{promotion | end of year promotion 2012}

Help us spread the word about this awesome end of the year promotion!!!!

{ideas| guestbooks and more}

What are guestbooks? Do I have to have one? Brides always wonder if guestbooks are necessary for their wedding. It's always nice to have something at your wedding where your guests can express themselves as they write down their sentiments and well wishes for you on your special day. Guestbooks doesn't always have to be in the form of a book. It seems like one of those things that most brides wait until the end of their planning phase to pick up a guestbook to use. From the wishing tree to the puzzle guestbook, I'm sharing with all of you a few of my favorite guestbook ideas:

Envelope Guest Book

Transform a store-bought album into a guest book that has a handmade feel. Use double-sided tape to affix envelopes in assorted sizes and colors to the pages of a plain-paper photo album or scrapbook. Leave cards and a pen on a table for guests to write wishes. When they're done, they can tuck their cards inside the envelopes for the bride and groom to enjoy later.The bright hues of these small gift cards can't help but beguile the eyes of wedding guests; their small size gives well-wishers just enough space to write a sweet thought, quip, or hope; and the envelopes, allowing for privacy, encourage them to get a little sentimental.

courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

 Hearts

I love this idea and wish we could have done it for our wedding. Let your wedding guestbook be a conversation piece for your family & friends as they sign the hearts of this art piece.This unique wedding guestbook comes in a 20x20 white shadow box frame with recessed glass that comes ready to hang or can be placed on a mantle. The example above has 3D hearts for signatures and a light yellow heart which includes the bride and grooms initials and wedding date on a white background.

photo courtesy of Etsy

Puzzle Guestbook

This is a unique guestbook alternative that would be fun not only for the guests but also for the couple to put together after the wedding.  A wedding guest book puzzle is a very personal work of art, a family heirloom that will be treasured forever, and an enjoyable, memorable experience for everyone.

photo courtesy of Etsy

Wishing Tree

A wishing tree is a great addition to your reception venue. Guests can write their notes and wishes for the couple on a card stock that can be tied or clipped to the branches of the tree.

photo courtesy of Style Me Pretty

Wishing Stones

Wishing stones are an Irish wedding tradition wherein they have their wedding guests write their best wishes on smooth stones. You can put together a wedding guest book table with plenty of pebbles and a glass vase filled up with water. After the guest signed with a permanent marker, they can put the stones inside the vase. This represent and bring back the tradition of throwing stones into a river or pool.

photo courtesy of Pinterest

{bridal show | bridal show aboard the queen mary | long beach}

Hello All! I'm fresh from my recent bridal show aboard The Queen Mary last Sunday. I had such an awesome time getting the opportunity to meet the hundreds of brides that attended the event and their fiances/family members. I met some great vendors as well that I'm looking forward to working with in the near future. I was really limited to the table space in my booth so I wanted to maximize the space and be able to showcase my work. Flower Allie was so generous in providing 2 arrangements for me to use in the table scape and I incorporated my favorite Moroccan lanterns from Z Gallerie along with a sample table setting. A big THANK YOU goes out to Bridal Showplace for organizing a successful bridal show, Allison of Flower Allie for coming to my rescue with the most eye catching arrangements, the brides who stopped by my booth to chat and share their wedding visions (I was really excited to see so many prepared brides with their name labels to put in the vendor sign up sheets :)) and most of all, thank you to the best assistant ever who was super helpful and supportive!

{ideas | signature wedding cocktails to keep you cool}

Signature wedding cocktails are a fun way to personalize your wedding. It's also a good way to work around your budget if you're not able to do a full hosted bar.You can save on the drink tab by offering wine, beer, champagne, and just the signature cocktail, rather than a full bar.With the warm and sticky summer months upon us, I thought I should post some of my favorite signature wedding cocktails to keep you all cool.

Summer Fruit Sangria (courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups assorted fruits (such as mango, pineapple, cantaloupe, and apricot), sliced or cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh basil or mint leaves
• 1/2 cup orange liqueur, such as Cointreau
• 1 bottle crisp white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
• Ice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or pitcher, combine fruit, ginger, basil or mint, and orange liqueur. Mash gently with the back of a wooden spoon until basil is bruised and fruit releases juices. Add wine and lemon juice and stir to combine. Refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 1 day). To serve, fill eight glasses with ice and top with sangria.

Marital Bliss Cocktail (courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

• 2 parts gin (we used Hendrick's)
• 1/2 part St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 1/2 part fresh lime juice
• 4 parts soda water to top off
• Lime slice or wedge for garnish
• Mint sprig, for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine gin, liqueur, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake. Pour over ice in glass. Add soda water, and stir. Garnish with lime and mint.

Ciroc Lola (courtesy of Delish)

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce(s) Cîroc Vodka
• 1 1/2 ounce(s) pomegranate juice
• 1 teaspoon(s) elderflower liqueur
• 1  splash champagne
• 1  orchid blossom

Directions:

1. Stir all the ingredients over ice to chilled and strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.
2. Top with splash of champagne and garnish with a Sonya orchid or, if unavailable, another food-grade edible flower.

Cranberry Kiss (courtesy of Delish)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 ounce(s) Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
• 2 ounce(s) collins mix
• 2 ounce(s) cranberry juice
• 1 wedge(s) lemon

Directions:

1. Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, collins mix, and cranberry juice to ice-filled highball glass and stir.
2. Garnish with lemon wedge.

Smirnoff Lemon Drop Martini (courtesy of Delish)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 ounce(s) Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka
• 1/4 ounce(s) triple sec
• 3/4 ounce(s) lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a shaker with ice, add Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka, triple sec, and lemon juice.
2. Shake well.

{bridal show | bridal show 101}

Bridal shows are a fabulous opportunity for you to meet hundreds of vendors in your area and beyond. Attending bridal shows can be very overwhelming especially for your first time.  I'm happy to announce that Premier Soirees is participating in a bridal show at The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. The event is hosted by Bridal Showplace and will be hosting over 120 exhibitors. Here's some info on the upcoming bridal show.

Sunday, August  12, 2012 

11:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

11126 Queens Highway Long Beach, CA

In order to take full advantage of your day there are some things you should do and keep in mind when you attend the show. I have listed several tips below to help you on your bridal show adventure:


Tip # 1:   Dress Comfortably but Cute - Depending on the size of the bridal show, it usually has a lot of walking from booth to booth to visit different vendors and lots of standing as well. You wanna be sure that you're dressed comfortably at the bridal shows with some comfy shoes. You also want to consider leaving the purse in the car and just taking your keys, wallet and your labels to toss in the tote. The less stuff you bring to the show, the better and more comfortable it becomes for you.

Tip #2: Bring a Tote - Most bridal shows now give brides/guests a tote bag as part of their registration/admission fee for you to put all of your loot and fliers that you collect throughout the day. You can bring your own tote if you wish - but I suggest bring a larger tote since there will be a lot of stuff -- giveaways, postcards, magazines, samples, and business cards -- available to you during that day. When you return home after the show, you can sort through the wedding stuff and organize it however you wish.

Tip #3: Bring a friend!! - it's always fun to walk through the bridal shows with someone else - your mom, your sister, your maid of honor, your best friend, your fiance!! You can share the samples, the giveaways and the notes after the show is done. You can dish on your favorite vendors and ideas on your drive home.

Tip #4: View vendors ahead of time - most shows will list their vendors/exhibitors online so you should look at them to plan which ones you're really interested in. You can map out your route to prioritize those vendors first and visit the others afterwards. Doing some research before the show will help you make the most out of your day.

Tip #5: Create an ID - now this doesn't mean come prepared with your "Hello, My Name is" label but make sure you do come prepared with some contact labels. Make some contact labels out of the Avery labels with your name, email address, phone # and your wedding date.  Some brides are comfortable sharing their mailing address as well so definitely add the information that you feel most comfortable sharing. Most vendors will ask for your contact information so this will make it much easier to not have to write everything down. As for the email address, I suggest creating an email specifically for everything wedding related. I can almost guarantee that you will receive countless of emails from different vendors and having a separate email will avoid the overflow in your personal email.

Tip #6: Bring a camera - if you can bring a separate camera outside of your cellphone so you can take as many photos as possible of cakes, wedding dresses, flowers, invitations and even the vendors that you really enjoyed so you can remember them. Sometimes having a visual image of their booth or set up will help you remember which vendors your enjoyed the best.

Enjoy your bridal show adventure and remember that planning your wedding should be fun and exciting!

{press | invitation featured on lifestyle crafts}

It's been pretty busy lately around the Premier Soirees' office with the launch of the website, upcoming weddings and bridal shows this summer, I haven't posted much about my most favorite wedding as of this year.

I wanted to share some sneak peeks though since my bride took on the project of creating her entire wedding invitation suite and all her hard work has definitely paid off. Her wedding invitation was recently featured on LifeStyle Crafts' website for all of her DIY goodness. Special kudos to the wonderful design work of Darla Marie Designs and to the wonderful Kelly Mendoza of True Bliss Photography for capturing such great images of the invite.

Click here to see the entire feature on the wedding invitation. Make sure to check back on the blog for more feature on this special wedding for Leah & Kevin!

{premier soirees website launch}

So thrilled -- beyond thrilled to share some awesome news with all of you. Our Premier Soirees website is here!!! It's been quite a journey that I took with a good friend who worked on the design and layout of the site and I'm glad that it is done and ready for all of you to see. Thank you to Donald Quitangon for his great work and patience working with me through this process.

Come visit us at http://www.premiersoirees.com/ and let us know how you find our new website. Happy Wednesday to all!!!