The difference 2 seats makes

Making the best of your budget.  How to stretch a dollar to get what you really want.  Have you thought about how many seats to place in each row at your wedding ceremony?  Have you thought about how many seats to place at each table at your wedding reception?  No? Well let me show you a little something that could potentially make a big difference to you.
Let's say you have 150 confirmed guests at your wedding. You have $175 budgeted for your aisle runner and $4,350 budgeted for your tabletops (flowers, details, and linen).  What difference does 2 seats make?

The Ceremony

On each side of the aisle you'll need 75 seats. With 6 seats to a row you'd need a 75 foot aisle runner.  By increasing the number of seats by just 2 seats per row, you would only need a 50 foot aisle runner.  Which means you could upgrade from a basic aisle runner to that patterned runner and matching vow book you were just dying to have!

The Reception

SouthernLiving.com

You have the option to have 8 or 10 seats per table. With 8 seats, you would have 19 tables to dress.  By increasing by just 2 seats per table, you now only have to dress 15 tables.  That means your per table budget goes from $230 to $290.  Imagine the difference in the centerpieces, details and linens $60 per table makes! It could mean adding those peonies that you were just dying to have or upgrading the linens from the basic that are included by your venue to the seersucker linens you really really wanted.

A Beach, A Tent, and Fuchsia Peonies Vol 2

Did you enjoy the video? Audrey and Mike shared some more of the wedding and I thought after seeing the video you might want to see more! Enjoy these great photos:

The bridesmaids bouquets

A pre ceremony toast

I'm still dying over this bouquet by Signature Floral. Have you ever seen such stunning colors of peonies, roses, ranunculus?

Who doesn't love a petal dressed aisle?

See- THIS is great use of flowers at a beach wedding!

I love calligraphy. ALOT. Thank you Samira for these!

And no, you most certainly do not have to go overboard with the "beach" or "shell" theme...its quite possible to keep it elegant and simple!

A lined tent (draped poles too) with great lighting and pretty linens to match. All the details are what make this look so perfectly sophisticated.

The cigar roller was a surprise from Andrea to Will.  He was a huge hit of course.  The tent-patio we placed just outside the tent was the perfect compliment.

The fireworks show was a surprise for all the wedding guests and marked the start of the after party!

Audrey & Mike, thank you so much for sharing the photos.

A Beach, A Tent, and Fuchsia Peonies, oh yes.

Last November we had the most lovely tented wedding at South Seas resort on Captiva Island.  Here is a little peek into the day, courtesy of AMC Video


Andrea and Will had their ceremony on Sunset Cove and cocktail hour on Sunset Beach before heading to the tented lawn after an amazing sunset.  The raspberry and fuchsia flowers (roses, orchids and peonies) by Signature Florals were so pretty and cheerful, just like Andrea.  Before the night was over, all the guests headed over to the beach one last time for a surprise fireworks show.
I miss this wedding... I'll blog pictures next!

An actual garden wedding in Florida Vol 2

Elegant, Sophisticated Stylish Beach Wedding found Vol. 2

Yesterday I opened my mailbox and found a dvd inside from Alys dad. He actually took the time to compile a slideshow format movie of the wedding weekend with all the pictures they collected from their guests. What a great idea and I can not wait to watch it tonight. In the meantime, here are more pictures from Concept and a few bits of insight into what was truly one of the best weekends I've ever had the pleasure of planning.

Color goes a very long way at beach weddings because your environments are usually every "un-color" imaginable. If you don't infuse some color; go heavy on texture.

Aly & Mike had a Beatles inspired ceremony.  I can't wait to see the video because the toast the Aly's dear friend made was hands down the best tie into a ceremony I have ever heard.

 Got 5 more minutes of light before you head into cocktail hour? Practice your 1st dance!

 I will forever love market lighting and clear tents.

 I still have visions of this engagement ring running through my head. STUNNING.

Yes, she forgot the bouquet.  But really, do you think she could have been any happier?  I have to admit, I kind of love the excited hand wave!

We could have removed all the seats after dinner because nobody sat down again once the band got going.

 Brown eyed girl with the best lashes ever.

How sweet are the petals on this dress? I adore Monique Lhuillier

 I will forever love long tables at weddings. Why?

1. Because people love to sit at them so much more than round tables. You can easily talk to multiple people, not just the person to your left or right.

2. Because the centerpieces fill the entire table (I kind of love flowers and so does Floral Artistry).

3. They take up less space.

Get hair & makeup. You will not regret it so long as you hire REAL professionals who use quality products. Doing this will ensure that you look great pre-ceremony until the band unplugs.

Pad your wedding day prep time so that there is time to just sit and enjoy the people around you.  It's such a nice part of the experience of your wedding day.  Drink some champagne, plug in the ipod and giggle.

 The fun photos are the ones you'll cherish the most.  Key reason to LOVE your photographers so that you are totally comfortable being yourself.  When I say love, I mean like you want to have lunch with them and then drink martini's and friend them on facebook love.

A good officiant means everything.  He's the guy who will guide you through the most powerful words you'll ever speak to someone.  I kind of wish this picture was in color, the vow book I designed for Aly & Mike was so pretty.

 Details! From top left:
White Hydrangea, white roses and phalaenopsis orchids
Custom wine bottle table numbers I designed blended right into the table (I'm not a big fan of table numbers)
The blue runners and napkins allowed the flowers take center stage during the day when there was so much light.  In the evening the candlelight took on this duty.
The rock candy was Aly's super cute idea.  The tags said' "You Rock!" Thanks for coming.  This was a small hint to the blue candy bar we had later in the evening.

I wanted to keep the tables less cluttered so we made these framed chalkboards for the menu and table assignments.
The cake. YUM and gorgeous.  Who doesn't love a bunch of pretty ruffles? 

 Rush matting aisle runner. Keep it natural on the beach folks.

 Look really close...the champagne glass says Mr. (Aly's says Mrs a few photos up)

 This dress was made for this twirl.

The end. {insert giggle}
Vol 1 is here
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The New Years Bride Series Vol 2.

 

Not only was this the coldest wedding we've ever had, it was also hands down the windiest!  These bamboo structures were supposed to have natural linen canopies.  We improvised with the white ribbon. 

Floral Artistry adorned the chairs along the 3 aisles with bear grass, italian ruscus, and raffia.

There is something to be said about not pushing the envelope.  Especially when the environment is so striking.

 

Same goes for the boutonieres.  These dendrobium and stephanotis for the guys are as fancy as they need to be, which is anything but fancy.  Uncomplicated is good. 

The bridal bouquets however, I love a little umph in this department.  Mrs. Prince carried a bouquet of long stemmed white french tulips and stephanotis in hydrangea.  No greenery at all.  I love an all flower bouquet.  The bridesmaids carried bouquets of parrot tulips in light blue hydrangea.  The moms carried poseys of white dendrobium orchids. 

 

The Kentucky Derby Delay

 The Dining Room: We used different sized tables to fill the room and create the dinner party ambiance

While organizing our studio this week, we came across a couple weddings we hadn't blogged about, and this was one of them.  There are incredibly talented photographers at Michelle Reed Photography (Aimee documented this wedding) and well, the proof is in the pictures.

 

At the ceremony, each of the guests received one of these handfans with the custom tags

 

Derby Bride wanted a very intimate ceremony, so all the guests surrounded the couple.  We just had a few seats for those who really needed them.

I've never had a late start that made me giggle. Until this past May.  I had a bride who refused to leave the bridal suite to go down to the ceremony. Not because she didn't want to get married though.

The sand ceremony; chocolate and sea blue sand.

It was because the Derby hadn't happened yet.  Hilarious.   Derby bride and the rest of the wedding party (and me) sat and watched the race and then raced down to the limos to get to the ceremony on time.

 

The tall centerpieces of white hawaiian dendrobiums in sea blue water filled vases lightened up the room.

Pale blush tones are what made this bouquet of roses and peonies so romantic

The very simple and intimate ceremony took place on Bonita Beach and the reception for about 60 was at The Hyatt Coconut Point Country Club, Raptor Bay.

 

The champagne colored textured linens were just what we needed to tie the lightness of the flowers to the heavier design of the room.

 

Adding a bit of formality to the cake with the fondant draping

 

You know how there is always that picture perfect spot and if everything is just right you get something amazing?  This is it.

 

Gift and escort card table details.  You can't go wrong with candles.

The beautiful flowers are from Signature Florals...Sue always exceeds my expectations.  The cake was from Ella's Cakes and was so good there wasn't a slice left behind.