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To continue our next Inspired Creations Contest Series from Elizabeth Anne Designs, I would like to share with you the At-Home Brunch Wedding Reception. Oh my...I love it! Breakfast and brunch is always my favorite meal of the day ever. Pancakes, waffles, hot oatmeal, sunny-side up eggs, scones, sandwiches, and many more.

Come join me to the intimate at-home brunch reception in The Plant at Kyle created by the team of:
Concept design, floral, styling — Viridian Design Studio
Concept design, photography — Thompson Poole Photography
Catering, menu, food styling — Cartewheels Caterers
Stationery, floral — PAPERooT

The CONCEPT:
To have a sophisticated and well designed event with highest quality of the materials used, food served, and décor.

The BUDGET:
USD 490

Major ‘INGREDIENTS’ to this brunch reception concept:
1. Bare wood picnic table
2. Floral centerpieces in shades of pale blue, yellow, green, and peach
3. Stoneware and glassware for serving purpose
4. White porcelain vessels for decoration
5. Vintage china, flatware, and linen napkins
6. Cast iron rooster at each place setting
7. Rooster features on recipe cards
8. Stitching detail on invitations and menu signs
9. Family recipe + recipe card box as wedding favors
10. Last but not least, a menu full of new brunch ideas such as stone fruit panzanella, baked quail eggs in ham cups, ginger scones with matcha green tea butter, roasted tomatoes with thyme, lychee bellinis, and hibiscus tea.

Besides the yummi-licious brunch menu, there are two other elements from this reception concept that inspired me the most.

The team cleverly incorporated rooster feature into this morning reception. When people think of rooster, they relate it with the bright sunny morning. It is such a good idea to incorporate rooster feature on your wedding invitation as it gives your guests and idea of morning party⁄reception. Another element that inspired me is the idea of having each guest to share their favorite family recipe by returning the recipe card along with reply card. The cards are then compiled into a collection of recipes from their combined families and placed in a recipe card box to be given as gifts to each family attending, a perfect blending of family tradition and modern design. I love this idea very much!

As a result of limited space and time-consuming handwritten recipe cards, this At-Home Brunch Reception is only good for a small wedding. Just like the first inspiring reception concept shown earlier, a little modification will make this concept works for a larger wedding (80 to 120 guests).

My suggestions:
1. Move to a venue with larger space to accommodate your guests
2. Hire a caterer to take care of refreshment after the wedding ceremony
3. Have your guests send their family recipe via e-mail and you then print them on customized recipe cards

Thanks again to Ami and Cyd from Elizabeth Anne Designs for organizing such an incredible inspired creations contest. Also, congratulations to the creative team who managed to pull all things together for an affordable and fun reception!

A new challenge for all wedding professionals is thrown by Ami and Cyd from Elizabeth Anne Designs. The goal is to create a unique wedding concept with personal touches that is inspiring and unique, and yet, approachable and realistic for no more than USD 500. Also, they would like to prove that creative planning does not solely depends on the wedding budget. Creativity makes everything possible.

So far, there are two wedding concepts that I love and would like to share with you. The first one would be the Urban Rooftop Picnic Reception and the other one would be At-Home Brunch Reception.

Today, we are going to see how the wedding professionals transform an ordinary picnic at the park to a modern urban rooftop picnic reception took place at Off The Grid, Dallas party venue showcasing Dallas skyline. This inspiring creation was created by Catie Ronquillo Photography, After Yes Weddings, The Left-Handed Calligrapher and Emily Hudspeth.

Here are the other Dallas-based wedding vendors who joined the team to create this Inspired Creations Contest concept:
Photography — Catie Ronquillo Photography
Planning — After Yes Weddings
Stationery and Calligraphy — Nicole Black, The Left-Handed Calligrapher
Hair and Makeup — Emily Hudspeth
Location — Off The Grid
Floral — Earth Blooms Florist
Linens — Event Linen Solution
Accessories — Ink and Button
Gown — ‘Dahlia’ by Stephanie James Couture, from The White Gown Showroom
Bridesmaids dress — Alyn Paige
Models — Ashley Vasicek, Jessica Baker, and Jacob Reding

The CONCEPT
Using common items you can find at home or borrow from friends and transforming them into unique creations.

The BUDGET
USD 430, over half of which was dedicated to purchasing food and groceries

PERSONAL TOUCH
1. Calligraphed escort cards and favor bags
2. Personalized invitation envelope liners
3. Kraft paper sandwich wrappers complete with yellow calligraphy and scalloped edges
4. DIY tissue paper pom poms wrapped around napkins as napkin rings

This picnic-style reception is fun and casual. The concept works very well for a small wedding (no more than 80 guests); especially when you will need to borrow various kind of serving utensils from friends and relatives. Otherwise, you will have a hard time to figure out which cake stands and serving trays are belong to Aunt Jennifer. This should not be the first thing you want to worry about as soon as you and your new husband came home from your honeymoon trip.

So is there any alternative to accommodate a bigger wedding (around 80 to 120 guests) if you are a big fan of this rooftop picnic reception? Sure, a little modification would make it works.

Here are my suggestions:
1. Rent all serving utensils from party rental company
This will eliminate the trouble of returning hundreds of different serving trays, plates, and bowls.
2. Order customized printed bulk escort cards/favor bags
Instead of hiring a calligrapher to handwrite each paper bag (which always cost more money than printed version), you may do some research online and have your favorite invitation printing company to send you some samples before proceed your purchase order.
TIPS:
(1) Advisable to order 10 to 15% extras
A smaller re-order often cost more. For safety purpose, it is always good to order extras in case you have a few last-minute guests.
(2) Always proofread the final version of any print copy a few times (before printing)
Double check the spelling, date, and other important information. It is customer's responsibility to proofread and make sure everything is correct. It would be a costly process to re-print and ship; not only will it cost you more money but also not so good when you are running out of time to mail your invitation.
(3) Order food and drinks from caterer
This will not only save you time and money for renting extra utensil from party rental company, but also be able to spare more time with your family and share the joy moment together. Needless to worry if the chicken is cook or not! Your caterer will take good care of that.

Should you have a small or big picnic reception, I hope you enjoy this inspiring creations from the team of Catie Ronquillo Photography, After Yes Weddings, The Left-Handed Calligrapher and Emily Hudspeth.

Also, I would like to thank Ami and Cyd from Elizabeth Anne Designs for organizing such an incredible inspired creations contest. You not only keep the creativity going strong among the wedding professionals, but also inspire many brides (and hostess) out there!

It has been more than a year I subscribed to The Knot online wedding source newsletter. Whenever there is something new in the bridal market, I will receive the latest update from The Knot. Today, it is about the Rings.

The first design that captured my attention when I logged into The Knot yesterday afternoon was the ring from Mark Schneider. Mark is an award-winning jewelry designer. His philosophy is to create designs as wearable art.

The Bridal Collection

Infinity and Swept Away - both have the combination of modern and vintage elements. Which do you prefer?

Are you a modern bride? Shoot for Supreme, a ring with split band that ends with a crisscross at the bottom. Not so much into the simplicity from modern look? Would you fall for more sophisticated look of Bedazzle, a paved solitaire ring with a twisted band?

Moreover, you can also find their matching wedding bands from Mark Schneider Design. Escape is one of their many engagement-and-wedding-band combos. Escape engagement ring features a bezel setting with three round channel set diamonds. To complement the engagement ring, the wedding band is designed with arches wrapped around the diamonds. Is this one of your favorites?

The Gents Collection

Besides the bridal collection, Mark Schneider Design also offer the gents collection. All his pieces are clean and have the contemporary look. Your man will love it simple.

Every piece of jewelry is expertly crafted and handmade in the USA. Each bridal design is fully customizable and features an exclusive ‘Secret Heart’ with an engravable diamond. There are more rings for you to choose from the website.

Happy Shopping!

With the end of Memorial Weekend, here come's June - an unofficial start of the summer time. We will be seeing more outdoor BBQ parties, garden weddings, and picnic-styled luncheon around us. I am sure the sunny boys and girls have been longed for some outdoor parties ever since the chilling cold nights in winter.

So when food stylist met the baker, they create beautiful scene with good taste. They think-outside-of-the-box and want to be a little different by using everyday items to create an unconventional and exquisite dessert table.

Grace Chen, a food stylist, worked together with Kathy Chong, a baker, to create the following dessert table for Project Wedding. They used everyday items such as photo frames, wooden paper filers, grid shelf, and shower curtain. The result is a creative and practical dessert table display. Thumbs up to Grace and Kathy!

Here are the summer-inspired dessert menu contributed by Kathy:
Sweet corn cupcakes with blackberry frosting and wine-soaked blackberries
Buttermilk panna cotta tarts with lemon curd and blueberries
Petite peach pies with lattice top
Mini raspberry clafoutis*
Grasshopper pie bars: mint cheesecake with brownie and cookie chunks
Vanilla tuiles filled with fromage blanc and pistachios
Flourless chocolate cookies
Strawberry rhubarb pate de fruit

Hope you have fun with your table display!

*Clafoutis, a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. - Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Project Wedding and Made by Grace Chen

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