Category Archives: Planning

Outdoor Wedding Decorations – Luminary Bags

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We have a ledge around our top lawn formed by using railroad ties. This made an excellent place to put a decoration.  Eryn found Luminary Bags ( she purchased these at are our local Fred Meyer store) and they can be used with flame-less candles or votive candles.  These bags were very beautiful as the sun set and it started to get dark.

After the wedding ceremony all the chairs were brought up from the bottom lawn to the top lawn and put around the tables that were set-up for our dessert reception.

We set up for dancing on the bottom lawn after the chairs were removed. Our Luminary Bags could be seen while dancing the night away on the bottom lawn or just visiting at the reception tables on the top lawn.

We actually had to gather a few rocks and put inside the bags because they were very light and the breeze kept moving them. These bags are very easy to put back into their container box. They can be used over and over again. Maybe around a sidewalk or on a deck?

Do you have any unique areas in your yard that are just calling out to be decorated? What will you use?

Teri :~) 

Spring Break = To Do List

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Once again “Spring Break” is here! That means getting up, putting on old clothes and playing in the dirt.  I will be working outside this whole week, unless it decides to rain; which, will make this momma really sad. :(    I have been working in the house all winter and I need to GET OUT! 

So…while I was sitting at my sons baseball practice I wrote my “Spring Break” list.  It looks long and some things will take more time than others. I might not get to everything but I’m sure gonna try.

 I have two helpers, one very eager to help and one I bribed with  a promise of something fun for her during the week also. I keep telling them working in the yard IS fun. I think it has to be your yard before it’s fun? :~)

~Clean out flower beds/order new plants

~Re-stack horse hay/use only one tarp

~Manure on garden beds/turn soil

~Return solar light to flowerbeds

~Sweep off patio/deck, put out porch swing

~Prune fruit trees/dormant spray

~Rototill Jarys pumpkin patch site

~Start the seeds indoors

~Rake up dead grass in the yard

~Re-edge flower beds/more bark?

~Work on these area’s

~See a movie with the family

 ~Plan Big Family BBQ/Volleyball

What’s on your “Spring Break” list?

 See you on the other side…

Teri :~)

 

 

How to Plan a Dessert Wedding Reception

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A wedding reception is the time when everyone gets to relax. Having the reception ready to go is a big job but with a little preparation the transition from wedding ceremony to wedding reception can be fun and enjoyable.

We wanted our dessert reception to have an atmosphere of calm and be inviting; where everyone would be blessed by different choices of desserts, refreshing punch and great conversations. How do you want people to remember your reception?  Let’s get a plan in place so we can get the process started.

Supplies and resources:

-          2 punch bowls, serving ladle

-          Coffee Pumps or Coffee maker

-          Silverware, Napkins, Plates, hot cups for coffee, and punch cups

-          Linens for your dessert table

-          An eye catching center piece/other decor

-          Platters, Serving Bowls, Candy containers, etc.  Coolers for ice and other things that need to stay cold.

-          List of desserts to be served/Dessert Recipes

-          Number of guests  to be served

-          Bottled water, juice box’s for kids, mocha coffee drinks in a jar, etc.

Putting it all together:

-          Decide who will serve things and be your kitchen helpers. Make sure you have enough help so everyone has a good time. This includes people to help set up and take down. Be sure and have someone in charge of keeping the drink tubs full of ice, bottled water etc.

-          At this reception we will be serving 200 people (adjust your menu as you see fit). We will have 5 different dessert choices (about 50 servings of each choice), with a big fruit platter (or 2 small ones), a big vegetable tray (or two small ones).

-          Gather your recipes and make a grocery list of the things you will need. Be sure and make a copy of the recipe for those who are making desserts. If people have volunteered to help be sure you have purchased all the supplies for them. This is just a common courtesy and I’m sure your volunteers will appreciate this step. Some people will want to do it all as a gift to you, but please ask. We do not want to take advantage of our help.

-          Make sure you have storage containers if you need them. You don’t want to be scrambling last minute for something big enough or small enough to put things in so they won’t get smashed or broken, etc.

-          Choose your linens and center piece for your dessert table. There are all kinds of ideas in the bride magazines or on the internet if you don’t already have an idea. Your decorations coordinator will probably have an Idea to keep with your wedding theme.

-          Set up your time line. When is everything supposed to be in the kitchen area of your reception location? Make sure everyone knows the time.

A few closing thoughts:

Some things you can make ahead and store in the freezer or refrigerator.  Others will need to be made… gasp, the day of the wedding. You can make the dips ahead for the vegetables and fruit and then put them in pretty containers later. Having your fruit and vegetables cut up ahead of time would be wise. Make sure you have a plan.  

Big platters of fruit and vegetables will be ok if you don’t have to worry about bugs. If there are a lot of bugs the smaller trays will go quicker and then your food is not sitting out as long.

Be sure to keep things at the right temperature. I didn’t keep my bottled pop cold enough so our punch was flat.

The reason behind the two punch bowls is that one is ready to go in the prep area when the one being used is finished and then you just switch them out.  You might want to do this with some of your dessert trays too. Think ahead, we want to keep things moving and have a flow to it.

We also had friends who wanted to bring desserts. I should have had a better count as to how much they were bringing. I wouldn’t have had to purchase as much fruit as I did.

I purchased way too many plates and napkins. I thought since it was a dessert reception people would be going back again and would want a fresh plate, that just didn’t happen. Our wedding was at 7:00 pm and everyone had already had dinner. Most of the guests went through the line once and then stuck to the bottled water, coffee, punch and cold mocha coffee drinks. It was very warm on that July night so the drinks were going fast.

Well there you have it, a great plan for that dessert wedding reception.

Teri :~)

Are You Ready For A Wedding?

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 I have been through the wedding process with two daughters and it was a joy.  I would like to share a simple planning method that will help you save time, money and your sanity while getting it all done.

We need to be realistic in our planning process, and use tools to keep it simple and in perspective.

The supplies you will need:

- 1 – 2 inch Three-Ring Binder

- Decorative Tab Dividers  5-10

- Wedding Magazines, Library Books

- Flyers form Craft Stores, Fabric Stores, etc.

Instruction:

1. Put the dividers in your binder and Label your tabs: Venues, Officiates, Wedding Dress, Bridesmaids Dress, Tux’s, Photographer, Florist, Music, The Cake, Reception, Decorations, Rehearsal Dinner, Wedding Invitations, etc. Can you think of other categories that are important to you? 

2. Our binder had a plastic slip cover where we put a picture of our couple with the date and time of the wedding on it. What would make the cover special to you?

3. Go through those magazines and flyers and cut out any and everything you are interested in. Put them behind the tab that best represents the picture. Copy your pictures from your books and get them in your binder also. This is the time to dream!

4.Now you should sit down with parents or as a couple and make those hard decisions. What is the budget, do we have a date, where would we like to have the ceremony, how many and who will we invite?

5. Have you made a few of those hard decisions? It’s time to take a good look at what’s most important down to what is least important. Make a list and start visiting perspective venue websites and making phone calls. Set up dates and times to visit places and make those important purchases first.

6. Set up your core group of helpers and start getting those wedding plans in place. This really can be a fun part of the wedding if you choose your helpers carefully. Trust me; things will happen even with the best of planning.  However, if you have a good attitude everything will work out just fine.

I would like to close with a few tips:

When you are setting up those tabs you might want to group some together, that way you won’t need as many tab categories. Please do what makes things simple for you.  We need to keep our wedding planning simple and as stress free as possible so that it remains fun.

I hear all the time from mothers that it was just too much work and they would never plan a wedding again. It doesn’t have to be that way! Get help, you want this to be a celebration for the family too, not just the guests.

I have found this system to be the easiest and most practical. The planners that you purchase from the store are usually too big to carry around with you and have lots of things in them that you don’t need.  You create the three-ring binder so it fits your needs not everyone else’s.

Most brides will do a scrapbook or photo album later. The three-ring binder is more of a workbook than a keep-sake, a collection of needs, wants, and to-do’s. And while you’ll want to keep it as a memento, understand that it will get used and abused. It will be your “go to list” for many months.

Are you ready for a wedding? Of course not… but you will be.

Teri :~)