Wedding Tips & Advice

WOW your guests with this fabulous and easy DIY wedding decoration project

Flat-back Swarovski crystals easily transform a plain-Jane stemmed vase into a glamorous votive holder.

How to create this work of art: Starting at the center around the stem, use a dot of craft glue (one made for glass) and attach crystals to glass, placing each stone adjacent to another to blanket the base. Let it dry for at least 24 hours; add some water and a little food coloring to match your wedding colors and a votive candle and your all set.

Photo compliments of Brides.com
Posted by Wedding Planner
Syvella Brantley

So many brides these days are trying to find bridesmaid dresses that can be worn after the wedding. Well, collection Queue has heard the news through the grapevine. Collection Queue has created these fabulous bridesmaid dresses that are perfect for the wedding and after the wedding is over. The dresses are on the higher end of the spectrum but if you plan the wedding far in advance it will give your bridesmaids time to pay for their dresses. They cost between $230-$580. The Queue collection is currently available at queuecollection.com and select Bella Bridesmaids locations

Photo Courtesy of Queue

If you are not careful you can spend a fortune on your wedding cake. The average cost of a wedding cake is about $5.00 Per Person. I still try to figure out why bakers charge so much more for a wedding cake than a birthday cake. I know there should be some difference in cost but not as much as we see today.
Some brides have thought of not telling the bakery its for a wedding… but how do you get away with that one?
Here are a few ways you can save on your wedding cake:

1. Bake the cake yourself and see if the bakery will decorate it for you. This will cut down the cost of your wedding cake tremendously.

2. Contact your local catering school and see if one of the teachers can recommend their top baking student to bake your cake. I recommend, having the student bake a sample cake prior to the wedding day, just to make sure you are okay with the taste and texture of the cake.

3. Never give the bake the full head count for your wedding cake. Everyone at your wedding will not eat wedding cake and I have seen so much wedding cake go to waste. So, if you have 250 RSVP’s only tell the baker you will have 200 guests, trust me… “you will have enough cake”.

4. If you want a tall cake but on a tight budget, have only 4 tiers and ask the baker use tall separators to give the cake height so that it looks like it’s bigger than it is.

5. Get a plain white 3 to 4 tier cake and decorate it with flowers from your local grocery store. Flowers are less expensive than extravagant decorations.

The Bride’s bouquet is one of the first things the guest lay their eyes on as the bride come down the aisle. It should represent the brides personality and style and have pure elegance.

Look at this gorgeous and unique bridal bouquet. I love the glass bubbles as an added accent to the bouquet.

Photo compliments of Brides.com

Posted by Syvella Brantley
Wedding Planner
Wedding Flowers Designer

Here are some glamorous wedding flowers that would look just stunning at a wedding reception or in a bridal bouquet.

I love how these tulips look in this tall vase. Even though tulips are considered a low end flower they can be extremely elegant when you have a bunch of one color together and placed in a beautiful container.

Wedding Flowers Ideas posted by
Wedding Planner Syvella Brantley

Photos compliments of Brides.com.

Here are some lovely Red Rose Bouquets. Red roses have been a favorite for many brides.

Here is a red bridal bouquet mixed with some white callas


Here is a bouquet where the red rose is the main flower with accents of other color roses and orange callas. Stunning!


This bouquet has deep red roses with some lovely orange callas.

This bouquet is so beautiful and I had so much fun making it.

Here are some others I found that I know the brides-to-be would enjoy.

Bridal Bouquet Pictures Posted by:
Wedding Planner - Syvella Brantley
Beginning Two End, Inc.

Wedding Favors are a nice gesture to say thank you to your guests for attending your wedding but they are not mandatory. The invitation you sent them, the dinner your provided for them, and the lovely wedding cake your served are all THANK YOU enough in my opinion.
Over the years I have seen so many wedding favors left on the tables and then become trash.

If you insist on giving wedding favors, make sure they are meaningful like a wedding cd that plays your wedding music or showing pictures of you and your fiance’ growing up leading to the engagement. I also recommend something to eat as a favor, with this type of a favor your chances of many of them being left on the table is slim, especially if it’s some chocolate.

Here are some valuble resources unique and edible favors.

Posted by Wedding Planner
Syvella Brantley
Beginning Two End, Inc.

Posted by Syvella Brantley
Maryland Wedding Planner