Aberdeen Manor

The Special Event--Really Special!!

2012-01-28T14:20:00.000-06:00

This last week was a busy one for Megan and I! We spent four days in Tampa, Florida for a conference which is put on by ISES, The International Special Event Society. Can I just say, AWESOME!!!!!
We went to meetings and presentations on all sorts of event production related topics. I attended sessions on floral design, general trends and directions that the event industry is headed, lighting, as well as some on the more nuts and bolts aspects of the business. I feel like my head is going to explode with all the new stuff! :)

This was from a class on doing simple things with flowers that don't necessarily require a florist. This is something we do a lot! We really got some terrific ideas for simple centerpieces, decor, aisle runners, etc. This was an herb wreath that was tied to the bride's chair with a pretty ribbon. The wreathes smelled divine! The little table was done with a "vintage romantic" theme. Lots of silver mercury glass, roses, ranunculus, mums, candles. It was lovely! The main speaker was Ian Prosser who had an entire alphabet of letters behind his name! He also had an absolutely delightful accent and a terrific sense of humor. Just listening to him was so entertaining!

This class titled "Four Weddings and a Budget", discussed four wedding schemes with very expensive tables, where they showed how the table could be done more economically. What was most interesting about this class was that the floral arrangements really drove the cost of the tables up! They showed one table where the centerpiece alone was $1200!!!!! Not thinking we are going to see a lot of those at Aberdeen Manor!

This class was on having hard goods on hand that could be reused and repurposed. We have accumulated quite an inventory at Aberdeen Manor. It was fun to see some new and fresh ways of using some of the things we already have!

So what were some of the trends and directions that weddings are headed this year? Well, according to Pantone--the world renown gurus of color--the color of the year is TANGERINE TANGO! If I had to describe it, I guess I would call it a deep red orange. Now since orange is probably my least favorite color, I'm sure you can guess how excited I was about this news! Fortunately though, it's actually a pretty orange (I never thought I would say that about any orange!) and with the right accent colors it could be gorgeous!

Last year the "color of the year" was honeysuckle, which was actually a sort of dark pinky mauve. We will probably start seeing more of it in weddings this year and next. It takes us a while in Indiana for these things to filter in from the coasts! :)
Silver continues to hold firm as the metallic accent of choice, however gold is beginning to make a comeback. And of course, bling, crystals, sparkly things, are all still huge in weddings.
The three big trends in weddings that we heard lots of talk about?
First, the romantic, blingy, vintage theme is huge. Lots of lace and ruffles, lush linens, extravagant centerpieces and florals with lots of hydrangea, roses, garden flowers, tons of candles. soft colors or even all neutrals.

Another popular theme, was the country/shabby chic direction. Antiques, wildflowers, milk glass, mason jars, handpainted signs, homemade jam for favors, you get the idea.

The third trend we saw mentioned quite a bit, was Urban Sleek. Lots of clean lines, minimal fuss, sharp contrasting color palettes, really, totally opposite to the other two trends!

Of course the one thing we all agreed on was that when it comes to weddings, there are no rules! And the trends and themes of weddings all get mixed and matched on a regular basis. What is important is that all the elements hang together. So you might be shooting for an urban sleek sort of wedding, but you love the "bling" so maybe you would have circles of faceted ribbon around the sleek cylinder vases on your tables.

Another hot trend is the David Austin garden roses. SO beautiful! And they smell awesome!!

Take a closer look at the one in the center--that's called Green Eyes. They are amazing!

It's so different! Here's an even closer look:

Isn't that an interesting look? Can you see it in a very modern bouquet? Or mixed with other flowers in a country bouquet? I thought at first they had somehow stuck a green Trix in the middle of a white rose!

When push comes to shove, you go with what you love, and somehow it all ends up working together. That's what's so much fun about weddings and being in "the biz"! We get to play with all these themes and colors, designs and ideas--I LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!

There is so much more to talk about, but I'm concerned that all these photos are going to stop up the download, so I'm going to stop for now and see if this works. I'll write more about the conference tomorrow! As if all of these fabulous sessions weren't enough, they had a huge trade show!! OH MY!!!! So there's lots more to report! Stay tuned!

Aberdeen featured in Wedding Essentials Magazine!

2012-01-21T14:46:00.000-06:00

We are very proud to tell you that the feature article in the current issue of Wedding Essentials was shot right here at Aberdeen Manor! We had a great time with the staff and photographers from Wedding Essentials. They spent an entire day here in late November, shooting all the pictures for the article. And it turned out gorgeous! The color palette was "peacock colors"--royal blue, teal green, deep purple-- awesome colors to work with!
For the shoot, we provided invitations, tables settings and linens, menu cards and place cards, hors d'oeuvres, an entree plate, tuxes, and the backdrop of our ballroom and chapel. We decorated the cake table with peacock feathers, and even made it snow over the dance floor! We had a great time planning all the different aspects of the photos and figuring out how we could best
Click on the link above to see the current issue online, or stop by and we'll be happy to give you your own personal copy--we'll even autograph it for you! :)

Being "Unique and Different"

2011-09-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

Recently, I had an epiphany of sorts. I was thinking about vendors and weddings and such. It has always confused me that we would have brides who felt that they needed to choose vendors that were all new to us. Nobody off of my Favorites List, all people we had never seen before. Hmmmmmm.
So this is where my epiphany comes in. It dawned on me that the reason some brides feel compelled to choose vendors that are different from the ones we normally use is because they think that having unique vendors will make their wedding unique!!!
In a nutshell, they couldn't be more wrong.

What makes your wedding unique? What sets it apart from the weddings of all your friends? I can tell you one thing that doesn't affect the uniqueness of your wedding, and that is your vendors. Vendors are the framework that you build your wedding on. They are the 2x4's and lumber that your house is constructed from, and upon which you decorate, furnish and paint to make your house unique. It isn't the lumber that makes a house unique, it's the work that your architect does on the design, and the decorating that you do once the design is accomplished that make it so special.
So to carry that analogy along, you, my brides and grooms, are the homeowners, and I am your wedding architect/General Contractor (we do design/build weddings! :). It is my job to help you design a beautiful and unique wedding. Just as General Contractors have subs that they work with all the time, I have "subs" (that we call vendors) that I work with best. We have our framers, our dry wallers, HVAC, windows, flooring, and painting, roofers, landscapers, concrete and asphalt contractors: all the different people that it takes to build a house.
It's my job as your "General" to bring all these people together, coordinate their work and schedule them so that your house is built efficiently and on schedule. It's also my job, since we are "design/build" to help you tweak your floor plan to make it fit your family, to keep your design consistent throughout the changes we need to make, and to ultimately provide you with a home that reflects your tastes and your vision, and that you will be happy living in!
I have often said that I could use the SAME VENDORS for every single wedding we do, and our weddings would all still be unique and different!!! Just as an interior decorator wouldn't do the same design in every house, a florist is going to talk with you and design something unique for your wedding. The DJ is going to play different music, suited to YOUR tastes, and provide the extra activities that you request. Your cake designer will create the perfect cake for you. It isn't WHO you choose that is important, it is THEIR LEVEL OF EXPERTISE!
The folks on our Favorites List have proven their expertise over and over and over again. I could work with them week in and week out, and still have beautiful unique weddings every time.
I just finished reading a fun series of books by Nora Roberts, her "Wedding Day Series" which follows four women who start a wedding venue in the one friend's Mansion in Connecticut. They are fun books, a little racey, because after all, it IS Nora Roberts! Parker, who owns the Mansion, is the coordinator, Laurel makes the cakes, Emma does all the flowers, and Mackenzie is the photographer. Together they create all these beautiful, unique weddings for their clients. Basically the same people doing every wedding, but every wedding unique in its own way because they are professionals and know how to make them unique and flawless.
We often talk about "A-Team" weddings at Aberdeen. These are the weddings that have all of OUR vendors for their event. These weddings are as smooth as glass. No worries about flowers that haven't shown up at 4:30, no cakes that are starting to slide apart, no DJ dragging his equipment in through the guests because he is late arriving. These issues just don't happen when we have an A-Team Wedding. Everything happens as it is supposed to, on schedule and perfectly timed. Mike (the Transaudio DJ we work with most) and I have developed a psychic connection when it comes to orchestrating a ceremony and reception! I look at him and he knows what to do! It's magical! We're like a pitcher and a catcher--we have our little signals that we pass back and forth, and the wedding progresses, perfectly timed and flawless. The correct music plays, it fades beautifully in and out at the absolute perfect moment. Who wouldn't want that sort of perfection for their wedding?
This same symbiosis occurs when Stringsounds plays for a wedding, or Cynthia Shelhart, or any of a number of other musicians on our list that work with me over and over again. We all work together like a well oiled machine. It doesn't mean that they play the same music each time, of course not! Each wedding has its own unique music, what sets them apart is that they are flawless!
I could write a book about the issues we have had with vendors over the years. Photographers and DJ's particularly because these are the people we work with throughout the event. Some of them were just plain bad. I've had to testify in court against a DJ who absolutely trashed a reception. With others, I've had to try to fix the problems that they have created, either because they were unprofessional, inexperienced, or sometimes just unfamiliar with how we work and what we do.
It isn't that the people on our list are the only good vendors in Northwest Indiana; that's not my point at all. There are, of course, other good vendors out there, it's just that they aren't necessarily familiar with our facility and us, and how we operate. Consequently, it is much more difficult to create that perfectly timed, and flawlessly orchestrated wedding.
To continue our analogy, if your framing contractor isn't good, your house is eventually going to have structural problems, regardless of how beautifully you decorate it. The walls will develop cracks your roof might leak, who knows what might happen? If your landscape sub isn't up to par, you might have big problems with the sprinkling system, or the beautiful curly willow might be planted over your sewer line where it grows into it and creates problems later.
Even if you get lucky and choose good subs for your home contruction, if they aren't people that your General Contractor works with regularly, you could experience months of delay because he can't get them there to do the work. When your GC uses a sub regularly, he has a lot more "clout" when it comes to scheduling them and getting them on HIS time table.
Obviously, the analogy could go on and on, and of course, it doesn't translate totally but you get the idea, right? My point is this: USE OUR FAVORITES LIST! It's only purpose is to help you plan a flawlessly timed and orchestrated wedding! It is YOUR personality, uniqueness, input, and ideas that will make your day unique and different from anyone else's.
And as ever, I am here for you to help you with the ideas portion. If you need some help in that department, just let me know and we'll get together and see what we can come up with!!

(And by the way, do I need to say this again? WE DO NOT RECEIVE ANY KICKBACKS FROM OUR VENDORS! The ONLY reason we recommend these folks is because we KNOW they are good, and we also know that they are familiar with our facility and each other.)

Ahhhhhhhhh!

2011-08-28T14:46:00.000-05:00

After some terrifically busy weekends, and weekdays too for that matter, I finally have a day "off" to sit in my jammies all day (as in, it's 2:30 in the afternoon, and yes, I am still in the jams!)
So, what do I do on this golden day? I read a beautiful book about EVENT PLANNING!!!!! For the last 5 hours I have been pouring over an absolutely fantastic book---"Art of Celebration--New England". I have stuck at least 20 markers into it, with notes written on them about the inspirations and ideas that the beautiful illustrations in this book have given me. It's part of a series which includes a book for Georgia, Chicago, Northern California, Southern California, New York City, New England, South Florida, and maybe one more that isn't coming to me right now. Oh, it's Washington D.C.
THESE ARE AWESOME BOOKS!!!!!!! So many fabulous ideas for flowers, decor, lighting, food, linens, chair ties; you name it! Obviously, the events featured in these books are gazillions of dollars. They are, for the most part, REALLY high end events, but the beautiful thing is, so many of their ideas can be scaled back for the common man--or woman! So many things can be done on maybe a slightly less grand scale, but still will add some great punch and spark to YOUR event.
I have these books at work, in my office, and I would be THRILLED to share them with anyone who would like to come by and look at them. I'll even be happy to loan one out to you, just like the library, if you want to take it home with you and check it out.
An aside note: There is a stationery designer in Boston by the name of Kelli Parker who does some truly lovely things with invitations and paper pieces for weddings and social functions, who was featured in this book. I looked up her website, and on her blog she is having a contest to give a copy of this book to some lucky person! Well actually, she already had the contest and nobody entered! so maybe if a few people go to her blog and "enter" she'll give it to one of you!
And yet another aside note: In one of her blogposts she mentions that the Dessy Bridal company is using Pantone colors for their gowns, and Pantone has an entire site dedicated to bridal colors and design. You can order swatch colors, create mood boards for different combinations or for the colors that you have decided on; all kinds of fun things. So if you are taking the day off today too, check it out!

Sorry, I have to get back to my book now, I think I should get dressed before dinner time. :)

Ring Things and Ring Dogs

2011-08-04T10:17:00.000-05:00

This morning, Colin Cowie shared some terrific ideas for the rings in your ceremony, so thought I would share them with you. Here is what he has to say as well as his suggestions:

Exchanging rings is not only a symbolic and poignant gesture of two lives merging, it's another opportunity to add a personal, stylish touch to your big day. Having a little one carry a traditional pillow is no longer the only way for your ring to arrive (though, it is hard to elicit the same kind of "oohs and ahhs" a ring bearer inspires when he walks down the aisle).

Man's Best Friend
If your dog is an essential part of your life, why shouldn't he be in the wedding party?
Branch-ed Together
In many cultures, the branch is a deep-rooted symbol. Though the exchange of rings is not a tradition in a Greek wedding, having the rings brought out on an olive branch is a great way to put a modern spin on old traditions. The same can be done with a luscious grape vine.
Under Your Nose
Sometimes the best solution for a ring arrival is no procession at all. There are many creative ways for your rings to rest during the ceremony. If you're having a beach wedding, the rings can sit beautifully in an abalone shell. Using flowers can be a great alternative: pomander balls have the look and feel of a pillow but are a chic way to keep the rings in place.
Passed Around
For smaller weddings, passing around the rings is a beautiful and intimate gesture. Have your ushers pass the weddings bands around so your guests can touch them, symbolically handing their love and good wishes to you through the passing of the ring.

I particularly like the symbolism of passing the rings around through all the guests. It really illustrates that the couple is part of a supportive community that will be there for them in good times and bad.

We have had lots of ring dogs over the past 12 years. I think we are probably up to about 14 or 15 total. It's always fun to meet our couples' canine friends, and to be honest, they are many times much easier to deal with than tiny children! :) We've had a Bernese Mountain Dog, a Jack Russell Terrier, a Husky, a Keeshond, a Golden Retriever, a Labrador, several Heinz 57's, and most recently, a Chi-Wienie!

We do have a few rules for ring dogs that I would like to share with you. It will make things easier for you, for me, and especially for your doggie.

1. Your puppy dog needs to have some basic training. He must, of course, be well housebroken. He should be able to walk on a leash and be able to sit and stay through the ceremony (if that's what you are going to have him do), You need to think through how you would like to include him in your ceremony and what behavior that will require, then you need to start early on with the required training so that both you and your furry friend are confident on the big day.

2. It helps if your dog is used to crowds of people. Some dogs get all freaked out by lots of people touching them and fawning over them (which is what happens at weddings). Introduce your dog to people BEFORE the day of the wedding. Incidentally, did you know that when someone leans down in front of a dog to pet them them, making straight on eye contact with them, that this is instinctually VERY threatening to a dog? He needs to be accustomed to humans doing this to him, even though his genetics tell him that they are being aggressive, otherwise someone might get bit! And it probably won't be your dog!

3. MOST IMPORTANT: Someone who is NOT a member of the wedding party, or one of the parents, needs to be there JUST FOR YOUR DOG. Obviously, this should be someone who knows your dog and gets along with him. Your dog sitter shouldn't be anyone who has another job on the wedding day (usher etc.) and it shouldn't be anyone who is involved in the formal pictures. This person is going to be there solely for your dog and will take care of him from the time he arrives for the ceremony until after the pictures when this person will take your dog home, or where ever he is going to go (your house, your mom's house, friend's house, etc.) while you all go on in to the reception. The dog cannot be locked in the bride's room, or a car, or anywhere else, for the six hour reception, this just isn't fair to your dog!

Our main concern, when having your pet in your wedding, is that your little friend is happy, and at ease, and taken care of, throughout the ceremony. We want it to be a good experience for everyone. You, your guests, us, and most importantly, your dog!

Making It Work

2011-07-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY MORNING--

Megan calls me on my cell phone before I went to work—

“Mom, one of our grooms from 2004 called and needs to talk to you right away. He said that he and his wife are having some problems, and he would like to bring her here where they got married and dance with her to their first dance song.”

“Awwwwh! That is so sweet! Megan we have to do this! When does he want to come?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“We don’t have anything on the calendar tomorrow, do we?”

“No, I think it’s clear”

“Oh Megan, we have to do this!” I’m already choked up over the whole idea.

“Yes, I agree, we have to!” Megan is a little on the teary side too.

“So did you pull their file?” (Oh yes, we have files in our basement from every wedding we have ever done, all boxed and filed away by date—it’s amazing how often we refer to them)

“Yes, I have it here in front of me”

“What did they have for their dinner?”

“It was cranberry chicken, pesto smashed potatoes, and California medley.”

“Hmmmmmmm. We are serving cranberry chicken Thursday for the golf outing, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Ok, let me call Patti and see if I can make this happen!”

“Ok, bye!”

So I dial up Patti, our chef,

“Patti, one of our former grooms called, and he wants to dance with his wife and re-propose to her on the dance floor where they originally had their reception. Have you ever heard anything so romantic?

“Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!”

“I know, so here’s what I’m thinking. We’ll set a little table on the dance floor and serve them the dinner they had for their reception.”

“Oh that would be sooooo cool! I think we can do that.”

“You’re amazing! Thanks!”

TUESDAY AFTERNOON---

So I go to work, and as soon as I get to my office, I call Kevin (not his real name of course) ---

“Hi Kevin! Megan told me about what you want to do, I think that’s about the sweetest thing I’ve heard in years, and we would like to make it extra special for you by serving you your wedding dinner as well!”

“Really? That would be terrific! How much would that cost? I would love that!”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on us, we’re all just so impressed with how romantic this is, we really want to make it special for you. Can you be here at 5:30?”

We go on to discuss all the finer details, what their first song was, how he will play it and the timing of the whole thing. Then we hang up.

WEDNESDAY---

Our kitchen staff comes in to do prep for our Thursday event, and while they are there, they prepare two plates of wedding fare for our guests. Patti leaves them in the cooler for me with explicit instructions on how to finish the chicken, separately from the plate, in the oven so that it is crisp and nice, exactly how long to leave it in, etc. etc. I read all my “marching orders” and figure the times out so that I can put the plates on the table at exactly 5:25, under plate covers, so that Kevin and Lauren will have the place to themselves.

5 PM

Everyone has left for the day. I go to the kitchen and turn the oven on, fill the water glasses, pour the wine, light the candles on the table, and reread my instructions. All the doors to the building are locked except for the main doors in the front.

At 5:20 I hear someone in the lobby so I walk out to see if someone has come in. My biggest worry is that someone else will come in and “blow the moment”!

Just as I get to the door I see Kevin, looking very spiffy in a suit and tie--

“Where’s Lauren?”

“She’s in the car, blindfolded, she doesn’t know where I’m taking her! Can I bring her in?”

“Sure! I just need about 5 minutes to finish your dinners, but you can come sit down and I’ll bring it to you as soon as it’s ready.”

5:25 PM

I plate up their dinners, put the orchids on them, and the plate covers, and take them out to the table.

“She already cried!” Kevin says with a laugh and a big smile.

“It’s just so…..” Lauren says with a tremble in her voice “It’s like being back at our wedding all over… that’s where we sat, and it’s just so….” She can’t go on, I can hear the tears in her voice.

“Well I’ll leave you two alone, enjoy!” I say, and I leave.

I go to the kitchen to straighten up, and after 20 minutes or so, I hear Tony Bennett singing “The Way You Look Tonight”. Kevin had mentioned that this was the song for their first dance. It’s slow and sultry, husky, as only Tony can sing it, with a simple piano accompaniment.

In my mind I see them on the dance floor, under the spotlights, swaying slowly in unison, as I have seen so many couples over the last 12 years. But this time it’s different—this time it’s only for them.

The song ends and I hold my breath, knowing that he is dropping to his knee and asking her to marry him all over again. What will she say? My mind races with all the possible outcomes.

I listen at the door of the kitchen, and all I hear is the music playing on the ipod. I don’t hear any voices, have they left already? I go out to check on them, and there they are, big smiles on both of their faces.

“She said yes!” Kevin tells me, the excitement and joy in his voice nearly has me running for the Kleenex box!

I give them both a big hug.

“That’s wonderful! You know, we marry people for keeps here!” I say with a laugh, “You guys take your time. Would you like a little more wine?”

I hope things work out for them. I hope that they once again find the love that they had the day they were married.

Sometimes it isn’t easy being married.

Sometimes you just need a fresh start; a new beginning.

Sometimes you just need to dance again.

Growing Pains!!!

2011-07-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

So I have a new computer. Yaaaay! Right? Well kinda. It's nice to have a new computer that is really really fast, and it's nice to be able to see the letters on the keys (even though I don't look at the keys when I type, honest I don't--Miss Hedrick--my 10th grade typing teacher! :) but I had used my old computer so much that I wore the letters right off the keys!)
Here's the problem with a new computer, my old computer was like an old oversized sweater that you wear on weekends to watch movies and eat popcorn. It was SOOOOOOO comfortable! I knew all of its ins and outs, we were a team. Now here is this newcomer, this stranger, that's like a new pair of four inch heels!!!! Ouch! It hurts!!
I had been using Windows XP 2003, (I jumped right over the Vista years, yay!) Now, all of a sudden I have to deal with Windows 2010! I also have Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer, and Office 2010 instead of Office 2003!!! My head hurts! I feel like I've never touched a computer before! I'm sitting here thinking that I want my old comfy sweater back, but time marches on, and my old sweater was thread bare and falling apart, time for new. So I guess I'll just have to grit my teeth and plow through this.
My kids used to tease me because I had a brick of a cell phone that was about 5 years out of date, but I wouldn't get a new one, because I just didn't have the time to learn how to use it! The learning curve nowadays with all the new technology that is constantly bombarding us, is astounding! We used to have a TV with an on/off switch and a dial to find our choice of about 4 or 5 channels. Our phone plugged into the wall, and had a rotary dial, and all you did was pick it up to talk and put it down to hang up. We didn't have computers, cell phones, VCR's, TIVO, or any of these electronic wonders. It makes my head hurt to think of all the things we have had to figure out how to work over the last 20 years--even my stove and microwave require studying the manual to figure out how to use them. About the only thing left that doesn't require a Master's Degree in electronics is my freezer. I love my freezer. It's easy.
I know, my age is showing. All of you that are 30 and under take all of this in stride because you've never known anything different. Those of us that grew up in a simpler time keep trying to adapt, and for the most part, do a pretty good job of it, but boy, something like this really makes my head spin!
So if you don't get a speedy reply to your email in the next couple days, it's probably because I haven't found the "reply" button yet! Thank goodness we still have the qwerty keyboard! Brandon tells me that the new MS Word 2010 is going to make me crazy for the first couple weeks till I get used to it. Oh, I am looking forward to THAT! I had just finally made friends with 2003, and now I have to change again. Sigh.

On another note, but also related to technology, I listened to my parents' wedding yesterday morning from 1949! My father, ever the early adapter that he was, had set up a reel to reel tape recorder in the front of the church to record their wedding ceremony. Wow. They were both 19 years old, pink cheeked and wet behind the ears. I heard my grandpa answer "her mother and I do" when the minister asked who gives this woman. My dad and my grandfather both passed away in 1982, my mother in 1992. How precious to hear their voices again--younger, and not what I remembered, but definitely them. We also had an 8mm movie (in COLOR which was the newest thing in 1949!!) of my parents' wedding. I haven't seen that in a long time, but it was always the hit of the home movie nights. The finale was always the wedding movie. I would love to see that again. I think my brother has it. Hopefully he has had it converted to a DVD.

Precious. These things are so precious. I guess the bottom line of this post is that you have to keep up with the technology. Old VCR tapes need to be converted to DVD before all the converters are gone along with the players (how many of you still have a VCR player? Hmmmm?) And in the future, something will come along to replace the DVD's and we will need to convert our DVD's to the new technology so that we can still use them. So that hopefully, 62 years from now in 2073, you, or your children, or even your grandchildren, will be able to watch YOUR wedding video and see what you were like so many years ago!

Now, I need to go learn the ABC's of all this new stuff on my computer. Argh!

Awesome Winter Wedding Photos!

2011-06-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share with you a post on the "Ritsy Bee" blog about winter wedding photos. It really shows how beautiful and unique a winter wedding can be. It's the perfect opportunity for the bride and groom who like to think "outside the box" and want to do their own thing rather than the same thing everyone else does.

I'm particularly in love with the bouquet! Is that not the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? Just look at the color palettes it inspires! Pale, pale platinum satin, or a really soft grey green bridesmaids, even a deep but very subdued forest green would be amazing! I love the idea of using pinecones in the centerpieces, what an economical way to get a ton of pow for a few bucks! Some seeded eucalyptus sprigs or dusty miller stems tucked between the pinecones to dress them up a bit. You could even use platinum Christmas balls in various sizes to add a little shine and sizzle.
Take a look at the photos from this beautiful wedding! It might just inspire you to fall in love with winter! (Keep in mind that we have December 10th and New Year's Eve still available! :)

Emily and Mark 6-10-2011

2011-06-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

Emily found a photo of a gorgeous aisle treatment done in thick petals with huge hurricanes along it. We modified the idea a bit, in order to use a more sturdy vessel, and of course, to keep the petals from costing a king's ransom! This was what we ended up doing down the aisle--beautiful! My understanding was that she used about 100 roses to make the petals (an easy thing to do, by the way, if you want to save a few dollars!) She made the petals a couple days ago, put them in plastic zip lock bags in her refrigerator, and brought them to us the day before the wedding. We took it from there!

The glass cylinders have petals sunk in the water (they want to float!) and a 3" floating candle on the top of the petals which we lit for the ceremony.

This really looked amazing! And it could be done in any number of colors or combinations of colors.

Oh my, the flower girls always steal the show! Sooooooo cute! Olivia and Savannah. Olivia is the daughter of the Matron of Honor (the bride's sister) and Best Man! They are alumni of Aberdeen Manor from five years ago.

As I mentioned on our Facebook page--the bride and groom did it right! They remembered not to toast to themselves! Just as you wouldn't sing Happy Birthday to yourself or applaud for yourself, and of course, Queen Elizabeth doesn't sing "God Save the Queen" to herself: you don't toast to yourself. Just one of those little etiquette things that gets frequently missed. Good job Emily and Mark!

The bride and groom left to a bubble send off in their limo after enjoying a delicious meal of champagne chicken, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, and chef's medley, followed by their beautiful wedding cake.

It was a lovely evening for everyone!

Best wishes you two!

FORE!!!!! Tips for your Wedding Outing

2011-06-05T11:46:00.001-05:00

Making your “wedding weekend” special involves a lot of planning, for you guests, your wedding party, and the two of you. Depending upon the day and time of your wedding, you may have “down times” during the weekend that you want to fill with some organized activities for some or all of your guests.
One of the activities that is mentioned often is the idea of having a golf outing for the golfing members of your guest list. This can be great fun for the groomsmen, or larger groups that might involve some of the guests. It's a wonderful "mixer" for guests, relatives and friends that might not know each other. There's nothing like a round of golf to make strangers into lifetime friends!

Here are my TOP 10 TIPS to consider when you arrange your outing:

1. Consider the time of your outing very carefully. Keep in mind that it will probably be a little longer than your usual round. Don’t schedule things too close to rehearsal times or other activities where the bride might need you to attend! The last thing you want to do is tick off the bride right before the wedding! Of course, if the bride plays golf, there's no reason to exclude her or her attendants from the outing, but most brides and bridesmaids prefer to use this time to get the mani's and pedi's taken care of, and maybe have a nice lunch together. It's nice to make the offer to the girls though.

2. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—take a change of clothes with you and your toiletry kit, just in case you do get caught short of time and need to change at the course to save time. And make sure that your groomsmen follow suit! Be prepared for unexpected delays.

3. Consider the format. Especially if you have some duffers, think about a scramble format to speed up play and make it more fun for everyone. If you have a couple of non golfers in the wedding party, they can always be designated cart drivers, or score keepers if they don't want to be left out of the fun.

It’s nice if the groom has an opportunity to spend some time with everyone who participates in the outing. This can be done a number of ways, but one of the easiest is to have the groom play a couple holes with each foursome. Particularly if you use a scramble format, having a fifth player for a couple holes shouldn’t slow down play. So if you have 16 people playing in addition to the groom, or 4 foursomes, the groom would play the first 4 holes with the first group, then drop back and play the next 5 with the 2nd group, then after the turn, play the next 4 with the 3rd group, then drop back and finish up the last 5 holes with the 4th group. Of course, the number of groups you have will determine how many holes he joins in for. If you have a small outing, you might have two foursomes. Maybe you could put the groom in one foursome and the best man in the other, and they could switch at the turn, so that the groom gets some time with everyone.

4. Be respectful of other golfers. Try not to slow down play. Keep the alcohol under control, so that you can participate in other wedding activities later in the day. In a word guys, don't be stupid. :)

5. It’s fun to provide a little goodie bag for each of your golfers. You can get as crazy as you want to with this one! Custom embroidered golf towels in the wedding colors, imprinted tees with the bride and groom’s names and wedding date, imprinted golf balls, golf shirts, caps; you name it! Bag tags, pencils, umbrellas, T-Shirts, divot repair tools, the sky is the limit! Obviously, you probably don't want to do everything, but a couple of nice imprinted items in the "wedding colors" with whatever theme you are using, help to add a little festivity to the day. You can also include a small snack, a bottle of water, maybe a short written explanation of the format, some wrapped hard candies, a damp iced wash cloth if it's a hot day, whatever . Assemble everything in a small gift bag that can be placed on the cart for each golfer before the round begins.

A quick note about personalizing and imprinting; Decide what you want to imprint and how many, then find companies that will do multiple items if possible to save on set up costs. For example, I have linked the clothing items above to http://www.queensboro.com/ which is an amazing site to purchase small quantities of caps, shirts, and lots of other items in small quantities at great prices. If you have a "wedding logo" or motif that you want to use, you'll be paying a set up charge, either in the cost of each item or in a separate set up charge. Also consider the shipping charges into the total cost. If one company does multiple items, your shipping will probably be less than if you purchase from multiple companies. There are, of course, many companies that imprint and personalize items. I've had good luck with the companies that I linked, however it never hurts to shop around!

6. Green fees can be a bit of a touchy subject. Some grooms pick up the cost of the round for their participants, others expect everyone to take care of their own greens fees. It kind of depends on the budget. Some grooms include the outing for their groomsman as part of their groomsman’s gift. In any case, however you decide to handle it, make sure that everyone knows in advance whether they are paying their own greens fees and how much it will be so that there are no nasty surprises.

7. Provide prizes for the winning foursome. Extravagance isn't necessary--it is, after all, the crowing rights that are important here! Some fun things for prizes: a golf umbrella, a putter or driver, coupon for a free round in the future, a golf shirt, golf glove, cooler bag, you name it. Remember that you need to think about having 4 of a prize if you have a scramble, as the winners will be the foursome and not necessarily an individual.

8. Games on the course are fun, a prize for the longest drive, longest putt, closest to the pin, can spice things up. The first group out can place the signs and the last group can pick them up as they go.

9. Photographs of the event are always a wonderful keepsake after the big day. The photos can be included with your wedding weekend photos, or assembled separately into a book or album to reminisce over in years to come. Some photos to be sure you get:
a nice intro shot of the clubhouse or the sign at the entrance
one of each foursome with the groom
detail photos of any special items you provide for the outing--imprinted items, goody bags, shirts, etc.
carts leaving for the first tee
Teeing off photos
Action shots on the course
pictures of the prize winners with their prizes
19th hole shots as everyone enjoys a cool drink after the round

10. Most importantly, HAVE FUN! Let the details take care of themselves the day of your outing. If you have planned carefully and covered all your bases, you should be able to relax and enjoy the company and companionship of all the people who love you and are thrilled to spend this time with you. As with everything having to do with weddings, it's all about you and your guests, and the joy of being together at this happy time. Everything else is window dressing.

The Course at Aberdeen, and their manager, Chad Hutsell, are anxious to help you with your outing plans. Aberdeen is very convenient to the Manor, for those of you having your weddings with us. It is a beautiful track, with lots of what Jim calls “interesting little golf holes”! Their pro shop is staffed with folks who can hook you up with anything you need, and they will make advance tee times for wedding outings so that you can make sure your timing is good. Aberdeen also has some nifty discounts for our wedding outings!! They have beautiful practice facilities, with a huge driving range, putting green, and chipping area. They also have a top shelf locker room with showers and locker storage in case you need to change clothes after your round.

Give Chad a call at 219 462-5050, or send him an email and get your outing plans started today! The Course at Aberdeen will help you make your wedding outing a fabulous event, and a special memory of your wedding weekend in the future!

Travel Agent Updates

2011-06-03T08:56:00.001-05:00

You wouldn't believe how much money Nicole is saving our clients! It seems like every time I see her she has a new story about someone who thought they were getting such a great deal on a flight from the "on line" brokers, and then Nicole buzzes in there and saves them hundreds at the bat of an eye! It amazes me! I was like everyone else--I didn't think a travel agent could beat the online prices! HA! Was I ever WRONG!!!
If you are planning your honeymoon, and want to find out what Nicole can do for YOU, give her a call at 219-299-3511. Nicole makes appointments at times that are convenient for you, just like we do in the shop, and she is usually in the shop during our "walk in" hours, although she does a lot of the travel junkets so you might want to call her first. She just got back from a trip to Mexico where she toured about 40 resorts in 5 days! Whew! It's what makes her really good at her job though. She knows her stuff and she is thrilled to be able to share it with you!

(Ok, so this isn't REALLY Nicole--but if she keeps saving people all this money,

we're going to have to get her the Super Woman outfit!!)

Disclaimer: Just so you all know, and so that there is no misunderstanding about our relationship with Nicole and Aberdeen Travels, we are giving her space in the shop because we know that it is something that will be a huge help to our couples who are planning weddings and honeymoons. We do not receive a percentage, or a kickback, or anything else. If you have read our "Favorites List" you know already, that's NOT how we roll! :) Just like our vendors on our Faves List, we recommend them because we know they are good and they are going to be a valuable asset to YOU, our clients.

Mike and Danielle--5-7-11 The French Connection

2011-05-28T09:11:00.001-05:00

I just love these two! They put so much thought and attention into all the little touches that make a wedding personal and special. They were engaged in Paris, so of course, they used that as a kick off point for a wedding that had touches of France all over.
Mike and his mother danced to a rock and roll song and really cut the rug! Mike said he knew he would be all weepy if they did a slow dance, so they used a song from Pulp Fiction and really busted a move!

Mike and Danielle did the choreographed dance that is offered by Transaudio, their DJ, and the crowd loved it.

Cupcakes with a small layer for them to cut at the top were served instead of traditional wedding cake. Cream filled cupcakes by Chesterton Cake Shoppe were a huge hit.

Cute cute cute!!!!

Each table number had a French statement related to love with the translation. Their centerpieces were wine bottles that were cut to go over candles in a holder, tres chic!

We had great fun setting up the favor table for them! We used some glass shelving to set out the Orangina on several levels, and give the table some dimension. Mike spent hours wiring a little Eiffel Tower with twinkle lights. They also had yummy little shortbread cookies with the Eiffel Tower pressed into them that were dipped in chocolate (oh hurt me!) These were in little glacine envelopes in a basket for guests to help themselves. So cute.

So you ask, "How did they get so many people out there for the garter and bouquet?

It was a terrific idea! They put a lottery ticket with the garter and also with the bouquet, and invited ALL the ladies, married or single, and then ALL the men, married or single, out to try to catch it. Nothing like the hope of a winning ticket to get everyone out on the floor!! It was very clever, and Mike and Danielle figured there wouldn't be many "singles" at their wedding reception, so this was a great way to get folks out there.

All in all it was a wonderful wedding for a terrific couple! We had so much fun planning it with them!

Congrats Danielle and Mike! Nos meilleurs voeux à vous!

Jen and Chris 5-14-11

2011-05-26T18:32:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a magical wedding! The guests were absolutely blown away when they walked in!

It was fun to do a "cool" color this time, the soft baby blue looked amazing!

Gorgeous florals by Kristina Lynn--

Jen and Chris used the "crystal curtains ceiling" and also the "crystal curtains backdrop" behind the head table. What's really cool about these is that when you get the room full of people, the air moves ever so slightly which makes the crystals move, and they "twinkle"! It's really beautiful!

Martini anyone? Their martini luge was a huge hit. The drink (which was baby blue of course, to match the color theme of the wedding!) was poured into the top, and it runs through the ice block which cools it down, then it pours out into the glass below. Very cool--no pun intended!

An amazing cake by Linda Monroe--we love her cakes!

DJ Steve Zana kept the crowd dancing all evening.

Chris and Jen will have wonderful memories of their evening here at Aberdeen Manor, thanks to photographers Leroy and Jane Clemons and a video by VU Productions. Both are wonderful to work with and we really enjoy having them here with us. It makes everything go so smoothly.

Great wedding you two! Congratulations and all our best wishes!

An Interesting Story!

2011-05-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

I was going through my email this morning, and came to the following:

"My name is Jason and I found a camera yesterday on a Southwest flight from Phoenix to San Jose. The camera looks like it belongs to a white, gay male couple who attended the wedding. Can you please provide Bo & Erin my email so we can identify who the camera belongs to and how to get it to them?"

So of course, I forwarded the email to Erin so that she might be able to get the camera back to the rightful owner. It was driving me crazy, though, to know how someone on a flight from Phoenix to San Jose would end up with this camera, and better yet, how did he figure out that it was Bo and Erin's wedding on April 2nd that was on the camera?

Well, being the nosey person that I am, I wrote him back and asked him! Here is what he said:

"I went through the pictures to try and find out who it belonged to. The only identifying thing I could find was the projected hologram on the wall at the wedding reception with the data "Bo & Erin April 2, 2011". So I did a Google search with Bo & Erin and found your blog site with their Pretty in Pink wedding pics. It looked like a match."

So I guess the moral of the story is, make sure you use a gobo with your names and the date so that if anyone loses their camera, the finder can contact you! How awesome is that? SO nice of Jason to make the effort to hunt down the bride and groom to try to return the camera! But equally awesome is the power of the Google search! Wow!

Seriously, I am going to take a photo of my name and cell phone number, and I'm going to just leave it on my camera when I download the pictures. That way if I ever lose it, someone could look through the photos and maybe be as kind as Jason was and return it to me. In retrospect, I wish I had done this on the camera that was stolen from me in London last summer. I might have gotten my 746 EDITED pictures of our trip back! It would have been a long shot, but at least I would have had a chance of getting it back. As it was, there was nothing in those pictures that would have given anyone a clue of how to contact me. Jason would not have been able to find the owners of this camera without the gobo on the wall.
I am just amazed.

Phillip and Julia 4-30-2011

2011-04-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

Wow! Black and white weddings have really returned to the forefront this year! Black and white in combination with a color-pink, fuchsia, red, bright green, yellow, you name it! Surprisingly, it isn't always in combination with black bridesmaid's gowns as in the past. The gowns have been in the bright color many times, or at least with a bright colored sash or trim. Really pretty combinations!

Phil and Julia used a beautiful shade of raspberry pink, soft but vibrant. Really pretty. They had originally planned on the garden for their ceremony, however with all the wet weather in the last couple of weeks, along with the high winds that were whipping through the garden, they decided that the chapel might be a better option.
Here are some photos from their ceremony and reception:

Their 2 year old twin daughters were flower girls. They also were very interested in dancing with mom and dad for their first dance!

Lovely wedding you two! All our best for a wonderful future together!

Royal Wedding Blues

2011-04-24T09:49:00.000-05:00

Last week I read an article by a woman who had been married 2 weeks after the historic Charles and Di wedding. Here is what she had to say about it:

"I had the misfortune of getting married two weeks after the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. My wedding was always being compared to the fairytale wedding and beautiful bride. No one spoke of my dress as they couldn't stop talking about Lady Diana and how beautiful she was. If people only knew what a bummer that was to an already stressed out bride!
During my ceremony the preacher stated,
"We know this can't be as beautiful a site as the wedding of the royals, but the love is still there!"

Oh, isn't THAT special!
Gosh, they just became engaged a few months ago (I guess they don't have to worry too much about booking venues and availability!) I wonder how many weddings were already booked for the 29th, as well as the 30th and the couple of weeks after. I wonder how many brides found out that "their day" was going to be shared with William and Kate, long after they could do anything about it?
This all reminds me of when my oldest daughter was born, in a goofy kinda way. I had always planned if I had daughters, to name them after the sisters in Little Women (I know, you probably don't even know what I'm talking about, right? They were Jo, Amy, Meg and Beth.) Incidentally, I managed to work in three of the four by naming my oldest daughter Amy ElizaBETH and my youngest Megan (although Meg in the book was actually a Margaret), but that's another post. Anyway, Amy was born in April of 1976, just days before Jimmy Carter rocketed to the forefront of the 1976 presidential campaign--and what was his daughter's name? You got it--Amy!
All of a sudden Amy became HUGELY popular! EVERYBODY was naming their baby Amy, and worse than that, whenever anyone asked me her name and I told them, they would say "Oh, I'll bet you named her after Jimmy Carter's daughter!" Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh!!!! Amy was probably the most popular girl's name of 1976 because of it, and all through school Amy had bunches of other Amys in her class at school. Bummer!
I suppose that brides for the next several months are going to have to endure a similar comparison. While in a way it's exciting to be marrying at the same time as the Royals, it's also a little deflating to couples who thought that "their day" was going to be theirs alone.
Here at Aberdeen, we make a special effort to make every bride feel that she is our ONLY bride. We work hard at it ALL the time, and this week as well as in the weeks and months to come, I am going to make an extra special effort NOT to bring up a discussion of this affair on the other side of the world to any of our brides. Their day is still going to be theirs alone at Aberdeen and THEIR wedding is always going to be the Wedding of the Year.
We all need to be sensitive about our enthusiasm for this royal wedding, and remember that some folks, particularly brides, might not share our excitement about it!
I hope that everyone will join me in making our brides, and ALL brides, a Princess for the day and insuring that their day is still theirs alone!
(P.S. Of course, I will still be getting up at 3 a.m. to watch the coverage! :)

April 16, 2011 Michelle and Paul--The Window Debut!

2011-04-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

After the window was installed last week, we were all anxious to see how it would look for a wedding!
I have to say, it looks like it's been there from the beginning! We are all so pleased with the results. It was worth every cent.
So Michelle and Paul were the lucky couple whose wedding was the inaugural run for the window. What a great couple! So nice. I love having weddings with couples like them.

Theirs was a small event, about 100 guests. Their flower girl and ring bearer stole the show! What darling kids! Alexis, the little flower girl, was so sweet. I asked her if she was ready to do her big job, and she told me "Well, actually, I'm a little bit nervous!" So grown up for such a little girl! Like most her size though, she was really into the whole thing, and took her petal dropping VERY seriously!

I don't think the ring bearer was quite as into it, but he did a great job too.

Their colors were pewter grey and orange. Gerbera Daisies made up the bouquets, the boutonnieres and the centerpieces, as well as decoration on their cake.

Because of the smaller number of guests, we were able to use the North Room for the cocktail hour, and then bring the guests around to the South Room for dinner. Tres chic! We left our "window" in the wall to make it more cozy and inviting. It also makes a nice backdrop for photos when the head table is in front of the garden doors. The gift table in the wall, with twinkle lights, looked beautiful from both sides of the room.

All in all, a lovely evening for a lovely couple! Congratulations Michelle and Paul!!!

15 Days and Counting! William and Kate Updates!

2011-04-15T08:06:00.000-05:00

So, are we all going to get up at 4 a.m. to watch the coverage of the Royal Wedding? Hmmmm, I may have to think about that one!   I'm thinking that I can watch most of it live, and still make it to work at noon, depending on whether the time difference is 5 hours or 6. I think it's 5 during daylight savings time. So if the ceremony is at 11 a.m., and the guests will begin arriving between 8 and 10--wow, that makes it really early!
This morning I've been looking at all the information online about the wedding. I found a VERY interesting itinerary of the day on the official website. It has information on their wedding party, which will be Kate's sister Phillipa as Maid of Honor and William's brother Harry as Best Man. The rest of the "wedding party" are children! Interesting! Four girls ages 7, 8, 3, and 3, and two boys 8, and 10. They are officially called bridesmaids and page boys.  One adult attendant on each side and the rest children? Hmmmmm, I think this makes me glad I'm not coordinating weddings in the UK! I have enough trouble getting grown ups down the aisle sometimes!! :)
Here's a very informative link for information on wedding traditions in the UK. I was surprised at how many differences there were!
Kate and William came up with their guest list just like all of us commoners. The couple made their list, each family made their lists, and then they put them all together. Another little fact I found very interesting--they have invited 1900 guests to the ceremony, 650 guests to the lunch reception at Buckingham Palace (hosted by Her Royal Majesty!) and then dinner and dancing for 300 guests in the evening (hosted by Prince Charles). Wow! We could have had their reception at Aberdeen! Ha!
Most interesting though, was the information on their wedding cake! They have hired Fiona Cairns, a well known cake designer in Lancastershire, England.   Fiona is apparently the UK's answer to Sylvia Weinstock, Colette Peters and Ron Ben Israel! She has some beautiful pictures on her website of things that she has done. The Royal wedding cake is going to be done in the Joseph Lambeth technique which is very popular in England as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It is SO beautiful, and SO delicate!

The Lambeth technique involves delicate piping and intricate details. Either in all white or colors.

I have a sneaking suspicion that after the 29th of April, our local cake people will need to brush up on the Lambeth technique!
The other interesting fact about the cake is that it will be made of fruitcake, which is the traditional wedding cake in England. The tradition of putting a piece of wedding cake under your pillow to dream about who you would marry involved the fruitcake, rather than our traditional American wedding cake. Much less messy I would think! It's usually covered with marzipan which is made from almond paste, and applied similar to rolled fondant--but it is much more tasty! (Incidentally, the one plus that fondant has over marzipan is that it can be white, whereas marzipan is a light beige color, with white royal icing on it though, it can be really beautiful!)
In the coming two weeks we'll talk more about the big wedding, and how it will affect our wedding traditions here.
What aspect of the wedding are YOU most excited about?

"Pretty in Pink" Erin and Bo -- April 2, 2011

2011-04-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

I think if I had to choose only one color for every wedding, forever more, it would be pink. There is just something so "weddingish" about pink! It's feminine and frilly and of course it is the "girl" color!

Erin chose to use soft, pastel pink with ivory for their wedding colors.

Wedding programs gave the guests a run down on what was going to take place, as well as who the participants were.

Pew bows with hydrangea and roses on every other row were repurposed across the head table for the reception after the wedding, along with the table arrangement which was placed in the center of the head table, and the two side arrangements that were positioned behind the head table. The flowers were done by The Flower Cart in Chesterton. As usual, an awesome job!

Aberdeen Manor provided the balloons for the balloon release. They all stayed in the coat room until after the ceremony ended, when our servers took them over to the chapel and gave them to the attendants to pass out to the guests.

Three little flower girls took their job VERY seriously! So cute! Their petal gowns (from Affairs) were adorable, especially with the pink organza sashes. One little flower girl was older than the other two. She was able to lead the way and help get the little ones down the aisle. It was a HUGE help.

I know you are wondering--well, the groomsmen wore champagne vests and ties, and the groom wore ivory. None of them were required to wear pink! (although, we have some beautiful pink vests and ties, and personally, I think it's a very becoming color on most men!)

The balloons were passed out to the guests after the ceremony as they left the chapel, with instructions to wait to release them till the bride and groom stepped out and released theirs. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the guests didn't mind waiting outside the chapel.

After greeting all the guests, the new Mr. and Mrs. Casey stepped out and released their balloons!

Absolutely beautiful!! (And contrary to popular belief, the balloons freeze in the upper atmosphere and turn into dust.)

A beautiful placecard table awaited the guests' arrival after the ceremony.

Their cake was simple and elegant, with pink spray roses decorating the tiers, a sparkly "C" on the top!

Their tables were decorated with alternating centerpieces. Half were tall, like on the placecard table, and the other half were low bowls with huge pink roses--the size of teacups! Beautiful!

Bo and Erin opted for the "Crystals and Candles" ceiling decor, as well as a gobo heart shining above the head table. Magical! And of course, it snowed over their first dance! Mike the DJ commented afterward: "Well folks, let's hope that's the last snow we see for this season!"

A magical evening for a terrific couple! If you want to see more photos of Bo and Erin's wedding you can go to Bella Photography's website. They have a terrific montage set to music of their photos from the wedding.
http://weddingsbybellaphotography.blogspot.com/2011/04/wedding-of-erin-and-bo-april-2-2011.html

IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

2011-04-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

THE WINDOW IS INSTALLED IN THE FRONT OF THE CHAPEL! WHAT DO YOU THINK??

I can hardly wait to see it with candles and flowers and a wedding party!

Oh, and by the way, for all of you folks that are OCD like me, the center jewel will be red, they just couldn't get it into the window for delivery, so they used a clear jewel and will replace it with the red one. It will be coming shortly.

So; opinions? What do you think? Do you like it?

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!!

2011-04-13T09:52:00.000-05:00

OUR NEW WINDOW IN THE CHAPEL IS GOING TO BE INSTALLED TODAY!!!!!!

The carpenters were here on Monday making the window for it and installing the beautiful wood molding around it. (You can see the trim molding leaning against the wall to the left of the ceremony area. It's amazing! Wayne Wilson has done all the trim at both the Manor and the Chapel--we go back a long way!)
Here was the video camera shot of the moment when they cut the hole through the wall--

Without the stained glass, it's a pretty bright spot in the chapel! Kind of like God is up there shining through! Whew!!! There is a window behind where the stained glass will go, and it looks like it is going to light the stained glass beautifully!

( This picture is off of the webcam, and the windows always look really bright during the day on the webcam.)

Here, again, is the picture of the window in progress. The individual pieces of stained glass are cut out and then stuck to a large piece of clear glass that is in front of a window. This is how they can actually see how the pieces are going to work together in the finished window. It's amazing how different the stained glass looks without light coming through it! It's very dull and flat, lifeless--and then you get light coming through it and all of a sudden it's alive and vibrant! Stained glass is just the most amazing stuff! The black dots are little balls of clay that hold the pieces on so that they can be moved, replaced or whatever needs to be done. What is missing from this photo that will make a HUGE difference in the finished window is the leading. Also, there will be over 30 deep red jewels all the way around, and a larger red jewel in the middle. It's going to be really beautiful! It's going to give the chapel a focal point in the front that will highlight the area, without being something that indicates any particular denomination. Which, since we have had Buddhist, Jewish, civil, and Sikh ceremonies, as well as Christian; is a very important concern!

I am SOOOOOOO excited to see the final product in place!! It's going to be awesome! Once it is installed I'll post more photos of it. So stay tuned! The delivery is scheduled for this afternoon, around 2 pm. I can hardly wait!!!!!

More to come!

Shelley and Rich 3-27-2011

2011-04-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

What a great couple! We had such fun planning their big day! I don't think I ever saw Rich without Purdue logowear somewhere on him! Boiler Up!
Peacock blue was the color. Black bridesmaid's gowns with a teal sash.

The flowers were done by Lemster's in Valparaiso. Beautiful! I'm not normally a fan of dyed flowers, but there is something about the hot pink dendrobium orchids dyed blue that I just love! They are so different and so pretty! And of course, they go with the peacock color scheme perfectly!

Peacock feathers are what I would call a very "strong" theme. It is easily overdone and can become garish if you go too crazy with them. Shelley did a great job of "nodding" to the peacock without being consumed by it! A few feathers, mixed with the flowers, kept the whole thing under control.

Beautiful placecard table--simple, elegant, and welcoming!

Their cake was lovely! Linda Monroe did an amazing job with it. The peacock feather shapes were done white on white, traced onto the cake. Again, a nod to the peacocks not a full on assault! :)

I've seen "peacock cakes" that were hideous! Some with the actual bird in full color draping down the cake--argh! This was lovely, and their sparkly "B" on the top was just the right touch. Feathers around the topper were considered, but we decided that real bird feathers on something you were going to eat didn't sit really well. Better to keep them off the cake.

No, this wasn't a photo of the dinner! This was the "salad course" that our staff made for the kids at the wedding. Gummy Bears on the Beach! Don't miss the little Sixlet beach ball! Too cute!

We had the inaugural run of our snow machine! Awesome!! The crowd loved it! There were so many ooo's and ahhhh's you would have thought it was REALLY snowing in the ballroom!

All in all a beautiful wedding for a wonderful couple! Many good wishes Shelley and Rich!

24 Days!!!!!!!

2011-04-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

So, can you just imagine planning your wedding with the WHOLE WORLD WATCHING?!?!?!
On the one hand, the pressure would be intense! On the other, how exciting to know that every little thing you do for your celebration is going to set trends for at least the next 10 years, maybe longer!
Kate's gown has been a subject of big speculation. Her favorite designer is Issa in London, and many think they will be the chosen designers. The gown is going to be copied by every gown company in the world. They'll all do their take on it, but it will be the trendsetter.

All this royal wedding hype takes me back to July 29, 1981 when Charles married Diana. We all got up in the wee hours of the morning to watch the pre-wedding reports. We didn't have a VCR yet, so it was watch it now, or miss it! My, how things have changed! My Megan was just a little over 4 weeks old! We all waited breathlessly to see what Diana would be wearing. The glass windowed carriage came out from Clarence House, followed by mounted horsemen. It proceeded to St. Paul's Cathedral, the entire route lined with throngs of people, shoulder to shoulder, cheering and waving as the carriage passed. Many waited through the night for just a quick glimpse of the beautiful Lady Diana, soon to be the Princess of Wales. They were the fairy tale couple. She was demure, shy, and heartbreakingly gorgeous, Charles, well; not so gorgeous, but despite his less than handsome looks he had a few things going for him too. :)
I will never forget when Diana stepped out of the carriage! That train! It went on for miles!!!!! She started up the stairs of St. Paul's and that train just kept coming and coming and coming!!! It was ginormous! Here is the official description of it:

"Diana's wedding dress was a puff ball meringue wedding dress, with huge puffed sleeves and a frilly neckline. The dress was made of silk taffeta, decorated with lace, hand embroidery, sequins, and 10,000 pearls. It was designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel, and had a 25-foot train."

Today we look at this gown and our reactions are a little different. It's overdone, huge, and WAY too elaborate and big for today's standards, but in 1981, boy, that was some dress! I have always felt that the gown was kind of a metaphor for her life at that point. It engulfed her, consumed her, overwhelmed her, kind of like the monarchy, the notariety, and the whole business of marrying a prince. Poor Diana, she was so young, only 20, so naive, so innocent. A crystal ball would have done her a lot of good.
I watched a video of the wedding on YouTube last night,

I couldn't help noticing how Charles barely looked at her as she came down the aisle. He looked down, he talked to one of his attendants, he was definitely not the smitten groom, mesmerized by his beautiful bride! Of course, hindsite is always 20/20 but still, the signs were there, we just didn't choose to see them. Years later we found out that he wore a pair of cufflinks that were a gift from Camilla at the wedding. The ROGUE!!! I guess he did it for England, but still, I don't know that I can ever forgive him for breaking her heart.

Despite the unhappy ending to their fairytale, it was an incredible wedding. I hope that Wills and Kate will have a much happier ending to their story. I think the fact that they were friends for a long time before they dated, and also that they have dated for so long (eight years as opposed to the six months that Charles and Diana dated) will serve them well. They are both much older than at least Diana was when she was married. This seems to be a general trend that we have seen for a number of years, and I think it's great. Waiting to marry till you are in your late 20's, early 30's, seems to be much more the norm now.
The hype then was many times what it has been for William and Kate, if you can imagine it! It will be exciting to see what new trends and traditions come from this royal wedding. Jewelry stores are already seeing a surge in engagement rings with colored stones other than diamonds.
I'm looking forward to seeing it all, and seeing all the fall out afterward! Are you going to get up early and watch the wedding live? Or are you going to record it and watch it later?

Saturday Evening, Amanda and Jon, March 19, 2011

2011-04-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

Basic uplighting added an amazing pop to the Ballroom.

A few spectacular arrangements, strategically placed had SO much impact!

Beautiful Amanda with her lovely mom, right before they went down the aisle.

I love the way that the twinkling lights under the head table shine through a veil. It's such a pretty shot!

Lovely couple, great wedding! Congratulations you two!

Michelle Minzey and Earnest Smith 3/19/2011

2011-04-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

Pretty centerpieces! Imaginative use of the containers we have here at Aberdeen

I particularly liked this one! The petals submerged in water filling the tall hurricane vase looked amazing!

And then their was their awesome cake!!! Done by Designer Desserts in Valpo. Absolutely elegant!

And what's even better than a beautiful cake? A beautiful cake filled with butter pecan flavored cake! Oh my gosh! The scent was amazing! The reports are that the taste was even better!

Lots of children at this wedding enjoyed their colorful, playful candy table!

You can see by the looks on their faces that they are looking forward to that butter pecan cake!!

Beautiful wedding! An afternoon that will be remembered for a long time by their guests.

Congratulations you two!!!

Rob and Gina 3/18/2011

2011-03-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from one of our recent weddings.

Gina and Rob 3/18/2011

Gina and Rob, they got engaged at Mackinac Island. Rob proposed with a Cracker Jack box that he had carefully snuck the ring into! They wanted to bring some of these elements into their celebration. So they used postcards for the hydroboats that take you to Mackinac as their guestbook. A pretty, vintage box held pens and invited guests to give them their good wishes on the postcards. They then would deposit them in the little mail box.

Their favors were boxes of Cracker Jacks, with a prominent sign "Ring not included!"

Their ceremony, in the chapel, was designed to incorporate their children and recognize their place in the marriage. Each child was presented with a medallion commemorating the event.

They chose to have a head table which was a round, with all of their children and the two of them. Their best man and matron of honor sat close by at rounds with their spouses. They opted for the basic uplighting--ten uplights around the room in pale green. The effect was amazing!

Their colors were pale green and chocolate. Favors were boxes of Mackinac Island fudge. I always like to see couples that feed each other the wedding cake and do it respectfully and gently. I think it says something about their relationship as a whole.

They did an awesome first dance, starting out with a traditional slow song and then busting into a rap that had the crowd howling!
All in all it was a really special wedding! Lots of thought and preparation paid off in a celebration that was personal to the couple, and very special to their guests.

Congrats you two! Many happy years together!

Wedding Themes

2011-03-27T12:31:00.004-05:00

There are many different avenues that can be explored when planning your wedding. Are you going to incorporate how you were engaged, where you met, your hobbies and interests? You don't have to have a theme, but having one can create a cohesive feel from your invitations to your wedding favors.

A "theme" does not have to be "fishing" or "Chicago." It can be a monogram that starts on your invitations and then is replicated on your wedding cake and personalized gobo. It can be a color or flower that your guests see repeated on all of your wedding stationary from the save the dates to the thank you cards as well as the cake and centerpieces.

I thought that this was an ADORABLE wedding theme for two people who met in elementary school. It could also be used for two teachers getting married. It's elegant, classy yet personal and so very much the couple.

Song Ideas

2011-03-22T19:43:00.003-05:00

If you need help deciding on a song for your wedding, look no further than weddingchannel.com. Be it your first dance, recessional, processional, father-daughter, Wedding Channel has an entire section devoted to helping you select that perfect song. One of my favorites has to be "Make You Feel My Love," although I've always been partial to the Garth Brooks version...

http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-ideas/wedding-music/slideshows/best-last-dance-songs.aspx

Our New Window Takes Shape!

2011-03-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

Thought you might be interested to see the progress on the new stained glass window that is being made to go over the table in the front of the chapel. It's going to be awesome! The glass, at this point, is mounted to a piece of clear glass in front of a window, and the pieces are all stuck on with little wads of clay, so consequently it looks like the window has the Pox! No worries, those are temporary. The other thing that doesn't show in this picture is all of the red jewels that will be in it, similar to the ones in our present windows. The jewels are really going to dress it up! (It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that bling do-wa, do-wa, do-wa!)

I think there are about 30 of the jewels in this window, as well as one large jewel in the very center. The leading will make a huge difference too. The window is 48 inches across, and wouldn't fit on the light board entirely because it's so big! There will be an 8 inch trim all around it as well, which will give it a total size of 64". The wood trim will match the rest of the wood in the chapel of course.
It's going to be beautiful! And it's really going to make the front of the chapel a spectacular backdrop for our chapel ceremonies.
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available! :)

TIMING IS EVERYTHING!

2011-03-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

Reading through my emails this morning, I received Colin Cowie's most recent "Wedding Notes" and I wanted to share it with you because it is so near and dear to my heart.
Colin is so dead on with this article! Timing is SOOOOO important! I love what he says about how we have all been to weddings where the ceremony starts 25 minutes late, the cocktail hour drags on and on (usually because the photographer has delayed the couple with pictures) dinner is delayed or takes FOREVER to serve. We have folks come in on a regular basis, expecting that this is just the "norm" for a wedding. Not so at Aberdeen. We work really hard to keep things on track, make sure that everything starts when it is supposed to start and ends when it's supposed to end. This is what makes for an enjoyable wedding and reception! The flow of the party is so important, and as Colin says, you don't want your guests to start looking at their watches! That's the kiss of death for a party, because usually, as soon as they start looking at their watches, their next move is to look for their car keys!
I'm always surprised by the people that come in 10, 15, even 20 minutes late for a ceremony! They always seem to look at me with this puzzled expression on their faces that says "Gosh, they started on time? Amazing!" I guess that they are so used to ceremonies being late that these folks just add 15 minutes to the time on the invitation automatically!
My feeling on this is that if you say 5 o'clock, you should start at 5 o'clock. It's not fair to your guests who ARE on time to make them sit and wait. More important, if your ceremony runs late, it's going to make everything else start to run late because it will short you on time for your pictures etc. It's a domino effect, and it's really hard to recover, once that first domino--the ceremony time--is tipped!
Good timing is something that Aberdeen Manor has become known for. You have myself or my daughter Megan, there to make sure that everyone is on track and on schedule. We keep the party moving, we serve your dinner in a timely manner, and if your photographer is dragging out the photos and delaying you, we aren't afraid to tell the photographer, nicely but firmly, that they need to wrap it up so that we can move along. Incidentally, this is another reason why using a photographer from our Favorites List is so helpful, to you and us as well. The photographers on our list KNOW that we keep things on time, and they are great at making everything fit together, getting the photos taken, and keeping everything on time. One of our photographers, plus Transaudio as your DJ and you have a golden combination that is going to help to keep your special day running smoothly, and your guests happy and excited about your day.
Remember, the day may be about the two of you, but it is also about your guests. The thoughtful couple wants their guests to have the time of their lives, as well as themselves. There is nothing better after your wedding, than having one of your guests tell you, even years later, that YOUR wedding was the BEST wedding they ever attended!
Timing IS everything!
Happy Weddings!

QR Codes, What the Heck!

2011-03-16T12:11:00.000-05:00

Those little one inch square black and white boxes, they look kinda like a teeny tiny little crossword puzzle, and they have started showing up, particularly in magazine ads. Those are called QR codes, which from what I understand, is short for Quick Read Code. They function basically the same as a bar code.
I remember back when they first started using the bar codes on things and everyone thought they were just an unnecessary little annoyance! I really believe that these QR codes are something that is going to open up some huge possibilities for linking information, particularly in magazine advertising. They just haven't hit their "tipping point" yet.
So those of you who read this blog, have you ever used this new technology with your smart phone? What do YOU think about it? Is this something you think you would use in the future? Are you as excited about the possibilities as I am? I am really interested to know what our clients and customers think about these! You can comment here, or email me directly at denna@aberdeenmanor.com if you're shy! :)
Thanks in advance for your help.
Oh and by the way, THANK YOU to everyone that replied to our Survey Monkey survey about the Taste!
We got some really great suggestions and ideas to help us to make the next one even better!
As ever, happy weddings!

Peacocks, Plumes and Plenty of Colors!

2011-03-15T15:51:00.001-05:00

Have you ever really looked at a peacock feather? There are SO many colors to work with! Eggplant purple, teal, green, chocolate brown; they are SO beautiful!
Peacock feathers do have their disadvantages though. The peacocks drag those long, long tails around behind them, all folded up, and then when they get really ticked at another peacock, or they see their lady love peahen, they fan it out ala NBC. Consequently they are one sided, because the peacock doesn't really care what the view from the side or back is, he is only concerned about his tail being visible to whomever he is facing.
This makes for some unique problems when it comes to using these gorgeous jewel like feathers in floral arrangements and bouquets.
We have used them flat on the placecard table, under a fitted glass, with wonderful results. We have also done this on the cake table, and it looked amazing. It just doesn't work though to put a few feathers in a vase. It takes some special talent to make them work.
Our wedding this evening really showed what you could do with peacock feathers to use them to best advantage.

Not all of the tables had tall arrangements, there were roughly 5 per side of the room, and then the remaining tables had our tall hurricanes with a pillar candle, and votives around them. The black aquarium rock in the vases was also used in the hurricanes which helped to tie the two designs together. Personally, I'm not fond of tall arrangements on ALL of the tables, it can be really overwhelming! This was the perfect number--visual impact, interest, and not at all "too much". I also liked the use of the pampas grass plumes in the arrangements. This grass grows wild all over Northwest Indiana, and many times you can pick it along the side of the road. It's a beautiful filler with the peacock feathers and gives the arrangements a lot of volume and substance without the cost of additional fresh flowers.
The bridesmaids wore black gowns with teal sashes, and the groomsmen wore black tuxes with teal ties and vests. It was a very elegant look.
The bouquets and boutonnieres had fresh flowers with peacock eye feathers and sword feathers mixed in. Just enough to nod to the peacock theme ( you don't want to SCREAM it! Peacock feathers can easily be overdone :)

All in all, Ryan and Jessica did a terrific job designing their wedding! It was done with style, elegance, and just the right amount of pizzazz! And, it never hurts to have a stunning and elegant bride as the centerpiece!

Congratulations you two! It was a beautiful evening for a delightful couple!

Save Big Bucks On Your Honeymoon!

2011-03-15T15:41:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday at our "Taste of Aberdeen" party, Nicole, our new travel agent, was talking with a couple who attended. They told her they were going on a 12 day cruise and that they had a deposit down on it. Nicole told them she might be able to save them some money, so they gave her the particulars and she looked it up. They had booked the cruise directly with the cruise line, so Nicole was able to transfer the booking without any penalty to them, AND SHE SAVED THEM ABOUT 3000 DOLLARS!!! In looking at their reservation she found a number of things they didn't need, got them better travel insurance at a lower price, and saved them a bunch on the booking fees. She even got them a free upgrade and a $200 shipboard credit that they could use on their cruise!
So why am I telling you all this? Because A TRAVEL AGENT CAN SAVE YOU A BUNCH OF MONEY!!! There is a misconception that you can book a trip online and save yourself money. There is also a misconception that a travel agent will cost you more. Obviously, from the true story above, neither of these misconceptions hold up!
Not only can Nicole save you money, she can tell you about where you are going, usually from firsthand experience. So stop in and talk with her, she is here during our walk in hours on Thursdays 12 to 8, Fridays and Saturdays 12 to 5. You can call her for an appointment, or take your chances. Either way, doesn't it make sense to save some money on that honeymoon?
AND DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE FABULOUS DRAWING FOR 3 DAYS IN LAS VEGAS WITH AIRFARE!!!!
Happy Weddings!

Fabulous Travel Contest!!!!!!

2011-03-09T08:04:00.000-06:00

Sunday, at our Taste of Aberdeen, we announced that Nicole Scott, our in house travel agent, was offering a contest to win 3 nights at the new Aria Hotel in Las Vegas, and the airfare to get there! We stayed next door to the Aria, and actually attended the Elvis Cirque du Soleis there, and I can tell you from personal experience that this is an AWESOME hotel!!

This is the wall of water that surrounds the entrance to the Aria, it's just beautiful! Inside is fabulous. We were amazed by all the unique and innovative surface treatments! Who thinks these things up?!?!
ANYWAY, if you would like to enter the drawing for this wonderful 3 days in Vegas with airfare for two deal, you need to stop in and see Nicole, and fill out your entry. We will be drawing the winners on April 30th!
Stop by during our "walk in" hours--Thursday from 12 to 8, Friday or Saturday from 12 to 5.

Oh, and by the way, your odds of winning this trip are MUCH better than your odds in Vegas! But that's another story!

"Time To Say Goodbye"

2011-03-06T10:15:00.000-06:00

Ahhhhh, Viva Las Vegas!!
Megan and Trey, Jim and I spent four days in "Sin City" this week at the Catersource Conference. Awesome! The conference gave us an amazing rate at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which just opened December 15th. It's the first time in my life that I wanted to just stay in my hotel room with a glass of wine and not leave! This was the view from the balcony:

Is that spectacular or what? The Bellagio Fountains are my absolute favorite thing in Vegas. I have watched them in 35 degree weather for HOURS (ask Jim, he'll tell you, haha) and here they were, from our balcony!
The hotel was magnificent, so many fabulous ideas. Our favorite was the "Chandelier Bar" It's breathtaking! A three story high Empire style chandelier, and the actual bars (three of them, one on each floor) are INSIDE it! Awesome.

The first time we saw it, Trey said "why couldn't we do something like that behind the head table?" (See, we really WERE working! :) Wow!! Would that be a spectacular look! We are on it! More news on that to come. Of course, the Chandelier Bar was made from over 2 million Swarovski crystals, so let's not expect it to be an EXACT replica! We're going to do something cool though, for sure!
It actually reminds me of the first time we saw the fountains at Bellagio and I told Jim that I wanted to put something like that in front of the building. His comment? "Well, I can go out and wiggle the landscaping sprinklers and hum!" I guess until we get slot machines in the lobby of the Manor we will need to scale it back a bit, however we ARE going to do some cool new stuff!
All four of us brought back a ton of ideas from the show, the hotels, and the sessions we attended. More to come in the next couple days, but I need to get to the Manor for our Taste of Aberdeen this afternoon!
More to come! Happy Weddings!

Colin Cowie and Chocolate--Yum to Both!

2011-02-10T07:44:00.002-06:00

Checked my computer this morning and read Colin's latest Wedding Notebook post on chocolate.

It just isn't fair to talk about molten chocolate cake and chocolate sorbet before noon, is it?

A Simple Guide to Lighting--or--Why Have I Never Heard of This Before?

2011-02-09T20:01:00.004-06:00

The answer is simple and it's also complex! The simple answer is that just a few years ago, uplighting and pinspotting just weren't available for any but the most expensive celebrity weddings!
An "uplight" is simply a lighting fixture that sits on the floor close to the wall, that shines up the wall in a fairly tight pattern. Uplights are usually placed strategically around a room to create a backdrop of lighting. Uplighting takes boring walls and turns them into decorative highlights that compliment your color scheme.
Just a couple of years ago, the lighting industry came out with LED uplighting fixtures. Because the LED's stay cool, they eliminate a lot of the risks associated with supplementary lighting. They also use a miniscule amount of electricity, and the LED uplighting doesn't require gels to make the colors (gels are very expensive and the colors possible were limited). These fixtures have little LED bulbs in red, blue and green (and sometimes amber, like the ones we have for our ballroom, which were more expensive, but greatly expand the possibilities of colors). The number of colors possible is infinite! Each fixture has a digital display for setting the color. So if you want the same color all the way around the room, we set all the lights to the same numbers. Then, to add to the fun, if you want to be able to change the colors of the lights, all at the same time, we connect them all together with cables and a DMX controller. This gives you the option of having the lights start out light blue, then fade to pale green, then fade again a few minutes later to a soft pink. Whatever you want, color wise, is possible, and all the lights change at the same time. This is called "intelligent lighting" .
I vividly remember Colin Cowie's program at the Association of Bridal Consultants Annual Conference in New Orleans in 1999. Nobody was allowed into the room until everything was set. When we walked in, there was dynamic music playing, the house lights were turned down, and there were uplights all the way around the room. It was breathtaking! Onstage there were 5 tables, decked out to the nines with awesome centerpieces, china, glassware and silver. Most of us had never seen anything like it before! Every attendee in the room was speechless!! He showed us how beautiful tables could be with pinspots on the centerpieces. In his delightful South African accent he told us "I would NEVER do a wedding without uplighting and pinspots on the tables! I put far too much effort in the centerpieces to have them be lost in the dark!"
Pin spots are little spot lights that are aimed at something, usually your table centerpieces, to highlight them and make them "pop". Pin spots can also be used to highlight a candy table, a gift table, a cake table, even the centerpiece on the head table. Pin spots make the difference between your guests actually seeing the centerpieces and having them blend into the overall low light situation in the room. When your guests walk into the room with pin spots on the tables, their eyes are instantly drawn to your stunning centerpieces!
Have you ever noticed how art museums either have spots in the ceilings that shine on paintings, or they might have a light fixture that actually attaches to the picture frame and illuminates the painting? Lighting is everything folks. It's the subtle difference between mediocre and spectacular.
Check out the post from last week of Kristin and Tony's wedding. Notice the uplighting (in fuchsia to match their wedding colors!) and pinspotting on their gorgeous centerpieces. You can bet that their guests are going to vividly remember the moment that they walked into the room! The WOW effect was huge!
Take a look at these two photos.

One is pinspotted, one is not, can you tell which is which? The second picture required flash because of the low lighting, it lost depth, and drama. Pinspots enable your photographer to get some amazing table shots! Think about it. Even a rose in a rose bowl is going to look spectacular if it is TREATED like it's special.

Come see us, and we'll talk about what we can do to create a lighting atmosphere for your wedding that is going to give it real "pow"! We have been working hard for the last several months getting things in place to offer you some fabulous options at reasonable prices.

Let's make it happen!!!

Same Day Edit--Kelly and Tom

2011-02-01T09:36:00.007-06:00

While we are on the subject of wedding videos, here is another video that we thought was really impressive. This is by Memories Custom Videographers in Highland. This is what they call a "same day edit" clip. It was put together in a very short amount of time and shown to the guests at the reception before dinner. Granted, if you have your wedding and reception at the same location this might not be something you really need, simply because everyone is usually there for the ceremony, however if you have a ceremony at another location earlier in the day, where a lot of the guests at the reception haven't been in attendance for the ceremony, this would be a really nice touch! I really love how it is put together. It's short but beautifully done.
Of course, they received a full length video as well, and probably a "highlights" version too. Highlights are nice for showing to your friends that might not want to sit through a 2 hour presentation of your wedding. A 10 or 15 minute highlights video works great for giving them the high points of the day without boring them to tears or taking up the entire evening. It's kind of like home movies (for those of you that remember those! haha! I guess maybe home videos would be more appropo!) if you aren't in it, it isn't nearly as fascinating. Nevertheless, friends love to see the shorter version, and having one is awesome.
At the very least, consider having raw footage done at your wedding and reception. This can usually be done at a reasonable cost, and then if/when you want to have it edited into a more useable form, you have it. Once the day is over, you can't go back and get it; it's gone.

Here's their video:

Barns Wedding, Same Day Edit, Aberdeen Manor, Valpo, Indiana from Jeff Dildine on Vimeo.

New Year's Eve--Beautiful!!

2011-02-01T09:15:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful day for an anniversary! Every year afterward the whole world would celebrate with you! Jacqueline and Jon certainly had a fabulous time at their reception! Here is the link her photographer sent to me with pictures of their event.

http://blog.jmstudios.com/

Take a look at how beautiful the ceiling and the "bliss lights" looked over the dance floor! This was a last minute decision that Jacqueline made. She told me later in the evening how happy she was that they had decided to do it. It really does make the dance floor magical! Megan and I found the bliss lights last fall at a conference. Back when Jim and I built the original building in 1998, I wanted to figure out a way to put a navy blue dome over the dance floor with fiberoptic "stars" to twinkle above it. Needless to say, that idea got just a little too pricy, and it never happened. So when we found these lights--well--there it was! My starlit ceiling!! The lights in combination with the "candles and crystals" ceiling decor looks absolutely amazing!

Think about doing something that will add a "WOW" factor to your reception. You know what they say about first impressions! When your guests walk into the room and are instantly wowed by the decor, the ambiance, the lighting, it's an impression that stays with them forever! It's the first thing that comes to mind when people ask them later "how was the wedding?" They instantly have that initial mental image of your reception, and that "WOW" moment as they entered the room. Years from now, your guests will still be talking about how beautiful your reception was!

Take a peek at Jacqueline and Jon's photos from their reception--beautiful!!! WOW!!!

Kristin and Tony’s Awesome Short Takes Video!

2011-01-29T10:17:00.000-06:00

Granted, I am a bit prejudiced when it comes to winter weddings. Our anniversary is December 14th, so I have personal experience with this and I have practiced what I preach! Haha! I love the coziness, the warmth of a burning fire and the “fuzzy blanket feel” of tons of candles and soft lights. But I have to tell you, our wedding at Aberdeen Manor on December 30th was over the top! Kristin sent me the link for her "highlights" video this morning, and honestly, I am blown away!!

Kristin & Anthony Wedding Trailer from Studio This Is - Jason Monroe on Vimeo.

AWESOME!!!! They had Studio This Is for their video and photos. Jeremy Bustos, the owner, is an incredibly talented photographer. He has a great eye for the unique.

Did you see their ring dog, Wilma, dragging the little flower girl to the front of the chapel? Kristin and Tony never would have seen this without the video! It was the talk of the ceremony, SOOO cute, but because Tony hadn't come out from the side door yet, and Kristin was at the "end of the line" , they would have missed it! There are so many moments during your wedding day like this. So many things that fly by, or that occur when you can't see them. Isn't it wonderful that it can be preserved and saved for you to see later, over and over if you want to? The other thing about it is the REALITY of it. A still picture of this happening would be cute, but it could never convey how funny it was, not in the same way that the video does anyway. Hearing the guests laughing, seeing how the flower girl stumbles down the aisle behind Wilma, the surprised look on her face, and the funny expressions, all of these things would be missed in a still photo.

Here is what Kristin told me about her video in a note she sent me yesterday: “Boy, I gotta tell you, I almost didn't do video either and a few weeks before the wedding I changed my mind and I'm SOOOO glad I did! You're so right, I would have completely missed those moments like Wilma and the flower girl plowing down the isle! I just love it!”

And this is just over the highlights! I can hardly wait to hear what she has to say when she gets the full video back!

While you are looking at this, notice the up lighting around the ballroom, and the “pin spotting” on all the tables—awesome!!!

We’ll talk more about lighting options!!!

Photos and Video - Not the Same Animal

2011-01-26T19:42:00.001-06:00

When it comes to YOUR wedding, don't make the very common mistake of looking at photography and videography as the same thing; as an either/or option. BOTH photos and video have their own special uses and purposes. They are totally different, other than the fact that they both involve images.

I attended a seminar on videography a couple years ago, and they talked about a study that was done where they asked couples what the five most important services for their wedding were. BEFORE the wedding, video was named in only about 25% of the answers. But AFTER the wedding it was named in nearly 80% of the answers! Obviously there was a lot of people that wished they had gotten a video for their wedding!

It flies by in a nanosecond. Just as you wouldn't think of having your wedding without someone to take still photos, a video should be just as high on your priority list. If you can't afford to go with a fully edited, high tech video, at least have a professional take raw video, so that later on you can pay the additional to have it edited into something beautiful. If you don't have the video, you can't do it, ever.

Incidentally, did you know that an average wedding video requires about 40 to 50 hours of editing time? The price you pay for having someone take a video of your wedding is not just for the few hours that they are at your wedding. The largest portion of the cost is those hours and hours of editing time! If a video costs $1500, that works out to about 30 dollars an hour. Looks a lot more reasonable, doesn't it? In addition, professional videographers can easily have 30,000 to 50,000 dollars tied up in their equipment. Professional high definition cameras that are able to take high quality video in low light situations (and who wants a searchlight on constantly during their reception?) are really expensive, and good videographers are constantly having to update and upgrade their equipment. Looks like an even better bargain, doesn't it?

Because of the improvements in equipment, video doesn't have to be any more intrusive than still pictures. Just as with your photographer, people notice them at the very beginning, and then they kind of fade into the woodwork as people get used to them being there. After 5 minutes, they don't notice the photographer OR the videographer.

We have some awesome videographers on our Faves List. I hope you will really give video serious consideration when it comes to planning your wedding!

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE RESCHEDULED

2010-12-13T09:40:00.003-06:00

Well Mother Nature certainly dropped one on us this time!!! We have decided that because of the road closings, drifts, and additional snow that is forecasted, that we will RESCHEDULE our HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE for WEDNESDAY THE 15TH FROM 5:30 TO 8:30.
We have lots of wonderful food in the cooler ready to go, and hope that those of you who had planned on attending today will be able to make it on Wednesday. The weather is supposed to be much better then!
All I can say is, I'm glad it's Monday and not Saturday!! I would much rather have OUR party snowed out, rather than someone's wedding. It's just Indiana though, we have things happen all year around--floods, tornadoes, snow, you name it! It makes Hawaii look very attractive sometimes.
Hope to see everyone on Wednesday for the party!

To Letterpress or not to Letterpress!

2010-07-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

So I am looking for some opinions. I love letterpress invitations, but they are a little more expensive than thermography. I'm not sure if anyone knows what they are in this area...

I found a neat company that does letterpress that aren't horrendously expensive, like most. If you have a minute, check out their website, which has pictures of all of the invitations they offer, and let me know whether you think this would be a good addition to our invitations library or not. The pricing is all on their website as well, so you can also let me know if you think they are gorgeous but just too expensive. Keep in mind that the pricing is for the invitation and envelope as well as the response and envelope--it's for the set rather than just the invitation.
Whatever your opinion is, I am interested! The website is www.letterpresslove.com
Feel free to comment, or send me your opinion privately to denna@aberdeenmanor.com whichever you are more comfortable with.
Looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Gown Sale in Indy!!!!!

2010-05-15T18:30:00.002-05:00

For those of you that want to get a steal of a deal on a wedding gown--
Next weekend there is a charity sale in Indy sponsored by Brides Against Breast Cancer. Some of the gowns are donated by brides, however the majority are overstocks, samples, and the like from bridal shops. They are mostly brand new gowns that have never been worn, and they are available at a huge discount. There are many designer labels and high end gowns!
Affairs will be donating a bunch of accessories, veils and jewelry to the organization. It's a terrific opportunity for those of you that are budget conscious brides!
This is similar to the Filene's Basement Bride's Stampede, so you will want to wear appropriate undergarments and maybe even a leotard so that you can try gowns on without having to wait for a fitting room.
Let me know if any of you attend, and how it goes! I would love some feedback on the sale!
Happy Hunting!

Katie and Mike 5-8-2010

2010-05-14T22:48:00.005-05:00

Well if we gave a prize for the most beautiful flowers, last Saturday would have won it hands down! Their flowers were not just beautiful, they were exquisite!! I see a lot of wedding flowers, and these were absolutely awesome. The peonies smelled absolutely heavenly, and the French tulips, wow! They were the most beautiful, delicate pink, with their long, slender, graceful stems--I just love them! In order to make spring branches, they wired the individual flowers from pink stocks to curly willow branches. They looked like Kwansin Cherry blooms--so pretty! The branches also had dripping glass baubles hanging from them. The effect of the whole arrangement was amazing.

Katie and Mike were a delight! Such a great couple. They had originally planned to have their wedding in the garden, but when the weather turned crappy, and the temperature was only about 50 degrees, they decided that maybe the chapel was the place for their ceremony. They were able to get pictures taken in the garden before the wedding (so smart, I love it when the bride and groom get their pictures together done before the ceremony, it really maximizes their time.)

It was a delightful evening, with a beautiful couple, making their dreams come true. What a wonderful job we have!!

Tux registration problems---

2010-04-26T14:38:00.002-05:00

Just to let everyone know, we have again been experiencing some problems receiving the online tux measurement registrations. I keep hoping that our new web host will get this all fixed, and it seems like for a while it's ok, and then, whamo! We get hit again with another problem!
So what has been happening, is that when someone submits their measurements, they get a variety of error messages. Some of the measurements have gotten to us in spite of this, others haven't, so if you have groomsmen that have used our online registration you might check with us to see if we have their measurements in your file.
I am SOOOOOO sorry! I know this is a pain. Believe me, it has been a nightmare for us too. Hopefully we have it fixed now.
Remind all of your out of town people that we always acknowledge the measurements we receive, so if they don't receive a confirmation, they need to check with us.
Hopefully this won't happen again. Gees.

So if you are still searching for that perfect gown---

2010-04-16T08:19:00.002-05:00

Ladies, you have to see this! Toilet paper wedding gowns! So funny! and some of them are really pretty, amazingly enough!
We have not had the pleasure of a TP gown at Aberdeen Manor yet, but there is always a first for everything. I just hope that it isn't on a day where we have rain--that could make a wet t shirt contest look tame!
Too funny-----
Enjoy!

Another Successful "Taste of Aberdeen"!

2010-03-15T00:47:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone for making our Taste of Aberdeen party such a roaring success! A special thanks to our favorite vendors who were here--the cream of the crop! We had a wonderful afternoon talking with our couples and their families. It's always so much fun--I love parties! Our candy table seemed to be a very popular idea! I am looking forward to creating some confectionary masterpieces in the coming months!
It's been a busy, busy weekend. Two weddings, one offsite catering and our Taste party. I am a tired buckaroo! Hopefully tomorrow I will have some photos to post of the weekend's activities.
Right now, it's time for some much deserved shut eye!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

2010-02-27T08:57:00.003-06:00

First, we need your opinions: How long should we leave the white Italian lights on the trees around the chapel? Do they look too "Christmasy"? Are folks going to think we just forgot to take them down? What's your feelings about this? Comment here, or email me, either is fine.

Second, a local wedding magazine is doing a feature article with an Asian theme, and they need an attractive Asian gal to model a Kimono for their photos. Does anyone have any suggestions, volunteers, ideas?

Third, if you are a current client at Aberdeen and haven't responded for the Taste of Aberdeen party on March 14th, please do so as soon as possible!

If you haven't received your invitation, don't be shy--give us a call! We use the address that we have on your contract, so if you have moved, or it has your parents' address etc. you might not have received it. We want you to attend, so let us know if you have a wedding coming up and you didn't get an invitation!

Oh, and speaking of invitations, this is a great time of year to come by the shop and get your invitations ordered! While you are snowbound you can get them all addressed and stamped and ready to go! We have tons of options, and keep in mind that if you do your tuxes and invitations at Affairs you receive a free gown preservation! (Along with all the other perks)

I am excited about our upcoming Taste and really looking forward to seeing all of you there!

Nathan and Ashlee--12-31-2009 (by Megan)

2010-02-12T08:50:00.004-06:00

Nathan and Ashlee had a beautiful New Year's Eve wedding. Since it was New Year's Eve, they had the ceremony a little later in the evening at six o'clock. The reception followed from 7pm till 1am. Everyone had a marvelous time. They had a countdown to midnight followed by Auld Lang Syne and then American Pie.

We have had weddings on New Year's Eve just about every year since we opened. We've found that folks really enjoy having a big party to go to that isn't the typical New Year's Eve party. It's fun to "party with a purpose". It's always fun for us too!

What a darling groom's cake. Groom's cakes used to be a southern tradition, but they seem to be growing in popularity. What a cute idea to have a little tuxedo cake!

New Year's Eve is really the perfect day for a wedding. Congratulations Ashlee and Nathan!

Oops! I had more pics of Alyssa and Samuel's wedding!

2010-01-31T11:00:00.003-06:00

I loved this picture of Alyssa and Samuel. You could really tell they were having the time of their lives! The flash behind them looked really cool too.

I really loved the tulle draped in the front of the chapel. I wasn't sure I would like it, but it turned out to be very soft looking and a very nice touch.

We used gunmetal silver chair ties on the 6 tables that are adjacent to the dance floor and the head table. Lots of bang for your buck!

They mixed it up with 3 different designs of centerpieces. Their favors were Christmas ornaments in several different designs--all sparkly silver. We provided a special napkin fold that held the ornaments at each place. It all looked spectacular!

Alyssa's mom, an Italian through and through, chose a fabulous dinner with antipasto trays, and amazing appetizers, followed by a wonderful dinner with an Italian flair. The cake was served with authentic gelato in triple chocolate and white chocolate raspberry marbled together. Yum!

All in all, a great way to spend the day after Christmas!

Alyssa and Samuel, December 26, 2009

2010-01-31T10:00:00.004-06:00

Alyssa and Samuel were such a delight. Alyssa is a diminutive little fireball of a gal! She and Samuel have been together since early high school.
Their colors were gunmetal silver and dusty pink. Lovely. Another color scheme that nodded to the Christmas season without screaming Christmas! So pretty.

You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! It was really a beautiful event.

There was just enough snow falling to make it a beautiful winter wonderland. I'm sure they got some amazing photos in the falling snow. I love the winter pictures because they are a little different from what everyone has. The things that are memorable about weddings are the things that are different!

Elena and Bart December 19, 2009

2010-01-31T09:26:00.003-06:00

Ok, well the pictures won't move for some reason--sigh. So I guess we'll just have to talk about them in the order that they were downloaded. I'll tell ya, I have to get all these photos off of the desktop of my computer! It's running soooooooooo slooooooooow!

So, Elena and Bart. What a terrific couple! Elena is from a very large, and very close Philipino family--and they are definitely up for any party! Bart's sister, Jolene was married here at Aberdeen last spring. She and her husband, Larry, were both attendants. Everyone, including me, had such a great time.
Bart and Elena have the distinction of being the first couple to have a photo booth at Aberdeen Manor! I was excited to see how it all came off. The guests REALLY enjoyed it! It was set up in a corner of the ballroom and manned by a couple from the company that took care of setting up a "guest book" with photos of the guests from the booth, on which the guests provided little messages. The guests also received copies of their photos to keep. It was busy all evening! This booth was quite large, so groups of guests could go in and take a picture. Of course, as the evening went on the photos got crazier!
Elena and Bart are both involved in environmentalism, and this was reflected in their wedding decor. Natural twigs and greenery decorated the tables. The cake topper was adorable! Two little love birds among some twigs. So cute.

They took advantage of the free dance lesson from Transaudio, and threw in some smooth moves for their first dance. The crowd, and their photographer, loved it!

Here are some photos of their tables. The chocolate brown bichon tablecloths really looked amazing and set off their elegant and simple centerpieces perfectly.

What I loved about this reception was that it was "seasonal" without screaming "Christmas!" Their red roses in the bouquets, and evergreen and cranberries on the tables, just sort of whispered it.

The cake was so beautiful. The twigs were real twigs that had been dipped in chocolate and sugared. Sugared cranberries also decorated the little groupings up the sides and on the top.

Best wishes Elena and Bart! We are all so glad that we'll see you, and your families back this summer for Matt and Kara's wedding!

Color of the Year--Turquoise

2010-01-21T17:13:00.002-06:00

Well here you have it, the definitive word from Pantone is that THE color for 2010 will be TURQUOISE!
Click here for the full scoop from Pantone.
My first thought when I think of turquoise (that is my first thought after "how do I spell turquoise!) is Tiffany Blue. Tiffany has been a huge accent color, particularly with brown or black the last couple years. I like the idea of Tiffany blue standing on its own as a main color.
I think we can do some really beautiful things with this color in the coming months.
Stay tuned!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS ABERDEEN COUPLES!

2010-01-16T10:25:00.002-06:00

Just so that you can make your plans and have it on your calendars--our next TASTE OF ABERDEEN will be on March 14th from 2 to 4 p.m.
This will be our ONLY opportunity to try our delicious menu items, until November. We will also have our usual bridal fair with 18 or 20 of our preferred vendors for you to talk with and check out their work.
The Taste of Aberdeen is by RSVP and is only open to our couples that have future weddings booked with us. Invitations will be sent out in the next couple of weeks, however we wanted you to have a heads up. Many of you live out of town, and have to make plans in advance to attend.
We will also have many wonderful door prizes contributed by our vendors. It's a lot of fun, and we look forward to seeing all of you!

Computer issues continue

2010-01-16T10:06:00.002-06:00

I never really thought about how dependent we have become on our email and internet capabilities!! Not only our day to day contact with our brides has been affected--there is also the issue of tux registrations, contact forms from our website, communications between us all at Aberdeen; so many things that we have come to expect and take for granted that they are "there"!
Our email is apparently not "going away", it's just hiding somewhere out there, waiting to eventually get to our inboxes. I must admit though that it makes me feel REALLY insecure to not have it working in top form!
I've been using email since 1995 when we got our first desktop--a Tandy Sensation! Woohoo! What a powerful machine THAT was! 386 megabites of raw power! We really thought we had made the big time with our dot matrix printer that took about 3 hours to print a page!!! Back then they called it a desk top because it literally took up ALL of your desktop with peripherals--huge drives for CD's, huge monitors, huge hard drives, huge CPU's, the whole thing was a monster! My have our times changed since then!
Now we have cell phones that have several times the power of those original desktops! Heck there are watches and handheld video games that have more juice! It really is truly amazing. What is more amazing is that we now have teenagers that have never known life without computers and email and the internet. We have college kids that have to really think to remember life without those things because they were little preschoolers when it all came about. And THAT is why I get my knickers in a bunch when our email doesn't work! Our couples, our brides, are used to communicating with us instantly, and receiving answers instantly. I must check my email at least 20 times a day. It's rare that a message sits for more than an hour in my inbox without an answer. When my email lets me down, I have this terrible fear that I am letting my gals down. And that REALLY bothers me!
I guess I have to be very zen about all of this, and realize that it will be resolved, and life will go on, and we won't be any worse for the wear. That's a tall order though.
I need to go do a little yoga---center my karma! Oommmmmmm..............

EMAIL PROBLEMS!

2010-01-14T20:34:00.002-06:00

Just to let you all know. We are switching our hosting for our email today and we have had some issues with receiving mail. So if you don't hear back from me, PLEASE RESEND!
While my old address will hopefully be forwarding for a while, you should all know that my NEW EMAIL ADDRESS will be Denna@AberdeenManor.com so change your contacts now to update this.
Hopefully all of this will be solved in the next day or two. Hopefully, I hope, oh gees I hope!!!!!! :)

Mmmmmmm! Coffee!

2010-01-14T08:49:00.003-06:00

Specialty coffee bars are THE thing to do on the left and right coasts! It's something that is just getting into the Midwest, and I'm so excited because it's SO much fun!
Here's a video from a caterer in Oklahoma City, showing how they do their specialty coffee bar. It's like having Starbuck's come to your wedding! (granted, it would be nice if it had some music or something to make it a little more interesting, but it will give you the idea anyway.)
We have a barista we can bring in for your event. We refer to him lovingly as "coffee guy". Let us know if this is something that might appeal to you. It's surprisingly reasonable. The price is based on per hour/number of guests, roughly like an open bar price. For 250 guests it was about 700 dollars, for about 2 hours of service (I think it was 2 hours, it might have been 3, I'm shooting from the hip here!) We can get more specific pricing if you are interested.
Coffee bars are available to compliment the regular bar, not to replace it. Particularly after dinner, folks really enjoy having a cup of espresso or a latte. If you are concerned about people drinking too much alcohol, this is a great way to slow them down a little and give them a nice alternative to another Cosmo. The barista usually has "go cups" available too which is really nice for your guests to use to take a cup with them on the road.
I'll keep my eye open for more info about coffee bars, and will pass it along when I see something. Let me know if you want to do something like this.
And hey! You gals that had a barista last year! Let's see some comments on how cool it was, ok? :)

PRIME DATES--SPECIAL DEALS!!!!!!!

2010-01-12T19:04:00.005-06:00

April 24th of 2010 has just become available!!!!!!!!

We have a cancellation for April 24th and we REALLY want to rebook it! (We have also had 2 cancellations on March Saturdays that we will offer the same deal.)
Therefore we are going to offer some REALLY SPECIAL INCENTIVES to the clever bride that realizes we can easily put together a wedding in 2 to 3 months.

So ok, here's the deal:
For the couple that books April 24, 2010 (or any Saturday that is available before 4/24/10):
Room rental half off for under 185, NO ROOM RENTAL for 185 or more!!!!!!
AND ceremony rental half off.
FREE upgrade to specialty tablecloths, FREE centerpieces!
FREE wine pour with dinner!
If you have 200+ guests we will also include 2 free hors d'oeuvres for the cocktail hour (our choice--they'll be good!)
That's roughly 2500 dollars worth of savings depending on your number of guests!!!!!!

Now, here is the kicker! If the person who books the date tells us that you sent them to us (and you have an upcoming wedding with us of course)

WE WILL GIVE YOU SOME FREEBIES TOO!

FREE WINE POUR, FREE HORS D OEUVRES, FREE CENTERPIECES, FREE TABLECLOTHS!

WOW!!!!!!!!

Now, here's the rules. The couple that books has to be a NEW couple (not someone who is already booked) If you already have a wedding booked with us, you can move your date up, but we cannot give you the room rental/ceremony fee deal unless we are able to rebook your date (which of course, we will make every effort to do).

In order to receive the special deal for the referring couple, the referring couple must be mentioned at the time of booking.

Don't have a wedding booked with us? No worries! If they mention your name when they book the date (4/24/10 or sooner) I will personally send you a check for $200!!!!!!!!

That's not chump change either!!

SO HELP US OUT! THINK ABOUT IT--WHO DO YOU KNOW THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED?

Call us if you have any questions. And thanks in advance for all your help!

Complete details are available at Aberdeen Manor, or call 219 465-7130

Love these ideas from ritsy bee!

2010-01-01T13:09:00.004-06:00

Here are some really pretty ideas for using pine cones in your wedding decor--inexpensive, different, definitely seasonal--what's not to love?
(I sure hope this works!)

Erin and Travis December 12, 2009

2010-01-01T12:33:00.002-06:00

Erin and Travis were such a nice couple to work with. Their ceremony was at First Presbyterian Church in Valparaiso.

They used dark red/burgundy and white as their colors. The burgundy bichon tablecloths had to do a quick turnaround to be ready again for Saturday evening!

The centerpieces were a mixture of Eiffel vases with arrangements by the florist, and our hurricanes with pillar candles. Very pretty and very elegant.

Don't you love Erin's hairdo? I thought the little floof that she wore after she removed her veil from the ceremony, was really pretty. There are SO many great hair pieces these days to choose from!The bouquet toss got a little crazy! The little gal in the white shirt was bound and determined that she was going to get that bouquet, and she practically took out the flower girl in the process! The grown up girls never had a chance! To be honest, I hope this little gal isn't the next to get married! She's definitely a little young!

It was a lot of fun for all the guests at the reception. A beautiful evening for a beautiful couple.

Melissa and Jeremy December 11, 2009

2010-01-01T12:15:00.002-06:00

What a delightful couple! So cute. As you can see in this photo, Pastor Steve Munsey, as well as the rest of the guests at their wedding, got a kick out of their kiss at the end of the ceremony! I think Melissa was even surprised by it!

The classic black and red wedding was the order of the day. Black bridesmaids gowns with deep red roses and the burgundy/red bichon tablecloths. Always a beautiful look, no matter how many times I see it, it's always gorgeous in our ballroom.

Crown Bakery provided their cake, which was lovely and very tasty.

The table centerpieces were simple but very elegant, and lovely. This is one of the big advantages of having 60 inch tables in the ballroom. The area in the center of the table is much smaller than on a 72 inch table, so you don't have a huge wasteland of space to fill.

For dinner, the guests had a choice of roast beef or cranberry chicken. Herb roasted red potatoes and green beans amandine completed the plate.

Lovely couple, lovely wedding. Best wishes to you both, Melissa and Jeremy!!!

Elizabeth and Scott December 5, 2009

2010-01-01T11:51:00.003-06:00

Ok, yes, you guessed my New Year's resolution! Get caught up with the blogging!!!!
Now that I have Jill and Ryan's wedding posted, I should be over my writer's block.
I have noticed that most procrastinators, including myself, are perfectionists. We put things off because we are afraid they won't be perfect. Sometimes I really have to push myself to "let it go"!

So on December 4th we had a little Christmas party for a company that has had their party with us since the first year we were open in 1999. Great company, great people.

On Saturday the 5th, Elizabeth and Scott were married, at 5:15! Yes! They had on their invitation that the wedding would be at 5:15! I love it! It seems to me that this would really make folks think that they were serious about the time. It worked out beautifully, and there actually were very very few late comers for as large a group as it was.

Another interesting touch that they added was doing a slide presentation BEFORE the ceremony started. It was an unusual touch. The moms lit the unity candle, then the lights went down and the slide show played above the table in the chapel, then when the slide show ended the processional began. It was a very unique touch. The ceremony did end up being about 15 minutes longer, which really squeezed them time wise after the ceremony, but it all worked itself out.
The Flower Cart used a lovely draping garland above the ceremony area in the chapel which looked very pretty. White twigs in bunches down the aisle added to the wintery look. The blue, white, and silver color theme was very crisp and icey.

Following the ceremony the bride and groom released the guests and the guests gathered outside to give them a sparkler lit path to the ballroom. Elizabeth had a lovely white cape to wear over her gown, along with a white fur muff, so she was toasty warm. For December it was really a beautiful evening. Cold, but not bitter.

The ballroom was beautiful with the blue and white, twigs, sparkly blingbling. It was really a winter wonderland.

Dinner was a very tasty combo plate with bistro filet and champagne chicken, asparagus and sour cream and chive mashed potatoes--yummy!!

Everyone enjoyed dancing and partying through the evening. It was a wonderful wedding to kick off the Christmas season. Such a nice change from the usual Christmas colors. The blue and silver was lovely.

Congratulations Elizabeth and Scott!

Jill and Ryan, November 28th, 2009

2010-01-01T11:17:00.003-06:00

Wow, what can I say about these two? I’ve known Jill since the day she was born! Her mom and I have been like sisters for nearly 30 years, and Jill is like one of my own. You’d think this would be easier to write, because I know her and her family so well, but in fact, it’s harder!
First I just have to say that planning this wedding with Jill and Ryan was nearly as much fun as planning Megan’s wedding. We had such a wonderful time kicking ideas around and making plans.
Their wedding was at Trinity Lutheran Church, downtown in Valpo, which has been her church all her life. I think it’s ironic that I have known them all these years, and never really seen this church! I didn’t know it had a balcony! It has the beautiful “inside out boat” ceiling you see in a lot of older churches, particularly Episcopal churches. Gothic arches all around and Indiana limestone—it’s a beautiful church!
Here's a shot from the wedding—

The Flower Cart from Chesterton provided their flowers—beautiful as usual!!

On the tables, they used two different designs. One had a square vase filled with red roses,the other design was a low bowl filled with "California crystals" that look like ice chips, with three purple cymbidium orchids in each bowl. Lovely!!!

The head table had a series of low vases with orchids and roses, and candles, all across the front. Something to keep in mind decorating the head table--keep it low! Your photographer will love you for that!
Jim and I actually got to sit in the ballroom and have dinner (this is a rare occurrence!) even though it feels SO strange to us! Our staff runs so well on auto pilot, that when we are “invited guests” it’s fun to actually sit and be a guest! The menu cards matched their invitation, and really set off the color theme which was aubergine (eggplant purple) and dark red with ivory accents. The aubergine bichon table cloths looked amazing! So elegant!

Dinner was yummy—bruschetta chicken, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes and chef’s medley. Followed by Linda Monroe’s delicious and beautiful wedding cake for dessert.

Ok, this was my favorite thing of the whole wedding (I know Chris, I'm weird!) Their cake topper was SO cool!!! Yes, at first look you think "holy cow, why did they use that cheesy cake topper?" Well this cake topper has been used in Chris's family for ages! What a hoot! They paint the hair on the bride and groom to match the real ones! Ha! I love it! Cousins, aunts and uncles, all sorts of relatives in Jill's family have had this cake topper. Some have added lace, and beads and such. It's just SO sweet and warm and well, just so like Chris's big happy family! She is from a really close family of 8 kids. This cake topper, to me, just really embodied the whole feel of her family.

This is the kind of thing I really love to see at a wedding. Making it personal, making it reflect you and your families, your interests, your personalities. This is the sort of thing that makes a wedding real and meaningful.

Jill looked absolutely stunning! We had had a sneak preview when she came by the shop a couple of weeks earlier to try on veils and jewelry after her “trial run” of hair and makeup. But wow, all together with the gown and everything she looked amazing.

Her gown, another of the simply fabulous gowns of 09—was just beautiful. Simple, elegant, and shapely. At the back where it came down to a point above the train, probably about knee height, she wore one of our beautiful blingy brooches, it was just perfect there! Just the right touch.
Mike was at the mike from Transaudio and was his usual stellar self, keeping everything rolling and the crowd dancing.
What a wonderful evening. We had so much fun, and it was such a thrill to be able to make this such a special day for Jill and Ryan. It’s something we always strive for, but when it’s a couple that mean so much to us, it’s even more meaningful.

And of course, I just realized that I don't have a picture of Jill and Ryan!!! Gees! I'll have fix that later.

Best wishes and lots of love and hugs to you, Jill and Ryan!

Catching up!

2009-12-04T20:44:00.005-06:00

Sorry folks, it's been a busy couple of weeks and I have severely fallen off the blogging wagon!

We had our Taste of Aberdeen party and vendor fair on Sunday the 15th. About 160 people attended! it was a lot of fun seeing everyone and having a chance to talk about their plans. it seems like our couples have a great time talking with each other and comparing notes as well. We had a really nice group of vendors attend as well, and most of them donated some nice prizes for our raffle. All in all it was a delightful afternoon. I always look forward to our party.

So following the party (as in, we left for the airport from the party!) we hopped on a plane and scooted down to Florida for a little vacation time. It was nice to relax for a few days, play some golf, and visit with our friends there. The following weekend, Friday, November 2oth we had a wedding for a delightful couple, Janet and Rob. What a lovely event. They really spent a lot of time and effort to make everything special for their guests. Their meal was fantastic. It began with hors d'oeuvres in the North Room followed by dinner in the South Room. We placed the gift table in the middle of the partition to make a "window". It's really a nice effect. It looks spacious and you have the look of the windows on both ends of the room, but it downsizes the room for smaller groups. I have actually seen people go up to the gift table and try to touch the window to see if it was solid or not!

Janet and Rob used an autumn color theme. The copper bichon tablecloths looked awesome! here are some photos from their event:

The following evening, Saturday the 21st we had a wedding and reception for Leslie and Jon.

As you can see, they used a black and red color scheme. Very pretty, particularly with Leslie's white gown, which was so pretty! Very delicate and feminine. I also liked her hair in sort of a low "up-do" if that makes any sense! It worked beautifully with her veil.

Incidentally, we thought it was interesting that every single weekend in November was beautiful weather for a wedding! How often does THAT happen? While it was cool for most, it was clear and crisp, mostly 50's and 60's. What an unusual year. Particularly when you consider that October, which is normally a month where we have lots of beautiful days, was rainy and gloomy for the most part. Go figure!

It just goes to prove, that there really isn't a good or bad time for a wedding in Indiana! You take your chances no matter what. We can have torential rains in September, tornadoes in July, and 70 degree days in January! We just never know what's going to happen around here. So it's great to be prepared for any contingency.

Kate and Michael 11-14-2009

2009-11-21T23:10:00.007-06:00

Well, I must say, we have had a run of EXTRAORDINARY GOWNS this year! Katie's was no exception! SO elegant! It was made from a heavy duchess satin, in a lovely shade of ivory, almost antique ivory, but not yellowish, it was rich and deep ivory, if you're with me on this. Her bouquet of ivory roses matched it perfectly! When they arrived she was still wearing her veil, in a matching shade of illusion. Wow! It was a stunning combination! When they arrived she replaced her beautiful veil with a fresh orchid.

Their wedding was at "that other chapel "(the big one in town, haha!) Here are some photos of their reception:

This was the little ring bearer busting a move during the introductions. He was SO cute!

As you can see, they are one very happy couple! Congratulations you two!

Bella Photography's Video--We'll try again!

2009-11-18T16:12:00.002-06:00

Well for some reason (probably something I am doing, no doubt!) I can't get this video to embed. So I will connect a link to the website for Bella Photography. Go there and take a peek at the video of pictures from Jillian and Marc's wedding. Awesome!

Annual Conference 2009--Indianapolis

2009-11-18T06:55:00.003-06:00

Wow, for once, I didn't have to fly to get to the Annual Conference of the Association of Bridal Consultants! I have attended past conferences in Orlando, New Orleans, San Antonio, San Diego, and a couple of other locations and it's always been a major trip. This was terrific to drive to Indy for the conference. The Indiana team did a fabulous job with it too!
Megan and I attended a number of educational sessions on a wide variety of topics. We were both very impressed with a session on"Branding" presented by Mark Kingsdorf from Phillidelphia. His company, "Queen of Hearts" does some amazing events in Philly, and Marc has taken the task of branding his company to a whole new level! Amazing!
We both really enjoyed the three keynote speakers--Frank Andonoplas from Chicago presented a very entertaining talk on how he went from being a banker to a wedding consultant, complete with slides of many of the weddings that inspired him to go in that direction, as well as slides of some of his work. Peggy Post presented a talk on wedding etiquette and how it has changed over the years, the things that confuse brides, and such. By the way, the website for the Emily Post Institute is a great place to find answers to just about any etiquette question you can think up!
The final keynote speaker was the Queen of Cakes, Sylvia Weinstock, live and in the flesh! What a spunky little thing she was! (I have a picture somewhere in my Blackberry of me with Sylvia, however I can't seem to bring it up in the Blackberry. If I find it, I will post it later.) For any of you gals who would like to order an authentic Sylvia Weinstock cake, I would be happy to obtain that for you. Her cakes START at $17 per serving. That doesn't include shipping and handling. Eek! She actually ships cakes all over the world. Each one has a little white chocolate disk on the base with her logo--the big black round glasses that she wears. Too cute. Her cakes have been an inspiration to bakers all over for many years. The gum paste flowers that her company creates are absolutely amazing. It was really a thrill to see her in person!

The breakfasts and luncheons that were presented were each an inspiration onto themselves. Different themes, decorations, and favors, menu cards, the whole nine yards. We had a great time checking out all the centerpieces and specialty linens.

Oh, I almost forgot! We attended a 2 hour session on Sunday presented by "Sandals"! What a beautiful group of properties they have in the Caribbean!! Megan and I are both ready to pack and go visit! We have the brochures and literature in the shop, and will be setting up an area shortly that will have all the Sandals information for our couples as well as phone numbers to call for the best deals. The all inclusive concept is such a great way to go. Sandals prefers to call it the "luxury included vacation". No muss no fuss, everything is already paid for, and you just go and have a fabulous time. (Kind of like Aberdeen Manor :) They also offer a line of properties under the "Beaches" name that are family friendly resorts. Those are some pretty amazing places as well! Stop in and see us, we'll tell you all about it!

It was a terrific experience, and we are both looking forward to the 2010 conference in Phoenix, Arizona!

Jillian and Marc 11-7-09

2009-11-08T02:08:00.004-06:00

Sometimes there are weekends where everything just goes SO smoothly that we wait for the other shoe to drop! Everybody is on their game, the servers, bartenders and kitchen staff are on top of every detail, and all I really have to do check to make sure everything is moving along, and punch the towels down in the bathroom wastebaskets every couple of hours. Some weekends are just so easy that I wonder why we ever worry. This has been one of those weekends. I love these weekends. I love it when we have couples that really appreciate how hard we work to make their day special and awesome, and as perfect as it possibly can be. I love it when they understand that we really, really care about them and their day. That this isn't just a job for us; it's something we eat, drink and breathe. That if something went wrong we would be just as upset as if it was our own daughter or son. I love these weekends. They validate us, they make us feel like what we do really matters, and we are able to move on with enthusiasm and purpose. This has been one of those weekends. We had two awesome couples and two awesome receptions. It was a wonderful weekend.

I already told you about last night with Jodi and Chris. Tonight we had another wonderful wedding, for Jillian and Marc. What a nice couple. Jillian had so much energy around the look of the room: the centerpieces, the favors; and she was thrilled when she walked in.

Their favors were caramel apples, made, I think, by a family member (maybe the groom's mom? I don't recall for sure). Their centerpieces were lots of different designs. Half were different types of glass containers filled with Granny Smith apples. The other half were done by their florist and were also in various containers and different types of flowers. Very interesting!

Jillian looked spectacular, and the gentlemen looked equally fab in beige suit/tuxes that were super with their chocolate, grass green, and beige/ivory color scheme. I just love the beige suits. They look so comfortable and classy. The ladies wore knee length chocolate brown dresses--so cute.
I had only seen Jillian with glasses and her hair down to her shoulders (and very cute by the way, her glasses are darling), so when she came in with her hair in a beautiful up do, no glasses, and stunning makeup, WOW! She looked terrific! Her gown was very fitted with a sparkling band of crystals or rhinestones at the waist (I'm not sure which they were, and I didn't think it would be appropo to get down and stare at her waistline!) I wish I could figure out how to get that sparkle in pictures! What a stunning gown!

It was a wonderful evening. Nice couple, lovely families (the bride's grandparents won the anniversary dance--56 years!) everyone, including our staff and the two of us, enjoyed it immensely!

Their photographers, Jodi and Rick Bella from Bella Photography (NOT Bella Pictures folks, that's a different company, national and very big) sent me a video montage from Jillian and Marc's evening with us. I have been trying to embed it here for you to see! Consequently, the delay in posting the above. I still haven't figured it out, however, if I do, I will just post it seperately, as it was VERY cool! I think it may be in the wrong file format for Blogger. Hmm.
Congratulations you two! It was a beautiful evening!

Megan and I are off to Indy for the Association of Bridal Consultants Annual Conference tomorrow. I'm excited to introduce Megan to all of my friends in the Association. I'm sure we

will come back with lots of exciting new ideas and products.

Jodi and Chris 11-6-09

2009-11-07T15:35:00.003-06:00

I just love winter weddings! I love when it's dark outside and the candles and fireplace are lit. I love the luminaries across the parking lot to the chapel, and I love sparklers. Our anniversary is in December, so I practiced what I preach! Winter weddings are cozy, warm, and have an intimate sense of closeness. It's kind of like the difference between Christmas Eve day and the actual evening of Christmas Eve--the magic comes out only after it's dark!

Last night was our first wedding and reception since the time change last week. It was wonderful to have that magic again! Having Jodi and Chris made it even more special! What a wonderful pair these two are! Jodi's smile could light up a room, and it was evident that it lit up Chris's life!

I knew from the first time I talked with them that they would have a really great party!

Their colors were chocolate, red and ivory (ok blog readers, who can tell me how many chocolate weddings we have had this fall? I think chocolate is the new black!) I LOVE red in our ballroom though, and it is so pretty with chocolate brown (who would've thought it!)

House of Fabian created two beautiful arrangements for the chapel that were in giant white pumpkins--so pretty. Their bouquets were stunning as well. Kind of a mixture of flowers in the dark fall hues with bright red accents, Jodi's had lots of ivory touches worked into the other colors.

Their placecard table was darling--little mini white pumpkins that were cut at an angle to hold the placecards. Too cute.

Following the ceremony, the couple went back and released guests themselves, and the attendants passed out sparklers to the guests. It was a little windy for the luminaries, but they managed to stay upright for the most part.

When Jodi and Chris had finished greeting all their guests they rang the bell and walked out through a pathway of sparklers over to their reception. (They had done their photos before the wedding, so they were free to go enjoy their cocktail hour after the wedding.)

The guests raved about their dinner! Crab stuffed mushrooms, antipasti trays, and artichoke crostini along with the wine upgrade at the bar (wine lists on the bar! at a wedding! can you imagine?!? The guests LOVE it!) What a great combination. Chicken piccata with sour cream and chive mashed potato and chef's medley (zucchini, yellow squash, green beans and red pepper strips) made a beautiful plate. Their yummy wedding cake topped it off.

What a fun evening. Their guests danced till the end, and partied the night away. It was a wedding where we enjoyed watching everyone have such a good time.

Early Christmas at Affairs!

2009-11-06T10:19:00.004-06:00

Wow! It has been so much fun to see the big brown truck pull up at the shop the last couple weeks! We know every time he delivers that we will have more fun things to go through! It has been like Christmas! And the best part is that there is more to come. Actually, maybe it's more like Hanukah, since we get presents every day. Haha.

We now have a BEAUTIFUL selection of English netting "Fascinators" These are HUGE on the right and left coasts! As with most trends, they are working their way to the Midwest, so you can be the first bride on your block to be on the cutting edge! SOOOOOOO cute! The Fascinator is worn to the front, over the face: so retro, so very Vogue! We have them with or without little feather enhancements, bling bling enhancements, plain, and even one that is on a little horsehair hat. Audrey Hepburn would be DROOLING!

Many of you know the soft spot I have for handbags. Oh my! Did we find some beauties, and very reasonably priced too! Our bags are great for folks that are going to formal occasions as well as for the moms at weddings. Keep us in mind if you attend the Popcorn Ball!

This one, below, is my particular fave. I LOVE the clasp! It just doesn't sparkle and shine in the picture like it does in person. It's just the right amount of bling for the handbag. If you want this one you better hurry, because it may be going home with ME any day now! :) My inner raccoon is SCREAMING for it!

These beaded bags in the back row are awesome as well. Sooooooo cute! They have little tuck away shoulder chains, and the designs on them are strikingly pretty. By the way, most all of our bags are convertible to shoulder bags.

We also have a truckload of really awesome bags coming in ivory and white, perfect for the elegant bride to tuck a hankie and lipstick, cell phone and maybe a couple other items into. So pretty. I'll post them when they come.

And while I'm thinking about it, did you know that our gown preservation includes up to three accessories free with the preservation of your gown (that would be the one that is FREE if you purchase your invitations and tuxes at Affairs, a $189 value!) That means you can include your veil, handbag, shoes, whatever you need to have cleaned and preserved, at no additional charge.

And check out some of the awesome new jewelry sets that have arrived!

Chandelier earrings continue to be HOT for the bride, and even the bridesmaids with certain gowns. We have received some really beautiful sets, and they are SO reasonable!

This one, below, is my particular favorite. Every time I walk past the case it's in, it catches my eye! SOOOOO pretty! Bling but elegant. It would be perfect with a little black dress, as well as with just about any wedding gown. (And it would be awesome with that handbag I love up above! Hmmmmmmm! Down Rocky, down boy!)

We've also received a number of really beautiful hair pieces, combs, tiaras, and some absolutely awesome headbands. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to photograph the headbands, so that will be a later post, but check out this comb:

You just can't imagine from the picture how sparkly and beautiful this piece is. You just have to see it in person!

Brooches? Did someone ask for brooches? Well, this is the place ladies! We have two shelves full of them. The hardest part will be deciding which one, because one is prettier than the next!

By the way, did you notice the snowflake there in the front? Perfect for the winter bride who is using snowflakes as a theme for the wedding! I can't tell you how many times we have searched for snowflakes in the past, and here it is.

Below are two more of our new brooches, nestled in among the boards with "bustle pins" These are sets of 6 matching pins for pinning up the bustle on a gown, however some of our clever gals have used these on their bridesmaids' gowns, to give them a little glitz and glam. They are the perfect touch at the bodice, on the shoulder, or even at the center back, depending on the style of the gown. They are just the right size for a bridesmaid when used individually.

We also have some awesome new veils, which I will also post later, when I figure out how to photograph them! We have some really short ones, lace edged, long, waterfall, you name it. (And keep in mind that our veils are priced well below any bridal shop in the area!)

So that's some of the exciting new things we have to show you when you stop in at Affairs! Keep in mind that you are always welcome to bring your wedding gown, bridesmaid gown, or mom's gown to the shop. You can try the gown on and see what works with it. Much easier than trying to put it all together in your head. We also can loan pieces out, for you to take to your fitting and try with your gown if it is in for alterations. We do whatever we can to make it as convenient as possible for you.

Our open hours are Thursday 12 to 8, and Friday or Saturday 12 to 5. Feel free to stop by during these hours, or call us for an appointment other days or evenings. Sometimes it's nice to have the place to yourself if you are going to try your gown on and play dress up with us. :) Just let us know what works for you and we'll set something up.

Oh! The UPS truck is coming! Gotta run!!!!!

Cake Wrecks Strikes Again!

2009-10-31T23:48:00.002-05:00

I just must share with you the latest post from Cake Wrecks about wedding cakes! Really some funny stuff, as long as you don't think about the fact that somewhere there was a bride for each of these cakes that was expecting something beautiful that turned out to be a nightmare in frosting!
What's really sad is that we have seen our share of Cake Wrecks here at Aberdeen, we just keep quiet about them. But ask me sometime about the cake a few years ago that was covered with dog hair............. eeuuw!

Celebrating Halloween in Style!

2009-10-31T23:12:00.003-05:00

Maryann and Kris showed their guests tonight that it is perfectly possible to do an elegant, classy affair on Halloween. What a nice reception! Just the right little touches. Their favors were Halloween lollipops, each laid on the napkin under the hors d'oeuvre plate at each place.
They named their tables after Halloween things--the Goblin Table, the Ghost Table, etc. However their table tents included numbers as well as the names for the ease of their guests finding their places. DJ Mike played Thriller and Monster Mash later in the evening. It was just the right amount of nod to Halloween--it couldn't really be ignored, but a black wedding gown and ghoulish attendants with bloody fangs, I don't think so. Although I'm sure they had a lot of fun joking around with their friends about all the crazy possibilities!

A sweetheart table for the bride and groom with one round on each side for their attendants, served as the head table.

Their cake was very pretty with chocolate ribbons decorating the top and each of the layers. Yummy!

What's a chocolate wedding without chocolate fountains? The kitchen staff set up all sorts of goodies for dipping in the dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate fountains. My particular favorite is potato chips dipped in dark chocolate! I know, it sounds awful at first, but it's kind of like pretzels dipped in chocolate--salty and sweet at the same time. Try it some time!

As you can see, Maryann and Kris had a wonderful time dancing the night away. I had a little fun playing with my camera.

So tomorrow we can have the day off and I won't have to feel guilty about not being up to date with our wedding blogs! Cool! Instead I can feel guilty about all the leaves that need to be raked in our yard. Sigh.

Stacy and Mike 10-24-09

2009-10-28T10:45:00.011-05:00

We had so much fun planning Mike and Stacy's day. Poor Mike always had to have his cell phone with him because he is with EMS. We kind of planned everything between calls from the ambulance barn, but that's ok, it all worked out. He must have found someone to take his calls for the wedding because I didn't see him on the phone even once! Haha.

Hidden Garden did some really pretty things with the front of the chapel. Megan and I liked the vines hanging from the back of the wood trim of the platform. There were also some potted trees off to each side. It made for kind of a woodsy, gardeny look. Very cool.

Following the ceremony, Mike and Stacy had a sparkler send off. Unfortunately, they purchased the BIG grey sparklers which made a LOT of smoke. So it was a little more difficult to get good photos through the cloud. They also threw off some major sparks and the bride and groom were a little freaked out about the gown getting burned.

Our experience with sparklers has been that the cheap, 10 to a box, little grey sparklers, like we all had on the fourth of July as kids, work the best for weddings. They don't throw sparks, they don't smoke excessively, and they last just long enough to get some good photos. (If you want to do something with sparklers for your wedding, stop by and see me, I have examples in my office of all the different kinds and I can show you exactly what sort of sparkler to get.)

Their colors were chocolate brown, and fall hues for the flowers and accents. They chose a lovely cake all in ivory with fall flowers for decoration on the top.

Brown poly toppers with an ivory napkin looked really pretty. Their brown favor boxes looked wonderful too.
Lots of candles, made for lots of ambiance.

Mike and Stacy chose a sweetheart table for their head table. Their attendants sat at rounds with their spouses and dates. I really like the idea of a sweetheart table. It gives the couple a few minutes to talk and be "alone in the moment, together" which is something you don't get a lot of on your wedding day!

Transaudio was here to take care of all the DJ duties. Mike and Stacy took advantage of the free dance lesson that Transaudio includes, and they spiced up their first dance with some "moves" to wow the crowd. It always makes for some great pictures when couples have some loops and turns and dips that they throw in.

It was a lovely wedding for a terrific couple. Nice crowd, wonderful folks. Great fun.

We were so happy that both of our weddings had decent weather this weekend! After all the rain we've had, we were hoping for some nicer skies. Saturday started out nasty, but through the day it improved and was actually very nice later in the afternoon. This has been a really weird weather year. So much rain and nastiness! We've really been happy that we have the chapel for our ceremonies when the garden doesn't work out! It's made life a lot easier here. We're getting into the time of year now where folks are planning their ceremonies for the chapel, and taking their chances on maybe getting a few photos in the garden if the weather permits. I'm hoping that the 2010 season will be a little less rainy and wet. At least if it's going to rain, it can do it on Tuesday or Wednesday! We'll all cross our fingers and hope for a sunnier summer in 2010!

Anne and Jamie

2009-10-28T10:45:00.005-05:00

Anne and Jamie, what a cute couple they are! Anne is so bubbly and outgoing, Jamie seems very serious, and has a very dry sense of humor. He would say something really funny in our meetings, and never crack a smile. Sometimes I wasn't sure if he was serious or kidding, but Annie always seemed to know the difference. They were great fun to work with.

Chocolate brown and fuchsia, along with shades of pinks, were their colors. The brown bichon tablecloths looked really beautiful with the pinks.

Their favor bags were a big visual impact when the guests arrived. And the fuchsia menu cards were a pretty touch on the place settings.

Annie was VERY excited about her candy table! They had all sorts of candies in the wedding colors for guests to choose from. Everything from gummibears to sweeties! Obviously, if you use chocolate as one of your colors, there are LOTS of things to choose from!

The cake was highlighted with our fuchsia satin table cloth on the cake table. I really like a dark cloth on the cake table, because the dark color really highlights the cake and sets it off. We have a number of colored cloths at Aberdeen, and if by chance we don't have your color, you are welcome to bring your own 90 inch round for the cake table and we'll put it on and swag it for you. It really makes the cake an attention getter!

Following the ceremony Anne and Jamie rang the bell and went out the door to a sparkler send off. We weren't sure how dark it would be, but it worked out great. It was a cloudy day and just past sunset, so while it was still dusky, it was just dark enough that the sparklers were a perfect touch.

Anne surprised Jamie (a huge White Sox fan!) with a special visit from "Southpaw" the official mascot of the Chicago White Sox! Here's a shot of him with our bartender, Carol, who is a huge fan. As a longtime fan of the Sox myself (my 15 year old dachshund is named Ozzie you know!) I enjoyed having some hang time with Southpaw before his big entrance. So I have his info and pricing if anyone is interested in inviting him to their wedding. Southpaw particularly enjoys coming to receptions later in the evening when everyone is dancing and partying. He's quite the partier himself!

It was a really fun evening, with lots of special touches. and a great start for a wonderful couple.

Allison and Adam 10-17-09

2009-10-28T10:08:00.005-05:00

Oh I am a bad blogger! I'm so far behind on telling you about our weddings, and we've had such great weddings the last couple of weeks! My bad. Ok, today I am going to catch up.

So, about Allison and Adam. What a fun pair these two were! Allison is really a live wire! She and Adam compliment each other well. They have been planning their wedding with us for nearly two years, so we have had an opportunity to really get to know them. It's been so much fun.

Allison's gown had some gorgeous trim on both the gown and veil, that was reproduced on the cake! It was beautifully done. (If you look closely you can see the trim on her veil that is reproduced on the cake.) As you can see in the photo, they used our newest cake plateau! Awesome!

Their color scheme was taupe, and chocolate, with fall leaves and fall colors. As you can see, the cake was surrounded by preserved oak leaves. Their flowers were gorgeous too, with small calla lilies, orchids, and hypericum berries in an orangey brown hue. It was all beautifully done. Fallish without screaming "FALL!" And still with the look of a wedding.

Lovely, Allison and Adam! Great job!

It Works!

2009-10-16T12:42:00.003-05:00

What a thrill to see our beautiful fountain running again this morning when I drove to work! I'm so excited for our October brides! Hopefully the weather will be a little nicer, at least slightly warmer, and they will be able to leave it on till the end of the month as planned. The fountain is such a centerpiece of the community here. It's kind of like having an old friend return.

Such a happy day!

It's Baaa-aack!!!

2009-10-15T17:58:00.003-05:00

Finally, at long last, the new fountain has been installed here in Aberdeen--just in time for winter! Weather permitting, it will run for the rest of October, of course, the way it's been going, it doesn't look like that might happen either. At any rate, we will be ready to fire it up in the spring for all of our 2010 weddings.

I am considering either concertina wire around it, or an armed guard with a BIIIIIIIG rifle to protect it. I really don't want to have to go through this again! Gees! :)

"She said; He said" Ethan's Side of the Story!

2009-10-08T14:12:00.002-05:00

Here is the other side of the story! Funny, I never thought about the fact that guys might worry about getting all emotional in front of all those people. Hmmmm. Interesting!

From the Groom's Perspective:

Wow. Just the thought of the first look brings back all of those memories of feeling anxious, nervous and just an emotional ride. This advice is for the upcoming brides and grooms nearing the big day. I really do highly recommend a first look Before the wedding ceremony just so that you two can share that moment with each other in privacy, along with your photographers which will be hidden the entire time as to give the effect of being alone.
You have way too much to worry about the final days leading up to your marriage to worry about losing it down the aisle. A first look gives you the opportunity to calm each other down, releave some of the emotions that have been building up and to have some quality alone time just before the vows are exchanged. If you cry, no big deal. If anything, you want to cry that way you are with the person you love, and not in front of your entire family sobbing like a child. You have time to collect yourself, breathe and embrace with one another.
This is your day, you can do whatever you want. I know seeing each other goes against tradition, but who cares. Have fun, enjoy, and just hang on because it will be a ride, a loving emotional one.That was one of our best and easiest decisions to make on our day; because of the emotionality of the first look in the garden, anyone who would have been there would have cried - including our two photographers, myself, Audrey, and surprisingly Denna.
See each other before, you will never regret it after the fact.

Thanks Ethan for your comments, I really appreciate the view from the guy side!

Food Show Fun!

2009-10-08T10:24:00.002-05:00

This happens every fall. The National Bridal Market in Chicago is followed immediately by the Gordon Food Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Whew!!! It's been a LOOOOONNNNG week!!!!!

On Tuesday I met with our kitchen staff to talk about menu issues. We had a wonderfully productive talk about what to add, what to take out, and what to rev up! We made some great changes to our menu that will be really positive. We also made our battle plan for the food show yesterday, and went to Grand Rapids armed with a list of things we wanted to research.

We spent most of the day talking, tasting, and brainstorming about food. The result was fun, new, and different appetizers, desserts, and new and exciting presentations for sorbet courses, dessert tables, passed hors d'oeuvres and even maybe some action stations!!

Many of our thoughts and findings will make their way to the Taste of Aberdeen on November 15th. I hope all of our clients will be as excited about these new items as we are!!

Market Report!

2009-10-08T09:47:00.002-05:00

As mentioned in a previous post, Megan and I spent Sunday and Monday this week at the National Bridal Market in Chicago. The word of the day for bridal fashions this year?

BLING! BLING! BLING!!!!

Wow! Everywhere we looked there were sparkles and jewels and shiny things. The gowns are blinged up with metallic embroidery and jewels and crystals, the jewelry, tiaras, and veils are blinged up. Amazing! We had a great time choosing new and different jewelry, veils, and accessories for the shop.

We were both particularly excited about the cute things we found to bling up the hairdos. Cute combs, pins, headbands (HUGE on the coasts!!) and so many fun little fascinators, and retro items made with English net, horse hair, and FEATHERS!!! Feathers are HUGE! On the gowns, in the hair, on the accessories. So fun!

We were particularly excited to find a BEAUTIFUL line of handbags for our brides. All of the designs are available in white and ivory. These bags are SO elegant and pretty, some are very antique looking with scrolling metalwork at the openers (as you can see, I'm not up on my handbag nomenclature!) Check out the beautiful things available at Bel Aire. In a very short time we will have an even more fabulous selection of their wonderful line.

We also met with US Angels, the supplier of our adorable little flower girl gowns. I have always loved these little gowns for their sweet "little girl" styles, their wonderful little crinolines that poof the skirt out and at the same time protect the little miss from scratching with a built in liner, and their truly reasonable prices. We have a set of actual fabric samples coming shortly that will show all the sash colors they have available (and it is extensive!) Their entire line is online for you to see, and of course, we can order any of them for you. Their gowns run very true to size, so measuring your little flower girl for her gown is a breeze. Cute cute cute!!

New garters, veils too numerous to mention, jewelry, handbags (also for moms and bridesmaids some fabulous new styles) lots of new things will be coming to Affairs in the next few weeks! We'll try to keep you updated as our fun new items arrive!

Audrey's Take on the "First Look"

2009-10-08T09:40:00.002-05:00

Huge thank yous to Audrey for commenting with HER side of having their pictures done before the ceremony and seeing each other in the "First Look" set up by her photographer. It is in the comments for that post, however I wanted to make sure that her beautifully written answer was seen so I am reposting it here for you:
From the Bride's Perspective:
I was so nervous the entire day. More nervous than I thought I would be. I mean I have been with Ethan for 7 years, so this day has been coming for a long time, but when you put so much time and effort into something you can't help but be terrified and hope that everything will fall into place. I had just spent the morning getting my hair and makeup done when I arrived at Aberdeen. I was in my dress just a few minutes when one of my photographers (Jane Clemons) came to get me for the "First Look" in the garden. She and I walked out together and she told me that she was just with Ethan and that "he is really nervous". That alone made me tear up, I felt bad that I could not be with him this morning to comfort him. Jane left me to get into position for the photographs and I waited. My heart was racing and I was breathing really heavily. I kept imaging his face coming around the corner, so I could prepare myself for the moment, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened. Finally after I think 5 or so minuets, I saw him. Through the trees in the garden he was looking for me and our eyes met. I saw that he had tears in his eyes and of course being a girl, I started to cry too. He came up to me and wrapped his arms around me and we both cried. We were both relieved at just the sight of each other, it was the most amazing part of our day. I will never forget how nervous I was to see him for the first time or how relieved I was when he came around the corner. If I could tell a bride only one bit of advice before her big day, I would say this...See the Groom before the ceremony. I know it's not traditional, but I can say from experience that it helped relieve a lot of nerves. On top of the intimate moment that was given to us by the amazing staff at Aberdeen and our wonderful photographers (Jane and Leroy Clemons), we had plenty of time between the wedding and reception for family photos. The whole day just seemed to flow nicely. Also, when it did come time to walk down the aisle, I was more relaxed and in control of my emotions. I still cried when I was walking towards Ethan, but it wasn't out of control. We are both completely happy with our decision to see each other before the ceremony and I would not change that for anything.
Sincerely,Audrey Plummer
P.S. My veil was made by Roberta Mead as a tribute to my mother. She always wanted me to get married in the same wedding dress Audrey Hepburn wore in "Funny Face", but since that dress is not really the style these days, I had Roberta make the veil, so I could have something similar to my mom's dream. I absolutely loved it!

THANK YOU AUDREY! I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU TOOK THE TIME TO DO THIS FOR EVERYONE!

OH NUTS!!!

2009-09-27T21:41:00.002-05:00

UPDATE: The Audrey Hepburn movie mentioned in the previous post was "Funny Face" NOT "Funny Girl" which, of course we all know was Barbara Streisand's movie in the 70's. Gees. If I wasn't so tired I would have caught that BEFORE I hit "Publish Post"! Sorry!

First Look Revisited-Photos Before the Ceremony

2009-09-27T20:49:00.005-05:00

Ok, how many weddings have I attended---maybe over 1000? I rarely get teary at weddings any more, for one thing I am normally too busy trying to get everyone down the aisle! Once in a great while something will get to me though. Well, today I happened to be in the ballroom just as the photographers went out to the garden with Audrey to do some pictures. I snuck over and peeked out the windows. Oh my gosh, she looked absolutely radiant. Her gown, her veil (modeled after Audrey Hepburn's in "Funny Girl" she told me later--stunning!) she just looked amazing!

So I'm in the ballroom getting some photos of their centerpieces and their cake and all, and kind of keeping my eye on what was going on in the garden.

The breeze was gently tickling her veil and the ruffles on her train. It was really a beautiful afternoon to be in the garden. I happened, (just by chance of course, ahem) to be over by the windows as Ethan came into the garden. What an electric moment!!! He nearly broke into a run! It was evident that he could hardly wait to get to where she was standing! The smile on his face went from ear to ear, and obviously the emotionality of the moment was affecting him too.

I wish I could find the words to tell you how poignant, how tender, how sweet this was. The tears were streaming down my face! I couldn't help it, it was such a beautiful scene.

I had nearly recovered myself, (silently thankful that I had used my Blink mascara so at least I knew I didn't have raccoon eyes!!) when they both pulled out the tissues and dabbed at each others' tears. I lost it all over again. SO sweet.

(This is also a great photo to check out the veil! Is that incredible or what?!)

It was just so, SO special! I am hoping that Ethan and/or Audrey will post a comment on this post about how it was from each of their perspectives. I think it would be very helpful to those couples who are considering doing a "First Look" moment before their ceremony, and might be on the fence about it.

If you are dead set against it, that's fine, we can work with that. It's possible to get those photos done during the cocktail hour and still move things along. However if you are one of those couples who are considering it, well, it never hurts to hear what someone who has been there has to say about it, right?

Did YOU take your photos before the ceremony? Tell me about it, you can always comment anonymously if you're shy. I have friends who did this 30-35 years ago and still get choked up about it. We need to hear from you ALL!

Let me know what you think. Tell me about your experience. Keep your eyes on this post and hopefully, when the dust settles, these two will tell us about how it was from THEIR perspectives!

Affairs Updates--to Market to Market!!!

2009-09-27T11:25:00.002-05:00

Friday was a sad day at Affairs and Aberdeen Manor. It was our wonderful Michelle's final day with us. Sigh. Michelle has been attending classes on Saturday since January to go into teaching and she starts the "student teaching" portion in a week or two. I guess this is the heavens getting their just due, since Megan left teaching last May to come work with us full time, now I am having to give Michelle to teaching as penance! Michelle is one of those people who will be good at whatever she chooses to do. She's organized and intelligent, caring and tactful. I knew the day I met her six years ago that she would be awesome at Aberdeen and I have never been disappointed. So while I wish her all the best with her new career, I'm still feeling very sorry for myself. I'll try not to be cranky! Haha.

In happier news, we have pretty much finished converting the shop over to a point of sale system. Everyone is excited about being able to use the scanning gun! Zap! and we are done! No more written out receipts, or laborious searching for prices when the tags fall off! It's wonderful! Michelle, Megan and Amanda have really done a terrific job getting this system set up and working. Now if I can just figure out all the little tricks with it! I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to open the cash drawer the other day to give someone change for a $20! Gees! Turns out it wasn't that tough, but knowing where to look is the kicker!!!

This coming weekend is the National Bridal Market in Chicago! Megan and I are very excited about it! This is the wholesale market where we go to find all the new and fun items for the shop. There are companies from all over the world, with all the latest in everything weddings. I have a file in my desk with all the little notes I have made for things we need to look for, and items that some of our clients have requested (I WILL find those pearl necklaces Alyssa!!!!!) Megan and I will be in Chicago on Sunday and Monday searching out all the latest and greatest. If anyone has any special requests, let me know this week so that I can add them to the list. I always enjoy seeing what the gown styles are, getting some idea of where the trends are headed. Usually by the time I come home my head feels like it has been stuffed full of tulle and my feet are screaming from all the walking, but it's an amazing show and I always look forward to it with great anticipation. It will be particularly fun this time to introduce Megan to all my contacts as my business partner! She has gone with me a number of times over the years (it's hard to believe that this is my 14th year of attending the Market!) this is our first "joint venture" though. It's wonderful to have her perspective on "what brides like". Being a newlywed herself, she has a fresh perspective on things that will be a big help. She also is my conscience when it comes to space considerations and cost considerations! :) We make a great team.
So let me know if you are in search of any particular wedding items! We'll add them to our list! Watch for the Market Report next week!

Shower Etiquette Update:

2009-09-20T10:44:00.004-05:00

Opinions seem to be running heavily in favor of NOT having guests address their own envelopes. I would have to agree with this. The comments say it all.
I did like the idea of the hostess taking the box of thank you cards and addressing the envelopes for the bride herself. I thought that was a nice solution if you’re worried about the bride’s time.
There’s just something so weird about getting an envelope in the mail with your own writing on it! It feels almost creepy!
Let’s just hope that we can maybe squash this trend with the showers and that it won’t spread to the wedding receptions! Wouldn’t THAT be special!

Here's some little facts about etiquette that you might be interested in reading:

The bride should send out her thank you notes for showers withing 2 to 3 weeks of the shower.

For the wedding, the notes should be sent no longer than 3 months after the wedding.

Wedding guests can send wedding gifts for up to a year after the wedding date.

It's actually not socially correct (don't you love that term?) to bring a gift to the wedding! The wedding gift should be sent to the bride's mother's home where the gifts are opened and displayed before the wedding, or to the newlyweds' home after the wedding. (This is, admittedly, a little old fashioned. I remember seeing the gifts all displayed on tables at my grandmother's home for my parents wedding, in the movie that they made in 1949. It always seemed like a sweet tradition though.)

Did you know that a note that has "thank you" printed on the front is not considered "proper" by Ms. Post? The bride should send notes to gift givers before the wedding on her own "personal" stationery, (and yes we all still have that, right?) The notes would have either her name or her monogram on the front of the card, but never "thank you".

You should never use the married name or monogram until AFTER the wedding service.

Oh, and when you send or take a gift to someones wedding, ALWAYS put a note or a card with your name on it, INSIDE the box. That way if the card on the outside is separated from the gift, they still have a way to figure out who it is from. I can't tell you how often we find cards just laying on the gift table, and we never know whether they are associated with a gift, or if they are just a card that someone missed the card box with.

So if anyone would like to stop in and order your "personal stationery" I would be happy to help you with that! :) (It actually is a nice thing to have, all kidding aside. There's nothing like a handwritten, received in the mail note, it's even more special nowadays with all the electronic communication!)

And remember, etiquette is not designed to make our lives harder or more complicated, its purpose is to give us guidelines so that our lives are easier. You have only to host a wedding reception, and wait for those stragglers to send back their response cards to know what I mean!! That's a topic for another post though!

Anyone have any thoughts about all this?

Task Force Tips Open House

2009-09-19T23:47:00.007-05:00

Thursday evening we catered a "Chamber After Hours" for Task Force Tips. Their new 100,000 foot addition includes a fire museum and a front that looks like an old firehouse. They even have an old steamer, horse drawn fire engine that was brought to its place of honor in the museum a couple weeks ago, pulled by a team of Clydesdales---AWESOME!!!

We felt that since they were following a "firehouse" sort of theme with their museum, that we would stick with that for the food for the open house, and do some hors d'oeuvre sized portions of typical firehouse fare. We had a lot of fun brainstorming about what sort of dishes to do. The final menu was yummy! chili, with all the fixings, mini Italian beef sandwiches, a mashed potato bar with all kinds of goodies to pile on your mashed potatoes, and of course the required cheese and crackers and crudite's with dip. (Isn't there a law somewhere that if you have appetizers you are required to serve these?)

We revved up the crudite with a dynamite presentation.

I had a lot of fun finding the glass containers for all the different veggies. It turned out really pretty and colorful, and yes, people actually ATE them!

The big hit of the party, though, was the mashed potato bar. We had scoops of our fabulous homemade (from REAL potatoes!) mashed potatoes in cups, and the guests could choose from a number of toppings. Shredded cheese, bacon, sour cream, chives, gravy, cheese sauce with broccoli; it was yummy and it was the talk of the party!!

We set up food stations in the four corners of the area, and the desserts in the center. This helped to spread the crowd out, and prevent lines, as well as controlling the amount of food. It worked very smoothly, and everyone enjoyed the conversation and socializing as they went back and forth, sat at tables, got something else to eat, etc. It was a very social setting. Of course, any time you get Chamber people together it's a social event!

I haven't heard the final count yet, but I would guess that they had over 400 people attend. It was hard to get a good feel for numbers because it was so big and spread out. The area where we set up the tables, chairs, and food, was actually larger than our ballroom, and looked small, in comparison to the other 95,000 square feet.

Preparing, transporting and setting up that much food for that many people involved about three days of prep work by our kitchen staff, 2 days of finding, gathering and packing equipment, decor and the like by our set up staff, and several hours of actual set up time the day of the event. Fortunately, everyone was on their game and it went very smoothly.

The fine folks at TFT were great to work with and happy to help with anything we needed. They even used a scissor lift to string an extension cord to the outside corner for the twinkle lights! With the ceiling being 30+ feet up there, it was no small thing. Just goes to show that having the right tool for the right job is critical! :) We are all now coveting their panel trucks and "mouse carts" (little two shelf storage carts with a skate board behind them for scooting around that big area! Sooooooo fun! And such a huge help with moving lots of stuff around quickly!)

Congratulations Task Force Tips on your beautiful new home! And thanks for letting us be a part of your celebration!

Tamara and Mark 9-13-09

2009-09-19T23:24:00.003-05:00

Sunday evening was a reception for Tamara and Mark. I don't think I saw her without a big smile on her face the entire evening! What a wonderful couple! So happy to be with each other.

They chose to use orange and a soft green as their colors, September influence!

The bridesmaids had separates with tops that they chose. With everyone wearing the same color, it was very pretty, and each bridesmaid felt comfortable in the style she chose.

Tamara's gown had a very "vintage" look. Beautiful lace on both the gown and the veil.

The couple that took the honors for "longest married" in the anniversary dance had been married for 61 years! Wow! And they were so cute dancing. You would have thought they were still newlyweds! Maybe that's their secret!

The Hora involved the usual "bride and groom on chairs" thing. I must admit, my heart stops when they do this. I'm always ready to run for the phone to dial 911! I haven't seen them drop anyone--yet--but boy! it is SO scary! I can't imagine what it feels like for THEM!!

Congrats Mark and Tamara!

Amanda and Mike September 12, 2009

2009-09-19T22:48:00.007-05:00

Seldom is the weather so spot on, absolutely, perfectly perfect! Last Saturday though, was the all time perfect day in the garden. The temperature was mild, with a slight breeze, the skies were clear. It was one of those weekends where we are glad to live in the Midwest!

Amanda and Mike did some really cute things for their wedding on Saturday. Their "placecards" were beach rocks, with the names painted on the fronts and the table numbers on the backs, it looked very pretty on the table!

Hidden Garden's Jim and Kenton were here setting up the centerpieces and getting everything all prettied up. Linda Monroe did her usual beautiful job with the cake.

Their dip at end of their dance was super!

It was nice to have the freshness of a new color season. They used chocolate brown, a soft green, and bright fall shades--orange, gold, yellow. Very bright and cheery, and so September!

Hard to believe that September is already here! Where did the summer go?

Beautiful Wedding Cakes!

2009-09-13T10:34:00.004-05:00

My daughter, Amy, sent me this link to a site she found with some really incredible wedding cakes. Here's one of them to tweek your interest!

If you go visit the Cake Wrecks blog, be sure to check our her posts about groom's cakes. OMG, they were so funny! Fortunately we haven't had any deer groom's cakes at Aberdeen Manor, yet. Please, if your groom hunts, DO NOT share this with him! This is just for us girls to have a little chuckle about, ok?

Somehow I look at this and hear Bambi yelling "Mother! Mother!" Eeeeeeeeek!

This gal has a bunch more like this. I'll keep you posted. Check her out! Too funny!

Showers and Thank yous

2009-09-12T10:14:00.003-05:00

Today I am going to bring up a controversial topic. Thank you envelopes at showers.
At some showers, the hostess passes out the envelopes for the thank you notes to the guests, and then the guests are asked to address the envelopes to themselves, so that the honoree of the shower will write the thank you, put it in the already addressed envelope and mail it.
I've been at some showers where guests just kind of expected this, and at other showers where some of the guests were offended by it. There was even a guest at one shower who refused to do it.
I think that the theory for doing this is that the busy bride or new mom doesn't have the time to fill out the address for the envelope, so we need to help her out by addressing it for her.

I am tempted to weigh in on this now, but I would rather hear what everyone who reads this blog thinks about it first!

So let's hear it!
Where do you stand on this practice?
If you gave a shower for someone, is this something you would include?
Why or why not?
Any alternative ideas?

I will post my opinion about it next week. First I want to hear what everyone else thinks!

Isabel and Sean 9-6-09

2009-09-09T12:56:00.005-05:00

Sunday afternoon, following the ceremony for Candi and Jeff, we quickly cleaned up and turned things over in the chapel. When Isabel and Sean arrived with their families we were ready and waiting for them. The ballroom was looking grand as well. Isabel, and Sean's mother, Kathy, chose sparkle organza overcloths in mint green and lavender for the tables. The colors were very subtle and soft. The hydrangeas in the arrangements coordinated beautifully with them.

The florals were a combination of lows and highs. The high arrangements were very interesting, with LED downlights under the arrangements that shone down into the glass vase below. As the evening went on, and the lights were turned down for the dancing, they really looked lovely.

They began their afternoon by doing their photos together in the garden so that they would have more time to relax and enjoy the time following their ceremony, and their cocktail hour. They were finished with the photos and ready to go for the ceremony with plenty of time left over.

We did have a few brief sprinkles immediately after the ceremony so it was a good thing they were able to do their pictures in the garden beforehand!

Rather than having placecards, they chose to use a scroll with each guest listed and their table assignment. It's a very pretty alternative to placecards and comes with a very helpful computer program for organizing your guests and tables. Using the scroll also gave them lots of room on the table for their photo mat that their guests filled with signatures and good wishes.

Following the cocktail hour and hors d'oeuvres, with an excellent guitarist, everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner of prime rib and pecan crusted chicken. There is just nothing that smells more enticing than roasting prime rib and baking yeast rolls in our kitchen! It makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Transaudio's Mike was, again, at the mike, for both the ceremony and the reception. He is such a pleasure to work with! Isabel and Sean took advantage of the free dance lesson that Transaudio includes with their service. The crowd went crazy when Sean spun her around and twirled her across the dancefloor!

The dip at the end had everyone cheering and clapping!

Hopefully the photographer got the FRONT view of the dip! :)

You never would have known it was a Sunday night by the way this group partied! Their guests all had a terrific time, and the dance floor was full to the very end.

Wonderful party Isabel and Sean! When the bride and groom dance, so does everyone else! We see it week after week. You two had a lot of fun dancing and partying, and so did your guests.

So that, in three installments, was our weekend at Aberdeen. Three really great couples, and a lot of good times had by all.

By the way, did you know that September is the second most popular month for weddings? June is #1 of course. September and October have statistically the lowest chance of rain (hah! tell that to Katie and Tom last year who had 10 inches of rain on their wedding day 9/14! Floods and the whole nine yards!!!!) Temperatures are usually a little more moderate in September and October too.

We have lots of weddings coming up here in the next few weeks, so I will try to keep up and let you all know what we are doing and post photos.

And just so you know, my posting is governed mainly by my energy level! If I don't post about a wedding, it isn't any reflection on the couple that had the wedding. We have so many wonderful couples, and I strive to come up with new adjectives and ways of describing them and their beautiful weddings. I don't want anyone to have hurt feelings if I don't mention something about their wedding, or write more about one than another. That's what is really hard about having this blog. Just know that it's my amount of energy on Monday and how busy things are, that determines how much gets posted.

As always, I enjoy your comments and welcome any questions you might have. Hopefully my blog will help you with ideas that you can take and work around to fit your day. let me know if I can help!

Candi and Jeff 9-6-09

2009-09-09T12:33:00.005-05:00

Early Sunday afternoon we had a small ceremony in the Chapel for Candi and Jeff. Candi came from Texas for the ceremony and arrived in town on Thursday!
They were having a smaller affair, for about 90 people, and their reception was going to be at a local restaurant that's owned by a friend.
They used some really powerful colors! Fuchsia, bright green, and orange! Wow! It packed some punch! Flower Cart did a beautiful job with the flowers (as usual!) I thought the chapel looked amazing!

Don't you just LOVE the moss balls scattered all across the platform? They really made it interesting!

Here's a close up of one of the floral arrangements on the side. Those colors really sing!

Following the ceremony, the couple released the guests row by row. The guests gathered outside the door, and when the last guest went out the door, Candi and Jeff and her son, Bryce, rang the bell and then went out to the waiting hummer limo through a cloud of bubbles. The guests went on to the restaurant for their reception while the wedding party went to do pictures at Taltree Arboretum.

It was such a pleasure getting to know these two, even though it was brief. They are really a delight, and a lot of fun. I'm sure their reception was a blast!

Congrats Candi and Jeff! Stay cool down there in Texas!

Leslie and Josh 9-5-09

2009-09-08T13:46:00.013-05:00

Another busy weekend at Aberdeen Manor!

Saturday evening, Leslie and Josh had their ceremony in the garden. What a perfect day for the garden! The temperature was perfect, the sky was blue with just a dusting of fluffy clouds, just a light breeze (not good for the unity candle; it seemed to stay lit though.)

Two VERY serious flower girls left the little trail of petals down the aisle. They were absolutely intent on getting them perfectly placed. Everyone had a little chuckle over watching them!

Leslie decided to use our newest cake plateau. You can see it above and in the previous post. Her cake looked absolutely beautiful on it.

We now have six plateaus to choose from. One of them we have to get photos of yet. It's a low round, probably 24 inches across, and a mirror sets into it. So it's a silver edge with a mirror for the cake. Very pretty. We've had it quite a while, just haven't used it and gotten a photo, so nobody really knows about it. So now you know! I'll put our fake cake on it and take a picture, that might work.

Leslie and her mother planned a beautiful wedding and reception. Her invitations, programs, and menu cards were all done by Affairs, and came from Envelopments Everything coordinated, one to the next. They were done in shades of ivory, tan and a deep victorian lilac that matched the bridesmaid gowns perfectly. We also provided matching victorian lilac favor boxes that were filled with some decadent little truffles and tied with the narrow ivory ribbon that was used on the invitation and the programs.

We used a special square napkin fold to showcase the very elegant menu card. They also decided to use our ivory bichon tablecloths which added a beautiful shimmer to all the tables.

The flowers were done by Flowers with Jazz. They used some high, some low, some with our cylinder vases, it mixed it up nicely and looked great. The shades of lavender roses, blue larkspur, bright green bells of ireland and Kermit mums , along with pale pastel lisianthus, were stunning in the tall arrangements. The hydrangea were tipped with dark blue to blend them in. In the cylinders they used white dendrobium orchids, and the other tables had low arrangements in clear square containers of hydrangea, roses, and lisianthus.

Dinner was delicious. Hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail hour were followed by a combo plate of bistro filet and pecan crusted chicken. Yummy! Their cake, from Strongbow bakery, was both white and chocolate.

Transaudio's DJ Mike was on the mike, so of course, the events moved smoothly from wedding to reception and on through the evening, like a well oiled machine.

Congratulations Leslie and Josh! Fabulous wedding, wonderful couple! All the best for a wonderful future together, you two!

We move on to Sunday! However that will be a separate post, because I am finding that every time I download a photo, the spacing changes! It's very frustrating!

The New Cake Plateau!

2009-09-05T22:22:00.003-05:00

Here it is gals! Our new SQUARE plateau! Beautiful!