Wedding Wishing Tree

Wishing trees are not just for Christmas; many people use them for wedding decorations! It is a brilliant idea to replace the traditional guest book in a fun and creative way!

The basic concept is to decorate a tree with your wedding colours and style and then provide wishing tree cards to your guests. Your guests then write anything they like on the cards including best wishes, dreams for the happy couple or even helpful advice for the newly weds.

 A Real Wishing Tree

Use a potted living tree as your wishing tree with the intention of planting it in your new home together. What could be a better symbol and memory of your wedding day?

  

Glitz and Glamour Wishing Tree

Paint your tree metallic or white and hang it with strings of beads or crystals. Use a spotlight and candles to make your tree really sparkle and your guests will love it!

Beach Wedding Wishing Tree

Imagine a wonderful old piece of driftwood surrounded by shells, just perfect for a beach side wedding!

Garden Wedding Wishing Tree

Simply entwine into your branches some fresh flowers and perhaps some green foliage, keep it bright and fresh for the ultimate affect. 

Please note that images in this article have been taken from previous Frolic Events as well as a variety of inspirational websites.

Signature Wedding Cocktails

A personally designed wedding cocktail is something that all your guests are sure to enjoy. There are many great reasons why you should include a signature cocktail on your special day:

- By selecting colourful ingredients, the cocktail can add to your overall theme for the day by emphasising the colour scheme.

- Not everyone drinks beer & wine, cocktails are a great way of keeping your guests happy without breaking the bank.

- last but not least, creating a signature cocktail is a wedding task that you and your fiance will definitely enjoy together.

If designing your own wedding cocktail is too hard, why not try out one of our wedding favourites:

Something Blue

Following the beautiful Victorian tradition of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.... This is a bit of blue that all of your guests will enjoy!

Ingredients: Blue Curacao, White Wine & Ginger Ale

Method: Build the ingredients in a champagne flute. Serve & enjoy.

Blushing Bride

This is beautiful champagne cocktail is perfect for toasting the happy couple. It's easy to make & even easier to drink.

Ingredients: Peach Schnapps, Grenadine & Champagne

Method: Pour the Schnapps & Grenadine into a champagne flute. Top with Champagne.

Sealed with a Kiss

Seal the deal with a chocolate cocktail kiss.

Ingredients: Chocolate liqueur or Creme de Cacao, Vodka & a Hershey's kiss.

Method: Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a Hershey's Kiss.

Passion Fruit Punch

Add some passion with this passion fruit punch. Great to refresh the guests on arrival & get the party started!

Ingredients: Passion Fruit Vodka, Cranberry Juice, Pineapple Juice, Grapefruit Juice, Splash of Bitters, Lemon & lime soda & pineapple to garnish.

Method: Build the ingredients in a tall glass filled with ice. Top with lemon & lime soda. Garnish with a wedge of pineapple.

Functional Feature Pieces

When styling weddings we like to create the wow factor through adding one or two key focus points. While it would be glorious to have a generous floral feature piece or a large fountain, often these can be expensive and blow the wedding budget.

Here are our top 5 ideas for creating functional feature pieces that will create impact without breaking the bank:

1. Stylish Cocktail or Drinks Station

Impress your guests on arrival with a sumptuous cocktail or drinks table. Dainty bottles with personalised labels, finished off with straws to match your colour scheme are a visual treat.

Why we love this.... it looks divine & your guests will need a drink anyway - so why not give them a stylish drink that doubles up as a decorative delight?, if you're arranging your own catering & bar service you might save on service staff, as guests can help themselves to these.

If you're in the mood for splurging you can set up an interactive cocktail making station complete with mixologists to personally blend cocktails for your guests.

2. Food Station

Create a visual feast that your guests will love. By having a food station you reduce the number of canapés served or the need for a dessert or entree as well as ticking the 'feature piece' box.

Food stations we love.... sushi or oyster ice bars, dessert or candy buffets, late night grazing stations with ham, cheese & bread and ice cream carts. 

If you are after a more interactive experience get your chef to put on a show. Paella bowls, make your own pizza station, BBQ's and teppanyaki stations are good examples.

3. Wishing Tree or Guest Message Book

If you are considering having a guest book, why not turn this into a decorative delight?

Our favourite ideas.... Wishing trees with hanging tags can look so beautiful and are not overly expensive.

Here's one we stole from Martha Stewart - have a vintage type writer with lots of different types of paper. Guests can type you a message and then stick it on a board. 

Display a giant canvas that guests can sign or draw pictures on.

4. BonbonniereTable

If you're giving guests gifts, then why not make a display out of them? 100 beautifully wrapped gift boxes sitting on a table look amazing.

5. Escort Cards

We've seen some pretty cool seating plans in our time, but our all time favourite is an escort card table. There are hundreds of creative ways to display the guest cards & you can even dress the table up more with a stunning floral display. If you're still keen for a seating plan board, check out this mirrored board put together by Decorative Events.

Why we love escort cards.....

The seating plan is often one of the most challenging parts of organising a wedding and often things need to be changed at the very last minute.

Individual seating cards are much easier to make last minute changes to than a printed seating plan board.

We couldn't help ourselves... we have one last suggestion:

6. Games Corner!

If your friends love to play games, why not have a games corner at your wedding.

Crack out the classics like Uno, Jenga & Twister. Make a 'games corner' sign with individual letters and display all the games on a table or book case.

The games table is a great way to take the focus of an ugly corner or unsightly wall, so while it might not sound like a visual masterpiece, it is a great way to divert attention away from something ugly!

Why your guests will love it... Everyone loves a bit of healthy competition and games are a great way to break the ice & get to know new people. Props are an alternative to games. Silly hats or wigs often act as an ice breaker and set the mood for a very fun night.

Free Wedding Planning Workshop

This month every couple that books their ceremony with us will receive a complimentary half hour wedding planning workshop at The Oak Barrel on Elizabeth Street in the city. 

In this workshop you will receive expert advice on:

- planning your wedding budget

- completing your wedding time line

- writing your wedding day run sheet

To receive this, all you have to do is hire your ceremony furniture with us before the end of September.

Contact events@frolicevents.com.au for more details.

Choosing your Celebrant

This week we chat to our favourite celebrant, Pauline Fawkner about the importance of choosing the   right celebrant for your wedding day. Here's what Pauline has to say:
 
"One of the most important aspects of your wedding day is, of course, the ceremony.  This is not only a legally binding ceremony, but one which gives the couple the opportunity to have a meaningful and inclusive ceremony which will be remembered by family and friends.
 
The content of the ceremony is so important.
 
Many celebrants will do a five minute generic style ceremony and this is indeed a missed opportunity.  It is the first moment of the day when everyone gets together for the celebration and you may as well make the ceremony meaningful.
 
A good Celebrant can make or break the ceremony!
 
Here are some good tips on choosing your celebrant:
 
1)  Check how much experience they have……….the majority of celebrants around these days, since the Attorney-General changed the programme, have only performed a handful of ceremonies
 
2)  What does the Celebrant wear?
 
3)  What ideas do they have for your ceremony?
 
4)  Remember that just because a friend's mother has been appointed as a Celebrant, does not mean they will do a good job!
 
5)  Don't just judge a Celebrant on the fees - there is so much more to a good Celebrant than this.  In the big picture of the wedding, the cost of the celebrant is a minor expense and it is worth a few dollars more to ensure you get the very best.
 
You only have one wedding day………….it is not a dress rehearsal, so really think about what a celebrant can do to help make your day perfect."

Thank you Pauline for your helpful advice. If you would like to find out more about Pauline and her services visit www.paulinefawkner.com.au.

We have done many weddings with Pauline and she is always a true professional yet very personable and sincere  - which is the perfect combination.