Try, Try Again!!!

Sooooooooo, yes, I have been a very bad blogger.  I’m sorry.  Blogging is kind of like exercising (and any of you that know me, can see that I’m not so great at that either!!)  it’s something that one can procrastinate over and all of a sudden, a year or two has passed.  I feel compelled to write though about some of the things that have been happening at Aberdeen Manor this summer, so I am going to give it another shot.  Maybe I’ll be able to establish my blogging exercise routine!!  Today I have huge resolve, tomorrow I may not, I hope you’ll forgive my inconsistencies!!  :)  I feel like I need to just dive in and quit apologizing—which is so incredibly boring—so that’s what I’m going to do.  We’ll just have to see how it goes.

Hopefully you keep up with our Facebook posts, which are much more frequent thanks to Megan and Lisa, and usually include tons of photos, which everyone loves.  We’ve had some amazing weddings, and a lot of wonderful couples this summer, and it’s been such a pleasure to be a part of their celebrations.  Over the next few weeks I hope to showcase some of these beautiful events for you, complete with photos!! 

Part of my absence has been due to all of the things we have been trying to accomplish with our website, and our beautiful new brochure.  Our website has gone through some transition to make it more “i-friendly” so that you can use it on your ipad, iphone, or i-whatevers.  :)  There have, of course, been some growing pains involved, particularly with our tux registration page.  So if you experience difficulties with any of our website, please let us know. 

The biggest change to www.aberdeenmanor.com is that we have added ONLINE INVITATION ORDERING!!  You can now browse through nearly everything that Carlson Craft offers, on our website!  You can also look through all of the beautiful papers and ideas that Envelopments has to offer.  The best part of this, is that any order that is placed online, will come through us, so that we can double check the wording and order details for you, and make sure that it’s all “shipshape”!  We’ll call or email you if there is anything we would suggest for your invitations.  AND if you are renting your 5 or more paid tuxedoes through Affairs, you will still receive that fabulous $200 discount on your invitation!!  So put your jammies on, grab your cup of coffee, or your glass of wine (depending upon the time of day!!  J)  and go shopping online with Affairs!   If you find something you love, and you want to see the “real deal”  you can always write down the number or just print out the page and bring it in to our shop.  We’ll help you find it in the albums, so that you can look at it “in person”.  Or there is also an option to order a sample online.  Basically you have all the ease and convenience of shopping at home, with all the confidence, help, and guidance of shopping in our store!  What could be better?! 

All of us at Affairs are excited about helping you with your invitations and stationery products for your wedding!  Whether online or in store, you'll always get the best of service and value. 

And just for a little inspiration and eye candy--here is the link for Carlson Craft's "Look Book"! This little ebook gets my blood pumping and my pulse racing every time I look at it!  So many awesome themes and schemes for weddings!  And everything in it is available through Affairs! 

Enjoy!  and hopefully I'll be talking with you again soon!  :)

Showered With Love

I think the best thing about being in this business is having the opportunity to have a party of our own once in a while!  Having all the resources at hand to make it really special.  I really enjoy planning parties, and carrying a theme through the entire event, from the first moment that the guests receive their invitations. 
Last Sunday we had Megan's baby shower!  Her little baby girl is due in mid May.  We started planning this in December, and my office has been totally overwhelmed with  stuff for the shower!

We chose a letterpress invitation from Spark! Letterpress Love for the shower (sorry about the white blotch, but I had to blot out some private contact info there).  It was printed in taupe and lavender, and set the theme for the entire event--bird's nests, birds, bird houses--as well as the colors--lavender, pink, soft green.  The colors were inspired by the colors of Dutch Mints--my favorite candy!  I've always not only loved the wonderful minty taste, but also the soft pastel colors of these mints.

We had so much fun planning the theme and all the little touches we could add.  My kitchen staff went above and beyond the call with the luncheon!  It was amazing!  So many cute little touches.  The deviled eggs that looked like little chicks were adorable! 

Megan was kept on a "need to know" basis, which about drove her crazy!  We didn't really tell her what the whole plan was beforehand, so it was so much fun to surprise her.  Her reaction when she saw the room and all that we had done, made it all SO worthwhile!

I'm just going to post all the photos here for you to enjoy.  It was such a fun afternoon. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate the help of everyone at Aberdeen, especially Patti, Jen and Kim!  They did an amazing job with the lunch!  Kathy was a huge help setting everything up, and Julie and Becca and Kathy did such a great job of keeping everything rolling and managing everything so that I could sit down and enjoy the shower.  We have such a wonderful team at Aberdeen.  It is so much fun to work with all of our awesome coworkers!  What a pleasure.  After 13 years at Aberdeen I still love going to work every day.

Here are some photos of the shower for you to enjoy:

Apologies for the somewhat random order  of these photos!  I am a better party planner than I am a Blogger!!  :)

We served two punches, a peach-strawberry sangria and a non alcoholic fruit punch. 

My oldest daughter, Amy, was a huge help with the invitations and keeping track of the RSVP's.  She also took care of the wish cards, and the bingo cards.  Most importantly, she did the impromptu MCing of the party, and saved me from "public speaking" which is something I really don't feel comfortable with! :)

On the table as guests arrived, we had the "Wish Cards" for everyone to fill out for Kate.  It was a little idea we all had loved on Pinterest.  We have a little album for them to go into, and took photos of each of the guests at the shower to put with their wish card.  I think it will be something that Kate will treasure for years to come. 

We didn't get into a lot of shower games.  We did bingo boards for the guests to check off different gifts as they were opened.  I like that one because it gives folks something to do while the gifts are being opened.  Kacie, one of Megan's dear friends, provided some terrific little prizes for that.  Megan's mother in law, Marie, took care of the "diaper raffle" for us, and did a smashing job!

My sister in law, Kathy, helped me put together and decorate all the little birdhouse favors.  They turned out so cute.  We filled them with Dutch Mints (of course!)

Trey pin spotted the centerpieces, which really made them pop, even with the daylight outside.  He also put a lavender uplight on the trees in the corners which was a nice little touch. 

So now Megan has lots of lovely new things for her little baby!  Their living room looked like a pink bomb had hit it on Sunday night!

Thanks for indulging me, I hope you enjoy seeing our little party.  It was so much fun, I just want to do it all over again!

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

 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!

Expressing Your "Personal Style"

Last November I attended a two day conference of bridal consultants from all over the world in Orlando. I've been a member of this organization since 1995. It's been fun to watch it grow from a tiny little organization of around 400 members when I first joined, to a couple thousand worldwide.
Our last session was a talk by David Tutera (you might know him as the guy who put together Starr Jones’ wedding as well as those of many celebs and also non-celebs with bucks! :) ) He was amazing! So interesting, so open, so FUNNY! He had some video and slides of some of the most amazing weddings I have ever seen. These weddings had budgets in the HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars! Incredible! But what really struck me, was that what he was saying was so applicable to ANY wedding, regardless of the budget.
Here is some of what he said. First, that having “style” is taking care of your guests, giving them an “experience” that is different from anything they have ever seen. Style is being conscious of your guests’ comfort, needs, and happiness. He said that the wedding and reception should reflect the lives of the bride and groom. It should make statements about their interests, what is important to them, what they love. Most important, he said that every thirty minutes, something should change, whether it is the music, the food, the place; something! It keeps the guests interested in what is happening and curious about what will happen next.
Now I hear what you are saying. “But Denna, WE don’t have that kind of budget!” But let’s think about this. Why do these goals require money? They don’t! What they require is imagination. We just need to think “outside the box”.
One of the things David talked about was that he hates wedding favors that are on the tables just for the guests to take home. He feels that what you give your guests should be something that they will use, value, enjoy, and that will reflect something about you, the couple. The example he gave was of a wedding where the bride expressed how much she wished that her grandmother could attend her wedding, but her grandmother had passed away a couple years before. As they talked about her grandmother, she told David about the wonderful apple pies that her grandmother had made and how she could still recall the smell of those pies baking when they would visit her. So what did David suggest? Each guest went home from this couple’s reception with a burlap bag (that had the couple’s monogram on it by the way) that contained enough apples for a pie, a little cellophane bag of spices, sugar, etc. according to the grandma’s recipe, and the recipe itself so that the guest could duplicate grandma’s apple pie themselves. Now how cute is that? And how sweet, and touching, and totally so appropriate to this couple’s celebration?
I recall a wedding we did at Aberdeen a number of years ago, that was for a darling couple who had met working at a lemonade stand for the summer. As we talked about them and their relationship and how they had met, the wheels started to turn. Their wedding ended up centered around the theme of lemons and limes. The centerpieces were footed bowls of lemons and limes with a few blossoms stuck in between. Their favors were boxes of lemonhead candies with a yellow bow. It wasn’t a zillion dollar idea, but it reflected who they were, and was significant to their lives as a couple. Years later I still have people come in and mention that wedding and how much they enjoyed the touches that this couple incorporated into their day.
This is why we love having our clients come by our shop, talk with us, share with us, and let us get to know them. If we know what you are all about, we can help you to bring things into your celebration that will make your day special, personal, and memorable.

It is what really makes our job fun. I hope that you will take

advantage of all that we have to offer, particularly in the idea department! Our ideas are free, you just have to stop in and pick them up! :)
So, what are YOU doing to make your day a personal reflection of you as a couple?