Well the Christmas holiday is over, and we're guessing quite a few happy couples were engaged over the weekend. Were you one of them?
A lovely wintry photo of the happiest couple, via
We also found these interesting statistics from The Knot about the average engagement ring and wedding band buying process....so you can see what your fella had to go through to find the perfect sparkle for the perfect you.
2011 AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT RING & WEDDING RING STATISTICS
Engagement Ring Cost: $5,200
Carat Size: 1 carat for center stone; 1.4 carats total stones
Most Popular Engagement Ring Shapes: Round (53%) and Princess (30%)
Most Popular Engagement Ring Metal: 73% of rings are made of white gold
Time It Takes for Groom to Find Engagement Ring: 3 months
Wedding Band Cost: $1,126 for brides; $491 for grooms
Most Popular Wedding Band Metal: For brides, 70% are white gold; for grooms, 34% are white gold
The Luxury Ring Segment: About 12% of couples spend more than $8,000 on the engagement ring
Luxury Engagement Ring Cost: $13,500
Luxury Engagement Ring Carat Size: 1.5 carats for center stone; more than 2 carats total stones
Inspiring Photo No. 38 + The Knot's 2011 Engagement Ring Stats
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Via
Hope your weekend is filled with love, family, and warmth. Be sure to take some time to sip the hot cocoa and don't forget the marshmallows!
Here's to a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday from our family to yours.
~The Soiree Girls
Pinned Favorites | Muted White + Silver
Here are some of our favorites we've pinned this week...
Together they made a lovely little palette of muted whites and silvers, perfect for a winter wedding or New Years Eve party. Have a lovely Thursday!
Sources: 1.) BHLDN Shoe Clips via 2.) Bolsa Wood Bouquet, Via 3.) Felt Christmas Wreath, Via
4.) White Wedding Cake, Via
Pretty In Pink
Just loved this blush colored wedding inspiration over at Betsy White this week...
So do tell, are you a blush-ing bride? Would you wear a pink wedding gown?
~Happy Wednesday!
5 Tips On Small Spaces
We mentioned that this past Saturday we hosted Matt + Carlie's winter barn wedding, and what a wedding it was. However, it wasn't handed to us on a platter of roses by any means- while the barn setting was absolutely perfect for the event, it was also a little cozy for the amount of guests that attended the wedding. So, in an effort to make lemonade out of lemons, we decided to design the wedding and the flow of the evening around the venue. Here are 5 tips we applied to this weekend's wedding to ensure the best experience for the guest while working with, rather than fighting, the space we were given:
Via
1. Direction, Direction, Direction. Can't stress this enough. This was the first and foremost point we made; your guests love direction at any party over 10 guests, and it was needed even more so with a non-traditional style of wedding. We had programs and menus designed together in one document the guests could carry around. This explained the flow of the evening, the passed mini foods menu, and the places throughout the barn they would find more goodies. Think of it as a map: our guests knew they where they would find all the stations, bars, dessert displays and even the restrooms downstairs.
2. Consider Your Menu. Rather than fill an already over-filled space with even more tables for buffets, we instead hired lots of staff, reduced the food on the menu down to adorable conversation-starting one-bite appetizers, and had 90% of it all passed. Yes we paid more for staff and for the added labor of making the cutest little morsels like itty bitty grilled cheese and tomato soup shooters. But it was absolutely necessary and added to the experience for the guests- imagine their surprise when they realized food was going to be continually passed all evening long. Just stand there and food will arrive. Genius! The less trying to get around in a cramped space, the better.
3. Get Creative With Space. Again, with the menu, we opted for almost all of it to be passed to save on space, but we also re-purposed one of the high counter-bars built into the barn for one food station upstairs and cleaned out a horse stall downstairs for the other station. This eliminated the need for lines since guests could either wait for a passed item or take their time as they passed one of the stations.
4. Welcome Non-Conformity. Not all brides love the idea of having guests seated at tables for the ceremony. But, in this case, we tried to keep the ceremony special and heartfelt, even though some of the guests were already seated at long tables. There was simply no way we'd be able to turn over the room after the ceremony, and it also ensured the guests would enjoy the gorgeous table displays all evening long.
5. Seating Charts. This goes along with direction again. In our case, we had some guests seated, and some standing. Even if you loathe the idea of creating a seating arrangement, you must for any reserved seating you may have. If we wouldn't have had the family reserved tables outfitted with place cards, we would have had mass chaos on our hands- your guests are already going to naturally be a little confused with the lack of seating. Have a wedding planner or other authorized (sober) person on hand with the seating chart to help direct your guests either to their seats and to explain the style of seating for the ceremony. It makes all the difference and saves you from angry guests.
Hope this helps if you're finding the perfect venue is a little cozy for your guests! Have you had a similar experience? What have you done to counteract the lack of space? Do tell!
Ready For Christmas...
We just finished our last wedding of the season, and now I can't believe Christmas is only days away! Here's wishing you and yours a week full of joy and happiness!
Recipe and source via
xx,
Brandi
Our Favorite Gift Wrapping Ideas
This post was meant to go out yesterday, but we're a day behind with wedding festivities this week. Day 1 of our install begins today and we're trying to beat the snow that is supposed to finally make an appearance tomorrow. But despite the lateness, we so loved the ideas we found for this post I wasn't about to just file it away. Besides, if you're anything like me, you might tend to get a little neurotic about wrapping your Christmas presents every year; I love to spice it up if I can, over the usual dancing santas and reindeer. Here are some of our favorite, unique, and easy to do gift wrapping ideas, with the added bonus of all requiring materials that you may even already have at home!
Sources: 1. Yarn and buttons by Sweet Paul 2. Newspaper wrapping paper 3. Stamped wrapping paper
Featured: A Day In The Life | The Planner's Lounge
Today I'm featured on The Planner's Lounge as part of their A Day In The Life series- a really cool collection of posts all about professional wedding planners and their typical day to day routine in detail.
If you're an aspiring wedding planner or event coordinator, definitely visit the new site, which is already chock-full of sage advice (read= mistakes that have already been made, and therefore no need for you to make them either) and ways to get your event planning business off the ground the right way.
If you're not an aspiring planner but just want to peek into a day in an event planner's life, do check it out.
Many thanks to Debbie, founder of the Planner's Lounge, for featuring me!
~Brandi
Our Favorite Gift Ideas | 2011
Just some of our favorite gift ideas we've run across in our blogging adventures this holiday season...for the ladies and the men in your life.
For the Women: 1)We love these Kate Spade Idiom Bangles 2) This wrap bracelet/watch combo is genius and stylish 3) InStyle Parties for the hostess 4)These cozy polka dot gloves keep hands from getting chapped 5) This is one of the prettiest all-in-one leather passport holders we've seen. Plus we love anything with a monogram.
For the Men: 1)The REI Double Shot Press Mug. Need we say more? 2) We are just loving the skinny tie look. 3) A beer making kit for the enthusiast 4) Eco Friendly, 100% organic tequila. If anything, the bottle design is fabulous! 5) This iPhone wallet case is perfect for eliminating back-pocket bulge.
~Happy shopping!
Classic | Black, White, Pewter
Here's a twist on the classic black and white winter wedding:
Pewter is just so forgiving. It can be glam, it can be vintage, shabby chic, or even rustic. We imagine this wedding to be an eclectic mix of glam and vintage with the dainty black and white illustrations.
Sources: 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6.
~Happy Planning!
Holiday Nails Giveaway Winner!
....Drum roll.....please........ And the winner is.........
Miranda Lambert- you're the winner of our mini-giveaway. Miranda's fabulous comment (and now we want to go out on the town with you):
Miranda, will you email us at blog@weddingsbysoiree.com with your mailing details and the exact set you want, and we'll get it out, stat. Thank you again to both of you that took the time to enter our contest. This was just the first of a few giveaways we have in the works this month- so do stay tuned!!
~Happy Holidays,
The Soiree Girls
Candlelit Winter Wedding Inspiration
Our last wedding of the year is next weekend so it seemed fitting to share the couple's inspiration board we did for them to depict the general theme and overall feel we wanted to achieve:
This wedding design process was a little different than some of our projects, in that they came to us with very distinct ideas, including the theme, venue, and certain specifications (like no flowers). It just goes to show that our brides begin their design process, and therefore come to us, at all different stages of their planning. And we like it that way- keeps us on our toes!
This is also why this inspiration board has photos of actual items we'll be using in their wedding, versus some of our other inspiration boards that feature just an overall concept. So how do we put our spin on designing a wedding that already has the concept planned out? I like to say we aim to take it 5 steps further by adding unexpected elements, lighting, personalizing, and working out the flow of the event to make the experience ah-mazing.
I won't give away all the details until after the wedding, but here is a sneak peek from their idea board, a second step in our design process. The idea board breaks down the event- from ceremony to cocktail hour to the reception- bit by bit to help our brides visualize the day as a whole. We include everything from linen samples, centerpiece styles, and add in a dose of our sometimes off-the-wall ideas to keep your guests guessing.
After this fabulous rustic-meets-glam wedding is over we'll go into more detail about how our design process works to create the whole event. Until then, a sincere thank you to our brides that continually trust us and let us use our often off-the-wall ideas. And happy planning!
~Brandi
Inspiring Photo No. 37
Tis the Season...
Via
....What colors or styles are you wrapping in this Christmas?
~Happy Monday!
Sunday Soiree | Cranberry Margarita
Who says margaritas have to end when the warm weather stops? Here's a recipe to sustain you for the cold months....and hey, it looks pretty too!
via
How To:
* Wedge of lime
* Sugar
* Ice cubes for shaking and serving
* 1/2 cup cranberry juice or cranberry juice cocktail
* 1/2 cup silver or other 100% agave tequila
* 1/4 cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier, Triple Sec or Citronage)
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* Garnishes: thinly sliced limes or fresh cranberries
1. Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass, and dip the edge in sugar to coat. Fill glasses with ice. Set aside.
2. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine all the ingredients, and shake like hell.
3. Strain into ice-filled glasses and serve.
We'll be putting the finishing touches on our Christmas decorating around the house today, as well as some DIY projects soon-to-be-revealed in the Soiree office. Stay tuned, and happy Sunday!
Holiday Nails Giveaway!
1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5.
What are your favorite nail colors this holiday season? Do share, because you'll be entered in one of our first holiday giveaways this month! We loved the Sephora By OPI holiday colors so much that we're giving some away so you can try them on this season too. Here are the details and ways to enter:
* The winner will be able to choose from one of the three options from Sephora By OPI's Glimmer Wonderland Collection:
- Leave us a comment telling us your pick out of the giveaway collections on the blog and on twitter (hashtag #soireeholidaynails).
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