Budget Savvy Brides Read This!

What do you do when the economy around you has you second guessing everything you want to do for your wedding? Well, you get creative and SAVVY! This is where we come in...we strive to offer you unique ideas to help you look like you had a million dollar wedding by not spending a million dollars. We look for opportunities to make a BIG impact with relatively low cost. We do this by keeping our minds open to all possiblities. There is always more than one way to do anything! Here are some helpful suggestions on how to get the most out of your money.

• Host a signature drink instead of an open bar.
• Hire a FANTASTIC DJ instead of a live band.
• Use only one color for your floral arrangements because depending on which flower you choose, you can control your cost and still create a beautiful atmosphere!
• Of course, hiring a planner can help you get the most out of your money and ease some of the stress as well!

These are just some ways to help you be a Budget SAVVY Bride!

For more information see Colin Cowie's

7 Tips for the Budget Savvy Bride on the pages of www.getmarried.com

We Love Green!

With Earth day just around the corner, April 22, 2009 to be exact, we feel it is important to start thinking of creative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. We found some fresh ideas for anyone to make their wedding day an Earth-friendly event!

1. Minimize excess paper on your invites by using postcards for the RSVP cards. It is not only less paper but less money per stamp, so you are saving in two ways!
2. Select a caterer that uses local, sustainable foods and reduces waste.
3. Instead of using an individual menu card per guest, try setting up a chalkboard at each table to display the menu.
4. To offset your guest's travel emissions, you can plant trees in their honor. These donations double as unique favors as well!
5. Find out in advance if your venue recycles paper goods instead of trashing them and if not ask them if they could!

These are just a few ideas on how we can do our part on our wedding day to help save the Earth!

Information found in the InStyle Weddings magazine, Spring 2009 edition, page 251.

Some Celeb Tips to Inspire Your Wedding!

Below is a list of some celebrity-inspired wedding ideas that can make your day uniquely yours!

Welcome your guests to a Destination Wedding - When your guests arrive to the destination and find a welcome basket waiting for them or just a hand written note expressing how happy you are that they were able to attend your special day, they will already feell that their efforts to attend were well worth it! Letting your guests know how important they are to you and how much it means that they traveled all of this way for you is a small gesture that really goes far!

Bridesmaids Dresses With Wiggle Room - Giving the bridal party the freedom to pick out their own dress or at least have a say in what they wear, will allow them to look their best. Of course, you suggest the color and then let them choose the style they will feel more comfortable in. But overall when everyone looks and feels good in what they are wearing it shows on their faces and who wouldn't want their bridal party to look gorgeous!

Make Guests the Photographers or should I say Videographers - That's right the celebrity wedding planners are giving guests disposable video cameras. They cost about $30 each and can give the bride and groom more memories than just a single camera!

Make it Personal - Today it is all about making your day personal and giving your guests a glimpse of who you are together as a couple. This is one of my favorites because it is all of the small gestures that really add up and mean the most. Whether it be naming your tables after your favorite places, teas, people, etc or including your photos during different times in your lives and seeing how they meshed together. It all showcases your personalities and makes everything more memorable every step of the way!

These are just a few ideas but really it all comes down to what matters the most to you and your groom because it is your day to shine!


Parts as seen on Good Morning America, In Style magazine's Amy Goodman.

A Day in the Life of A Florist...

March 14, 2009

This past Saturday, I had the rare opportunity to work as a florist at a wedding. Usually, I am in charge of coordinating the wedding, so this was a wonderful learning experience. I believe that anytime you can walk in the shoes of someone else, it helps you understand a little more of how their piece of the puzzle fits in. We can all agree that flowers used at a wedding usually make a statement but this wedding, the flowers created an experience. It was GORGEOUS!

Jana Stall, with Events in Bloom designed some of the most natural and artistic flowers that I have seen in a long time. She created a table scape on the bridal party table that just carried you away to the most serene and inviting place. I even helped create the centerpieces for the cocktail tables, which were a lot more difficult than you would have thought. I also added the pussy willows on some of the centerpieces that completed the finishing touch. By the time, I was done, I realized even more how much work the florist does to completing the overall look of the location. This bride had an amazing vision! Jana Stall with Events in Bloom really made it come alive!

It was a lot of fun and a beautiful wedding! Enjoy the photos!

They were taken by Limelight Photography! Kudos to Jana Stall with Events in Bloom, you are amazing!!!

Events in Bloom, http://www.events-in-bloom.com/

Limelight Photography, http://www.stepintothelimelight.com/

Fresh Ideas for a Beach Wedding!

A fresh idea we introduced at one of our beach weddings was the Shoe Valet. We created a drop off point for the guests to take off their shoes and enjoy the ceremony in the sand. We offered brushes and powder to help the guests clean the sand off their feet once the ceremony ended. It worked beautifully! Everyone had a safe place to put their shoes and then clean them off for the reception when they were ready to put on their dancing shoes!

For more information about our Shoe Valet, just contact us at cindy@stonehouseevents.com or 813.973.9834.

Engagement Photos!

What to do with all of your engagement photos?

Well, if you spent the time with your photographer taking your engagement photos, then why not incorporate them into your wedding day! You can use a photo for the Guestbook Picture Frame. It makes for a great keepsake! Also, you could use the photo's for your table numbers. You can either use the color, black & white or sephia tone to go with your wedding colors or theme. The cocktail hour is another great place for photos of you and your sweetheart! It gives guests an opportunity to share in your experience and it just adds that extra personal touch to your wedding day!

Photo Credits: The Knot Fall/Winter 2008, WeddingBellAccessories.com

A New Twist for Cocktail Tables!

If you are looking for a new idea for your cocktail table, look no further than the budvase. It is a smart, trendy and inexpensive idea to liven up any cocktail table. The budvase comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. There are so many options available to you it makes the budvase such a great choice. Plus, you will save on your flower bill because the budvase can only hold one or two flower stems. It is a small detail with a huge impact!

Check out www.accentdecor.com for more ideas on budvases!