Guest Blog Post - From Tulips and Maple

As our regular blog followers know, we like to feature guest posts from wedding/event industry experts.

Today's is a real treat because one of the most important elements at your wedding is your food. Today's blog post is from Karinne Di Sanza-Baker, a senior catering consultant with one of our favourite caterers in the city: Tulips and Maple. Tulips and Maple are always on the cutting edge of catering foods and catering trends. They often send their staff off on catering conferences all over North America to learn all they can to make your wedding/event's catering unfortgettable.

In today's blog post, Karinne speaks about "Catertaining" for your wedding and using your catering to involve your guests, add decor and mix food and drink in one. Really inspiring. Thanks again Karinne !

Guest Post by Tulips and Maple:

Not only are we in the middle of a very busy wedding season, but this is also the time that future brides start planning their 2013 weddings. Having returned from an international catering conference in the spring which inspired the release our new “Catertaining” menu, we would like to share some fun ways to upgrade your catering at your wedding reception. We have had the pleasure of catering many Marry Me weddings so we know you are always out looking for the newest and greatest ideas for your special day!

Welcome Drink

Give your guests a chance to create their own signature drink at cocktail hour.  These photos capture the “drink wall” concept. Guests help themselves to a variety of creative garnishes to customize their drinks, such as fresh berries, flavoured jelly cubes, or candied citrus fruits; the possibilities are endless!

Shake up your Reception

Don’t just serve food at your cocktail hour, serve Fooze! We have combined hors d’oeuvres with a complimentary drink to add a twist to traditional cocktail fare. Our two favourites are the Caesar paired with bacon swizzle sticks and the whisky-based Algonquin served with a jerk-marinated beef skewer. Creative brides and grooms can even come up with their own combinations for this crowd-pleasing presentation!

Scrap the Plate, Use a Bubble

Why not find new ways to present the food your guests will be enjoying on your wedding night? Instead of servers passing hors d'oeuvres, why not display them on a food wall ! You can even pick your own background to match your wedding colours.

Or what about serving your salad in a bubble? Our signature "Bubble Bar" is a perfect alternative to the typical salad bar. Watch your guests giggle while they shake up their salad! A whole new meaning for "tossed salad".

There are endless ways to add "catertainment" to your wedding reception. We are excited to share our ideas with our Tulips and Maple couples.

Here's to a great wedding season....and more to follow !

An Ombre Colour Palette



Jessica Biel

 

Whitney Port



Ombre hair was a trend that emerged in 2010 that had some people wondering if it would stick around or not. Especially because girls pay a lot of money to ensure their hair doesn't look two-toned. Well, it's spring 2012 and it is fair to say the ombre trend is getting hotter by the minute. 

   





 

Ombre comes from the French term "shadow" simply meaning a graduation in hue from light to dark or dark to light.

In fact, the Ombre look has spilled over into fashion and now wedding design- so much so that it's one of the hottest weddings trends for 2012 and we LOVE it!





New York Fashion Week 2012


The ombre look is perfect for brides who love one particular colour and don't necessarily want to bring in another colour but think one colour would make their wedding too one-sided or overwhelming (imagine hot pink flowers, linens, napkins, chargers, bridesmaids- goodness!). So if you really love purple, instead of bringing in complimentary colours to accent it, you can bring in different shades of purple: eggplant, violet, plum, lavender, lilac etc...

Take a look at some of our favourite ombre wedding ideas.....



Save Room for Ideas for Save the Date Announcements

Once upon a time, save the dates used to be nothing more than word of mouth “reminders” from family members during weekly phone calls. It morphed from there into simple invitations which got more creative over time and included the theme of the wedding in the invitation. Then it morphed from invitations back to reminders but the evolution this time was ‘useful reminders’ so we saw magnets, bookmarks, coasters, pens… anything that would stay visible so you won’t forget the big day and to make the necessary travel plans.


Originally when Save the Dates first started, it was reserved for couples who were planning destination weddings and needed to inform their guests with enough advance notice for them to organize vacation time at their office and save up for any associated travel costs. Generally the rule was send your Save the Dates 4-6 months in advance and your formal invitations should be sent 8 weeks before your wedding day.

Now, with the explosion of engagement photoshoots, Save the Dates have turned into another adorable photo opportunity for the bride and groom to showcase their love for each other, their hobbies even their pets while giving their guests a ‘heads up’ about their upcoming wedding date.

When planning your Save the Dates, if you are doing a photoshoot, make it carefree and easy- the best thing about the new Save the Dates are that they are not formal like your invitations, and it’s a great way to give your guests a glimpse into your private quirky relationship. Secondly, make sure you include all the necessary information on the card. I recommend putting your wedding website address on the card since websites will have everything your guests need in regards to planning your wedding: date, times, recommended hotels etc. Thought wedding websites were for people getting married out of town? Think again- read my original blog post here.

Finally, you don’t have to make your Save the Dates expensive. If you make them into postcards and mail them sure, it can get pricey- but I would first recommend having a friend photograph you and email out your Save the Dates as an email message to your guests. Or update your wedding website with the new picture and information. If you do want to turn them into cards and send them snail mail (it’s always exciting to get real mail other than bills in your mailbox), I would take the photo yourself/with a friend and upload it online to get your prints made. If you go through a photographer, it’s going to be very expensive- not to mention you are looking for one shot not a variety of shots like if you were taking engagement photos. However, if you already have a photographer booked for your engagement session, make sure you take one photo with him/her that can be turned into a Save the Date announcement.

We love this particular website to turn photos into cards:


Just remember to have fun with it! Here are some Save the Date announcements we love to inspire you…

Real Wedding - Neela and Shawn

It's been a while since we have done a real wedding, but when we received the images from this wedding, we knew it was time to start again!

Neela and Shawn were married last October at the new Ottawa Convention Center and it was an affair that could rival any Bollywood movie- glitz, bold colours and of course the happy ending.

We absolutely loved working with this couple especially since we were lucky enough to not only plan one ceremony with them, but two!  The morning started with a traditional Sikh ceremony followed by a  Catholic ceremony which meant that Neela had two gorgeous dresses to show off. 

A full day for sure, Shawn made his entrance atop a white horse, guests were treated to an Indian feast for brunch, Canadian fare for dinner and a stocked candy bar that was sure to include the grooms favourite - Beemans gum!

Thanks to our friends Jodi and Paul at Horton Photography, 

we were able to share some of our favourite shots with all of you.

Much love to Neela and Shawn!