

The logo design logo has the the concept of the dual women becasue there will always be at least two of us at any wedding or event and that vision was expanded on as I created the actual logo in Photoshop.

Now we are so excited to show our logo off to the world! It has been a true labor of love, so without further adieu...

Client Praise!

Here is what one of our recent clients, who purchased one of our products from our Etsy shop had to say.





"I received the cones promptly. I absolutely love the pewcones. I am looking forward to using them in my wedding :). "


Thanks! - Brianne

Let Them Eat Cake

Why does it cost so much for a wedding cake if its only made with flour and water?? Truth be told it has nothing to do with the rising gas prices or the cost of eggs and milk nowadays. The reason why couples wind up spending between $250 and up for their cake of choice is because of your guests. That's right! Cakes are charged by the serving typically at a $6-$7 per piece.

Once you let the baker know how many guests will be attending you get into the details, which is where the figures will change even more. A standard wedding cake is 3 tiers and anything above that will cost extra. Additional items such as pearls or flowers (either in between tiers or cascading down the cake) will raise the price depending on the time, size and type of flowers you want. Materials used to make these kinds of items vary from fondant to marzipan to royal icing and can drastically change the cost of cake. Don't be afraid to ask the confectioner how they make these items.

In addition to these extras there is the cake itself. Depending on whether you choose a sponge cake or pound cake or even cheesecake will alter the price as well. Adding liquiers, fruit, ganaches, icings and other filling will also increase your bill. Something else that people don't know is that square cakes cost more than round. This is due to the fact that they used special sized square pans to make these cakes. Covering a square cake takes more time as well due to all of the corners that need to be frosted. Anything that has the baker doing more work than the standard 3 tiers will cost you in the end.
Make sure you do research before you choose a baker and go over exactly what you want with them and how much ti swill total up to be. Don't forget to include tax and delivery charges in that estimate.
Don't go for the gusto if you really don't need too. Sometimes we want bigger to mean better but with wedding cake it means bigger bill. If you don't need a 4 tier cake for your 75 guests, skip it and use the extra funds somewhere else.
There is always the option to skip a cake baker and try your local supermarkets catering department for a cake. It may sound like something you'd never want to do but they may be able to offer you your dream cake at a lesser price. Don't be afraid to find up and coming cake designeres and cateres who's prices will be pocket friendly and can give you a stunning cake ala Sylvia Weinstock! (well maybe not exactly like Sylvia).

To Theme or Not to Theme...

Being event and wedding planners it is always interesting to see what kinds of themes of feels our clients bring to us. We never know what they are looking for until that first meeting but then after that it's up to us to create an amazing vision to bring their wishes to life. On the other hand there are some clients that don't want a theme, they just want a simple chic party with appropriate colors and they are happy; either way both of these options are just fine with us. We look forward to creating new and interesting visions for our clients whether we've heard the theme before or not there is always a new way to twist it.

Celebrities have always had the means to throw a good party but these came up with a theme and went all out with it!



Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz went for an Alice in Wonderland theme wedding

Sean "Diddy" Combs and his Annual White Party in the Hamptons

Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey celebrated with family and friends in a Disneyland extravaganza!

Marissa Jaret Winkoker and Judah Miller wedded in "leyed" back Hawaiian style

As you can see these celebs decided to take their events to the next level making sure that every aspect played into their respective themes. I would like to point out that having a theme isn't always necessary for an event, just as long as you know what you want. Good food, great company and conversation and a wonderful atmosphere are all you need to create a great event.

Destination Wedding Hair & Make-Up: What's a Girl to Do?

So you are a destination wedding bride. You are marrying the man of your dreams in an exoctic location but wait...what are you supposed to do about your hair and make-up? This is a question that gets asked a lot among destination wedding brides. Destination Wedding photo courtesy of Haskins Photography in Tampa Florida.

Don't worry, because there are plenty of options for destination wedding brides and although you may want to fly in your regular stylists and make-up artists from home the majority of destination brides do not have the budget to do that.

Option One:

If you are having a resort wedding, most of the resorts in the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico have made it easy for destination wedding brides. All of these full service resorts have their own salons with hairstylists and make-up artists on the property. Make sure you call ahead to book your appointment before you arrive at the resort.

Option Two:

If you don't want to use the resort's salon, you can always find local hair and make-up artists, which is what we did for Landra's upcoming wedding in Jamaica. Do searches on line and look in the local yelllow pages for your particular destination. In Landra's case the internet and Jamaican Yellow pages were extremely helpful! We found a local stylist that we are using for Landra and her bridal party in Jamaica that does airbrush make-up, lashes, extensions for hair, basically the works! Make sure you book in advance and bring pictures for your stylist of the look you are going for. If possible, arrive to your destination early enough so you can have a trial a day or two before the wedding.


Option Three:

You can always opt to do you hair and make-up yourself or have someone in your bridal party do it. If you are going to do your own make-up have a hair and make-up trial in your home location so that you can purchase the products. For make-up we would higly recommend MAC because they have a huge line of cosmetics in their stores and online and it is very easy to schedule a make-up trial with them in one of their locations.

But what if you want airbrush make-up which is the latest trend but you can't find anyone in your location that does it? Buy your own airbrush kit and do it yourself. You can buy an airbrush kit for a resonable price from Luminess Air, and it even comes with an instructional video.

With a little planning and effort, you can have beautiful hair and make-up for your unique destination wedding no matter where it is!

Wedding Cutoms: Part I

Have you noticed that there are unspoken rules that are associated to weddings and we never question why it is the way it is. For instance, why does the brides family have to sit on the left side? What is the real reason we toss the garter/bouquet? I have done a little investigating and found some interesting reasons for some of those "that's just the way it is" rules.
What's with the left side?
The bride and her family being positioned on the left side of the church goes back to Medieval times when men wore swords on their right side. In case they needed to draw their sword at any given moment this side would be free to protect hid betrothed.
The Juno Effect?
June is considered the luckiest month to wed because it is names after the Roman goddess Juno who was the goddess of love and marriage. Other stories say that June was popular because this was the brightest month for light and also women could give birth by the following spring and have enough time to recover for the harvest season.
Bachelor Parties and Bridal Showers.
Bridal showers began back when the man would send gifts to the bride to show he was an upstanding gentleman worthy of her affection and also able to provide her by sending livestock, fabrics, land and jewelry. Today they are to shower the couple with gifts to begin their new life together. Bachelor parties date back to ancient Sparta where the groom gathered and feasted with his friends to show his loyalty and friendship to them. It also symbolized saying goodbye to his former life.
The Garter Toss
Though it has always said to show who would be the next to wed it has been said that beginning in the 14th century that it was good luck to have a piece of clothing from the bride. Consequently the bride's dress would be destroyed so the tossing of the garter was a way to distract the guests from her while allowing them to have something of hers.
Here's To The Couple!
A french tradition that has lasted and repeated over and over is the wedding toasts. A piece of bread would be placed in the bottom of a glass that was then filled with wine and then passed around to honored guests. Words of praise and honor would be spoken about the couple and the last guest to receive the cup would eat the toast.
The Classic Custom: Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue....
The full saying is "‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence inside your shoe". The 'old' represents the family and friends of the past for the bride. The 'new' is based on the hopes for the future for the new couple. The 'borrowed' should come from an already happily married woman so that her luck can be passed to the bride. The 'blue' is to denote the bride virginity and is the opposite of red. The 'sixpence' denotes wealth (in marriage and money) and financial stability for the couple. Note that the sixpence should be worn in the left shoe for optimal effect!

Our Blog is Featured on Alltop!

We are so exctied and pleased to announce that over the weekend our blog was selected to be featured on Alltop! Alltop is like a "digital magazine rack" of the top stories from online news websites and blogs. Think of going into a virtual Barnes and Noble and browsing through the magazine section by category.What is really cool about Alltop is that they update stories/feeds from the various blogs they feature every ten minutes. We are featured in the Wedding Section.

Thank you to the staff at Alltop, this is such an honor and we will continue to blog our hearts out!

Celebrity Spotlight: Tia Mowry & Corey Hardrict

Our Celebrity Spotlight of this month is the beautiful actress Tia Mowrey, 29, of the hit WB Series Sister to Sister and the UPN/CW series The Game fame and her handsome new husband actor Corey Hardrict, 32, of the ABC Family series Lincoln Heights. We think that it is wonderful that these two actors have been dating since 2000 found love in Hollywood, where it can be difficult to sustain a long-term relationships. They make a beautiful couple and had a gorgeous wedding!Date: April 20, 2008Place: Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore Santa Barbara, CaliforniaTheme: Fairytale Butterflies/A Midsummer's Night DreamColors: Pink & PurpleGuests: 170Highlights: Tia's twin Tamera who also starred in Sister to Sister with her served as the maid of honor, and R&B singer Kenny Lattimore sang "For You" as Tia walked down the aisle with her father.

Who Pays For What?

When planning a big important event like a wedding one of the first things to come to mind is how much is it going to cost and who pays for what? Traditionally in American custom the brides family pays for the event as they are the ones "giving" their daughter away. However, in 2008 grooms and other family members aren't getting off scott free anymore (sorry guys!). The breakdown of this tradition lightens the load from the brides family but also leaves the option open for the couple to completely take the burden from their parents and do it themselves. About 60% of all couples today pay for their own ceremony. Having many relatives pitch in to help the bride and room celebrate their day allows for them to get exactly what they want, right? Not exactly. Usually you would expect your family to help with funds but by doing this some relatives think that entitles them to a say or an opinion about how and what the money should be spent on. This can cause distress to the couple be often both parties never agree on the same vision for their wedding. It is always a good idea to make it clear that the money that is being gifted is to be used at the digression on the couple. If the money is a loan then there needs to be a clear understanding that the money is being used for any aspect of the wedding and will be repaid as soon as possible.Now on to the business of who actually is supposed to pay for what traditionally this is how it went.....

Engagement Party

Cost of the ceremony, including location, music, rentals, and all other expenses

Entire cost of the reception, including location, food, beverage, entertainment, rental items, decorations, and wedding cake

Bride's wedding dress, veil, and accessoriesWedding gift for the couple

Bridesmaids' bouquets

Bridesmaids' luncheon

Photography

Flowers

Groom's FamilyRehearsal dinner

Travel and accommodations for the groom's family

Honeymoon

Wedding gift for bride and groom

More modern tradition dictates this is how it should go........Bride

• Gifts for bridesmaids

• Lodging for bridesmaids

• Couple's personal stationery and thank-you notes

• Wedding programs/guestbookGroom

• Bride's engagement ring

• Marriage license

• Officiant's fee

• Rental or purchase of his formal wear

• Lodging for groomsmen

• Gifts for the groom's attendants

• Boutonnieres for self and groomsmen, as well as flowers for both mothers and grandmothers (it's much more common today for flowers to be paid in one lump sum, usually by the bride's family)

• Bride's bouquet (see above)Bride and Groom

• The wedding bands

• The honeymoon (in very traditional families, this is still considered the groom's expense)

Bride's Family

• Engagement and wedding pictures

• Wedding invitations

• Wedding consultant, if applicable

• Bridal ensemble

• Ceremony fees: rental of synagogue or chapel, chuppah, aisle carpets, or other decorating items

• Flowers: reception, ceremony, bridesmaids' bouquets and fathers' boutonnieres (see Groom for more on wedding flowers)

• Reception: site fees, caterer, food, bar, gratuities, decorations

• Music: ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception

• Bridesmaids' luncheon (a traditional gesture of thanks)

• Transportation for bridal party to ceremony and receptionGroom's Family

• Rehearsal dinner (optional) or any other expense they electBridesmaids

• Bridal shower

• Bridesmaid dress and shoes (flower girl/ring bearer attire is paid for by the child's parents)

• Any traveling expenses

• Bachelorette party (optional) Guests Traveling and lodging expenses (even if you're having a destination wedding, guests pay their own way)

Bucking the TrendsThese are the most common ways that the old guidelines of who-pays-for-what are being adapted to reflect the multi-host wedding that is so popular today:

Groom's Family• All beverage and liquor service• Limousines• Music for the reception• Photography and/or videographyBride and/or Groom• Bride's ensemble• Wedding flowers• All wedding stationery, including invitations, announcements, and thank-you notes*This list was found in Modern Bride MagazineAs you can see many things have changed from the traditional custom of paying and actually there are no rules to who, how and why people are paying for certain things in the wedding. As long as the bride and groom have a beautiful ceremony and don't break the bank too much, it really shouldn't matter who footed the bill.

Joanne and Elton'es Logo Samples

We're back from Philly and that means back to work for our clients. Here are some first drafts for our clients Joanne and Elton who wanted a logo to use before their wedding on items like their Save the Dates. We created a monogram a few months ago that they will use at their Wedding Reception and we wanted the logo to be a preview of their theme Fall in the Bahamas.

We're Off to the City of Brotherly Love!

We will be traveling on business to Philadelphia and we will return to our regularly scheduled blogging next week. Have a great weekend!

Brianne and Barry's Pew Cone's

Our client Brianne wanted to incorporate pew cones in her upcoming wedding this October and we were excited to create these focal pieces that will line the aisle by using her color scheme of bronze, chartreuse, ivory and hints of gold.

The first thing we did was create a monogram for the base layer of the pew cone in Photoshop:

Next, we created a digital mock-up of the pew cone so Brianne could get an idea of how the pew cone would look visually:

Finally we created a sample cone for Brianne to see, and this is how the finsihed pew cones will look:

Sparkler Send Offs are the Latest Rage!

We love Independence Day! It's a time for relaxtion, barbeques, hanging with family and friends and good old fashion fun. What has become paramount at the end of every Fourth of July are fireworks and for those of us who were not legally allowed to buy our own fireworks because of state laws, we got the next best thing, SPARKLERS! Fun with Sparklers somehow transitioned into the wedding world as more and more couples are having a Sparkler Sendoff as they leave their Wedding Reception. There is so much buzz about Sparkler Send Offs, because they can add a nice touch to the end of your reception and make for unique photographs. We love the photograph of this Sparkler Send Off courtesy of Michael Caswell Photography.

If you are going to do a Sparkler Send Off at your Reception here are some Tips:

1. Make sure that sparklers are legal in your state. For instance, sparklers are illegal in New York and New Jersey.

2. Purchase sparklers for your send off from a reputable company or quality manufacturer

3. Never give sparklers to small children

4. Be careful while handling sparklers, as they have the capability of burning at very high temperatures

5. Come up with a creative way to give out your sparklers like in this photograph courtesy of Nancy Gould Photography:

With proper planning and care you can have a memorable sendoff that you and your guests will never forget.

Kay's Menus Part 2

A couple of weeks ago we blogged about our client Kay who is in need of dinner menus for Simone and James' Wedding coming up in September. Their colors are red and silver and we wanted to incorporate those colors in our first mock up design for the menus. The silver trim will be the backing and the red stripe will be ribbon. We plan to add crystals to the swirls. Kay we hope you like this first mock-up!

Big Changes are Coming to EVENTistas!

We are really excited about the changes that we are working on here at EVENTistas! We are currently designing a new company logo, working on a new website that will launch in November, and we will be redesigning our blog!

Did You Know?

EVENTistas not only blogs about weddings, but we also blog about interior design projects and ideas for couples and their new home or apartment! Most of the time new couples that get hitched will move into their new 'nest' after their big day. This is where couples sometimes struggle over the "yours, mine and ours" concept. Merging two styles is never easy and trying to determine what stays and what goes can be a headache for the new couple.Here are a few tips to get started if you are about to combine all the his and hers worldy possesions into one cozy home.



Tip # 1 - Make at least one or two items off limits to get rid of. This helps especially when you (men) see your things being tossed in boxes and shipped out faster than a Netflix video!


Tip # 2 - Try not to make this too feminie or too masucline because this will make it seem like your other half doesn't live there. Compromise on colors, textures, and themes.


Tip # 3 - Don't over do it. I am all for balance in a room and having both parties be comfortable but when you are trying to combine too many things into one space; items get lost, and the feel of the room becomes over crowded.


Tip # 4 - Learn when to let go. Just like that old tshirt you've had since your freshman year of college some of your belongings are way past expiration date. Some things just can't be salvaged like milk crates being used as seating, old shopping bags that you may need to use at any given time, or any items that fall into the I-don't-know-what-it-is-but-I-may-need-it category


Tip # 5 - Collectibles. There is a neverending list of things that people collect and even more reasons why they started collecting that specific thing. Here's how to handle it: depending on what kind of collection it is it may be something that can be displayed in your home (depending on size). If the collector is content with having their collection stored away, you may want to try packaging it carefully and moving it to the basement or attic. This way the collector still has their stuff and its out of the way.


If you have more questions or need more tips email us at myeventistas@yahoo.com