Blush + Bashful

It seems like everywhere we look these days, we’re hearing the same thing…Americans are worried about their finances. And for good reason! Apparently we are in the midst of the greatest financial crisis in American history since the Great Depression and things are going to get worse before they get better. Before you decide that hosting a wedding in these hard times is hopeless and you give up the dream of having all of your family and friends in the same room toasting to your new marriage, let’s talk about how to make this happen on a budget.

Now, let it be known that budget weddings are not a new phenomenon. Penny pinching brides and grooms have been getting married for years. Ask your parents about their wedding day and you’ll probably hear about a cake and punch reception in the church basement! Now, I’m not suggesting that you forget about the dream wedding that you’ve been planning since you were a little girl. But, please! Be smart about how you spend your money. A wedding isn’t a necessity, as much as I’d like for it to be!

Here are a few trends I’ve noticed that are helping couples through these rough times:

Longer engagements allow couples to save up money, get their #1 choice in venues and vendors, complete DIY projects, and plan for their future together.

Shorter engagements give couples just enough time to find what they need, but not enough time to go overboard with the elaborate ideas and spending.

Smaller guest lists are hands-down the most effective way to save money.  Each guest at your wedding costs hundreds of dollars! Do you really need to have all of your co-workers at your reception?

Second receptions are becoming more popular for those guests who didn’t make the cut for the expensive reception. Consider hosting a brunch, cocktail party, or BBQ at your home to celebrate with all of the folks who were left out of the other celebration. Emily Post would hate this idea, but…she’s rich!

Creative decor ideas help keep the floral bill in check. Spend some time at your favorite discount store, flea market, or garage sale to see what beautiful items you can find to incorporate into your centerpieces. Our team can help set up these items for a nominal charge.

Interesting venue choices! Start asking questions at your favorite places that don’t typically host weddings. They may have never thought about hosting weddings or, they may have always wanted to get into weddings but they didn’t know where to start. We recently hosted my brother’s wedding reception at a fabulous miniature golf course in Central IL!

Look to the suburbs or small cities nearby to save thousands of dollars on your reception.  Just 20-30 minutes outside of the Chicago, prices drop up to 40%. Look into Rockford, St. Louis, Madison, Milwaukee, or other cities and towns that may be special to your family.

Smaller Bands or DJs are being hired to help keep the cost down. Rather than blowing out everyone’s eardrums with a ten piece orchestra, consider using a five piece band or a DJ for your party.

Throw an Anniversary Party.  Financial Guru, Suze Orman, advises couples to get married quietly and buy a house with the money they would have spent. After 5 years together, throw an anniversary party to celebrate your success. (And, call us to help!)

I’m not suggesting that if your finances are fine you do any of this! Good for you if you are able to host a lavish affair with 400 of your nearest and dearest during these hard times. Everyone will be overjoyed to attend a swanky celebration where you are footing the bill for a gourmet meal and unlimited champagne. The average Joe doesn’t get out as much as he used to, after all!

Emilee was quoted in this Gaper’s Block Article from September 18th. How fun! Thanks, Andie.

 Feature Thu Sep 18 2008

I Do…Love Mini Grilled Cheese

While the past few days have been undoubtedly lovely, a chill is creeping into the evening air, the late afternoon light is a little more burnished and waters down into darkness a little earlier every day, and the next wedding I have on my calendar to attend is in May of next year. Just as summer slips silently away into fall, another wedding season has come to a quiet end, but not without its share of trends and manias sure to influence next season’s brides- and grooms-to-be.

Though autumn is usually the typical time of year to favor heavy, hearty dishes, comfort food has been a major star on wedding day menus for months already. Morty Rosenbaum, a local PR rep for several caterers described to me the popularity of such items as “grilled cheese on a slender glass of gazpacho, donut holes served in paper pouches with a shot glass of milk, gorgeous spoonfuls of mac and cheese, tiny soup mugs of Sheppard’s pie topped with a mini croissant, etc.” as upscale variations on familiar, even sentimental dishes. I recently attended a wedding where Beef Wellington and several varieties of flatbreads (including a warm caprese-style variation and delicious duck number) were showcased over several hours of different courses of passed hors d’oeuvres. And even if you weren’t lucky (or…some other adjective) enough to stop by a wedding this past year, just recall the short ribs and blue cheese in phyllo, mini-pulled pork sandwiches and sausage and tomato flatbreads of the most recent Top Chef Wedding Wars episode. Ah, vicarious foodie trend-watching! Probably safer than crashing the union of two souls just to sample some gourmet grilled cheese.

Making substantial dishes like beef wellington and mac and cheese work well in the warm and summery peak wedding months calls for a little extra ingenuity, and miniaturized portions seem to have been just as popular this year as old-fashioned favorite dishes. Connie Bolle, Director of Sales at local catering powerhouse Levy Restaurants affirms, “Comfort foods and miniature portions seem to be a hit as our brides are looking for non-traditional ways to change up their more traditional wedding. The receptions still have introductions of the wedding party, first dance, toasts, and more — but by adding unique comfort foods, it is so not the wedding your […] parents had 30 years prior.” She also notes that miniaturizing portions provides for a “unique presentation,” helping balance the familiar with the fanciness of the occasion. And who doesn’t like to see a single tiny bite on an adorably tiny spoon? Especially when there are lots and lots of spoons to be had.

Sentimentality has also crept into this past season’s plans through contemporary recreations of parents’ and grandparents’ wedding cakes. Bolle notes that grooms’ cakes have been back in vogue lately, providing a sweet counterpoint to the traditional multi-tiered, ladylike creations normally the focal point of the dessert course. A development that may be in keeping with what Rosenbaum sees as a general trend encouraging grooms to be “more responsible for many decisions — input on linens, china, flatware and more.” Though not, if my friends’ wedding earlier this summer is any indication, on making individual portions of pad thai and conch fritters the main courses for the evening. Sorry, dude — maybe for the honeymoon.

Making the happy couple’s themed or signature drink available at the bar has continued in popularity, and adding organic or exotic drinks to the mix is becoming common as well. Says Rosenbaum, caterers are often getting “requests for organic tequila, wines and even organic sake… For wines –we love to introduce them to biodynamically grown Benzinger Cabernet.” Organic and sustainability concerns of course reach beyond the bar as well, as they have into most areas of cuisine this past year. Bolle notes, “Sustainability is huge right now! All of our seafoods served are for healthy oceans — and our brides love the fact that their wedding menu is considerate of the future. We offer free range chicken, hormone free beef entree selections and more — and of course, provide so many local vendors for our products that make your wedding environmental foot print much smaller!”

Many local wedding caterers have even made sustainable menus a focal point of their operation, creating a new niche marke of responsible catering. Greg Christian Catering marketing director notes that 61% of their food comes from local and organic sources, as opposed to traditional food service. Greg Christian also encourages event planners to skip on bottled water and go for water service instead, and has seen increases in health-conscious menu planning as well, including upticks in vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes. Limelight Catering has created an entire organic division to their services, sourcing product from farms in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as working closely with Green City Market.

A less-than-robust economic climate is also contributing to some non-traditional serving and plating options, popular with couples looking to save money without sacrificing the fun of throwing a great party for friends and family. Traditional three course plated meals are giving way to combinations of appetizers and desserts, or sometimes one or the other. Says Bolle, “Due to the economy, we have seen some inquiries for dessert parties only — with the initiation inviting guests to a late night wedding dessert party — where they will find wonderful sweets tables, coffee drinks, and a much more casual environment.” Sustainability and cost-cutting has also reached serving ware and labor, where receptions now sometimes end much earlier in the evening, and reception venues steer clear of disposable plastic or styrofoam products and favor washable china or at the very least, highly recyclable flatware and silverware.

But of course, for every planning adjustment that pinches pennies or saves a baby polar bear, there are also trends born out of pure awesomeness. The awesomeness of getting cheeseburgers on garlic bread, or quesadillas, or tater tots for yourself and a few hundred of your closest friends at 11pm. The late-night snack trend. Says Emilee Lales, a planner at the Blush and Bashful Event Boutique (and, full-disclosure, dear friend of mine), “Guests love it because they get to nosh on chicken fingers, tots or pizza after several hours of drinking and dancing. And most grooms love it because they wanted chicken fingers as the dinner entree anyway.” Ah ha! Maybe there was room for pad thai and conch fritters after all. Though I wouldn’t have traded those garlic burgers for the world.

Heading into the fall, Bolle forecasts menus keeping more traditionally in line with seasonal eating habits. She says to expect “Grilled fall vegetable bruschettas — warm cornmeal crusted crab cakes, none of the light and airy Boursin-stuffed pea pods — really heavy items with great textures.” Fall soups will grace tables as part of plated first course duo, including such varieties as red bourbon onion, butternut squash, corn chowder with lime creme fraiche, which Bolle says will be “all served with salads with a hint of fall — cranberries, heavier cheeses, crunchy dark rye croutons.” Richer sauces, heavier combinations and exotic game will also come into play. Moose served at a fall wedding? Seems entirely too plausible.

Photos courtesy of Quinn and Co. and Levy Restaurants.

- Andie Thomalla

If you were thinking of forgoing the tradition of bringing your own toasting flutes to your wedding reception to save a few bucks, these may make you change your mind and go in another direction entirely…

Vera Wang’s Love Knots are a sweet way to toast to your new marriage.
The adorable set of two is on sale for $55.25 at Bloomingdales.

Kate Spade’s Belle Boulevard Toasting Flutes are perfect for a modern Spring wedding.
They are $51 for a set of two at Bloomingdales.

Swarovski Crystalline Toasting Flutes are my absolute favorite. This photo doesn’t do them justice! These are for the couple who loves to make a statement…a very sparkly statement! The stems are filled with tiny individual crystals and the bases are brilliant cut, resembling a diamond. I found them online at Upscale Gallery for$292.50 for the pair.

Other ideas:

If you are feeling generous, choose champagne flutes from your favorite retailer for your entire bridal party. Check out Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn for a start.

For the couple who really wants to make a statement with their wedding color pallette, choose colored toasting flutes.

Brides who would like to surprise their husbands with the gift of taking his name could take the fun a little further with monnogrammed toasting flutes (and a cake topper!)

Cheers!

Some mornings as I check my email and start working, I have a talk show on in the background. Today on the Mike & Juliet Show, they did a segment called “Relationships 101″ that reviewed what is considered “normal” before, on, and after your wedding day.

Here are a few sample questions:

Is it normal to get cold feet before the wedding day?

Is it normal to invite your ex to the wedding?

Check out the videos online to get the scoop:

Part One

Part Two

We all know that brides-to-be love to pamper themselves with spa treatments, manicures, massages, and the like. It’s the one time in their lives when they don’t have to feel guilty for such shameless self-indulgence. Grooms have gotten the short of the stick…until recently! A new crop of salons that tailor to men have popped up in Chicago. This gives guys another option, in addition to golf, for a pre-wedding bonding activity.

If your guy is in need of some serious rejuvenation, consider sending him to one of these swanky, but manly retreats:

316 Barber Spa This fabulous place features vintage Vegas-style atmosphere complete with pool tables and flat-screen tvs.

Halo Chicago  With three locations in Chicago, this hip guys-only salon has six different packages aimed at grooming the groom!

American Male  The least fancy of the three, American Male would put even the most skeptical of grooms at ease.

Bonus! On a recent episode of “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood,” Tori surprised her hubby with a daddy shower at a Barber Spa. He and his friends were treated to straight-razor shaves and great haircuts. What a fun idea! I believe that they went to The Shave Shop in LA.