Simply Elegant Weddings by Susan

Molly and Ryan

Susan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:32:52 +0000

I loved working with Molly and her mom, Betsy, in helping them plan Molly’s wedding to Ryan. Although her tastes were Classic Elegance she wanted a reception that was fun with great food and lots of dancing. Hotel Monaco in Old Towne Alexandria was the perfect place. In walking distance from the church, the fun began right after the ceremony and even the rain didn’t dampen their spirits. Growing up in Alexandria, Molly wanted to support the local businesses so a strong emphasis was place on selecting Alexandria based businesses. Special thanks to Pamela Lepold Photography for capturing the day perfectly.

Don’t Want a Traditional Guest Book?

Susan — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:31:52 +0000

A Finger Print Guest Book Tree is one of the cutest ideas in lieu of the traditional guest book as I’ve seen in awhile. Guests don’t have to think about about writing something inspirational to the couple, all they have to do is apply their thumbprint to an ink pad and then place it on the canvas and sign their name using a sharpie marker. Purchasing the dye ink pads in your wedding colors adds to the charm of this idea.

Jason and Julia used this idea at their wedding and their guests loved it! The canvas can be purchased on etsy.com and the ink pads can be bought at most craft stores. It’s also important to have some kind of wipes available so that the guests can easily clean their hands.

Once it’s framed it can be hung on the wall and enjoyed for years to come!

Wedding Tip – A Fake Cake?

Susan Smith — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:55:49 +0000

If having a wedding cake not that important to you but you still want to celebrate the tradition of “Cutting The Cake”? Here’s a great option.
Fun Cakes Rental can ship you one of their predesigned wedding cakes or even design the cake of your dreams. Their “fake” cake will look identical to one delivered from your local bakery. (I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself!)
The only difference is that there is a trap door on the bottom tier of the back of the cake that will allow you to insert a real piece of cake into it ahead of time. When it’s time to cut the cake, you insert the knife into the side of the trap door and you’re able to remove the real piece of cake.
Your guests won’t be the wiser! The catering staff can then take the cake back to the kitchen as if they were going to slice it to be served. The couple that I worked with choose to buy sheet cakes from a local bakery and that was then served to the guests with a chocolate covered strawberry on the side.

How Cute is This?

Susan Smith — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:45:32 +0000

One of the biggest trends I see in wedding cake toppers is a replica of a whimsical bride and groom portraying a hobby or interest of the couple. Here are some great examples-

This couple met while playing on their law firms’ bowling team. Although they served cupcakes to their guests they had a small cake for their ceremonial “cake cutting”. Sitting on top was a couple bowling.

After meeting at a baseball game it was only fitting for this couple to have a groom pitching a ball to the bride on top of their whoopie pie.

This couple met while working at Universal Studios in Florida. She was the Woody Woodpecker character who walked amongst and greeted the crowds while he was Frankenstein. Years later it was only fitting that they would have a custom made topper of the two characters on their wedding cake.

simplyelegantweddings

Susan Smith — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:17:02 +0000