Nick's Picks: Skip the Flask

One of the most common questions I hear from grooms is "what should I do about the groomsman's gifts?" I always say "skip the flask."
Keep your wedding fun; don't make it feel like a job or a burden to the friends you are asking to be involved. The costs for then can escalate quickly when you calculate any travel, tux rental, bachelor party, and other wedding-related events. You're inviting your groomsmen to stand by you and it should be an honor. Here are some simple gestures that your groomsmen will appreciate.

If you're renting tuxes, set up a fitting for those local groomsmen and make it an outing for everyone. Surprise them by paying for the rental (usually under $100 each); the cost is minimal but the gesture large. Treat them all to dinner and drinks afterwards as your thank you.

Instead of a standard gift (like a flask), set up a day of golf and drinks for your groomsmen and pick up the tab. Somewhere during the day, snap a photo of all of the guys and gift them the photo in a frame on your wedding day. Not only are you still giving a token gift, but you created a memory.

Following these simple tips helps to keep the title of groomsman an honor and shows your friends that you appreciate their support and want them to enjoy themselves.
While not every groom can afford to treat all of his buddies to golf and drinks, find a happy medium. Splurging just a bit on treating your friends now will speak volumes years from now.
Nick

Monday Coffee: have a holly jolly holiday party!

It has arrived....the holiday season is upon us! For most that means shopping, visiting friends and family, and parties!
Nick and I love to throw holiday parties and have a little trick to share: rent! Yes, renting items like plates, cloth napkins, and even cocktail tables will spruce up your party won't break the bank, and will make clean-up easy!

Most rental companies rent out glassware and dishes for about $.50 a piece; well worth it considering you can just pop 'em back in the box and return. No hours of clean-up!
You also have the luxury of picking cool and whimsical items like icy-looking cocktail plates, frosted martini glasses, and silvery overlays to perk up your holiday theme.
Add punches of color with bowls of ornaments, garlands, and colored napkins if you'd like.


Classic Party Rentals carries an assortment of these items in fun colors and textures and don't worry, you can rent as little as two items if you want!
Happy Planning,
Aleah + Nick

This Just In! New holiday cards and tags from our Collection on Etsy!

Super-fab holiday deals right now on our Etsy site! Check out our new vintage holiday collection! Hot of the press (the hand-made press), these cards and tags are made using vintage print press ink stamps. Now they'll get your neighbors and friends talking! They're not your run of the mill department store goodies!

Monday Coffee: to host or not to host...that is the question

Most of our clients want to offer their guests a full bar for the duration of their reception. Most clients, that is, until they get an estimate! Hotels and caterers usually offer a flat rate fee per hour for each guest. During that time they will have unlimited access to beer, wine, soda, and hard liquor (if you opt for it). However, offering a full bar can be extremely expensive and confusing.

Here are some easy-peasy tips for cutting the cost:
1. Offer the lower of the bar packages offered by the hotel or venue. Trust me; your guests likely won't know the difference between a "lower shelf" and "top shelf" vodka or bourbon. If they do, they won't say anything!

2. Cut the hosted bar during dinner. At most weddings guests are sitting during dinner and won't get up for another drink. Closing the bar during the dinner hour can save you thousands. Seriously. Calculate the cost of some hotel bar packages - $15/hour per guest x 200 guests = $3,000! Add gratuity and tax on that and we're nearing $4,000 for a virtually unused bar for one hour during dinner!

3. An option to keep guests happy is to either have wine on the tables or have table side wine service during dinner. You can also opt for a per-glass price during this time if Aunt Edna wants to get up for a glass of wine; it'll likely run you $6-8.By these simple cuts you're saving yourselves while still looking like the fabulous hosts you are!
Happy Planning,
Aleah + Nick

As the holidays have arrived it means parties, entertaining, friends and family, and good food!
I like to have little gifts and fun food items on hand for when friends stop by or when we get invited to an impromptu cocktail party.
Here are little hostess gifts that won't break the bank.

Trader Joe's sparkling apple cider is so tasty and makes for a fun token to bring when stopping by a friend's house $3

Festive champagne glasses from Red Envelope are the perfect gift to bring to a gift exchange
Rosemary + lavender sea salt $11.50 from bella cucina


Cranberry Balsa Wood gift set $35 from bella cucina
Preserved lemon cream $12 from bella cucina

Sea salt caramels from Crate + Barrel - $19.95
Adorable snowflake soap from Crate + Barrel $1.25 eachHappy Holidays!
Aleah + Nick

Easy Entertaining: lawn lounging

Host your outdoor party guests on the lawn, complete with plush oversized pillows for lounging. Scatter bright citruses for a pop of color.
Happy planning!

Monday Coffee

So we have some brand spanking new fun blog posts coming - we've implemented a "Monday Coffee" segment where we offer real, down-to-earth wedding planning tips from our point of view. Free tips! What better way to start your week!
Stay tuned to Wednesdays where Nick will be lending his amazing, manly ideas to grooms in "Nick's Picks!"
Of course, we'll be consistent with our lifestyle, planning, and entertaining tips, recipes, and photos.
Thanks for reading!

Monday Coffee: Warning for the DIY Brides and Grooms - Floral

While we are all about helping our clients with DIY projects and ideas and money saving tips, it's really important to know that tackling certain DIY projects can be incredibly difficult, time consuming, and even expensive.

We recently had a bride and her mother create all of the centerpieces for their 200 guest wedding. That's 20 + arrangements!

We strongly recommended they order bouquets and boutonnieres from a professional florist (unless you, a friend, or family member is a florist, these are not simple to make). The flowers were ordered from a local floral wholesaler and were to be picked up the Thursday before the wedding weekend.

The problem came when half of the flowers didn't arrive early in the morning as requested. The bride and her mom had enough going on with prepping themselves for the big day and visiting with out of town guests. They had to come back later in the afternoon to get the rest of the flowers.

In the end a few bunches of special order flowers didn't make the shipment from South America. We stepped in and called around to locate replacements, but they made do with what was there.

The end result: while the arrangements looked good the bride's mother was stressing before the wedding. Not something we like. Unfortunately it's out of our control when clients take on DIY projects like that; there's no florist to call and get a back-up through or no recourse (though we were able to locate a secondary replacement flower). Floral wholesalers order and get what's available; even if you pre-order sometimes things don't make it. When our clients use professional florists we don't have this problem as they are prepared should something not come. It's their job to make sure each flower arrives, is fresh, and looks gorgeous.

Another important duty to consider when going the DIY centerpiece route - who will be dealing with the delivery and take-home of the flowers? Will it be your family? Your bridesmaids? Remember that while they are all there to help and make sure you enjoy the day, you don't want to stick them with something that's a burden.

The bottom line: Talk to a florist first to see what they can do and how they can work with your budget. When it comes down to it, is your time, dealing with a wholesaler, the cost of flowers, and purchase of vases really worth doing it yourself? Your florist will deliver, set up, and take away all of the flowers so you're left with nothing but fun (and stress-free) memories!
Happy Planning!
Aleah + Nick

Frank Ross Photography

Amore Studios

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Floral arrangements flanking the red carpet by TGL for this surprise birthday party! The theme was 1920's Hollywood glamour and it showed! From the rich eucalyptus leaves to the romantic and chic calla lilies and feathers, the arrangements were perfect on the red carpet! Cake by the French Gourmet

Fun find: Wall Words

A client turned me onto this fun find: Wall Words! Check out the site for customized, monogrammed, saying, or other cute wall "stickers." They are basically stickers that cling to flat surfaces and look amazing! From holiday scenes to kitchen phrases and wedding initials, the possibilities are endless and affordable! http://www.wallwords.com/ - while I love the French and Italian sayings, this chandelier is tres chic!
I also spotted this cool and unique vintage window with chandeliers stenciled on -- I am really wanting to incorporate chandelier silhouettes in some sort of design!

Stay tuned for some fun DIY project tips featuring chandelier stencils!

Hitched: Janet and Jason

Janet and Jason are such a perfect match; they are both incredibly sweet, gracious, and have great, warm smiles! We had so much fun planning their big day! Their Sunday wedding was perfect; a gorgeously warm and sunny day; a lovely church ceremony, and a funky, chic reception at the Bay View in Point Loma.
Complete with stunning flowers in an incredible SoCal fall color palette (think warm tones, but not too "fall" - gorgeous pink and orange orchids, green hydrangeas, fuchsia roses, and curly willow branches adorned with more orchids!)....Janet and Jason love to play games so we had her uncle paint some amazing signs leading guests towards lawn games, lounging, and cocktails. Scrabble pieces adorned adorable (and scrumptious) cupcakes, and their cake topper (they had a mini cake to cut) was custom made out of their Mii characters for the Wii!

Aren't their Mii cake toppers so cool??

Capiz shell candle holders (hand painted by her uncle as well!) and grass pouches acted as favors and we had an adorable candy buffet for the kids. We had an ultra cool authentic photo booth on the terrace; guests used their photos to post to a guest book with a note (we even took part - it was so much fun!).

Epic Affair created a truly awesome and beautiful same-day edit video that we played after toasts - what fun! Check it out here: http://www.epicaffair.com/janet-jason-wedding.html

Thank you, Janet and Jason, for having us play a role in your big day! Have a great time on your cruise and congratulations!

Halloween table top

I love decorating for Halloween and got a start today by making some scrumptious candied apples; half with chocolate and crushed nuts and the other half with sea salt and milk chocolate. I printed some spooky silhouettes that I found online and placed them on some black frames we already had hanging.

For a fun Halloween party setting be sure to give your guests an assortment of treats (both sweet and savory) like candied apples, assorted nuts, a gourmet cheese platter, cured meats, and other easy to bite crostinis and stationed bites.

Offer alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks like witch's brew (think a dark punch served up in a bowl inside a black cauldron), coffee and tea, and wine/beer and an assortment of drinks guests can serve up easily. Stock standard bar accoutrements like cherries, tonic water, Coke, limes, corkscrews, fun Halloween napkins, and ample ice. Surround the bar and buffet with dry ice to give an eerie effect. Happy Halloween!

Last week we participated at the amazing fall launch party for Exquisite Weddings Magazine at the US Grant Hotel and it was a blast! Here are a few photos of the event and also some I took when I recreated our table the next day to showcase the gorgeous floral and paper goods!

I am in love with the hotel's lobby!

Our friends at Isari Flower Studio provided the stunning arrangement; it was romantic, warm, and stunning! Thank you, ladies!

The place settings came from Classic Party Rentals, the champagne pintuck linen from A Perfect Table, and the lovely Jennifer from Simply Posh Design created our amazing (and blinged-out) "celebrate" table card and the chair signs.

Thank you to the team at EW for including us; we had a really great time!